Earlysaver First Time ever with this problem

[zonabelle]

I have sailed Carnival many times and I am platinum. I always book earlysaver and ops because we book so far in the future. The price for my cruise on Legend March 2 dropped $20 for FL residents (which I am). I sent in the earlysaver form and received a response that my reservation wasn't earlysaver. I was on the phone over an hour this morning and it was finally confirmed that this is earlysaver. All good. However now the representative and her supervisor told me if I take the $20 decrease, I have to pay an additional $9 TODAY because the taxes, port fees, etc have increased. If I don't take the price reduction, I will not have to pay the tax increase. I have never encountered this before. When we board, there is usually a few dollars OBC on our account due to adjustment of the taxes. So I understand that those fees can change after final payment. But on the flip side of that, I feel certain that any increase would also be added to your account in the event there was an increase. I get that too. But on the phone today I was told I must pay the increase today or the booking will be cancelled. Anybody have any advice? I am on hold yet again waiting for another supervisor. Great way to spend a couple of hours Saturday morning!

[kteachcruiser52]

I have sailed Carnival many times and I am platinum. I always book earlysaver and ops because we book so far in the future. The price for my cruise on Legend March 2 dropped $20 for FL residents (which I am). I sent in the earlysaver form and received a response that my reservation wasn't earlysaver. I was on the phone over an hour this morning and it was finally confirmed that this is earlysaver. All good. However now the representative and her supervisor told me if I take the $20 decrease, I have to pay an additional $9 TODAY because the taxes, port fees, etc have increased. If I don't take the price reduction, I will not have to pay the tax increase. I have never encountered this before. When we board, there is usually a few dollars OBC on our account due to adjustment of the taxes. So I understand that those fees can change after final payment. But on the flip side of that, I feel certain that any increase would also be added to your account in the event there was an increase. I get that too. But on the phone today I was told I must pay the increase today or the booking will be cancelled. Anybody have any advice? I am on hold yet again waiting for another supervisor. Great way to spend a couple of hours Saturday morning!

 

 

We have had to pay increased fees when we claimed early saver credit. For example the price went down $30 pp and the fees went up $5 pp so there was a net of $25 pp OBC. When the fees go up after booking you are not charged the increase unless you change your booking in some way or apply for a price reduction. I read where one poster lost money by filing the early saver form for a small amount so I always do a mock booking if I find a lower price on Fareviewer just to make sure if/how much the fees are.

[freddymale]

i try to book es when ever I can, Like you we always seem to have some obc for our cruises.

I never heard of paying more for taxes etc ..that is a new to me

[heatherbean]

I have sailed Carnival many times and I am platinum. I always book earlysaver and ops because we book so far in the future. The price for my cruise on Legend March 2 dropped $20 for FL residents (which I am). I sent in the earlysaver form and received a response that my reservation wasn't earlysaver. I was on the phone over an hour this morning and it was finally confirmed that this is earlysaver. All good. However now the representative and her supervisor told me if I take the $20 decrease, I have to pay an additional $9 TODAY because the taxes, port fees, etc have increased. If I don't take the price reduction, I will not have to pay the tax increase. I have never encountered this before. When we board, there is usually a few dollars OBC on our account due to adjustment of the taxes. So I understand that those fees can change after final payment. But on the flip side of that, I feel certain that any increase would also be added to your account in the event there was an increase. I get that too. But on the phone today I was told I must pay the increase today or the booking will be cancelled. Anybody have any advice? I am on hold yet again waiting for another supervisor. Great way to spend a couple of hours Saturday morning!

 

 

I had the same thing happen, where the taxes/port fees went up. However, I didn't have to pay for them separately. Say the fee change was $9 and the price drop was $20, I was only given $11 OBC and the rest was placed as my payment. We ended up getting some fees refunded as OBC once we boarded.

[funinthesun1964]

A few weeks ago, I changed my rate from Past guest rate to early saver. My PVP said that the port fees/taxes can fluctuate, so I had to pay about 7.00 pp for the increase. It was worth it though to switch to Early Saver, as a couple of weeks later I had a price drop of $25 per person. She said if the port fees/taxes decreased anytime till we sail, we will get it back as OBC.

 

I think it is worth it to have Early Saver because if the rates decrease anytime up to 2 days before sailing (to a rate where you can pick your own cabin) then you will save!

[zonabelle]

I just read the contractual verbage about Taxes, fees and port charges. It states that these fees are subject to change and Carnival reserves the right to collect the difference at the time of sailing even if the booking is paid in full. I get that and I accept that. But VERBALLY the representative on the phone has said I will not be charged any additional costs if I do not take the current decrease in price. Since a verbal "guarantee" means nothing against the written contract, my concern is that I will not take the decrease in rate today but will still be charged the tax increase when we board. It does say "Carnival reserves to right" to do this so maybe they do not do so, just like they reserve the right to charge a surcharge for fuel increases, but have not yet ever done so. But I do not know how to ensure I won't be charged the increase in taxes when I board the ship if I don't take the decrease in rate today. Basically I could save $20 today and pay the additional $30 in taxes (so I actually end up paying $10 more for the price drop!) or not take the $20 decrease and hope they don't charge me the $30 when we board.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

A few weeks ago, I changed my rate from Past guest rate to early saver. My PVP said that the port fees/taxes can fluctuate, so I had to pay about 7.00 pp for the increase. It was worth it though to switch to Early Saver, as a couple of weeks later I had a price drop of $25 per person. She said if the port fees/taxes decreased anytime till we sail, we will get it back as OBC.

 

I think it is worth it to have Early Saver because if the rates decrease anytime up to 2 days before sailing (to a rate where you can pick your own cabin) then you will save!

 

You switched your booking on the Freedom just a few weeks ago or are you talking about another booking?

 

If it was the Freedom I thought ES couldn't be booked within 5 months of the cruise date or has Carnival changed that policy as well.

 

Just curious as i like to stay on top of the Carnival rules.

 

Bill

[Island Hopper58]

I just read the contractual verbage about Taxes, fees and port charges. It states that these fees are subject to change and Carnival reserves the right to collect the difference at the time of sailing even if the booking is paid in full. I get that and I accept that. But VERBALLY the representative on the phone has said I will not be charged any additional costs if I do not take the current decrease in price. Since a verbal "guarantee" means nothing against the written contract, my concern is that I will not take the decrease in rate today but will still be charged the tax increase when we board. It does say "Carnival reserves to right" to do this so maybe they do not do so, just like they reserve the right to charge a surcharge for fuel increases, but have not yet ever done so. But I do not know how to ensure I won't be charged the increase in taxes when I board the ship if I don't take the decrease in rate today. Basically I could save $20 today and pay the additional $30 in taxes (so I actually end up paying $10 more for the price drop!) or not take the $20 decrease and hope they don't charge me the $30 when we board.

From what I have read and from past experiences you will not be charged the extra $30 if you pass on the "not so" Drop now.

This happened to me, I was early saver, and a drop showed up for my Cabin Cat. I took the drop. The taxes and fees ate up some of it, but from then on every drop was at the new tax & fee so I got them in full.

While on the other hand, my friends Cabin Cat. (also ES) did not get the a drop, and their Taxes and Fees remand the lesser, and they were NOT charged once on board.

So Yes Carnival can charge you, but No they do not. At least I have not heard of them doing it...YET

Here's the deal, if they do, oh well you are on vacation don't let it bother you.

Have a GREAT cruise

Edited January 18, 2014 by Island Hopper58

[Isa65]

The small amount of OBC you usually receive once aboard is for port fee reduction.

If the TAXES have gone up, any new rate code will reflect this.

 

Once you apply for a price drop, Carnival needs to RE-code you in order to give you that price difference. You will still enjoy ES protection, but your booking will now fall under the new rate code with its respective fees & taxes.

So even if your cruise fare is lower, if the taxes are higher than the drop you are not getting the OBC.

 

I would just leave the booking as it is, as you risk having it cancelled and then you HAVE to re-book at the higher tax rate.

[zonabelle]

This specific experience is exactly what I was hoping someone on this board had encountered and would share. So even though Carnival technically "can" charge the increase, apparently they do not actually enact that right to do so if you do not alter the booking. Thank you so much for sharing. And you are right, it is only a small amount and not worth messing up a vacation if they do end up charging me. It will just be a lesson learned!

[Tapi]

We've had our taxes adjusted as well when we've done a price change.

[roohound]

I have a past guest rate that came with an $80 bar credit. If I ask to have my rate changed from past guest to early saver, can I assume I'd lose that $80?

[n6uqqq]

I have a past guest rate that came with an $80 bar credit. If I ask to have my rate changed from past guest to early saver, can I assume I'd lose that $80?

Yes. Whenever you change booking fare code you get whatever goes with the new fare. You don't accumulate benefits switching around .

Edited January 18, 2014 by n6uqqq

[ariannas1nana]

I checked to see if I had a price drop for my cruise in July, it actually went UP $100 pp! Has anyone ever had this happen before? Is this normal? I was hoping for drops not increases in price..

 

Thanks

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I have a past guest rate that came with an $80 bar credit. If I ask to have my rate changed from past guest to early saver, can I assume I'd lose that $80?

 

Not sure if you'd lose it or not just switching to ES with no pricing change but the first price drop you put in for you definitely will lose it.

 

Bill

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I checked to see if I had a price drop for my cruise in July, it actually went UP $100 pp! Has anyone ever had this happen before? Is this normal? I was hoping for drops not increases in price..

 

Thanks

 

It has happened to many people. Not all cruises go down in price or Carnival would never offer such a rate.

 

Not many post of their prices increasing. You will get some saying they are glad they booked early and got the cheaper price but not many in comparison to the Woohoo! My price went down $60 post.

 

Bill

[ready2cruzagain]

I checked to see if I had a price drop for my cruise in July, it actually went UP $100 pp! Has anyone ever had this happen before? Is this normal? I was hoping for drops not increases in price..

 

Thanks

 

Quite normal. I have booked a couple of cruises and the price never went down, only up. Keep watching though, it might go down. Prices fluctuate all the time.

Edited January 18, 2014 by ready2cruzagain

[luv2trvlnow]

Quite normal. I have booked a couple of cruises and the price never went down, only up. Keep watching though, it might go down. Prices fluctuate all the time.

I have had price drops on several cruises but it wasn't during the summer. Last April I had $610 OBC and that was even with an increase in the taxes and fees of almost $40. Funny thing is when we got onboard we had credits that almost totaled the additional $40 we had to pay in increased taxes and fees.

 

This year we are booked on the Splendor repositioning cruise from San Juan to Miami on November 1. Even though we are booked Early Saver I am not expecting any price drops. Since we booked at the end of December the rate for a 4A had gone up $280. Another person said their 8E had gone up $430. Early Saver has disappeared and the only option left in Fun Select. It seems to be a very popular cruise.

 

So you never know which way it might go.

 

Sharon

[fishtaco]

I checked to see if I had a price drop for my cruise in July, it actually went UP $100 pp! Has anyone ever had this happen before? Is this normal? I was hoping for drops not increases in price..

 

Thanks

 

Dont hold your breath for price drops on many June July sailings! The main advantage of ES bookings for these cruises is you get to choose your cabin at the lower price.

 

Dont get carried away wasting half a year doing mock bookings everyday for a price drop! when you book a cruise the June July cruises are usually more expensive than some other months in the first instance and for a reason.

 

You will find most of the daily price drops announced on CC are for less popular months:)

[jks336]

same here. finally got a price drop on our last cruise, not much, but a drop. but at that time the gratuities had changed. I always pre-pay our tips. so we had to pay the diff in the tips so we ended up with about a drink free each with the price drop. :)

 

and of course I msg'd them back saying, if I can't adjust my pre-paid gratuities, why can you because I got a price drop. but oh well. I dealt with it lol.

 

I'm always so jealous of the people who get all the price drops lol.. we book early (need to) and not during "prime" time (too expensive) but have only recv'd the 1 drop in 3 cruises. and finally got an upgrade call on the last one, but shoot, no bargain there, we could have booked it at that rate in the beginning lol. but as the saying goes, I was happy with the rate when we booked. :)

Edited January 19, 2014 by jks336

[funinthesun1964]

You switched your booking on the Freedom just a few weeks ago or are you talking about another booking?

 

If it was the Freedom I thought ES couldn't be booked within 5 months of the cruise date or has Carnival changed that policy as well.

 

Just curious as i like to stay on top of the Carnival rules.

 

Bill

 

Oh no, not the Freedom cruise. This is for another cruise in October.

[maurinsky2]

We had a price drop several months back of about $100, but the price has mostly gone up since then. Right now, if we wanted to book our same cabin, it would cost about $500 more than when we booked.

 

Our week falls within a spring break period, so I'm not expecting price drops, although I am hoping for a small one after the payment deadline for those who have already booked passes.

[ccarpenter1963]

We had a price drop several months back of about $100, but the price has mostly gone up since then. Right now, if we wanted to book our same cabin, it would cost about $500 more than when we booked.

 

Our week falls within a spring break period, so I'm not expecting price drops, although I am hoping for a small one after the payment deadline for those who have already booked passes.

 

Same thing for us. But a little obc would be nice. :D