?'s re Black Friday Sale & Missing HMC in Winter

[keishashadow]

Considering booking a shorter cruise 2nd week of January to combine with a sporting event one of my DSs will be coaching in Florida.

 

Waiting for him to get vacation confirmation from work and have my eye on a couple different Carnival cruises that fit the dates. Once I get the green light to book, had thought to perhaps wait until after final payment date to see if any substantial price drops.

 

Currently, rates still seem high to me and I'm seeing many cabins in every category. Not sure how the 4 & 5 day winter cruises tend to typically book or price out.:confused: Can't say I found a great deal the one time I booked a 7 day on CCL after final payment date, but it was in the summer and had a nice itinerary.

 

Does anybody remember if Black Friday sale last year produced any deals on the shorter cruises? Might wait it out if so.

 

Also, wondering if HMC port of call tends to be cancelled in the winter due to rougher waters.

Edited October 17, 2016 by keishashadow

[Micahs Grandad]

Not sure if HMC stop gets cancelled more in winter but it is a great place to go but it does get cancelled due to mother nature from time to time.

[ray98]

I would expect the most noticeable price drops 60 days out.

[skrufy]

If the cruise is not selling as they plan it to, you will probebly see price drops. As for HMC, since its in the Atlantic it can experience high seas and get cancelled. Also, it can be quite cool, not your typical warm summer day. We were there in January, it was really cool with a breeze. A little uncomfortable to be laying out on the beach.

.

[keishashadow]

Ok using 60 days as benchmark, any Black Friday deals would be approx 40 days prior

 

I've cruised in January before and it was windy and cool one day but far warmer than Pittsburgh will be :).

 

 

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[xitappers2bx]

I don't know about Black Friday deals, but we just got a pretty "crazy" awesome deal last week--I don't know if it was a one-day sale or what, but we had originally booked through the current VIFP promotion, and then there was what seemed like a 24 hour sale, and the rates went down about 120 per room which seemed like a nice price drop. I'm sort of hoping that once final payment comes around prices will drop and then we will move into an OS or spa balcony for a better price. I'd just suggest keeping an eye for those type sales, it was totally unexpected.

 

As for Half Moon Cay, I've only been there in summer, but I could see how rough seas would result in it being cancelled.

[winddawn]

Considering booking a shorter cruise 2nd week of January to combine with a sporting event one of my DSs will be coaching in Florida.

 

Waiting for him to get vacation confirmation from work and have my eye on a couple different Carnival cruises that fit the dates. Once I get the green light to book, had thought to perhaps wait until after final payment date to see if any substantial price drops.

 

Currently, rates still seem high to me and I'm seeing many cabins in every category. Not sure how the 4 & 5 day winter cruises tend to typically book or price out.:confused: Can't say I found a great deal the one time I booked a 7 day on CCL after final payment date, but it was in the summer and had a nice itinerary.

 

Does anybody remember if Black Friday sale last year produced any deals on the shorter cruises? Might wait it out if so.

 

Also, wondering if HMC port of call tends to be cancelled in the winter due to rougher waters.

Two of the last 3 times my cruise was supposed to call at HMC, the port stop was cancelled due to weather. Being a tender port makes it more vulnerable to cancellation.

 

Here is a list of last year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6671

 

Prices have definitely been higher this year. Carnival doesn't discount last minute as much as they used to. It's anybody's guess what prices will do for a particular cruise.

 

Hope it works out well for you.

[CdnSunshine]

We cruised the week of January 25th, 2016 and we missed both Half Moon Cay and Freeport due to weather. I didn't care about missing Freeport, but I was sad to miss HMC - it was the reason we had chosen that itinerary! I think it's a gamble.

 

Good luck! :-)

 

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[keishashadow]

Thanks for the honest input and the last year's BF link!

[keishashadow]

Just wanted to update I've been monitoring the rates closely for several days.

 

A two-window OV opened up yesterday on the Sunshine sailing (love those cabins)!

 

Then, saw a different PG rate that was substantially lower than the CLIA one (although as I understood it, that rate was akin to the Early saver that I missed. However, it cost almost 35% more, so I passed)

 

I jumped woohoo

 

One final question as it's been awhile since I sailed CCL...

 

If I see that a balcony opens up between now & sale date, will I still be able to pay the difference in price and upgrade? There are no OBCs associated with current booking btw

 

Thanks

 

 

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Edited October 23, 2016 by keishashadow

[bakersdozen12]

Yes, you can always upgrade to a higher category and pay the difference. They will be more than happy to take your money. [emoji4]

 

 

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[keishashadow]

Lol thanks

 

 

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