Best deal?

[kmac30]

I am currently looking to book a cruise for Nov 2016 ( next year). How often does the current Early saver deal come around? Is this the best deal that carnival offers? I am debating on whether to book now or wait. In the past I have always booked only a month or two out, so the early saver is something new for me.

 

Thanks so much.

[springs741]

Early saver is a rate category like past guest and is not a special promotion. It does have an end date in that it is only offered early in the booking. That end date varies with the length of the cruise. Sometimes Carnival will extend that date and call it last chance early saver.

 

I almost always book Early Saver. I am willing to check for price drops often (sometimes several times per day) and submit for reductions.

 

That said it has come back to bite me. On our family cruise in 2013 I had three staterooms booked and DD needed to change the date. Yes, it cost me $50 per person to Carnival so $400. That was better than the airline fee of $1200. Fortunately that cruise netted a tremendous amount of OBC and I was able to cover to additional expense.

 

My point in sharing is to make you aware of the restrictions of ES rate. There are both advantages and disadvantages but to answer your question, it will be the best rate as you can match other rate to ES.

[kmac30]

Thanks so much for your reply! So on the front page of the carnival website where they are advertising Early saver rate, only $50 down if you book by Sept 30th, isnt a promotion? Do they offer this as a often as a rate category?

 

Also how much of a chance is there that the price of the cruise will go down after you book?

[springs741]

Thanks so much for your reply! So on the front page of the carnival website where they are advertising Early saver rate, only $50 down if you book by Sept 30th, isnt a promotion? Do they offer this as a often as a rate category?

 

Also how much of a chance is there that the price of the cruise will go down after you book?

 

The $50 deposit is a promotion.

 

The $50 deposit comes around every once in a while.

 

The Early saver is not a promotion but as I said a rate category.

 

Please be aware if you book the $50 deposit/Early Saver and find a lower price you will need to pay the regular deposit.

 

As far as which sailings will have price drops, when I get this figured out I will work on the numbers for the lottery.

 

Carnival increases and decreases prices based on how the sailing is selling. Typically a cruise booked for spring break week isn't going to have as great of chance of a price drop as say a cruise booked two weeks after Thanksgiving.

 

Another factor in getting price drops is the room category. Example: On a Conquest class ship there are (going by memory here so cut me some slack) 16 4J (interior walkway view) total but there are over 100 8B's (Balcony) on deck six alone. So obviously you have a better chance of getting a price drop on an 8B than a 4J.

 

Hope this helps

[vlynn]

Thanks so much for your reply! So on the front page of the carnival website where they are advertising Early saver rate, only $50 down if you book by Sept 30th, isnt a promotion? Do they offer this as a often as a rate category?

 

Also how much of a chance is there that the price of the cruise will go down after you book?

 

Early Saver is a rate offered up to a certain time period for all cruises (you can book this rate if you are booking the cruise early), the 50$ down is the promo and although this does seem to come around as a promo often, it is not always an option.

 

No way to tell if the price will go up or down, however, by booking early saver and watching the rates you will be sure to get the lowest possible price, up to a few days prior to the cruise.

 

We always book using this category, of course we also always book at least a year out.

[kmac30]

thank you both so much for the information! I understand the promo vs. rate category now! Thank you for taking the time to help me understand!!

[Hawaiifrank]

Thanks so much for your reply! So on the front page of the carnival website where they are advertising Early saver rate, only $50 down if you book by Sept 30th, isnt a promotion? Do they offer this as a often as a rate category?

 

Also how much of a chance is there that the price of the cruise will go down after you book?

 

As the previous reply stated, Early Saver is a regular fare, always available until a certain number of months before the cruise. For a 7 day cruise, I think it normally ends 5 months before sail away.

 

The ES rate let's you select your cabin and is usually the cheapest fare and offers price protection that will let you match the lowest fare offered (there are exceptions) until 2 days before sailing. Sometimes Carnival offers a $50 reduced deposit, not always. Sometimes ES offers OBC, not always.

 

If you ask to match a fare offered that doesn't include the reduced deposit or OBC, and you booked during one of those promotions and received OBC or only paid the $50 deposit, you will loose the OBC and/or have to now pay the full deposit to get the lower fare.

 

For example, the fare for my Nov 28 cruise is $25 lower under the Autumn Fun fare, but I have $50 OBC from another promotion that would be lost if I tried to match this current promo price.