Carnival's across the board this past March.....

[wasiii]

.....well since we've all had a bit of time to relax from that traumatizing experience (price hike), how did everyone do booking before the price increase?

 

I paid $859 for an 8N aft balcony, using Early Saver rate, on the 08/28/10 Freedom sailing.

 

I got the last ES 8N cabin, so no more price reductions for me, but, the price of an 8M (which they still have) is $1044. The 8N when I booked it was $20 more per person, so if they had an 8N left it would probably be $1064.

 

So all in all, if I had booked today, it would have cost me $410 more than I paid. :D

 

Did anyone else have some good savings stories by booking before the price increase?

 

:confused:

 

wasiii

[arush5268d]

The way you write every single bloody post of yours makes my brain hurt. Makes for very hard reading when half of a sentance is in the 'title' box and the rest is in the message body.

[leroydarts]

I'm going on a cruise in December and booked early saver right before the price hike. I have already saved $40 per person on a 7 day so I think I did the right thing!!! :)

 

Also, I booked early a cruise for September (5 day out of Charleston) and the price per person on that went up $160 per person since I booked!!! Now I look like the smart one!! (At least that's what I will tell my boyfriend.)

[wasiii]

The way you write every single bloody post of yours makes my brain hurt. Makes for very hard reading when half of a sentance is in the 'title' box and the rest is in the message body.

 

.....you don't have to read my posts if you don't want to.

 

I didn't realize it was so tough to have to read 2 lines instead of one. And as a matter of fact, on this post, it was not a connecting sentence, I had the title of the post and then my statement as the first line.

 

:confused:

 

wasiii

[Kurbanfan]

The price hikes were just for the summer months......it does not effect us in any way..........

[Vanessa L]

.....well since we've all had a bit of time to relax from that traumatizing experience (price hike), how did everyone do booking before the price increase?

 

I paid $859 for an 8N aft balcony, using Early Saver rate, on the 08/28/10 Freedom sailing.

 

I got the last ES 8N cabin, so no more price reductions for me, but, the price of an 8M (which they still have) is $1044. The 8N when I booked it was $20 more per person, so if they had an 8N left it would probably be $1064.

 

So all in all, if I had booked today, it would have cost me $410 more than I paid. :D

 

Did anyone else have some good savings stories by booking before the price increase?

 

:confused:

 

wasiii

 

My September cruise is up $100pp and my November cruise is up $150pp. I'm happy with the price paid :D And I can read your posts just fine. :D

[frankhouse]

The way you write every single bloody post of yours makes my brain hurt. Makes for very hard reading when half of a sentance is in the 'title' box and the rest is in the message body.

 

I found it very understandable. (You misspelled sentence)

[arush5268d]

I found it very understandable. (You misspelled sentence)

 

 

Whoops...thanks!

[cruisinbanddirectors]

I actually have a BAD experience with Carnival's across the board "price hikes." We normall hold off till about a month out to book our cruises in order to get the last minute savings. BUT because Carnival posted that and we were taking additional people this year, we went ahead and booked in early March. We booked the Past Guest rate because at the time, that was the best deal. Since then, the category we booked has gone down about $100 per person, and because we booked past guest, we get nothing (except an extended balcony versus a standard balcony...which I'm only marginally excited about).

 

We feel Carnival was a little dishonest in posting that.

[wasiii]

I found it very understandable. (You misspelled sentence)

 

.....but I didn't want to say anthing because i didn't want arush to think I was being petty.

 

;)

 

wasiii

[hankandteri]

The hysteria on this board that greeted the announcement seems funny now. "The sky is falling. I'll never sail Carnival again. Etc."

 

Now that the increase has been implemented, folks realized that it was mostly a marketing gimmick all along, and there are plenty of deals to be had if you pick the right ship/sailing. Carnival still has to fill its ships and supply and demand ultimately dictate the price they can charge.

 

I'm relieved the board has returned to its normal state and is once again focused primarily on the finer points of smuggling booze on board.

[SIENA6334]

My friends and I were able to book on Valor, January 23, 2011. Balcony 8D on LIDO for $694 total (including insurance). On Carnival's website that cruise has already jumped more than $40 since we booked. We are very pleased with our price and don't look to get anything better.

[pcrum]

We panicked and booked our June 13, 2010 cruise on the Freedom before the price hike. By the time I first started looking at the cruise (early Jan., 2010) and the time I booked (late Feb., 2010), it went up $100 a person. I was scared to wait any longer and booked. Just did a web search of online travel agents we have used in the past and they are now showing the Freedom as around $100 per person less than we paid. Carnival has it for a bit more than we paid, but we never book through Carnival (not that I want to start a debate over Carnival bookings vs. TAs!) Roll eyes!

 

Same with our Thanksgiving cruise on the Liberty. It is now showing as being cheaper than when we booked, but we did get Porthole cabins for that booking, which are now taken, so I guess it's good we booked when we did.

 

I even booked our spring break cruise for next year due to panic over the price hike and they have now substituted our HMC stop for Nassau. Not very happy with that, as I chose the cruise specifically for HMC. Might be able to still change ships as it is so far away, but I haven't really investigated that yet!

 

Lesson learned...I will now stick to what we have always done in the past and book later rather than sooner. We live in FL so don't have to worry about airfare. So, yes, I was a victim of Carnival's hype about raising prices. Should have known better!

[wasiii]

I actually have a BAD experience with Carnival's across the board "price hikes." We normall hold off till about a month out to book our cruises in order to get the last minute savings. BUT because Carnival posted that and we were taking additional people this year, we went ahead and booked in early March. We booked the Past Guest rate because at the time, that was the best deal. Since then, the category we booked has gone down about $100 per person, and because we booked past guest, we get nothing (except an extended balcony versus a standard balcony...which I'm only marginally excited about).

 

We feel Carnival was a little dishonest in posting that.

 

.....Carnival did not hold a gun to your head and make you book at that time. You still could have waited on deals.

 

I was lucky being able to book Early Saver, I take you were not able to do that rate?

 

:confused:

 

wasiii

[pcrum]

Now that the increase has been implemented, folks realized that it was mostly a marketing gimmick all along, and there are plenty of deals to be had if you pick the right ship/sailing.

 

Oh yes, to be able to cruise without being tied to school schedules!! The first weeks of May and Sept are always so cheap. Unfortunately, with twin teens trying to get into good colleges, we are tied to school schedules!! The cruise lines know this and raise the prices during school breaks!!!

[wasiii]

Oh yes, to be able to cruise without being tied to school schedules!! The first weeks of May and Sept are always so cheap. Unfortunately, with twin teens trying to get into good colleges, we are tied to school schedules!! The cruise lines know this and raise the prices during school breaks!!!

 

.....of supply and demand pcrum.

 

:eek:

 

wasiii

[CCbaby817]

We booked early, but not in a panic. That was when everyone in or group had the money. Right after we booked, they announced the price hike. It worked well for us, though. I've been checking prices and for 3 people in a Catagory 6E, it went up $550. When I checked yesterday it has come down to $490 more than I paid for the 3 of us. I'm still hoping for it to drop and we get OBC. What can I say, I'm hopelessly optimistic! :rolleyes:

[kcroxyoursox]

The way you write every single bloody post of yours makes my brain hurt. Makes for very hard reading when half of a sentance is in the 'title' box and the rest is in the message body.

 

Have to say that I agree. Not because it's "difficult to read two lines," but because it breaks form. Everyone else starts typing in the text box, and that is what my brain is trained to see (blocking out all the other "noise.")

 

When I see a half sentence that my brain can't comprehend, it breaks my concentration to read it again, try to figure out if it's just poor syntax, if spacing was thrown off, etc.

 

Plus, I find the elipses (...) to be used entirely too frequently these days.

 

No offense directed specifically at you OP, because I'm sure you're not the only one who does this. :)

[lollylew]

I booked a PT cabin on the 5/10/10 sailing of the Carnival Paradise for $214 pp. Now the going rate for the same type cabin is $449 :eek: I also booked the Carnival Splendor for 1/8/12 for the same type cabin (PT) for $369 and now the price is $419 pp.

 

Glad I booked when I did! :)

[lollylew]

I'm relieved the board has returned to its normal state and is once again focused primarily on the finer points of smuggling booze on board.

 

LOL *snort*

 

Haven't seen any "Taking the automatic tips off" thread...lately :rolleyes::p

[Warm Breezes]

We booked ES before they announced the price hikes. I watched the price go up and then start slowly coming back down. They are now offering an upgrade on our room type to the next level at $30 more for Persons 1 & 2 than what was being advertised by Carnival when we booked and with Persons 3 & 4 back down to the same price. I am waiting for them to drop below what was advertised when we booked so we can get an OBC. We are optimistically waiting since there still seem to be a lot of cabins in our category still open. No matter what the hype, it is still a matter of supply and demand. They will drop the prices to fill the ship and raise the prices when they are reaching capacity.

[conchead]

ok, we booked before the price increase...way before ;)

 

At the time they announced the upcoming increase, it was about $500

more than what we booked at. (This is for 3 in a 4I, 5day Elation)

Then the day after that it went up about $50-75, then after the

increase..about $50 more...the total highest was $700 more than

what we booked at.

 

Now, In the last week, it has dropped about $100..so,

$600 more and I can start thinking about OBC:D

[arush5268d]

Do you think that CCL raised the rates to compensate for people removing the auto tips? :confused:

[Warm Breezes]

Do you think that CCL raised the rates to compensate for people removing the auto tips? :confused:

 

No. I think it was all advertising hype to get people nervous so they would purchase now rather than later, especially at ES rates that people couldn't cancel out of later after they thought about what they did. Carnival's marketing was targeting the gullible people who don't know enough about economics to know about supply and demand.

[Warm Breezes]

We booked ES before they announced the price hikes. I watched the price go up and then start slowly coming back down. They are now offering an upgrade on our room type to the next level at $30 more for Persons 1 & 2 than what was being advertised by Carnival when we booked and with Persons 3 & 4 back down to the same price. I am waiting for them to drop below what was advertised when we booked so we can get an OBC. We are optimistically waiting since there still seem to be a lot of cabins in our category still open. No matter what the hype, it is still a matter of supply and demand. They will drop the prices to fill the ship and raise the prices when they are reaching capacity.

 

I just checked again and they are now offering our category at a one level room upgrade at the same price that was advertised when we purchased. I won't call to get a one level room upgrade since I like where we are but if they drop the price anymore I will be calling for that OBC.