Past Guest to Early Saver to Past Guest

[dickinson]

I booked my b2b cruises as Past Guest because I didn't care for the restrictions under Early Saver. Also I wasn't paying too much more to do so. As time went on Early Saver went down by $240 PLUS I got an upgrade to an extended balcony. I decided the restrictions were worth this. Two months later, when there was no more Early Saver, there was a better price as Past Guest. I called my TA and got the lower fare. Today I discover the price on some type of promotion is a little bit less. Called my TA who in turn called Carnival. I come to find out that I am no longer on Early Saver but Past Guest. Huh????? I thought this couldn't be done. My guess is the rep with Carnival who lowered the fare to the past guest rate took me off of Early Saver. Final payment isn't til November.

 

Would you keep the past guest designation or call back to have them change it to Early Saver? I am tempted to keep it as is as I did not like the restrictions.

 

Oh, and since I booked last October the fare has come down $580 :) although not much discounting lately.

Edited August 11, 2015 by dickinson

[dallas52]

you are allowed price drops till final payment date on past guest.

[Troublemaker47]

I was under impression that when you file for price drop, you are changed to the promotion that has the Lower price, sometimes that would mean you would lose the early saver price drop advantage.

 

 

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[ladyd11933]

Once early saver you are always early saver and should be able to price match to past guest with no problem,

[tandemcruzr]

I think your TA doesn't understand ES, or doesn't want to get you a lower price due to commission loss. As someone said above, once ES, always ES and you are eligible for price drops up to 2 business days before your sail date.

[dickinson]

I think your TA doesn't understand ES, or doesn't want to get you a lower price due to commission loss. As someone said above, once ES, always ES and you are eligible for price drops up to 2 business days before your sail date.

 

My TA is an online agency. The person that I spoke with said she used to work for Carnival and was very surprised that Carnival was telling her I was past guest now as she was quite familiar with early saver and knew that once early saver always early saver. I have had 3 price reductions. It was the second one where I changed from past guest to early saver. The last price reduction was a couple of months after that. Early Saver was no longer being offered and the lowest price (which was lower than my early saver) was past guest. It appears that Carnival rep, in lowering my fare, also changed my category from early saver to past guest.

[tandemcruzr]

Sounds like you should recontact that person you spoke to and make them recontact Carnival to correct the error.

[Cruisesfun65]

It appears that Carnival rep, in lowering my fare, also changed my category from early saver to past guest.

 

This is not important. Like another poster said - once Early Saver, always Early Saver and you should receive the latest price drop without any problems.

Call back again.

[dickinson]

This is not important. Like another poster said - once Early Saver, always Early Saver and you should receive the latest price drop without any problems.

Call back again.

 

Getting price drops at this point is not the issue (I am before final payment). The point was the Carnival rep told the TA that they could see in the comments from past calls that I went from past guest to early saver and then back to past guest. Apparently I am currently on past guest. I wanted to know if this has happened to others.

[TerReuv]

I was under impression that when you file for price drop, you are changed to the promotion that has the Lower price, sometimes that would mean you would lose the early saver price drop advantage.

 

 

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That is incorrect. Once ES, always ES. Your rate may change, but you are always still ES unless you change to a guarantee and let Carnival pick your room.

[Legend]

Someone is not getting it whether it be your TA or whomever. It ends up being a he said/she said conversation.

 

Once you book early saver you can NEVER not be early saver. Yes you might change to a past guest rate BUT the booking always has early saver roots.

 

You can change to military or resident and back to past guest then senior and back to past guest but no matter what you will always be under early saver rules and restrictions with whatever new promo you price match to.

 

Your booking will show as Past Guest but when anyone looks in the history of the booking they can see that at some point you changed to early saver and from that point forward you are always early saver plus whatever promo you changed to.

[fuddrules]

Getting price drops at this point is not the issue (I am before final payment). The point was the Carnival rep told the TA that they could see in the comments from past calls that I went from past guest to early saver and then back to past guest. Apparently I am currently on past guest. I wanted to know if this has happened to others.

 

If you're showing booked as Past Guest and you're before final payment, cancel the entire booking.

 

Then start all over if you're still interested in this cruise and/or using the same TA.

Edited August 12, 2015 by fuddrules

[fuddrules]

Once you book early saver you can NEVER not be early saver.

 

Never say never, at least with Carnival.

 

There have been a bunch of reports where people were able to dump their ES rate for a Guaranteed rate. Once they do this however, their guarantee rate is full and final.

[DebJ14]

We booked a cruise in 2012 in an Ocean Suite at an ES rate. They came out with a senior rate on suites so we upgraded to a Grand Suite for the same price as we were paying for the OS with the ES rate.

 

From that point on we were on the senior fare, no longer ES and not entitled to any price drops. There actually were several and my TA tried to get them for us, but kept running into a brick wall as Carnival said we were no longer ES. So, the old adage once you are ES, you are always ES does not always apply.

[TerReuv]

Getting price drops at this point is not the issue (I am before final payment). The point was the Carnival rep told the TA that they could see in the comments from past calls that I went from past guest to early saver and then back to past guest. Apparently I am currently on past guest. I wanted to know if this has happened to others.

 

Maybe you should see if you and the TA can do a conference call to Carnival. Hopefully together you all can figure it out.

[Sparky2]

I booked my b2b cruises as Past Guest because I didn't care for the restrictions under Early Saver. Also I wasn't paying too much more to do so. As time went on Early Saver went down by $240 PLUS I got an upgrade to an extended balcony. I decided the restrictions were worth this. Two months later, when there was no more Early Saver, there was a better price as Past Guest. I called my TA and got the lower fare. Today I discover the price on some type of promotion is a little bit less. Called my TA who in turn called Carnival. I come to find out that I am no longer on Early Saver but Past Guest. Huh????? I thought this couldn't be done. My guess is the rep with Carnival who lowered the fare to the past guest rate took me off of Early Saver. Final payment isn't til November.

 

Would you keep the past guest designation or call back to have them change it to Early Saver? I am tempted to keep it as is as I did not like the restrictions.

 

Oh, and since I booked last October the fare has come down $580 :) although not much discounting lately.

 

We booked our 2016 B2B while on our 2015 B2B. I booked Military instead of ES because I wanted to double-check the dates after I returned home. A couple of weeks later, I switched to ES. Later still, I matched to Military once again because it offered $100 OBC on each of the cruises due to Military Appreciation Month. Military & ES were same price throughout both changes, but Military offered the OBC.

 

I just checked my emails re. the price drop to military & I'm still listed as ES. Don't understand why yours changed.

[TerReuv]

We booked a cruise in 2012 in an Ocean Suite at an ES rate. They came out with a senior rate on suites so we upgraded to a Grand Suite for the same price as we were paying for the OS with the ES rate.

 

From that point on we were on the senior fare, no longer ES and not entitled to any price drops. There actually were several and my TA tried to get them for us, but kept running into a brick wall as Carnival said we were no longer ES. So, the old adage once you are ES, you are always ES does not always apply.

 

Seems that the only times I hear someone say that they were changed from ES, they used a TA. Makes me wonder if these TA's are telling the truth. I have not seen one e-mail on here before where the person was changed from ES to the rate they matched to (unless it was a guarantee, which is clearly stated).

[dickinson]

I did not do the price match for the drop yesterday (it was only $20). I looked at my email receipt from the last price drop. Remember, this is from my TA. It clearly states I'm early saver. The issue is on Carnival's end. I think that some reps don't know what they are doing. If it drops more than $20 I will call back, especially if it is after final payment.

[dickinson]

Can you price match fares that say new bookings only?

[DebJ14]

Seems that the only times I hear someone say that they were changed from ES, they used a TA. Makes me wonder if these TA's are telling the truth. I have not seen one e-mail on here before where the person was changed from ES to the rate they matched to (unless it was a guarantee, which is clearly stated).

 

Why do you assume the TA is lying?

 

Our TA has done our bookings for nearly 20 years and is totally trustworthy. We have done many 3 way calls between the TA, Me and a cruise line because the TA was incredulous about the info she got from the cruise line and wanted me to hear it first hand.

 

Often she escalated it to a supervisor when it was really crazy info coming from the res agent and if she got nowhere with them she involved her District Sales Manager.

 

But, once they made my booking a senior booking there was no getting the ES back and even the DSM was at a loss over that one. I did end up getting OBC issued by the sales manager because she thought they were wrong.

[fuddrules]

It clearly states I'm early saver.

 

Where in the document does it say this?

 

On my most recent booking, I couldn't find it listed anywhere, including a search. This was for a cruise in 2016, I booked in January of this year.

Edited August 12, 2015 by fuddrules

[fuddrules]

Why do you assume the TA is lying?

 

 

It's certainly a possibility. It wouldn't be hard for Carnival to go back through all of the guest confirmations and determine what is/is not correct.

 

This is supposed to be an experienced TA who used to work booking Carnival cruises.

 

Something, somewhere, is not right. I've dealt with Carnival on a number of "issues" and every time they've eventually got it right. Or, helped my understand where I was wrong (and I was :()

Edited August 12, 2015 by fuddrules

[dickinson]

Where in the document does it say this?

 

On my most recent booking, I couldn't find it listed anywhere, including a search. This was for a cruise in 2016, I booked in January of this year.

 

On my invoice from my TA. It is under Important Information.

 

EARLY SAVER FARES - NON REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT. NO NAME CHANGES ALLOWED. A $50 SERVICE FEE WILL BE ASSESSED PER PERSON FOR SHIP AND/OR SAILING DATE CHANGES MADE PRIOR TO THE FINAL PAYMENT DUE DATE. IN THE EVENT A LOWER RATE IS FOUND, THE DIFFERENCE IN RATE WILL BE ISSUED AS AN ON-BOARD CREDIT. OFFER IS ONLY APPLICABLE TO THE FIRST AND SECOND GUESTS ON THE BOOKING WHO PURCHASED CARNIVALS EARLY SAVER FARES(CRUISE PORTION ONLY). REQUESTS WILL BE ACCEPTED UP TO 2 BUSINESS DAYS PRIOR TO SAILING.

[fuddrules]

On my invoice from my TA. It is under Important Information.

 

EARLY SAVER FARES - NON REFUNDABLE DEPOSIT. NO NAME CHANGES ALLOWED. A $50 SERVICE FEE WILL BE ASSESSED PER PERSON FOR SHIP AND/OR SAILING DATE CHANGES MADE PRIOR TO THE FINAL PAYMENT DUE DATE. IN THE EVENT A LOWER RATE IS FOUND, THE DIFFERENCE IN RATE WILL BE ISSUED AS AN ON-BOARD CREDIT. OFFER IS ONLY APPLICABLE TO THE FIRST AND SECOND GUESTS ON THE BOOKING WHO PURCHASED CARNIVALS EARLY SAVER FARES(CRUISE PORTION ONLY). REQUESTS WILL BE ACCEPTED UP TO 2 BUSINESS DAYS PRIOR TO SAILING.

 

Thank you and perfect.

 

Then you need to cancel or get your TA and Carnival on a 3-way call (your TA can do this) and get it squared away. This shouldn't be hard to accomplish for your TA.

 

Just an FYI, on my most recent booking confirmation, that paragraph is no longer listed. But in 2013 this was listed under Guest Notes (not Important Information). This is what is said:

 

GUEST NOTES

1) Holiday Bonus Offer: Subsequent upgrades in lieu of price protection will no longer be offered. Changes made to the reservation may result in removal of the reduced deposit offer.

2) Early Saver:Cancellations prior to final payment due date will receive a future cruise credit in the amount of the deposit less a $50 pp service fee. If you find a lower cruise rate,based on the total cabin occupancy& not from the booked ancillary services,such as air,transfers,prepaid gratuities,or government taxes & fees contact your Travel Agent or http://www.Carnival.com. Price protection does not apply to Super Saver,Instant Saver fares,group rates,membership rates,select promotions,or travel agent promotions. Verified rate difference is issued as an onboard credit. No name changes are allowed. A $50 fee per guest will be assessed for ship/sail date changes made prior to final payment date.

3) Early Saver:Cancellations prior to final payment due date will receive a future cruise credit in the amount of the deposit less a $50 pp service fee. If you find a lower cruise rate,based on the total cabin occupancy& not from the booked ancillary services,such as air,transfers,prepaid gratuities,or government taxes & fees contact your Travel Agent or http://www.Carnival.com. Price protection does not apply to Super Saver,Instant Saver fares,group rates,membership rates,select promotions,or travel agent promotions. Verified rate difference is issued as an onboard credit. No name changes are allowed. A $50 fee per guest will be assessed for ship/sail date changes made prior to final payment date.

Edited August 12, 2015 by fuddrules

[DebJ14]

I just found this when looking at booking another cruise. It was part of the description of a Past Guest ES rate. It would explain why once early saver does not mean always early saver!

 

When re-pricing to a new promotion, guest assumes all terms & conditions of the new promotion & may forfeit any or all features associated with the original fare, such as cabin assignment, onboard credit, an upgrade, special deposit & payment terms, etc.

Edited August 13, 2015 by DebJ14