How much do you pay?

[NotACruiserYet]

I've been lurking around on Carnival's website and ballparking prices for a cruise about a year from now. I've been on Princess and have a Celebrity cruise coming up soon. Both are without the kids. If I bring them on one, it'll have to be Carnival or they'll be terribly bored I think! Not to mention the glares I'd get from passengers on Princess & Celebrity I'm sure. ;)

 

My questions is - how much do you think you spend on your cruise - if you have four people? Does anyone really get those ultra-low prices? I'm looking to book a year out so I know we won't get them. And I think we'd be fine with an interior room.

[Carnival_Brides]

If you're a year out and comfortable with the terms of Early Saver you might consider it. That way when the price drops you can collect the OBC.

 

I've gotten a few of the "ultra-low" rates, but they were out of the northeast.

[GalCruzer]

How soon before the cruise will they drop? If they do, I guess.

[Cruising Golfer]

You really haven't been on a cruise. Why do you think people would frown on you for bringing your kids??? Cruises are for everyone and anyone...

Book early, look for price drops, and learn everything you can about the cruise line you pick and your ports of call... Enjoy!!!:cool:

[ARcruisin2]

We have definitely saved money by booking Early Saver and watching for price drops. OBC paid for the majority of our Sing&Sail charges one time.

 

Also, you might find good info on what to expect on the cost of cruising with kids on family forum http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=49

[NotACruiserYet]

You really haven't been on a cruise. Why do you think people would frown on you for bringing your kids??? Cruises are for everyone and anyone...

Book early, look for price drops, and learn everything you can about the cruise line you pick and your ports of call... Enjoy!!!:cool:

 

Actually, I've been on one cruise and have another in 2 months. And if you've ever read the boards for either cruise line, kids are not especially catered to. - and not appreciated by some. LOL Not much for them to do on those ships anyway. I'd want one with bells and whistles - more like Carnival or maybe Royal Caribbean.

[trvlgirlmq]

I booked our 2015 early summer cruise this past July. Have not had any price drops yet but it's still early for most people to book for next summer. Price will really depend on the ship and itinerary. We are on the Breeze, which I would say is the current flagship, in a Lido balcony for 8 days and are paying before taxes, fees, tips about $800 per person. I'm happy with this price but will be checking for price drops in earnest after the new year when spring/summer sales will probably begin.

[Carnival_Brides]

How soon before the cruise will they drop? If they do, I guess.

 

They rates may drop and they may not. One cruise we booked we might have had $10 in OBC. Our Thanksgiving cruise on the other hand...we booked in June for $470pp for an interior. We have upgraded and price matched ($390pp) to the point that we just are now in balconies and have a $120 OBC. We just hit final a few weeks ago and the rates are still dropping.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Carnival_Brides

[winddawn]

I've been lurking around on Carnival's website and ballparking prices for a cruise about a year from now. I've been on Princess and have a Celebrity cruise coming up soon. Both are without the kids. If I bring them on one, it'll have to be Carnival or they'll be terribly bored I think! Not to mention the glares I'd get from passengers on Princess & Celebrity I'm sure. ;)

 

My questions is - how much do you think you spend on your cruise - if you have four people? Does anyone really get those ultra-low prices? I'm looking to book a year out so I know we won't get them. And I think we'd be fine with an interior room.

Carnival's best rates lately have been coming last minute--like within the last 6 weeks before the sail date. So if you really want a bargain, waiting to book might be your best bet. Especially since you want an inside cabin.

 

I agree with you. I think your kids would be happier on Carnival than on Celebrity.

[Badfinger]

I've been lurking around on Carnival's website and ballparking prices for a cruise about a year from now. I've been on Princess and have a Celebrity cruise coming up soon. Both are without the kids. If I bring them on one, it'll have to be Carnival or they'll be terribly bored I think! Not to mention the glares I'd get from passengers on Princess & Celebrity I'm sure. ;)

 

My questions is - how much do you think you spend on your cruise - if you have four people? Does anyone really get those ultra-low prices? I'm looking to book a year out so I know we won't get them. And I think we'd be fine with an interior room.

 

If you search, a couple months ago there were some very long threads on what people actually paid for their cruise. I started one of them. Some people are reluctant to say what they paid, but many did respond and also told how they got their price.

 

In August, we paid $2800 for a 7-day cruise on the Magic. This was for Cloud 9 Spa rooms - an interior room for our boys and and a balcony room for us on deck 11. It was actually cheaper than a single balcony room that slept 4.

 

After adding gratuities, transportation, excursions and souvenirs, I think we spent about $4200 total...give or take $100. We don't drink or gamble.

 

This was by far the cheapest per person per day cruise of the three we have taken. I don't know if I could ever get that deal again.

Edited October 7, 2014 by Badfinger

[serene56]

Actually, I've been on one cruise and have another in 2 months. And if you've ever read the boards for either cruise line, kids are not especially catered to. - and not appreciated by some. LOL Not much for them to do on those ships anyway. I'd want one with bells and whistles - more like Carnival or maybe Royal Caribbean.

 

 

grand daughter is a cruiser- she is 8. We got with what ever is cheapest at the time we want to go.

Carnival fits our needs. Royal- (voyager of the seas) was just too large.

Ruby was amazing. and we did not get evil eyes from people with out kids-- if that is the truth-- those people need to sail crystal cruises.

 

dont believe everything you hear about Princess. If I cancelled my cruise because of the comments about food being bland-- no taste-- no seasoning. or there was nothing to do on a princess ship after the sun goes down-- I would have never discovered on of the best experinces of our lives-- it was that amazing

[Herbaltees]

I think you need to factor in the time of year you are looking to cruise. The ultra low fares you see are not normally available when kids are out of school.

 

If your children are preschool age it won't matter, but for older kids you have to cruise around the school year. Or just go rogue and pull them out of school. If you pull them out of school, they may be bored without many other children on board.

[NotACruiserYet]

If you pull them out of school, they may be bored without many other children on board.

 

I didn't think about that! :eek: I would probably cruise in November or December and I have no problem taking them out of school.

[naz022292]

We went on an 8 day cruise out of NYC in January. My parents cabin qualified for the military rate and paid less than $1,000 TOTOAL for their cabin ($500 ea) and that included tax,tips and faster to the fun. In our cabin it was me, my husband, and our 22 y/o son. We paid around $1,500 for the three of us. Both cabins were oceanview cabins - mid ship. I think that was a great price.

 

We are booked for the Pride out of Baltimore in April 2015. That is school vacation in Massachusetts (because of Patriots' Day holiday). This time we booked early saver balcony cabins. Our total for the cabin for 2 of us including tax and tips is $2,031 (base cruise rate is $814). We keep hoping for price drops but so far the rate just keeps going up. If we booked it today we would have to pay over $600 more/ cabin.

[GeorgiaMomof4]

I've booked both ways - way out - 12 months even and as close as 10-14 days out. On both of the long ones out we did book early saver - one time we had a huge amount of OBC - paid for all of our gratuities (there was 6 of us) and even some of our regular sail and sign charges - we sailed during Spring Break on that cruise. The second time we didn't have any price drops so no OBC (that sucked) and that was for an October week during our kids fall break from school.

 

Last February hubby and I booked a 5 day only about 10 days out and we got what I thought was a great deal - best I remember it was $600 - including port charges, taxes, etc for an OV.

 

We booked another last minute one last month and we leave on Sunday. We were actually going to Florida for a week when I decided to check cruise prices and got a shock. We are going out of Port Canaveral on a 5 day on the Sunshine which has tons of stuff for the kids and taking our 2 youngest with us. We are in an OV for 4 and our total including taxes, port charges, etc was around $1100 for all 4 of us. We just couldn't pass this up so we jumped on it and cancelled our Florida reservations.

 

With that being said we hadn't planned on spending this much (our Florida week was already paid for through a week we had booked through our timeshare) so we will be going on the cheap this cruise. We aren't drinkers or gamblers really either - maybe 1 or 2 drinks for the entire time and maybe spend a max of $100 in the casino and that's probably on the high side. Since our gratuities will be $240 that will be the majority of our sail and sign card. I would say if we spend another $200 that would be a lot for this trip. I'm going to be recuperating from surgery so we are going to do easy stuff while in ports this trip.

 

Since you've cruised before you know you can do your own research and save lots of money booking any excursions on your own and not going through Carnival.

 

Our kids are 12 and our son will be turning 10 while we are cruising and they love Camp Carnival. We do usually let them do some of the night owl activities for camp and that does cost a little extra but it gives my husband and I some time for ourselves too.

 

We are looking at maybe doing a family Thanksgiving cruise next year (6 of us) and I'm undecided on whether to book far out (using early saver) or wait and try to catch some last minute deals like I've done this time. I used to think booking a holiday you would need to book way out but the more I see, sometimes they offer really good deals closer in if the ships aren't filling up. Just a crap shoot I suppose.

 

hope I haven't been too lengthy and that some of this helps.

[RuthlessBoss]

Carnival's best rates lately have been coming last minute--like within the last 6 weeks before the sail date. So if you really want a bargain, waiting to book might be your best bet. Especially since you want an inside cabin.

 

I agree with you. I think your kids would be happier on Carnival than on Celebrity.

 

I didn't think much about Celebrity and kids, but thinking back now, I don't remember seeing any on either of my 2 cruises with them. It was a few years ago though. Maybe the newer ships have more enticement to bring them.

[cruzinlisa]

I didn't think about that! :eek: I would probably cruise in November or December and I have no problem taking them out of school.

 

 

Then assuming it's not thanksgiving or Christmas or New Years you should find good rates. Especially the weeks between thanksgiving and Christmas

 

 

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[klaner64]

I've been lurking around on Carnival's website and ballparking prices for a cruise about a year from now. I've been on Princess and have a Celebrity cruise coming up soon. Both are without the kids. If I bring them on one, it'll have to be Carnival or they'll be terribly bored I think! Not to mention the glares I'd get from passengers on Princess & Celebrity I'm sure. ;)

 

My questions is - how much do you think you spend on your cruise - if you have four people? Does anyone really get those ultra-low prices? I'm looking to book a year out so I know we won't get them. And I think we'd be fine with an interior room.

 

We have a 7 day Eastern cruise on Splendor for 4 in a porthole room for $2100 including port fees and insurance in March 2015.

[Otowncruiser]

We are booked on the Sunshine for this Thanksgiving with our 2 kids (our first time taking them). Booked about a year in advance. I didn't do early saver, but another sale they were having at the time. We booked a 4J and with taxes and fees the total was $2586. Now, with about 6 weeks to go the prices have dropped and we could have gotten a guaranteed balcony for just $20 more if we had waited. The price of the 4J hasn't dropped a whole lot, would just be about $40 less for our room but they can't give us OBC since we didn't book early saver. There are still lots of cabins available on that ship. It is not much more or sometimes may be less to book 2 cabins instead of 1 quad. I'm still exploring my other options such as booking 2 cabins or changing to a guaranteed balcony. If you do book that far ahead and are sure of your dates, I would do the early saver. The positive is that we have had a year to get excited about the cruise since it was booked so early.

[Carnival_Brides]

Then assuming it's not thanksgiving or Christmas or New Years you should find good rates. Especially the weeks between thanksgiving and Christmas

 

 

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It all depends on how well the ship is selling. There are a lot of beds in the Florida market this year and Carnival is having a hard time selling them. Our Thanksgiving cruise on Freedom sank to $180pp for a INT, $280pp for an OV, and $390pp for a BAL last week. We are now sailing over Thanksgiving, in two balcony cabins (four people), on a newly refurbished ship for less than $2000 including taxes. We tried convincing my brother to book since Interiors were less than $600 including tax for two people, but he can't take off work.

 

OP, we normally travel in the off-season and we haven't had an issue with there being no children on board. Our niece (she's 6) uses Camp Carnival and there are always kids.

[Herbaltees]

Then assuming it's not thanksgiving or Christmas or New Years you should find good rates. Especially the weeks between thanksgiving and Christmas

 

 

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My last two cruises have been for thanksgiving and each time we booked ES and the prices have dropped dramatically since booking. This year we have 4 in an 8e lido balcony for $1800 including taxes.

 

 

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[Otowncruiser]

I just called Carnival and now we will have 2 connecting 4J cabins instead of 1 4j for the 4 of us for Thanksgiving and we just had to pay $200 more. So we ended up paying $2786 for 2 obstructed view window cabins during Thanksgiving week. The weeks before Thanksgiving and after are dirt cheap right now, but we are cruising Thanksgiving to avoid missing school.

[t1adams]

I've been lurking around on Carnival's website and ballparking prices for a cruise about a year from now. I've been on Princess and have a Celebrity cruise coming up soon. Both are without the kids. If I bring them on one, it'll have to be Carnival or they'll be terribly bored I think! Not to mention the glares I'd get from passengers on Princess & Celebrity I'm sure. ;)

 

 

 

My questions is - how much do you think you spend on your cruise - if you have four people? Does anyone really get those ultra-low prices? I'm looking to book a year out so I know we won't get them. And I think we'd be fine with an interior room.

 

 

We will be sailing on our most expensive cruise yet, next spring break. It's an 8 night cruise to Aruba, Bonaire and GT. It will run about a grand a person for lido, 4 person room. Our room category is sold out which doesn't help our early savor rate too much.

 

This said, this past spring break we sailed the western Carribean (Belize, Cozumel, etc) on the Glory (7 nighter) for just $2300 for a 6j category. (scenic Oceanview).

 

 

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Edited October 9, 2014 by t1adams

[bruisin4cruisin]

We almost always book a cruise for November. The first week or so of November is usually the best deal. I have heard that mid-late February has good deals, as well.

 

If you do book early, get the ES rate. All you have to do is check every once in a while and grab that OBC! You may end up with enough to pay the tips or get an upgrade.