Pricing

[qjuan13]

So I’ve heard from others that you can call every few months up until your trip and sometimes they will give you an upgraded room for the same cost... is this true? If so, what do some of you normally tell them when you call? Our cruise is through carnival by the way.

 

 

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[Hlitner]

My first reaction is, "call who?" Are you dealing directly with a cruise line, travel agency, cruise agency, big box store, etc? And these days much depends on how you book. For example, many cruise lines are now doing promos with non-refundable deposits and even non-refundable cruise fares. But if you book a pretty normal kind of fare well outside the final payment period, you can certainly monitor the pricing for your cruise (best done online)...and if you see a decent price drop or promo you can certainly call whoever you used to book and ask to have your cruise "repriced." Personally we stick with one of our favorite (we have about 4) cruise agencies...who usually can save us at least 7-10% over the deals we get directly with a cruise line.

 

For a novice (and even old pros) it is a minefield of rules, special fares, promotions, etc. A decent cruise/travel agent can be worth their weight in dollars...if they know how tiptoe through the minefield to get their customers the best overall deal.

 

Hank

[Keith1010]

Welcome to Cruse Critic.

 

Much of this varies by cruise line and then based on the overall demand for the cruise.

 

Always good to followup to check pricing.

 

If booked through a TA for them to do this or if booked directly with the cruise line for you to do this.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

People that I know who got upgrades did not call the cruise line, TA, etc. Instead they got the call either from the cruise line, TA, etc.

If you call -- you may be offered an upsell -- you pay to get a higher category cabin.

[paul929207]

If you call, they will offer you an upgrade at the then current price for the upgraded cabin

[qjuan13]

My apologies, I didn’t specify... We booked directly with the cruise line. So we would be calling Carnival directly to ask about this

 

 

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[paul929207]

You can go to the Carnival website and see what the current price is for the upgraded cabin you want. Cal if you like the price

[spookwife]

not always a better deal. many of the sales you will find specify new bookings only.. which means you would have to cancel the current booking first before you could get the new price. and that often means losing a lot of perks that are not necessarily reflected in the price.. thing like free drink packages or having gratuities paid for you

 

you should be booking the category cabin you want up front. you can always inquire about price adjustments up until final payment.

[geoherb]

For U.S. passengers, you can call up until the final payment date to move to another available cabin at whatever the current price is. Sometimes you'll lose any promotions you booked under if you want to take advantage of a lower price. Cruise lines play around with promotions and pricing all the time.

 

After the final payment date, you can always call--but don't expect anything other than sympathy. Sometimes, though, people get lucky and do get either on-board credit or a free upgrade to a better category cabin. We got a free upgrade once by complaining to our travel agent about the drastic reduction in price after the final payment date. She called the cruise line and negotiated the upgrade for us. A good TA will try.

[SanFranCruzer]

we booked directly thru carnival at full payment due (I think it was 58 days ahead)

I kept watching FTTF because it was sold out and I was hoping they would release. I called carnival at 32 days out to ask about a wait list for FTTF. No such luck. Suites get the early boarding included so I asked about the cost to upgrade to a suite.

Low and behold- the suite were cheaper than the balcony so they moved us, refunded us the difference (YES to our credit card no OBC) and we get the early boarding. I always thought no changes were allowed after final payment, but I was wrong. You can always "upgrade" your cabin class anytime even if the upgrade is actually cheaper!

[Reina del Mar]

A pet peeve of mine...and no doubt many cruisers from UK and Australia/NZ, we do not have the same terms and conditions as US and so are unable to do this.

 

I may have mentioned this before....but do so again, in the hope that someone in the corporate offices might equalise t&c !!!!

[taglovestocruise]

You just need to go on the carnival website every few days to check the price of the cabin category your in. If you find a lower price just call and be repriced. We usually book a year or so in advance and may get 2 or three price drops. After final payment date your usually out of luck.

[SRF]

So much depends on the cruise line.

 

Royal does not refund anything. If you find a higher level cabin is less than you paid, they may (if the new offer is not limited to new bookings only) move you up, but they will not refund any difference.

[traveln2c]

With regard to Royal. If you find a better rate either for the cabin category you booked or better you can get a refund. That being said, there is no guarantee that you will get your same cabin if that is what you want. You actually have to cancel your original reservation and make a brand new reservation. They do not transfer any money paid, it is refunded and then you pay the deposit again. All of this is if you cancel & rebook prior to final payment which puts you automatically in a penalty phase of your original reservation.

[sanger727]

There’s no need to call until you know the price has changed.

 

1. Are you booked under early saver? Because the procedure is different for early saver people.

 

But the bottom line is that you simply go to carnival’s website (don’t log in, just the main site) and look up how much your cruise currrently costs. If you are booked under early saver I believe there’s an online form you fill out to get the price difference credited to your account in on board credit.

 

If you are not under early saver, prior to final payment, if there are price drops, you call whoever you booked with and ask for the new price. After final payment you can’t get price drops. But if a higher priced room drops to a price you are willing to pay, you can pay the difference between what you have already paid and the new price to upgrade.

 

But again, you can prove everything on the website. No need to call until there’s been a change.

 

 

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[Joebucks]

What you're really asking about is sale prices and discounts. Every so often, Carnval will run a sale (or maybe you have special VIFP rates) or discount the room because they're trying to get more people to book. Depending on how you've booked, you can call to get a price difference or upgrade your room. It's very unlikely that you will get an upgraded room for free. At best, you can usually find a good discount on the upgrade if that is what you're interested in. Me personally, I'd rather pocket the cash

[taglovestocruise]

So much depends on the cruise line.

 

Royal does not refund anything. If you find a higher level cabin is less than you paid, they may (if the new offer is not limited to new bookings only) move you up, but they will not refund any difference.

 

Not really true. We book 12 -18 months in advance, have gotten repriced several times for a particular sailing. Saving a few hundred dollars when final payment arrives would be considered a refund/discount over the original booking price. We have also paid the cruise off in full months before final payment date and have called for a reprice and were give the difference in OBC.