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Carnival Cruise: How to get "the best" price on a specific cruise?
I'm trying to get a good deal on Carnival Cruise that departs on October 28th. I've done the standard travel sites and it looks like Priceline does offer the best deal .. I think?.
Sometimes I can be picky, but for this trip I'm not at all. I'm literally going for THE CHEAPEST rate I can get. Trust me, if I could work in the kitchen for $5/hr to get a better rate I would! Things I've already tried:
- Googling "discount codes"
- fleebay and CL some Carnival coupons or gift cards lol (weren't any)
- Check out all the travel sites.
I should say that my schedule is extremely flexible and I can buy this soon or late and I'm willing to take risks - Like are there ever last minute deals on these things?
I mean, there's literally not to much I can think of doing outside of booking with a credit card and getting some cash back. Or maybe save a couple bucks with the 'priceline rewards?'
Maybe there's somebody with sea miles looking to trade of airline miles?
--
EDIT: Ok, I'm screwed I just realized all the places I was checking out are for two people. I'm going to be traveling solo. Even the last minute deals are weak sauce.
Sometimes I can be picky, but for this trip I'm not at all. I'm literally going for THE CHEAPEST rate I can get. Trust me, if I could work in the kitchen for $5/hr to get a better rate I would! Things I've already tried:
- Googling "discount codes"
- fleebay and CL some Carnival coupons or gift cards lol (weren't any)
- Check out all the travel sites.
I should say that my schedule is extremely flexible and I can buy this soon or late and I'm willing to take risks - Like are there ever last minute deals on these things?
I mean, there's literally not to much I can think of doing outside of booking with a credit card and getting some cash back. Or maybe save a couple bucks with the 'priceline rewards?'
Maybe there's somebody with sea miles looking to trade of airline miles?
--
EDIT: Ok, I'm screwed I just realized all the places I was checking out are for two people. I'm going to be traveling solo. Even the last minute deals are weak sauce.
Created 07-29-2012
at 06:30 PM
by firewire0
in
Travel & Vacations
(2)
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24 Comments
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Carnival IS the motel 8 of cruise lines, any quick search for opinions on cruising will tell you that, almost every other cruise line is better and you get what you pay for.
Comparing Crystal to Carnival is ludicrous especially after accusing me of comparing them but since you started with your asinine Canadian fare let me finish:
No interior rooms on Crystal they're all ocean view
Pass to crew ratio 1-1.5 carnival 5-1
Coffee, cappuccino, and soda FREE
Room service 24 hours a day FREE
Have formal dinner delivered to your room FREE
Breakfast delivered to your room everyday FREE
Passengers per ship 980 VS 4800
Crew speaks English
You may have never had a bad cruise on carnival because you've never went less than 7 days.
Another worhty mention is that Crystal doesn't do turn and burns, in other words they don't make round trips, the two ships they have constantly sail around the world and rarely will your embark and debark port be the same.
If you have a cruiseline you'd like to replace with the motel 8 comparison I'm all ears but the vast majority of web opinions of Carnival pale in comparison with that of all other cruise lines.
Fact is, compared to the other "big boy" cruise lines (RCL, NCL) Carnival's iteneraries from U.S. ports to the Carribbean usually end up on top for me. There food in the MDR I feel is better than both RCL and NCL. Their inside cabins are the biggest amongst the 3 as well and they have a real solid Kids Program.
Motel 8 is a bad comparison. I like Hampton Inn as a better comparison. Quality accomodations, not alot of extra fees, budget friendly and dependable. I do agree that NCL and RCL both have nicer looking ships and more up to date amenities and more restaurant that you can pay extra for . . . but Carnival is very doable and I find that it gives me more than enough for a 7 day cruise and I only use my room to sleep and change clothes . . . plus I just have more fun on Carnival ships. One thing I will say is that as you keep going on Carnival the program can get redundant but to their credit they are going through like a 500 million revamp and adding new restaurants, comedy clubs and dj's, in addition to an EA sports bar and a Hasbro Gameshow set . . . so that should help switch it up some.
NCL and RCL invest so much into their ships because they want you to stay on the ship and spend money on it instead of going out in port to spend. I have been pricing Super Bowl Cruises for February . . . and Carnival literally is 50% less than the next cheapest option with a better itenerary. Putting Crystal into any conversation with Carnival is like putting any 5 star hotel with a 2.5/3 star hotel . . . and price reflects the comparison. I can probably cruise 10 times vs. the amount I'd spend on one Crystal cruise.
I guess my main point that I hope gets across is you're almost always best served by booking a cruise with a reputable and experienced cruise travel agency and never the cruise line directly.
There are many, but the most important on a forum like this comes down to value. In this case the cruise line is Carnival and they have a no discounting policy. That means if you book through Carnival direct OR through any agency the pricing has to be the same...to the penny. The only exception is when an agency hold space for groups on specific sailings they can offer that space at a reduced rate and also include things like onboard credit. Carnival direct can not do this. That means for ANY cruise you can shop around with the price Carnival direct is charging and you can almost always find an agency offering it for lower, and often with perks. If Carnival direct adds perks, they have to allow an agency to match them. But the baseline price will NEVER be lower through Carnival.
The other reasons that may or may not interest anyone in a forum about price is that a direct booking at a cruise line call center often goes to someone in the middle of the country (or other countries after hours) to someone who may have never seen open water, let alone a cruise ship. If you get lucky and find someone halfway knowledgeable then they'll still only be well versed in the line you called and will never offer any other options. And finally, when you book with an agency you have an industry advocate in YOUR corner should something go wrong with the cruise line. When you book directly your only contact IS the cruise line.
The same general rules apply to most cruise lines. Carnival, Royal, Celebrity, Norwegian ALL don't allow price discounting, so the prices will be flat agency to agency and compared to the line itself. Your goal is to find the agency that has an approved sale going on OR has discounted held space. It's never the cruise line direct. Hope that helps.
Booking a cabin with no assigned cabin number, where the line will provide you with one later is called a category guarantee. It is almost always the lowest cost option, but be sure you'd settle for any cabin placement in that cabin type (front, back, near and elevator, under the dining room or kitchen, next to the club that's open till 4AM, near the kids clubhouse, and so on). Also for Carnival watch out for inside cabins that are category 1A which are dormitory style with two single beds and two bunk beds. The lower beds can't be pushed together to form a Queen.
Fact is, compared to the other "big boy" cruise lines (RCL, NCL) Carnival's iteneraries from U.S. ports to the Carribbean usually end up on top for me. There food in the MDR I feel is better than both RCL and NCL. Their inside cabins are the biggest amongst the 3 as well and they have a real solid Kids Program.
Motel 8 is a bad comparison. I like Hampton Inn as a better comparison. Quality accomodations, not alot of extra fees, budget friendly and dependable. I do agree that NCL and RCL both have nicer looking ships and more up to date amenities and more restaurant that you can pay extra for . . . but Carnival is very doable and I find that it gives me more than enough for a 7 day cruise and I only use my room to sleep and change clothes . . . plus I just have more fun on Carnival ships. One thing I will say is that as you keep going on Carnival the program can get redundant but to their credit they are going through like a 500 million revamp and adding new restaurants, comedy clubs and dj's, in addition to an EA sports bar and a Hasbro Gameshow set . . . so that should help switch it up some.
NCL and RCL invest so much into their ships because they want you to stay on the ship and spend money on it instead of going out in port to spend. I have been pricing Super Bowl Cruises for February . . . and Carnival literally is 50% less than the next cheapest option with a better itenerary. Putting Crystal into any conversation with Carnival is like putting any 5 star hotel with a 2.5/3 star hotel . . . and price reflects the comparison. I can probably cruise 10 times vs. the amount I'd spend on one Crystal cruise.
OK point taken. Maybe motel 8 wasn't the best choice to compare them to, Every 7-10 day cruise I've been on with them has been pretty good as well, with the exception of hurricane season 2005.
I will also concede that their ports of destination vs cost is about as good as it gets for the western and eastern caribean and although most of the staff doesn't speak english they are still friendly and always smiling.
Although I won't ever have 7-10K to drop on another Crystal Cruise I have found that you can find last minute deals with them, as low as $3000 per couple for a 10 day, and the experience is bar none the best that I've ever had, no kids, hardly any giant people eating from the trough all day long and food/service that rivals a 4 seasons resort, and shows that are as good as Broadway.
First, I've used cruisecompete.com twice and have nothing but good things to say about the site. We found the best deal, received on-board credits, free travel insurance, etc. Just be smart and research the actual travel agency you are considering from cruisecompete.
First cruise was Norwegian and the other two were with Carnival. I simply enjoyed Carnival much more. All three cruises were the same in length (six days) and balcony rooms.
Norwegian had a nicer ship, but not so much nicer that I preferred it to Carnival.
Carnival had better food.
Carnival just seemed like a much more all around fun ship. My wife and I are in our early 30's.
To those been there, done that travelers- what type of room would best serve us? Also, we'd like to leave from driving distance of Philadelphia ( i.e. Baltimore, New Jersey, etc.), would leaving from a colder city in the winter months hinder our cruise enjoyment too much? For instance, on a 7 day cruise to carribean, would it be too cold to enjoy the outside deck ammenities for the first two days of travel?
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To those been there, done that travelers- what type of room would best serve us? Also, we'd like to leave from driving distance of Philadelphia ( i.e. Baltimore, New Jersey, etc.), would leaving from a colder city in the winter months hinder our cruise enjoyment too much? For instance, on a 7 day cruise to carribean, would it be too cold to enjoy the outside deck ammenities for the first two days of travel?
I would say either go on a longer cruise from the NE (one that goes to places like St. Thomas, Ocho Rios, etc. . . . usually 9 days or more) or find out a way to make it to a Florida Port. I left from Miami in mid January early this year and it was a bit nippy the first day but it got warmer on the 2nd day (cool at night). By the time we made it to Jamaica on the 3rd day and Grand Cayman on the 4th day . . . it was in the high 80's for temperature. You won't see that on a trip to the Bahamas.
If you do decide to stick with a NE departure port, I'd expect it to be cold atleast until you got down towards the Florida area, and if there is a cold front at the time, you can expect it to be cold the entire trip.
AirTran has a special going on right now R/T flights for $114 on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays in January leaving from BWI into Fort Lauderdale. There is a ship called the Carnival Freedom that leaves out of Fort Lauderdale and has very cheap rates and goes to KeyWest, Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios over 6 nights. It leaves on Sunday and comes back on Saturday. You could fly in Saturday (a day early) and stay at a hotel and enjoy Fort Lauderdale for a day, get on the cruise the next day, come back the following Saturday and jump on your flight home. You probably could get flights and cruise fare for everybody for around $2500 if planned right.
I think that would work better than leaving out the NE, but you would want to hurry because that AirTran Sale won't last long. The dates I had were Jan 5th/Jan 12th on Airtran and the cruise is from Jan 6th to Jan 12th. Sure you'd have to drive to BWI but I think it would be worth it. Another ship is the Liberty out of Miami, which is a 7 nighter, but I usually recommend flying in a day early, especially from the NE where weather is unpredicatable that time of year.
The real good thing about Carnival is they offer babysitting (if you are comfortable) for infants to 8 years old after 10 for $6.00 a kid and $4.00 for every kid after that . . . so you and your significant other could enjoy some of the adult stuff once or twice during the cruise if you want to. The staff with the kids are professionals and they truthfully do a real great job and keep the kids occupied or just watching over them while they are sleep. They give you a phone as well if they require your assistance.
Unless it's recently changed, you can book direct with CCL and have 30 days to transfer to a TravelAgent. Note that CCL has recently changed the game plan for TA OnBoardCredits. You used to be able to get up to 10% the cost of pre-tax price of cruise as an OBC. Now TA's only allowed to offer a gift not to exceed $25 in value
CCL offers great military, senior, past guest, resident and sale rates along with early savers. it's too late for the OP to book early saver rates for October, but that rate allows you to monitor the fare and if you find a rate you qualify for [I]even after final payment date[I] you just take a screenshot as proof and submit a form to CCL but you have to pay a fee to cancel with intent to book within a year.
Unless it's recently changed, you can book direct with CCL and have 30 days to transfer to a TravelAgent. Note that CCL has recently changed the game plan for TA OnBoardCredits. You used to be able to get up to 10% the cost of pre-tax price of cruise as an OBC. Now TA's only allowed to offer a gift not to exceed $25 in value
CCL offers great military, senior, past guest, resident and sale rates along with early savers. it's too late for the OP to book early saver rates for October, but that rate allows you to monitor the fare and if you find a rate you qualify for [I]even after final payment date[I] you just take a screenshot as proof and submit a form to CCL but you have to pay a fee to cancel with intent to book within a year.
On a side note - A bit of a risky maneuver I've found is buying up "carnival cash" or "fun points" you can buy them as low as 50 cents on the dollar for people trying to get rid of them. Then book your cruise with them.