Carnival Cruise offering me "free cruising" ?!

[bthomas67wagon]

Over the last couple of months Carnival has been offering me $25-30 6-9 day cruising out of Miami.

NOW they are FREE!!! Lol.

IDK if it's a glitch, or the cruises are cancelled or they are desperate to get anyone on a ship to spend money?

 

What are your thoughts on this??

 

[CanobieFan]

Aw, just looked myself and the 6 day was posted at 249 and the 8 450.

I'd try to book on and see what happens, haha

[sanger727]

Carnival does offer targeted  cruisers deeply discounted cruises. Not sure about free, but plenty of people on their boards brag about $25 cruises. If you had to log in to see those offers, they could be legit.

Edited January 18, 2022 by sanger727

[evandbob]

I have Diamond loyalty on Carnival and usually spend an hour or 2 in the casino at night.  When I sign into my account offers, I have lots of free and "almost free" interior and ocean view cabin week sailings...I look for balcony rooms, and i see offers for mid ship mid deck balconies for $200pp on a week's cruise.

 

I hadn't gotten so many offers this low before COVID, so I'll guess these are time limited and specific to present day cancellations.   While I did a sailing a month in Sept, Oct and Nov, I'll wait a bit for Omicron to pass before booking another sailing.

 

 

[bucfan2]

Won’t be surprised to see low price/free offers continue….they’re doing all they can to get people on board.  Hard core cruisers might subject themselves to jumping thru all these hoops, but the general public has plenty of other options to spend their vacation $’s on.

[Tapi]

On an interline website, I’m seeing Carnival cruises starting at $40. Cheapest 7 nighter is $80. And Carnival isn’t the only one with these insane prices. All of them are trying to get people back onboard. 
 

We took advantage of one of these deals back in September, and because the cruise fare was so cheap, we “splurged” once onboard. We booked excursions, spa treatments, and didn’t hold back on ordering drinks, etc. 

 

Too bad I can’t currently take any time off right now. Otherwise, I’d be booking cruises like crazy. 
 

 

[Duanerice1]

We got 2 cruises for a fantastic rate over Thanksgiving.  But a 5 night free cruise will still cost about $300 in port and taxes then another $135 for gratuities.

[BlerkOne]

Yes, free cruises + port taxes and fees + gratuities = not really free.

 

 

[Midwestgal]

I got a free cruise on Breeze in 2014 . They were picking random people to give a free cabin to and I was one of them . You got to choose what ship and itinerary….made me happy! 

[Illbcruzn4life]

29 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Yes, free cruises + port taxes and fees + gratuities = not really free.

 

 

Obviously you didnt get any of these offers

[BTromboneFrack]

We signed up for 6 "free" cruises.  Port fees, taxes, gratuities not included, but it's a great deal.   We leave on our first one this Saturday.  After the benefits they are giving us (casino play  and return of deposit), our 10 day Alaska cruise this summer will cost my wife and I a total of $75.00.  HOWEVER, be careful.  Make SURE it is really from Carnival because there are some unscrupulous "travel agencies" that are saying they are offering free cruises from Carnival and they really are not.    I checked their phone number online and the most common thing to pop up with it was the Better Business Bureau. 

[hurricane0226]

We received the " free cruise offer" 0 for a balcony, 25 for a suite , but still have to pay port charges,

gratuities , and insurance, so not so free.  

[BlerkOne]

30 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

Obviously you didnt get any of these offers

My Horizon cruise last July was at a very low price, but what does that have to do with whether or not you are vaccinated?

[Illbcruzn4life]

24 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

My Horizon cruise last July was at a very low price, but what does that have to do with whether or not you are vaccinated?

Huh? What did your post have to do with whether or not you are vaccinated? 

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, hurricane0226 said:

We received the " free cruise offer" 0 for a balcony, 25 for a suite , but still have to pay port charges,

gratuities , and insurance, so not so free.  

Time to play the world's smallest 🎻

[Virga]

8 hours ago, BTromboneFrack said:

We signed up for 6 "free" cruises.  Port fees, taxes, gratuities not included, but it's a great deal.   We leave on our first one this Saturday.  After the benefits they are giving us (casino play  and return of deposit), our 10 day Alaska cruise this summer will cost my wife and I a total of $75.00.  HOWEVER, be careful.  Make SURE it is really from Carnival because there are some unscrupulous "travel agencies" that are saying they are offering free cruises from Carnival and they really are not.    I checked their phone number online and the most common thing to pop up with it was the Better Business Bureau. 

 

We also booked a 10 night Alaskan cruise with the best of our offers.  $1000 for two including port fees and tips, $400 OBC, $1000 freeplay, and FCC/OBC from a cancelled cruise.  Absolutely crazy - we'll happily give them back all of that freeplay in the casino, all of the OBC on excursions, and hope/pray they give us another round of pricing like that!!

[Kanyon71]

Going to have to start checking my offers more often. 🙂

[pogoism9]

10 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Yes, free cruises + port taxes and fees + gratuities = not really free.

 

 

 

You will never get out of paying taxes and port fees. Gratuities are on you as well. That's never going to change, but I can tell you this: paying $25 + taxes/fees + grats is still miles better than $900 + taxes/fees + grats. I actually got a deal yesterday that was 0$ interior, or $5 balcony. The catch was the gratuities have to be prepaid.

[Joebucks]

Seems like a relatively smart form of marketing to me. People have all of their principles and rules, until something is free, then it all goes out the window. Seems smart to me to get people off of the internet, and onto the ships. Especially your customers who spend money on extras.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, pogoism9 said:

 

You will never get out of paying taxes and port fees. Gratuities are on you as well. That's never going to change, but I can tell you this: paying $25 + taxes/fees + grats is still miles better than $900 + taxes/fees + grats. I actually got a deal yesterday that was 0$ interior, or $5 balcony. The catch was the gratuities have to be prepaid.

Port taxes and fees have to be paid, but I don't know why the casino *couldn't* pay those, too. Or gratuities. They might for some cruisers.

[Colorado Beach Bum]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

Port taxes and fees have to be paid, but I don't know why the casino *couldn't* pay those, too. Or gratuities. They might for some cruisers.

With casino cash they more than offset all the other fees and gratuities for us and we still have casino cash available.  

[Calnev1]

This thread is typical of several other threads posted these past few months.   Someone says they got a "free" cruise offer, and then someone else is compelled to  immediately point out its not really "free" because you still  have to pay pay port taxes/fees and gratuities.   I think we all know by know about those expenses, but still . . . . someone always has to point it out.

 

From now on, I plan to refer to these great offers as "free* cruise offers" in my posts.   See that asterisk?  It represents the additional expense. So then maybe  no one needs to waste space mentioning it.

 

 

[d12j28]

55 minutes ago, Calnev1 said:

This thread is typical of several other threads posted these past few months.   Someone says they got a "free" cruise offer, and then someone else is compelled to  immediately point out its not really "free" because you still  have to pay pay port taxes/fees and gratuities.   I think we all know by know about those expenses, but still . . . . someone always has to point it out.

 

From now on, I plan to refer to these great offers as "free* cruise offers" in my posts.   See that asterisk?  It represents the additional expense. So then maybe  no one needs to waste space mentioning it.

 

 

Maybe if we just call it a free "room" instead of a free "cruise" it will make them happy.

 

Too me it's no different than getting a free room at a land based casino but you still have to pay the resort fee. 

[Kanyon71]

As the saying goes, Governments are always going to get their pound of flesh. 🙂

 

I have NO problem with paying that small amount for the charges and tips for all the really hard working people on the ships, we always make it a point to give our great servers even more.

[lowroller]

On 1/18/2022 at 12:25 PM, bthomas67wagon said:

Over the last couple of months Carnival has been offering me $25-30 6-9 day cruising out of Miami.

NOW they are FREE!!! Lol.

IDK if it's a glitch, or the cruises are cancelled or they are desperate to get anyone on a ship to spend money?

 

What are your thoughts on this??

 

One day these great offers will end, just like in 2008. I suggest booking all that you can before the gravy train derails.