Purchasing advise

[Roughboy]

So I call one of Carnival's vacation planners recommended to me by a friend in June to schedule a last minute cruise....great! Two weeks later my niece books the same cruise through a travel agency, and they get the exact same cruise, same number of travelers, same deck, same everything for $200 less!! So I call my vacation planner and ask if there has been a price drop, she replies she doesn't know how they were able to get a cheaper price. I ask if I could get an on board credit or an upgrade, she says since I've already made my final payment, I can't get an on board credit, and after talking to a supervisor, she says there aren't any upgrades available. So I get to enjoy a cruise side by side with family/friends knowing they are having the same fun as me only $200 cheaper. My advise...skip the vacation planners and go with a good travel agency...sure wish I did!!:mad: Does anyone have any advise as to what I could have done differently?

Thanks,

Rodney

[shof515]

I think your niece booked using a last minute promotion cruise lines use to fill the boat. I noticed carnival does not offer any kind of special pricing to travel agency any more.

[firefly333]

Your friend could have booked a lower rate 2 weeks later. Its entirely possible. Carnival used to give all rates drops until the cruise left the port, now its only early saver rate.

 

Unless the rate dropped within 48 hours of when you booked, there really wasnt anything else you or the carnival rep could do.

 

My last cruise we all talked at our dinner table and believe it or not, I paid more than any other person sitting there at 2 tables. Iv run into people other cruises and found out they found a better deal on a hotel with parking in New Orleans than I did.

 

No one is ever going to book last minute at the perfect time when the prices are lowest all the time and Carnival is no longer honoring last minute price drops.

 

As far as you calling and having to ask someone else and take their word for it. I would go look at the rates myself, knowing exactly what category I booked and what I paid and have compared the rates myself. There might not have been a category above mine that I could upgrade to right then, but 2 hours later a cabin could have opened up. That whole thing would have me curious.. why ask a supervisor if you could be upgraded, so there was something there going on.

 

I overpaid for my first cruise .. and then educated myself on prices and getting the best deal I could.

[Kryssa]

I book with a large online TA. They always give me the lowest advertised price I can find (including free upgrades, ect) plus a big OBC. I also get cruise credit for each cruise I book and any friends I refer. Unlike the above poster, I've never found someone who got a better deal than me on the same cruise :)

[Roughboy]

Which TA did you use if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks

I book with a large online TA. They always give me the lowest advertised price I can find (including free upgrades, ect) plus a big OBC. I also get cruise credit for each cruise I book and any friends I refer. Unlike the above poster, I've never found someone who got a better deal than me on the same cruise :)

[BeccaBecca1713]

Which TA did you use if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks

 

We're not allowed to name TA's on this site. Sorry:(

[firefly333]

Which TA did you use if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks

 

You cant ask which TA or PVP they used (against CC rules to ask or to post a reply to your question) .. and I simply think its lack of experience to say they have never run into someone who had a lower rate on their cruise.. naive?

 

Id put my deals up against that posters any day and willing to be their TA is not always cheaper. .. in fact its against the rules for any TA to discount now.... so if they are discounting they are having to hide it in many ways. No one person always is getting the best deals.

 

I do think it sure would be interesting if we could discuss the actual deals we got from TAs.. Im betting it would be eye opening.

[CCLNCLRCICRUISER]

I do think it sure would be interesting if we could discuss the actual deals we got from TAs.. Im betting it would be eye opening.

Back when it was allowed, there would be multiple threads each day

"do you think this is a good deal or look at the great deal I got" problem was it was often TA's posing as board members. :D Pretty smart

[Cruzin2paradise09]

Personally, I think it's the luck of the draw. Kind of like airfare. That being said, it is frustrating.

 

I always 'second guess' my bookings ... :p

[cuyahoga11]

On my Fantasy cruise I booked ES and ended up paying less for a suite than friends of ours paid for their inside. Sometimes you win sometimes you dont

[CCLNCLRCICRUISER]

Personally, I think it's the luck of the draw. Kind of like airfare. That being said, it is frustrating.

 

I always 'second guess' my bookings ... :p

ES is a great equalizer..since you can price match

You can also get a credit with some airlines if the price drops.

[firefly333]

On my Fantasy cruise I booked ES and ended up paying less for a suite than friends of ours paid for their inside. Sometimes you win sometimes you dont

 

I agree. Even some of my very cheapest, there was someone who got a better deal. I got $129 pp on my Ecstasy cruise to nowhere last July 4th. Wouldnt you know it, some couple who booked after me got $99 pp??!! I was estastic about a $289 port hole cabin last minute during the flu cruises when carnival couldnt go to Mexico... of course there was the couple who paid $299 for a balcony interline rate.. so I couldnt have gotten their rate anyway. I paid $250 for 2 on Elation .. of course there is someone who says they paid $143.. and so on.

 

My PVP can tell you how diligently I shop for prices.. I mean Im a shopper.. so someone posting they always get the lowest price, just cant be. There are always those with higher and lower prices than I paid .. for whatever reason.

 

I have a friend on CC who finds the best deals, a TA typo for extra OBC they talk them into honoring, whatever. No one always has the lowest price on all cruises or they dont cruise as often as I do.

[BeccaBecca1713]

OP, if it bothers you that much, then in the future book further in advance and utilize the ES option. Otherwise, just let it go. Don't let it ruin your cruise. When you paid what you paid at the time, you were comfortable with the price.

[firefly333]

ES is a great equalizer..since you can price match

You can also get a credit with some airlines if the price drops.

 

Iv done better than ES lots of times...

 

I booked spirit on my upcoming cruise airfare, and price either was a typo or ?? showed as $10 on the leg I had paid extra for.. too bad, so sad they said. Wouldnt use spirit again.

 

I cant be the only one ever jumped on what looked like bargain airfare, to find out a month later, the price was cheaper on another carrier?

 

A lot of it is simply luck imo.

[CCLNCLRCICRUISER]

Iv done better than ES lots of times...

 

.

Last min deals will always exist, but for the avg Carnival cruiser that wants to book months out ES is a great way to go if want price protection. Its just not a rate all are willing to book.

 

I personally wouldnt bring up the price I paid for a cruise onboard, it would only make me feel good or someone else feel bad or vice versa :)

[firefly333]

Last min deals will always exist, but for the avg Carnival cruiser that wants to book months out ES is a great way to go if want price protection. Its just not a rate all are willing to book.

 

I personally wouldnt bring up the price I paid for a cruise onboard, it would only make me feel good or someone else feel bad or vice versa :)

 

One more point about ES, lately there have often been pack n go rates cheaper you cant match because they are gtys. One more strike in my book against ES. I do get that a lot of people are happy with ES, me not so much.

 

Mine are not always last minute deals that I am beating ES rates.. group rates too can be much cheaper. Someone selling off free berths on group cruises for instance.

 

It doesnt always come up .. but sometimes people get to talking. I found out about CC from my dinner table and people discussing how they knew certain things I didnt know. Im always open to learning something new.

 

I dont get upset when someone pays less than me anyway. Ill talk to people about whatever they want to talk about and listen. I ran into head of security at the port of new orleans and had lots of questions for her too when she was sitting in the buffet one day at sea while we waited to leave port. She was flattered I was interested in her opinion. I love talking to people on my cruises and hearing their experiences.

[firefly333]

I personally wouldnt bring up the price I paid for a cruise onboard, it would only make me feel good or someone else feel bad or vice versa :)

 

I think this would be a interesting thread too.

 

that cruise to nowhere I booked last minute, that left one day late, I was seated at the captains table for 12? 14? a very large table and all the rest had had to pay for hotel bills the night before and charged higher than normal rates for Galveston hotels plus food. They got 25% off that cruise and 25% off a future cruise, but said the entire 25% they got refunded was eaten up by the hotel bills.

 

I tried for 2 nights to not answer the question of what I paid, not answering direct questions addressed to me once they knew I booked last minute.

 

If someone asks you how much you paid, and you know you paid less and the amount will upset them .. do you eventually answer or not? Remember I was at a dinner table and its not like I could get up and walk away. I really didnt want to answer .. but the question does come up at times for sure..do you answer what did you pay or tell them none of your business?

[CCLNCLRCICRUISER]

 

If someone asks you how much you paid, and you know you paid less and the amount will upset them .. do you eventually answer or not? Remember I was at a dinner table and its not like I could get up and walk away. I really didnt want to answer .. but the question does come up at times for sure..do you answer what did you pay or tell them none of your business?

 

Its never come up in all my travels and I probably wouldnt answer them.

 

I was in a hotel elevator when a guy was bragging that he got a $240 rate for the hotel we were in. I had paid $65 on priceline and let him think he got a great rate.

[okwriter]

Last minute rates are great on MOST cruises if you aren't particular about your cabin type. I always book balconies, and there aren't a lot of those on some ships.

[gertiesmom]

I would never tell anyone that i paid less than them... bragging is kinda rude and why ruin their happiness? Just like I would never tell strangers how much money I make or what I paid for my house.