?? Has anyone ever waited for more last minute cruise specials?

[motherchic]

...or does RCCL still not decrease when it gets closer to the time of sailing. We have cruised quite allot but we would like to take our two teenaged daughters on their first cruise in June of 09.

 

The sticker shock of four of us cruising, even in the inside cabins, was a bit disappointing ! Normally we cruise on Celebrity in Feb. When I looked into the June cruises the price jumped up allot.

We would love to take them on one of the big ships with the climbing wall, ice skating rink etc....

Looked into Carnival. Half the price but honestly I dont know a single person who has ever recommended cruising on Carnival.

Any insight?

Have you ever waited and gotten a better price? Can anyone recommend carnival?

Thank you much,

Nadine

[cb at sea]

1st, Carnival has gotten bad reviews, mainly due to the shorter trips! (All short cruises have major "partiers" onboard! Don't be afraid of Carnival--they are well-like by many!

I have some neighbors and family that ONLY sail on Carnival--no complaints from them! RCI and Carnival are more alike, than different!

As far as prices dropping--they will, if the cruise isn't selling well--but most ships today sail pretty full! Don't count on a cheap, last minute cruise. It CAN happen, but it's rare!

[honeywell]

Let me chime in by adding that my last two cruises were on Carnival - and the same ship (Liberty)! We could book two connecting balcony cabins on the 8th deck for the same price as a lesser quad balcony elsewhere. My family and I loved our experience and wouldn't hesitate to return - but on a 7 night itinerary at least. Those shorter hops are indeed "party boats".

 

We booked our next trip on RCCL because of the FlowRider, rock climbing wall, H2o Zone, yadda, yadda - I travel with two very athletic kids. But if Carnival is in your budget then I would indeed recommend them!

[Sillyjilly]

Sometimes you win and sometimes you don't. There are always great last minute deals if you are flexible. Check out Princess too. I have gotten some fantastic last minute bargains from them.

[mgmigs]

the last several rccl cruises i booked got more expensive as we got closer to the sail date.

[Jax6S]

Half the price but honestly I dont know a single person who has ever recommended cruising on Carnival.

:confused:

I recommend Carnival....I even recommend Carnival more than Princess.

 

The only reason why my next cruise is with RCL is just to give them a try. Otherwise, I stick with Carnival or HAL.

[suzyed]

We prefer RCI and have sailed NCL and Cunard and enjoy them too. We also have been on 4 Carnival cruises. DH is not a fan of Carnival, but personally, I think the food is better on Carnival than any of the others we have sailed on. I would sail Carnival again, I think you get alot for your money.

As far as last minute cruises....we do that frequently. I think the furtherest in advance that we have booked a cruise was 4 months! When we went on the QM2, we got such a good deal, that we booked it on a Tuesday and then left on Saturday!! Just couldnt pass it up!

So if you are not set on a particular cruiseline, or destination and just want some time with the family or spouse...why not wait and see whats out there?

[bplazo]

I always like to plan my vacations at least 6 months in advance. I have so much fun researching the cruise and being on the roll call boards. My husband says I have more fun doing that than the actual cruise.

 

I also have noticed that the cruise price going up right before the cruise.

[MDSue]

If you can afford to book the ship you want with RCCL and they lower the price they will give you the difference- I got $200. back on my last cruise. So for me I would book the cruise you want and then at least you know that the price won't go up.

As for Carnival- I think if you read the Carnival boards, you will find plenty of Carnival fans. I'm sure your teenagers would like them just fine. Last year I sailed with Royal Caribbean and loved it, but this year I'm likely to go with Carnival because my budget is less and their prices are better. I think if you stick with the longer cruises and newer ships you will avoid the party crowd. I've sailed with both lines and had a great time on each

[patrioticgirl]

If you can afford to book the ship you want with RCCL and they lower the price they will give you the difference- I got $200. back on my last cruise. So for me I would book the cruise you want and then at least you know that the price won't go up. As for Carnival- I think if you read the Carnival boards, you will find plenty of Carnival fans. I'm sure your teenagers would like them just fine. Last year I sailed with Royal Caribbean and loved it, but this year I'm likely to go with Carnival because my budget is less and their prices are better. I think if you stick with the longer cruises and newer ships you will avoid the party crowd. I've sailed with both lines and had a great time on each

I agree with Sue on the booking suggestion. Rates go up, but if they go down RCCL will credit you back. I've done last minute cruises, too, but you sometimes end up with higher airfare when you have to book air close to a sailing. With four of you traveling, the air cost could be a factor when booking last minute.

 

I sailed on Carnival Freedom in November and on Serenade in April. The food was good on both ships, but I think Freedom had a slight edge.

Hi Sue.... I l just left you a message on our old roll call! :)

[Michele Noel]

Since someone on this thread mentioned that they always go on the roll calls, will you tell me where they are? I have often used the roll calls but when I look for them, the sites say there haven't been any postings for a month. Seems strange to me. Thanks for your assistance. Michele

[destiny217]

Try the following 2 sites for some last minute specials. They update every Tuesday. Our next 2 cruises were booked using these sites. Not sure that every cruise listed is the cheapest but you can get some good prices.

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/RCI_Sales_Event/rci_sales_event.pdf

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/promowave/RCL

 

And definitely, give Carnival a try. Not sure why they get press. Some of the decor is different from RCI and Princess.

[DCdoc]

...or does RCCL still not decrease when it gets closer to the time of sailing. We have cruised quite allot but we would like to take our two teenaged daughters on their first cruise in June of 09.

 

The sticker shock of four of us cruising, even in the inside cabins, was a bit disappointing ! Normally we cruise on Celebrity in Feb. When I looked into the June cruises the price jumped up allot.

We would love to take them on one of the big ships with the climbing wall, ice skating rink etc....

Looked into Carnival. Half the price but honestly I dont know a single person who has ever recommended cruising on Carnival.

Any insight?

Have you ever waited and gotten a better price? Can anyone recommend carnival?

Thank you much,

Nadine

Nadine, The things you heard about Carnival are true. I had a miserable time with all of those kids running around and no one to watch them. I remember cleaning food off of my sandals after one of the little darlings dropped his tray at my feet. I also don't like snot in the hot tubs..not an exageration!

 

I recently heard of the website cruise compete dot com. Don't know anything about it but it sounds like you might want to try it.

[birdie16]

We usually book last minute deals (1 month or less) but with last minute deals you can't be as picky about what cruise you take or cabin selection. The last minute deals are rarely balcony cabins...rarely, not never. Also, with last minute deals the airfare can cost you more.

 

As for Carnival, I agree that the bigger ships with the 7 night or longer itineraries are great! We have cruised Carnival quite a bit and would not hesitate to cruise them again.

[silentbob007]

I would have no problem whatsoever booking a Carnival cruise, especially if it was half the price of a RCCL one. You get "nightmare" stories on each line ... and some of them are true, some of them aren't ... but in the end, I've done a fair amount of CCL and RCCL cruises and that "R" doesn't make a huge difference to me.

 

As for waiting ... sometimes prices go up, sometimes they go down ... just depends on how the ship is selling. If you have to fly to port, then you also have to worry about airfare fluctuations. I've seen plenty of "cheap" last-minute cruises that I couldn't get to because of last-minute airfare. If you book with hopes of a price drop, just remember that those last-minute fares are usually for new bookings only, so no matching.

[t34babe]

You should definitely give Carnival a try, especially the Liberty. I was one of the "I'll never sail on Carnival" people, but for spring break, it was the best price for my sister who is a single mom. It was a beautiful ship, service was great and the activities were fun. Food was good too. I just got off the Mariner, which I loved, but wasn't overly impressed with the service. I wouldn't hesitate to sail Carnival again.

[nklpikl]

You may find a low rate waiting, but maybe not. You need a cabin for 4 people. That is much more limited and could easily sell out. Add in you want family sailing time (June). I don't think you will have much luck waiting.

 

I have cruised RC, Carn and Princess. I personally enjoy them all. What you hear about Carnival being a part boat. It isn't true. Maybe for the 3 day weekend cruises. But next time you hear it ask them, when they cruised and for how long. My guess it was years ago or a short weekend cruise.

 

I very much want to take my kids on a Freedom class too. I want the ice skating, rock walls, all that stuff. But when sailing with the kids, it is just so much cheaper for us on Carnival. I know that it is not that way for every date, but it has been for every one I have priced out personally. So when the same cruise for the 5 of us is 1500-2500 more on RC than Carnival, I choose Carnival. When I am not cruising with the kids I try to do RC or Princess.

 

Ok done with my 2 cents

[Clarea]

Since someone on this thread mentioned that they always go on the roll calls, will you tell me where they are? I have often used the roll calls but when I look for them, the sites say there haven't been any postings for a month. Seems strange to me. Thanks for your assistance. Michele

Michelle,

 

Sometimes I get the same indication about the lack of postings for a month. I've found that somehow I've been logged out of CC, maybe due to timeout. I log back into CC and the Roll Call posts appear properly.

 

Bob

[Clarea]

We have cruised quite allot but we would like to take our two teenaged daughters on their first cruise in June of 09.

Nadine

 

Unfortunately, June, July, and August are the most expensive times to cruise on Royal, with the exception of Christmas or New Year's which are even more expensive. If you can consider other times to cruise, such as pre Christmas or first week of Jan after New Year's, you will find prices much lower. Prices start to rise mid May and by June they are pretty bad.

[firefly333]

Lots of good ships for Carnival, anything Conquest class and higher will have plenty to do for your children if RCL is giving you sticker shock.

 

I have to admit, guilty of waiting to book RCL kinda last minute to last minute. RCL seems to have better last minute prices than Carnival, so I wait until closer to the cruise and can find what I want, but Im pretty flexible.

 

In fact Im waiting to book my spring Voyager cruise right now. Probably try to book a couple months out, but last time I booked 4 days out, no discont from the price on the website, but my Dad had a operation and I couldnt go until he got thru it and I brought him home, he might not have made it at his age with all his problems. Once he got thru it, and they said they were discharging him, I booked with less than 4 days before the cruise left.

 

With my parents in their 80s, (well my Dad turn 90 in a couple weeks), its kinda scary to book too far out).

[Topaz114]

I LOVED Carnival. In fact I would have chosen Carnival again for my upcoming cruise, but they didn't have the itinerary that I wanted for the month I wanted.

[nklpikl]

Try the following 2 sites for some last minute specials. They update every Tuesday. Our next 2 cruises were booked using these sites. Not sure that every cruise listed is the cheapest but you can get some good prices.

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/RCI_Sales_Event/rci_sales_event.pdf

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/promowave/RCL

 

And definitely, give Carnival a try. Not sure why they get press. Some of the decor is different from RCI and Princess.

 

Sorry if I sound dumb, but these are pdf files. Do you sign up to get them emailed to you? I poked around what I thought was the main site, but I am lost.

[Clarea]

Sorry if I sound dumb, but these are pdf files. Do you sign up to get them emailed to you? I poked around what I thought was the main site, but I am lost.

You cannot get the PDF's e-mailed. Just click on the links to see if anything new has been posted. The Promowave comes out every Tuesday. The Sales Event usually comes out Tuesday, but I've seen it come out other times also.

[Leafpeeper]

We love to cruise on Carnival, NCL, RCCL, and Princess. We like to book our RCCL cruises as soon as they are announced because the prices are so reasonable. We booked our last two RCCL cruises 18 months in advance and the prices had more than doubled by the time we sailed compared to what we actually paid.

 

Carnival has great last minute prices. We like booking them when we want a short getaway cruise for just the two of us. We prefer cruiselines like NCL or Princess because we like multiple restaurants on our cruises, but we have no complaints about our Carnival cruises because the prices were so good last minute. Sometimes RCCL will run last minute specials--especially on 3 or 4 night caribbean or bahama cruises. You just have to keep checking online.

[nklpikl]

You cannot get the PDF's e-mailed. Just click on the links to see if anything new has been posted. The Promowave comes out every Tuesday. The Sales Event usually comes out Tuesday, but I've seen it come out other times also.

 

Thank You