is this real?

[smears]

so i've got some offers on carnival when i login and this one came up and it seems too good to be true.

 

does this mean that i get a balcony? or that i might get a balcony? clearly the price is insane.

 

someone talk me down. i can't keep booking cruises when i haven't even taken the one that's already booked.

 

 

[kdr69]

Its real.  So basically you pay the deposit of 200 and get OBC for 200 which works out ot being free other  than the taxes and fees.  Getting lots of these.

[Ilovesailaway]

No the offers are real. I would work the trip backwards though to get true cost. Look at the dates and then look at flights, hotel, tips, drink package, ground transportation... Free cruises can get expensive lol.

If you have the time and money now is a great time to book.

[smears]

i can drive to the port. i booked one under a similar deal on the glory for this november. 8 days for 338 bucks with 200 back in obc. interior room though, albeit on the lido deck which i thought was nice.

 

this one says balcony. does that mean i get the balcony or that i may get the balcony? if i'm gonna go to the panama canal, it would be nice to have that balcony. if it's a balcony for that price, then i kind of want to book it today.

[Schoifmom]

1 minute ago, smears said:

i can drive to the port. i booked one under a similar deal on the glory for this november. 8 days for 338 bucks with 200 back in obc. interior room though, albeit on the lido deck which i thought was nice.

 

this one says balcony. does that mean i get the balcony or that i may get the balcony? if i'm gonna go to the panama canal, it would be nice to have that balcony. if it's a balcony for that price, then i kind of want to book it today.

 

What happens when you click through?  Do you get to choose your room or is it chosen for you?  Either way, it's a balcony.

[smears]

not sure. i'm gonna try it.

[smears]

if i click through, then select that zj5 code for the balcony, it lets me pick a room, but all the rooms that it shows are interior. the balconies aren't sold out or anything. so that's confusing. 

[mdsgu]

It sounds like a balcony.  Call Carnival, give them the code, and see what they say.  Might transfer you to the casino department since it's a casino offer, but that cruise would be AWESOME!

[smears]

i'm gonna call them this afternoon. if they can guarantee a balcony at that rate i'll book it. that's just crazy. plus it's next year, so plenty of time to set cash aside for the booze and what have you.

[ProgRockCruiser]

I seem to recall getting FB ads from Carnival saying that casino player can get free rooms or some other similarly awesome deals.  Since I'm not a casino player, I didn't pay it much heed.

 

So yeah, that seems legit!

 

(In essence, I guess Carnival considers that the average gambler pre-pays for their room thanks to their losses on previous cruises?)

[smears]

i once did a back to back, but it was years ago, and by the time i got off the 2nd ship, i'd made more $ in the casino than i'd paid for both trips and everything on both sail and signs. i think they want their money back.

[Bobbiegentry]

50 minutes ago, smears said:

so i've got some offers on carnival when i login and this one came up and it seems too good to be true.

 

does this mean that i get a balcony? or that i might get a balcony? clearly the price is insane.

 

someone talk me down. i can't keep booking cruises when i haven't even taken the one that's already booked.

 

 

so.......

[1kaper]

54 minutes ago, smears said:

if i click through, then select that zj5 code for the balcony, it lets me pick a room, but all the rooms that it shows are interior. the balconies aren't sold out or anything. so that's confusing. 

I would click on terms and conditions to see.  I know some of our offers are "up to" a balcony.  Also, I have found our "free balcony" to be a cove balcony. 

I suspect they limit the number of rooms available for that code and even if balconies are available, the ones available for that code might sold out. 

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, smears said:

not sure. i'm gonna try it.

Lol need a roomie? I wanna go. Wish I got offers like this. I'll even pay the taxes. I was just looking thru my carnival offers and thinking they are awful. Very high $$$. They must not want me to book. 

[cruisingguy007]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Lol need a roomie? I wanna go. Wish I got offers like this. I'll even pay the taxes. I was just looking thru my carnival offers and thinking they are awful. Very high $$$. They must not want me to book. 

 

Same, I was looking through the offers and there are some decent ones for 5 nights or less, many more for the 3 day/4 day cruises but nothing for 7 days or more. I already have a few things booked. Maybe that is why we aren't getting the deals? The best deals I've seen are for those who have nothing booked or haven't sailed in a while, well, besides casino deals. 

[firefly333]

10 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Same, I was looking through the offers and there are some decent ones for 5 nights or less, many more for the 3 day/4 day cruises but nothing for 7 days or more. I already have a few things booked. Maybe that is why we aren't getting the deals? The best deals I've seen are for those who have nothing booked or haven't sailed in a while, well, besides casino deals. 

I have wondered the same thing. One booked way out jan 2024 on carnival that might limit me getting any other offers I'd want. Watching jubilee especially. For sure not paying over $1200 solo for a inside.

[urbanhawk]

That is a great deal. The balconies  "may" be capacity controlled. If all booked, I believe you may be able to book, an ocean view-not as sweet a deal as a balcony, but for myself,  I'd book it. Hope it works out for the O.P.

[MississippiMom]

We have regularly had “crazy” offers when I log in, but none have been an option for us.  Our oldest daughter was ready for us to leave her dad and her husband behind and the two of us just go on a mom/daughter cruise, but we both work and can’t just randomly take vacation days.

[csm5986142]

4 hours ago, 1kaper said:

  I know some of our offers are "up to" a balcony. 

 

I was going to say the exact same thing.  I have had offers that say "up to a free balcony" but it's for limited sailings. When I would try to book Panama Canal or Hawaii, only interiors were available.

[smears]

So it looks like it's a guaranteed balcony, but that the casino offer is "capacity controlled" which I think means that they only get so many balconies to use for that code. I can pick other sailings and it will let me just choose a balcony room, it's just that there aren't any left for this offer on this sailing. I believe that I can choose an oceanview room for the same price, and if a balcony becomes available then I can call them and get the upgrade. 

 

I know that on the carnival site that you're allowed to hold a booking for 72 hours without actually booking it, and that this offer expires August 5th. So I'm going to refresh the page like crazy until the 5th with the hope that a balcony becomes available, and if it doesn't, then I'll probably book the oceanview and still call it a win.

 

I went to the carnival players club site and sent them a message to try and get info/confirm what I believe to be the case about all this stuff and if they get back to me I'll know for sure what the best path is to get the most bang for the buck. I plan on promising to gamble a lot. I think they like that so maybe that will help. If they don't have the balcony, I'll ask if they've got anything else...like maybe drinks in the casino or something. It can't hurt! 

 

About getting these offers based on things like when you last sailed or if you're already booked...I haven't sailed since about 2014 I think. I do have one cruise currently booked for November of this year. I got a similar offer and used it for the one that I have booked currently. "free room" meaning, pay 200 plus the taxes and get 200 back in onboard credit. I booked 8 days on the Glory for November 19th. Then this new offer came and now I'm just about to book another. 

 

Someone talk me down. 

Edited July 16, 2022 by smears

[smears]

Does anyone know how to decipher the offer codes? I have 2 that seem identical. One is ZJ5 and the other is ZJ5-FR. 

 

 

[StephPS79]

14 hours ago, smears said:

Does anyone know how to decipher the offer codes? I have 2 that seem identical. One is ZJ5 and the other is ZJ5-FR. 

 

 

What I think I figured out is -FR only gives option for guaranteed, the other let's you select your room.

[StephPS79]

14 hours ago, smears said:

Someone talk me down. 

 

Do it!

[jam19872016]

Something to keep in mind that has happened to me more than once. A unique itinerary comes along for free. I question my sanity about booking such a long trip so I wait. Then that cruise is no longer available.

 

Once they sell however many rooms are set aside for the promotion, it dissappears from the offer. A 14 day comped trip is going to go faster than most of the freebies.

 

If you would be happy in Oceanview, book it and check back for a balcony every day(usually you can use the code twice if not carnival will have to check for you). 

 

Sorry, was I suppose to talk you down? 😆

[smears]

Ok so as of right now, there are no balconies available. I can take oceanview but the only ones available are on the riviera deck. If I take an inside cabin I think I can move up quite a few decks on the ship. It's just me going and I don't particularly care so much about having a window, because I'd not be spending too much time in my cabin. I'd take a balcony because that would be an incentive to spend more time in the cabin, given that it kind of allows me to be not exactly inside the room so to speak.

 

So what should I do? Oceanview on the bottom of the ship? Or interior cabin closer to all the amenities? They're the same price. 

 

 

I've always booked interior rooms for 2 reasons, 1) the price is usually a bit less and 2) (more importantly) I'm kind of one of those people who doesn't really have a normal sleep schedule and being able to go into the interior room and have it completely dark is kind of nice. 

Edited July 16, 2022 by smears