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Seeking Advice on Carnival Pride
Mason
I've used SkyAuction in the past without a hitch, although not for a cruise. I suggest you try a number of online cruise agencies and/or travel agents to get quotes for any auction that you're considering. A few good ones are Cruise Value Center, CruiseQuick, VacationsToGo, as well as Orbitz, Travelocity and Expedia. I'm sure you've got your own favourites. There's also CruiseCompete.com which sends your request to a number of brokers and then forwards the quotes to you via email. You can also try to check inventory on Travelocity and/or Orbitz to see if a 1A cabin is actually being assigned or is guaranteed. If it's guaranteed, your odds of getting upgraded are pretty good. Once you've established a ball park figure price, including all taxes and port charges, you're ready to bid. I wouldn't bid anything less than at least a 25% savings over the lowest price you've found, but that's your call. I suspect that people that have had a problem with SkyAuction are those that haven't fully read the full details on taxes and date surcharges, or those that have tried to change or adjust reservations. SkyAuction customer service is quite poor, not unlike that of Priceline (which I've also used for years without any problem). I also wouldn't consider an auction where there is a variety of dates available, especially with a surcharge. Unless you're flexible, the particular sailing you're seeking may be "unavailable", and then you're stuck choosing another, possibly with a premium attached to it. I would also not bid until the very last moment, as you can inadvertantly get sucked into a bidding war with someone when you are both using the "autobid" feature that automatically rebids in increments of $1 until you've reached your predetermined maximum. Within minutes the bidder with the higher autobid setting will have reached the lower bidder's maximum + $1. My wife and I just completed our first Carnival cruise, the Conquest from New Orleans, and were quite pleasantly surprised. The ship was sold out, and yet there was always plenty of deck and seating space throughout the ship. There were deck areas that were almost always deserted. The staff and pax were the most friendly we'd ever encountered, and the food was at least equal and in some regards, better than what we had experienced on RCI. Prime rib, lobster tails, escargots and pumpkin soup were our favourites. Our wait staff was the best we'd ever had. Friendly and efficient. Their midnight buffet's were a bit weak, but they were offered nightly. Entertainment was the usual Las Vegas calibre stuff, some hits and some misses. Their photographers weren't as persistent as those on the RCI ships we've sailed, and their photos were actually quite good. We liked it so much, that we booked the Destiny departing in a couple of weeks. I hope our initial positive experience will be repeated there as well. If you do manage to get aboard a Carnival ship, I hope your experience will be as good. BTW, I've found last minute pricing through some online cruise brokers to be very attractive. We used the Cruise Value Center for our Labour Day Conquest cruise, paid $383 total per person (4A guaranteed inside) and were upgraded to a 9A (Lido deck). Due to our last minute booking, we were able to pick up our documentation at the pier in New Orleans. No problems whatsoever. If you must fly, using an airline award for last minute travel is often the most cost effective way of getting to port. |
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Seeking Advice on Carnival Pride
I just sailed on a 2 day promo cruise on the Pride. It was very nice, no
complaints. Also, I have used skyauction and had no problems. Best of luck, enjoy! |
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