When is the best time to make a final payment?

[dianepm]

I am going to be able to pay for my cruise in July (yay!) but the deadline is March 2008. Would it be better to wait? If the price goes down after I pay for it, will it make a difference?

[firefly333]

Sometimes if the price goes down and you already made final payment they will just give a OBC instead of a refund if you already made a final payment, depends on the cruise and who you paid.

[Bases5]

I would wait until final payment is do. Put you money in a interest barring account and you earn a little instead of the cruise line. I always like to keep my cash position as liquid as possible. You just never know what might happen. The price change is also a consideration.

[POOHISME2]

I dont make final payment until the actual due date.

[nycruises]

i useally make final payment 24 hours before the due date as to never have it be a issue of being late in the cruise lines mind.

[Maxax]

Ditto....I pay the day before it is due!

[silentbob007]

Definitely hold onto your money ... get the benefit of the interest and, believe it or not, not having fully paid gives you a better bargaining position with price drops.

[DanniC]

We are so bad at making payments. We put our deposit down then pay the trip off on the last day. It would be great if we could set Carnival up on automatic payments like all of our bills. After one cruise is paid off the extra money accumulates for the next cruise. Happy Sailings

[sewcarve]

My experience may be different from most - Our May 2007 cruise was fully paid. We have not cruised in 20 years, so there supposedly was no record of our cruises from the 80's. We did, however, have two glasses from the NCL Sunward II. We photographed them, faxed them to NCL, and not only received our Latitudes numbers, but also a HEFTY refund on the cruise price!

I've just found photographs taken on the Carnival Mardi Gras from Dec. 1986, and have written to Carnival, asking for our past guest numbers, benefits, etc., but have not heard back from them yet. A phone call will be next.......

My travel agent told me that past guest discounts on Carnival are the same as Military discounts, so we won't get a break on price, but should get some onboard perks, don't you think?

 

Becky and Sandy

[Chigirlcruzin]

Hey Bases5, come join our Imagination roll call!

 

Sew Carve, being a past guest really doesn't get you much except for the gold sail and sign card, which gets you nothing except maybe a "welcome back" when handing it to the bartender on the first day, and an invite to the past guest party on sailings 5 days or longer.

[JDCMN]

I've just found photographs taken on the Carnival Mardi Gras from Dec. 1986, and have written to Carnival, asking for our past guest numbers, benefits, etc., but have not heard back from them yet. A phone call will be next.......

 

I had a similar situation after sailing on Canival Carnivale in 1986. I scanned the embarkation phono and luggage tag and emailed guest relations. Well, three weeks later I still hadn't heard from them so I called guest relations. I spoke with one of the reps on Thursday and she asked me to fax the photo to her which I did on Friday morning. By Friday evening, the 1986 cruise showed up on my cruise history on Carnival's web site! In case you'd like to call, the guest relations number is 1-800-929-6400.

 

Good luck!

 

Jeannie

[S.S.Oceanlover]

Hey Bases5, come join our Imagination roll call!

 

Sew Carve, being a past guest really doesn't get you much except for the gold sail and sign card, which gets you nothing except maybe a "welcome back" when handing it to the bartender on the first day, and an invite to the past guest party on sailings 5 days or longer.

 

Being past guest got us $100 off pp and free upgrades. I've never done a past guest party so don't know anything about that perk.

 

Bill

[Legend]

sewcarve

 

Your travel agent told you wrong. Military rates are LOWER than past guest rates 99.9% of the time. The only time it may be better to use a past guest rate instead is if you want an upgrade to a higher deck.....past guest may be lower than military.

[sewcarve]

sewcarve

 

Your travel agent told you wrong. Military rates are LOWER than past guest rates 99.9% of the time. The only time it may be better to use a past guest rate instead is if you want an upgrade to a higher deck.....past guest may be lower than military.

 

 

Thanks for telling me - that might be worthwhile on our Christmas cruise.

I'll be calling tomorrow - and thanks, Jeannie, for the phone number.

 

Becky and Sandy

[mudpievelour]

My travel agent told me that past guest discounts on Carnival are the same as Military discounts, so we won't get a break on price, but should get some onboard perks, don't you think?

 

Actually, we've found that the military discounts are usually much better than the past guest discounts. Unless they are running a special for past guests (say a couple of deck upgrades) we've done much better with the military discounts. You will, however, get to go to the past guest party, where the drinks are free and decent. Worth going. :)

[salty dingo]

No advantage to paying before it is due. Keep the funds earning interest somewhere until you have to pay.

 

Even if you did pay in full very early, you would still get the benefit of fare drops until the cancellation penalties start to kick in. After that, you can still ask, but you won't have much leverage if they say no.

[dianepm]

Thank you for your suggestions! I think I will wait. Like you say, let it get interest for me.

[ala-kat]

It all depends... we've paid off our cruise, but the final payment is only about $50 more pp over the deposit... can be canceled with no penalty up to final payment time. Not much to be gained in the financial world there. However, if your cost is more (and I suspect it is - we cruise super cheap - and, yes, 'cheap' is the operative word here), that will have to be a personal decision. How much is the outlay, and could it be better spent beforehand? A couple of hundred, I'd go ahead and pay it off. Thousands - a whole new scenerio.

[sewcarve]

:mad: A week has passed since I spoke with Carnival's Guest Relations and faxed them our photo on our past cruise with them, along with other info they requested. We've had NO reply! :mad: Two phone calls, two emails and a fax - and nothing! Not good business!

At this point, we're seriously considering finding other cruiselines, and cancelling our already fully paid cruises this fall.

 

Becky and Sandy

 

Thanks for telling me - that might be worthwhile on our Christmas cruise.

I'll be calling tomorrow - and thanks, Jeannie, for the phone number.

 

Becky and Sandy

[S.S.Oceanlover]

:mad: A week has passed since I spoke with Carnival's Guest Relations and faxed them our photo on our past cruise with them, along with other info they requested. We've had NO reply! :mad: Two phone calls, two emails and a fax - and nothing! Not good business!

At this point, we're seriously considering finding other cruiselines, and cancelling our already fully paid cruises this fall.

 

Becky and Sandy

 

Just remember that when you cancel and book with another line don't expect much better treatment. Most cruise lines are great once you are on the ships but the land side service is pretty bad.

 

Bill

[JDCMN]

:mad: A week has passed since I spoke with Carnival's Guest Relations and faxed them our photo on our past cruise with them, along with other info they requested. We've had NO reply! :mad: Two phone calls, two emails and a fax - and nothing! Not good business!

At this point, we're seriously considering finding other cruiselines, and cancelling our already fully paid cruises this fall.

 

Becky and Sandy

 

Have you checked under your cruise history on Carnival's web site? I never received any notification or reply back either but when I checked my history the next day, I found that the 1986 cruise had been added.

 

Hopefully it's there!

 

Jeannie

[sewcarve]

Just remember that when you cancel and book with another line don't expect much better treatment. Most cruise lines are great once you are on the ships but the land side service is pretty bad.

 

Bill

 

Maybe so, Bill, however, we also just went through the same thing with NCL, and they got back to me within hours, with Latitudes cards for both of us, and a large enough refund on our upcoming cruise with them to pay for another cruise.

 

Becky and Sandy

[RzrLens]

sewcarve

 

Your travel agent told you wrong. Military rates are LOWER than past guest rates 99.9% of the time. The only time it may be better to use a past guest rate instead is if you want an upgrade to a higher deck.....past guest may be lower than military.

 

I think it depends on the time you cruise and which ship. We got a fabulous deal on the Elation last year with the military discount, but the past guest discount ended up being drastically lower than the military rate for the Valor this fall. It's always best to tell your PVP or your travel agent that you are eligible for both and to use the one that gives you the best deal.