Do Early Saver rates ever drop?

[OntarioTraveller]

We are looking to book a cruise for early 2011. We have never booked this far in advance.

We may want to wait until we get the flight booked (we can't book the flights this far ahead).

Do the ES rates stay constant, drop or ever go up?

I know prices drop but I'm not sure if those are the Past Guest rates, etc. that drop.

How far before sailing do you typically see the prices start to drop?

Thanks!!

[Traveler353]

I had two ES price drops for my last cruise on the Triumph. Just about wiped out the single supplement. :)

[OntarioTraveller]

How long before the sailing date did the prices drop?

[firefly333]

Once on Triumph (with the above poster, same cruise), one $10 drop and I changed cabins, and now its up $10. (so I saved $10 pp from current rates).

 

They can change though. You cant count on any rate being static. If a ship isnt selling well Carnival will drop the rates, or add other rates to induce people to book, like add a past guest or senior rate, though they usually do this closer in, after ES rates drop off.

[jpg1747]

My Valor cruise last November dropped $250 in the two weeks before sailing. I got the difference as an OBC.

[firefly333]

How long before the sailing date did the prices drop?

 

I think right before final payment, then shortly before the cruise left.

 

I was doing a B2B and those rates did not drop until finall less than one week before the cruise left, then they added both a senior guarantee for $30 less and then another rate (past guest??) for $50 pp less, which I missed. Both rate drops were for guarantees on the other Triumph cruise.

 

Traveller might remember the timing better than me, I had a sold out category on the other leg and missed about 3 rate drops before I finally decided to change.

 

Oh yea.. now I remember. One was the last night before ES rates dropped off. Had I known that was the last night, I would have called Carnival right then and upgraded and then gotten the price drop. I waited until the next day to ask to upgrade and was told too late.

[Litewait]

Booked ES. Had one small drop prior to final payment and 2 big ones after.:D

 

If you know you wont cancel or have to do a name change it's a great way to go.

[Rachel302]

Booked ES. Had one small drop prior to final payment and 2 big ones after.:D

 

If you know you wont cancel or have to do a name change it's a great way to go.

 

 

I had 4 just this week! All small ones but they add up! I sail in 3 weeks.

[A&Jfamily]

On my upcoming cruise in June (which I booked at the end of December) they dropped 20/pp for about a 24 hour period. You really should check on a regular basis.

 

So far, on each cruise that I have booked ES, I have caught 1 or more price drops - getting back $100 or more.

[janabm81]

So far we've gotten back $20.00...I know thats not much but I figure it's equal to a few drinks and we're hoping for more as time gets nearer...Right now though it's up $50 from when we first booked so really saving that $20 was more like $120.

[siryn]

I havehad 6 price drops on our ES Freedom rate, 2 just this week. It's enought to cover our tips (for 4) and still leave extra to enjoy on-board. Filling out the form is easy.

[luvtrips]

We booked a year ago for this Sunday's sailing of the Victory. The es rate was a real bargain. Throughout the year, I saw the rate rise drastically, so I thought I'd never get an obc. Then, about 12 days before sailing, the rate dropped by $30pp. Just 3 days ago, the rate dropped again by $100pp. So now we have a nice obc of $160. Our sailing is completely full now, so that's it for the credits.

[MrsZee]

We are sailing in May, this is the first time I have used Early Saver. The Early Saver rate just dropped off Monday, when can I usually expect lower rates? My pvp said it's more of a "when" instead of an "if", because they almost always drop. But, I am wondering if it will be closer to May or not. I still check daily, but they haven't started offering any other rates on this cruise, not even "fun saver"... My luck I ended up on the one cruise that sells out two months early and they never need to offer lower rates.

[Traveler353]

I think right before final payment, then shortly before the cruise left.

 

I was doing a B2B and those rates did not drop until finall less than one week before the cruise left, then they added both a senior guarantee for $30 less and then another rate (past guest??) for $50 pp less, which I missed. Both rate drops were for guarantees on the other Triumph cruise.

 

Traveller might remember the timing better than me, I had a sold out category on the other leg and missed about 3 rate drops before I finally decided to change.

 

Oh yea.. now I remember. One was the last night before ES rates dropped off. Had I known that was the last night, I would have called Carnival right then and upgraded and then gotten the price drop. I waited until the next day to ask to upgrade and was told too late.

 

I think that you are correct. I don't remember any price drops after ES dropped. By the time we sailed my cabin had gone back up to almost what I origionaly paid. I missed a chance to upgrade to a balcony for about $40. My bad, should have jumped on it before it went back up. Crazy prices for that one.

[Denicewu]

Just this week I have gotten $240.00 in OBC . This is the first time but it has been a good one

[Angels2010]

Went on a three day cruise and it dropped 30 dollars for 2 so we recieved 60 dollar in obc. Ended upgrading last minute to a suite but still was nice. If your sure about this cruise then book it. They will credit you. Have fun

[Ken076]

We are looking to book a cruise for early 2011. We have never booked this far in advance.

We may want to wait until we get the flight booked (we can't book the flights this far ahead).

Do the ES rates stay constant, drop or ever go up?

I know prices drop but I'm not sure if those are the Past Guest rates, etc. that drop.

How far before sailing do you typically see the prices start to drop?

Thanks!!

 

Make sure you realize:

When you book Early Saver you're not only concerned with drops in the Early Saver Rate itself (which goes away in 3 months for shorter cruises and in 5 months for longer cruises) but you also want to monitor drops for any rates that you're eligible for, including the FunSelect Rate, Past Guest Rate (if you're a Past guest), the 55+ Rate (if you're 55+), the your state Resident Rate, and the Military Rate (if you're military eligible). If the Past Guest rate drops below your current ES rate, and you’re a Past Guest, you get that rate. Same for FunSelect, 55+, Residency and Military.

Once Booked, You can check the Past Guest, 55+ and Residency Promo Rates daily using the Quick Search Box on carnival.com after you’re booked. In order to view the promo rates, it may be necessary to first Log-In with your username AND Password, then Log-Out.

In the blue Quick Search box on the Home page, Fill in your cruise info, select your state and select the Promo Boxes you're eligible for. If Promo rates are currently being offered for your cruise, they will be displayed below the FunSelect and FunSaver rates on the Rates Page for your cruise.

 

ken

[tess51]

We have received 4 drops since we booked in Sept 09, totalling $200. The latst one was this week and was for $100 per person as the senior rate went below what we had paid and we are both over 55. I was very surprised with the drop this week, so close to our cruise. Our cruise starts on March 20th.

[Anyislandwilldo]

Booked the Victory last year in March for the December sailing and ended up with $460.00 OBC. Checked the Carnival website daily if not twice a day to find the drop in price.

[kcroxyoursox]

On the Ecstasy back in November. We went from a 4B to a 6C without having to pay anything extra. Just a fair warning, not all categories drop at the same times or at the same rates. Some friends cruising with us did not have the price drop for the category they were booked in.

[conchead]

On our last cruise we only had a $20 drop, but we got that as OBC. We

had booked early when the price was low. When we sailed, or actually a

few days before the price was up about $120 over our initial booking

price.

 

On our next cruise, which we also booked early, the price has gone up

$400 (total for 3) compared to our original booking price. I would love for

it to go down later on and get some OBC,I am not counting on it, but

would be very glad to accept it.

[gazingm42]

We booked our spring cruise over a year ago, we never book that far out.

But since it was spring time we did.

 

Well our price has made 3 drops for a total of $850.00 for the quad.

 

But our summer cruise made one drop of $250. But now is up 650.00

[tor548]

I might be reading the question wrong, but it sounds like you want to know if the ES rate you see now is the lowest ES rate you'll ever see... meaning in 2 months, will the ES still be $X or will it be higher or lower?

 

I'm actually kinda curious about that too. Does Carnival encourage earliest bookings possible by offering the lowest first? Or 5 months before the cruise, right before ES goes away, will the rate be just a good?

 

My only experience

Started watching prices for Feb 10 cruise last March. Booked in April using ES and that ES rate had gone up $50 since we started watching it. After booking, the ES rate just continued to increase until it finally went away as the timeline was gone for that rate type.

[cruisingmomof5]

how do you go about finding out if the prices dropped, i booked thru a travel agent, can i call carnival direct cause i wouldnt want to keep bothering my ta every week..thanks

[Ken076]

I might be reading the question wrong, but it sounds like you want to know if the ES rate you see now is the lowest ES rate you'll ever see... meaning in 2 months, will the ES still be $X or will it be higher or lower?

 

I'm actually kinda curious about that too. Does Carnival encourage earliest bookings possible by offering the lowest first? Or 5 months before the cruise, right before ES goes away, will the rate be just a good?

 

My only experience

Started watching prices for Feb 10 cruise last March. Booked in April using ES and that ES rate had gone up $50 since we started watching it. After booking, the ES rate just continued to increase until it finally went away as the timeline was gone for that rate type.

 

See my post #17 earlier in this thread. The ES Rate may vary a bit, but that's not really THE rate (or the only rate) you're concerned about. ken