What Are Carnival's Early Saver Cruise Deals?

Carnival Cruise Line's Early Saver promotion incentivizes early cruise bookings by offering fare discounts and price protection on nearly all sailings booked two to three months in advance. The trade-off is stricter terms for canceling or changing reservations before final payment.

What Are Carnival Early Saver Cruise Deals?

For most cruisers, the lowest fares available on Carnival cruises will be those booked through the Early Saver promotion. Early Saver discounts are available on cruises of five days or less that are booked at least 76 days before departure, or on sailings of six days or longer if booked 91 days before departure.

With Early Saver cruise deals, passengers have the freedom to choose both their cabin type and location. However, if they choose to cancel before final payment, they will not get a full refund back to their initial payment method. Instead, they'll receive their deposit back in the form of a future cruise credit -- less a $50 per passenger service fee.

However, fares do come with Carnival's Early Saver Price Protection. That means passengers who book Early Saver fares then find cheaper rates in their cabin category on their sailing are eligible to receive onboard credit or a free cabin category upgrade worth the difference in price. Price Protection cannot be utilized if the lower rate is a Super Saver rate.

Those who book Early Saver rates must pay a fee if they make changes to their reservation, including ship and sail date amendments, any time before the final payment date.

While slightly cheaper fares can sometimes be found through some of Carnival's other promotions, such as Super Saver and Pack & Go rates, those tend to have more stipulations and are not eligible for the Price Protection program.

Carnival Early Saver Cancellation Policy Fine Print

Passengers who book an Early Saver fare and cancel before their final payment date will receive a future cruise credit (in the amount of their deposit minus $50) that expires 24 months after the date of the original cancellation. Changes to an Early Saver reservation are also subject to a $50 per passenger service fee when changes are made before the final payment date. Any reservations changed after the final payment date are considered cancellations and subject to standard cancellation penalties.