Apologies to Royal Caribbean

Wow! You learn something new each day! DH and I have a cruise on the Legend to the Southern Caribbean leaving Feb 4th 2014. We have sailed only RC so we did a little research on a very similar Celebrity cruise for March 2014 instead and when I called for pricing, they wanted $900 deposit for the concierge cabin! I almost fell out of my chair!!! Didn't seem to matter that we would be in their Elite class. No balcony discount either.... I guess this is "normal" for Celebrity but it doesn't fit into our budget at all.I really don't know what the deposit would be if we booked onboard but we decided that we'll stick with RCCL and enjoy cruising as long as we are able.

Wow! I thought about looking at Celebrity for next year but maybe not....

Wow! You learn something new each day! DH and I have a cruise on the Legend to the Southern Caribbean leaving Feb 4th 2014. We have sailed only RC so we did a little research on a very similar Celebrity cruise for March 2014 instead and when I called for pricing, they wanted $900 deposit for the concierge cabin!

According to this page, $900 is also the standard deposit for a Royal Caribbean cruise that is 10 nights or longer, such as the sailing you mentioned (assuming you mean the 11 night cruise departing on February 3rd).

Deposit requirements vary based on length of cruise and the type of stateroom reserved. Generally, deposit guidelines are $200 per stateroom for 1 to 5 night cruises, $500 per stateroom for 6 to 9 night cruises and $900 per stateroom for 10 night or longer cruises. Suite categories do require a double deposit since there are a limited number of suites.

The lack of an Elite balcony discount is my biggest pre-cruise gripe about Celebrity (I'll be on Silhouette later in the year and haven't cruised X since the 90s). It's my favorite and most valued RCI Diamond perk and I really wish X would offer it as well.

Is it the same if you book while inboard?

Well I'm embarrassed. Per Hubby, we put down $1000 for our two rooms on Oasis this June. Guess I was thinking it was only $500 but I forgot to add the boys' deposit for their cabin.

Higher deposit, lower FP

Lower deposit as a NCC then the higher FP

In both cases, the same price for the cruise

Is it the same if you book while inboard?

I don't know about Celebrity's policies, but Royal Caribbean does offer a $100/person deposit, at least for 7-night cruises, when you book onboard. I don't know whether they charge more for longer cruises. I don't think so, but I've never done it myself.

Celebrity does have a book-onboard program as well called Celebrity Passages. According to this PDF that I found online and may or may not be current, they also have a $100/person deposit when you book onboard.

I don't know about Celebrity's policies, but Royal Caribbean does offer a $100/person deposit, at least for 7-night cruises, when you book onboard. I don't know whether they charge more for longer cruises. I don't think so, but I've never done it myself.

 

Celebrity does have a book-onboard program as well called Celebrity Passages. According to this PDF that I found online and may or may not be current, they also have a $100/person deposit when you book onboard.

When booking onboard it's a 50% reduced deposit. So you'd have reduced deposits for 10+ night sailings, which would drop it to $450. Obviously suites still require double deposit, so booking onboard for a 10+ night, you'd put down $900.

Higher deposit, lower FP

 

Lower deposit as a NCC then the higher FP

 

In both cases, the same price for the cruise

Exactly! Pay me now or pay me later. What does it matter?

We are on the Legend's 10 day leaving on 02/14/14 in a balcony aft cabin. We booked while on our last cruise this past February. Only needed to put a $100 deposit per person ($200 total). The only thing is if you try to pay on the website, it still wants the $900 deposit so I had to call Royal when I wanted to make a payment less than the $900. They told me not to worry about the $900 - that's what the website does but it is not correct (surprise!).

When booking onboard it's a 50% reduced deposit. So you'd have reduced deposits for 10+ night sailings, which would drop it to $450. Obviously suites still require double deposit, so booking onboard for a 10+ night, you'd put down $900.

I was on Celebrity in Feb and made an open booking for a future cruise and only put down $100. So not sure where you're getting the "50% reduction" from. :confused:

The lack of an Elite balcony discount is my biggest pre-cruise gripe about Celebrity (I'll be on Silhouette later in the year and haven't cruised X since the 90s). It's my favorite and most valued RCI Diamond perk and I really wish X would offer it as well.

If the two lines operated exactly the same, there would be no point of having two separate lines. While a balcony discount would be nice on Celebrity, they do offer other things that Royal does not, such as a completely smoke-free interior and a more inclusive drink package.

For our January 2012 cruise we moved from the Freedom (Balcony) to the Solstice - (also a balcony ) for the same week and nearly identical itinerary. Even without any Celebrity balcony discount the cruise prices were competitive. Then - we were able to use the RCCL stock credit so the Celebrity cruise was the same price!

Any reduced deposit is no benefit to me. The bottom line price is the same and with today's interest rates, the interest of .00000000001% really doesn't help.

M

No balcony discount does stink on Celebrity, but next April our cruise on Summit was $400 less than Royal (even with Royals balcony D+ discount), plus they offered the free beverage pkg, so totally made it worth doing Summit instead of Jewel. Plus, Summit has our favorite Itin.

We qualify for Elite on Celebrity and while it is true that they do not give discounts they do offer perks that Royal does not offer. Free drycleaning of one item, free bag of laundry, 90 minutes of internet...per person. And that does not include the 123 Go incentive where we got the Classic Beverage Package free when we booked the cruise...valued at $88/day for 2 people.

Higher deposit, lower FP

 

Lower deposit as a NCC then the higher FP

 

In both cases, the same price for the cruise

Exactly! Pay me now or pay me later. What does it matter?

How about RCI has use of your money for a year? Maybe you should just pay in full when you book.:rolleyes:

I do not book any cruise that I can not pay for on the spot weither a year out or a month out.;) that includes air which we often book way ahead of time and insurance which we buy when we book plus a night before hotel.

That being said what does your post have to do with mine that you quoted:confused:it was about deposits

Man the no balcony discount sucks. It's going to be a while before I sail X.

Here's an idea don't cruise then

How about RCI has use of your money for a year? Maybe you should just pay in full when you book.:rolleyes:

I do not book any cruise that I can not pay for on the spot weither a year out or a month out.;) that includes air which we often book way ahead of time and insurance which we buy when we book plus a night before hotel.

 

That being said what does your post have to do with mine that you quoted:confused:it was about deposits

My guess is the response was pointed at me. You can hold your money if you want FLACRUISER but I'm not letting the deposit determine when, where, and what ship I cruise on. If I were you I'd stick it under your mattress though unless you think you can get .075 percent return from the bank until final payment. :D

We booked our first X cruise on a RCL cruise. Deposit was $100 per person, no balcony discount, but the cost of the cruise was a lot less than what we would have paid for a RCL cruise in the same cabin type. We booked a full suite (Skye), because it was $1000 less than on any RCL cruise we've been on...always wanted to book a suite :D So, if we like X, it's just one more cruise option.

Man the no balcony discount sucks. It's going to be a while before I sail X.

look at the prices, itinerary and service before making such a statement. If X , with no balcony discount was the same or cheaper than RCCL with Balcony discount, why would you not sail X?

M

I do not book any cruise that I can not pay for on the spot weither a year out or a month out.;) that includes air which we often book way ahead of time and insurance which we buy when we book plus a night before hotel.

 

That being said what does your post have to do with mine that you quoted:confused:it was about deposits

Sorry I was trying to to point out that I don't like to pay large deposit way ahead of time. I really can understand why folks do this. If you like to do this it's OK with me. But for me I don't like large deposits and it has no bearing on my ability to pay for the cruise when due.

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look at the prices, itinerary and service before making such a statement. If X , with no balcony discount was the same or cheaper than RCCL with Balcony discount, why would you not sail X?

 

M

True!! I love Celebrity and right now the 1,2,3, offer is better than any balcony discount that RCCL can offer. BTW, if the OP was going to cruise in March 2014 she was eligible for the offer. She could chose between, free beverage package, free gratuities or $200-$300 OBC. For longer cruises you can chose two of the offers. I hope RCCL will have an offer like this.

About the deposits, we booked our next Celebrity cruise on the AOS and they only charged us $200 per cabin. They also give you an OBC and an automatic upgrade within your room category (for example you pay the price of a C-3 but you are booked in a C-1). Again, those benefits are better than any balcony discount.

We cruise most of the time with RCCL and Celebrity, and we chose our cruises taking into consideration the itinerary, ship and service. We usually cruise with RCCL in the Caribbean and with Celebrity in Europe.