Can someone help me understand

[khrivnak]

the difference between Categories? 4A 4E, 3B, etc.?

 

Is there a "categories for dummies" thread somewhere that lists whats what? I'm trying to help a friend of mine, who booked an interior room, request a price drop. She is a 4E. She was declined the OBC because that category is sold out. I know it has something to do with location, but dont know where location is and what letter is better than others, etc.

[Marsidote]

Was wondering the same thing!

[cheewiee]

http://traveltips.usatoday.com/carnival-cruise-stateroom-categories-explained-17585.html

[khrivnak]

So, basically the "4" denotes an interior room and "E" denotes the deck?

 

Am I close?

[cheewiee]

So, basically the "4" denotes an interior room and "E" denotes the deck?

 

Am I close?

 

The number represents the type of room (Interior, Ocean View, Balcony, Suit) and the letter represents location.. not sure if the letter just represents deck, or if it also reflects location (Fore/mid/aft)...

 

I try to focus on Location.. we are interior cabin cruisers, and I try to keep a deck between us and any public areas..

[buddylover]

So, basically the "4" denotes an interior room and "E" denotes the deck?

 

Am I close?

 

Yes, you are close....the 4 denotes the kind of cabin, such as "inside" ....the "E" doesn't specifically note one deck, it could be for example, deck 7 Forward, or Deck 8 midship. There is a wonderful site cruisedeckplans dot com that will show you where each classification is by color. Pull up the cruise lines and deck, put your cursor over a specific cabin and the classification will show.

A "B" for example can be a forward or aft location on one given deck and then midship on another deck. It is kind of confusing, but that site is helpful to learn on.

[khrivnak]

Thanks buddy! Very helpful!

 

From that, I can understand that 4E are on Deck 6 and 7. Doing a mock booking shows the only Interior rooms left on her cruise are on Riviera.

[lorim103]

the difference between Categories? 4A 4E, 3B, etc.?

 

Is there a "categories for dummies" thread somewhere that lists whats what? I'm trying to help a friend of mine, who booked an interior room, request a price drop. She is a 4E. She was declined the OBC because that category is sold out. I know it has something to do with location, but dont know where location is and what letter is better than others, etc.

 

 

Someone here once said that the letter indicates the 'quality' of the room with A being the best, B being the next best, etc. (according to whoever rates the room at carnival.)

[mts315]

Someone here once said that the letter indicates the 'quality' of the room with A being the best, B being the next best, etc. (according to whoever rates the room at carnival.)

 

Other way around on the letters but essentially this. A is the lowest ranked room in a category and then upwards.

 

For instance on the Liberty 8A is a Balcony room on the Upper Deck Forward and Aft, 8B is a Balcony room on the Upper Deck Midship and Empress Deck Forward and Aft, and 8C is Empress Midship and Verandah Forward and Aft, so on and so on.

 

Carnival considers the higher decks more desirable than lower deck and the midship more desirable than the forward and aft sections.

[A2Mich]

Bottom line is that it denotes location by desirability. With the exception of suites, on Carnival, most interior rooms are identical, most outside rooms are identical, and most balcony rooms are identical. There are a few exceptions with corner balconies and some odd shaped rooms, but for the most part, Carnival cabins tend to be the same size.

[AdGuyMG]

It goes something like this:

 

Cat 4= Interior Cat 6= Ocean View Cat 8= Balcony Cat 9= Premium Balcony

 

Then the decks build up Forwrard / Midship / Aft like this:

 

G H G

F G F

E F E

D E D

C D C

B C B

A B A

 

These are the basics and I will not get into 4J 4K 6J 6K 7A or 7C 9A 9B

 

Hope this helps

Edited July 17, 2014 by AdGuyMG

[RWolver672]

In all honesty, after seven cruises with two more booked, we've never known or cared what category we booked. We pick our cabins because we want specific ones and never look back so categories mean nothing to us.

 

I guess if you've booked ES or some other way, it may mean something but by booking the way we do, the thought has never entered our minds of what the category was or is.

[lorim103]

Other way around on the letters but essentially this. A is the lowest ranked room in a category and then upwards.

 

For instance on the Liberty 8A is a Balcony room on the Upper Deck Forward and Aft, 8B is a Balcony room on the Upper Deck Midship and Empress Deck Forward and Aft, and 8C is Empress Midship and Verandah Forward and Aft, so on and so on.

 

Carnival considers the higher decks more desirable than lower deck and the midship more desirable than the forward and aft sections.

 

LOL--I had it backward. You would think that A would be the best.

Like a few others have said--I pick the cabin that's best for us at the time.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

In all honesty, after seven cruises with two more booked, we've never known or cared what category we booked. We pick our cabins because we want specific ones and never look back so categories mean nothing to us.

 

I guess if you've booked ES or some other way, it may mean something but by booking the way we do, the thought has never entered our minds of what the category was or is.

 

So in other words, when you book you are happy and if the price drops $200pp before final payment you don't care?

 

Bill

[RWolver672]

So in other words, when you book you are happy and if the price drops $200pp before final payment you don't care?

 

Bill

 

If the price drops $200pp before final payment, that's the price we pay. You don't have to know what category it is. All you have to do is ask your TA or your PVP what the final payment is at the time of final payment and you get the discount if there is one. We've had it happen several times.

[cruzinlisa]

Someone here once said that the letter indicates the 'quality' of the room with A being the best, B being the next best, etc. (according to whoever rates the room at carnival.)

 

This.

Other way around on the letters but essentially this. A is the lowest ranked room in a category and then upwards.

 

.

 

And this.

 

I am not sure how many categories there are or what ship.

I believe generally as far as the numbers go, 4 is inside, 6 is ocean view, 8 is balcony and I don't know about that. Someone can correct me if I am wrong on that.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

If the price drops $200pp before final payment, that's the price we pay. You don't have to know what category it is. All you have to do is ask your TA or your PVP what the final payment is at the time of final payment and you get the discount if there is one. We've had it happen several times.

 

Gotcha but what happens if the price drops $200 2 months after you book and it goes back up by final payment time?

 

Wouldn't you miss out or does your TA automatically track your cruise pricing. Very few do but I have read post where their TA's actually did that.

 

In the end, as long as you are happy that's all that matters.:)

 

Enjoy your next cruise.

 

Bill

[khrivnak]

Thanks for all the replies. I do understand a bit better, but cant say I completely do. In all honesty, I think its just a tactic to confuse for price drops. I wouldnt care about categories at all (I book what I want, period), but I dont have a PVP, (my friend does, but he doesnt track her price drops). Im an early saver booker and watch my own price drops, so category does come into play. I dont know why they cant just do categories like 4A (4 for interior, A for aft), 4M (midsihp) 4F (forward). With the special letters for portholes, extended balconies, etc. Her 4E room has half of one floor and another half of another floor, seems no rhyme or reason. Hard to tel if its sold out or not.

 

In any event, thanks for all the responses.

[RWolver672]

Gotcha but what happens if the price drops $200 2 months after you book and it goes back up by final payment time?

 

Wouldn't you miss out or does your TA automatically track your cruise pricing. Very few do but I have read post where their TA's actually did that.

 

In the end, as long as you are happy that's all that matters.:)

 

Enjoy your next cruise.

 

Bill

 

If you book under past guest or Military or whatever except ES, your final cost is what the cost is at final payment or the cost when you booked. If I book at $980 pp and the cost drops to $900pp at final payment time, I owe $900pp. If for some reason it goes up to $1000pp, I still pay the $980 that was the cost when I booked. Either way, the category means nothing to us.

[angela12345]

Which ship is she on ? The following thread shows the location for each category of cabin for each ship in the fleet. The first post explains categories in general, then as the posts are added to the thread, the explanations become more detailed.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1590170

 

You can look here on cruisecritic or google for deck plans of the ship. The site cruisedeckplans dot com listed above is a good one. The deck plans will show you specifically which cabins are in each category on each deck.

Edited July 18, 2014 by angela12345
Added last paragraph

[S.S.Oceanlover]

If you book under past guest or Military or whatever except ES, your final cost is what the cost is at final payment or the cost when you booked. If I book at $980 pp and the cost drops to $900pp at final payment time, I owe $900pp. If for some reason it goes up to $1000pp, I still pay the $980 that was the cost when I booked. Either way, the category means nothing to us.

 

i don't remember it being like that when I booked past guest but I haven't cruised on Carnival in a couple of years so things may have changed.

 

For example if I booked past guest on February 1 for $599pp with a final payment date of August 1 and the prices dropped down to $459pp for the same category on May 1 i would call up and get my price reduced.

 

 

Then June 1 the prices went back to the original $599pp and stayed there and it was still $599 at final payment date.

 

What you're saying if I understand you correctly is now you would still have to pay $599 at final payment date even though you had your price adjusted to $459 later on in the booking?

 

That doesn't sound right to me according to what others have posted but like i said i haven't cruised on CCL in a while.

 

Bill

[khrivnak]

She's on the Sunshine.

 

thanks for the link!

[hartskys]

Thanks

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[RWolver672]

i don't remember it being like that when I booked past guest but I haven't cruised on Carnival in a couple of years so things may have changed.

 

For example if I booked past guest on February 1 for $599pp with a final payment date of August 1 and the prices dropped down to $459pp for the same category on May 1 i would call up and get my price reduced.

 

 

Then June 1 the prices went back to the original $599pp and stayed there and it was still $599 at final payment date.

 

What you're saying if I understand you correctly is now you would still have to pay $599 at final payment date even though you had your price adjusted to $459 later on in the booking?

 

 

 

That doesn't sound right to me according to what others have posted but like i said i haven't cruised on CCL in a while.

 

Bill

 

I'm sorry Bill, I said that wrong. It's as you said. If the price has gone down when I make final payment, that's the price I pay. If it goes up, I pay the price of what it was when I booked. I don't check pricing inbetween the time I book and the time I make final payment. I just check right before I make final payment.

[goose30]

I'm sorry Bill, I said that wrong. It's as you said. If the price has gone down when I make final payment, that's the price I pay. If it goes up, I pay the price of what it was when I booked. I don't check pricing inbetween the time I book and the time I make final payment. I just check right before I make final payment.

 

So if you book at say $1000 and two months later the price drops to $800 then goes back up to $1000 at final payment you pay $1000. Seems like you would loose out on $200.

 

But hey whatever floats your boat!

Edited July 19, 2014 by goose30