Will we ever see cruise deals like the ones back in March and May?

[workfromship]

We snapped up a few cruises during the Sailabration and Memorial Day sales! We found out we have some more availability to cruise this year so we're trying to figure out the best time is to buy one or two more sailings. There's quite a few good deals on my account but none are GREAT deals like we've seen earlier this year. What do you guys think? Should we wait a bit longer before pulling the trigger to see if better deals come out?

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

4 minutes ago, workfromship said:

We snapped up a few cruises during the Sailabration and Memorial Day sales! We found out we have some more availability to cruise this year so we're trying to figure out the best time is to buy one or two more sailings. There's quite a few good deals on my account but none are GREAT deals like we've seen earlier this year. What do you guys think? Should we wait a bit longer before pulling the trigger to see if better deals come out?

Depends on the ship, length of cruise and time of year. For an example The Carnival Liberty 4 night this June 27th Ocean View mid ship is $51.00pp pd plus tax. Carnival Freedom for Halloween this year 5 night is only $45.00 pp pd plus tax. Ocean view, Now for Halloween 2023 Carnival liberty is only $36.00 pp pd plus tax. Those are excellent prices. The Halloween 2023 includes $50 OBC and free drinks while gaming. Yes we do Halloween every year. Usually 4-5 cruises a year.

[Eli_6]

Well, if the economy goes in the tank, you might.  

[halterk]

1 hour ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

and free drinks while gaming

Those are special casino rates specific to you, and not available to everybody. 
My rate for the same cruise is $184/person plus tax.

Edited June 17, 2022 by halterk

[cruisingguy007]

1 hour ago, Eli_6 said:

Well, if the economy goes in the tank, you might.  

 

If? That ship has sailed. Stock market has tanked, gas is through the roof, costs of energy/food/sundries has been jacked up, crypto has crashed, tech is laying off folks and housing is next. I'm sure there will be some mega deals on the horizon. Some are already reporting deals on other lines, even during the holidays when prices usually spike. Once summer ends, things may slow down substantially.  

[JT1962]

I’ve taken 2 cruises on Carnival with really good rates this year (not Casino rates). I was getting email offers almost daily and calls & texts from my PVP almost weekly.  After my 2nd cruise the email offers almost stopped completely. Searching online now seems to have mostly standard rates, even when logged in. Maybe since I don’t gamble, buy the drink package or specialty dining and usually book independent excursions is why the offers stopped.

[tallnthensome]

I booked some great rates over the past few months but the ones lately are nowhere near as good. I expect less deals being offered and prices to rise ....unless the economy really tanks. The ones I booked like Europe are thousands more then a couple months ago.  think you're going to see a big push by the lines to end testing and maybe even vaccine requirements in order to draw back as many customers as they can to stay afloat. 

[ledges1]

I am sailing next week on the Ecstacy for $395 (5 days for 2 people). Booked about a month ago. It was a special sent directly to me. Online the room was $700. I think there will be some deals but it may be on short small port cruises like Mobile.

 

[pohlerbear]

Cruised last month with two friends. They each got an email for amazing deals including $75 per person with $75 OBC.  I got nothing 

Edited June 18, 2022 by pohlerbear

[wikoffclan]

3 hours ago, ALWAYS CRUZIN said:

Depends on the ship, length of cruise and time of year. For an example The Carnival Liberty 4 night this June 27th Ocean View mid ship is $51.00pp pd plus tax. Carnival Freedom for Halloween this year 5 night is only $45.00 pp pd plus tax. Ocean view, Now for Halloween 2023 Carnival liberty is only $36.00 pp pd plus tax. Those are excellent prices. The Halloween 2023 includes $50 OBC and free drinks while gaming. Yes we do Halloween every year. Usually 4-5 cruises a year.

Totally agree these have to be Casino rates.

 

We cruised August & November '21 and January & March '22 and the best deals we've  been offered have come in emails very shortly after returning from each of those cruises. Our next cruise is scheduled for September '22 booked after returning from the January '22 cruise. Got a deal for a Suite that was only $100 more than an OV - about $750 all in. Got my upcoming Solo cruise in November '22 for $225 all in for an Interior after the March '22 sailing.

 

Might be worth it to wait and see what offers you get when you return from your next cruise.

 

BTW - I've never gotten the drinks package or dined in a specialty restaurant. I haven't taken a cruise ship excursion in years and only play the slot machines occasionally. I did win $139 once!

[Sailor75]

3 hours ago, halterk said:

Those are special casino rates specific to you, and not available to everybody. 
My rate for the same cruise is $184/person plus tax.

Not true. Carnival gave me a free cruise and drinks with the Players Club and I never play in the casino except those stupid quarter machines once in a while.

Edited June 18, 2022 by Sailor75

[Sailor75]

4 hours ago, workfromship said:

We snapped up a few cruises during the Sailabration and Memorial Day sales! We found out we have some more availability to cruise this year so we're trying to figure out the best time is to buy one or two more sailings. There's quite a few good deals on my account but none are GREAT deals like we've seen earlier this year. What do you guys think? Should we wait a bit longer before pulling the trigger to see if better deals come out?

I'd wait. I have offers for $80 per person for a 5 day cruise (Bahamas), but I was getting $99 for a 7 day Halloween cruise 2019 on the Vista or Horizon before Covid (can't remember which ship) and $100 for 7 days for Thanksgiving 2019. Now, I think Carnival gives you a good deal to try and reel you in then keeps raising the price.

[ladychater]

Last week I could have done a 7 day trip to Alaska for $38.  I never use the casino.  The price was available for 3 days (along with some other amazingly cheap cruises under $100) but then disappeared.  Keep checking your emails!

 

[Skippy]

Are these deals last minute? Like you have to be ready to sail next week or something?

I thought we got a really good deal on our upcoming cruise, but it wasn’t under $100 pp for a full week. 

[Sailor75]

7 hours ago, Skippy said:

Are these deals last minute? Like you have to be ready to sail next week or something?

I thought we got a really good deal on our upcoming cruise, but it wasn’t under $100 pp for a full week. 

$80 is August. Halloween was last minute, but Thanksgiving was maybe 3 weeks before (I took that one). My free cruise was this past March, a lot of people were sailing for free, they had many ships available and in April too.

Edited June 18, 2022 by Sailor75

[Indytraveler83]

Prior to the craziness with COVID, I typically found the best deals in fall, sometimes Carnival's Black Friday sales are really good too.  It's not unusual for us to book 2 or more cruises during the same call on those deals.  

[Drazil65]

Realistically, CCL (and many other industries) did what they needed to do during the height of the pandemic to stay afloat and book passengers.  Everything in the the whole world has been operating in a totally unrealistic and unsustainable expectation (look at the housing industry totally unsustainable and there was always going to be an end and reality check) including cruising.  These were historically unprecedented times and we all wanted to get back to normal (unfortunately that means dealing with the corporate greed of some industries like the gas companies and airlines that will use the these times to their own advantage,  surprise, surprise, go figure!!).  

 

For months now on these forums regular, long time cruisers have been voicing this and stating that although the rates have been a gift to all of us, we need to get back to reality so that things even back out (and less blue cards and many other complaints) and we can get back to good (closer to what we all deem more normal times).  The cruise rates during the middle of the pandemic cannot be compared to regular sales and normal rates of the past or the future, apples and oranges.  There will be CCL sales but not pandemic era sales.  Cannot have it both ways, normal is creeping back in and this is what everyone has been wanting for 2 years.  

 

Those of us that are regular, long time cruisers will continue to book and cruise but maybe those that were new to cruising or cruised less often maybe not so much.  

 

 

Edited June 18, 2022 by Drazil65

[ledges1]

Deals are also much better on the old ships (Fantasy class and some Conquest). Did a 7 day on the Glory for $720 in May 22nd for 2 people.

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

16 hours ago, halterk said:

Those are special casino rates specific to you, and not available to everybody. 
My rate for the same cruise is $184/person plus tax.

Yes and no. Those rates I posted can be found on any site that books cruises. Nothing special. As for Carnival. The price is for VIFP as most anyone that cruised Carnival are.

[sarmat1]

The April "$1 for 3rd and 4th guests" sale, got us a $1,000 immediate reduction for our kids on our July cruise.  Just took one quick phone call for that adjustment.

[Ihearttravel11]

10 minutes ago, sarmat1 said:

The April "$1 for 3rd and 4th guests" sale, got us a $1,000 immediate reduction for our kids on our July cruise.  Just took one quick phone call for that adjustment.

Ditto. We ended up with over $900 OBC due to this sale.  🙂 

[Sailor75]

11 hours ago, Drazil65 said:

Realistically, CCL (and many other industries) did what they needed to do during the height of the pandemic to stay afloat and book passengers.  Everything in the the whole world has been operating in a totally unrealistic and unsustainable expectation (look at the housing industry totally unsustainable and there was always going to be an end and reality check) including cruising.  These were historically unprecedented times and we all wanted to get back to normal (unfortunately that means dealing with the corporate greed of some industries like the gas companies and airlines that will use the these times to their own advantage,  surprise, surprise, go figure!!).  

 

For months now on these forums regular, long time cruisers have been voicing this and stating that although the rates have been a gift to all of us, we need to get back to reality so that things even back out (and less blue cards and many other complaints) and we can get back to good (closer to what we all deem more normal times).  The cruise rates during the middle of the pandemic cannot be compared to regular sales and normal rates of the past or the future, apples and oranges.  There will be CCL sales but not pandemic era sales.  Cannot have it both ways, normal is creeping back in and this is what everyone has been wanting for 2 years.  

 

Those of us that are regular, long time cruisers will continue to book and cruise but maybe those that were new to cruising or cruised less often maybe not so much.  

 

 

I've been on 7 cruises since the restart, 4 were this year and I have 2 more booked this year. I expect rates may go back to a more normal; but, I think the industry is having trouble filling ships and will have more trouble with an impending recession which probably means good discounts. I just booked an MSC cruise for $450 per person with unlimited drinks for October, inside cabin, but that's a good deal (cheaper than just Carnival's Cheers package alone).

 

Carnival has cut a lot of amenities over the years and way before the pandemic to save money. Remember midnight buffets? They use to have them every night. They also had parties with free drinks open to everyone. The Platinum/Diamond party used to include Gold, now they have no parties. Now, they only want to do one room cleaning but charge you for two (and they were trying to do this before the pandemic).

 

Prior to the pandemic I remember many cruises with mostly blue cards and usually just 2 - 8 diamond cruisers at our diamond parties. I think cruise lines would rather have new cruisers, they probably spend more money and don't realize what has been cut. My first cruise, I went on a shore excursion at every stop; now, I rarely go on excursions because I've been to the destinations so many times.

Edited June 19, 2022 by Sailor75

[cruizergal70]

13 hours ago, Sailor75 said:

 

Prior to the pandemic I remember many cruises with mostly blue cards and usually just 2 - 8 diamond cruisers at our diamond parties. I think cruise lines would rather have new cruisers, they probably spend more money and don't realize what has been cut. My first cruise, I went on a shore excursion at every stop; now, I rarely go on excursions because I've been to the destinations so many times.

You need to cruise to other areas besides the Caribvean. Carnival goes to Europe, Australia,  Alaska,  South America,  etc.

[M&A]

3 minutes ago, cruizergal70 said:

You need to cruise to other areas besides the Caribvean. Carnival goes to Europe, Australia,  Alaska,  South America,  etc.

Yes, we got the $200 balcony deal for the 12 day Northern Europe out of Dover on the Pride.

Same week we saw the Pride 9 day Dover to Rome deal for the same price and booked that too.

 

[audcc77]

It’s anyone’s guess but I just read an article stating extras like travel and restaurants have trended down in the last few weeks.  People are hanging onto their money more and doing without. 
 

In a way, I want back those great deals but in a way I don’t because that means cruise lines are desperate.