Do you pay off your cruise upfront or wait until the due date?

[BNBR]

This question is really just a matter of financial comfort. Personally, I just pay in full when I book, regardless of how far out the cruise is. I don't see any reason to wait.

[BNBR]

We wait until the due date. That way if there are any price drops, we get that amount taken off the price we owe and not in OBC.

 

Does Carnival only give OBC? On Royal, I have called for a price drop and they have refunded me back the difference to my credit card.

[Hsmama]

We will use our Amex offers for $100 off a $500 payment before the expiration date of the offer (which currently is before our final payment date on our spring cruise), we purchase several discounted GC from AARP mostly and use those and whatever is left to pay about week before final payment. The discounts add up and why not save more money off the bottom line of the cruise. It is fun to see the discounts add up...plus any price adjustments we may get as we typically book about 9 or 10 months out (or more).

what amex offer?

[beerman2]

Does Carnival only give OBC? On Royal, I have called for a price drop and they have refunded me back the difference to my credit card.

 

I had 1 of the 4 price reductions credited back to 💳, the other 3 as OBC. That booking was paid in full.

 

My other booking for same cruise came off my total due. Now that it is paid any more reductions should be OBC.

[h_blond2]

Does Carnival only give OBC? On Royal, I have called for a price drop and they have refunded me back the difference to my credit card.

 

If you have not made the final payment, they take the amount of the price drop off of what you owe. If you have made the final payment, you receive the amount of the drop in form of OBC. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but that's how it has happened to us in the past.

[buddylover]

Too late. They already bought gift cards. Carnival has their money already.

 

 

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Not completely accurate....yes, CCL has their $$ from the purchase of the gift card, but until it is applied against their sailing, they have not "spent" the gift card and if ES rate was used to book, then they can get bottom line price reduction before final payment. They may choose not to use those gift cards for payment on this particular cruise at all....so to CCL it is not a payment until the gift card is 'applied' against their booking.

[fla gang]

I wait until final payment and learned my lesson about booking non Refundable rates. I would rather pay a little more for a refundable rate.

[mdsgu]

what amex offer?

 

From time to time, Amex offers $100 back if you spend at least $500 on paying for a Carnival cruise (a few other lines that are in the "World's Leading Cruise Lines," too). I think the money has to be spent on the actual cruise fare -- not sure if pre-paying shore excursions and drink packages count. You just have to load the offer to your card, which can be done online or by calling them, and then make a payment. I did it with my Amex Blue Cash, and the credit was almost instantaneous.

[evandbob]

Not completely accurate....yes, CCL has their $$ from the purchase of the gift card, but until it is applied against their sailing, they have not "spent" the gift card and if ES rate was used to book, then they can get bottom line price reduction before final payment. They may choose not to use those gift cards for payment on this particular cruise at all....so to CCL it is not a payment until the gift card is 'applied' against their booking.

 

What you state about Carnival may be true. But since the OP has already spent his/her money on the gift cards, it makes little difference when they use the gift cards.

 

I used 6 $500 cards to pay off a Horizon cruise for next May. My money, like the OP's, was out of my budget when I paid for the dicounted cards through my credit card company. Once that is done, I figured I may as well paid for the cruise in full. Since paying off the cruise, there have been several price drops and I now have over $325 in OBC. I add that total to the $300 I saved buying the gift cards, and the Horizon fare becomes certainly more reasonable.

[carnivalgirl51]

There are 3 ladies in my cabin usually. Regardless of what the deposit is, I usually pay $750.00 at booking to cover the full deposit for the 3 of us. One lady always waits until the final payment is due to pay her portion and the third makes small payments during the year. For this year, our cruise started out at close to $1000 each so I only owed $250 at final payment. With Early Saver price drops, I now only owe about $23 (Down to $783pp) at final payment. Since we don't cruise until March, I may end up with either OBC or one of my friends may owe me money at final payment.

[squierjosh]

Only AARP has my money so far. I did book Early Saver, so based on what I'm reading here, it may be better to wait to pay it off. I'm curious about the fee possibly changing later, I've never heard of that. Is that something they'll contact me about, or do I need to call them?

 

Not completely accurate....yes, CCL has their $$ from the purchase of the gift card, but until it is applied against their sailing, they have not "spent" the gift card and if ES rate was used to book, then they can get bottom line price reduction before final payment. They may choose not to use those gift cards for payment on this particular cruise at all....so to CCL it is not a payment until the gift card is 'applied' against their booking.

[summersigh]

We pay a week or so before final payment date.

Same with us. We use a wonderful TA - she sends an email a week before payment is due and I give her the OK.

[Ziggy7]

I booked early saver and my TA told me I will get price drops after final pmt, but only in the form of OBC. Which I will cash out if I don't spend it on the cruise :) I'm ok with that :)

[Mr2Scents]

I'm debating this as well. We just about have enough gift cards to pay for an entire cruise I'm guessing I would pay the deposit and then pay in full in the week before the due date for the full payment. We're still accumulating cards in order to have enough for our on board account as well.

[sprint180]

I pay only when I have to. I figure if I have to cancel that is less money I have to try to get back out of them.

 

 

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[nealstuber]

So I posted this in the general cruising section under saving money, but no response. I've always just paid for cruises upfront, but I've never really booked them that far out. Our next cruise is not until Jan 2019 on Carnival. I managed to get enough discounted gift cards from AARP (10% off) and plan to use those to pay for both cabins we booked. Is there any reason I should wait to pay off the balance. I have until November 2018 to pay. The gift cards don't expire. Since I have until Nov 2018 to pay, can I get that refunded up until that date as well?

 

 

 

My first thought was: If you’re already out of pocket for the gift cards, you might as well apply them to the cruise... it’s not like they give you interest.

 

But now I’m thinking I might wait: if your plans change, a gift card credit might be cumbersome. Or... maybe you’ll see a great deal on another cruise and it would be nice to have the cards handy to make the deposit for that!

 

Like you, we’re usually booking last minute after or close to final payment date. We’re usually paying with a credit card, if the final payment will be due in the same billing cycle, I’ll go ahead and get the whole thing out of the way. In those rare instances where we made an upfront deposit, I’ll wait till the final payment falls in to the next billing cycle on my CC and usually pay it first chance after that.

 

 

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[cb at sea]

I don't like giving up my money until it's due...not that I always wait until the due date....a couple days prior works just fine!

[LucyB.]

I pay on it as my finances allow. When I booked my Jan. cruise I paid all of my part upon booking. For me, having one less thing to pay for gives me peace of mind. After it's paid off, I either start stashing cash or buy cruise cash. We bought our cruise cash limit last time, put $100 cash for our SS account, & I got an $80 refund at the end. My Jan cruise is a girls trip & we're getting Cheers. I'll have some OBC, so I'm not buying Cruise Cash for that trip. I'll just put $100 cash on my SS card & play in the casino on it & buy smokes. Hopefully I'll have a zero balance or get another refund. Guest Care will give you cash back, if you use cash for your SS account.

If I pay my cruise off early, I won't spend it on "stuff" or the life happens things.

[simplelife]

I pay on it as my finances allow. When I booked my Jan. cruise I paid all of my part upon booking. For me, having one less thing to pay for gives me peace of mind. After it's paid off, I either start stashing cash or buy cruise cash. We bought our cruise cash limit last time, put $100 cash for our SS account, & I got an $80 refund at the end. My Jan cruise is a girls trip & we're getting Cheers. I'll have some OBC, so I'm not buying Cruise Cash for that trip. I'll just put $100 cash on my SS card & play in the casino on it & buy smokes. Hopefully I'll have a zero balance or get another refund. Guest Care will give you cash back, if you use cash for your SS account.

If I pay my cruise off early, I won't spend it on "stuff" or the life happens things.

 

 

 

Exactly

 

 

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[Mikew0805]

So I posted this in the general cruising section under saving money, but no response. I've always just paid for cruises upfront, but I've never really booked them that far out. Our next cruise is not until Jan 2019 on Carnival. I managed to get enough discounted gift cards from AARP (10% off) and plan to use those to pay for both cabins we booked. Is there any reason I should wait to pay off the balance. I have until November 2018 to pay. The gift cards don't expire. Since I have until Nov 2018 to pay, can I get that refunded up until that date as well?

 

They get the money at the last possible minute. There is no reason for my money to earn interest with them instead of for me. :D

[evandbob]

They get the money at the last possible minute. There is no reason for my money to earn interest with them instead of for me. :D

 

 

But in the OP's situation, he has already paid for the gift cards. He will not be earning any interest. His question was whether to use the cards now or just before final payment.

[Mikew0805]

But in the OP's situation, he has already paid for the gift cards. He will not be earning any interest. His question was whether to use the cards now or just before final payment.

 

Maybe if I had not skimmed, and read for comprehension I would have picked up on that. ;p

[13cheermom]

So I posted this in the general cruising section under saving money, but no response. I've always just paid for cruises upfront, but I've never really booked them that far out. Our next cruise is not until Jan 2019 on Carnival. I managed to get enough discounted gift cards from AARP (10% off) and plan to use those to pay for both cabins we booked. Is there any reason I should wait to pay off the balance. I have until November 2018 to pay. The gift cards don't expire. Since I have until Nov 2018 to pay, can I get that refunded up until that date as well?

 

We always purchase gift cards for our cruises. In a similar situation for a Journeys cruise booked for Nov. 2018, rather pricey cruise at that. So will put cards in the safe until week before final payment and apply then. The way I look at it, I already received the savings ($500) from the cards, (used all remaining Verizon Smart Rewards). But if something were to change with the cruise, don't want to have gift cards tied up with refunds (always book past guest). As long as you have a safe and secure place to store the cards you should be fine. :)

[Hsmama]

question about gift card payments..... can these be used when booking thru a TA? Or just through the cruise site itself? And for deposit, or just for later payments? Thanks

[Mikew0805]

question about gift card payments..... can these be used when booking thru a TA? Or just through the cruise site itself? And for deposit, or just for later payments? Thanks

 

TA can have CCL add it to the reservation.