military discount

[Laurie715]

I too have to say HATS OFF TO CARNIVAL for giving a military discount. Our TA "Jorge" from Carnival even was the one to offer it up to me.I had called with questions regarding 2 cruises we were trying to decide on and I had said I couldnt book til my hubby got home from military tour cuz he had the CC i needed to book trip.. When he heard that, he said if I faxed him a copy of his military ID he'd apply the discount- I was shocked to see that we received $100- off pp for all 4 of us. We are cruising the Inspiration in 8/05. I think cruising is alot like life in general- it is what you make of it. You can have the time of your life til its over- or you can crab and moan about every little thing gone wrong and be miserable. I personally think these people go above and beyond to make your trip the best it can be.... they cant control some things-- so we deal with it and be happy little cruisers !!! IMHO :)

[juscruzin]

We booked a 7 day cruise on the Elation for May 29th 2005 and got a great deal for two rooms for our family of five. My husband is active duty Navy. I had to fax his ID to the cruise line to activate the discount. We also booked a 7 day cruise this past September on the Conquest (low season and 50 % off) and got an incredible rate on a balcony room and an inside cabin across the hall for the kids. Carnival has my loyalty for these incredible deals that have afforded us to have an amazing vacation when otherwise it would not have been possible!

[jam63]

My son is active duty Air Force and is joining us in Florida for a vacation this summer. We decided to tack a cruise on the end of our week and after reading these boards I called Carnival and asked about the military discount. We were able to book on the Fantasy 4 day three cabins (using my son's and his wife's ID). We have a verandah (saving 70 pp) and 2 inside on the same deck (saving 200 pp).There are 7 of us travelling so this was a huge savings for us that will give us a very memorable time together since we don't see each other often.:D

[Gman2004]

The more peak the sail date, the less the discount will be, maybe none at all. Just like with anything else in this world it is all about supply and demand. Carnival is not going to offer huge discounts for Summer, Christmas, Spring Break, New Years. Why? Because these sailing would book up without the discounts anyway, usually because of people with kids. This is when they have to go, not when they want to go. When ever kids are out of school the rates go up. Also keep in mind that promotions are capacity controlled. Meaning they only allow a certain amount of bookings at that rate. So if you get a rate quoted and do not hold it with payment or deposit, when you call back if it is gone it is gone. Reserve if you want it. It is just like the airlines.

 

I know this because I used to work for a cruise line.

 

Here are the guideline for the military discount:

 

Eligible Active Members of the Military can book 4 cabins total:

 

Option #1 Option #2

1 active member cabin Military rate 1 active member cabin Military Rate

1 eligible family cabin Military rate 3 non-eligible cabins Freinds rate

2 non-eligible cabins Friends rate

 

 

The Military rates are available for the following people:

 

a) Military Personnel - Reserves Personnel - National Guard Personnel

 

The personnel is permitted to book TWO cabins as long as the second cabin

is occupied by a member of his/her immediate family. (This is for the Military rate, you can get two more at the friends of military rate)

 

Immediate Family: husband, wife, mother or father of the personnel

or dependent children 21 years old and younger.

 

b) Immediate family members of active personnel. Eligible family members

may book only ONE cabin if the personnel is NOT traveling.

 

c) Retired Personnel. Retired personnel may book ONE cabin. The retired

personnel must be traveling in this cabin.

 

d) Deceased Personnel. Spouse of deceased personnel may book ONE cabin.

The deceasd may be active duty personnel or a retired personnel.

 

Note: Discharged Personnel (whether honorable or dishonorable) are not

eligible.

 

Offer: A discounted rate for Non-eligible family and/or friends of an Active

Member of the Military, who is also booked on the same cruise. It is

imperative that you book this program under the correct farecodes as

the additional cabins booked under CPM3 are priced slightly higher.

[mcash3]

I think it all depends on when you book the cruise. I booked in September for the Sensation during Spring Break with the military discount and did not have any problems. 2 cabins the first time I talked and 2 more a few days later. My immediate family got the same discount as I did and my wifes family a smaller discount but still a good one. $521 for the 1st 2 and $475 for 3rd and 4th. Guaranteed ocean view cabins. Price on Carnival site is over $700 for a non-guarantee so I feel we did real good. Used the discount on the Holiday during the same time last year. All bookings direct thru Carnival. I checked on the military discount rate for the same cruise out of curiosity when we paid our balance (late december) and the price was up to just over $600. I am a firm believer in book early now. Although I do know that being able to use the military discount also means that you can't always plan that far out now a days.....active or reserve.....God Bless Them All.

[SoCalCruiseguy]

I know that military rates are supposed to be offered on "a selected cruise basis". But I booked on the Glory for this coming summer just before the holidays. At the time I was in one of my pre-booking frenzy's to see if I could knock off another 50 cents or so from the cruise price. Don't laugh, lots of you guys do it as well :) At the time I saw LOTS of available CCL cruises with military discounts to be had. I ended up booking shortly thereafter and indeed was able to take advantage of some sweet rates. But... right after Christmas I noticed that most if not all of these military discount offers were nowhere to be seen, even the cruise I booked. Finding this quite surprising and odd, I went on a mission and checked out a multitude of ships and sailing dates through the end of the year without much luck finding the military discounts. My conclusion is that although Carnival might still advertise that they "offer" military fares, I suspect they are going to start using them in the same way they use other discounts i.e. poor selling cruise, last minute etc. and not as simply doing something right for our service men and woman.

 

Although I agree with the comments that Carnival should be applauded for even offering military discounts, I think that adulation however is misplaced if they are going to start playing games with it. Given the life and duty requirements of most military folks, they do not have the time nor the leeway to play the game of holding out until the desired fare is arrived at. So put the discount out there even if its somewhat reduced yet more reliable and give those G.I's and families a break! Doing THAT would be worth giving Carnival all the props in the world. As it is now though, it seems like they are trying to maximize their profit potential both PR and fare wise and only ponying up on a part-time basis.

[bthorn1108]

I went on a mission and checked out a multitude of ships and sailing dates through the end of the year without much luck finding the military discounts.

 

How and where do you check to see which sailings have military rates offered? Any advice you can offer would be appreciated.

[SoCalCruiseguy]

Certain Web based TA sites have this function built into their sites, where most allow you to click a box if your 55 and older, a few have a military box as well. Think of the main topic we are talking about, going on a ... and then go to xxxxx.com . But for others you will have to go the phone route. As far as who specifically you'll have to check around, but one category of TA's that would serve you well to look at would be TA's that serve airline industry/interline employees. Many of these usually deal with military discounts as well. If you have a problem email me and I'd be happy to respond in plain english

 

George

[BND]

We got our final reservation info and booking no from our TA. We actually got $180 (not the $100 I originally thought when I posted before) off the 4 day on the Fantasy in a Cat11 (Verandah) suite. So, it worked out to be a nice discount. Now I just have to wait.

[TTTTNiner]

I requested a military discount on the cruise we booked for 3/13/05 on the Miracle. I was told these rates were gone 6 months ago and they could do nothing about it. :(

[suseg]

I guess we got lucky because on our cruise they offered us a discount. Since we are going on our honeymoon we wanted to get a room with a nice balcony etc. so being that we got the discount it allowed us to book a nicer room while sticking to our budget.........man I am a little more than overwhelmed with the cost of a wedding these days and the discount was a big help. Another thing I would like to mention is the person that I have been dealing with at Carnival (her name is Hillary) has been so nice and has answered every question that I have had and has always been very pleasant and patient.

Maybe I should start a thread on dealing with people at Carnival and which ones you would recommend, because I would defientally recommend her.:)

 

Mel...we booked directly with Carnival, for a cruise in Oct., our agent was Davidd Fredericks...all I can say is that he is wonderful! We're past cruisers as well as a military family (hubby is a Col. in the USAFR)...by the time he was through we had early booking, past cruisers and military discounts! We're paying for five cabins and although the military discount was only available for four of them I couldn't be happier.

 

Since Carnival is the only line doing any sort of military discounts I say BRAVO! They may not be available for every cruise and they may be limited but SOMETHING is better than nothing, don't you agree?

[bjboothman]

I just received a nice military discount for DH and myself on a cruise I booked this morning. The first TA I contacted did not offer the military discount to me, even though I told her we would be eligible if such a discount existed. I don't know if she didn't take the time to check on it, or chose not to offer it to me. The second TA checked with Carnival and gave me the discount. Is it against the rules to acknowledge a particular TA here on the message board if they are one of the agencies who advertise on cruise critic?

[bjboothman]

nevermind ---- sorry