Lesson learned...should have booked Early Saver...

[xkritter]

Ok - I've learned my newbie lesson. I checked our cruise rates and the price on our aft wrap has dropped by $340. I called Carnival and since we didn't book with Early Saver they will not issue an OBC.

 

She did offer to upgrade us to an Ocean View Suite however we really had our hearts set on the aft wrap.

 

Oh well. Next time I'll know.

[firefly333]

I learned my lesson .. not booking ES again ..

 

who knew the other pax could change their mind .. something came up that I could never have predicted

 

...any other rate other than ES I could change the other pax for free (Im still before final payment).

 

to add insult to injury, I could save $100 by downgrading one category .. of course they say that is against ES rules too .. though no one has a copy of this rule that says you can upgrade free, but never downgrade.

 

Ill never book ES again.. senior rates have been the same as what I paid for some time .. even if I were to book the same category. stuck like a pig. eeeek!! I personally hate ES rules.

[blindrid]

Agree.

 

ES is not the panacea that one believes. I prefer just to book and forget. The rules are a bit confusing and cannot cover all of the "if, ands or buts" so the CCL employees get confused as well. Some can get price reductions, some pay penalties when they can't go.

 

With the OP's point, I would be surprised that a cabin like that would drop by $300+ as they normally sell out pretty quick (but what do I know).

 

Overall the ES is a royal PITA and doubt if I'll mess with it again. I'll do it the old fashioned way and shop my cruises pretty hard and when the price is right, buy it regardless of whether or not it's on CCL or not.

[alphakitty]

But isn't ES the lowest rate to begin with? Other than changes, I don't see a downside to booking ES. I don't care about the price drops, but I do like to get the lowest price I can.

[rpouls]

Ok - I've learned my newbie lesson. I checked our cruise rates and the price on our aft wrap has dropped by $340. I called Carnival and since we didn't book with Early Saver they will not issue an OBC.

 

She did offer to upgrade us to an Ocean View Suite however we really had our hearts set on the aft wrap.

 

Oh well. Next time I'll know.

 

Just curious - when is your cruise? From what I've heard, aft wraps sell out quick, so I'm surprised that there would be a price drop.

[firefly333]

But isn't ES the lowest rate to begin with? Other than changes, I don't see a downside to booking ES. I don't care about the price drops, but I do like to get the lowest price I can.

 

If you read my post you know what I consider the downside.

 

ES is initially the lowest price but now there are other rates lower, plus the rules cant cancel someone and replace them, no downgrades, Im pulling out my hair trying to decide if I should just cancel and take the $100 hit. ($50 pp) and then I still have to decide on a cruise to use it on.

 

No name chance, no refunding of the deposit, no downgrading .. to me these are all downsides to ES rate. (all of which are allowed on any other CCL rate up until final payment).

 

My PVP has a saying about ES.. its great .. until there is a problem .. then there is a BIG problem always with ES.

[KenMo]

Just curious - when is your cruise? From what I've heard, aft wraps sell out quick, so I'm surprised that there would be a price drop.

 

I had a 9C on Valor last May.

 

I always checked price drops for my mother, who was in an 8B.

 

Just out of curiousity, I checked the 9C's as well. I was quite surprised to get two price drops. Never expected it but was happy!

[Unknotted]

I'll never book ES again either. On one cruise, I tried 3 times to take advantage of price drops only to be told the offer had expired. I have NEVER had a price reduction using ES, even though once I emailed them the form within 45 minutes of the lower price showing up on the website (yes, I do know it was that fast.)

 

And the one time I had to cancel a cruise I lost my $$ because I couldn't book another cruise in time to use the partial credit we were given. (I also learned not to pay in full if I were ever to do an early saver booking again-it's a double whammy if you have to cancel!)

 

I'd rather book the regular way and take advantage of upgrades when I can.

[NHNEV2003]

First cruise in 2 weeks-- booked Early Saver in January--price has gone from $599/PP to the present $469/PP--Carnival Freedom, 6 Nights, Empress Deck, Balcony Cabin.

 

Part of that was a price reduction prior to final payment and the bulk of the savings is now in OBC.

 

We understand that the price does not always drop, but if it does for this amount, we want to take advantage of it.

 

We love it and are already planning another cruise next year and will definitely book the Early Saver route.:)

[firefly333]

I'd rather book the regular way and take advantage of upgrades when I can.

 

Me too, as Im flexible and there is often another date a couple weeks before or after the date I picked for ES that is a huge bargain, I cant book because Im stuck with my ES booking.. so Iv missed a ton of bargains by booking ES.

 

True if you wind up never needing to change anything and not flexible, cant take advantage of pack n go rates .. it might work out .. I say might...life happens.

[bethaniesmom]

wow! just booked ES this month for May 2011...sure hope i don't have any of the problems you guys are talking about!

 

Beverly

[Mysschevous]

I've gotten 3 price adjustments so far for my cruise leaving in April 2011. I keep watching for it to go down more! The only issue I have is that there are no more cabins for 3 people in my category. lol The inside and balcony for 2 keep on dropping though! yay!

[CrusinCyndi]

I booked ES on the Pride for October 2011 cruise to Bermuda. I booked an aft-wrap VS suite on Deck 4. Since I booked in June of this year, I have already saved over $700.00 on the cruise. The rates for the aft-wraps that are left have gone thru the roof. That $700 will pay for my airfare and hotel. I am not expecting a price drop and am happy to have the cabin I wanted at a price that I felt comfortable with at the time.

[loveJake]

I booked ES on our upcoming Thanksgiving cruise last December. I thought I got a good rate and that the rate on a holiday cruise would only go up, which it did. But after final payment it went down. We now have $470 OBC for 2 connecting cove cabins. ES worked for us last year also, that coming in the form of 2 connecting cove cabins up graded from a 5 person family room.

[firefly333]

Another gripe with ES .. cant price match to all those last minute gty prices they offer. How many 100, 200 threads have people started since ES was introduced asking if they can price match to a gty .. obviously most people dont know this when they book.

 

And carnival is doing more and more gtys just so you cannot price match. IMO its on purpose to keep those price matches at bay.

[Ykgorbie]

Oh well, lesson learned. Try to forget about it and go and enjoy your cruise. I'll bet once your onboard, you won't even think of it. Have fun !!!

[melodystrother]

I booked ES on the Pride for October 2011 cruise to Bermuda. I booked an aft-wrap VS suite on Deck 4. Since I booked in June of this year, I have already saved over $700.00 on the cruise. The rates for the aft-wraps that are left have gone thru the roof. That $700 will pay for my airfare and hotel. I am not expecting a price drop and am happy to have the cabin I wanted at a price that I felt comfortable with at the time.

After reading all of this I can see how tHe ES rates can hurt if Life Happens?? I just got off my second cruise in October and had a Life Happening four days prior to leaving. It worked out but actually had to deal with one of us having to stay home with a l7 yr old situation. Anyway, I will say the more people whether group or not the odds will start to stack up against you for those Life Happenings...

[<3 2 Cruise]

We book ours on ES rates. It has worked out both ways. We saved $160 on our last cruise by watching the prices and getting reductions.

 

We have also had to change reservations before and lost the $50 PP fee. So we have about come out even.

[pokergirl34]

We book ours on ES rates. It has worked out both ways. We saved $160 on our last cruise by watching the prices and getting reductions.

 

We have also had to change reservations before and lost the $50 PP fee. So we have about come out even.

 

I think we've had almost a similar experience. But what we spent in admin fees to switch we have saved even more. Now on our cruises this year, all of our discounts were before final payment. Our august cruise we would have come out ahead not booking ES, but even then we broke even so it's no big deal. On our December cruise we got all of our price drops and an upgrade before the early saver rate was gone, so in order to get the very low price we paid for the very awesome cabin we reserved, we had to book early saver. We would have paid about $60 more pp if we hadn't booked early saver but we probably wouldn't have our great "L" shaped balcony cabin. Not a huge savings and I'm still hoping for some last minute savings but not holding my breath. Still $120 is nothing to scoff at and it will pay for us for our excursion in a port.

 

Unlike some other people, we cannot be flexible so early saver works for us. I do my research for the best weeks in terms of airfare and cruise fare and go from there. I also purchase travel insurance including cancelling for work reasons so we are generally just fine with our booking.

[CruisinManiac]

Ok - I've learned my newbie lesson. I checked our cruise rates and the price on our aft wrap has dropped by $340. I called Carnival and since we didn't book with Early Saver they will not issue an OBC.

 

She did offer to upgrade us to an Ocean View Suite however we really had our hearts set on the aft wrap.

 

Oh well. Next time I'll know.

 

Just off the Glory where we had the standard balcony stateroom and the small bath. :( The cruise before on the Glory, we had the OV Suite.:) How we wished to have that suite again this last week. ;) I'd take the suite upgrade in a jiffy, over a longer balcony on the aft! You can go up top and look at the wake, and have all the room you want. Also, from what I have read, those aft staterooms are configured oddly, and don't have sofa's.

[okwriter]

On my first cruise, I booked Early Saver but didn't really understand about checking for price drops.

 

On our December cruise, I have been very diligent to check. Called my PVP any time I had a question, and he's been GREAT to help! So far, we've gone from $649pp down to $599pp and moved up from an 8B to an 8E.

 

I understand why it's good for some and not so good for others, but I love it so far!

[guxu]

But isn't ES the lowest rate to begin with? Other than changes, I don't see a downside to booking ES. I don't care about the price drops, but I do like to get the lowest price I can.

Not necessary. For our up coming cruise, I tried to book ES but missed it. Then I found our resident rate is $100 cheaper and I can select my cabin.

[Ken076]

Not necessary. For our up coming cruise, I tried to book ES but missed it. Then I found our resident rate is $100 cheaper and I can select my cabin.

 

But.....had you booked ES and found a lower resident rate you would have gotten it. Once you book ES you get the lowest rate being offered, that you're eligible for. You select your cabin with ES. ken

[cuyahoga11]

ES worked fo me. Booked V suite fo 619.pp pp, last week dropped to 369.00 pp, OBC 250.00 pp. Life is good.

[alphakitty]

Me too, as Im flexible and there is often another date a couple weeks before or after the date I picked for ES that is a huge bargain, I cant book because Im stuck with my ES booking.. so Iv missed a ton of bargains by booking ES.

 

True if you wind up never needing to change anything and not flexible, cant take advantage of pack n go rates .. it might work out .. I say might...life happens.

 

I see where you are coming from...and agree for you, ES is not the best choice.

 

For us, once I'm booked, I've never changed anything. Our Miracle cruise has only gone up and up, $600 pp more now than when we booked in fact, so no price drops to worry about. ES was a great rate and I'm glad I took advantage of it. It did work out for us. :)