Carnival Cruise Lines Simplifies Its Fare Structure

For many consumers, particularly those who are new to cruise travel, booking a cruise vacation can be fraught with confusion. For instance, what deals are available and how do you know if you’re getting the best one? Without a travel agent who has a lot of experience with the industry, many times you can’t be sure.

However, Carnival Cruise Lines is taking some of the confusion out of booking by reducing the number of its core fare options from six to three, thus simplifying those elements of the line’s fare structure. The change is a result of travel agent and consumer feedback indicating that their previous fare structure was too complicated and made it difficult to book with Carnival. The revised fare structure becomes effective for all future sailings as of October 31st.

Moving forward, the core fare structure will be simplified to include three fares:

· Fun Select: This cruise option features a two category stateroom upgrade and guests choose their stateroom assignment. The fare is fully refundable before final payment, offering a premium and flexible choice for guests.
· Early Saver: Offers Carnival’s unique price protection guarantee and is the ideal fare for closing early business. This fare closes three months prior to sailing for cruises of 5-days or less and five months prior to sailing for cruises of 6-days or more. Guests choose their stateroom assignment with Early Saver. This fare includes a non-refundable deposit and $50 administrative fee for changes to the reservation.
· Super Saver: Generally opens when Early Saver closes. The deposit is non-refundable and the stateroom is assigned by Carnival. Super Saver is a good selection for close-in travelers.

As part of the simplification, options such as the Fun Select Plus, Easy Saver, and Instant Saver fares will no longer be available. However, qualifying fares such as past guest, resident, and military, as well as special promotional fares, will continue to be available. Even simpler, you can still book without any of the special codes.

“Based on input from our travel agents, we modified the core fare structure to include those fare codes that offered the customer value and choice,” said Brenda Yester, senior vice president of revenue management for Carnival Cruise Lines. “By offering three fare choices instead of six, it simplifies the decision-making process and makes the overall sales experience easier for our travel professionals and their clients.”

Many travel professionals have supported the pricing simplification project. “We want to thank our travel professionals who gave us invaluable input through our quarterly travel agent survey, focus groups and Carnival Conversations. Their feedback has helped us tremendously in finalizing this new structure,” said Joni Rein, vice president of worldwide sales for Carnival Cruise Lines. Carnival continues to gather travel agent feedback on its group program and will share updates in the coming weeks.

Image Courtesy Carnival Cruise Lines