While there are many that have used Carnival's Fare Viewer system in the past, there are also many past & potential cruisers that have never heard of this helpful tool Carnival Cruise Line offers. On Carnival Cruise Line's website there is the normal booking engine a person can use to book his or her cruise. However, Carnival's website also has a separate system called Fare Viewer that allows a cruiser to input basic cruise details and see base cruise rates (doesn't show taxes & fees) without having to navigate the full booking engine that would be used to book a cruise.


​How To Use The Fare Viewer:
        Carnival's Fare Viewer is a little picky when you are entering information because it requires you fill in all fields to get search results. Before attempting to use the Fare Viewer you need to know a ship, sailing date, stateroom type, number of travelers, and your state of residency. This information must be entered into the system.
          Once all of the appropriate data is given, the system will generate a list of all of the current rates available to you based on the options you gave. In some cases, you may see a Past Guest Rate, Early Saver Rate, and/or many other options. The rate code names will vary depending on what sales, promotions, or fares Carnival is offering for the particular voyage. Once you choose one of the available rates for your sailing, a list of prices by stateroom category will come up. To effectively use this tool you must know your stateroom category number (Example: 6E). This can be found on your cruise paperwork or by searching for your stateroom on Carnival's Deck Plans. This will show you the base price of the cruise for the particular stateroom category only. VERY IMPORTANT TIP: The number you see does NOT include port taxes or fees that are generally shown when you use the regular Carnival booking engine. Again, this number only shows you the base price of the stateroom without port taxes or fees added. If you want to see port taxes and fees I recommend you use the regular booking engine for that information.
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If you would like to open Carnival's Fare Viewer:   Click Here
(If This Will Be Your First Time I Highly Recommend Reading The Pros & Cons Below First For More Details) 
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Important Tip:  Only use the Fare Viewer if you know an exact ship & sail date. If not, use Carnival's regular booking engine to look at itineraries, dates, ships, and homeports. 

Pros and Cons Of Using Carnival's Fare Viewer:
Pros:
-  The Fare Viewer allows a cruiser to quickly compare basic cruise price rates if the cruiser knows an exact sail date he or she is looking for.
-   This tool can be useful for cruisers that want to claim price drops. As long as a cruiser knows the base rate he or she paid, this tool will allow a cruiser to compare basic rates. Always keep in mind the Fare Viewer doesn't include the port taxes & fees. Don't get excited thinking you will get a price drop using the Fare Viewer because the amount the Fare Viewer shows is less (this is because it excludes taxes & fees). 
Cons:
-    The rates shown only display base price. The rate does not include taxes, fees, or any fuel supplement (if & when applicable). 
-    This tool is not for cruisers that are looking to browse all cruisers in order to make a selection. The Fare Viewer gives no information about cruise length, departure homeport, or itinerary.
-    The cruiser must know the category number for the stateroom they have booked or are planning to book.
-    The Fare Viewer does not actually let a cruiser book. Bookings on Carnival's website must be done using the regular booking engine.

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      A first cruise is an unforgettable experience in itself, but cruising Alaska as your first cruise will make that unforgettable first cruise experience even more memorable and special. There are some tips first time cruisers need to know for any cruise, but there are some extra things first time cruisers sailing Alaska must also know. Throughout this new blog series, I hope to convey tips that will benefit first time cruisers that are also visiting Alaska for the first time.

I.  How You Pack Can Be A Problem
       In most cruise ship staterooms space is extremely limited. On some cruise ships, depending on suitcase size, you can slide your suitcase and bags under the beds. However, on some ships you cannot do this because of the bed configuration or the size of your suitcase. If you pack too many clothes or items you will have trouble storing your belongings because drawer space is also limited. On Alaska cruises, these problems still exist and can be worse. There are many Alaska cruisers that fly to or from their cruise and this often means packing more belongings in larger suitcases. Packing more belongings and having a larger suitcase will limit your stateroom space. Only pack clothing and belongings you know you will need. I recommend packing one extra pair of clothes, but more than 3 extra pairs is usually considered too much.

A)  Consider bringing a fair amount of clothing with you in your suitcase. However, bring things you would be willing to wash at an onboard laundry facility and wear again. Onboard laundry facilities usually cost some money, but by packing less clothes you will be able to travel lighter and not have as many belongings to deal with. 

B)  Always leave a small amount of extra space in your suitcase when packing pre-cruise because you may buy things during your cruise that you wish to bring home. I have seen many people have to carry off their gift shop purchases because their suitcases were complexly filled. This problem can exist on Alaska cruises too!

C)  The clothing you pack should keep you comfortable in the temperatures you will be experiencing. Alaska is not always cold so do not pack a complete suitcase of heavy winter clothes. I recommend you pay attention to weather and temperature forecasts as you make your packing decisions. Packing clothing that will not keep you comfortable in the weather conditions is worthless and just takes up some of your valuable space.

​II.  Shore Excursions: To Book Or Not Book?  
              Cruise lines often push the selling of shore excursions to passengers in the early parts of a cruise vacation. In Alaska, this constant sells pitch for shore excursions can be worse than some other cruise destinations, such as the Caribbean or Bahamas. This is because Alaska's ports offer so many unique things to see and experience. 
                There are two common categories of shore excursions. One category is shore excursions sold by your cruise ship and the other type is a shore excursion you booked privately. For the purposes of this article, I will not discuss the pros and cons of each. However, please keep in mind, shore excursions sold by the cruise ship will usually offer a guarantee to passengers that if they get delayed during the excursion and cannot get back to the ship, the cruise line will have the ship wait or transport the excursion guests to the next port of call. I wanted to emphasize that because cruise ships HAVE and WILL leave late passengers. It was happened many times before and it can happen again!
                 If you are thinking about booking a shore excursion you need to research your options, prices, and reviews on the excursion. Only book an excursion if it interests you, sounds like a good value for your money, and fits into your timetable in the given Alaska port of call. Always make sure the excursion ends well before your designated time to get back onboard the ship.  Do not cut the times close!!  Do not book a shore excursion if is highly overpriced, sounds boring,has terrible reviews, or you are only half interested. Instead, consider walking around the port and browsing local shops. This can be a fun way to see the port at a virtually free cost (unless you buy something in one of the shops you browse).