Carnival's "Best Price" true for some categories but not for others

Maybe boring to some people, but interesting to me. In the process of deciding whether to book our 30th anniversary cruise on November 2nd of next year or on November 30th of next year, this is what I learned about the cost of the different Havana category rooms. I always thought if the price of sailing on a particular date was comparatively cheap in one category, it was be equally as cheap in the other categories on the same sailing. Not so. At least not in this case. This is what I found when I looked into Havana cabins for two dates in November of 2019.

Horizon – 2 people – Havana – Southern Caribbean – From Miami

November 30-December 8, 2019

Interior Stateroom 1,024 per person 2302.80

Aft-View Extended Balcony + 92.50 per person/day 3782.80

Cabana +100.00 per person/day 3902.80

Premium Balcony +112.50 per person/day 4102.80

Cabana Suite +190.70 per person/day 5352.80

November 2 – 10, 2019

Interior Stateroom 1,044 a person 2342.80

Aft-View Extended Balcony +80.00 a person/day 3662.80

Cabana +70.70 a person/day 3472.80

Premium Balcony +78.80 a person/day 3602.80

Cabana Suite +206.90 a person/day 5652.80

Interesting! I am a super planner, as is evidenced by the fact that I just booked a cruise for December 2020! I am constantly spreadsheeting (yes, this is a verb in my house) out various options for our travel. I compare prices across multiple factors including cruise cost but also other travel costs - prior night hotel room, airfare, etc - before making my decision. Once my decision is made, the spreadsheet becomes a master document for all of our various activities and reservations. My DH knows it's "real" when there is a spreadsheet.

Why does this surprise you? Not every sailing has the same bookings.

It's all controlled by yield management software. On a particular cruise, if there has been increased demand for a category, the price will go up. Slow demand, price is less. Check again next day/week/month the prices will probably be different. EM

It all goes by supply and demand. You could have a cruise that isn’t selling well, but for that same cruise the cabanas are. Just as a point of reference, I paid $2,256 total for a Havana cabana on the Horizon for our 7 day Mediterranean cruise. The cruise itself was selling, but people just didn’t want a cabana room for a cruise with only one sea day.

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I always thought if the price of sailing on a particular date was comparatively cheap in one category, it was be equally as cheap in the other categories on the same sailing. Not so.

Correct. Not so. Same for seats on airplanes, and lettuce at the grocery store.

It is also my suspicion that upsell calls are generated by the same type of system. For example, I believe interiors are in high demand on my Pride cruise next March because I got an upsell call to move my kids from their interior to a balcony on the Lido deck for $250 for the week. There is mathematics behind selling out a full ship at max price!

It's all controlled by yield management software. On a particular cruise, if there has been increased demand for a category, the price will go up. Slow demand, price is less. Check again next day/week/month the prices will probably be different. EM

I understand about base prices changing. We've been on the receiving end of price reductions, and it's sweet! It's how divergent upgrade fees are, even within a sailing that is new to me. Since I've never looked closely at the cost of upgrades, it was a learning experience to find that even though Interior rooms are 20.00 per person less on the November 30th sailing than on the November 2nd sailing, upgrading to Aft Extended Balcony, Cabanas, and Premium Balconies on the November 30th sailing will result in paying more for those cabins than you would on the November 2nd sailing because the upgrade fee is higher. Yet, it's not the case for the Cabana Suite, for which the upgrade fee is significantly less expensive than it is for the November 30 sailing.

Checking in to see how the prices and the upgrade fees change over time is exactly what I will be doing. Nothing's happened in the past week or so, but I have over a year to indulge my curiosity, so chances are I will see changes.

It is also my suspicion that upsell calls are generated by the same type of system. For example, I believe interiors are in high demand on my Pride cruise next March because I got an upsell call to move my kids from their interior to a balcony on the Lido deck for $250 for the week. There is mathematics behind selling out a full ship at max price!

I display my ignorance of how the upsale offer works, but is that a flat 250 to move everyone in the room to a balcony, or is that 250.00 a person?

something else to consider.

the 3rd and 4th person rate. Looks cheap. but to cover that 3rd passwenger rate that 1st and 2nd and 4th rates were raised to cover that 3rd passenger.

We paid 424/424/109/109 = 1066 the below pricing = 1146 so my price is 80 cheap

GUEST 1 $439.00GUEST 2 $439.00

GUEST 3 $49.00

GUEST 4 $219.00