Two daughters asked me to check on a 3 or 4 day cruise out of New Orleans for this Oct or Nov.. They both have high pressure jobs and families, and have Never taken off together..they just want to do the sisterly thing for a few days, so a week isn't a possibility.<BR><BR>Their choices seem to be the Holiday or the Conquest. The Conquest has a 4 night cruise on November 15th with only inside cabins still available. I got a quote of just over $600 for a low deck inside, which sounds high.<BR><BR>My questions..does this sound about right, <BR>your quess as to whether they will fill up or not, or can they wait till closer to the time and perhaps get a better rate, AND is it a big mistake to go out on a first sailing (service, food, etc.)? <BR><BR>They've never done anything like this before and may never again and I want them to have a good time. One has cruised before (and loved it) and this will be a first for the other.<BR><BR>Thanks for any and all advice!!

As I recall, that itinerary is for a very short time and goes to Key West and maybe one other port - if you're just going for the ship, probably ok; but Key West is a waste of time port in my estimation.

The Holiday used to sail a 4 day schedule from Los Angelos and inside cabin were only 325 pp. So your price it high. But a 4 day cruise can be fun, fun.

Hi Elaine,<BR><BR>If you wish to sail Carnival's brand new ultra-mega ship you will pay through the nose. You can get a category 1A upper and lower berth for less. <BR><BR>The ship only stops at Cozumel therefore passengers are only going on the ship to experience it.<BR><BR>The ship will offer no comparision to the new RCCL mega-ships. It will not have any ice skating rinks or rock-climbing walls or roller-blade tracks. It is just going to be a larger Triumph or Victory ship. All the public areas will be larger. The cabin sizes will stay the same as the older ships.<BR><BR>The price will not get any lower. You have missed the early-bird prices. If the ship does not fill you may see the price reduced to the early-bird price a couple of weeks before sailing. If the ship is full the price will go up.<BR><BR>It does take a couple of months for the crew to learn how to get things together. This is why new ships are labeled "training ships."<BR><BR>Paul

Hi Elaine:<BR><BR>I think both sailings are already closed, so you might want to move your dates a little bit. For example, the 5 day Holiday on the 18th, which you can get from $555/person including taxes and port fees.<BR><BR>Let me know if you want more options...<BR><BR>Enrique

Still availability on the Conquest.

Thanks all!<BR><BR>TA got 2, 24 extensions for holding the inside Conquest cabin. It's hard for one daughter to commit this far in advance (she's holding up the works!)but they will have to decide today. <BR><BR>Yes, on some web-sites it is saying "closed" for this sailing but according to the TA there's still no problem finding an inside. The whole scenerio makes me think it will sell out..Carnival is only doing a 1 day reservation hold so they must want to finalize everything ASAP.<BR><BR>Well, thanks again!

Carnival is giving 24 hour holds on all its cruises.<BR><BR>Have your travel agent call every day to extend the hold until you decide.<BR><BR>It is about the time that the agencies that are holding group space to cancel their overage (70 days before the cruise date). Other categories just may open up soon if one happens to call just at the right time. Hundreds are trying to get on this ship at the last minute.<BR><BR>Good luck,<BR><BR>Paul