Just Curious, How Much Were Carnival Cruises??

For those that were cruising back then, about 10 to 15 years ago, what was the going rate for a 5 to 7 day Carnival cruise?

Just asking because back then, I was a junior ranking Airman, thinking that taking a cruise was only for the "rich folks". Now I hate that I was missing out, due to misinformation.

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I don't recall what the going rate was back 10-15 years ago, but it was affordable. The question for you would be what is the going rate today - not 15 years ago. If you missed out 10-15 years ago, well, it's too late to think about what might have been. Cruising has gotten more affordable. IMHO it's the biggest bang for your buck. You know where you're going to eat, sleep and cruise to. You're only go to pack and unpack once, then pack to go home instead of multiple times on a land vacation and staying in hotels.

The first cruise my husband and I ever took was on Carnival's Celebration, 7-day Eastern Caribbean, back in 1989. We paid close to $1700 for the two of us in an inside cabin. A lot of money for a couple married for seven years with two small children, but worth it! Food & entertainment back then was fabulous. Kool & The Gang played by the pool.

We have cruised five other times on Carnival, six on Royal Caribbean and twice on Norwegian since then. All great memories!

Karen

My mom and I cruised in 2004. I don't remember the exact amount, but I believe it was comparable to now. It was somewhere between $350-$500 PP for a 5 day cruise. I do remember the airfare was about $300 pp to Miami, so that has not changed that much.

10 years ago I paid right around $950 pp double occupancy for an 8 day balcony out of NY. That included port fees, gratuities, taxes, etc....

IMHO, in looking at fares for next year, they are very high, much more than I am used to paying.

I've been cruising for over 35 years and the rates were higher then than there are now. Maybe the companies didn't have a lot of ships in their fleet at that time. I've cruised on lines that are no longer in business i.e. Paquet who owned The Dolphin, Commodore who owned The Carib, Seawind, and Seabreeze, and The Big Red Boats

We use a different perspective in validating cruise value.

A good deal to us is $80 per day/per person for an inside cabin.

A balcony good deal is $100-110 per day per person.

A newer ship for 7-8 days, we budget up to $160 per person/per day.

All these prices are for the cabin only, no fees or taxes.

I don't remember what costs were years ago. But cruising is still one of the best values for all-inclusive vacations.

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Cruising was definitely more expensive 15 - 20 years ago! I've kept some of my booking confirmations from over the years.

1991 4 day Fantasy in room M72 (inside cabin) (2 people) - $1806.

1999 - 7 day Destiny in room 8131 (inside cabin) (2 people) - $1777.50

2006 - 7 day Glory - room 8209 (Inside cabin) (2 people) - $1014.40

2010 - 8 day Freedom - room 1048 (inside cabin) (2 people) - $1385. 76

2014 - 7 day Valor - room 1058 (8E balcony) (2people) - $1274.74

2015 - 7 day Sunshine - Inside Room TBA (2 people) - $792.86

Well it's only our second cruise (first on Disney Dream) but we're paying close to 3K for two on an 8 day standard balcony to Bermuda on the Pride from Baltimore. Are we crazy overpaying?

My first cruise was in 2006 on a 5 day Elation sailing out of Galveston. $319 each for an Oceanview on Main Deck. A year later in 2007 paid $269 for the same ship and same cabin out of Port Canaveral (5 day). Cheapest cruise I ever took was in Feb 2014 out of Long Beach - $149 each for 4 days Oceanview. We decided a week before we left to do a cruise (my ex and I had a winter home is AZ at the time so only a 4 hour drive to LB).

Well it's only our second cruise (first on Disney Dream) but we're paying close to 3K for two on an 8 day standard balcony to Bermuda on the Pride from Baltimore. Are we crazy overpaying?

Disney is famous for their "Disney Magic" and if that is something your into then go for it, but personally out of my price range at the moment.

Well it's only our second cruise (first on Disney Dream) but we're paying close to 3K for two on an 8 day standard balcony to Bermuda on the Pride from Baltimore. Are we crazy overpaying?

We've found that cruises out of Baltimore tend to be higher than those out of Florida. We still book them, since we live in VA and are paying for the convenience of driving straight to port...no planes, no long road trips, no hotels.

My 1st Carnival cruise was in 2003, and was much cheaper than today's fares. I was able to cruise for about $700 on an inside cabin. Carnival had a 150% solo rate then, now it's 200% and $1,000 or more..

My first Carnival cruise was on Fantasy in 1999 and I paid about $900 for PT U1 (but they weren't listed as porthole then) as solo on a 4 day cruise. This was in mid-June and all the teens were parading around in every formal they had ever owned and only worn once.

This was before everyone could book online; I used the local travel agency, and think now I could have got it much cheaper in a 1A cabin... But it was an interesting experience. EM

First ever cruise was in 1995 on the Celebration inside cabin 7 day was $647 per person including taxes and port fees.

Our cheapest 7-day cruise ever was $1650 including taxes for 3 people in a spa balcony on the Carnival Glory. This was back in 2014. Prices have been going up ever since. Now we book 5-day cruises in oceanview cabins on older Carnival ships because you can take 2 5-day cruises for about the same price as 1 7-day cruise on Carnival. There are some exceptions to this though. For some reason, the Ecstasy seems really expensive compared to similar ships. Our cheapest 5-day was about $950 for 3 people in an oceanview cabin back in 2015 on the Fascination. The 5-day intineraries also get pretty stale because all the ships that do 5 days are going to the same places. We're willing to pay more for newer ships or a bucket list itinerary. If the Carnival cruise we want to take is over our target price, we start shopping around.

Cruising for us 10 years ago was cheaper than recently (cruised have gone up in price in the last few years).....we stay in balcony rooms and routinely paid $650-$700 pp for 7 day cruises.....we had a rule of 'thumb'....balcony was always under $100/day. We sailed on Splendor in 2010 for $480 pp in a balcony, that was our cheapest...and I must add, we do book far in advance ES and have reaped some incredible price drops (not so much any more) after final payment date!! Cruising has definitely gone up substantially from what we paid 10-15 years ago for us!!

I was able to find my booking info for my cruise back in 2007. 2 People, 7 day out of Miami with prepaid gratuities and federal taxes and fees and it was $1164.74 total.

Thats about when my wife and I started cruising in earnest, maybe 12 years ago. I feel like the rates were similar to what they are now. But, around the 'great recession' we were crusing for sub $500pp regularly on CCL/NCL. THOSE were the days :D

In 2014 we paid $349 pp for a balcony on Lido Deck on Splendor. Haven't booked a balcony since then because it's almost double that now

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For those that were cruising back then, about 10 to 15 years ago, what was the going rate for a 5 to 7 day Carnival cruise?

I can go back a little ways...these are what I have at my fingertips (I use Excel to keep track of everything travel)

Jan 9 - 16, 2011

$1,577.77 for 2

Carnival Spirit ocean view

Nov 4 - 11, 2012

$1,457.90 for 2

Carnival Splendor Spa Balcony cabin

Oct 25 - Nov 1, 2015

$1,800.88 for 2

Carnival Magic Spa Balcony cabin

April 22 - 29, 2017

$2,141.90 for 2

Carnival Magic Spa Balcony cabin

Sept 15 - 22, 2018

$2,044.50 for 2

Carnival Splendor Spa Balcony cabin

The $ includes taxes and port charges

Comparing cruises from the past to the present, is a little tough. In the past, a car got 15 mpg, and today it gets 25mpg because a change in efficiencies. Ships were smaller, and more expensive to operate. This created also a larger employee/passenger ratio.

I've been cruising for over 30 years and my first sailing- on the Carnivale is still more than what I'm been paying for at the least the last 15 years.

I find prices are an excellent value and have not gone up like most everything else.

Well it's only our second cruise (first on Disney Dream) but we're paying close to 3K for two on an 8 day standard balcony to Bermuda on the Pride from Baltimore. Are we crazy overpaying?

If you calculate the cost of airfare for 2 down to FL, cost of hotel for flying down a day before, shuttles / cabs to and from the airports, pre-cruise food, etc, its not such a bad deal, as long as your taxes port fees and gratuities are included?

8-12 years ago I could do 7 days in an inside for under $400 with a little shopping as long as it wasn't peak summer season. My lowest was in 2009 which was $299pp for a 7 day in an inside. Those prices are hard to find these days except on isolated weeks.