Question about price drops.

[riderfan89]

I've been noticing all the posts about people getting OBC when the price of their cruise drops, so I asked my TA to look into this for me in case ours does (it hasn't yet). She told me Carnival told her if the price goes down, all they can do is cancel our booking and re-book it at the new price. Then we would have to pay a penalty with the airline (because we're doing fly aweigh). Is this true?? This doesn't seem right to me after reading others' posts. I'm not sure if it matters, but we've already made final payment.

Help!

[fllady61]

NONE of our cruises has ever dropped in price. Oh yes, this one did, but only by 4$ pp, so it was not worth the OBC..

[exoticpetlover]

No it is not...last week our dropped and I got the 240 OBC from Carnival. It was for a different cabin catagory so all I had to do was change our cabin. We went from deck 8 to deck 5 but that makes no difference to me as long as we have a balcony and we are not in the front of the ship so it was worth the 240 to change rooms. I think the travel agent has to call Carnival tho and do the price change. After the final pmt is made, it has to be approved by a supervisor (at least that is what I had to do the other day) The other thing that might change is the fuel supplement. If you paid less than it is right now, you would have to pay the new price. Sometimes it does not balance out if the cost difference is a small amount. Good luck!

[brt49]

My cruise in July of 09 went down about a three weeks ago. I called and it saved me $85 pp and $170 total off my invoice. And that was on a Cat 11 Suite. Although the suites are sold out at the moment, so any future price cut would depend on some people backing out.

[SCUBA Mark]

I've been noticing all the posts about people getting OBC when the price of their cruise drops, so I asked my TA to look into this for me in case ours does (it hasn't yet). She told me Carnival told her if the price goes down, all they can do is cancel our booking and re-book it at the new price. Then we would have to pay a penalty with the airline (because we're doing fly aweigh). Is this true?? This doesn't seem right to me after reading others' posts. I'm not sure if it matters, but we've already made final payment.

Help!

Some times they have special prices for "new" bookings only. In that case, you would have to cancel your previous booking, pay the penalty, and re-book. That may be what happened in your case.

[Hawaii697]

I think it depends on your TA (remember they are working on commission). Some TA won't look into the price reduction because it affects their commission.

 

Some TA's aren't getting rich off of booking cruises, so they try to get their clients the best deal.

 

I sailed on the Facination in September. I booked it end of July. End of August a friend wanted to take his family on the same cruise. I called it in for him and the price had dropped. I mentioned I was on this cruise and paid in full. I ended up getting an $80 OBC.

 

My guess its the luck of the draw!

[riderfan89]

No it is not...last week our dropped and I got the 240 OBC from Carnival. It was for a different cabin catagory so all I had to do was change our cabin. We went from deck 8 to deck 5 but that makes no difference to me as long as we have a balcony and we are not in the front of the ship so it was worth the 240 to change rooms. I think the travel agent has to call Carnival tho and do the price change. After the final pmt is made, it has to be approved by a supervisor (at least that is what I had to do the other day) The other thing that might change is the fuel supplement. If you paid less than it is right now, you would have to pay the new price. Sometimes it does not balance out if the cost difference is a small amount. Good luck!

 

Yes, I would only bother if it was a significant drop - a few dollars just wouldn't be worth the hassle. Thanks for the reply.

[2TNCruisers]

Our TA just got us a $360 OBC for our upcoming cruise. Price was down $180/pp since we booked and paid in February. We also got a discount on the insurance we got through the TA as well, but it was just added back to our credit card. We booked an 8A balcony guarantee, and got an 8D balcony on the Lido deck. Our first cruise with Carnival...and so far its been an excellent experience!

[Ken076]

riderfan89 - unless you're in some special situation, like in penalty window near sailaway or you're in a TA's Group Booking, the TA does not need to cancel/re-book your cruise to get you the lower rate - they can call Carnival and have it done. Some TA's are latelyrefusing to do this, or charging you the amount of commission they lose, or charging a fee to do so. This situation is increasingly becomming reason to book thru Carnival, who are MUCH more cooperative about granting price adjustments, OBC's and upgrades.

After completion of your cruise I'd let your TA know that you're getting a new, more cooperative TA, and why.

ken

[riderfan89]

riderfan89 - unless you're in some special situation, like in penalty window near sailaway or you're in a TA's Group Booking, the TA does not need to cancel/re-book your cruise to get you the lower rate - they can call Carnival and have it done. Some TA's are latelyrefusing to do this, or charging you the amount of commission they lose, or charging a fee to do so. This situation is increasingly becomming reason to book thru Carnival, who are MUCH more cooperative about granting price adjustments, OBC's and upgrades.

After completion of your cruise I'd let your TA know that you're getting a new, more cooperative TA, and why.

ken

 

Thanks Ken,

If our cruise price drops, I will definitely have a firmer (and now more informed) discussion with our TA.