Early Saver or Military Same Price

[JustCruiseMe]

Which is the best?

[KCinBAMA]

Military has refundable deposits, Early Saver does not.

[joepeka]

I've noticed that the prices for ES and Military are the same most of the time. The plus of ES is price protection (and sometimes reduced deposit) but the minus is loss of $50/pp of your deposit if you cancel (the remainder is held for a future booking). The plus of Military is that your deposit is 100% refundable if you have to cancel prior to the final payment date but the minus is no price protection and you pay the full deposit amount.

Edited August 24, 2016 by joepeka

[riffatsea]

The price protection issue is a bit misleading.

All categories can get price drops up until final payment unless the booking info says differently.

It is only ES that can get price drops after final payment.

I booked past guest and just got a $200 price drop last week. We don't have to finish paying until September and until then I'll keep watching for them.

[JustCruiseMe]

Thank you all. Sounds like military rate is the best way to go for us.

[easyboy]

The price protection issue is a bit misleading.

All categories can get price drops up until final payment unless the booking info says differently.

It is only ES that can get price drops after final payment.

I booked past guest and just got a $200 price drop last week. We don't have to finish paying until September and until then I'll keep watching for them.

I agree, a bit misleading.

[poobears]

You can always book military now and switch to ES later when the cruise is closer and there's less risk so grab the last minute price drops. ES usually goes away a couple weeks before final payment is due. Then sometimes another version of it will pop up closer to final payment time but not always, depends on how well the ship is sailing, it may go away sooner than that.

[JustCruiseMe]

You can always book military now and switch to ES later when the cruise is closer and there's less risk so grab the last minute price drops. ES usually goes away a couple weeks before final payment is due. Then sometimes another version of it will pop up closer to final payment time but not always, depends on how well the ship is sailing, it may go away sooner than that.

 

Thank you!

[richfret]

Have completed 19 Carnival cruises and have always booked Military when available except for one cruise where I booked a Casino rate for a slot tournament. The Military rate is almost always the same as Early Saver and hence usually the best pricing. I have also received several price reductions as prices changed up to final payment which occurs about 2 1/2 months before the cruise. The only risk is that there may be further price reductions after final payment. On the other hand, the Military rate is easier to cancel than Early Saver and that can be a major factor when you are in your 70's or 80's. I also like the fact that I can select my cabin with the Military or Early Saver rate.

 

I would say the Military rate is the way to go in most cases.

Edited August 25, 2016 by richfret

[RWolver672]

Oddly enough, for our next cruise on the Conquest in 2017, the past guest rate was cheaper than ES or Military.

[richfret]

Oddly enough, for our next cruise on the Conquest in 2017, the past guest rate was cheaper than ES or Military.

 

That is odd. I did a mock booking for my 2/18/17 Conquest cruise and the Past Guest rate is $20.00 more than Military for a window cabin. Might be that your cruise on that particular date might have many more cabins to fill. This will be our 20th Carnival cruise and Military and Early Saver were always the cheapest. Might also be that the type of cabin might come into play and the Deck. Oh well, take the saving and run. I mean cruise.

[poobears]

I just saw I put it depends on how the ship is sailing instead of selling LOL

 

Right now I'm booked PG on our March sailing, Military and ES are the same price, about $10pp cheaper, I need to call Carnival and see if they still have our military paperwork on file so I can price match that rate or if I have to send it in again and will probably switch to ES closer to sail date. Don't want to do it now because I'm not sure of DH's work schedule yet. They are moving managers around at work and we may want to change cruise dates, don't want the ES penalty. Will know more in a few months.

 

Of course if what normally happens holds true all of the 4 person Lido rooms will be sold out way before ES is removed from the sailing so there will be no reason to switch to it anyways. Does me no good to have ES when there are no rooms to price match to.

[jabberjaw070596]

Our Vista Sailing. The military rate is 90 less than past guest rate

[RWolver672]

That is odd. I did a mock booking for my 2/18/17 Conquest cruise and the Past Guest rate is $20.00 more than Military for a window cabin. Might be that your cruise on that particular date might have many more cabins to fill. This will be our 20th Carnival cruise and Military and Early Saver were always the cheapest. Might also be that the type of cabin might come into play and the Deck. Oh well, take the saving and run. I mean cruise.

 

We booked the cruise well over a year ago so at that time, there were a lot of cabins to choose from. It's also a balcony cabin on the Panorama deck if that has anything to do with it.