A Good Deal??

[canjay95]

I called Carnival to inquire about booking our group of 8 cabins for the January 23rd Triumph cruise out of New Orleans(5 Days). The rate is $734 per cabin (only adults going). We get 5 fun points which we can use to reduce the rate of our cruise by 100.00 or OBC and everything in non-refundable until Nov. 23. It's on hold for 30 days. The Fantasy out of Mobile is about 60 per cabin cheaper, so not really much of a difference. I've only cruised once and it has been so long ago..... Is this a good deal? Should I wait until closer to time and see if the prices go down? What do you experienced cruisers think? The early saver would save us about 80 per cabin, but the non-refundable deposit scares us with being so far out. I had this posted on the Carnival board and moved it over here; hope that's okay......:)

[SeaDawg]

Generally speaking, the best cruise deals are usually booked closer to departure (between 60 and 30 days out). Booking far in advance is usually for people who want to be sure they get a particular sailing and/or cabin selection(s).

 

The most important question regarding your booking is "will Carnival lower your price if the fare is reduced later?" If they won't lower your price or at least provide an OBC, then I don't think that is a good deal. It's a waiting game and if the economy continues to struggle, I believe there will be better prices yet to come.

[cruisinwithboys]

A lot of times prices can also go up right before a cruise. If you are booking directly with Carnival they will credit you if they lower prices. Besides I think that sounds like a good deal to begin with.

[taco88]

I'd say it depends on what kind of cabin we're talking about. January 23 is a low demand date - school is back in, which means Carnival should be discounting that sailing compared to late December dates.

 

I'm showing inside cabins for $269 per person, and ocean views for $359 (through Travelocity). Those prices strike me as about right. If you can nail down something in that price range, I think you'd be pretty safe to go for it.

 

Good luck.

[canjay95]

Those are early saver rates though and we don't want to do early saver due to the restrictions. Maybe they'll drop as we get closer.