just got email from Carnival re: free stateroom upgrades
 

Just got this email: "There's no better way to begin 2008 than with a Caribbean cruise from the warm and sunny ports of Miami and
Ft. Lauderdale. That's why Wednesday, August 22nd -- for one day only -- Carnival is givin g our guests FREE stateroom upgrades on a wide variety of 2008 cruises from Florida. Remember. this offer is good for 24 hours only. Be sure to book Wednesday."

It lists my itinerary but not my sail date of 6-9-08 and seems to only be for the 30-35 cruise itineraries listed on the mail.

The "fine print" below states:

*Cruise rates are in U.S. dollars, per person and are based on category 4A. Fare code must be requested to receive promotion. Offer combinable with Super Saver rates only. Government taxes and fees are additional for all guests. Full deposit required at the time of booking. Offer is non-transferable and has no cash value. Offer is capacity controlled and is not combinable with any other discount or promotional offer. Rates are subject to change at any time without prior notice. Savings up to $100 per stateroom on select 3-5 Day Sailings and Savings of $200 per stateroom on select 7-8 day sailings. All savings based on double occupancy. Single occupancy bookings receive half of the savings amount. Upgrades available in categories 4A-8I. Offer excludes categories 1A/4S/5A/6E/7A/8P/8S/9A/IS/OV/BL/SS/ST/11/12. Best available stateroom upgrades available within like cabin categories (Interior to Interior, Oceanview to Oceanview and Balcony to Balcony). Oceanview upgrade NOT available on Carnival Spirit, Pride, Miracle or Legend. Valid on new individual bookings made between 8/20/07-9/3/07 on select 3-8 day West Coast sailings thru 1/31/08. Offer expires at 11:59PM EST on Monday 9/3/07. Other sail dates in range slightly higher. Blackout dates may apply. Some restrictions (including stateroom/category availability) apply. Credit for previous purchases is not permitted and guests who previously booked, cancelled and then rebooked during this period are not eligible. Request fare code CPBA. Ships' Registry: Panama & The Bahamas.

I get six a day from various cruise lines via e-mail and snail mail. They are all the same; cruises that don't sell very well.

Michelle:

This may sound cruel:

Delete.

There are so many restrictions it is fairly worthless. Book a guarantee in the category you are happy with and hope for the best.

Notice the categories it doesn't include. Most of those are guarantee categories, suites and lowest category. It isn't a deal for singles and isn't available on 1/3 of their fleet.

If you REALLY are interested call your agent and ask them if you qualify and the answer will probably be no or you will have to give up the cabin you now have and take a chance with an "iffy" upgrade.

It's good to look at the offers and I applaud you for noticing the fine print but the "Devil is in the details".

Take care,
Mike

thanks everyone, I see it's only for specific cabin categories as well and as stated, obviously cruises that are not filling up.

Yep, we have the same problem.

Note in your small print you posted:

We have a 1A guarantee booked and 1A specific cabins booked and for most of these you have to pay for at least a 4A as the above posted noted.

I know rats!!!!

We use offers like that all the time. We only get Balcony cabins so the Class requirement is met. Usually an 8A then we can pick our cabin almost anywhere on the ship for a price of the guarantee. When or where doesn’t matter that much to us, just a relatively cheap price and a few reasonable choices then we’re off and running.

An awful day cruising is better than a great day at work.