Early Saver Spiel

[DKF97]

Does anyone have a link to all the terms and conditions of early saver? I can only find a little info here and there on Carnival's site.

[KenMo]

I found this at Carnival's FAQs:

 

What is Early Saver?

Early Saver is a brand new promotional rate that rewards you for booking early with the absolute lowest rate. In addition, the fares are backed by a unique price protection assurance. Book your cruise now. If you later find a lower Carnival advertised fare for the same sailing and accommodations, Carnival will honor it, issuing the difference in the form of a non-refundable, non-transferable onboard credit. The policy is effective up to two business days prior to sailing. You now have even more great reasons to book early! Not only will you have the best availability of staterooms, dates, and destinations…you’re assured the lowest rate.

• How early must I make my reservation?

Early Saver is available up to 3 months prior to sailing on short cruises (5 days or shorter) and up to 5 months prior to sailing on long cruises (6 days or greater).

• How do I make an Early Saver reservation?

Contact your Travel Agent, your Personal Vacation Planner, call 1-800- Carnival or visit www.Carnival.com.

• Does Early Saver follow Carnival’s standard deposit, payment and cancellation terms?

The deposit and payment terms are the same. However, Early Saver reservations require a full non-refundable deposit per person.

• What if I need to make changes to my ship or sailing date?

Ship and sailing date changes are allowed prior to the final payment due date, subject to a $50 USD service fee per person, per change. Changes made after the final payment due date are subject to standard cancellation penalties.

• What is the price protection assurance feature?

If, after booking, you find a lower Carnival advertised fare, Carnival will honor it, issuing the difference in the form of a non-refundable onboard credit. The lower fare must be: i) for the same ship, sailing, stateroom category and number of guests; ii) available for booking at the time you submit your request for the lower rate; and iii) a rate you are eligible to receive, if special restrictions apply. Price protection will be subject to the prevailing fees and/or fuel supplement if applicable.

• What is a Carnival advertised fare?

A Carnival.com or Carnival advertised fare available to the general public. A Carnival advertised fare excludes group rates, membership programs, charters or other Travel Agent promotions not offered by Carnival to the general public•

What should I do once I find a lower rate?

Complete a price protection claim form. If the request meets the price protection requirements, we will process your onboard credit for the fare difference and send you an email confirmation within 2 business days of your request.

• What information must be submitted for a price protection request?

Guest(s) name

Sailing information

Available cruise fare being requested

Where the lower advertised fare was found (i.e.: Carnival.com)

• When can I submit a price protection request?

Carnival will accept price protection requests up to 2 business days prior to sailing.

• How many times can I submit a price protection request?

Provided that you are eligible for the lower fare, there are no restrictions to the number of price protection requests or the requested amount.

Note: No Downgrades are allowed.

[smc0320]

^The company reserves the right to reinstate the fuel supplement for all guests at up to $9 per person per day if the NYMEX oil price exceeds $70 per barrel.

 

*Early Saver: Cruise rates are in US dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, capacity controlled and subject to change at any time without prior notice. Government taxes and fees are from $17.83 to $279.52 additional for each guest based on itinerary. A non-refundable and non-transferable deposit is required at the time of booking for all guests to secure confirmed accommodations. Fares are backed by a unique price protection policy. Full names are required for each guest. Offer is valid for new bookings only and is not combinable with any other discounted or promotional offer. Available on sailings 3 months prior to sail date for short cruises (5 days or less) and available on sailings 5 months prior to sail date for long cruises (6 days or longer). Savings are based on Fun Select rates and vary by sailings. Category restrictions and exclusions apply. No name changes are allowed. No downgrades are allowed. A $50 service fee will be assessed per person for ship and/or sail date changes made prior to the final payment due date. Cancellation penalties apply. Request Early Saver. Ships' Registry: The Bahamas, Panama & Malta.

Price Protection: Price protection applies to new Early Saver bookings only and requires payment of a non-refundable and non-transferable deposit. Applies to cruise fare only. Applies only to a Carnival.com or Carnival advertised fare available to the general public and excludes group rates, membership programs, charters or other Travel Agent promotions not offered by Carnival to the general public, including but not limited to travel agent rebates. To submit a Price Protection claim, visit carnival.com/earlysaver. When submitting a rate lock request, you must provide the lower rate amount and where the rate can be found. Requests will be accepted up to two business days prior to sailing. Lower rate must be: (i) for the same ship, sail date, stateroom category and number of guests; (ii) a Carnival advertised rate (iii) available for booking at the time the request is reviewed by Carnival's reservation agents. Verified rate difference is issued as an on-board credit. The on-board credit is non-refundable, non-transferable and has no cash value. Any unused portion of the onboard credit will be forfeited. Rate lock is not combinable with other promotions. Price protection will be subject to the prevailing fees and/or fuel supplement if applicable. Program subject to change at any time without prior notice.

[Ken076]

Does anyone have a link to all the terms and conditions of early saver? I can only find a little info here and there on Carnival's site.

 

http://www.carnival.com/cms/fun/earlysaver/default.aspx

 

ken

[bbohbbneedacruise]

One of the CCL ladies had posted this over in Funville ...

http://www.carnival.com/Funville/forums/p/240909/1253100.aspx

Early Saver Guidelines

Early Saver bookings can be made in USD currency only.

A non-refundable/non-transferable per person deposit is required at the time of booking. If the booking is changed to a different duration after initially being made, the non-refundable deposit will always equal that of the longest sailing for the life of that Early Saver booking.

The deposit amounts, payment terms and deadlines and cancellation terms are the same as the standard policies; however, Early Saver reservations require a non-refundable deposit per person.

3rd/4th/5th guest deposits will auto-adjust if the cruise rate plus non-commissionable fees are lower than the sailing duration required deposit.

Check payment may be called in for deposit; payment must be received in house within 24 hours or the booking will cancel.

This is a restricted farecode program and because of the restrictions, it is automatically within penalty once deposited

A $50 per person/per change service fee is applicable to all guests (including 3rd/4th/5th) outside standard penalty for ship and/or sail date changes.

Once the Early Saver fare code (PEB) is applied to a booking, the Early Saver guidelines go into effect. The Early Saver restrictions apply even if the fare code is changed to a non-Early Saver promotion prior to taking payment. This also applies when you make the change on the same phone call. You must ensure that you book the guests using the correct fare code at the time of booking to avoid the unnecessary waiving of penalties.

Changes made after the final payment date are subject to standard cancellation penalties.

Names

§ Full names are required at time of booking

§ TBA names are not permitted

§ Name changes are considered to be a partial cancellation

§ Name corrections of 3+ letters (with the same date of birth) are subject to a service fee of $50 per person

§ Prizewinner bookings cannot be booked under this program

For bookings that are made as single-occupancy that later request to add additional guests, the new 2nd guest will be added at the same rate as the 1st guest; the new 3rd/4th/5th guests will be subject to the prevailing rates on the sailing.

Downgrading an Early Saver booking outside of standard penalty. Early Saver guidelines require that any changes to a booking remain within the same category booked. Exceptions will be made only in the following cases:

§ Adding new guests to the cabin, but there is no availability in the same category to accommodate the increased occupancy. In all cases, we should try to sell up to the next available category; however, if guests insist and a lower category has the occupancy needed, then we agree to make the exception.

§ An existing booking now wants to bring children/friends in another cabin close by. We need to attempt to sell up but if necessary we should accommodate in a lower category.

Travel Agent commission is based on the final cruise fare; in the event that the cruise fare is lowered as part of the Early Saver price protection, the travel agency commission will be recalculated based on the lower cruise fare.

FIT bookings made under the Early Saver promotion cannot be transferred to a group reservation regardless of the number of staterooms booked

[DKF97]

Thank you all!

I'm sure this isn't possible, but maybe some early saver experts can verify it. We are a family of 4, we booked an 8E cabin with ES. It never crossed my mind to put the kids in an inside room till it was mentioned on the boards. Any chance they would let me move them to their own room, applying the fares we have already paid to the new booking and we just pay the extra? We are less than a month from sailing. I assume they would treat it like a cancellation so that's why it won't work. To make things even worse there are no inside cabins less than 3 staterooms away (boys are 12 & 14), so we would have to change rooms also and there are only 8D's left according to fare viewer. Anway live and learn. How many cruises do I have to book before I know all the ins and outs? Guess I'll just have to keep practicing!:D

[chipq]

Generally, ES does not allow cancellations. Call your TA or your CCL agent and see if they might work with you. Assuming there are cabins available, from a business sense if allowing your change request brings in more fare than they would receive on your current booking, why not make an exception. The worst thing they would do is say no. Give them a call.

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[jenng1976]

Generally, ES does not allow cancellations. Call your TA or your CCL agent and see if they might work with you. Assuming there are cabins available, from a business sense if allowing your change request brings in more fare than they would receive on your current booking, why not make an exception. The worst thing they would do is say no. Give them a call.

 

http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

 

I second this ... I am pretty sure I have read about them making similar exceptions in the past, when a person wants to add a second room (and they make more $$$!)

 

Good luck!

[cruzinlisa]

Thank you all!

I'm sure this isn't possible, but maybe some early saver experts can verify it. We are a family of 4, we booked an 8E cabin with ES. It never crossed my mind to put the kids in an inside room till it was mentioned on the boards. Any chance they would let me move them to their own room, applying the fares we have already paid to the new booking and we just pay the extra? We are less than a month from sailing. I assume they would treat it like a cancellation so that's why it won't work. To make things even worse there are no inside cabins less than 3 staterooms away (boys are 12 & 14), so we would have to change rooms also and there are only 8D's left according to fare viewer. Anway live and learn. How many cruises do I have to book before I know all the ins and outs? Guess I'll just have to keep practicing!:D

 

I believe I have heard people on this board saying that CCL has allowed people to do something similar. The only wrinkle is that since you want to move two of the people to an Inside, that might be seen as a downgrade. I would probably call, talk to a supervisor and see if they would go for it. Worst case scenario, they say no and you are in the same position that you are in now.

[RWolver672]

Thank you all!

How many cruises do I have to book before I know all the ins and outs? Guess I'll just have to keep practicing!:D

 

You never will. Just when you think you have learned it all, they change it!

[Carnival_Brides]

We had a similar situation where we needed to add a second room. The original was a balcony and we wanted to add an interior. It had to be approved by a supervisor and took about 30 minutes on the phone, but they made the exception since we were giving them more business.

 

It wouldn't hurt to call and ask. If you don't get an answer you're happy with, I'd hang up and call back--that also seems to be effective.