Carnival Cruise: How to get "the best" price on a specific cruise?

Quote from warezdog : You should re-read my post; I never compared the two at all, ever. I simply stated that if you wanted a 4 star cruise line then Crystal was your answer. 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.

Carnival offers the most bang for your buck. On a site where people post scanned receipts and others travel around to different B&M stores in hopes of finding the one cashier that will accept their scan to save $20 on a Roku device . . . what type of people do you think you are dealing with here?

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.

Disclosure right at the top....I'm a cruise travel agency owner, but thought I'd throw in my 2 cents to the discussion, for whatever you think it's worth.

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.

Other points in this thread:
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.

Quote from kdawg954 : Carnival offers the most bang for your buck. On a site where people post scanned receipts and others travel around to different B&M stores in hopes of finding the one cashier that will accept their scan to save $20 on a Roku device . . . what type of people do you think you are dealing with here? 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.

My wife and I have been on 3 cruises in the past four years. Here's my take...

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.

Quote from mgiven : 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.

I might have all my eggs in this basket then. Anyway I can find a listing of agencys around and bulk contact them?

I have never been on a cruise before and I am hoping to book my first one for late 2012 or early 2013. I have been reading all of your posts and I must say that i am finding them very helpful. My Husband and I are in our early thirties as well and would like to book a nice family cruise. We have a family of 6 though. 2 adults, a 13 year old, a 5 year old and a set of 6 month old twins. I find that when I put in passenger information to get prices, they never allow me to enter more than 3 kids under the age of 18. I always get a message saying that i must call.

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?

Quote from Tamikac23 : I have never been on a cruise before and I am hoping to book my first one for late 2012 or early 2013. I have been reading all of your posts and I must say that i am finding them very helpful. My Husband and I are in our early thirties as well and would like to book a nice family cruise. We have a family of 6 though. 2 adults, a 13 year old, a 5 year old and a set of 6 month old twins. I find that when I put in passenger information to get prices, they never allow me to enter more than 3 kids under the age of 18. I always get a message saying that i must call. 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?

Your best bet would be booking 2 connecting cabins as I think the rooms for 6 (rare) are extremely expensive. Also leaving from the NE for a 7 day cruise in the winter time isn't the best time and technically you are not going to the Carribbean . . . you are going to the Bahamas, which can dip into the 40's and 50's in Decemeber/January (similiar weather to West Palm Beach). If you are looking to jump in pools on deck or really enjoy the warm weather you may not get that.

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.

Quote from firewire0 : I might have all my eggs in this basket then. Anyway I can find a listing of agencys around and bulk contact them?

it was mentioned before: cruisecompete, although they've never beat the price I had already found.

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 I enjoyed my recent southern itinerary on CCL but booked my 1st RCCL cruise for January and got lots of goodies plus the best rate I qualified to book thru a TA. Wound up with: $200 OBC, gratuities and a specialty dinner; although if i cancel before final payment i'd get hit with a $200 cancellation fee.

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.