Doubled prices Shore excursions, drink packages, specialty restaurants

[cruise kipie]

This month I was looking for some nice excursions on our cruise (Eclipse, December 29). I made a list of our excursions with prices and description.

 

Today I looked on our login page and I saw that all prices of excursions are doubled!! And same prices in brochure.

 

For example:

Barbados, Green monkeys. Old price: 55,75 euro new price: 97,15 euro

Haiti: Sandbar getaway. Old price: 34,75 euro new price: 69 euro

St. Maarten ziplinen. Old price: 67 euro new price: 117 euro!!

And all prices are per person.

 

I looked on RCL website and there same prices, sometimes even some euros more expensive.

 

Other example: price of premium non alcoholic package was 183 euro and now 383 euro.

 

Price of specialty restaurant was about 20 euro, now 48 euro per person.

 

What happened?

[ghstudio]

This month I was looking for some nice excursions on our cruise (Eclipse, December 29). I made a list of our excursions with prices and description.

 

Today I looked on our login page and I saw that all prices of excursions are doubled!! And same prices in brochure.

 

For example:

Barbados, Green monkeys. Old price: 55,75 euro new price: 97,15 euro

Haiti: Sandbar getaway. Old price: 34,75 euro new price: 69 euro

St. Maarten ziplinen. Old price: 67 euro new price: 117 euro!!

And all prices are per person.

 

I looked on RCL website and there same prices, sometimes even some euros more expensive.

 

Other example: price of premium non alcoholic package was 183 euro and now 383 euro.

 

Price of specialty restaurant was about 20 euro, now 48 euro per person.

 

What happened?

 

Is it possible that the prices quoted were for 2 people? There is no way Celebrity could charge $40 for a specialty restaurant and charge $48 Euros for the same meal. Alternatively, of course, Celebrity's web site is well known for errors.

[cruise kipie]

Is it possible that the prices quoted were for 2 people? There is no way Celebrity could charge $40 for a specialty restaurant and charge $48 Euros for the same meal. Alternatively, of course, Celebrity's web site is well known for errors.

 

Good point, and I was thinking the same, but these are really prices for 1 person.

[ghstudio]

The US site is currently not working correctly...I can't make any dinner reservations or book tours on cruises in Jan/Feb next year. Your problem is likely tied into the US problem. Try again tomorrow.

[Alg63]

Prices quoted from one country to the other on the same ship are not always equal to the conversion rate. It may depend on the strength of the $ or the euro so someone from Europe or UK may pay more or less than someone from the US. Having worked in hotels our international pricing was always based on which markets we needed to attract and the strength of the currency.

[ghstudio]

Prices quoted from one country to the other on the same ship are not always equal to the conversion rate. It may depend on the strength of the $ or the euro so someone from Europe or UK may pay more or less than someone from the US. Having worked in hotels our international pricing was always based on which markets we needed to attract and the strength of the currency.

 

That thinking would lead to small adjustments...not double the price overnight unless Celebrity wants to write off any pre cruise sails in Europe....Likely something the new CEO doesn't want to do if he wants to keep his job. On the ship, everything is done in $'s and your conversion rate is whatever your credit card charges.

[Alg63]

Yes you are correct everything on board is quoted in $ but let me try clarify.. I managed a res dept for a group of hotels in Mauritius. It was very close to South Africa but the SA currency was weak. However Tour operators could fill charter planes so that market, and Italy ( before euro but also charter flights) got very low rates, often 50% less than the UK where the £ was strong or even France and Germany. Once the guests checked into the hotels, everyone paid the same price in the same currency for add ons, meals, etc.

 

Before the US recession when the $ was strong, Americans booking hotels in Europe would be paying very high prices. Not anymore because Europe depens on US visitors and numbers fell drastically. If you look at booking a French or Italian hotel now through a US website ex Expedia, hotels.com etc you are often ... Not always ...paying a heck of a lot less than either going direct to hotel website or even the European websites for Expedia or hotels.com ...

 

Conversely countries like South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, turkey have much cheaper rates for locals than for foreigners...

 

 

That's a little trade secret and the way the cookie crumbles....

[Lsimon]

...There is no way Celebrity could charge $40 for a specialty restaurant and charge $48 Euros for the same meal. Alternatively, of course, Celebrity's web site is well known for errors.

 

Great points.

I'd guess it is just system problems. Someone probably set up the latest exchange rate change in their system incorrectly. I'd call your local office and/or wait a few days and see if it is fixed.

[ghstudio]

Yes you are correct everything on board is quoted in $ but let me try clarify.. I managed a res dept for a group of hotels in Mauritius. It was very close to South Africa but the SA currency was weak. However Tour operators could fill charter planes so that market, and Italy ( before euro but also charter flights) got very low rates, often 50% less than the UK where the £ was strong or even France and Germany. Once the guests checked into the hotels, everyone paid the same price in the same currency for add ons, meals, etc.

 

Before the US recession when the $ was strong, Americans booking hotels in Europe would be paying very high prices. Not anymore because Europe depens on US visitors and numbers fell drastically. If you look at booking a French or Italian hotel now through a US website ex Expedia, hotels.com etc you are often ... Not always ...paying a heck of a lot less than either going direct to hotel website or even the European websites for Expedia or hotels.com ...

 

Conversely countries like South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, turkey have much cheaper rates for locals than for foreigners...

 

 

That's a little trade secret and the way the cookie crumbles....

 

One of the big differences is that today we have a world economy and the internet. Cruise passengers are not dumb and they have information at their fingertips. It would be crazy, the kind of crazy that would come up at a stockholder meeting crazy, for celebrity to double their prices for European customers, especially when they are now putting so many ships in Europe....and having to discount many of the cruises.

 

I choose that there is a computer glitch....I don't think the new CEO would blunder so badly in his first week or two.

[Alg63]

One of the big differences is that today we have a world economy and the internet. Cruise passengers are not dumb and they have information at their fingertips. It would be crazy, the kind of crazy that would come up at a stockholder meeting crazy, for celebrity to double their prices for European customers, especially when they are now putting so many ships in Europe....and having to discount many of the cruises.

 

I choose that there is a computer glitch....I don't think the new CEO would blunder so badly in his first week or two.

 

It may very well be a glitch but that does not stop the difference in pricing that can occur. You see even if a European looking at hotels.com or Expedia.com european website sees a lower price or same hotel (or cruise) on the hotels.com or Expedia.com US website... A lot of times you can't book it because it checks or country billing address. Global Internet economy. Smart programmers. a European logging into Expedia.com will be redirected automatically to the European site via IP routing

[Project_gal]

This month I was looking for some nice excursions on our cruise (Eclipse, December 29). I made a list of our excursions with prices and description.

 

Today I looked on our login page and I saw that all prices of excursions are doubled!! And same prices in brochure.

 

For example:

Barbados, Green monkeys. Old price: 55,75 euro new price: 97,15 euro

Haiti: Sandbar getaway. Old price: 34,75 euro new price: 69 euro

St. Maarten ziplinen. Old price: 67 euro new price: 117 euro!!

And all prices are per person.

 

I looked on RCL website and there same prices, sometimes even some euros more expensive.

 

Other example: price of premium non alcoholic package was 183 euro and now 383 euro.

 

Price of specialty restaurant was about 20 euro, now 48 euro per person.

 

What happened?

 

As we are on the same cruise, I checked the one excursion I had already booked. The price has increased from £67.50 to £68.75. I also checked OBC which I had purcahsed recently. The price had increased from £15.70 to £15.90. It is clear that Celebrity have done of their periodic exchange rate changes and it has hit at a time when the Euro/Dollar rate is particularily bad for the Euro.

 

It is clear that Celebrity, in line with most large corporations trading in the global market, set their exchange rates for a period rather than change them daily. When they set new rates, they have to consider their recent FX experience [i.e. what the currencies have cost them and how much of that currency they have received], the current rates and how they believe exchange rates will change in the near future. I watch the exchange rates daily and can see how their future expectations for the Euro would be pessimistic!

 

I posted about a week ago about the sterling price for OBC because I felt that it would be changing for the worse soon! It had stayed the same for about 6 months. It seems that my gut-feeling was correct!

 

Sue

[ghstudio]

these are understandable changes....double the cost was not rational.

[Project_gal]

these are understandable changes....double the cost was not rational.

 

Yes, agreed but then, compared to the sterling prices, the original euro prices quoted seem low - as far as I can tell. I also noted that, in sterling, some of the excursions seemed very cheap before the price increases. For example, the submarine tour in Barbados was less that the cost of purchasing direct from the tour operator. Something I had not seen before.

 

Moral of the story - I do not think that we can second guess Celebrity's pricing policy or the errors they may or may not make. If you are not from the US, purchase something in advance if it looks like you are getting a good price. Otherwise, wait until you are on board.

 

Sue

[biker1972]

Glitches happen. Perhaps the glitch was the original price as Project_gal has noted. We do know that prices are subject to change and if we don't like a price we don't purchase. If there was an error in the original price, will the seller honor that price for anyone who purchased before it went up? That becomes the real question. We all grouse when we miss a sale because no one wants to pay retail, but if the price is too high we can say "no!"