Booking Early Saver vs Past Guest ??

[SUNNY D]

Its been several years since we last cruised so I am bit confused by all the different rate options available now. The past guest rate for our cruise is cheaper but it doesnt have a check mark next to price protection...does this mean we can't take advantage of any price drops in the future? Early saver is $25 more per person with price protection. I think we get upgrades with past guest but we are booking a cove and want a cove so I dont think upgrades will benefit us. Any pros/cons to booking one or the other? Is it worth paying a little more to have the price protection? There is also a save big option for around the same price with half deposit but when I click it, the cove balcony is not available. There are 7 rate options, so confusing :(

[CENTEX CRUISER]

Up till final payment, you can get obc with past guest rate I believe, because with past guest you can cancel with no penalty before final..To me Early Saver is not such a big deal anymore with all the new rates, and we have always done ES...I really think if you have a good idea of what a good rate is and book it, you won't normally see a lot of price changes. The two ES cruises we have booked now have done nothing but gone up..

[SUNNY D]

Thank you! It looks like past guest rate seems to be the better deal for us since I would have to pay $50 more per cabin to book early saver and hope the price goes down at least that much to make it worth it. At least if we book at past guest rate we can get price reductions until final payment. Thanks for the clarification. :)

[mizLORInj]

We use a TA and the one time there was actually a price drop before final payment (we did not book Early Saver) we got the cruise re-invoiced so the lower amount showed due at final payment.

The only con to past guest rate is if the rate goes down after final payment, we get $0. But that's so rare I don't worry about it.

 

Early Saver has too many restrictions for me.

[gtalum]

If the past guest rate is lower, you can book Early Saver and then immediately request a fare reduction to the past guest rate.

 

If you know for sure that you're going to sail on that cruise, then Early Saver is the best route. If there's any doubt, that's when the other rates make sense.

[Magic City Cruiser]

I've booked ES for several years and this year, the Past Guest was less so booked that. SO! I figured I was out of the Price Protection loop but do I understand, as per this thread, that with Past Guest you get Price Protection UP until FINAL PAYMENT DATE?

I got a good rate and it's an inexpensive cruise so it's not a big deal. I'm hoping for an upgrade to a suite at a good price more than a price drop.