How do you qualify for price drops?

I am about sick to my stomach right now.

We booked a cruise for April 5th through a TA and paid full price. Now this cruise is listed under our Pack and Play offer for just $120 pp. The total would be $420 plus $100 OBC. We paid $1600.

Is it possible at all to get price drops through a TA? Or is that only good when booking early saver and directly though Carnival?

We still have an insanely cheap cruise coming up in June, just wish we had waited and booked the April one. If we can't do anything, then oh well, what can you do?

From now on we will only go through Carnival, I think, and wait for the deals but if the only way to get price drops is with ES then I won't feel so bad, as we never book that far in advance.

Part of me wonders if this is a mistake on the website, by the way. This was never originally listed under our Pack N Play. I wonder if they added this one due to availability? I find it odd because the ONLY rooms available for $120pp are balconies. The interior rooms are more expensive as they aren't being offered on special. Isn't that odd?

I found the email from our TA which says once price is confirmed there will be no price matching. Oh well. Would have been amazing to get such a deal but we already paid the credit card off and will enjoy the cruise just the same.

I don't know what kind of TA you're using, but I would run quick from any that made such a declaration regarding pricing.

If it's just an offer on Carnival's website and you qualify (meaning your exact cabin type, category, and occupancy match an open cabin), then you are eligible for the price drop so long as you are before final payment. If you are booked early saver, then you are eligible for price matching up to 2 days before you sail.

I use a TA all of the time, and currently booked with one for one trip and through a PVP for another. No problems getting price drops through the TA. You should clear your cookies and do another mock booking. If that same pricing showed up, I would call the TA and ask for their supervisor.

I don't know what kind of TA you're using, but I would run quick from any that made such a declaration regarding pricing.

 

If it's just an offer on Carnival's website and you qualify (meaning your exact cabin type, category, and occupancy match an open cabin), then you are eligible for the price drop so long as you are before final payment. If you are booked early saver, then you are eligible for price matching up to 2 days before you sail.

 

I use a TA all of the time, and currently booked with one for one trip and through a PVP for another. No problems getting price drops through the TA. You should clear your cookies and do another mock booking. If that same pricing showed up, I would call the TA and ask for their supervisor.

Thanks. This TA had this quote in the email sent to us before we confirmed:

" Once price is confirmed, there are no complimentary upgrades and/or price matching."

We have made final payment, we paid in full right away with our credit card.

I could go ahead and fill out the form, the worst we can get is a rejection which changes nothing. I may call the TA tomorrow but I have a feeling that will get me no where.

This will just be a lesson learned, I suppose. :) The cruise will still be a blast!

Thanks. This TA had this quote in the email sent to us before we confirmed:

 

" Once price is confirmed, there are no complimentary upgrades and/or price matching."

 

We have made final payment, we paid in full right away with our credit card.

 

I could go ahead and fill out the form, the worst we can get is a rejection which changes nothing. I may call the TA tomorrow but I have a feeling that will get me no where.

 

This will just be a lesson learned, I suppose. :) The cruise will still be a blast!

The question is did you book ES or did you book after final payment date?

I get the feeling you booked after final payment which is why that mention of the price matching.

Of course i could be totally wrong.

Bill

I did not book ES. Sorry, I don't know what you mean about after final payment date. I am still new to this.

I submitted a form online and got an automatic reply saying my TA needed to submit the form. I sent her an email begging her to please submit a form and attached screenshots. I told her to please submit the form even if she thought it was not going to work. It is worth a shot! Fingers crossed. I think the odds are very very low but one can dream!!

I did not book ES. Sorry, I don't know what you mean about after final payment date. I am still new to this.

 

I submitted a form online and got an automatic reply saying my TA needed to submit the form. I sent her an email begging her to please submit a form and attached screenshots. I told her to please submit the form even if she thought it was not going to work. It is worth a shot! Fingers crossed. I think the odds are very very low but one can dream!!

Ok i meant did you book with with less then 75 days before your cruise which is the final payment date.:)

Bill

It would have been very very close to the 75 days. I will need to do some checking.

It looks like we got our confirmation from the TA on Jan 20th which is exactly 75 days before the sail date. However, she had put everything in the system on the 19th and we confirmed with her on that date, which would be 76 days out. Talk about cutting it close. lol

I just don't know if she did anything official until the 20th and does it have to be MORE than 75 days or AT LEAST 75 days? That could make all the difference.

It looks like we got our confirmation from the TA on Jan 20th which is exactly 75 days before the sail date. However, she had put everything in the system on the 19th and we confirmed with her on that date, which would be 76 days out. Talk about cutting it close. lol

Ok so you wouldnt be eligible for any price drops unfortunately.

Bill

Well it was worth a shot. :) Thanks for all your help!

Well it was worth a shot. :) Thanks for all your help!

You are welcome. Keep an eye on the higher priced cabins and if they drop in price you could maybe upgrade for a real cheap price unless of course you like where you are .

Bill

What would I need to have done differently to qualify for a price drop to receive OBC? Book earlier? ES?

It is clear you do not understand about booking a cruse and it is equally clear your ta didn't bother to tell you.

Final payment date is important. Most rates you can only get price reductions up to final payment date. With early saver you are eligible to get price drops up to two days before sailing. Early saver is available only up until four to give months out from your cruise date.

Another option for you at this time since the price went so low to what you paid is to cancel the cruise. You are in penalty phase so it is going to cost you a bit. Confirm the price, then find out what the penalty is to cancel now. You can find out on the carnival site. Work out if it makes sense to cancel and take the penalty or if you are better off as you are. I think you will come out ahead to cancel and rebook the lower price. Just make sure to find out if your ta also has cancelation fees because you will have to figure those in too.

It is clear you do not understand about booking a cruse and it is equally clear your ta didn't bother to tell you.

 

Final payment date is important. Most rates you can only get price reductions up to final payment date. With early saver you are eligible to get price drops up to two days before sailing. Early saver is available only up until four to give months out from your cruise date.

 

Another option for you at this time since the price went so low to what you paid is to cancel the cruise. You are in penalty phase so it is going to cost you a bit. Confirm the price, then find out what the penalty is to cancel now. You can find out on the carnival site. Work out if it makes sense to cancel and take the penalty or if you are better off as you are. I think you will come out ahead to cancel and rebook the lower price. Just make sure to find out if your ta also has cancelation fees because you will have to figure those in too.

Agreed. There is no way the OP could have booked ES if they only booked 76 days out so there would be no price reductions after final payment date (75 days out). But, the OP paid $800 pp and it is now $120 pp so if the cancellation penalty is say 50% they could cancel, lose $400 pp and then rebook at $120 pp costing them a total of $520 pp (cancellation fee plus new cruise cost) which is still significantly cheaper than the original $800 pp. What the OP needs to find is what exactly is the cancellation fee at this point in time.

What would I need to have done differently to qualify for a price drop to receive OBC? Book earlier? ES?

With Carnival, the early saver rate is the only rate you can book and receive price reductions after your final payment date. Your TA should have pointed out exactly why the disclaimer about applied to your booking. It's simply because of when you booked and the rate you booked under.

In the future, get you a travel specialist that's more helpful. One that will explain the different rates. And look online yourself on Carnival dot Com and do some fake bookings as if you're going to book, and you will see every rate available and its conditions explained. Be sure to click on "other rates" when you look at prices. The first one or two will always show, but then there's usually more if you see a link that says "other rates."

You can always look on this board first and ask or search for questions and answers. Most every pricing topic has already been discussed.

Thanks again for all the information.

I am learning so much from this board. We booked this cruise back in January and didn't know what we were doing. Then I began coming here obsessively and learned how to check offers and such and got the Pack and Play for our June cruise which we booked ourselves. We are learning! I knew the odds were incredibly low of getting the price drop but it never hurts to ask!

I don't think we will be canceling and rebooking with the lower rate since it appears we are not covered in any way if we cancel, I don't think there is a penalty because you just forfeit every dollar spent. :eek: Again, lesson learned and we know so much more now so we will be taking care of our own bookings from now on.

I am already looking at next year so we can get ES and at least have the possibility of price drops, especially if something like this Pack and Play gets offered to us again. Slim chance but you never know!

Booked last year, Miracle 1/21-1/28 cost $1583. For the 1st time ever offered PacknPlay including cruise this Saturday. But rather then beat myself up over not using early saver I have added the 8 day cruise we always wanted into the mix. Perhaps if we had not booked the Mexico cruise we would have not been offered the Conquest for $671. Trust me, it's a lesson, we have never had a "bad cruise". That includes being on the Swine Flu" sent us to frisco one! Enjoy your cruise!

Just to add hoping to avoid future confusion on the part of some, Early Saver is not a given by booking in advance. It is a rate you must choose, anywhere from 2-6 rates will be given as an option even on the Carnival website and ES is not always the first one that pops up so look for the other rates button. They can be the Fun/Super Saver rates (which are guarantee cabins category, no choice of specifics), whatever Holiday related sale that is on going, any pop-up sale that might be offered, the senior passenger (over 55) or military rates, and of course past guest rates or casino comp rates. Also only the shorter cruises have the 4 month lead time for ES being available most of the 6 day or longer cruises need to be booked 6 months or more out for the ES rate to be an option.

Some of these other rates do offer some sort of price protection, a few even extending past the final payment deadline. But it is only ES that allows you a choice between either the reduced payment due/OBC and an upgrade up to 2 days before sail away. So when booking yourself (either directly online or by calling Carnival's CS #) or with a Carnival PVP make sure you understand the terms and conditions of the rate you have chosen, as all can have some pretty convoluted restrictions. Also read your full booking confirmation immediately (it should come within an hour of confirming) to make sure the rate you discussed or ticked off on the website is the one you expected (sometimes certain cabins will default to another booking rate). If there is an error on the rate or the passenger info you can call for any change fee free within 48 hours of making the booking (even on fee change heavy rates like ES).

The OP is still more than 45 days out. Cancelling now would cost them their deposit only. Should be refunded the difference of the full fare already paid. I agree with cancelling and rebooking. It would save about $550.

The OP is still more than 45 days out. Cancelling now would cost them their deposit only. Should be refunded the difference of the full fare already paid. I agree with cancelling and rebooking. It would save about $550.

It depends upon her contract with her TA. There may be fees that would eat up any savings .

Unfortunately, we can't cancel. Our email from the TA says it is completely nonrefundable. Not booking through that TA (or any TA) again.

I agree with some of the other comments that you should cancel and rebook the cruise. My husband and I did that last year and saved several hundred dollars. I believe there was a $100 penalty ($50 per person), but you would still end up saving a lot of money. We cancelled and booked in the same call and were able to keep the same room on the ship. It will be a little more difficult with the TA because they likely need to make the call to cancel, so hopefully that great rate is still available when they are able to call. I would hope your TA doesn't charge you a penalty for canceling since you are rebooking at the same time. In the future, you should consider booking cruises on your own or with a Carnival PVP to make sure you get the best available rate and can apply easier for price drops. It sounds like you don't have ES and do not qualify for a price drop, but if your TA actually has a no price drop policy, that is ridiculous. It literally takes 30 seconds to either fill out the form or call Carnival to claim a price drop, so it's not a huge inconvenience. In any event, I hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Unfortunately, we can't cancel. Our email from the TA says it is completely nonrefundable. Not booking through that TA (or any TA) again.

I think you can book through a TA, you just need to find a different TA.

Anybody have a link for the rules on the pack n play. I found all the other different promotions but not pack n play.

Is pack n play a casino offer?

Bill