Early Saver -- "Dumb" it down for me

[jburk]

Looking for my next cruise. We've never booked early saver. I've read the rules on Carnival's website, but would like to hear from peeps that have used it. The good? The bad? No name changes and if you cancel you lose $50 pp? Thinking of doing an aft balcony and I'm wondering if the rules that go along w/ ES are even worth it since I would assume price drops would be sparse due to not a lot of those cabins.

[getupgo]

I booked early saver and it hasn't helped me. I won't do it again. The lower fares I've seen I was told were for new bookings only. I have just made final payment so I will see what happens next. If some time during the next three months I get a price drop, I may feel differently. So far, I have been locked into a cruise and have not seen any benefits at all. I live in Fl so don't need to book early and I won't do it again. If you live some place that you need a flight, it may be different. From now on I will do last minute bookings. This board has several places where this has been hashed out many tines. Do a search and read it all and make your decision. If your cabin choice is limited, you would take a chance on not getting it if you wait and the chance of a price drop is small.

[snc_cam]

Agree, if you have a limited-choice cabin category, then the odds of getting an ES price drop are slim. But waiting until the end, it probably won't be available.

 

On a cruise I just finished a couple of weeks ago, I didn't see a price drop until 10 days before the cruise. Then, twice within three days. So, it can happen.

 

Best thing to do is book when you can afford it at the price you think is fair. If you book ES, then you have the ability to get a lower price. But if it doesn't happen, be happy with the rate you paid.

 

And yes, $50/person to change from a cruise you booked in ES.

[angela12345]

Read about the Early Saver restrictions ... Here it is in a nutshell ... if you book ES, you pay the normal deposit (which is typically 250 per person for a 7 day cruise). No name changes are allowed with ES. You may not cancel or change to another cruise without paying a 50 pp 'change fee' / penalty. The remainder of the deposit is not refunded to you - it is held up to 2 years and can be applied to a new cruise. If you cancel after final payment date, the normal penalties apply, which are based on how many days before the cruise as to how much the penalty is (deposit, 50%, 75%, or 100% of cruise fare penalty). If any of the taxes/fees/port charges have changed, the new amounts will be applied whenever you do a price lowering, so you may not get quite as much discount as you were expecting. You may not downgrade your cabin category but you can upgrade. You can qualify for multiple price drops along the way (i.e. your rate may start at 2000 then go to 1900 then 1750 then 1700).

 

The advantages of Early Saver - Guests choose their cabin type (inside, OV, balcony, etc) category (8A, 8B, 8C, etc) and pick the specific stateroom they want, save some money, and get price protection. If the fare on the same cabin category drops up until two business days prior to sailing, Carnival honors the rate reduction as a new lower total fare, or as an Onboard credit if you are past the final payment date. Or, you may get an upgraded room category by paying the difference or at no charge or even a lower price if the higher category is now less than the rate you were at.

 

You can not price match to a "guarantee" rate because there is no category to match to. i.e. If you purchase an ocean view guarantee, you know you will get at least a 6A, but you could possibly get anything from a 6A to a 9C or maybe even a suite (very rare!), so there is not a specific cabin category to 'match' to. And, you must be eligible for the fare you are price matching to. For example, if the lower fare is a senior rate, someone in the cabin must be a senior in order to price match to that rate.

 

These Early Saver fares are only available by booking early - three to five months before sailing, depending on cruise length. But they are also capacity controlled. Sometimes (not often) Early Saver will not be available when it's still further out than 5 months because so many ES fares have been sold.

 

Most of the other advance fares that Carnival offers allow fully refundable deposits up until final payment date, and they do honor price drops or upgrades but only up until final payment date. So basically, the Early Saver rate is allowing you to qualify for the price reductions for longer than if you had booked with a different advance fare.

 

Warning: If you do find a lower fare that you are matching to, be sure YOU know the terms of the lower price compared to the terms of what you booked under. Your lower price also comes with the terms for that rate. For example ... if you booked under a Carnival sale that allowed a reduced deposit, but the new fare you are price matching to does not have the reduced deposit, then you will be required to pay the remainder of the higher deposit amount immediately. It is up to you to know this, as the person lowering the price for you may not let you know there are differences. There are reports of people having their cruise cancelled right after they get a price drop because the deposit was now not fully paid for their cruise. This is just one example, there are many other examples.

 

Note: do not confuse Early Saver with Easy Saver, a different fare type that Carnival offers

 

Our personal experience with Early Saver ... We have one cruise booked ES right now. We booked it at $1829 in May and picked an AWESOME room with a huge balcony, one of just a few on the ship, the other rooms in this category have normal size balconies. If we had booked at the group rate that was available with the travel agent, it would have been $1792, so we were taking a chance with ES (all other rates such as past guest, etc were higher when we booked). Since then, the taxes changed twice which would have made the fare $1847 and then $1854 if we had waited to book. Very recently (in September) we had our first price drop, yay ! We had our price lowered to $1704, which was also an ES rate. It was only available at that rate for a couple days and since then it went back up to $1854, so we're thrilled we have locked in at the 1704. Because we are still more than 5 months out from our cruise, ES fares are still available to new bookings. It will be interesting to see if we get any more price drops in the months to come as ES rate goes away, and as Final Payment date passes.

 

This is only our second cruise ever with Carnival, so if any of you Carnival 'experts' come along and see anything I have stated is wrong, please correct me !!

.

Edited September 21, 2014 by angela12345
typo

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I booked early saver and it hasn't helped me. I won't do it again. The lower fares I've seen I was told were for new bookings only. I have just made final payment so I will see what happens next. If some time during the next three months I get a price drop, I may feel differently. So far, I have been locked into a cruise and have not seen any benefits at all. I live in Fl so don't need to book early and I won't do it again. If you live some place that you need a flight, it may be different. From now on I will do last minute bookings. This board has several places where this has been hashed out many tines. Do a search and read it all and make your decision. If your cabin choice is limited, you would take a chance on not getting it if you wait and the chance of a price drop is small.

 

Was it a pack and go rate where the denied the price drop?

 

Bill

[pbfp2008]

So how can you tell if you've booked early saver? Is it listed somewhere on your cruise documents? TIA

[getupgo]

I csll d my ta and she put me on hold while she called and asked and she said they said it was for new bookings only. I font think it was pack and go because it was 2 months ago and the cruise is Nov. 16. Isn't pack and go a last minute thing? I got a notice from CC about the price drop so I checked with my ta.

[getupgo]

I just looked at my confirmation and it doesn't say early saver but I know I am because my ta warned me that there would be a penalty for cancelation and I reconfirmed later that it is early saver.

[lcseale53]

We've booked Early Saver on every cruise since the program began. We live in Florida but aren't positioned yet to do pack n' go. We do know, however, that changing the booking is very unlikely (we did have to change dates once so we paid the $50 pp admin fee). We always book a typical balcony, so price drops are likely, and we've always received price reductions prior to final payment date, and significant OBC after that. This year we've received just over $400 in reductions and moved from the 5th to the 7th deck. Until we retire we will stay with Early Saver as it suits us best.

 

Leon

[pjhootch]

Early saver rates allow you to take advantage of price drops in your exact category (or a better category if you want to upgrade) until 2 days before sailing-with all the extra rules others have explained to you.

 

Other fares allow you to take advantage of price drops in your exact category, or in other categories if you so choose. This is only allowed up until final payment date. Yes, you need to be aware/careful that if you "transfer" your booking from one rate to another, the terms of deposit and final payment date may change.

 

Some of the best "sale" rates that are NOT early saver will still have a non-refundable deposit.

 

For example: We booked in June for a November trip. Used a rate that had $50 non-refundable deposit, picked our promenade balcony room and an low deck inside room for the kids. Final payment date was 75 days from sailing. It was a decent fare and I was happy with it.

 

At the end of July a new rate promotion came out, and I transferred our booking to the new rate. Saved about $300. Final payment date remained 75 days prior to sailing and deposit stayed the same.

 

In the middle of August a new rate promotion came out. I transferred our booking again, and saved $375 AND moved our kids from the lowest deck up to the promenade deck. Deposit increased to $250 pp, so I had to pay the increase. Final payment date changed to 30 days before sailing.

 

So without early saver, I have taken advantage of 2 price drops, upgraded one cabin, saved almost $700 and had my final payment date extended to only 30 days prior to sail.

 

It doesn't always work out this way. It is just a crap shoot. But many people seem to get the impression that the only way to take advantage of price drops is with early saver. I cannot imagine there will be another price drop in the next 3 weeks, but if there is, I'm taking advantage of it. :D

 

The most important thing is to carefully read all the rules pertaining to each rate before you make a decision. Asking the folks on the phone is not necessarily going to get good answers. Both times I have transferred to a new rate, I had to tell the customer care person how to find the rate because all they could find at first was a guarantee rate.

Edited September 22, 2014 by pjhootch

[beamqueen]

This is my first time booking a cruise and we did early saver...ended up with about $380 in OBC so I say it was worth it!

[jacmo24]

I've done early savers several times and diligently watch for fare decreases and got them all. I don't know about the new 'only for new bookings' rates.

 

However, my last two cruises I did not do early saver. This last cruise I called two days ago, not early saver, because my cruise dropped $350. They just switched my rate. No questions - gave it to me. there were other cabins in my class available and I could have cancelled and rebooked so maybe that's why?

 

I've had great luck with earlly savers and in a couple of instances with holiday cruises, walked on with several hundred bucks in OBC.

[mdwcruises]

Thank you so much! Angela12345 and pjhootch!

[mdwcruises]

So how can you tell if you've booked early saver? Is it listed somewhere on your cruise documents? TIA

 

I also found it hard to tell from the Carnival website. Very often the "best rate" chosen as the default is the early saver. Be very careful when you playing around and doing mock booking because if you book anything by accident you are locked in.

[PaulMedik]

Looking for my next cruise. We've never booked early saver. I've read the rules on Carnival's website, but would like to hear from peeps that have used it. The good? The bad? No name changes and if you cancel you lose $50 pp? Thinking of doing an aft balcony and I'm wondering if the rules that go along w/ ES are even worth it since I would assume price drops would be sparse due to not a lot of those cabins.

 

 

jburk,

 

Previous responses have covered most everything, but I would offer that we ALWAYS book ES and have only failed to get OBC for price drops one time. Our cabin choices are aft wrap and an inside nearby; the insides have ALWAYS earned us OBC, but the aft wraps have been more tricky; we only get a price drop when someone cancels an aft wrap and we catch it at that time. We failed to get a price drop last year on our aft wrap and I had all of the screen shots to prove the cabin had been available and our PVP went to bat for us too, but it was fruitless.

 

We recently were switched ships from Liberty to Valor for our 2015 Spring Break Cruise and while we were keeping our aft wrap, we didn't like the ship's features so we opted to switch to Sunshine. All aft wraps were booked on Sunshine, but I checked regularly and caught one right after it became available and snagged it. The same regular checking is what will earn us OBC for the aft wrap, but we'll have an inside and regular balcony too and on both of those I expect some OBC from price drops; it may not happen at all, but if so it will be the first time without OBC for us.

 

If you are just booking an aft balcony as opposed to an aft wrap, you should get a price drop assuming you watch the sales and only apply for price drops on sales you qualify for. If you don't check regularly, you will NOT get a price drop.

[S.S.Oceanlover]

I csll d my ta and she put me on hold while she called and asked and she said they said it was for new bookings only. I font think it was pack and go because it was 2 months ago and the cruise is Nov. 16. Isn't pack and go a last minute thing? I got a notice from CC about the price drop so I checked with my ta.

 

Yes pack n go is a last minute thing that's why I asked.

 

I haven't seen too many promotions, sales, or price drops that were for new bookings only other than pack n go.

 

Sometimes TA's say things like that to keep their clients from getting price drops so they don't lose any commission.

 

Also if she submitted the form for you for the price reduction, they have been getting automatically rejected lately.

 

It could also have been the person on the phone didn't know the rules which happens quite a bit.

 

Sorry you didn't get the price drop. :(

 

Bill

[Linda the Book Lover]

Thanks for the clear information.

[mistycruiser]

Someone asked how you know what rate you booked. When you make a booking you'll receive an e-mail confirmation that is several pages long. Look for a section titled "Guest Notes". That will indicate what rate you booked under. I always print the confirmation off and use it as a handy reference when comparing rates and taxes etc.

[xvxpskowro]

I've done early savers several times and diligently watch for fare decreases and got them all.

[angela12345]

However, my last two cruises I did not do early saver. This last cruise I called two days ago, not early saver, because my cruise dropped $350. They just switched my rate. No questions - gave it to me. there were other cabins in my class available and I could have cancelled and rebooked so maybe that's why?

 

Jacmo, are you talking about your Christmas 2014 cruise ? The reason you got the price drop, even though it is not booked Early Saver, is because you are not past your Final Payment Due date yet. And yes, I assume they do that because you could just cancel and rebook. If your final payment date is 75 days out from your cruise, then that should be approx Oct 10. After that, you will no longer be eligible for price drops because you are not booked ES.

 

To make it clear for others reading this thread . . .

Most of the other advance fares that Carnival offers allow fully refundable deposits up until final payment date, and they do honor price drops or upgrades but only up until final payment date. So basically, the Early Saver rate is allowing you to qualify for the price reductions for longer than if you had booked with a different advance fare.

 

Early saver rates allow you to take advantage of price drops in your exact category (or a better category if you want to upgrade) until 2 days before sailing-with all the extra rules others have explained to you.

 

Other fares allow you to take advantage of price drops in your exact category, or in other categories if you so choose. This is only allowed up until final payment date. Yes, you need to be aware/careful that if you "transfer" your booking from one rate to another, the terms of deposit and final payment date may change.

[serene56]

By reading these boards it sounds like almost all sailings come down in price.

I dont agree. In 24 cruises only 2 ever came down.

 

But Early Saver is usually the cheapest rate...sometimes.

Last week the Fun in the Sun was the cheapest rate so do your searches.

 

If looking to book an aft cabin-- you can not downgrade the cabin-- the only option you have it to go higher- which is a suite.

 

you watch those prices and the prices of your cabin.

If the suites come lower then yours-- you can ask for the difference but you will have to move to that cabin

[cruisefam14]

We have gotten two drops on our Thanksgiving cruise not a lot about $100 but we still have time for more

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Forums mobile app

[lcseale53]

We have gotten two drops on our Thanksgiving cruise not a lot about $100 but we still have time for more

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Forums mobile app

 

Keep checking the Fare Viewer. As noted earlier we've gotten 3 price reductions exceeding $400 and a category upgrade for our upcoming Thanksgiving cruise. Still plenty of time to pick up some OBC as well - but you have to check regularly to catch the drops. They can vaporize as quickly as they come out.

 

Leon

[snc_cam]

You may want to use the website to check for pricing with the new offers. I was able to save a few $$ this morning but also got the $50 OBC for a cruise in early Dec.

[PaulMedik]

By reading these boards it sounds like almost all sailings come down in price.

I dont agree. In 24 cruises only 2 ever came down.

 

 

 

Serene56,

 

We sail over Spring Break, which in our case is the week before or after Easter. Prices for that time frame start high, get higher, then drop in our experience. We have also sailed in summer and fall and ALWAYS got price drops then too. Even before Early Saver we would get OBC for price adjustments.