Newbie questions

[JonHeath]

Hi all,

 

Not cruised Carnival before, but looking at trying them out at the end of October 2019, in the Caribbean

 

There's a 6 night cruise on Carnival Horizon or an 8 night cruise on Carnival Magic that I'm looking at.

 

A few newbie questions if you don't mind.

 

Is booking this far in advance advantageous? There's an offer that I'm looking at at the moment with a TA that would give $250 Onboard credit. Do Carnival refund price drops? I'm tempted to book now but would love to hear advice from those more experienced in booking Carnival than me!

 

Also any comments on Horizon v Magic welcomed! They're about the same price but the Magic cruise is 2 days longer. Obviously Horizon will be newer but what would you choose?

 

Thanks

Jon

[Mawelch]

Hi all,

 

Not cruised Carnival before, but looking at trying them out at the end of October 2019, in the Caribbean

 

There's a 6 night cruise on Carnival Horizon or an 8 night cruise on Carnival Magic that I'm looking at.

 

A few newbie questions if you don't mind.

 

Is booking this far in advance advantageous? There's an offer that I'm looking at at the moment with a TA that would give $250 Onboard credit. Do Carnival refund price drops? I'm tempted to book now but would love to hear advice from those more experienced in booking Carnival than me!

 

Also any comments on Horizon v Magic welcomed! They're about the same price but the Magic cruise is 2 days longer. Obviously Horizon will be newer but what would you choose?

 

Thanks

Jon

If you are dealing with a TA they should be able to answer those questions for you.

[DanvilleCruiser]

I’m kind of new to Carnival cruising too, but it’s my understanding that Carnival does honor fare reductions if you get the Early Saver fare.

[JonHeath]

If you are dealing with a TA they should be able to answer those questions for you.

 

I'm in the UK. Generally speaking we don't get as good deals over here, so I tend to book through the US. We use the same agency and we do have a relationship with a particular TA, but it's harder to communicate with her, and she's off anyway at the moment.

 

I'd normally have thought this is a cruise line thing anyway rather than an individual TA thing. Thanks.

[bury me at sea]

In the last several years I have found booking early often results in the best price. My last three cruises, plus one currently booked, have all increased in price after I booked. This is, of course, barring some turn-down in the cruising industry.

 

If your TA is offering a generous OBC, above that being offered by Carnival, I would want that TA to tell me if they will apply for price drops should they happen, and will make changes in your booking, including cancellation, without charging fees.

 

Magic vs Horizon might be answered better by someone who has sailed both. I love the Magic and her sister the Breeze. I have zero interest in sailing the newer class that includes Vista and Horizon. That is my personal opinion and you will find reviews from many people who enjoy the newer class.

 

Happy sailing,

[tallnthensome]

Hi all,

 

Not cruised Carnival before, but looking at trying them out at the end of October 2019, in the Caribbean

 

There's a 6 night cruise on Carnival Horizon or an 8 night cruise on Carnival Magic that I'm looking at.

 

A few newbie questions if you don't mind.

 

Is booking this far in advance advantageous? There's an offer that I'm looking at at the moment with a TA that would give $250 Onboard credit. Do Carnival refund price drops? I'm tempted to book now but would love to hear advice from those more experienced in booking Carnival than me!

 

Also any comments on Horizon v Magic welcomed! They're about the same price but the Magic cruise is 2 days longer. Obviously Horizon will be newer but what would you choose?

 

Thanks

Jon

It's always better to book as early as possible with the Vista and Horizon in my opinion. Put it this way, I'm already booked on the Horizon for April 2020. I've seen nothing but prices rise for the Vista (Horizon sister-ship) when it came out. My 2020 Horizon has already gone up since I booked it three weeks ago if you can believe that. The Horizon hasn't even sailed it's maiden voyage yet so a comparison with the Vista is what you need to look at.

[riffatsea]

If you book directly with Carnival you can get price drops up until you are required to pay the final payment. IF you book an Early Saver rate you can continue to get price drops until right before you cruise.

When booking with a TA find out if they will honor the price drops or not.

[Keys2Heaven]

I’m kind of new to Carnival cruising too, but it’s my understanding that Carnival does honor fare reductions if you get the Early Saver fare.

 

Only if fare reductions occur BEFORE final payment. Carnival will honor fare reductions on bookings made with the ES promotion rate up to 2 days before sailing.

 

Early Saver will be available up to 61 days prior to sailing for short cruises (5 days or shorter), up to 76 days prior to sailing for long cruises (6 – 9 days), and up to 91 days for Alaska, 10 + days and Europe sailings. Early Saver guests are eligible for price protection up to 2 business days prior to sailing

Edited February 10, 2018 by Keys2Heaven

[Keys2Heaven]

Hi all,

 

Not cruised Carnival before, but looking at trying them out at the end of October 2019, in the Caribbean

 

There's a 6 night cruise on Carnival Horizon or an 8 night cruise on Carnival Magic that I'm looking at.

 

A few newbie questions if you don't mind.

 

Is booking this far in advance advantageous? There's an offer that I'm looking at at the moment with a TA that would give $250 Onboard credit. Do Carnival refund price drops? I'm tempted to book now but would love to hear advice from those more experienced in booking Carnival than me!

 

Also any comments on Horizon v Magic welcomed! They're about the same price but the Magic cruise is 2 days longer. Obviously Horizon will be newer but what would you choose?

 

Thanks

Jon

 

That's a lot of OBC offered by your TA! I'd like that perk as well. But did they discount your fare compared to Carnival's?

 

We've used the same TA on our last few Carnival sailings and they can routinely save us $300 - $900 off a cabin, but it doesn't include any OBC, unless that is being offered as a booking promotion by Carnival.

 

Also, we typically will book over a year out on a particular cruise to get choice of cabin, since we are landlocked and can only travel once/year.

 

Early Saver is a great rate, but there is a gotcha if cancelling and/or rebooking ($50/pp hit). Read the ES rules here:

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2705/kw/early%20saver

 

Since we book coveted cabin types (i.e. aft-extended), we really never see price drops, since those cabins tend to sell out quickly. And I did notice that the fare for our upcoming sailing dropped after the final payment window (go figure...it's like they KNEW to do that LOL).

[evandbob]

I won't be on the Horizon until May, but I have sailed its sister ship the Vista, as well as all 3 of the Dream class (Dream, Breeze and Magic).

 

If I had the choice of a 6 or 8 day cruise on ships of somewhat similar builds, price and age, like the Horizon and Magic, I would take the 8 day cruise most of the time. Only time I would take the shorter cruise is if its itinerary was spectacular.

 

Now if you want to compare the Vista and Magic to the Fantasy class vessels, then IMO, it's no contest at all, since I stopped sailing those ships when they got old over a dozen years ago. YMMV.

[beachbum6264]

One thing to find out about is the OBC. If you find a lower price will you keep your OBC? If it's a Carnival perk you won't, so you'd have to have a rather large drop in price to make it worthwhile to claim. If the OBC is from the TA they may have some 'fine print' about that, I would ask.

[JonHeath]

Thanks for the replies, very helpful.

 

To those asking the cruise fare offered by the agent is the same as what Carnival are offering. The OBC is an agent deal, no OBC from Carnival. It is a decent deal which runs out in 3 days so will probably got with it if they will honor fare drops. It's with pricexxxx dot com. xxxx rhymes with wine.

 

Now need to decide Horizon or Magic. Sounds like Magic might be the way to go. We do tend to like new ships with the latest gizmos but hard to turn down the extra nights.

[jgaudette3]

Take the best deal you can. We have found that there are fewer price drops, that result in money in our pocket since OBC is what changes based on the newer booking. We were on the Magic in March 2017 and it was a great ship with plenty of things to do. We tend to like to older smaller ships and will look for the destinations that fit our travel plans. Then we select the ship we will sail on. Either ship should give you a great vacation

[coevan]

"We've used the same TA on our last few Carnival sailings and they can routinely save us $300 - $900" WOW for a $900 reduction you can get a free balcony, good T.A., not

[LuckyStar]

Hi all,

 

Not cruised Carnival before, but looking at trying them out at the end of October 2019, in the Caribbean

 

There's a 6 night cruise on Carnival Horizon or an 8 night cruise on Carnival Magic that I'm looking at.

 

A few newbie questions if you don't mind.

 

Is booking this far in advance advantageous? There's an offer that I'm looking at at the moment with a TA that would give $250 Onboard credit. Do Carnival refund price drops? I'm tempted to book now but would love to hear advice from those more experienced in booking Carnival than me!

 

Also any comments on Horizon v Magic welcomed! They're about the same price but the Magic cruise is 2 days longer. Obviously Horizon will be newer but what would you choose?

 

Thanks

Jon

 

Jon, I'm not as experienced a cruiser as many on these boards but I have generally found that it can be advantageous to book as far in advance as you feel comfortable. You will be able to choose your cabin rather than rely on what is leftover after the choice rooms are picked over. I have personally never booked that far in advance and have never had a bad cabin. So others may have other opinions. I am an avid travel shopper and generally look for cruises at $100 or less per person.

 

And $250 OBC is awesome. I have usually been lucky to get $100. Good luck. HTH!

[coevan]

Other than sock certificates, I have never seen an OBC over $50 unless you have a suite

[JonHeath]

I've booked now. We decided to go for Carnival Horizon in the end. I got $150 on-board credit in the end as I'd not read the small print properly. Spend $1000-2000 on the cruise = $150 OBC, then $2000-$3000 spend gets $250 OBC, and so on. I thought I was in the $2000-3000 bracket, but it turns out that they are referring to cost excluding tax and port expenses, which actually meant my total was in the $1000-2000 bracket. Anyway I'm still happy with $150 OBC. That offer is on for a couple more days for people looking at booking.

 

Thanks again for the help.