Early saver not necessarily best for categories with few cabins?

[mdwcruises]

OP you are right. ES is not necessarily the best for any category. But for categories that have few cabin it's even less advantageous.

[kelkel2]

OP you are right. ES is not necessarily the best for any category. But for categories that have few cabin it's even less advantageous.

 

Agreed. I always book ES for my cruises because I book so far out. Now especially for this cruise I doubt I will see a price drop I am in a 8M extended aft view balcony. I seriously doubt those will drop. But strange things have happened. I always book knowing I am going on this cruise and unless theres a death in the family or something (knock on wood) I am going. And if that happens I will take the penalty. BUT what about when the Triumph incident happened. There were all sorts of price drops. Now I am not saying in any manner that something like that will happen again or that I want it to etc, but you never know. Stranger things have happened. Even if I am in a limited category, which I am, I like the protection for the "just in case" and if I don't get any price drops I know I got a darn good rate!!

[Txcroozer]

Last year we booked ES for an 8N aft balcony on the Magic. Of course the category sold out. About 2 months before the cruise, Carnival ran a sale and I noticed that the 8P spa balconies were going for less than what we paid for our aft. I turned in the form and noted that fact and that I did not want to upgrade but would like a credit. They replied that they could not honor the 8P price, but "found" a price for the 8N that gave us $150 OBC. You can get credit even if the category is sold out.

[Herbaltees]

But then wouldn't you incur a $50 change fee as well?

 

 

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No change fee for upgrading cabin categories.

 

 

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[Badfinger]

We like 4j cabins. Booking for the breeze 09/2015 and wondering if the current "sale" price with a bit of OBC might be worth it for the fact it's a reduced deposit. Are chances of these rooms selling out before final payment high?

 

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Agree. Our best price for a couple Spa rooms on the Magic were via the Kids Sail Free promotion.

[Herbaltees]

Exactly how is it implied?

 

 

 

"for the same ship, sailing, stateroom category and number of guests"

 

 

 

Please point out the implication. You can always upgrade, no matter whether you have ES or not. So upgrading has nothing to do with ES. Carnival will ALWAYS take extra money so upgrading is not the issue.

 

 

Your question was how are you able to get a price drop for categories higher than yours. I was explaining the method behind that. In my response, I said you could always upgrade under any rate. ES is no different. However, after final pmt, if you have ES and higher cats drop in price to at or below what you've paid, you are able to upgrade your cabin category AND still receive the price drop.

 

 

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[Herbaltees]

Agree. Our best price for a couple Spa rooms on the Magic were via the Kids Sail Free promotion.

 

 

When was this promotion?

 

 

 

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[Out to sea!]

Your question was how are you able to get a price drop for categories higher than yours. I was explaining the method behind that. In my response, I said you could always upgrade under any rate. ES is no different. However, after final pmt, if you have ES and higher cats drop in price to at or below what you've paid, you are able to upgrade your cabin category AND still receive the price drop.

 

 

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Excuse me but maybe you responded to the wrong poster if you were responding to a question. The post you responded to had no such question in it. It was a factual statement directly from the Carnival website. That statement states, to use the ES price protection, you MUST compare to the SAME category. Now Carnival, as it has done with many things in the past, maybe have been not following their own guidelines which would not be surprising and my theory is maybe they are now following their guideline to the letter resulting in more denied ES requests, requests that never should have been approved in the past.

 

Example. Based on their rules, if cruiser paid $1,000 for an 8A and 8As dropped to $900, 8Bs dropped to $950, and 8Cs dropped to $1,050, a person an 8A with ES could get $100 OBC while staying in their 8A, upgrade to the 8B for no cost and not receive any money or upgrade to the 8C for only $50. That is the way ES rules are written to work.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Out to sea!

[Herbaltees]

Excuse me but maybe you responded to the wrong poster if you were responding to a question. The post you responded to had no such question in it. It was a factual statement directly from the Carnival website. That statement states, to use the ES price protection, you MUST compare to the SAME category. Now Carnival, as it has done with many things in the past, maybe have been not following their own guidelines which would not be surprising and my theory is maybe they are now following their guideline to the letter resulting in more denied ES requests, requests that never should have been approved in the past.

 

 

*sigh* Okay your STATEMENT about getting a price reduction from a category above.

 

The bottom line is you can get a price reduction from cats above yours if you are willing to move to that cat.

 

There were some claims from ppl early in the summer, who we're being told you can not match to a particular sale because it was for new bookings only. I think those ppl had legitimate complaints.

 

The rest are not wanting to understand they can not match the GTY price AND stay in their prized room.

 

 

 

 

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[LambKnuckles]

I book 4Js cause I need the handicapped cabin. I always book ES, when that's available -- it's the least expensive! I have recieved price drops -- because others have upgraded and made some 4Js available... But I CAN'T upgrade, since I need the fully accessible cabin, and don't get any OBC if cabins "better" that 4Js come down lower than mine.

 

If you book a category that has fewer cabins, don't give up -- just peek every day at the fareviewer page.

[adoptivemommy]

The PVP tried to give me an accessible room on deck 10, and I told her I didn't need one, and we wanted a non accessible room on deck 7. I was surprised they were trying to push it as a bigger room to book instead if saving it for someone who needed it!

 

 

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[champagne123]

The PVP tried to give me an accessible room on deck 10, and I told her I didn't need one, and we wanted a non accessible room on deck 7. I was surprised they were trying to push it as a bigger room to book instead if saving it for someone who needed it!

 

 

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It is actually a smart move to take the Accessible cabin. If a handicapped person needs it, you will be bumped to a higher category....they CANNOT downgrade you.

[Herbaltees]

It is actually a smart move to take the Accessible cabin. If a handicapped person needs it, you will be bumped to a higher category....they CANNOT downgrade you.

 

 

Watch out with this stmt. You will receive a lot of criticism.

 

 

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[adoptivemommy]

It is actually a smart move to take the Accessible cabin. If a handicapped person needs it, you will be bumped to a higher category....they CANNOT downgrade you.

 

 

But those cabins are there for people who need them. I'm all for saving money, etc but not going to do it that way!

 

 

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[oceanbums]

We are booked on the Dream in a 4J cabin, Lido deck, ES rates. It is one of 2 that are not HC accessible. My PVP wouldn't book us in a HC accessible room so it's possible later on we'll be upgraded to the bigger 4J on the same deck (if I'm understanding all this correctly). I didn't realize at the time that price drops would be near impossible to get, but am ok with that as I'm happy with the price we paid. So if we get upgraded to the bigger 4J, great, if not we still have the cabin we like. We're excited to try this room for the great views out front.

[lisanj1329]

I originally booked an inside cabin ES then switched to an OV 6K category. Got stuck there. There are only 2 6K cabins on the ship, mine and another. So unless they give up their room there is nothing to compare a price drop to. Only way out of it was to upgrade to a balcony. 6Ks are bigger with floor to ceiling windows so I'm not giving it up. Looks like no OBC for me. :(

[fuddrules]

But those cabins are there for people who need them. I'm all for saving money, etc but not going to do it that way!

 

Would you not get bumped anyway?

[GottaLuvCruising]

Carnival keeps making it increasingly more difficult to make Early Saver work for us. They broke up the categories not only by stateroom type and deck, but also by location. Lower fare has to be for your specific location, then they offer sales for guarantees. When ES first came out, we really scored with it. But they are making up rules as they go along and sometimes I get the impression that rules aren't applied uniformly. Carnival is very tricky about their sales now.

 

If I book Carnival again, it will only be a last minute sale where I'm confident it's the best fare we'll find. Just over all this form submission, waiting for an approval while Carnival looks for an excuse to deny it...

[Herbaltees]

Example. Based on their rules, if cruiser paid $1,000 for an 8A and 8As dropped to $900, 8Bs dropped to $950, and 8Cs dropped to $1,050, a person an 8A with ES could get $100 OBC while staying in their 8A, upgrade to the 8B for no cost and not receive any money or upgrade to the 8C for only $50. That is the way ES rules are written to work.

 

Not really:

 

Original Payment for 8A $1,000

 

8A drops to $900- Cruiser would get $100 OBC

8B drops to$950- Cruiser could upgrade and get $50 OBC

8C drops to $1,050- Cruiser could PAY $50 to upgrade.

 

There is not a change fee for upgrading under ES rules.

[Out to sea!]

*sigh* Okay your STATEMENT about getting a price reduction from a category above.

 

The bottom line is you can get a price reduction from cats above yours if you are willing to move to that cat.

 

There were some claims from ppl early in the summer, who we're being told you can not match to a particular sale because it was for new bookings only. I think those ppl had legitimate complaints.

 

The rest are not wanting to understand they can not match the GTY price AND stay in their prized room.

 

 

*sigh* Bottom line is I nor you have control over Carnival employees who fail to read their rules and enforce them. The rules state same category. Simple and definitive. I understand there are employees who cannot follow those rules but those are the rules, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. Bad employees that refuse to enforce a company's rules should be gotten rid of so the their customers receive fair and equal treatment across the board.

[Out to sea!]

Not really:

 

Original Payment for 8A $1,000

 

8A drops to $900- Cruiser would get $100 OBC

8B drops to$950- Cruiser could upgrade and get $50 OBC

8C drops to $1,050- Cruiser could PAY $50 to upgrade.

 

There is not a change fee for upgrading under ES rules.

 

Who said anything about a change fee? :confused: The reason for the $50 would be that in this scenario the 8C is $50 more than what was originally paid for the 8A.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Out to sea!

[sirenitas]

I originally booked an inside cabin ES then switched to an OV 6K category. Got stuck there. There are only 2 6K cabins on the ship, mine and another. So unless they give up their room there is nothing to compare a price drop to. Only way out of it was to upgrade to a balcony. 6Ks are bigger with floor to ceiling windows so I'm not giving it up. Looks like no OBC for me. :(

I did the same thing! Booked ES interior then upgraded to a scenic OV, only 4 on the ship (really only 2 since the others only hold 2ppl and we need for 3). I was ok with the price so I was not really looking for price drops (much).

 

For the longest time I resisted the temptation of upgrading to a balcony. Then last week there was huge price drop and I would get a balcony plus $367 in OBC. DH talked me into it and I did the change. 2 minutes later I regretted it :o So I called Carnival and they changed me back to my scenic OV. They said it would be a one time exception (they said they do not usually do downgrades) since I had upgraded literally ten minutes before. Next thing I know there was $417 OBC on my account!

 

Not sure if it is a loophole - our cabin made it back in the inventory when I called to change the upgrade so the sale price applied to it.

Or if they just figured I am a new cruiser and they would try to "hook" me with a great rate. Whatever it is I am ecstatic! I did double check with my PVP and she said that the OBC was there and it all looked ready to go (we leave in a few days). But I do check all the time since I am paranoid something will change :eek:

[Herbaltees]

Who said anything about a change fee? :confused: The reason for the $50 would be that in this scenario the 8C is $50 more than what was originally paid for the 8A.

 

I thought you did. And Adoptivemommy was asking about change fees.

 

 

Example. Based on their rules, if cruiser paid $1,000 for an 8A and 8As dropped to $900, 8Bs dropped to $950, and 8Cs dropped to $1,050, a person an 8A with ES could get $100 OBC while staying in their 8A, upgrade to the 8B for no cost and not receive any money or upgrade to the 8C for only $50. That is the way ES rules are written to work.

 

With this stmt, I thought you were thinking there was a change fee. Otherwise why wouldn't a person in an 8B, receive $50 in OBC after they upgrade? The price is $50 less than what they have already paid.

 

:confused:I'm confused about why you think upgrades are not allowed under ES?

[Out to sea!]

I thought you did. And Adoptivemommy was asking about change fees.

 

 

 

With this stmt, I thought you were thinking there was a change fee. Otherwise why wouldn't a person in an 8B, receive $50 in OBC after they upgrade? The price is $50 less than what they have already paid.

 

:confused:I'm confused about why you think upgrades are not allowed under ES?

 

You're mixing two different points.

 

ES is about saving money. Anyone can upgrade for any reason at any time. Completely different animal.

 

Point 1: People wanting to lower their final payment or requesting OBC are supposed to price match against same cat, same people, same ship. If you are not price matching against the same you are not allowed OBC or final payment reduction (some may sweet talk themselves into it but is not allowed by Carnival ES rules).

 

Point 2: Anyone at any time can request an upgrade whether they are ES or not. ES has nothing to do with upgrades.

Edited October 14, 2014 by Out to sea!

[adoptivemommy]

Ok, since I asked about change fees...

 

You pay the fee to what? Change to a same category room? But no fee to upgrade? When would you have to pay the $50 fee associated with ES changes?

 

Confused.. Lol

 

 

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