Poll: How many weeks before your sail date was your biggest OBC?

[ava_girl_123]

Just wondering if there is a magic week before the ship sets sail that most people who book under Early Saver are seeing price drops that are bigger then normal. I have seen some huge OBC's posted on this site..What week and how much was your drop, cabin type and catagory?

[vacruisin]

Just wondering if there is a magic week before the ship sets sail that most people who book under Early Saver are seeing price drops that are bigger then normal. I have seen some huge OBC's posted on this site..What week and how much was your drop, cabin type and catagory?

 

Great poll for us newbies to ES. So far we have received $120.00 in OBC for our 3 July cruise on the Freedom. It looks like quite a few balconies are still available in our category so we're hoping for a lot more OBC before sailing. We were wondering the same thing...just when will they really lower the prices to fill those rooms?

[Tapi]

We are still 3 months out for our August cruise, but we got $200 back a few weeks ago.

 

IF you see a dramatic price drop though, it usually is 2-3 weeks prior if Carnival sees that that particular sailing is not selling according to plan.

 

Other factors include time of year, departure point and length of cruise. For example, while you may still see hundreds of cabins left with no price drops on a 3 night weekend cruise, a 7 night cruise may get dramatic price drops since it's harder to sell at the last minute.

[ava_girl_123]

We are still 3 months out for our August cruise, but we got $200 back a few weeks ago.

 

IF you see a dramatic price drop though, it usually is 2-3 weeks prior if Carnival sees that that particular sailing is not selling according to plan.

 

Other factors include time of year, departure point and length of cruise. For example, while you may still see hundreds of cabins left with no price drops on a 3 night weekend cruise, a 7 night cruise may get dramatic price drops since it's harder to sell at the last minute.

 

 

So would you say about 5 weeks out?

[JYeagersGrl]

We haven't had any huge drops but yesterday we had a HUGE jump. My category is sold out so I don't know what it would be but an inside 4E I think shot up $150 per person more in one night then by afternoon it was down again and this morning its up again.

[ava_girl_123]

Drives me crazy.. Worse then watching gas prices.. :rolleyes:

[UpstateCruizer]

On our first experience with ES we were thrilled to have $280 total in OBC. I know it was somewhere within the last month prior to sailing.

 

Our last cruise was the Dream and not a chance of our rate going down as suites sold out fast and only went higher after we booked. We are going on the Miracle in October for it's first run back to Aruba. Again another not a chance of it going down cruise. The rates have skyrocketed since booking.

 

What I'm trying to say is that depending on which category you book and how popular a particular sailing is you may not see any lower prices. If you are looking to maximize your chances booking popular categories on sailings that don't sell out would be your best bet :)

[ava_girl_123]

Hmm.. we have an extended balcony upgrade from an 8B-8K.. I wonder if that is popular? :confused:

[David-n-Rita]

We already were receiving reductions on our 9-26-10 cruise during hurricane season on the Splendor and we were hoping for more but.....

John Heald announced he will be the CD on this cruise as well as being on the Splendor from August to Nov. Of course, people started booking the Splendor so the ES on our cabins is probably done...of course unless we have a bad hurricane season and people jump ship before the final payment. We get our best reductions a week or two after final payment.

[ava_girl_123]

Hmmm, 8+ weeks in the lead.. :rolleyes:

[dorinel]

to try it out on my last cruise and loved it. In the 5 months we were booked I was upgraded twice from my original 4A. I ended up with a 4H and a $20 p/p OBC.

 

I booked at an excellent price initially and really didn't expect any drops. I saw my first decrease at 6 weeks out and the last decrease 3 weeks out. I am ready to book another cruise for next year and will definitely book a ES rate again. :)

 

Also, it was my first time with a cabin on the Lido deck and now all future cruises will be on that deck. I prefer a balcony but found the inside Lido very acceptable if I can only do an inside!