Are "Past Guest" Sales Good Deals?

[Leo Jay]

There's no easy answer to this, but do any multiple Carnival sailers out there have a good sense of how good a deal the Carnival past guest sales generally are, compared with independent travel agents?

[mfs2k]

Not a fair question.

 

I'm pretty certain travel agents CAN sell Past Guest Cruises too.

 

The real question in evaluating Past Guest Cruises is:

How good is the value for the past guest cruise you are considering? and is it during a week you want to sail?

 

I think Carnival uses Past Guest Promotions to attract business to weeks that would otherwise be slow. They dont need to promote peak weeks, so they add these promotions to fill the ships during off peak periods.

 

I think you should base your "buy" decision on the ship, the time of year, the ports, the price. Don't pay too much attention to the "freebies" they throw in. Most have little extra value. The free "beach" towels are thin, the coupons are generally not used, the tote bag may end up in a closet...

 

Also, IN MY OPINION the "two category upgrade" offer doesn't mean much either. On ships these size, whether you are on deck 8 or 10 doesnt matter much if they are both balcony (or window, or inside) cabins. The upgrades are usually within the same categories.

 

Again, Just my opinion.

 

Michael

[LizaMM]

Not a fair question.

 

I'm pretty certain travel agents CAN sell Past Guest Cruises too.

 

The real question in evaluating Past Guest Cruises is:

How good is the value for the past guest cruise you are considering? and is it during a week you want to sail?

 

I think Carnival uses Past Guest Promotions to attract business to weeks that would otherwise be slow. They dont need to promote peak weeks, so they add these promotions to fill the ships during off peak periods.

 

I think you should base your "buy" decision on the ship, the time of year, the ports, the price. Don't pay too much attention to the "freebies" they throw in. Most have little extra value. The free "beach" towels are thin, the coupons are generally not used, the tote bag may end up in a closet...

 

Also, IN MY OPINION the "two category upgrade" offer doesn't mean much either. On ships these size, whether you are on deck 8 or 10 doesnt matter much if they are both balcony (or window, or inside) cabins. The upgrades are usually within the same categories.

 

Again, Just my opinion.

 

Michael

 

My TA has definetly quoted me Past Guest pricing.

 

I have priced out sailings where the Past Guest Discount was available and it did offer me a rate savings. This is much more valuable to me than upgrades or the coupon book. Personal opinions on this I guess.

 

I have to agree with the above poster on the 2 category upgrade thing. Unless there is a particular place you want to be on the ship then this may not be any savings for you.

 

Additionally.....on my upcoming cruise there was a Past Guest rate and it included a 2 category upgrade but I wound up being able to book a Resident Rate which was even lower than the past guest rate and I got to book an 8A yet upgrade to ANY deck I wanted. I liked that this time because there were lots of cabins to chose from and I desired certain things from my location on the ship.

[impcinder]

Depends on when you sail. I am a teacher and can only cruise summers, winter break. The only sailing this summer that offered 'special rates' for past guests was 7/23. A previous guest friend sailing this winter (Feb) has the same room for 50% less than us!

 

Some travel agents will give a slight discount - fare turns out to be cheaper than Carnival.