Celebrity UK pricing

[steve ch]

I just received an email from Celebrity with their latest deals.

 

A 7 day Mediterranean cruise is $599. UK price is £598. Great exchange rate there!

[PORT ROYAL]

I just received an email from Celebrity with their latest deals.

 

A 7 day Mediterranean cruise is $599. UK price is £598. Great exchange rate there!

 

And you, and everyone else, are not suprised ;)

[spanner14]

Lol!

 

Are you sure the US price isn't pre-sales tax though? Whereas the UK price probably already includes VAT?

[Project_gal]

Lol!

 

Are you sure the US price isn't pre-sales tax though? Whereas the UK price probably already includes VAT?

 

No VAT on cruises!

[spanner14]

No VAT on cruises!

 

Ohhhh, didn't know that, thank you!

 

Are all the taxes that magically get added on the website for fuel, air travel surcharges etc? :confused:

[DYKWIA]

We recently booked a veranda guarantee for £999pp (avaible through Celebrity UK and UK based TAs) on the Eclipse for 14 nights in the Med, of that £300 was port fees and taxes - OK it's a guarantee (weve been assigned a 2B) and there are no freebies but that is a bargain

[Project_gal]

Ohhhh, didn't know that, thank you!

 

Are all the taxes that magically get added on the website for fuel, air travel surcharges etc? :confused:

 

The taxes & fees cover items such as port charges and the like [eg fees for using the Panama Canal]. Any other extras, such as air travel surcharge & deviation charges, will be identified as such.

 

To answer the original point raised, comparative pricing between the US and UK is very much swings and roundabouts. For our latest cruise, we booked one PH on Millennium the day the cruise opened. Our friends from the US booked the other on the same day. Unfortunately, they had to drop out close to the cruise. Their PH was waitlisted but did show up on the website for a few days and the UK price was within a few hundred pounds of what we had paid. We met the people who upgraded on board. Depending on the exchange rate we used [there was a great variation while we were on board], they paid in the region of £3,000 MORE than we did [cruise only and, yes, I did mean pounds].

 

With the recent volatility of sterling, it is very much the luck of the draw whether Celebrity are using a good or bad exchange rate for the cruise you are interested in. Of course, there are other price comparison variations as well. Celebrity appear to price more competitively in their target market for a cruise but there seems to be no hard and fast rules except that we Brits tend only to shout about it when the prices are high for us and rarely complain when it is the other way round.

Edited June 3, 2015 by Project_gal

[yorkyred]

The taxes & fees cover items such as port charges and the like [eg fees for using the Panama Canal]. Any other extras, such as air travel surcharge & deviation charges, will be identified as such.

 

To answer the original point raised, comparative pricing between the US and UK is very much swings and roundabouts. For our latest cruise, we booked one PH on Millennium the day the cruise opened. Our friends from the US booked the other on the same day. Unfortunately, they had to drop out close to the cruise. Their PH was waitlisted but did show up on the website for a few days and the UK price was within a few hundred pounds of what we had paid. We met the people who upgraded on board. Depending on the exchange rate we used [there was a great variation while we were on board], they paid in the region of £3,000 MORE than we did [cruise only and, yes, I did mean pounds].

 

With the recent volatility of sterling, it is very much the luck of the draw whether Celebrity are using a good or bad exchange rate for the cruise you are interested in. Of course, there are other price comparison variations as well. Celebrity appear to price more competitively in their target market for a cruise but there seems to be no hard and fast rules except that we Brits tend only to shout about it when the prices are high for us and rarely complain when it is the other way round.

 

The problem is it rarely is the other way round. From watching US ta prices I'd say it's way cheaper in the U.S. 95% of the time and by some way, and that's not even taking into account all the onboard credit offered in the U.S. Plus the ability to cancel without cost and upgrade perks while we have to cancel and re book.

[gcgold]

The problem is it rarely is the other way round. From watching US ta prices I'd say it's way cheaper in the U.S. 95% of the time and by some way, and that's not even taking into account all the onboard credit offered in the U.S. Plus the ability to cancel without cost and upgrade perks while we have to cancel and re book.

 

 

agree up to a point. given the fluctuations in the exchange rate the savings can be significant or insignificant. one also needs to take into account that consumer protection legislation is stronger in UK

[DYKWIA]

There also appears to be more risk of getting a less desirable cabin if you purchase a Guarantee Cabin in the UK than in the US. In the US if you are assigned a cabin you don't like you can, if there is availability, change it. Not so in the UK. What you are assigned is final, unless Celebrity change it for operational reasons/

 

I'm quite happy to take the risk on purchasing a guarantee cabin but it narks me that people elsewhere don't have the same risks when purchasing a guarantee cabin. The Guarantee terms should be the same.

[ladylemondrop]

There also appears to be more risk of getting a less desirable cabin if you purchase a Guarantee Cabin in the UK than in the US. In the US if you are assigned a cabin you don't like you can, if there is availability, change it. Not so in the UK. What you are assigned is final, unless Celebrity change it for operational reasons/

 

I'm quite happy to take the risk on purchasing a guarantee cabin but it narks me that people elsewhere don't have the same risks when purchasing a guarantee cabin. The Guarantee terms should be the same.

 

Agree!

[yorkyred]

There also appears to be more risk of getting a less desirable cabin if you purchase a Guarantee Cabin in the UK than in the US. In the US if you are assigned a cabin you don't like you can, if there is availability, change it. Not so in the UK. What you are assigned is final, unless Celebrity change it for operational reasons/

 

I'm quite happy to take the risk on purchasing a guarantee cabin but it narks me that people elsewhere don't have the same risks when purchasing a guarantee cabin. The Guarantee terms should be the same.

 

Which again is wrong, there should not be different rules for different countries.

[DYKWIA]

Which again is wrong, there should not be different rules for different countries.

 

The principal of a guarantee room should be the same wherever you are from. You grab a bargain Guaranteed room and for that considerable saving Celebrity pick the cabin in the appropriate category - simple.

 

I can imagine the furore if the Luminae restaurant started allowing guests from certain countries to pick from a different menu if there was nothing on the day's menu they liked yet would refuse people from other countries to do the same.

[villauk]

There also appears to be more risk of getting a less desirable cabin if you purchase a Guarantee Cabin in the UK than in the US. In the US if you are assigned a cabin you don't like you can, if there is availability, change it. Not so in the UK. What you are assigned is final, unless Celebrity change it for operational reasons/

 

I'm quite happy to take the risk on purchasing a guarantee cabin but it narks me that people elsewhere don't have the same risks when purchasing a guarantee cabin. The Guarantee terms should be the same.

 

Which is why I only book guarantees through the US, would never do it over here ;). Additionally, in the US, it's so much easier to make changes/adjustments to a reservation without being penalised; over here, every time you want to change something, it costs you :eek:! And don't get me started on the OBC they offer, complimentary speciality meals, drink packages with the GTYs etc. :D.