Check your rates!! Dropped a lot!

[jerseygirlinAZ]

Thanks for the post!  Ours went WAY up, lol.  

[jbethel11]

2 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

It depends. My Aruba cruise this summer I bought a year ago. I took two price drops in the fall...and now it's $300 more and you can only get a room on deck 2. I'm on lido.

I've been manually tracking the August 29th cruise since February of last year and the prices have fallen, increased, and fallen again. Now, as you've mentioned, they've increased!

[john91498]

Thank you!!!!!

 

Our cruise went down by another $168. In addition to the casino rate we got a few months ago that took it down by $440, that's $608 off!!!! Whoooo...

[Saint Greg]

12 minutes ago, jbethel11 said:

I've been manually tracking the August 29th cruise since February of last year and the prices have fallen, increased, and fallen again. Now, as you've mentioned, they've increased!

That’s the one. 

[helene109]

9 minutes ago, john91498 said:

Thank you!!!!!

 

Our cruise went down by another $168. In addition to the casino rate we got a few months ago that took it down by $440, that's $608 off!!!! Whoooo...

Your welcome!! That is impressive!! Keep checking it! You never know as I didn’t think that mine could drop Monday and today!

[john91498]

I wonder if these rate reductions have anything to do with the Corona virus? I think Carnival figures if they reduce the rates, people wouldn't cancel their trips?

[Organized Chaos]

1 hour ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

We do not have early saver (I'm sure of this, because my deposit is fully refundable) and I have gotten a bunch of rate reductions.   These are the terms of our booking:

 

Rate Reduction: As a general policy, once penalties commence and/or once your cruise is paid in full, cruise lines do not allow rate reductions. Exceptions to this policy, if any, are at the full discretion of the cruise line

 

I wish they'd be more clear about it in their FAQ's. Everything I've read on there points to ES being the only rate with price matching. And the fact that they denied me because (they claimed) it wasn't an ES rate is another indication of that being the case. I've seen plenty of people on here say it, too, so it looks like it confuses a lot of people. There's times when they don't seem aware of their own policies.

[Organized Chaos]

1 minute ago, john91498 said:

I wonder if these rate reductions have anything to do with the Corona virus? I think Carnival figures if they reduce the rates, people wouldn't cancel their trips?

 

That's exactly what I was getting ready to post. I don't think they'd admit to it, but I think that's why people are seeing all these prices drop. The virus has had an impact on their stock, many people are freaking out about it, especially when it comes to vacations that leave the country, so I'm betting they saw a big dip in bookings.

[john91498]

My sailing isn't till August of this year. So, I hope all this virus stuff will blow over by then.

[ncovert]

Had been religiously checking and seeing nothing.  On Sunday DW said check just to see and out cat was down $120 pp (6 people) nice chuck of change since it was two days before final payment and did not have an ES booked.

[helene109]

10 minutes ago, john91498 said:

My sailing isn't till August of this year. So, I hope all this virus stuff will blow over by then.

We are August too! I agree hopefully it is gone by then!

[helene109]

3 minutes ago, ncovert said:

Had been religiously checking and seeing nothing.  On Sunday DW said check just to see and out cat was down $120 pp (6 people) nice chuck of change since it was two days before final payment and did not have an ES booked.

That’s great! Check the rate today too!!

[ProgRockCruiser]

Heh, usually we book relatively unique cabins (like aft balconies), so price drops are not usually an option.

 

So just checked our next cruise, which indeed does not offer me any savings - in fact, for balconies a "guaranteed room" balcony is all that is available for that cruise, can't even pick the specific regular balcony, and the price is for a couple hundred more than we are booked for into the aft balcony.

 

I guess that particular sailing is almost sold out...

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

16 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I wish they'd be more clear about it in their FAQ's. Everything I've read on there points to ES being the only rate with price matching. And the fact that they denied me because (they claimed) it wasn't an ES rate is another indication of that being the case. I've seen plenty of people on here say it, too, so it looks like it confuses a lot of people. There's times when they don't seem aware of their own policies.

Well, in your case it clearly was someone at Carnival not knowing what they were doing.

 

I do know there are some non-early saver fares that do not have any price protection. We had this for one booking, through a TA, and was told this at the time of booking. The TA gave us an option: Carnival.com rate with price protection, or $100 pp less than carnival.com's lowest rate, but no price protection.  We took the discount.  I checked fares just to see if I made the right call, and it turns out we did.

 

I believe the FAQ is intentionally vague regarding price protection.  That is the major benefit of the early saver fare, with the non-refundable deposit.  

[bury me at sea]

26 minutes ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

I wish they'd be more clear about it in their FAQ's. Everything I've read on there points to ES being the only rate with price matching. And the fact that they denied me because (they claimed) it wasn't an ES rate is another indication of that being the case. I've seen plenty of people on here say it, too, so it looks like it confuses a lot of people. There's times when they don't seem aware of their own policies.

 

Pricie rates are confusing.  Not all rates are always offered, and not all rates are available to all cruisers.

 

I have booked a Past Guest rate with no restrictions on name changes and price matching allowed until final payment date, and I've booked an Early Saver Past Guest Rate with no name changes allowed and price matching up to 2 days prior to sailing.  I think the Bounce Back Offer available during and directly after a cruise has its own terms.  I book whichever rate fits the situation at the time.

 

I generally find what I want a minimum of a year, up to 2 years out, phone my TA and my PVP to inquire into rates available, and go from there.

 

I think there are some rates that offer only a 48 hour price protection but I've never booked that rate.  And I know absolutely nothing about casino rates.

 

 

[Organized Chaos]

34 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

Well, in your case it clearly was someone at Carnival not knowing what they were doing.

 

Surprise surprise, huh? 😉 It had Early Saver in the name of the rate (some long name, VIFP something something Early Saver). It had non-refundable deposits. All of the stipulations of ES (no name changes, etc.). If it walks like ES and quacks like ES...Carnival says it isn't ES. 🤔

 

Well then, it's good to know now. We've had pretty good luck with price matches so we always booked ES, but now I'll be sure to look at the others more closely.

[Organized Chaos]

20 minutes ago, bury me at sea said:

Not all rates are always offered, and not all rates are available to all cruisers.

 

We came across something we thought was odd way back when we booked our upcoming cruise. My wife and I were both doing mock bookings and she kept quoting me a lower price. I couldn't figure out what I was doing differently. Come to find out, they offered her one more (cheaper) rate that wasn't offered to me. What we found odd about it was that we have the exact same days at sea, so it wasn't like it was trying to entice someone who's cruised more. It wasn't a casino rate (we don't even play in the casino). Everything's pretty much the same between us. Only thing I can think of is that she has used her credit card, whereas I always use cash/gift cards. Maybe she was in the system and it offered her a better rate. I don't know. That was the only time that's happened so far.

[RenoNanaOz]

4 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Yeah mine are either more expensive or my category is sold out. When I see that it just tells me I booked at the right time....early!

Yep mine on Panorama in May went up too. Oh well! Looking forward to your Live review.

[john91498]

1 hour ago, helene109 said:

We are August too! I agree hopefully it is gone by then!

Where are you cruising?

 

We're on the Panorama cruising the Mexican Rivera.

[13cheermom]

Just a note to remember to check your bookings even with a limited quantity of specific type of cabin.  We had a deluxe scenic ocean view with the floor to ceiling windows (very few of these), didn't expect any price drop and was fine with the pricing at time of booking.  But then one dayI was just curious, checked and there was another cabin available that I could price match to, and saved another $60 off our booking.  So just saying. . . .  you never know.

Edited February 26, 2020 by 13cheermom
added

[helene109]

20 minutes ago, john91498 said:

Where are you cruising?

 

We're on the Panorama cruising the Mexican Rivera.

We are doing the Pride out of Baltimore not thrilled with the ship but she got married last August and moved out there!

we have been on the Vista and Guy Fieri happened to be on board here is a picture of him with my daughter 

[RenoNanaOz]

3 minutes ago, helene109 said:

We are doing the Pride out of Baltimore not thrilled with the ship but she got married last August and moved out there!

we have been on the Vista and Guy Fieri happened to be on board here is a picture of him with my daughter 

Was he nice? My Son saw him at a Sushi place in Vegas and said he was nice but I have heard others say he's a big phony.

[john91498]

23 minutes ago, RenoNanaOz said:

Was he nice? My Son saw him at a Sushi place in Vegas and said he was nice but I have heard others say he's a big phony.

 

I met Fieri at his restaurant, Vegas Kitchen. He was very nice and dotted on my 7 year old daughter. He comped our meal, which was very nice of him.

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

1 hour ago, Organized Chaos said:

 

We came across something we thought was odd way back when we booked our upcoming cruise. My wife and I were both doing mock bookings and she kept quoting me a lower price. I couldn't figure out what I was doing differently. Come to find out, they offered her one more (cheaper) rate that wasn't offered to me. What we found odd about it was that we have the exact same days at sea, so it wasn't like it was trying to entice someone who's cruised more. It wasn't a casino rate (we don't even play in the casino). Everything's pretty much the same between us. Only thing I can think of is that she has used her credit card, whereas I always use cash/gift cards. Maybe she was in the system and it offered her a better rate. I don't know. That was the only time that's happened so far.

Wife and I have had different available rates also.  And, ta's have rates not available at carnival.com also.

[AandBmom]

Does anyone know if Carnival still has that handy price comparison calculator tool to see if the price has changed?