Friends Laugh, but I check the price every day and it pays

[mother of twins]

sorry for butting in but i have a question.

i see that this is RCL but what -if anything-do you know about watching prices for carnival?

we just took our first trip and i'm looking at trips and working with TA for a group of friends trip next summer..

any input appreciated...if i'm in the wrong place please direct me where i need to be.

thanks...

[firefly333]

Does the price listed on the RCCL website include all the port charges and taxes? Or is the price listed just for that category of cabin?

 

For Example ... E1 (balcony cabin) shows $1200 ... would it be a total of $1200 or $1200 plus the port charges & Taxes bringing it up to about $1400 each.

 

Thanks.

 

Option 3, the prices on RCI website include port charges but not taxes.

 

Taxes run about $57 approx more or less on a 7 day cruise per person.

[firefly333]

sorry for butting in but i have a question.

i see that this is RCL but what -if anything-do you know about watching prices for carnival?

we just took our first trip and i'm looking at trips and working with TA for a group of friends trip next summer..

any input appreciated...if i'm in the wrong place please direct me where i need to be.

thanks...

 

Here is a link to the Carnival board

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=215

 

Iv had the same policy with Carnival they refund my card up until final price due and then its a OBC. Some here say they got a OBC even before final payment due on Carnival but that isn't what my PVP claims is the policy, but you were get the money back either as a credit or OBC if the price drops.

[lauren0309]

Thanks for reminding me to check. I havent checked in awhile but today it paid off. I got money off on my cruise also! Today is a luck day for me 7/7/07!!

[RBOUR]

We're sailing on Mariner in June with 3 other couples. 2 of us have booked through RC, and the other 2 booked through the same travel agent. Neither couple had used this travel agent before, but my girlfriend says she's good, and she happens to be the friend of one of her friend's mother. (confusing, I know). Anyway, I called both couples on Friday and told them that we had received a refund, and that they should contact their travel agent. They both left messages on Friday. This morning I was chatting in IM with my friend, and asked her if she'd heard from the travel agent. She said not yet. I told her she should go to the RC website and check on the price drop her self and then she'd have something to tell the agent. She said..."she would have contacted me if there was a price drop, and she would do the same for the other couple; that's her job, that's why "we" used a travel agent!" I didn't want to get into it with my friend, but from what I've read here, it looks to me like not all travel agents will notify you of a price drop if it happens. I know for a fact that the other couple has at least $220 coming back to them for one of their interior rooms, but they've heard nothing. And they're waiting for the TA to call them! grrrrrrrrrrrrr! My husband told me to not concern myself anymore with it. I've done all that I can, etc.

 

She also told me that she used a travel agent because there's a better chance of getting a free upgrade if you use one. Is this true? Does the upgrade fairy only come if you book through a travel agent?

We recieved an upgrade from the fairy to a GS a week befor the cruise and the T/A had NOOOOOO idea

[kenholt]

Man oh man ,its good to hear that people are saving moeny on there cruises,but i just can't get any love from RCCL.The price for my cruise keeps going up.Good thing i booked early.

[FreewayFortune]

I got really lucky on my first cruise because it was one of those close to cruise time sales. But on the next one all kinds of cabins went on sale and mine didn't.

[mother of twins]

Here is a link to the Carnival board

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=215

 

Iv had the same policy with Carnival they refund my card up until final price due and then its a OBC. Some here say they got a OBC even before final payment due on Carnival but that isn't what my PVP claims is the policy, but you were get the money back either as a credit or OBC if the price drops.

thanks firefly, i will be booking almost a year in advance but will watch for drops in rates...is there any specific day or time that they make these changes??? being an ocd person i could spend the next year checking rates all the time...buy to save a buck or two i'll watch.

thanks for the info...

[firefly333]

thanks firefly, i will be booking almost a year in advance but will watch for drops in rates...is there any specific day or time that they make these changes??? being an ocd person i could spend the next year checking rates all the time...buy to save a buck or two i'll watch.

thanks for the info...

 

RCI used to have lower prices when prices first came out. I was frankly dissapointed how high prices came out on the cruises I wanted.

 

Carnival started out much lower and their prices seem to only move higher, though I have seen some posts from folks whose cruise has come down, but watching out of Galveston, prices seem to only go one way...UP.

 

Last fall I think there were more ships to the Caribbean and lots more last minute deals than so far we have seen, but Im always hopefull.

 

With Carnival, my best advice is to book early and sit on the reservation. Iv already booked as far out as Jan 09 on Carnival.

[mother of twins]

once again, thanks

we are going to book a group from town of parents and kids for next summer but waiting on one couple...he works for a company that doesn't post vacation calendar until nov...no fun! i say we book now, get good rates and hope he can go but others feel different..honestly, i see both sides...we can change if we have to but let's book and get a good rate

then in sept 08 my best friend and i have been invited on a girl/mom get away 7 day out of galveston...i don't know why we haven't book it but i think we will next week...with it being such a great rate...we are going to splurge and get balcony room....that way we can have girl time away from everyone with drinks on the balcony! can't wait! don't know how i'll act with no DH, kids, car, work, phone,etc,,,for 7 days! i may not come home.

thanks again, and i will watch rates just in case they drop....

[floridastyle05]

i do the same thing everyday checking it i save $200 per person on our cruise this time by checking it on July 4th and took advantage of the holiday sale...

[BadBoysDriveAudi]

i do the same thing everyday checking it i save $200 per person on our cruise this time by checking it on July 4th and took advantage of the holiday sale...

 

The price for my cruise on 9/9 just keeps going up! At one point, it was close to $800 more pp than when I bought it. Since we're in the last week, it seems to be coming down, but it's still roughly $300 more pp. I'll keep watching...

[Annefran]

"Hi my name is Annefran and I am a daily cruise price checker", lol :p . Hey it's the only way to save. I keep checking our Majesty New Years Eve cruise hoping that the JS prices go down, so we can upgrade and get that extra cruise point (which will make us Diamond). So check away my fellow CCer's. Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

[diat68]

is this applicable to UK bookings - as I know the US rules sometimes differ - and its not so easy for us to ask for and get the reductions?

[firegal773]

I just tried checking on our cruise again and today all the room categories come up as N/A we are about 10 days out--I couldnt imagine that its sold out being the peak of hurricane season but I dont know---could they just be doing an update on the prices or am I dreamy?:rolleyes:

[finnegan14]

On our specific cruise, our stateroom category is completely booked, so they show the price as N/A when I look.... is there any way to check?

[Poohb]

We booked a hump/balcony cabin for our TA but the guarantee balcony cabin price dropped so we switched. I rec'd $920 credit. Don't know the cabin # yet but we'll be smiling even if we have to walk a little distance from the elevators. I am also a 'check the prices daily addict'. And proud of it!

[clearwaters]

I got lucky last month, saved $200 on my sept 30 cruise. Over the years i have saved thousands of $ checking the pricing after i have booked.

HOW do you check the price? I booked over the phone with a RCL certified travel planner.

[CVU]

Thank you all, because of this forum I check daily as well and just saved $640 CAD on our cruise next year for being over 55!!:)

Also, got the C&A bonus savings coupon on the same cruise so it is getting cheaper all the time.

We will be Platinum for that cruise, so more reduction!!! More money to book another cruise.....

[Host Kewlguy]

HOW do you check the price? I booked over the phone with a RCL certified travel planner.

 

Just go on RCL's web site and enter the information in the search boxes as if you were going to book the cruise. This will enable you to see the current prices for each category. It's quite simple.

[Host Kewlguy]

We were checking the prices for one of our cruises next year (on another cruise line) and noticed the price of our stateroom category had dropped substantially. We contacted our online travel agent and had the price reduced $650.00. It certainly does pay to check the cruise lines web sites often.

[Mrsg324]

How close to sailing will they do the price change? For instance if you pay 1200 pp for a cruise & there are plenty of cabins, we all know the cruise lines try to sell these at a major discount. If it goes to 299 pp right before sailing will they refund that?

 

It hasn't happened to me but I'm hoping one day it will.

[cruising bean]

Whee! Just got another price drop on our Sept 24th cruise. This is the second one since booking. It does pay to check. Now if my airline price would just go down. I check Yapta for that. :)

[Royalpair]

Ours has either stayed the same or gone up in price (E1). Just checked after looking at this, and there are none available, so I guess I got a good deal when we booked. I wish I would have known about this when we went to ALaska. 4 of us in a balcony, we just figured the price would go up if anything. And of course, the TA never mentioned checking prices online. One of the reason's we don't use her anymore.

[Host Kewlguy]

How close to sailing will they do the price change? For instance if you pay 1200 pp for a cruise & there are plenty of cabins, we all know the cruise lines try to sell these at a major discount. If it goes to 299 pp right before sailing will they refund that?

 

It hasn't happened to me but I'm hoping one day it will.

 

There's no guarantee if or when the price will drop or increase. It all depends on supply and demand. We have found the price drops are usually after finally payment or about a month or two before sailing date. Also it has to be the same stateroom category you booked for you to qualify for refund. For instance if you paid $1000.00 per person for a category D1 and the price of the D1's drops to $800.00 pp before the sailing date you would qualify for a $200.00 pp refund. The bottom line is the cruise lines need to fill the ships and if it takes reducing the price a few weeks before the sailing date to do so, they will do it. Empty staterooms don't bring in any revenue.