Mediterranean cruise - Celebrity pricing?

[spencersmama]

It's funny you say that, because we've been wanting to do Alaska which for whatever reason when I look at airfare is always $$

 

I don't know why - maybe it's regional? We went to Alaska four years ago. We flew into Anchorage and flew back from Vancouver. We did a week on land on our own with a rental car and then did a southbound cruise. I used FF miles for the flight for that one. This one is round trip out of Vancouver. I used FF miles for this round of tickets, too, but sort of regretted it this spring. I found RT tickets from Orlando to Vancouver for $400 and from Orlando to Seattle for $250 during a spring sale. (You can take an amtrack train from Seattle to Vancouver. Of course, that would have added a travel day on each side.) But, we are leaving out of the small regional airport in our town, which would add expense to a ticket, but is so much more convenient for us. If I know I am going to use FF miles, I try to book as soon as the dates become available since we need so many tickets. Meanwhile, the cheapest I've seen Europe for the height of summer is around $1600.

 

That last Alaskan vacation was such a bargain! I did tons of planning and we avoided the touristy areas. We stayed in a cabin with three double beds right outside of Denali for $110/night when the cruise ship owned hotels were asking $400+/night. We ate a good, local restaurants with prices no higher than what I pay at home. for our cruise we shared an large inside cabin - $499 each for DH and I and $99 for each of the kids on HA. We don't gamble or drink, so our only extras were a few sodas and gratuities. I was surprised at how inexpensively we did that trip. Of course, we didn't take a helicopter ride to land on a glacier! But we did see a lot of beautiful scenery and learned a lot about the culture of the native people.

[Terpnut]

OP,

...

 

At this point, most of the cruises I've booked ahead of time haven't changed price. The Reflection cruise that I took in Feb 2013 did not go down for the category that I booked. ...

Please remember that cruise lines almost never lower the price on the specific stateroom categories, especially after final payment, specifically so they won't have to honor price drops. The price drops are now almost always in the guarantees. And to repeat, even with guarantees, you can get assignments immediately and maneuver your way to more desirable staterooms, even after final payment!

[spencersmama]

OP,

 

Lastly, you mentioned that you are a family of five. I recommend that you look into one of the FV Balcony cabins. They are at the very front of the ship, so if there is a probability of sea-sickness you may not want one, but they offer a larger cabin, including two bedrooms - one with a king bed and one with two bunks, plus the couch is then used as a bed for one person. They have a small dining table in the room along with the couch and chair. They offer a lot of space. The cost for the first two people is higher than a standard balcony, but the cost for passengers 3, 4 and 5 is a good price. For a similar trip, we are actually still debating between the rooms we have booked (an inside and a balcony) and switching to the FV. The pricing is very similar.

 

I thought about booking one of those. I couldn't check the price online, but was going to have the TA check into it. We are actually a family of four, but my mother usually travels with us as well. I'm not sure she'd want to sleep in that little second bedroom with my daughter. :D On the cruise we have booked next month, she has her own cabin, even though there was no discount on a single traveler in the room. She wanted her own space and decided it was worth the extra $$. (I certainly can't blame her for that one!)

 

I also wondered about the one bathroom situation. Especially on a port-intensive cruise, it would be nice to have extra bathrooms to get ready in the morning.

[Terpnut]

I thought about booking one of those. I couldn't check the price online, but was going to have the TA check into it. We are actually a family of four, but my mother usually travels with us as well. I'm not sure she'd want to sleep in that little second bedroom with my daughter. :D On the cruise we have booked next month, she has her own cabin, even though there was no discount on a single traveler in the room. She wanted her own space and decided it was worth the extra $$. (I certainly can't blame her for that one!)

 

I also wondered about the one bathroom situation. Especially on a port-intensive cruise, it would be nice to have extra bathrooms to get ready in the morning.

We are a family of four too, except our kids are just a bit younger (14 & 12). I think you hit the nail on the head with the bathroom issue. We've cruised over a dozen times with our kids since they were infants and one thing we've decided is that we highly prefer the functionality and value of two connecting or adjoining regular staterooms over a single suite and family oceanview stateroom for several reasons:

 

1. More total space, including balcony space

2. Two bathrooms (one for mommy and one for everyone else :))

3. More privacy for mom & dad

4. Lower overall cost

5. More choices for stateroom locations on-board

 

:)

[cruiser87654321]

Just a heads up to those families booking separate (even connecting rooms) they may not be on the same muster station.

[hansolosmom]

So what sailing are you on? Every one of Reflection's July sailings are currently between $1,149 to $1,999pp verandah guarantees (that's under $4k per verandah for even the most expensive July sailing), but more importantly, the pricing has been even lower at some point over the past few weeks. And the irony is, Reflection seems to be selling well compared to X's other itineraries!

 

If you have been reading my other posts carefully, you should know that, when you book after final payment, you can book guarantees AND request immediate and specific stateroom assignments! For example, as a family of four, we requested and got adjoining staterooms. And thanks to a great travel agent, we got all the promos too. So it is possible to have your cake and eat it to.

 

But my main point again is: For the lowest pricing on the majority of Med itineraries this summer season, you definitely must book within 6-10 weeks immediately prior to sailing!

 

It's 4k if I have 2 people in the room - I have more than 2 people going. For the July 8 sailing do a search for 4 people in a veranda. It's comes up around 8k or 5500 if I do a guarantee.

Like I said in my post I paid 6k yes 500 more than the guarantee with 4 people. But I got to choose my room so I could get what I wanted & not settle. That's terrific you got adjoining rooms but that might not always be the case. Sorry I'm not one of those people who will let their kids be down the hall or on another floor. I guess the point is it might work for some people but not me.

[hansolosmom]

I don't know why - maybe it's regional? We went to Alaska four years ago. We flew into Anchorage and flew back from Vancouver. We did a week on land on our own with a rental car and then did a southbound cruise. I used FF miles for the flight for that one. This one is round trip out of Vancouver. I used FF miles for this round of tickets, too, but sort of regretted it this spring. I found RT tickets from Orlando to Vancouver for $400 and from Orlando to Seattle for $250 during a spring sale. (You can take an amtrack train from Seattle to Vancouver. Of course, that would have added a travel day on each side.) But, we are leaving out of the small regional airport in our town, which would add expense to a ticket, but is so much more convenient for us. If I know I am going to use FF miles, I try to book as soon as the dates become available since we need so many tickets. Meanwhile, the cheapest I've seen Europe for the height of summer is around $1600.

 

That last Alaskan vacation was such a bargain! I did tons of planning and we avoided the touristy areas. We stayed in a cabin with three double beds right outside of Denali for $110/night when the cruise ship owned hotels were asking $400+/night. We ate a good, local restaurants with prices no higher than what I pay at home. for our cruise we shared an large inside cabin - $499 each for DH and I and $99 for each of the kids on HA. We don't gamble or drink, so our only extras were a few sodas and gratuities. I was surprised at how inexpensively we did that trip. Of course, we didn't take a helicopter ride to land on a glacier! But we did see a lot of beautiful scenery and learned a lot about the culture of the native people.

 

That sounds awesome. When I looked at flt costs before booking this one it was cheaper to fly to Europe. I wonder if its because we have NYC. & DC close by which makes it a little more competitive pricing for overseas as opposed to going west.

[iancal]

We have done Celebrity Med cruises for the past two years. Why? The prices were the lowest that we had ever seen them...both at or under $100 day for a balcony. We booked when our $100. day price hit...just inside and just outside the final payment date. We would not book too far ahead for a Med cruise in these uncertain economic times. And if we did, we would carefully monitor for price decreased or category upgrades.

I think the pricing was attributable to the economy and to the unfounded concerns about unrest in Greece. Same thing for our TA last fall.

 

We have also found that airline fares 60 days out are just as, or more competitive that fares 5 or 6 months out. We can sometimes get airline point tickets thirty days out when we were not able to get them six months out. Lufthansa for one, releases seat into the point pool if demand is low. We also find that there are bargains to be had depending on where you live. We went from Toronto-Porto, Portugal for $258. one way last fall, and then went from Porto-Rome for $100. The savings that we realized helped pay for our week in the Porto area.

[CathyCruises]

I always book very close to the final payment date after getting burned few years ago. On our recent TA, I watched prices and availability very carefully. I wanted to be in a midship balcony cabin. Every weekend, Celebrity would lower prices by several hundred dollars, then it went back up on Monday--this went on for weeks. The cheapest balconies were $699 (15 day cruise). I found a 1B in a perfect location for $50 more and finally booked it because there were only two cabins in my preferred location, ON the hump. The cheapest those balcony guarantees ever got was $679, and they were either way forward or way aft, so I was very happy with my choice and my decision to spend the extra $70/pp for that long a cruise.

 

In my experience, if prices drop significantly after final payment, you can only upgrade if you pay more, even if it's only $1; they won't let you upgrade even if you don't ask for a refund--so it pays to book a lower category cabin so you have some flexibility.

[Terpnut]

...

 

In my experience, if prices drop significantly after final payment, you can only upgrade if you pay more, even if it's only $1; they won't let you upgrade even if you don't ask for a refund--so it pays to book a lower category cabin so you have some flexibility.

This is a very good point and precisely why, when doing my post final-payment guarantee strategy, that I always book the lowest Cat X balcony guarantee first, and then upgrade my way up as pricing and availability changes. I've found that the low-priced CC, AC and suite guarantees seem to be offered up later. :)

[Terpnut]

It's 4k if I have 2 people in the room - I have more than 2 people going. For the July 8 sailing do a search for 4 people in a veranda. It's comes up around 8k or 5500 if I do a guarantee.

Like I said in my post I paid 6k yes 500 more than the guarantee with 4 people. But I got to choose my room so I could get what I wanted & not settle. That's terrific you got adjoining rooms but that might not always be the case. Sorry I'm not one of those people who will let their kids be down the hall or on another floor. I guess the point is it might work for some people but not me.

As of this moment, you can book a Concierge Class stateroom on your sailing for just $1,299 per person. Or if you prefer Aqua Class, they're giving that away for $1,399 per person. And again, you can get your stateroom either adjoining or very closeby because you do have some control over which rooms you get assigned (I too don't want my kids anywhere but next door and yet I book guarantees!)! So I can book four of you right now into two CC staterooms for under $5,300, taxes included. I wouldn't consider that "settling" to get two staterooms versus one, flexibility on location, upgrade up to Concierge Class with amenities, and save over $700.00 to boot. Plus, if you didn't get the 123Go promo, I think you'd get that too on top of everything else!

 

My intention is not to make you feel bad, but I was trying to wake people up to the point that it is NOT a good idea to book in advance anymore if price is of any concern at all. This has been the pattern for X this entire season--best deals for last-minute bookers only.

[Terpnut]

We have jumped onto the last minute bandwagon too. Our Mediterranean cruise leaving next week was booked about a month ago, concierge guarantee for $1099 on the Silhouette for 11 nights. Airfare was slightly higher than if we had been watching for the best price for 9 months but still not too high to wipe out our savings on the cruise. We had originally booked a similar 12 night itinerary for $1799 for a balcony. As far as private excursions, everything we wanted was available and easy to book.

....

BTW, I just made the connection with your username! You are the one who started the roll call for Silhouette's 7/19 sailing but obviously switched to the earlier sailing! I'm on the "similar 12-night itinerary" you are talking about! LOL

 

FWIW, the best CC guarantee on our 7/19 12-night sailing bottomed at $1,299 pp so I think you made a good call! But you could've stayed with us for not too much more! ;-)

 

Anyhow, I'll remove you from our roll call! Have a great trip and keep Silhouette in good shape for us! :)

[lhall85917]

BTW, I just made the connection with your username! You are the one who started the roll call for my 7/19 sailing but you've obviously switched to the earlier one! That's the "similar 12-night itinerary" you are talking about! LOL

 

FWIW, the best CC guarantee on our 7/19 12-night sailing bottomed at $1,299 pp so I think you made a good call! But you could've stayed with us for not much more. ;-)

 

Anyhow, I'll remove you from our roll call! Have a great trip and keep Silhouette in good shape for us! :)

 

LOL, I noticed yours when the July roll call update came. We actually cancelled a while ago and booked a land tour to Holland this spring and one to China in August. We were so disappointed in the Holland tour we came home, cancelled China and found the best deal for this itinerary! Very excited for our first Celebrity cruise and for this great itinerary! It is a nice mix of new and returning ports for us!

[Terpnut]

LOL, I noticed yours when the July roll call update came. We actually cancelled a while ago and booked a land tour to Holland this spring and one to China in August. We were so disappointed in the Holland tour we came home, cancelled China and found the best deal for this itinerary! Very excited for our first Celebrity cruise and for this great itinerary! It is a nice mix of new and returning ports for us!

We spent three weeks in China last summer and it was probably the worst vacation we've ever had. Hated most of it. And I'm Chinese! LOL

 

You will not regret sailing the beautiful Mediterranean in July versus visiting China in August. China is simply AWFUL in the summer--hot, humid, poor air quality, did I mention hot and humid??? :mad: :D If you must go, go during the spring or fall and do NOT go in the summer. Think of the worst Florida (or Alabama) hot, humid summer days (it's worse), and add in horrendous, unbreathable air pollution to boot.

 

Anyhow, safe travels! :)

[happy 2 b cruising]

I have gotten a fantastic education from all of your posts how the Celebrity travel game is played. I am also the book early type person because of a Kennel for the dog and hurricane season in Florida. In seven cruises never was lucky enough to get any promotions. We are booked May 2014 on the Silhouette, did this onboard this past April. The price for Aqua is the highest we have ever seen for a 13 night cruise, hopefully it will drop before final payment. Will use your advice and never book early again unless we win the Lottery:)

[Terpnut]

I have gotten a fantastic education from all of your posts how the Celebrity travel game is played. I am also the book early type person because of a Kennel for the dog and hurricane season in Florida. In seven cruises never was lucky enough to get any promotions. We are booked May 2014 on the Silhouette, did this onboard this past April. The price for Aqua is the highest we have ever seen for a 13 night cruise, hopefully it will drop before final payment. Will use your advice and never book early again unless we win the Lottery:)

To be clear, I'm not recommending that you never book early. In fact, you have nothing to lose (except for the time value of your deposit money). I do recommend however that you watch for price drops regularly and be prepared to cancel your booking before final payment IF circumstances indicate that your particular sailing is selling slowly. And then when the prices drop like a brick, rebook that same cruise in the 6-10 week window just prior to your sailing!

[happy 2 b cruising]

To be clear, I'm not recommending that you never book early. In fact, you have nothing to lose (except for the time value of your deposit money). I do recommend however that you watch for price drops regularly and be prepared to cancel your booking before final payment IF circumstances indicate that your particular sailing is selling slowly. And then when the prices drop like a brick, rebook that same cruise in the 6-10 week window just prior to your sailing!

 

The best I can hope for right now is to see how much OBC my TA will give me, when I asked her for a amount I was told it depended on the sailing and wouldn't give me a amount because she was to busy selling fire sales for 2013. From what I learned on the boards it only depends on the total of the cruise before taxes & port charges and they figure what % to give you. In your experience what kind of OBC should I be receiving for a 13 night cruise totaling $6,500 before taxes & port charges? Appreciate your help.

[lovestx]

Thanks for the great tips and for giving me another tutorial in booking strategies:)

 

We are considering booking a June '14 trip on Equinox or Connie having loved our Equinox Eastern Med a year ago this weekend (a year ago tonight, I was 'sleeping' on an overnight flight to Rome!!!). I was thinking we'd be smart to book the two AQ cabins we want and then watch the pricing. Figure I can always cancel and rebook if prices drop. But I do remember when I did that last year, I did pay some sort of penalty.....Booked in November, cancelled in January to get a better deal, sailed in June. Can someone remind me about the deposit policy??

[Xfer2]

But my main point again is: For the lowest pricing on the majority of Med itineraries this summer season, you definitely must book within 6-10 weeks immediately prior to sailing!

 

I was all ready to pull the trigger on Reflection's October Med sailing, combining Celebrity Choice Air's $600 saving and TA's free-gratuities, until I read this post! Now I don't know if I should book or wait until final-payment!

 

To be honest, the current promotion is not a bad price. The $600 Choice Air credit (per cabin) makes it essentially $1250/pp for a balcony gaurantee for the 10-nt cruise. But it seems like $100/nt (or less) pricing can be had if I wait?! My biggest fear is that even if the cruise price goes down after final-payment, the airfare will be higher and negate any savings, as the airfare is very good right now ($1050 from San Francisco to Rome). This is my first trip to Europe so I have no idea what to expect in terms of airfare.

 

So what would do YOU do? Wait or book?

 

(I should say that there's only 2 of us, and we're not particular about cabin category/location :p)

[Friend100]

... I was trying to wake people up to the point that it is NOT a good idea to book in advance anymore if price is of any concern at all. This has been the pattern for X this entire season--best deals for last-minute bookers only.

 

Terpnut, thanks for sharing your insight on pricing strategy. Based on your experience, do you see the same pattern for Caribbean cruises for X too? What about other mainstream lines?

[lovemylab]

I am not having many issues with tour companies because most of them are also seeing fewer bookings this season. It all seems to go hand in hand!

 

I can assure you that she did not get the best pricing by booking early. I have been watching the pricing on many of X's summer Med sailings like a hawk, and nearly every long cruise (i.e. 10 or more nights) has had a post final-payment price drop in the range of a 40-60%. For example, a verandah guarantee on our 7/19 sailing is currently $1,099 pp! How about an Aqua Class guarantee for $1,499pp? A verandah guarantee on the Reflection's 7/19 sailing is currently only $1,149 pp. And this is happening on almost all of X's Med sailings--you could've or still can score a balcony for $999-$1,299pp. Pay a few bucks more and get Concierge or Aqua class. And to rub salt in the wounds of early bookers, X still will give you the 123 promo in many cases too. Insanely cheap pricing for a peak summer cruise vacation!

 

While I agree that some sailings do drop in price after final payment, I am one of those who was able to get a better price on a 2012 Med cruise by booking early.

 

I booked an inside cabin 18 months in and received an early booking discount. 6 months before my sailing I took advantage of a promotion where you get a balcony guarantee for the price of an inside (the price I paid was the same, only now I was getting a balcony and I still got to keep the early booking discount). After the promotion the prices increased and never did go any lower than what I paid.

 

Like you already said, there is no harm in booking early. It allows you to lock in a price and in most cases you're able to take advantage of price drops/promotions that are still offered at a later date. If your cruise isn't selling well you can always cancel and rebook. The important thing is to keep checking for price drops and promotions after you book.

[Terpnut]

The best I can hope for right now is to see how much OBC my TA will give me, when I asked her for a amount I was told it depended on the sailing and wouldn't give me a amount because she was to busy selling fire sales for 2013. From what I learned on the boards it only depends on the total of the cruise before taxes & port charges and they figure what % to give you. In your experience what kind of OBC should I be receiving for a 13 night cruise totaling $6,500 before taxes & port charges? Appreciate your help.

I believe my former TA gave something like 5-8% of the cruise fare. I recently switched to a TA that doesn't give OBC. However she gives me much more timely and better service so she helps me get price drops, give me promos, negotiates upgrades, etc. In the end, I actually save money and get better stateroom with my more dedicated TA who provides prompt, timely service versus my former TA who gave me OBC but was never available to help me!

[Terpnut]

Thanks for the great tips and for giving me another tutorial in booking strategies:)

 

We are considering booking a June '14 trip on Equinox or Connie having loved our Equinox Eastern Med a year ago this weekend (a year ago tonight, I was 'sleeping' on an overnight flight to Rome!!!). I was thinking we'd be smart to book the two AQ cabins we want and then watch the pricing. Figure I can always cancel and rebook if prices drop. But I do remember when I did that last year, I did pay some sort of penalty.....Booked in November, cancelled in January to get a better deal, sailed in June. Can someone remind me about the deposit policy??

You pay different percentages of your cruise fare only after final payment. Prior to final payment, your deposit and any cruise fare you paid is 100% refundable. Be aware however that some TAs charge a cancellation fee.

[Terpnut]

Terpnut, thanks for sharing your insight on pricing strategy. Based on your experience, do you see the same pattern for Caribbean cruises for X too? What about other mainstream lines?

My April E. Caribbean sailing on Silhouette (even over the prime-time called spring break) definitely exhibited the pattern of oversupply of staterooms and large price drops after final payment. However I am not an expert on industry trends and can't make assessments on future pricing for what you are asking. My advice is to book early and pay regular attention to stateroom availability and pricing. And don't be afraid to cancel at final payment if needed, because this is the single hardest thing to do. But you have to make this choice based on your own specific needs and your comfort level with risk taking.

 

Remember, like with airlines, the cruise lines will generally follow a gradually increasing trend of increasing prices toward final payment--I believe to give the illusion that cruises are selling well. But they do this whether they are actually selling well or not. The only way to tell if a sailing is not selling well is to see if say, a few hundred staterooms are still available 75 days out--your TA is the only one who can really tell since retail booking systems won't show you that many cabins!

[Terpnut]

I was all ready to pull the trigger on Reflection's October Med sailing, combining Celebrity Choice Air's $600 saving and TA's free-gratuities, until I read this post! Now I don't know if I should book or wait until final-payment!

 

To be honest, the current promotion is not a bad price. The $600 Choice Air credit (per cabin) makes it essentially $1250/pp for a balcony gaurantee for the 10-nt cruise. But it seems like $100/nt (or less) pricing can be had if I wait?! My biggest fear is that even if the cruise price goes down after final-payment, the airfare will be higher and negate any savings, as the airfare is very good right now ($1050 from San Francisco to Rome). This is my first trip to Europe so I have no idea what to expect in terms of airfare.

 

So what would do YOU do? Wait or book?

 

(I should say that there's only 2 of us, and we're not particular about cabin category/location :p)

I would book your cabin now--you have nothing to lose but the time value of your deposit. But as I've said repeatedly, it is up to you to watch the pricing and availability as the months progress. Or get a good TA who will do it for you--mine helps me! And as final payment approaches, you can mutually decide if you want to cancel and rebook, or just keep your early booking.

 

As for your airfare, I find it difficult to believe that the best airfare for SFO-FCO in October can be had now in early June. From my experience, the best airfare is usually found about 45-80 days out. And I'd book my own airfare and not use the cruise line because you'll probably get a better fare yourself and you'll have more flexibility to accommodate special needs like adding days pre or post cruise if needed. I'd be looking regularly using Kayak, Orbitz, CheapoAir, etc. probably in the July/August timeframe. Just my 2 cents.