here's a quote from Bob Dickinson on one of the reasons for the policy
change.

"We're trying to get the consumer to feel comfortable that pricing isn't an
issue with Carnival. Couples can sit down at a table on the Imagination and
not worry that they paid more for the same category of cabin on the cruise
than the couple next to them."

If this is so will the price for the cruise one year out be the same as 2
months out? I doubt it. They'll have to reduce prices to fill the empty
cabins. Will CCL reduce the prices to the same level for the people that
booked one year out? I don't see this happening either.

So if that isn't the case your tablemates who booked one year out will still
have paid more than somebody booking last minute, so his reasoning doesn't
work.

As George said things have a way of working themselves out. Time will tell.

Bill
--
visit my Caribbean Princess website
www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com
"Cruisebyweb" wrote in message
...
I think there is perhaps one other angle of this that has not been
mentioned.

One theory going around is that this also helps the cruise lines as well
as the
"regular" travel agents. In other words, if the lines allowed the biggest
of
the big to gobble up most of the market, the few remaining mega-monster
agencies would end up dictating terms to the lines, not the other way
around.
That would be bad for the lines, and with reduced revenue, bad for
passengers
(note "passengers", not "guests", but that is another discussion).
Reduced
revenue, if reduced too low, means reduced quality onboard - food and
staff
levels being obvious reductions. Ticket prices too low = something has to
give.

As a T/A, this is not the sky falling. And it is still legal to rebate
(we
don't for good reasons, but our business model may not be for everybody).
You
just can't advertise that. You can offer subtle hints that are
generalized and
not specific (i.e. call for our best pricing, versus call us to get lower
pricing on this RCI cruise).

Regards, Keith