Can you book a guarantee with the military rate - has anyone done this?

[vesw01]

I would like to book a guarantee using the military rate for a balcony on the Valor sail 9/24. Right now I can get the upper deck (deck 6) for $529 pp for an assigned cabin 8a. but wouldn't mind trying to get an upgrade. When I called the PVP I spoke to said with ALL military rates you are assigned and they never do guarantees.... they are still selling 8a g on the sailing............. I would appreciate any help you could provide

[ocngypz]

The PVP is correct. The rate is notated in the system "no upgrades".

 

Your next best fare would be a straight balcony guarantee. "BL" aka cruise only special 3/4

 

That's the way it looks in the reservation screen.

[vesw01]

Ok good to know. I read on another posting about the military discount that they were upgraded.......so who knows

[ljchris1990]

Both of my cruises (june and August) were booked as guaranty's (4a and 6a) with military discounts. The June cruise was done directly thru Carnival and the second was thru a TA but since I'm a newbie at all this I'm not sure if guaranty's for the military rates are just for the interior and oceanview room or for all rooms (balcony's included).

 

ljchris1990

[ljchris1990]

Forgot to add that so far my 4a guaranty has become a 4c. A small upgrade but an upgrade never the less

[ocngypz]

Yield management (software) looks at which bookings have paid the highest fare for the particular category. The booking which pays the highest amount for the particular category gets the upgrade.

 

It starts with Full tariff, then best fare, supersaver, cruise only 3/4.. and then works through the lower fare codes.

 

Here's an example. You book 8a no cabin assignment you elect a gty to take you chances. FIT 1250, Supersaver 970. You book Cruise only 3/4 BL (lowest possible assignment an 8a) 870.. and so it goes down the line.

 

Now some clients find out the rate they orginally booked under has gone down.. and they ask for a refund or obc. Others, wait out the game, because their chances for a great upgrade just went up tremendously.

[Forchunut1]

I also booked cabins using the military discount and they were guarantees. They were just inside cabins, but we did end up with upgrades to a higher deck, but still as inside cabins.

[cherylandtk]

We booked a military rate 4A GTY, were assigned a 5A about 6 weeks before sailing. Maybe the rules are different on different sailings, but I think I would call back and speak to another PVP or two. Lots of military GTY bookings I spoke with on our cruise had been upgraded, and many are posted here on CC.

[LURK]

We booked Military 8A Gty in August for a May sailing on the Liberty in Europe. Our cabin number showed up this week on the Carnival site and we were assigned 8B. We booked directly through our pvp.

[waitin4acruise]

Is it military rates only are can you get a gov rate? Is Gov/Military the same ?:confused:

[St.Love]

We got a guarantee interior cabin nothing fancy but hey thats ok because the military rate got us 198 pp for 6 people :D on a 5 day cruise.

[cubdaddy]

We usually book a TBA cabin (similar to Gty) while using the military discount. We have also been upgraded from inside to outside. It depends how good your PVP is and of course availability on the ship.

[gwooly]

my PVP at carnival booked me a 8a balcony gty military discount --- when i rec'd docs had a 8H balcony --- that is an upgrade

 

gary

[Riviera Deck Randy]

I called and asked about military discounts and was told carnival does not give them.

[bubbles1209]

I called and asked about military discounts and was told carnival does not give them.

:rolleyes: someone's telling a story somewhere then, we booked our cruise in Feb, paid it off in March as a guarantee, and we got a discount with dh's copy of his DD214 . We can't wait to find out if we wind up getting an upgrade or not:) .

[beachgal58]

yep, we book military whenever it is available. last oct, booked inside gty on the glory with military discount..$210 before taxes/port it was still under 500 total. we got upgraded to the 10th deck! how great that was...just walk out the door and there was lido down a few steps, pool right there. we r booked on inspiration for may military also oview gty, we hope for an upgrade, but if not...i just wanna go!!!

[CrusinAgain]

Is it military rates only are can you get a gov rate? Is Gov/Military the same ?:confused:

 

Nope government and military is not the same. Carnival is the only cruise line to offer military rates for current, retired, and veterans. Veterans must mail/fax a copy of their DD214 shortly after booking to Carnival. It is a wonderful savings and is much appreciated.

[budster]

How long has Carnival had the military discount? I did not find out about it until we were fully paid and it was too late. :confused: Just curious how long it has been available as our TA or PVP did not tell us about it last June. We are just 7 days away for our transatlantic cruise! :) :)

[vesw01]

The military rates have been around for a while. They usually ask "Is anyone sailing in the military, work for an airline, work for FedEx" and so on. They have specials for all different categories. I have pre picked everything out, called my PVP and booked = then I realized that there were military rates, so I called back and she was "upset" that we didn't do that upfront (in a good way" she wants everyone to get the best deal possible. We have 2 ppl in a 4a for less than $830 for a 7 nt on the Valor.

[Forchunut1]

Another thing to know about the about the Military discount is that the "Friends & Family" Military discount (which allows multiple cabins to get the military discount even if the occupants aren't in the miltary) is only available on certain sailings of certain ships. If you want to take advantage of this when it is available you have to ask your PVP which sailings it applies to. We didn't have a particular date in mind so we were able to plan our cruise according to the dates the discount was available and we brought along some friends at the same rate.

[Gman2004]

I would like to book a guarantee using the military rate for a balcony on the Valor sail 9/24. Right now I can get the upper deck (deck 6) for $529 pp for an assigned cabin 8a. but wouldn't mind trying to get an upgrade. When I called the PVP I spoke to said with ALL military rates you are assigned and they never do guarantees.... they are still selling 8a g on the sailing............. I would appreciate any help you could provide

 

your PVP is wrong. you can absolutley book a 8A as a TBA (to be anounced) on the VA 09/24. The rate is $529 and you can take the cabin assignment or the gaurantee.

 

Not all sailings are the same though. The gaurantee option might not be available or booking a gaurantee can be the only option for a particluar sailing.

 

Also don't confuse IS, OV, BL, ST guarantees with booking a gaurantee in a specific category. Example an 8A TBA is not the same as a BL. Well technically they are the same room, but you are booking two different ways. You can't combine discounts with the IS, OV, BL, but you can with 4a, 4b, 6a, 6b, 8a, 8b, etc.