Book Early Saver or Casino Rate?

[cdubmom]

Needing some help on which rate to book:

 

Early Saver Rate: $3112 (Mid Balcony - Upper/Veranda/Vista/Lido or Pano due to upgrades included

 

Casino Rate: $2952.92 (Mid Balcony - Upper)

 

I read about all of these price drops and such with Early Saver, but still not 100% which rate I should book.

 

Wish the Casino Rate was free so I wouldn't have to decide!!! :rolleyes: LOL

[bafinegan]

Book early saver then put in for the price drop (casino rate). Early saver means you can also get any other price drops up to 2 days prior to sale date.

 

Baf

[firemanbobswife]

I booked ES and price matched to Casino. Best of both worlds.

[cdubmom]

Wow!! Thanks! Had no idea you could do that!!! :)

[firemanbobswife]

Yep! And if you price match to a lower rate you still get to keep your casino cash. Just keep your email/letter that shows the amount in case they can't find your name on the list at the casino. It is separate so you don't need to take that into account when figuring price drops.

[Can'tWait2SetSail]

Can anyone who has sailed Carnival and gambled get a casino rate offer or is it only offered at their discretion?

[firemanbobswife]

Can anyone who has sailed Carnival and gambled get a casino rate offer or is it only offered at their discretion?

 

I hardly spend any money in the Casino - maybe $50 total, and get offers when I am not currently booked. If I'm already booked, never any offers. Same with my family members. Check your VIFP offers although the previous one just expired and they haven't released another one yet. I'm sure they will soon.

 

I got a special rate and $40 casino cash for my upcoming cruise. So did my sister. But you do have to be chosen, it's not something that can be booked by anyone. It's linked to your VIFP number.

[cdubmom]

Yeah my last casino expired in December right before Christmas, but I checked again today and it was back and this time it includes summer cruises. The one before was only for cruising prior to March. I only spent about $50, too, but kept winning enough to keep me playing daily. Definitely didn't get the free drink card in terms of points, though.

 

Thanks for all of the advice!!! Will check on the specifics of each rate. There must be some negatives to ES?? It seems to go to be true??

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Can'tWait2SetSail]

Thanks for the info!

[megnut78]

So if I book Early Saver and then price match to Casino deal, what happens if a better deal comes along lower than the Casino price? Am I able to price match that or am I stuck at the Casino price?

[CruisingSoon88]

So if I book Early Saver and then price match to Casino deal, what happens if a better deal comes along lower than the Casino price? Am I able to price match that or am I stuck at the Casino price?

 

You can match to any rate that is not a guarantee. Our Breeze cruise for next month I booked originally as ES so I could be locked in. I had a casino rate offer that was actually about $500 cheaper than ES. I matched the casino offer for the price drop. Since then, the rates have just kept going down and I now have $705 OBC.

[Rod in Az]

So if I book Early Saver and then price match to Casino deal, what happens if a better deal comes along lower than the Casino price? Am I able to price match that or am I stuck at the Casino price?

 

Your booking remains an "early saver" booking and you can continue to price match any rate that you are eligible for. For example, last year we booked an early saver rate even though the casino rate was cheaper. As soon as the booking was confirmed I did a price match to the casino rate, which reduced our cruise by about $100, and our booking remained an early saver booking. A few weeks later (and after final payment) a resident rate was available at a price less than what I was booked at, so I requested a price match to that rate, which was approved.

 

When requesting a price match, you just have to be sure that you qualify for the rate that you wish to price match. My son-in-law is military, and qualifies for the military rate, so we price matched that same cruise to the military rate for their stateroom, as they were not eligible for the resident rate.

 

Hope that helps....

[Cruisegirl6]

What was the ship and the sailing date?

 

DEFINATELY early saver rate that casino rate is not good, you get better but need to know what I asked above.

[megnut78]

Thank you so much Rod and CruisingSoon!! You were both a huge help and I will be booking Early Saver tomorrow for my cruise in August! We are going to try the Pride again since it's been in for its upgrades :)

[winddawn]

Me too. I've booked early saver and then price matched to a casino rate. And then you can keep the early saver price drop protection for possible future price drops. Plus you will get whatever casino cash your casino offer came with. Just take the casino offer paperwork showing your casino cash amount to the casino cashier to claim the cash.