Past Guest Rate vs Early Saver?

[dickinson]

I have learned that ES rates have non refundable deposits (although if cancelled there is a $50/person charge to put it on another cruise). I understand with ES you can get rate reductions even after final payment.

 

However… what is the difference with Past Guest Rate? I understand deposits are refundable. The b2b cruise I am eyeing would have us pay about $100 more (can't remember at the moment if it is per person or total but think it is total). What about fare reductions? Is it only til final payment?

 

The cruises we are looking at are the one time only Baltimore to San Juan and then San Juan to Baltimore. One is 10 days and the other 11 so b2b it is a 21 day cruise in 2016. I don't know the chances of fare reductions or prices just keep going up.

[snc_cam]

Fare reductions for anything but ES stop at Final Payment. For ES, fare reductions continue until 2 business days prior to the cruise. And with ES, as you state, there is the $50/person admin fee for changing a booked cruise.

[Carnival_Brides]

ES is more restrictive because it comes with the added bonus of price protection. It is the only rate that you are guaranteed to get price drops after final payment. There's a string of non-ESers who have recently had luck getting reductions after PiF date, but it seems that CCL is starting to get stricter about enforcing their policies.

[springs741]

snc can is spot on with their information. So I will attempt to answer the other part of your post. There is no way to predict what the fare will do. It is all about supply and demand. I can share with you my recent experience. Hubs and I like to do the more unique sailings such as the 8 day Alaska rather than the 7 day, or the Conquest repo and are looking forward to the Freedom repo. Very little to no price reductions on those cruises and the "best" locations book early. On some of the other sailing we have been able to apply for and be awarded a good bit of OBC. Our 2013 Alaska cruise we had over $600 dollars OBC and had $0 from price drops on our 2014 Alaska trip. Since you are looking at a B2B if it was me, I would book early so I could get the same stateroom for both legs and then just not check after final payment. Others will say you can upgrade after final payment and that is true but again with the B2B the likelihood of getting the same cabin is small. Whichever you choose, happy cruising.

[Herbaltees]

If you book as PG, you can always switch to a lower ES rate later on if prices move down.

 

If you book ES you can match a potential PG rate if the price goes down, but you will remain booked under the ES promotion.

[RWolver672]

ES is more restrictive because it comes with the added bonus of price protection. It is the only rate that you are guaranteed to get price drops after final payment. There's a string of non-ESers who have recently had luck getting reductions after PiF date, but it seems that CCL is starting to get stricter about enforcing their policies.

 

That sentence is kind of misleading. You will only get a price drop IF the price drops.

[dickinson]

If you book as PG, you can always switch to a lower ES rate later on if prices move down.

 

If you book ES you can match a potential PG rate if the price goes down, but you will remain booked under the ES promotion.

 

How does that work? I assume that if it is after final payment then there is no more ES. Before final payment, assuming there is still ES, could the rates for ES and past guest be much more further apart from each other than they are now? Right now the total is $100 more for past guest. I assume it is possible for past guest to go a bit higher while ES goes down. Is that correct?

[BigRed93]

ES is no longer offered 5 mos out on a week or longer cruise. Any rate after that ( that you would otherwise qualify for) you can price match to. So past guest, resident, senior, military, any other categories as long as it is a pick your cabin and not a gty. Although some claim to getting that as well...

 

 

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[dickinson]

Still debating whether to book ES or Past Guest. Right now ES is $200 LESS than Past Guest for the Empress deck midship balcony. ($160 less for Upper deck).

 

If we should do ES and we cancel the cruise then I know we lose $50/person per cruise so a total of $200. Does cruise insurance reimburse this? How long would we have to book a new cruise with the rest of the $$ Carnival would be holding? If heaven forbid one of us died would Carnival reimburse the $$$ for the future cruise or would we need cruise insurance for that?

 

I'd also like to hear from some more people who have taken one way cruises with Carnival. Did your fare go down after final payment or did it just keep going up? Especially during the winter when it is not family time to cruise. My gut tells me prices will come down after final but it is not an educated guess.

 

Thanks.

[snc_cam]

So, if you book ES now and have to cancel, you will break even... Not sure about the insurance. It depends on your cancellation clauses.

 

And "if" you have to cancel, you will be able to use the money (less $50/person) for a cruise up to 24 months later.

 

Not sure about the one-way drops. I have my first one booked for March 2015. Within 6 weeks of coming out, it jumped over 60%. It has not budged since. But final payment isn't until late Dec. And even if it does drop, I doubt it will be below what I've paid... which is < $80/person/day including taxes/fees.

[Casco Bay Kid]

Carnival has gotten smart with creating weird categories so you can't take advantage of price drops as much anymore. Best to book last minute for rock bottom prices.

 

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[Herbaltees]

Still debating whether to book ES or Past Guest. Right now ES is $200 LESS than Past Guest for the Empress deck midship balcony. ($160 less for Upper deck).

 

If we should do ES and we cancel the cruise then I know we lose $50/person per cruise so a total of $200. Does cruise insurance reimburse this? How long would we have to book a new cruise with the rest of the $$ Carnival would be holding? If heaven forbid one of us died would Carnival reimburse the $$$ for the future cruise or would we need cruise insurance for that?

 

I'd also like to hear from some more people who have taken one way cruises with Carnival. Did your fare go down after final payment or did it just keep going up? Especially during the winter when it is not family time to cruise. My gut tells me prices will come down after final but it is not an educated guess.

 

Thanks.

 

If there is a chance you may cancel, book PG. I know it's $200 more, but if you were to book ES, you would lose the $200 anyway. This way you would get your whole deposit back in cash.

 

If you book ES, the remainder of your deposit has to be applied to a sailing within 24 months and CAN NOT be used for another deposit. My suggestion earlier was if you book PG and see a lower ES rate later on down the line, when you are more sure of your plans, you can then switch to that ES.

 

If you purchase the trip insurance with ES, keep in mind you would get the whole cost of your trip back, but it would be minus the cost of the insurance. Which is prob more than the $50 cancellation fee, anyway.

[snc_cam]

but at the end, it is usually a GTY rate... So, unless you are ok with Carnival selecting your cabin, then wait. If not, grab the cabin you want now.

 

And I have already received 4 price drops for my cruise in Dec with ES. IT really depends on the cabin category you select for the drops. If you have a rare cabin type, like 4J, you won't get many price drops. But like with my 4E now, it is much more common.

[dickinson]

Herbaltees - I do get cruise insurance. I checked with them and was told if I cancel for medical reasons then I could file a claim for nonrefundable money. I would get nothing if I decided I did not want to cruise for 21 days and simply cancelled the cruise.

 

snc_cam - I am looking at cat 8c on Upper deck and whatever category it is on the Empress deck. They are balconies midship. Probably popular so I don't know if they sell out faster or not but then again maybe the more popular ones are the less expensive balconies. Who knows? Eenie meenie …...

[LadySam1968]

I have a quick question. I booked early saver in March for a cruise in February 2015. ES is no longer available but I got two rate reductions (not guarantee these were pick your room). I checked with a PVP yesterday because I had a question on my booking, they said I'm no longer ES. I thought if I booked ES, I could get the rate changes and still keep ES. Did I lose ES by taking the rate drop for national cruise week?

 

 

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