Don't book early unless you have to

[odiesam]

Lesson learned for us - don't book early unless you need a certain cabin(s). And yes we booked the supposed "busy" summer season "when prices will only go up!". We booked in February for the June 18th Miracle and I suspected at the time the prices seemed high but everyone said - summer prices! So my Carnival reservationist told me I would definitely receive an on-board credit if prices dropped after final payment. Prices dropped - yesterday - and I was told they could give me a $300 onboard credit but I had to lose my upgrade from 8H back to a BL.. So today I log in the Carnival website to see if there is a credit and with my past passenger discount the prices have now dropped to $500 less for an 8I (highest cat 8 balcony; extended) than what I originally paid for my BL; $200 less than yesterday's price and no they won't give me anything else . So I have a BL - guarantee; no cabin assigned while they are selling out the higher categories for lower. And they told me my original reservationist should not have told me about the credits and the person I spoke with last night should have told me once they adjust the price once for you - no more.

 

Whatever - I am tired of the fuss - it leaves a bad taste with me.

 

So lesson for the rest of you - don't book until 45-55 days out even in the busy season if you don't have to unless you like paying more!

[cubdaddy]

I had booked early for the Fantasy which sails at the end of July. I noticed the price drop and spoke with my PVP. I opted for an upgrade and still got an onboard credit. The only difference is that we did a TBA inside cabin originally and now have a TBA OV.

 

Did you talk with a PVP? It does not sound right that you cannot keep your cabin and still get the price drop!

 

Good luck!

[goodml]

That sucks. I think I might keep trying.

[zillabe]

Have you ever booked through a travel agent not associated with the cruise line?

[hobbit81]

I know that when I booked my next cruise, it took speaking to three diffrent people in two days to get my reservation changed to when I needed it changed too. It would appear that one CCL person doesn't know all, and sometimes it helps to ask several times. One even explained to me that it depends on the supervisor that they ask at the time. So, don't give up, call again, talk to someone else.

[marktac]

You need to talk to a supervisor. We've gotten both upgrades and on board credits at the same time when the price fell. And we booked with Carnival.

 

Mark T

[doodlefan]

Hey there

 

I received 2 credits after final payment. I booked through Carnival. You really need to call and try again. As others said, it depend on who you talk to each time. Ask for a supervisor and go from there. It's possible to have the reduction.

 

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Doodlefan

[firstcruiserDB]

I also feel like I made a huge mistake by booking early.

 

I specifically asked about price decreases and special promotions at the time of booking. I was told that we'd be eligible for both....."just call each time you see them and we'll adjust your total."

 

Well......we booked a specific cabin last summer for a June cruise and have not received a single on board credit or price decrease. Believe me, I call each and every time I see an offer. I'm always told my sailing doesn't qualify. (I will, however, continue to call!)

 

I was told, also, that the price will only go up. It made sense to me at the time, but our price for the cruise has not gone up at all. In fact, the price for our same cruise in 2007 is the same price!

 

Seems we would have received a better price if we'd waited to book during a promotion. Yes, lesson learned.:mad:

[F5Loar]

Booking late is fine if you like the gamble of not getting the room or the week you want. We like to have ship center rooms and certain weeks we know we can go so early booking has always worked for us and if there is decrease in price our great TA will tell us all about it and adjust accordingly or give free upgrades or credits.

[Catrin]

I was told a while back.... that the best time to book is between 65 and 55 days out.

 

We have booked at this time for the last several cruises. We have always received a balcony towards the center of the ship. We paid very low prices on all.

Only once did the price drop lower ($50.00pp) and we received $100 shipboard credit.

Catrin

[Snoozeman]

Interesting comments OP and others--thanks for posting. Something else to consider although I don't usually book too far out unless I already have what I consider a "deal".

[suz1450]

I booked an inside gty on the destiny for $549 originally, every time I called him with a better deal, he said that it did not apply to my cruise. I started calling the straight 1-800 #, the girls are much nicer than my pvp and more helpful. I went from an inside, to an ov and today I just upgraded to a balcony gty for only $586 pp including tax and port charges and she said she put me in for an upgrade also. I am definately happy with that.:)

[agentJoey]

I keep calling until I get the price I am happy with then I book. I just booked on the Conquest 7 days 3 people on the Lido deck for $1300 for all of us and all fees and taxes included. I feel that is a good deal. I feel that I got a fair deal. Nothing wrong with trying to get a better deal later but remember that you are getting a better deal on your original booking not the upgrade. The only easy way to get the upgrade and the deal is if the deal is on your upgraded deck or above. Not trying to sound negative but that's the way it is in a nutshell.:(

[TrustNoOneKMC]

In January, I was looking for a May cruise. It wasn't definate that were were taking it yet, so I didn't book. I saw the disclaimer that "prices are not guaranteed and can go up at anytime", but I didn't realize by how much. About one week later, the cruise went up $100 per person (same category). I was ticked, and hoped it would go down. 2 weeks later, it went up another $50. Well $h!t. I booked the cruise, because I didn't want it to go up more. I have been constantly watching for a price drop, but prices have gone even higher since then. It is only recently that they even started decending, but still not as low as the price I booked at. Unfortunately, unlike people who's prices drop - and can often get a credit or upgrade - I have no options, because I didn't book when I saw the great price originally offered. Lesson learned. I would rather fight for an upgrade or credit later than lose over $300 due to waiting.

[zqvol]

I am always amazed that people think they are entitled to a credit or a refund if the price goes down, but would raise a stink so large that it would cover the whole world if the cruise line tried to charge them the higher rate if prices went up.

 

If the cruise line chooses to give you the advantage of the price decrease great, but IMO you should not expect it, nor should you be upset if you are told no.

[waitin4acruise]

I keep calling until I get the price I am happy with then I book. I just booked on the Conquest 7 days 3 people on the Lido deck for $1300 for all of us and all fees and taxes included. I feel that is a good deal. I feel that I got a fair deal. Nothing wrong with trying to get a better deal later but remember that you are getting a better deal on your original booking not the upgrade. The only easy way to get the upgrade and the deal is if the deal is on your upgraded deck or above. Not trying to sound negative but that's the way it is in a nutshell.:(

HOW DID U GET THAT DEAL when are u sailing i have balcony grty booked for 3 and its over 3000..... and thats booking 6 months out and prices are now like 300 more how did u get that deal would love to know b4 final payment due..

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Lesson learned for us - don't book early unless you need a certain cabin(s). And yes we booked the supposed "busy" summer season "when prices will only go up!". We booked in February for the June 18th Miracle and I suspected at the time the prices seemed high but everyone said - summer prices! So my Carnival reservationist told me I would definitely receive an on-board credit if prices dropped after final payment. Prices dropped - yesterday - and I was told they could give me a $300 onboard credit but I had to lose my upgrade from 8H back to a BL.. So today I log in the Carnival website to see if there is a credit and with my past passenger discount the prices have now dropped to $500 less for an 8I (highest cat 8 balcony; extended) than what I originally paid for my BL; $200 less than yesterday's price and no they won't give me anything else . So I have a BL - guarantee; no cabin assigned while they are selling out the higher categories for lower. And they told me my original reservationist should not have told me about the credits and the person I spoke with last night should have told me once they adjust the price once for you - no more.

 

Whatever - I am tired of the fuss - it leaves a bad taste with me.

 

So lesson for the rest of you - don't book until 45-55 days out even in the busy season if you don't have to unless you like paying more!

 

I had a similar problem yesterday. I was booked in a 6A with $100 shipboard credit since January. I saw that the price dropped about $200. I then found out that the past guest price (promo code DP7) went down about $500 with a free upgrade to 6D.

 

I contacted my TA who contacted CCL. CCL said they would upgrade me to the 6D but take away my $100 shipboard credit. I was not very happy so my TA called back again and got me the upgrade plus another $250 in credit for a total of $350 credit.

 

I don't know if she spoke to the same person on the 2nd call but she got results I was very happy with.:)

 

Don't give up!

 

Bill

[luvz2run2000]

I think it just depends on the cruise. We booked our Med cruise for later this month last August. The last time there was even a balcony cabin available the price was over $1000 per person more than we paid.

We also book early to get choice of cabins and take advantage of the military rate since it goes fast on popular cruises. We booked the weekend that 2007 Alaska cruises opened up so we could get an aft balcony.

[caribbean dreams]

We always book early to get the cabins that we want and our TA always gets us all the discounts he can find and we have never had to give up our Cabin for another. Our TA is not associated with Carnival but everyone knows him, He was the top selling agent last year, that may help alot.

[odiesam]

You know what this whole experience feels like is dealing with a car salesman - you talk to someone on the phone at Carnival then they have to go talk to "the manager" and then they come back and say they can only do - whatever. I despise that whole experience and I have despised the conversations I have had with the Carnival people over the last couple days. The reason I booked with Carnival directly was to avoid all the shenanigans I hear travel agents sometime do (not all) but here is Carnival doing the same thing - different Carnival people giving different information out especially before and after final payment.

 

It is like dealing with car salesmen!!!!!

[hill6]

You mentioned that they are selling higher cabins for a lower price. Why not upgrade to one of those cabins and see if you can get a credit for the difference.

[odiesam]

In response to people who say you shouldn't expect drops after final payment - I agree - ONLY if we all get treated the same way which we don't - it shouldn't take 5 different calls to 5 different people (or more). It causes resentment to have unfair treatment - I thoight by pushing more reservations with Carnival directly this would have been eliminated but it seems worse since it is Carnival doing it and not the independent travel agents.

 

Plus my complaint is I was given incorrect information - yes you will get a credit after final paymnet (info given before final payment of course) Followed by new information - we can only make one adjustment after final payment.

 

Buyer Beware is my warning.

[halos]

My thoughts on this are that the lesson you should come out of this with is NOT about when you book but who you book with. I think using a TA is much safer especially if you find out prior to booking with them how they handle price reductions. With Carnival reps there is never any consistency...some PVP's are great to work with while others (most) have NO clue.

[txwildflower2002]

AGENTJOEY~When is your cruise on Conquest sailing? That is an unbelievable price! Actually, my son and DIL are paying that for TWO people in an inside! Please let us on the scoop, so we can get lower prices! I also agree with previous posters. We booked in December for our August cruise. I did get some price drops and an upgrade, but it was very difficult. I always had the option to cancel and now my TA has all but given up. It is alot of paperwork for them. I e-mailed yesterday because the prices dropped again on the Carnival website. We will see what happens. I don't like the wa Carnival operates this. The people that book early should alway get the best price! It has been very aggrevating for me to be on the CPU and check prices, etc, etc, ect.

[june2006]

How do I look for the promo DP7? Yesturday recieved and upgrade from upper deck 8c and 4d (adjoining) to empress 8d and 8d (adjoining) plus a 60 OBC ... always looking for more although I am thrilled with what we did get, however, if we can get more OBC that would be awesome :)