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Paying the price for early booking.


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We had booked a 12 day Med cruise with X . We chose this cruise mainly because the itinerary had many places we had not gone to before. Several weeks later X then have offers on the same cruise, free WiFi for two people and $200 together with the Classic Drinks package that was originally on offer, which left us feeling frustrated. We had booked this cruise through a travel agent and on the face of it looked like a good deal until we saw the offer. We had paid a deposit but we looked at what could be done by looking at a new booking with the new offers. To cut a long story short we ended up with a better cabin, the offers on the cruise and a better a saving on our flights by doing it ourselves. It’s not always best to book straight away .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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That's always a risk when ever you book.

Best advise I can give is when you get onboard book a Cruise Now which is a future cruise. The advantage is it will cost you essentially nothing as they give you back Onboard Credit equal to the deposit at exchange rate of $1.69 to 1GBP (Significantly better than the current rate of $1.27 to 1GBP) Not only does the future cruise cost you zero you will make a profit on the exchange rate, its a win win for us Brits.

You will also be able to change the future cruise ship/date at any time before final payment as many times as you like without incurring any charges or fees.

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That's always a risk when ever you book.

 

Best advise I can give is when you get onboard book a Cruise Now which is a future cruise. The advantage is it will cost you essentially nothing as they give you back Onboard Credit equal to the deposit at exchange rate of $1.69 to 1GBP (Significantly better than the current rate of $1.27 to 1GBP) Not only does the future cruise cost you zero you will make a profit on the exchange rate, its a win win for us Brits.

 

You will also be able to change the future cruise ship/date at any time before final payment as many times as you like without incurring any charges or fees.

 

 

 

Cheers Mickey, we already have an Azamara cruise booked for 2020.

 

 

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I'm not sure the same rules apply in the UK but here in the US if you see a better offer or price, you simply call your agent and have them call Celebrity to adjust the price to the new promotion. I currently have a November sailing to New Zealand and Australia where the price has been adjusted twice. Total savings was $340 per person. I lost no benefits (Go Best) or shipboard credit.

A good agent will check periodically for you and give you the good news if the price was adjusted.

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I'm not sure the same rules apply in the UK but here in the US if you see a better offer or price, you simply call your agent and have them call Celebrity to adjust the price to the new promotion. I currently have a November sailing to New Zealand and Australia where the price has been adjusted twice. Total savings was $340 per person. I lost no benefits (Go Best) or shipboard credit.

A good agent will check periodically for you and give you the good news if the price was adjusted.

In the UK we have to pay a non-refundable deposit whether we book with Celebrity UK or a Travel Agent. Booking onboard is different as mickey89 explained above. We also are able to book via the USA and then we get the same deals as you but at the moment most if not all Celebrity cruises are cheaper booked in the UK than via the USA by a significant amount. Typically Silhouette in November 9 Night cruise is £500 ($640) cheaper in UK than a quote from your Big Box cruise outlet in the States but in the UK we don't get price drops and we lose deposit if we cancel.

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I'm not sure the same rules apply in the UK but here in the US if you see a better offer or price, you simply call your agent and have them call Celebrity to adjust the price to the new promotion. I currently have a November sailing to New Zealand and Australia where the price has been adjusted twice. Total savings was $340 per person. I lost no benefits (Go Best) or shipboard credit.

A good agent will check periodically for you and give you the good news if the price was adjusted.

 

Different rules apply in UK. It is unlikely that we would benefit from price drops

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Cheers Mickey, we already have an Azamara cruise booked for 2020.

 

I think you maybe missing the point I was making.

Book an onboard cruise say a 14 night / suite, the deposit will be £207 and they will give you $350 back to spend on your current cruise. You can then cancel the cruise at any time and there is no liability either way. You just made £68 profit.

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Can anyone from the UK explain to us why non-refundable deposits are the norm in the UK?

 

Is it due to governmental laws or regulations?

No its not the law but we have had little choice but to accept their T&C.

More recently the 2015 UK Consumer Rights Act emphasised that for a company to retain a deposit it must be viewed as fair and if the product can easily be resold then the deposit should be refundable. The UK companies rely on the fact that it will be too costly to challenge and our Government has been too slow to protect us the consumer, maybe things will change but I for one wouldn't be holding my breath.

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Although I’m now retired, and people think that since I live in Fla, I’d be watching and jumping on discounted cruises, I end up booking a year or so ahead most times. The cruises I like aren’t the ones that drop prices to add passengers, usually the opposite.

 

And once I book, I may keep an eye out a bit, but I don’t really track it closely. Unless I want a better SR location.

 

Where I live is 7+hrs from the S Fla ports so not that close; I only cruise Caribbean for the onboard experience (here our beaches are pure white and better than any island; our restaurants are better and I can buy Chinese stuff here as well as there!).

 

And when we cruise, we usually add pre/post stays and fly which takes early planning. So yes, booking early can have issues, but for many, it’s the way to do it. And I just Love planning and thinking about it, for me that’s a big part of it.

 

Den

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I'm not sure the same rules apply in the UK but here in the US if you see a better offer or price, you simply call your agent and have them call Celebrity to adjust the price to the new promotion. I currently have a November sailing to New Zealand and Australia where the price has been adjusted twice. Total savings was $340 per person. I lost no benefits (Go Best) or shipboard credit.

A good agent will check periodically for you and give you the good news if the price was adjusted.

 

 

 

This is not available in the UK .

 

 

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It’s not always best to book straight away.

 

While cabin availability provides a small indication of what might happen with a cruise’s prices, unfortunately there a no hard and fast rules to help us know when is best to book.

 

Our Celebrity cruise has only increased in price since I booked and last I checked (about a week ago) it was coming out at over NZ$1000 more per person with only one perk (vs. the 2 I have booked).

 

In saying that, I can sympathise with your frustration regarding non-refundable deposits. I cancelled an MSC cruise when, over a year before the cruise, the port I was most excited about was replaced with one I had been to and wasn’t interested in doing again. Even though the cruise had changed from the one I booked, I lost my deposit. Legally they could take it, but ethically I felt I deserved better.

Right or wrong, it’s soured me off MSC and I guess that is the risk these cruise companies take when setting such rigid T&Cs.

 

I hope once the sting of losing your deposit has worn off, you enjoy your new, improved booking.

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While cabin availability provides a small indication of what might happen with a cruise’s prices, unfortunately there a no hard and fast rules to help us know when is best to book.

 

Our Celebrity cruise has only increased in price since I booked and last I checked (about a week ago) it was coming out at over NZ$1000 more per person with only one perk (vs. the 2 I have booked).

 

In saying that, I can sympathise with your frustration regarding non-refundable deposits. I cancelled an MSC cruise when, over a year before the cruise, the port I was most excited about was replaced with one I had been to and wasn’t interested in doing again. Even though the cruise had changed from the one I booked, I lost my deposit. Legally they could take it, but ethically I felt I deserved better.

Right or wrong, it’s soured me off MSC and I guess that is the risk these cruise companies take when setting such rigid T&Cs.

 

I hope once the sting of losing your deposit has worn off, you enjoy your new, improved booking.

 

 

 

It has actually cost us less because the flights were cheaper when we booked them ourselves and we now have a concierge aft cabin as opposed to a sweet 16 cabin.

 

 

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No its not the law but we have had little choice but to accept their T&C.

More recently the 2015 UK Consumer Rights Act emphasised that for a company to retain a deposit it must be viewed as fair and if the product can easily be resold then the deposit should be refundable. The UK companies rely on the fact that it will be too costly to challenge and our Government has been too slow to protect us the consumer, maybe things will change but I for one wouldn't be holding my breath.

Is this the case with all cruise lines? If so, then I am really surprised that competitive market forces have not loosened up these practices.

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We had booked a 12 day Med cruise with X . We chose this cruise mainly because the itinerary had many places we had not gone to before. Several weeks later X then have offers on the same cruise, free WiFi for two people and $200 together with the Classic Drinks package that was originally on offer, which left us feeling frustrated. We had booked this cruise through a travel agent and on the face of it looked like a good deal until we saw the offer. We had paid a deposit but we looked at what could be done by looking at a new booking with the new offers. To cut a long story short we ended up with a better cabin, the offers on the cruise and a better a saving on our flights by doing it ourselves. It’s not always best to book straight away .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Surely it’s a case of some you win and some you lose. I may buy a new dress and then a couple of months later it is reduced in the sale. Just bad luck.

 

 

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Not sure how rules apply and if you made final payment

I have called twice to get our TA re-rated..saving about $1k total so far

There are no perks with TAs and the cash-back from the agent is imho not worth overpaying

Is it a wash--perhaps -- However I rather pay less for the cruise (and fees/charges)

 

Call your agent-- If you haven't made your final payment you have a chance to fix it

 

BTW-- on one cruise-- the cabins above us were going for LESS after we paid AND X had not given us the Captains Club upgrade ( didn't know I needed to ask--had expected that anything due us for loyalty would be applied without asking)--so we were able to get moved to a better cabin (rather than re-rated) on that sailing

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Not sure how rules apply and if you made final payment

I have called twice to get our TA re-rated..saving about $1k total so far

There are no perks with TAs and the cash-back from the agent is imho not worth overpaying

Is it a wash--perhaps -- However I rather pay less for the cruise (and fees/charges)

 

Call your agent-- If you haven't made your final payment you have a chance to fix it

 

BTW-- on one cruise-- the cabins above us were going for LESS after we paid AND X had not given us the Captains Club upgrade ( didn't know I needed to ask--had expected that anything due us for loyalty would be applied without asking)--so we were able to get moved to a better cabin (rather than re-rated) on that sailing

 

 

 

We have learned a lesson in terms of booking sooner rather than later and if future we will wait for the best deal we can get.

 

 

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We have learned a lesson in terms of booking sooner rather than later and if future we will wait for the best deal we can get.

 

 

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We have cruised X many times now and as yet have not lost out by booking early, often as the itinerary comes out. I do monitor prices and they have always gone up not down. In some cases the rise has been over £1,000.

 

In addition by monitoring flights we tend to find booking about 8 months out gives us the best deal for both European and world wide flights....Certainly last minute flight bookings are never cheap!

 

Re pre and post cruise hotels we also tend to book early. We have a top suite room in a Barcelona hotel for our September cruise for what they are charging now for a standard room.

 

Finally I must agree with Denny01....If you book early you get the exact room you want and can then start to plan and look forward. I am sure at some stage what has happened to you will happen to us, we will book a cruise and it will come down in price. If it does, so be it. I must have felt at the time of booking that the cruise was worth what I had agreed to pay so that is it....I would probably phone X to see if they would upgrade or offer a little OBC to soften the blow but it wouldn’t be an issue if they couldn’t....

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Different rules apply in UK. It is unlikely that we would benefit from price drops

 

It all depends on the individual circumstances of your specific cruise. I've chosen to cancel and rebook four days after booking because the new deal made it worthwhile.

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We booked a cruise onboard Solstice at the beginning of July’18 we received classic drink, WIFI and $100onboard spend. We booked. At the time of booking the classic drinks and WIFI were also on offer to all future bookings on/off board. The price was the same but we got $100onboard spend and a lower deposit £89 (compared to £300 in the UK) so a little booking bonus but not as good as recent years.

 

A few weeks after returning to the UK (late July), the price dropped with both the drinks and WiFi bonus still being offered. We could now save almost £450 off the cost we were currently paying although we would lose the deposit and onboard spend but that still meant we were about £310 better off. I cancelled then rebooked. We’ve now had to pay the larger deposit but the cost saving meant it was crazy not to. Celebrity allowed us to keep the same cabin, on the hump, so save for time wasted and the £89 deposit which we had already paid out we saved a fair bit of money and still kept our preferred cabin on our preferred sailing. The UK vs. USA cancellation terms are pretty shoddy but the US market is a much bigger than the UK so I guess they have to offer those perks to keep pace. I’ve never seen the price drop so much or the purported peaks onboard be the same 11 1/2 months out but I was content when I booked! I was also content to lose the lower deposit so save a fair bit overall this has never happened before. This is the first time any of our future cruise have dropped in price so up to press we’ve always been lucky - but I always monitor the price and this time it didn’t make sense to stick, if we could keep the same cabin - which they allowed us to do.

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We have cruised X many times now and as yet have not lost out by booking early, often as the itinerary comes out. I do monitor prices and they have always gone up not down. In some cases the rise has been over £1,000.

 

 

 

In addition by monitoring flights we tend to find booking about 8 months out gives us the best deal for both European and world wide flights....Certainly last minute flight bookings are never cheap!

 

 

 

Re pre and post cruise hotels we also tend to book early. We have a top suite room in a Barcelona hotel for our September cruise for what they are charging now for a standard room.

 

 

 

Finally I must agree with Denny01....If you book early you get the exact room you want and can then start to plan and look forward. I am sure at some stage what has happened to you will happen to us, we will book a cruise and it will come down in price. If it does, so be it. I must have felt at the time of booking that the cruise was worth what I had agreed to pay so that is it....I would probably phone X to see if they would upgrade or offer a little OBC to soften the blow but it wouldn’t be an issue if they couldn’t....

 

 

 

We to have cruised with X many times and I can remember being told to book as early as possible with the offer of on board credit. Where I think it is changing is that there are many established and new cruise lines all vying for your business and if cruises are not filling fast enough deals are introduced. In our situation we booked the cruise with an included drinks package then a new offer comes out with free WiFi, drinks package a on board credit. We contacted our travel agent who contacted X, nothing could be done. After booking the same cruise under far better terms , for less money, with a better class of cabin and then cancelling our original cruise was a no brainer.

 

 

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Is this the case with all cruise lines? If so, then I am really surprised that competitive market forces have not loosened up these practices.

 

Yes it’s the same. The UK is a much smaller market then the US but many UK citizens like to cruise and as we’ve never known anything different we book and pay.

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Yes it’s the same. The UK is a much smaller market then the US but many UK citizens like to cruise and as we’ve never known anything different we book and pay.

 

If you're in the UK you are very lucky. You have access to both the UK and US markets. You can choose to book in the UK or in the US. In recent times the UK market has been cheaper than booking in the US, particularly if it's a UK or EU based sailing. On occasion some Caribbean sailings departing out of Miami have been cheaper to book in the UK.

 

There are many threads on here covering this topic. It might be worth some people running a few searches and reading the relevant threads.

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Is this the case with all cruise lines? If so, then I am really surprised that competitive market forces have not loosened up these practices.

 

Interestingly enough, Celebrity is now "offering" non-refundable deposits on some cruises when booking thru the future cruise desk on board. I just booked one while on Equinox. For sometime Azamara has been charging a $50 change fee. I think I've read recently of parent RCCL toying with various non-refundable deposit approaches. I suspect the fully refundable deposit is not long for this world.

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Interestingly enough, Celebrity is now "offering" non-refundable deposits on some cruises when booking thru the future cruise desk on board. I just booked one while on Equinox. For sometime Azamara has been charging a $50 change fee. I think I've read recently of parent RCCL toying with various non-refundable deposit approaches. I suspect the fully refundable deposit is not long for this world.

In the US market, in addition to fully refundable deposits, RCI has had non-refundable deposits since early 2016, if I remember correctly.

 

Celebrity added non-refundable deposits in late 2016 or early 2017, but in June 2018 stopped offering non-refundable deposits on most if not all cruises. This may or may not be a temporary stoppage.

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