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Free gratuities? Sales? 2020 schedule?


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If you book on a online site NOT direct with Carnival you can find all of those from time to time. I have had sailings with free gratuities and with free 3rd and 4th passenger. That is when I book my grandkids. You just pay taxes and port fees. Also, I have had no deposits for 1st 2 in cabin and with Carnival have booked with 50% off 2nd and more in cabin and deposits of $50 pp. Just keep looking. Wave is not the only time to get good deals.

Some 2020 dates are already out Jan - end of April. I am thinking by April they should show up.

Others knnow far more than I do...

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There was a kids sale free sale a couple of years ago (may have been a more recent one, I don't know) so they do happen. However, the fare for passengers 1 and 2 were higher with this sale was higher than the regular rates. Some got a decent price drop (I got about $50, I read of one of over $200), but others did not (the sale price was higher than they already paid).

 

Bottom line, check all available fares. If you can live with the fare, and it comes with price protection, then go for it. If you get a price drop, great, if not, then you got the best fare you could have.

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Still waiting on the rest of 2019 to be released (I'm looking for a Hawaii one in Sept.) So it will probably be awhile still for 2020.

 

Sent from my XT1650 using Forums mobile app

 

For the 6-8 night cruises Conquest,Glory,Horizon,Freedom,Magic, Vista, and Breeze are available to book through April 2020.:)

 

Bill

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For the 6-8 night cruises Conquest,Glory,Horizon,Freedom,Magic, Vista, and Breeze are available to book through April 2020.:)

 

Bill

They have a bunch of the journeys cruises listed already too even into 2020 but not the one I am waiting for... It's driving me crazy!

 

Sent from my XT1650 using Forums mobile app

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I've never seen Carnival do 3/4 pax free, only for $99 at the minimum. And I have only seen free grats on RCCL and NCL, not Carnival. Usually the other lines raise their prices when those sales are going on so its not even really "free" based on the sialings WE have looked at...

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Carnival's "sale" prices aren't usually that significant. For example, you might pay a higher cruise fare and get a small onboard credit, or a lower fare with a free upgrade (which is the same cabin in a different location), or a reduced deposit which isn't a discount at all. If you can live with a lot of restrictions, you can book early saver which gives you the opportunity to grab a price drop should one occur by a couple days before your cruise (or onboard credit if its after final payment due date). Just make sure you understand all the restrictions associated with early saver before you book that type of fare.

 

A lot of times Carnival's sales are just a different way of stating a similar fare. Hope you find a fare you're happy with. :-)

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I booked a January 2020 Journey's cruise to the Panama Canal yesterday. We sail in exactly two years! ;)

I checked and they even have the Australian cruises already posted and the Alaska ones right before. So I'm starting to get really annoyed that they don't have the cruises for repositioning it to Australia out yet.

 

Sent from my XT1650 using Forums mobile app

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Is there a specific ship, itinerary, or time of year you are looking for?

 

 

 

Bill

 

 

 

May or June 2020 would be best for us.

I believe Vista, Breeze or Magic would have the most features we enjoy (we loved NCL Getaway).

I’d prefer Caribbean, but would look t other itineraries, too.

[emoji4]

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May or June 2020 would be best for us.

I believe Vista' date=' Breeze or Magic would have the most features we enjoy (we loved NCL Getaway).

I’d prefer Caribbean, but would look t other itineraries, too.

[emoji4']

 

Thanks for the reply. Since the current bookings only go up to April 2020 I would guess probably another 6 months or so until summer 2020 sailings come out.

 

You never know though, it could come out earlier.

 

Good luck when they are released and hope you find the ship, itinerary, that is perfect with a great price. Seems early on is the best time to get the cheapest fares these days.

 

Bill

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Carnival's "sale" prices aren't usually that significant. For example, you might pay a higher cruise fare and get a small onboard credit, or a lower fare with a free upgrade (which is the same cabin in a different location), or a reduced deposit which isn't a discount at all. If you can live with a lot of restrictions, you can book early saver which gives you the opportunity to grab a price drop should one occur by a couple days before your cruise (or onboard credit if its after final payment due date). Just make sure you understand all the restrictions associated with early saver before you book that type of fare.

 

A lot of times Carnival's sales are just a different way of stating a similar fare. Hope you find a fare you're happy with. :-)

 

 

Yeah, definitely check and double check and understand ALL of the restrictions that the Early Saver Rate has. We booked in April 2017 for an April 2019 cruise on the Vista. My wife and I thought we were on the same page when we booked, then a month ago, she wanted to cancel this cruise and go to Disney instead. Unfortunately, I didn't completely understand the cancellation policy before final payment, so we wouldn't get our deposit back in cash, only towards a future cruise. Now we are going to make the best of this cruise and save up for Disney as we would need to float a loan to go :')

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Ok.

I will watch the site for 2020 and hopefully early booking will be the thing.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I was watching forever for Vista June 2019 to be posted... I was told most likely it would happen before Christmas. Sure enough, my PVP called me last month on Dec 20 to tell me that the June 2019 bookings for Vista had just been posted.

 

So I would guess that you could check monthly, but if my timeline proves out, by December of this year you should be able to book Vista for May/June of 2020. In fact, May for Vista was available for a month or two before June was, so you might see something by October... again, I'd check monthly.

 

Or better yet, get a PVP (Carnival Personal Vacation Planner) who will keep an eye out for you and will let you know, just like mine did.

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  • 1 month later...
About two years ago, Carnival offered $200 OBC under a limited time ES promo. That was the only time I remember Carnival went above and beyond the usual $50 ES OBC perk.

 

Yes, I have not seen this $200 OBC offer since then. That was a great deal. I booked 2 cruises under this offer. One I took last year in April. The second cruise under this offer I will be taking in April finally.

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I think there's not a lot of that type sales because Carnival's fares tend to be low to begin with. When I've cruise-shopped, even with free gratuities or free drinks or 2nd person 1/2 price, other lines are still higher than Carnival. As far as when they put the schedules out, it is beyond me. We were waiting to book a May/June 2019 cruise for what seemed like forever out of Galveston. We saw other sailings, just not the one we needed.

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