How low ($) will they go?

[lostsoulcruiser]

I am curious if anybody has any information regarding how low Carnival will go on pricing for a last minute booking (say less than 1 month before cruise date). My wife and I have a flexible schedule and I am curious to what extent Carnival will go to fill an empty cabin. I see the Pack and Go rates on the internet and was wondering if they will go lower or prefer to leave the cabin empty. Thanks in advance for the feedback.

[always_cruisin]

I've seen some as low as $149 and up. It depends on the sailing/itinerary/etc.

[maryred]

Though I have not seen it go this low in a long while we seriously considered an offer emailed to us 8 weeks out for a guaranteed interior cabin on an 8 day pre-Christmas cruise out of NYC in 2012 for $179 per passenger plus port fees (totaled under $1300 for double occupancy when insurance and prepaid tipping was added). By the time DH and I decided to go for it a week after the email arrived that sailing was totally sold out.

 

Early saver rates allow you to price match right up to 2 days before the cruise leaves, but you need to book it 4-6 months prior to be eligible (how far in advance depends on how long the cruise is). Also ES rates have more sever change and cancellation fees, but if sure of your travel dates this is a great way to insure you are getting the lowest possible fare on pick your own cabin location. All you need to do is check every so often (like when Carnival sends a sales email) to see if your cabin type and category has been reduced, and if it has send in the ES form from the Carnival website (as many times as you find a new lower rate).

 

Our most deeply discounted offers have come through the Ocean Player's Club, on the casino pack-n-play offers, where we are offered anywhere from 20-50% off the past guest rates. These P-n-P offers are generally for cruises 1-6 months out, the only draw back is you must earn about at least 1,500 players points on a previous cruise to go into the lottery to get the offer.

[AdGuyMG]

I am curious if anybody has any information regarding how low Carnival will go on pricing for a last minute booking (say less than 1 month before cruise date).

 

They will actually go down to $0.00 for the cruise fare (taxes and government fees only) but you have to be a Carnival Employee to get that rate as a perk. There are about 10,000 shoreside employees and most every cruise going out has an employee waiting list. Some longer than others

[firemanbobswife]

If you see a cruise you want, don't wait. The ships are sailing full and the days of last minute bargain basement prices are all but gone. It's not like a couple years ago when the best deals were to be had short notice. Now you need to book ahead of time as the prices tend to increase closer to sailing because demand is up.

[Micahs Grandad]

Business is good and last few ES fares have not worked out for us as pricing kept going up until the ship was sold out.

 

Better to book earlier for cruise you want. Not many bargains these days

[bury me at sea]

Business is good and last few ES fares have not worked out for us as pricing kept going up until the ship was sold out.

 

Better to book earlier for cruise you want. Not many bargains these days

 

 

Agree with this poster on sailings out of Galveston. Last two cruises went steadily up after booking. Currently booked cruise for August, 2017, also has gone steadily up. Just booked summer of 2018. While I will watch prices diligently I will be surprised to see a decrease.

 

Possibly not the case with guarantees. I have never tried that route.

 

Off season prices could be significantly different.

[SNJCruisers]

The sailings between Thanksgiving and Christmas tend to be the cheapest overall and thus would have the greatest possibility of being able to snag a last minute deal. But for the most part, ship's sail pretty close to capacity most of the year and over capacity many weeks.

 

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[nhsails]

Post 911 people weren't traveling too far. Cruises were dumping rates to get people on. Same as airlines and hotels. So fairer analysis would be from about 2010.

[firemanbobswife]

Post 911 people weren't traveling too far. Cruises were dumping rates to get people on. Same as airlines and hotels. So fairer analysis would be from about 2010.

 

 

I sailed the Glory for 7 days for $379 as a solo in a non guarantee inside cabin in October of 2014. Didn't start sailing Carnival again until May of 2013 and the deals were definitely there. It wasn't until about 2-2.5 years ago that the trend started reversing itself. At least that has been my experience.

[sjcruiser]

I've seen a few fares as low as $199.00 with fees and taxes included, but I can never get away at the time. They're usually Pack-n-go rates, which Carnival chooses the room.

[MickCruiser]

Business is good and last few ES fares have not worked out for us as pricing kept going up until the ship was sold out.

 

Better to book earlier for cruise you want. Not many bargains these days

 

 

 

Agree as well. Not to bring up the past or enriching oneself on others pain....but the months after the Triumph disaster was like striking ES gold. I think we (4 in Balcony) boarded the following Spring Break with nearly $1k in OBC.

 

The cruise industry in the Caribbean seems to be a sellers market. I thought I read where there was a reduction in total cabins in the Caribbean market as the reason why....but these ships coming out now and headed for the Caribbean hold a TON of peeps. Wonder if there are still less total cabins compared to a year or so ago?

[nhsails]

Don't forget, RCCL is building and moving ships to Asian markets at a pretty fair clip. So while new payers, Viking, MSC, are sailing more in Caribbean total space isn't as high as you would expect in relation to berths sold. Less US citizens going to Europe, expanded Caribbean.Celebrity keeping Equinox full time in Caribbean starting this year. Supply and demand. With expected tourism to US to be down around 17% may shift pricing again. Who knows but worth keeping an eye on from Holiday 2017 on

[lostsoulcruiser]

Thanks to all for the comments/thoughts.

[sfaaa]

Shop around. MSC has some pretty decent deals on Caribbean cruise out of Miami.

[Doggielover68]

Last minute savings seem to be a thing of the past. Two years ago we paid 349 per person for a balcony guarantee on splendor. Now we are going on the same ship, same itinerary for over $100 more per person for an interior guarantee. Now we book early for the best price/room choices.

 

 

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