ES Rates...How Low Can/Will They Go?

[keishashadow]

A serious question (posed by DH after i told him we had another small drop to bring our OBCs to $132:D & was hoping for more), said i'd ask the experts here:

 

does anybody know if there is a point where CCL stops dropping their rates on empty cabins after final payment date?

 

his thought is CCL might not want to devalue their product & just cut their losses, selling the remainder of the cabins to a consolidator instead of slashing rates on a specific sailing that doesn't seem to be doing well (whether ES/or special type - resident,sr,PG,military) :confused:

 

anybody know if this is common practice?

[CWcruisers]

I see prices drop right before sailing in order to fill ships. The benefit with ES is you can continue to take advantage of those drops up to two days prior to sailing.

 

I think CCL would rather sail full and discount the cabin in hopes of making up the loss with your on board expenses.

[elcuchio24]

They will keep discounting them if it looks like they won't be full. All depends on how busy the cruise is. Some of ours have stayed the same price up to cruising, some have gone way up, some have gone way down. They will keep discounting it until it fills up.

[Harrier1961]

The only people that would know this question work for CCL and will not devulge as that would ruin their business model (otherwise too many people would wait until the last possible moment for awesome prices).

 

All other answers are purly speculative at best.

 

I'm just saying...

 

Andy

:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[Traveler353]

Some cruises seem to never drop. Others drop and then go back up. It is a crap shoot. Good Luck.

[keishashadow]

that was my response to him

 

his thought is if discounted cruise fares drop below a certain level & the rates are published/available to general consumer, then people won't want to pay 'going rate' for future cruises

 

His argument is CCL won't allow those who booked ES the ability to get fire-sale pricing....it's my expectation that they will as imo it's the main perc of the ES program.

[CWcruisers]

It's kind of like rebate forms. Companies are betting that you won't fill them out and they won't have to give you money back. CCL is hoping that the ES bookings aren't paying attention. But by booking ES, you took a risk since it's a non-refundable deposit, so good for you for paying attention.

 

Harrier I speak from experience regarding rate drops. I sailed on the Elation on a whim several times while it was here in SD due to seeing last minute slashed prices.

[keishashadow]

It's kind of like rebate forms. Companies are betting that you won't fill them out and they won't have to give you money back. CCL is hoping that the ES bookings aren't paying attention. But by booking ES, you took a risk since it's a non-refundable deposit, so good for you for paying attention.

 

Harrier I speak from experience regarding rate drops. I sailed on the Elation on a whim several times while it was here in SD due to seeing last minute slashed prices.

 

i think that's a good analogy

 

finally, ive gambled on something & walked away a winner:)

[elcuchio24]

It's kind of like rebate forms. Companies are betting that you won't fill them out and they won't have to give you money back. CCL is hoping that the ES bookings aren't paying attention. But by booking ES, you took a risk since it's a non-refundable deposit, so good for you for paying attention.

 

Harrier I speak from experience regarding rate drops. I sailed on the Elation on a whim several times while it was here in SD due to seeing last minute slashed prices.

 

Well said. Our last cruise we ended up claiming $450 in OBC, but probably half of that was in one day when the rates dropped real low but for only 6 hours, then went back up. So how many people made claims, or even saw the rate, during that 6 hour period? Probably not that many. The key to getting the most OBC is CONSTANTLY checking the price, especially in the month or so before you sail......

[KroozFoolz]

I think at a certain point in time and rates, Carnival would try to fill the ship with packngo rates - they are guarantees so ES'ers could not apply for price match credit.

[keishashadow]

I think at a certain point in time and rates, Carnival would try to fill the ship with packngo rates - they are guarantees so ES'ers could not apply for price match credit.

 

they popped up last weekend for my cruise (approx 6 weeks out)

[joebat1]

A serious question (posed by DH after i told him we had another small drop to bring our OBCs to $132:D & was hoping for more), said i'd ask the experts here:

 

does anybody know if there is a point where CCL stops dropping their rates on empty cabins after final payment date?

 

his thought is CCL might not want to devalue their product & just cut their losses, selling the remainder of the cabins to a consolidator instead of slashing rates on a specific sailing that doesn't seem to be doing well (whether ES/or special type - resident,sr,PG,military) :confused:

 

anybody know if this is common practice?

 

No expert, but employee's only pay $15.00 per diem p/p & guest for available (unsold) cabins. So somewhere between $ 15.00 and $ 30.00 per diem.(winter sailings from Puerto Rico)

 

There is no additional fuel usage for the additional 100 or 500 additional passengers. The food is contracted months in advance.

Employees going with any tips for several months( empty cabins & empty tables) would quickly bolt to a line where they could receive tips.

Carnival KNOWS exactly the average spent by passengers on EVERY ship, so that figure is bound to influence the lowest per diem.

[Cruise Envy]

To me, as long as you are OK with the non-refundable deposit, ES is win-win. I got a GREAT price by booking, and IF it goes down, I'll get $$. Of course I booked 4A for Thanksgiving, so I'm thinking there's no OBC in my future. Right now my category has gone UP $140 pp!

[elcuchio24]

To me, as long as you are OK with the non-refundable deposit, ES is win-win. I got a GREAT price by booking, and IF it goes down, I'll get $$. Of course I booked 4A for Thanksgiving, so I'm thinking there's no OBC in my future. Right now my category has gone UP $140 pp!

 

Exactly. Book ES because you like the price. If it comes down, then all the better.

[luv2gonow]

So far $30 off price before final payment.

Then after final payment i received $260 OBC:D

I just submitted another form for $40 bucks.

 

I will be totally thrilled with $300 bucks OBC....How low will IT GO is right:D

BTW....this is for the 6/24 Miracle sailing

[firefly333]

They often do a pack n go rate, which you cant match because its guarantees, or Iv seen a senior IS guarantee rate, if 4A is sold out, again a guarantee, so I couldnt match it.

 

Iv definetely seen lower prices close in, but none that I could price match, no matter which category I was in. Even when I had a 1A they wouldnt price match or let me change to a IS. Others have run into this guarantee thingee with last minute cheaper rates too.

[CarolinaCruisin]

My family and I (2 adults / 2 kids) are sailing the Liberty July 10 - 17. We have a room that sleeps 4. I'm trying to determine if / when we see potential OBC's. Our original booking was ES....and they quoted a price for the 1st 2 (my wife and I) and then a different (lower) price for the kids.

 

Any tips on how to determine OBC eligibility? The places that I've seen on CCL's website has a price per person and doesn't factor in the 3rd & 4th prices.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[slrteach]

I sent in the early saver form on 5/13 and I have not gotten a response? :confused: Just wondering if others are experiencing this? Expected to hear something on Monday, or today, but nothing! :mad:

[jdbmga]

I sent in the early saver form on 5/13 and I have not gotten a response? :confused: Just wondering if others are experiencing this? Expected to hear something on Monday, or today, but nothing! :mad:

 

I woould send it again. I sent one in yesterday and got my approval today.

[ava_girl_123]

Now I have read people should take a screen shot of the price drop... How do you do that and why? Also, if you take a screen shot, do you submit that with the email request on the ES form?

[Litewait]

I booked a 3 day cruise over New Years in March of this year. Did not book Es because I wanted to be sure and had every intention of changing over this summer or fall before it drops off. I booked an inside cabin with a 2 category upgrade. Paid a little more that ES but was ok with that. Now, 3 months later.. ES is higher than what I paid for my cabin in March.. If I wanted to switch to that I'd have to pay more LOL! In hopes of the price dropping. Haven't heard of that happening to often. ES is $140 more than what I paid..

[firefly333]

I booked a 3 day cruise over New Years in March of this year. Did not book Es because I wanted to be sure and had every intention of changing over this summer or fall before it drops off. I booked an inside cabin with a 2 category upgrade. Paid a little more that ES but was ok with that. Now, 3 months later.. ES is higher than what I paid for my cabin in March.. If I wanted to switch to that I'd have to pay more LOL! In hopes of the price dropping. Haven't heard of that happening to often. ES is $140 more than what I paid..

 

Actually, mine did that too. I had booked regular before ES rates came out and was on the Crazies. Prices on ES shot up as high as over $900 for a inside cabin, 3 large groups fighting over cabins. Carnival wouldnt give any more group cabins to Crazies ...to make it worse I had the 1A special cabin with two windows that turned into a 6B ...so double no chance of a price drop. .. until the end it did drop I think, but Id have had to give up my cabin with two full sized windows to get back $20, ... and not sure I could have gotten that,.. but most of the time the price was hundreds pp more for my cabin ..until the very last couple of weeks.

[pokergirl34]

My family and I (2 adults / 2 kids) are sailing the Liberty July 10 - 17. We have a room that sleeps 4. I'm trying to determine if / when we see potential OBC's. Our original booking was ES....and they quoted a price for the 1st 2 (my wife and I) and then a different (lower) price for the kids.

 

Any tips on how to determine OBC eligibility? The places that I've seen on CCL's website has a price per person and doesn't factor in the 3rd & 4th prices.

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

You have to do a mock booking for 4 passengers to see all of the rates. When you get to the screen where you can select the room number, that is where you will see the rates for 1st, 2nd, 3rd/4th/5th passengers.

 

For a summer sailing, quad rooms tend to sell out quickly so it could be that all of the quads are sold out for your sailing. I see balcony rates at 1259/1259/799/799 for Fun Select rate on an 8C. All of the quad balconies under the past guest rate are sold out.

[jjlb]

Thanks to watching posts on CC!!! I then sent in the form, got turned down, contacted my PVP, got even more than I thought. Going onboard with $450+ credit was FUN...so relaxing to know there was a nice nest egg for drinks and anything else we cared to spend on.

 

We're booked ES in Aug and will be watching closely especially right before sailing. Seems like that's when it will likely drop if at all. So far have only seen it go up (Dream Aug 7 sailing from PC).

 

Good luck to all!

[johnjen]

Well said. Our last cruise we ended up claiming $450 in OBC, but probably half of that was in one day when the rates dropped real low but for only 6 hours, then went back up. So how many people made claims, or even saw the rate, during that 6 hour period? Probably not that many. The key to getting the most OBC is CONSTANTLY checking the price, especially in the month or so before you sail......

 

Your post is regarded very important to me because you've just proven the reason for taking screen shots of price drops and possibly having to send them in just in case.