Price drops in the UK

I am sure that Celebrity also do not offer the same commission to UK travel agents as they do to those in the US. I often read on here (Cruise Critic) about all the OBC gained from a TA when booking cruises in the US. It just doesn't happen in the UK. When I recently booked my 5th cruise through the UK agent I always use I asked whether they could offer me any further incentives to keep using their agency. I was told that in the US the commission is enough for agents to pass some on to clients and still earn a good whack for themselves but it is not so in the UK. So there seems to be a further disparity.

Why can't all cruisers buying a Celebrity cruise be treated the same, and all travel agents too? It shouldn't matter which country you book in. Why are there no 'resident rates' in UK? I just don't get that one! I know we can choose where we book, but why should we have to make a choice to book in another country to be able to benefit from price drops - :confused::(

Can someone point me in the direction of the U.K. law or EU directive that prevents Celebrity U.K. customers from taking advantage of price drops or moving cabins please? I am not talking T&Cs, but the law that prevents Celebrity UK from giving us parity with Celebrity USA customers. Thanks in advance.

 

 

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It’s just Celebrity (and all UK cruise lines) are following industry practice amongst the travel industry of not honouring price drops for UK bookings. There is nothing forcing them but of course if they went it alone and honoured price drops then this just hits their bottom line. A Cruise friend booked a cruise this year with Celebrity and 2 weeks later they introduced an additional $200 on board credit. He emailed LLP to say he was disappointed and wouldn’t be booking so far out anymore. They gave him the OBC but then he is Elite Plus.

Another Uk cruise line a few years back brought in a promotion whereby if you booked one of the “Vantage” fares then if the price dropped before the sailing they would offer you OBC for the price difference or an appropriate upgrade. Guess what.......the Vantage fare never dropped but they brought in saver fares which were exempt from triggering a price drop under the Vantage fare Ts and Cs. They soon dropped this as people felt conned.

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There is not a law preventing Celebrity offering price drops

 

 

 

The same as there is no law requiring Celebrity to offer price drops except in these circumstances listed in the package holiday regulations.

 

 

 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2018/9780111168479/regulation/10

 

 

 

Good luck proving Celebrity's costs have dropped:confused:

 

 

 

Celebrity seems to have made a business decision not to offer price drops the same as most travel companies in the UK.

 

 

 

Some people seem to have been lucky in receiving price drops/OBC

Thank you for this. It does seem unfair that we cannot enjoy the same benefits as others.

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Thank you for this. It does seem unfair that we cannot enjoy the same benefits as others.

 

 

 

 

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I don't get posts like this to be honest.

You can book in the US if you like that deal. You can book in the UK which can be cheaper. You have the best of both worlds and in reality are able to potentially score better deals than anyone else.

You just need to do your homework, fully understand the differences in US and UK booking conditions to understand the pros and cons of both.

So why complain about things being unfair? It makes no sense to me.

As for resident, military, Over 55 rates, they might sound appealing until you take a look at the details. If you're zenith and have no interest in perks then they can be a good deal. But as they don't include any perks, sometimes the overall deal can be worse. :)

I don't get posts like this to be honest.

 

 

 

You can book in the US if you like that deal. You can book in the UK which can be cheaper. You have the best of both worlds and in reality are able to potentially score better deals than anyone else.

 

 

 

You just need to do your homework, fully understand the differences in US and UK booking conditions to understand the pros and cons of both.

 

 

 

So why complain about things being unfair? It makes no sense to me.

 

 

 

As for resident, military, Over 55 rates, they might sound appealing until you take a look at the details. If you're zenith and have no interest in perks then they can be a good deal. But as they don't include any perks, sometimes the overall deal can be worse. :)

My point is I shouldn’t have to book in the US. I am asking for parity when booking with Celebrity. I understand that you may get better details with a TA.

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My point is I shouldn’t have to book in the US. I am asking for parity when booking with Celebrity. I understand that you may get better details with a TA.

 

 

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Won't ever happen. ABTA and ATOL assurances need paying for. So you won't ever achieve parity.

People can't have their cake and eat it.

You can achieve a better deal with a UK based travel agent than if booking with Celebrity UK themselves, but the discounts are pretty minimal. But again, booking cruises can be cheaper in the UK. I guess you'd not want to achieve 'parity' in those instances. :)

Won't ever happen. ABTA and ATOL assurances need paying for. So you won't ever achieve parity.

 

 

 

People can't have their cake and eat it.

 

 

 

You can achieve a better deal with a UK based travel agent than if booking with Celebrity UK themselves, but the discounts are pretty minimal. But again, booking cruises can be cheaper in the UK. I guess you'd not want to achieve 'parity' in those instances. :)

I am certain that most people want the best deal. I have only ever cancelled one cruise and rebooked. It was after the Costa Concordia sinking. I lost £300 deposit on the original booking and saved a lot more than that on the rebooking. I had booked the cruise the day before.

Other nationalities do not have to lose their deposit to take advantage of price drops.

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I am certain that most people want the best deal. I have only ever cancelled one cruise and rebooked. It was after the Costa Concordia sinking. I lost £300 deposit on the original booking and saved a lot more than that on the rebooking. I had booked the cruise the day before.

 

Other nationalities do not have to lose their deposit to take advantage of price drops.

 

 

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All nationalities are able to rebook without losing their deposit before final payment date.

They simply book in a country that allows this.

Bit of a random question but we've recently been wondering if we should have booked 2 cruises instead of just the 1, whilst onboard. Would that take away any issues of whether you can get the price adjustments or not? I realise that you wouldn't necessarily be able to keep the same cabin number and it's reliant on there being availability in the same category, but would it be better to have half a chance than no chance of getting any price drops? Hope my questions makes sense :D.

You can book as many cruises as you want. You can even book one for a U.K. booking and one for a US booking whilst onboard (I have done this previously). As you say, on U.K. reservations, you take the chance that by moving the bookings that you don’t lose your chosen cabins, and I’d also check the price for the actual cruise before moving the reservation in case X state it’s for new bookings only and your ‘moved’ booking doesn’t qualify (not saying it won’t, but I’d definitely double check first ;)).

U.K. TAs can give discounts on the X listed prices. US TAs tend to give extra in refundable OBC, and obviously if you book a group rate it will also be cheaper ;). Just check, before booking in the US, that they do not charge a cancellation fee if you decide to cancel your cruise. We find the flexibility is far greater on our US bookings.

OP here. Well all of you helpful people have been proved right. Getting nothing, nada, zilch!

I don’t think I can bear to go back to the rollcall and read about yet another price drop that guests in the US are being allowed. $1000 for some!

 

 

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Sorry to hear that, but not surprised.

When booking onboard the new booking will default to the Travel Agency of your current cruise unless you specify differently. They will ask for address, agency no. and telephone number. If you choose a US agency you will pay the deposit in US$ otherwise choosing a UK agency or Celebrity UK you pay the deposit in GBP. You will not be able to switch an onboard booking from the UK to a US agency at a later date, we tried and failed.

Correct, you can’t change once the booking is made in a specific currency. The US$ stay as US bookings and the same happens with the sterling over here ;). However, you can book one of each, providing you specify at the time of booking onboard.

I don't get posts like this to be honest.

 

 

 

You can book in the US if you like that deal. You can book in the UK which can be cheaper. You have the best of both worlds and in reality are able to potentially score better deals than anyone else.

 

 

 

You just need to do your homework, fully understand the differences in US and UK booking conditions to understand the pros and cons of both.

 

 

 

So why complain about things being unfair? It makes no sense to me.

 

 

 

As for resident, military, Over 55 rates, they might sound appealing until you take a look at the details. If you're zenith and have no interest in perks then they can be a good deal. But as they don't include any perks, sometimes the overall deal can be worse. :)

It’s the same on many occasions with air fares...if you price up a round trip from London to a specific US destination and then take a look at the reverse R/T you will often find the US originating fare is cheaper. The airlines are selling into a different market so why should there be parity. The same apples to cars/automobiles.......just take a look at their price differences....the savings sometimes look mouthwatering

There are people who expect life to be fair.

They were misinformed.

Correct, you can’t change once the booking is made in a specific currency. The US$ stay as US bookings and the same happens with the sterling over here ;). However, you can book one of each, providing you specify at the time of booking onboard.

Don’t know if this is actual fact but we were told that unless you ALREADY have a US TA for them to send the booking to, you can’t book onboard in US$. They seem to prefer you to book with an agent from your country of origin but as long as you can give them details of your US TA they will allow you to send the booking to them. We have been asked before which agent did we want the booking to go to. Unfortunately not this time but I’m not blaming them, we should have given it more thought.

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There are people who expect life to be fair.

 

They were misinformed.

I have a friend with a huge private game ranch in South Africa. A lot of sport hunting takes place there. Most of his clients are from North America. His trophy price lists for those from the USA and Canada are up to 40% higher than lists he produces for European clients. Then he has lists for South Africans which are again considerably cheaper than those for EU countries.

Not fair, but that's the way some industries work. At least with Celebrity people appear to have a level playing field as they have options to book in different countries.

Everyone knows prices differ all over the world and it can work in your favour or against you, and yes that's life. But that's very different to non-refundable deposits, charges for making changes and not being able to access any price drops. Why should we have to try find a reputable T/A in another country to avoid this? Personally, we like to sit face to face with a t/a, and if there are any problems later on, we can go sit back in front of them again until it's resolved. (Believe me, spending months speaking to the Customer Services in India, of one of the largest holiday companies, trying to correct an error of their making, really makes you think twice about booking online or over the phone again. :()

We personally aren't complaining about possible price differences between countries, it's just about having the same administrative system as others that's all. I would be curious to know how many US cruisers use UK based travel agents?

Everyone knows prices differ all over the world and it can work in your favour or against you, and yes that's life. But that's very different to non-refundable deposits, charges for making changes and not being able to access any price drops. Why should we have to try find a reputable T/A in another country to avoid this? Personally, we like to sit face to face with a t/a, and if there are any problems later on, we can go sit back in front of them again until it's resolved. (Believe me, spending months speaking to the Customer Services in India, of one of the largest holiday companies, trying to correct an error of their making, really makes you think twice about booking online or over the phone again. :()

 

We personally aren't complaining about possible price differences between countries, it's just about having the same administrative system as others that's all. I would be curious to know how many US cruisers use UK based travel agents?

This is my thought precisely. There are many reasons for price differences between countries, and these are acceptable, but as quoted above, it is everything else on top of that.

Why can we not benefit from a price drop in the UK, or change cabins without penalty? These are the things that bug me, and I just do not see why, what difference would it make to Celebrity? :confused:

Don’t know if this is actual fact but we were told that unless you ALREADY have a US TA for them to send the booking to, you can’t book onboard in US$. They seem to prefer you to book with an agent from your country of origin but as long as you can give them details of your US TA they will allow you to send the booking to them. We have been asked before which agent did we want the booking to go to. Unfortunately not this time but I’m not blaming them, we should have given it more thought.

 

 

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I have always requested which TA I want my US booking to be sent to as I do my checks prior to boarding and know exactly what my deal will be (obviously providing prices don’t increase dramatically on embarkation day) ;).

You know which country it will be sent to as the currency quoted, by the onboard booking agent, will relate to the reservation.

Ah, you are obviously much more organised than us. It tends to be spontaneous and right at the end of the cruise we are on. Maybe we’ll take a leaf out of your book in future.

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Well we got nowhere with this as expected. No blame can be placed with our UK TA as I am sure they would have made every effort to get us the lower rate but it seems X UK are totally inflexible about this much discussed situation.

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Whether or not I am happy with the current position, Celebrity will stand shoulder to shoulder with other cruise lines operating out of the UK so I do not accept that they they are being inflexible - they will operate to the limit of what the local market conditions let them, after all they are a commercial enterprise. Why should they give UK originating passengers the same Ts & Cs as US originating passengers when commercial pressures don’t require them to do so.

So have we, but Princess will NOT take a U.K. resident’s booking via a US TA.

I recently booked a Princess cruise through a US travel agent - it was £400 less + the free drink package than the same cruise I booked with the £1 deposit promo here the other week. 3 days after booking it was cancelled for this reason so I cancelled my original booking as well - I understand the price differences but this was too much. I am Elite with Princess but enjoy Celebrity more now so book these with a US travel agent with no problems.