price drop questions...

[crashnburn]

i've read some of the posts about price drops and wanted to get a few details. i've paid in full so i know carnival doesn't have to do anything but will sometimes offer on board credit and or upgrades. what price do you use to compare? bestpricecruises has a price cheaper than i paid through cruisequick but carnivals price was still higher the last time i checked. does it matter where i found the cheaper price? do i contact carnival or cq to see if i can get anything? if an upgrade is available can you find out and still turn it down? i'm not sure i want an upgrade because i kind of picked the location (8c aft) but i wouldn't turn down credit. i'm pretty happy with my cruise details but to quote a friend of mine 'if its for free, its for me'....

[VickiVSN]

Whenever I book a cruise I note the price that the cruiseline is advertising at the time regardless of where I book. For instance, the Mexican cruise I booked through buycruises and have applied a crown and anchor coupon for reduction in the already discounted price. But the RCCL.com price when originally booked for my category was $599 so I watch RCCL to see what prices are doing. Right now they are at $629. But if it goes back down, then I can contact buycruises.com to request a credit. Since buycruises discounts the original fair, any cruiseline price reductions are applied at 85%. I'm fine with this as anything else would severly cut into their already reduced commission and I'm still getting a price lower than I could through the cruiseline even with coupons and reductions.

You can request credit after final payment and you're credit card will be credited. Or you can look for upgrade opportunties. I'm with you on the last cruise I could have upgraded and even saved $25, but it wasn't worth it to be located on deck two, so I opted to stay where I was and take a bigger credit.

Vicki
[i]
Check out my guide for first time cruisers [url="http://www.vsn.org/cruise"]http://www.vsn.org/cruise[/url] [/i]

Radiance 6/2002
Radiance 10/2002
Brilliance 11/2003
[/B]
[b]LEGEND OF THE SEAS - September 26, 2004[/b]
Visit our Roll Call [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=2743044067"]HERE[/url]


[b]Cruise Europe 2005 (CC Group Cruise)- June 5, 2005 on the Brilliance[/b]
Visit our Roll Call [url="http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=1683059817&m=75010536"]HERE[/url]

[kitty9]

The price reductions have to come from the cruise line and not any travel agent, internet agency or clearinghouse. The cruise line doesn't care what TA's are charging, unless the cruise line isn't getting what they would charge, and they certainly won't honor any price breaks a TA gives. Make note of what the cruise line is charging for your cabin category and then keep an eye on that price. If there's a reduction, and you haven't made final payment, you can ask your TA for the new price, if it's less than what you've already paid, but as you stated, the cruise line is under absolutely no obligation to compensate anyone once final payment is made.

Darcie

[crashnburn]

i wrote cruisequick an email following all the advice i got from this board and received $150 shipboard credit. thanks alot guys. i'm happy to say 'the drinks are on you'.....

[therainbows1999]

Carnival gives shipboard credit up to the day before the cruise starts if the price drops. I finished paying and two days later our friends that we are going with finished paying theirs and the price had dropped. I now have a shipboard credit that will just about pay for the tips.

Elation 6/04
[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=ff00ff&cdt=2004;06;27;18;00;00&timezone=GMT-0600[/img]