Booking more than 9 months out, and price drop

[mpcaruth]

I have sailed 6 cruises. I have always booked more than 9 months out to get a good deal. I have never seen the cruise price drop, in all my cruises, after I have booked them. So, it appears to me that Early Saver (ES) may not be beneficial if one books far enough in advanced.

Looking at booking our next cruise for my family of 4, the ES rate is only $100 less than the Past Guest Rate.

Has anyone who has booked ES far in advanced (> 9 months), ever reaped the benefits of a significant price drop?

[tracyanns]

I have sailed 6 cruises. I have always booked more than 9 months out to get a good deal. I have never seen the cruise price drop, in all my cruises, after I have booked them. So, it appears to me that Early Saver (ES) may not be beneficial if one books far enough in advanced.

 

Looking at booking our next cruise for my family of 4, the ES rate is only $100 less than the Past Guest Rate.

 

Has anyone who has booked ES far in advanced (> 9 months), ever reaped the benefits of a significant price drop?

 

Some have, some have not. It really depends on the category that you are in. If you book a category witn an abundance of rooms, at some point if they don't sell they will have to lower them. If you book a category like I did with only a few rooms, the category sells out and there is no price drops...

 

If you are comfortable with ES, than book it, save the $100 and maybe there will be a price drop, even if there isn't, you still saved $100 so you are still ahead of the game.

[mondello]

I get your point. I got a great ES rate for the 3 of us on Valor for Dec. booking a year in advance. It will really be a fire-sale if I catch a price drop on it.

[GTO-Girl]

Just remember ES is the only rate you can get a price drop after final pymt

[finsupcruiser]

I have sailed 6 cruises. I have always booked more than 9 months out to get a good deal. I have never seen the cruise price drop, in all my cruises, after I have booked them. So, it appears to me that Early Saver (ES) may not be beneficial if one books far enough in advanced.

 

Looking at booking our next cruise for my family of 4, the ES rate is only $100 less than the Past Guest Rate.

 

Has anyone who has booked ES far in advanced (> 9 months), ever reaped the benefits of a significant price drop?

 

We always book ES 9+ months out. On our Elation cruise Jan 2012 we recieved $570 in OBC. We had a Grand Suite which did not sell well on that cruise so more price drops.

 

We have recieved OBC or price reduction on most of our ES bookings.

 

We have already recieved $200 reduction in price on our April 2013 Hawaii cruise.

 

We usually sail in non-prime months never in summer or spring break.

 

I don't know if that makes a difference.:)

[SpeedsterX]

I was going to book the Dream's January 5th 2013 cruise last December 2011. I thought it couldn't possibly get any lower and was worried that the price would rise because I didn't have the funds to book until February 2012. Well, right before I booked, it dropped $20pp. I booked at the lower rate in Feb. for a Cove Balcony. I've been on the lookout for another drop since but I doubt it will drop any further and it's still 10 months out. It would really shock me if it did.

[Brendarudd28]

I have only had one price drop and that was last year on the Inspiration. It happened before final payment and I was booked under PG so I was able to get the reduction made to my final payment ($20pp).

I guess the only factor would be if there's a possibility that you'll have to cancel. But with a buffer of $100pp, you're still making out even if you have to cancel and lose $50pp with ES.

I'd chime in with the others and say... go ES. Nothing to lose there. :)

[gunther619]

Last time I booked ES, I got not price drops.

 

This time around on the same exact cruise, I have gotten 4 or 5 drops for a total of $280 of OBC...and I still have 2 more months to go. I booked my cruise 10 months in advance.

 

It's always the cheapest price, so why not get it?

[firefly333]

Last time I booked ES, I got not price drops.

 

This time around on the same exact cruise, I have gotten 4 or 5 drops for a total of $280 of OBC...and I still have 2 more months to go. I booked my cruise 10 months in advance.

 

It's always the cheapest price, so why not get it?

 

Because life happens.. if I had a nickel for every thread I have seen where someone booked ES had a problem come up and they couldnt just change pax, or downgrade, or whatever .. Id be rich.. probably Carnival counts on people who dont know the ES rules and get caught and pay the price.

 

I know ES bit me. Im willing to bet Im not the only one

[pcvtmom]

I booked this summer's cruise over a year out (3 rooms). I recently applied for, and received confirmation for, $120 off per room! Three years ago, on our summer cruise, I booked about 9 months out, and we got $120 off per room, also. However, the last 2 summers...nothing! It just depends on the ship and whether or not the sailing books, I guess.

[TheShayQueen]

I have sailed 6 cruises. I have always booked more than 9 months out to get a good deal. I have never seen the cruise price drop, in all my cruises, after I have booked them. So, it appears to me that Early Saver (ES) may not be beneficial if one books far enough in advanced.

 

Looking at booking our next cruise for my family of 4, the ES rate is only $100 less than the Past Guest Rate.

 

Has anyone who has booked ES far in advanced (> 9 months), ever reaped the benefits of a significant price drop?

 

My cruise is set for August 11th (8 day) and I booked on February 5th. I know you're asking people who've booked at least 9 months out, but in my case I booked ES and the price has already dropped 3 times for a savings of $110 per passenger. I'm hoping for more :D. Maybe you'll start to see the price drop as your cruise date gets closer, IF it's having problems getting the cabins filled.

[stargate fan]

I have sailed 6 cruises. I have always booked more than 9 months out to get a good deal. I have never seen the cruise price drop, in all my cruises, after I have booked them. So, it appears to me that Early Saver (ES) may not be beneficial if one books far enough in advanced.

Looking at booking our next cruise for my family of 4, the ES rate is only $100 less than the Past Guest Rate.

Has anyone who has booked ES far in advanced (> 9 months), ever reaped the benefits of a significant price drop?

 

We always book many months out, sometimes over a year, using Past Guest rates. For our upcoming Dream cruise, we have had 11 price drops totaling over $1,200. Each time the price dropped, I contacted my PVP who adjusted the price for us.

 

As to not getting any more price reductions after final payment, had we booked ES there have not been any cabins in our category available so we could not have received an OBC anyway.

[beachgalMA]

I have sailed 6 cruises. I have always booked more than 9 months out to get a good deal. I have never seen the cruise price drop, in all my cruises, after I have booked them. So, it appears to me that Early Saver (ES) may not be beneficial if one books far enough in advanced.

 

Looking at booking our next cruise for my family of 4, the ES rate is only $100 less than the Past Guest Rate.

 

Has anyone who has booked ES far in advanced (> 9 months), ever reaped the benefits of a significant price drop?

 

 

We booked our 15 day cruise to Hawaii on the Spirit for April 2012 in July 2010..we've had a total of almost $400 in price drops for our cabin..so yes it does happen.

[Cricket63]

Have booked ES twice. First cruise had $260 in OBC, second cruise $0. You take a chance booking ES rates. We always book a year out, usually get low rates when you do this, if not, thats where the ES rates take over.

[truesdpr]

We have booked 2 cabins on the Breeze in August and so far have had $1100 in price drops. We have an aft wrap and an interior on Deck 9. I have become obsessed with checking the prices!

 

Pam.

[doconner]

Here is the price history so far on the Cove balcony that I have booked on the Breeze for October 1st.

 

Price ---- From --------- Through

$ 1679 -- 2011-05-04 -> 2012-01-06

$ 1579 -- 2012-01-06 -> 2012-01-23

$ 1529 -- 2012-01-24 -> 2012-01-31

$ 1429 -- 2012-02-01 -> 2012-02-06

$ 1379 -- 2012-02-06 -> 2012-02-20

$ 1329 -- 2012-02-21 -> 2012-03-08

$ 1199 -- 2012-03-09 -> 2012-03-13

 

As you can see there have been 7 price drops for anyone that booked more than 9 months out on my sailing.

 

It all comes down to how well your sailing is selling.

 

-

Duane-O

[cruzinlisa]

Not true. Since I booked in July 2011 the price for my original OV cabin has dropped $300.00 total (some before final payment and some after). I upgraded to a balcony cabin, which has dropped since last week when I upgraded by $100.00. Additionally, the current price for a balcony is $40 less than what I originally paid for my OV. So even if I never checked a price until today, I would have been able to upgrade from an OV to a balcony and get $40 OBC because I booked early saver. If I hadn't booked early saver then I would might have gotten the price drops before final payment, if I was checking, but would still have missed out on $180.00 worth of drops. And my cruise is not until April 29! If you know you are definitely going and not going to cancel, ES is the way to go.

[mpcaruth]

Well, I went ahead and booked our next cruise with the past guest price instead of the early saver. On a $2500 booking, it was only $75 more than ES, cause we got an extra $25 obc due to higher past guest price. I don't think our cruise will drop much because it seems to be in high demand: Aruba, Curacao, Grand Turk, and La Romana. I checked cruise...fish... dot net, and the January cruise is already almost 65% booked. We can still take advantage of reduced fares until final payment at 75 days before sailing. Hopefully I will still get one of the lowest prices without the risk of early saver.

[firefly333]

Well, I went ahead and booked our next cruise with the past guest price instead of the early saver. On a $2500 booking, it was only $75 more than ES, cause we got an extra $25 obc due to higher past guest price. I don't think our cruise will drop much because it seems to be in high demand: Aruba, Curacao, Grand Turk, and La Romana. I checked cruise...xxx... xxxx, and the January cruise is already almost 65% booked. We can still take advantage of reduced fares until final payment at 75 days before sailing. Hopefully I will still get one of the lowest prices without the risk of early saver.

 

Just to be factual .. the percent you are using is the percent of CATEGORIES booked .. there is no site that gives the amount a cruise is booked and never will be. Carnival is not giving out that info as it would be used toward earnings and illegal to give out.

 

the percent is categories .. not percent of the ship booked.

 

So you can throw that percentage out as you are using it .. its interesting, but not what you think.

 

PS if you read it .. nowhere does it say it is the percentage of the ship booked. Just what you are assuming it means. it says percentage booked .. doesnt say percentage of what .. it leaves you to guess. If you look at other sailings, you will see that percentage figures dont make sense period on that site.

[McBlessings]

I always book like a year out and I end up with a few price drops.

[treasure4two]

When we were on the Splendor, the Future Sailing desk man suggested booking Past Guest(great deal) and then, if the price on ES goes below PG fare and we are sure we are going, then we could change to ES. We are on the second leg of South American 48 day cruise and one year out, the ship was already booked over 33%, so I am not expecting alot of reduction, but very happy with the cost. I have travel insurance and once I book my airfare, unless there is a health problem, we are good to go!

[Stina214]

I have sailed 6 cruises. I have always booked more than 9 months out to get a good deal. I have never seen the cruise price drop, in all my cruises, after I have booked them. So, it appears to me that Early Saver (ES) may not be beneficial if one books far enough in advanced.

 

Looking at booking our next cruise for my family of 4, the ES rate is only $100 less than the Past Guest Rate.

 

Has anyone who has booked ES far in advanced (> 9 months), ever reaped the benefits of a significant price drop?

 

We always book our cruises more than a year out. Our rooms have been "bumped up" a level or two. Our last cruise we went with family and had rooms next to each other so did not want to be "bumped" but we did end up with approximately $250 of on board credit due to price drops from between booking and sailing. We checked almost every day and then called our travel agent. Because sometimes the price drop is only out there for a day and then goes back up and you have to submit the paperwork to get the credit.

[mpcaruth]

Well, I went ahead and booked our next cruise with the past guest price instead of the early saver. On a $2500 booking, it was only $75 more than ES, cause we got an extra $25 obc due to higher past guest price. I don't think our cruise will drop much because it seems to be in high demand: Aruba, Curacao, Grand Turk, and La Romana. I checked cruise...fish... dot net, and the January cruise is already almost 65% booked. We can still take advantage of reduced fares until final payment at 75 days before sailing. Hopefully I will still get one of the lowest prices without the risk of early saver.

 

 

Just an update... The PG cabin price has risen $300 to $2800 since we booked. In fact, the ES rate is now $80 more than what we paid for the PG rate. About a month ago, a Port Hole cabin became available and I "down-graded" from my OV cabin and saved $300 ($2200). I am not sure if I had booked ES, I would have been able to down-grade. Can anyone answer this?

[Loving My Life]

Just an update... The PG cabin price has risen $300 to $2800 since we booked. In fact, the ES rate is now $80 more than what we paid for the PG rate. About a month ago, a Port Hole cabin became available and I "down-graded" from my OV cabin and saved $300 ($2200). I am not sure if I had booked ES, I would have been able to down-grade. Can anyone answer this?

 

No, with ES you CANNOT downgrade, only upgrade.

[surfjock27]

We booked ES in April for our Breeze cruise this December.

So far the price of our category (8E) has gone up $290 per person.

I'm relieved that we booked early enough to avoid that steep climb..

But bummed that we most likely will not reap the reward of any OBC.