Black Friday Or Christmas Deals on Cruise Rates?

[Eli_6]

Do they ever have deals on the cruise rates on Black Friday or at Christmas/NY?  Or just things like spa, drinks, etc.? I think I recall during the shut down them running some awesome deals, but it seems like that was really it and otherwise their "Black Friday" deals are usually not less expensive cruise rates. 

 

We are thinking about booking a Thursday-Monday cruise over the Easter weekend because my kids are off that Friday and Monday and my husband's clinic is typically closed on good Friday. Plus, we need an extra cruise to make platinum (number of days) on our 12-day Europe sailing coming up next summer...and given the tender issues last summer, I would really like to be Platinum for that cruise.  (We had a suite last summer, but this summer have two adjoining balconies.)  The cruise costs a bit more than I would prefer to spend.   I am trying to decide whether to go ahead and book or wait and see if the rates go down later on... 

[mz-s]

Just book now, be sure to use a rate with price protection if you are concerned that prices may go lower. I think they may depending on the cruise.

Edited October 24, 2022 by mz-s

[Eli_6]

31 minutes ago, mz-s said:

Just book now, be sure to use a rate with price protection if you are concerned that prices may go lower. I think they may depending on the cruise.

Forgot about price protection. Unfortunately, I don't think this rate does, but going to see what the difference is to book with that. 

[mz-s]

3 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

Forgot about price protection. Unfortunately, I don't think this rate does, but going to see what the difference is to book with that. 

 

My hunch is prices aren't going down for holiday cruises. Some of the Carnival holiday cruises are selling for Disney Cruise Line money. That's insane to me. Each to their own.

[Eli_6]

It is Early Saver Sale...so I think it does have price protection?  Trying to look up terms and conditions.

[mz-s]

4 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

It is Early Saver Sale...so I think it does have price protection?  Trying to look up terms and conditions.

 

Yes Early Saver has price protection. But if you price match to another rate in the future that isn't Early Saver, you lose price protection.

[EllieinNJ]

This might be off topic but I have a regular refundable rate for a June, 2023 cruise.  Early saver rate is approximately $50 less per person.  Can I switch it to early saver right before final payment?

[Mic101680]

It's been my experience, across all cruise lines I've sailed or looked into over the years, that Black Friday really only gives you an early booking discount and the 'best deals' are usually for sailings at least a year out, sometimes longer. Some of my VIFP deals lately have been much, much better than any Black Friday deal I've ever seen.

[asalligo]

There were Black Friday deals just before Covid in 2019 and John Heald also offered the only coupon code for cheers that I have ever seen on that weekend. If you have noticed though, Carnival tends to raise their price in reality when they start yelling sale, so I do not think I would wait for a Black Friday deal. Also, Carnival never offers a sale if there is a standard holiday. They know that this date is convenient for many. 

 

 

[wikoffclan]

22 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

Plus, we need an extra cruise to make platinum (number of days) on our 12-day Europe sailing coming up next summer...and given the tender issues last summer, I would really like to be Platinum for that cruise.  

One nice perk that I found out about recently --- Carnival will give you the new status at the beginning of the cruise IF you will reach the number of required days During the cruise. SO... if you're only a few days away from Platinum at the beginning of your 12 day Europe sailing, you will be Platinum (and given a Platinum S&S card) at the beginning of that cruise. Cool, Huh!

[Eli_6]

1 hour ago, wikoffclan said:

One nice perk that I found out about recently --- Carnival will give you the new status at the beginning of the cruise IF you will reach the number of required days During the cruise. SO... if you're only a few days away from Platinum at the beginning of your 12 day Europe sailing, you will be Platinum (and given a Platinum S&S card) at the beginning of that cruise. Cool, Huh!

That is cool!  Thanks for sharing.  I had counted the days of the cruise, though...so I still need to book a cruise. Actually, I only need 13 days (the 12 day cruise plus 1 day) to be platinum but the shortest cruise I can book out of Galveston is 4 days. 

 

Honestly, though, some of our best cruises have been the 4 day weekend cruises out of Galveston.  We don't have to fly, leave out half-way through the day on Thursday and get back on Monday morning.  Only have to miss two days of work.  Only problem is everyone else likes these cruises, too...   

[wikoffclan]

2 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

That is cool!  Thanks for sharing.  I had counted the days of the cruise, though...so I still need to book a cruise. Actually, I only need 13 days (the 12 day cruise plus 1 day) to be platinum but the shortest cruise I can book out of Galveston is 4 days. 

 

Honestly, though, some of our best cruises have been the 4 day weekend cruises out of Galveston.  We don't have to fly, leave out half-way through the day on Thursday and get back on Monday morning.  Only have to miss two days of work.  Only problem is everyone else likes these cruises, too...   

I'm doing the same thing to reach Diamond on Royal. If I'd been able to cruise the multiple times that were canceled due to Covid, I'd be there by now. Hopping on a 4 day out of NOLA so we can sail Diamond for our December cruise.  I'm with you! Enjoy!!

[tree.critter]

On 10/24/2022 at 9:43 AM, EllieinNJ said:

This might be off topic but I have a regular refundable rate for a June, 2023 cruise.  Early saver rate is approximately $50 less per person.  Can I switch it to early saver right before final payment?

If the ES rate is $50 cheaper currently, NOW is the time to change to this rate. The ES rate will fluctuate and also probably be higher the closer it gets to final payment. 
 

[TomCruise48]

The Black Friday sales in the couple of years before Covid were typically discounts for onboard spending items such as shore excursions and photo packages, and not discounts on the cruise fare.  We grabbed a couple of these for our Summer 2019 and Spring 2020 cruises, and never got to use them since these were cancelled due to Covid.