Why are Australian cruises so cheap?

[WorkerBee74]

12 hours ago, ehyup71 said:

 

On the offer I got had dates into 2024 to book.  We chose to book May 2023, so I still have over a year to shop around for cheap airfare.  You can't even book airfare this far out yet from my date.

 

Ah, I assumed these cruises were right away.  Sweet deal then if you can swing it!

[Virga]

For folks who have always had deals like this, what is risked when you book speculatively?  My other half won't find out for sure what time he'll have off in 2023 until September of this year.  We'll be well before the final payment deadline, but I'm not clear on what the penalty would be if we have to cancel on an offer like this.  

 

If the 'cruise fare' is something ridiculously low, is that all we risk?  Or do we also risk the port fees/taxes?  For the rates I'm looking at, the full total must be paid at time of booking - both the 'cruise fare' and the port fees and taxes.  The terms say that the full total is non-refundable - that's totally fine - but I'm wondering if any part (or all) of the fees and taxes portion will be transferable to a different cruise.

 

 

The full terms and conditions are here: https://www.carnival.com/cruise-deals/vifp-club/past-guest-offers-QCB/terms.aspx/ - for some reason, clicking in the t&c link on the offer from the website brings up a whole bunch of other promo terms, but not these.  I was able to get the actual terms from my email, but I'm still not any clearer on how a cancellation would be handled.  

 

 

Thanks to anyone with enough familiarity to let me know what I'd be risking if I booked one of these!

[def0715]

I was told I only risked losing my cruise fare, which was indeed ridiculously low, so I booked an 11-day Australia sailing for January 2023. Not sure I’ll be able to go but I wanted to lock it down. I’d triple-check with Carnival but I was told I’d get all taxes and fees back if I cancel.

[Virga]

Since I had to fight tooth and nail to get Carnival to 'make an exception' and follow the written terms for prior (forced due to the ship not sailing, not my decision) cancellations that were emailed to me, I have little confidence that anything my PVP says will be honored.  It's probably too late to email and get a written response before I book, but I think I'm willing to risk the port fees regardless - and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised!

 

[pe4all]

6 hours ago, Virga said:

Since I had to fight tooth and nail to get Carnival to 'make an exception' and follow the written terms for prior (forced due to the ship not sailing, not my decision) cancellations that were emailed to me, I have little confidence that anything my PVP says will be honored.  It's probably too late to email and get a written response before I book, but I think I'm willing to risk the port fees regardless - and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised!

 

Port fees and tax will be refunded.  Also any excursions or pre-purchased items. (water in room, gratuities)

[Virga]

If that's the case, I do NOT understand why they run promotions like this.  At least that $100pp rebated as OBC got them a real cancellation penalty.  $8 is not enough of a penalty at all.

[Sparky74]

As an Australian I’m not seeing anything like these deals.
Maybe I should look at booking through a USA TA???

[lasekeye]

1 hour ago, Sparky74 said:

As an Australian I’m not seeing anything like these deals.
Maybe I should look at booking through a USA TA???

The deals are attached to your profile with Carnival, so they would know your casino history & address…

[NutsAboutGolf]

Definitely have to check flights before booking but at the moment they're not that much considering how far away they are.  Flying from LAX, round trip in economy has lots of flights for around $700.

 

[M-H-B]

It's possible that the Australian government is subsidising/working together with Carnival to attract international tourism back here, as from what I can tell, most of the Australian domestic cruiser market is not seeing these sorts of deals.

[Board_Shorts]

On 3/29/2022 at 2:17 AM, BubbaD123 said:

What's that in freedom dollars?

Google is your friend: https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=AUD+-+USD

Edited April 1, 2022 by Board_Shorts

[Petersonfcu]

For those of you who are concerned about  the cost of airfare to Australia, many travel bloggers describe how US residents can get international flights for close to free by generating points and miles with credit card sign up bonuses and similar deals.   Particularly if you have a time frame of 12 months or more until your Australian cruise, you can plan for and fly business class or first class for MUCH less than what I am seeing quoted on this thread for economy air travel.  My wife and I have been traveling internationally using points and miles for years now on the cheap using points and miles.  I am not going to post specific links to particular bloggers (in part because I don't want to be accused of being one of those bloggers, which I am not  . . . ), but you can find multiple different resources easily enough using Google search.

Edited April 1, 2022 by Petersonfcu

[lasekeye]

6 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Definitely have to check flights before booking but at the moment they're not that much considering how far away they are.  Flying from LAX, round trip in economy has lots of flights for around $700.

 

Your screen shot states one way price, yet you posted round trip….plus, that’s the month of December.