What are the DRAWBACKS of ES??

[happybooker1]

Looks like you get a lower-priced fare from the start. So what are some reasons you WOULDN'T do ES?

[Frank12]

You are locked in to that date. If something comes up and you have to change sail dates...it'll cost ya.

[happybooker1]

I wouldn't change dates -- if I couldn't go I'd have to cancel out.

[momofzeke]

The deposit is non-refundable. I do believe you can transfer it to another booking, but then you have to cruise within a certain time period, like within a year or something.

 

If you cancel the cruise, you will lose your deposit.

 

I think it also costs $50 per person to transfer the booking.

[firefly333]

You cant downgrade. So, if there is a deal on a cabin one deck down, you cant move down a deck without paying the $50 pp. No guarantees, you pick a cabin and no upgrades.

 

As far as being cheaper. They came out with ES for Galveton finally and the ES is $20 pp more than the old rates which everyone thought were too high when they came out. So, I can pay more than Iv ever paid before for the same cabin .... and have zero flexibility. ... not too appealing to me. I decided to chance it for 2011 and not booking at those higher rates. le grrrr. I dont like the ES, wish they would go back to regular rates and giving you the price reduction up until you sailed like RCL does.

[firefly333]

I wouldn't change dates -- if I couldn't go I'd have to cancel out.

 

Carnnival holds the remainder of your deposit, whatever your deposit was, minus $50 fee, and you have up to a year to use it. Someone posted they couldnt get it applied to the new fare, that Carnival wanted to give it all as OBC, they wanted it applied to the new deposit.

 

He finally got it applied to his balance, but has to go to the resolutions dept, sounds like carnival is still working out the details of how this balance must be used within a year.

[gone_cruisin]

You cant downgrade. So, if there is a deal on a cabin one deck down, you cant move down a deck without paying the $50 pp. No guarantees, you pick a cabin and no upgrades.

 

As far as being cheaper. They came out with ES for Galveton finally and the ES is $20 pp more than the old rates which everyone thought were too high when they came out. So, I can pay more than Iv ever paid before for the same cabin .... and have zero flexibility. ... not too appealing to me. I decided to chance it for 2011 and not booking at those higher rates. le grrrr. I dont like the ES, wish they would go back to regular rates and giving you the price reduction up until you sailed like RCL does.

 

 

 

yeah - why is Galveston so high? Is the demand to cruise out of there so high they can fill the cabins that quickly?

[js]

For me, we booked ES rate since we have a triple balcony and a triple inside on the Dream for August 7, 2010.

We saved $1,500 by booking ES rate, so I am taking my chances.

[firefly333]

yeah - why is Galveston so high? Is the demand to cruise out of there so high they can fill the cabins that quickly?

 

My PVP is kinda upset with me for saying I wasnt going to book for 2011, I needed time to digest the rates. She was like, Oh I hear this every year when rates go up. Im thinking ES rates are now higher than the old rates. Where is the savings. Sure they are cheaper than regular rates which are sky high.

 

... Mach was talking for a while about a 3rd ship, so the demand is obviously there out of Galveston.

[Kurbanfan]

Looks like you get a lower-priced fare from the start. So what are some reasons you WOULDN'T do ES?

 

Non refundable deposit.....a $50 charge for change sailings......no name change.........

And the biggie for us is we don't book that far out........

[poobears]

Cons:

 

If you book ES and can't go you lose $50 per person and like mentioned you get the rest back as OBC on your next cruise within a year.

 

Some people (myself included) are having a hard time getting the price forms honored but a phone call usually takes care of that pretty easy. It's an extra step.

 

Like mentioned you can't downgrade but you could go down a deck as long as you aren't going down a category. Like you could be on empress and go down to main as long as your category # is higher. Say you had a 6b booked on empress and took a 6E on main, that would allowed.

 

Name chances are not suppose to be allowed although some have been able to do it by calling back and getting someone else.

 

PROS:

 

There are NO restrictions on upgrading, it is allowed and you will not get a fee to do it.

 

You have a change to price match all the way up until 2 days prior to sailing. In some cases that can be a big savings ($260 so far for us).

 

You can price match a lot of different fares as long as you are eligible for them: over 55, military, past guest, fun select and resident rate.

 

The initial booking is typically cheaper then any other fares out there or very close.

 

So if you are pretty positive you are going on that date and willing to lose the $50pp if you cancel then it could be the program for you. If you routinely change dates, cancel etc, it's not worth the risk.

[triciafromnj]

We booked for 8/14/10 using the Early Saver rate and save about $400 for a Deluxe Oceanview cabin. The family we are sailing with is saving $800 becuase they have two cabins.

 

To us, the savings is well worth it.

[sassyredhat]

Sorry guys. Wasn't paying attention

[firefly333]

We booked for 8/14/10 using the Early Saver rate and save about $400 for a Deluxe Oceanview cabin. The family we are sailing with is saving $800 becuase they have two cabins.

 

To us, the savings is well worth it.

 

The only thing to me is ES for into 2011 is now higher than what the fares for 2010 came out at. The fares for 2010 were really good on ES and then they raised them for 2011, and erased the savings. Sure they are better than the regular fare, but sure a lot more than when the ES first came out.

 

Put another way, I think they put out really low ES prices in 2010 to draw us in, and now raised them for further out, the early savings was to get us to accept them. So many booked them, now they figure they got us and raised the ES prices. Early low prices, but only to get us to accept all the ifs ands and butts. Carnival was indeed clever.

[BigDfromTN]

The only thing to me is ES for into 2011 is now higher than what the fares for 2010 came out at. The fares for 2010 were really good on ES and then they raised them for 2011, and erased the savings. Sure they are better than the regular fare, but sure a lot more than when the ES first came out.

 

Put another way, I think they put out really low ES prices in 2010 to draw us in, and now raised them for further out, the early savings was to get us to accept them. So many booked them, now they figure they got us and raised the ES prices. Early low prices, but only to get us to accept all the ifs ands and butts. Carnival was indeed clever.

 

Your perspective on things is regularly different than mine firefly.

 

Just curious. Why do you think the pricing for a cruise should not go up for that far in advance when they are taking a gamble on so many pricing variables? It seems to me Carnival is reasonable on this. Have the prices for other carriers 2011 rates gone down? I have not checked but seriously doubt it.

 

To the OP,

 

My perspective on this is......

 

If you plan to cruise again on Carnival.... Do it.

The only thing you can lose is the $50.00 change fee if you need to make a change of sailings. You can however gain if the pricing goes down up until 2 days before sailing.

For my money the good out weighs the bad all the way around.

[nbsjcruiser]

You cant downgrade. So, if there is a deal on a cabin one deck down, you cant move down a deck without paying the $50 pp. No guarantees, you pick a cabin and no upgrades.

 

 

I may have misunderstood what you said but you can upgrade with ES rate. We did and it didn't cost a dime.

[nbsjcruiser]

Non refundable deposit.....a $50 charge for change sailings......no name change.........

And the biggie for us is we don't book that far out........

 

Good point about not looking that far out. If you do not look far out then you likely would not commit. For use, we ALWAYS book at least one year in advance so for us this plan is a steal. The reason we book so far out is that airfare costs a fortune in Canada so we need to drive to the US and so we purchase our air 10-11 months in advance to get the very best air rate. Purchasing air that early means we absolutely must know the cruise we are taking so this ES rate plays well for us.

[DanJ]

The only thing to me is ES for into 2011 is now higher than what the fares for 2010 came out at. The fares for 2010 were really good on ES and then they raised them for 2011, and erased the savings. Sure they are better than the regular fare, but sure a lot more than when the ES first came out.

 

Put another way, I think they put out really low ES prices in 2010 to draw us in, and now raised them for further out, the early savings was to get us to accept them. So many booked them, now they figure they got us and raised the ES prices. Early low prices, but only to get us to accept all the ifs ands and butts. Carnival was indeed clever.

 

They are obviously hoping the economy will be stronger for 2011 than for 2010. Booking ES for 2011 is really a no lose proposition for somebody who is pretty certain they won't have to change their plans. If the demand is there, the prices will rise between now and then, and you get locked in at lower prices. If the demand is soft, prices will drop, and you get the benefit of that as well.

[poobears]

On far away bookings you can always book fun select then switch to early saver later as the cruise gets a little closer and your plans get more finalized. Since you are so far away from final payment, you'd get price drops with any of the options.

[canjay95]

A group of us will be cruising in Jan. We're all in our mid 30's with young children. We decided no early saver due to the non-refundable deposit. That would be a loss of $400 per couple. The group price they gave us was only $80 more per cabin than ES and they will still give us price reductions up until final payment, so that worked better for us. With small children, plans can change on a dime.

[Vanessa L]

We booked the Fantasy 5 night out of NOLA for September 28 for $219pp for a 6AOV. That is now running $329pp. We also booked a 6AOV (both cabins assigned) on the Fantasy 5 night out of Mobile for November 30 for $269pp. That cruise is now running $309pp for the same room. I am not worried about not going. If, for some reason something happens that we don't go, we simply pay the $100 penalty and book within a year. The $120pp and $40pp savings (respectively) made booking the ES so worth it to us. Now, I just got off a last minute (booked the 4th, sailed the 9th) 7 day cruise on the Fantasy for $420 total for 2 (military rate), LOL! If another short noticer like that comes up, you better believe I'm there! The beauty of ES though, is that if your sailing goes down (doesn't look like either of mine are but who cares, I am happy with what I paid) as late as 2 days before sailing you can get the lower rate.

[BigDfromTN]

A group of us will be cruising in Jan. We're all in our mid 30's with young children. We decided no early saver due to the non-refundable deposit. That would be a loss of $400 per couple. The group price they gave us was only $80 more per cabin than ES and they will still give us price reductions up until final payment, so that worked better for us. With small children, plans can change on a dime.

 

You may want to get that in writing. It could come in handy.

[BigDfromTN]

They are obviously hoping the economy will be stronger for 2011 than for 2010. Booking ES for 2011 is really a no lose proposition for somebody who is pretty certain they won't have to change their plans. If the demand is there, the prices will rise between now and then, and you get locked in at lower prices. If the demand is soft, prices will drop, and you get the benefit of that as well.

 

Well put, I agree.

[poobears]

I was under the impression you couldn't get price reductions if you booked a group rate.

[canjay95]

The PVP told me on the phone we would get price reductions up until the final payment date 60 days out. He told me I could call and check once a week or however often I wanted to or check online. If the price of the cruise goes down, he told me our price would lower as well.