UK Price Drops

[DebbieMacG]

Is anyone booking in the UK able to get price drops before final payment?

 

I have a cruise booked for next May, the price has dropped by £180 and the offer is still the same one I booked under. I rang my TA yesterday and they say Celebrity told them that to get the lower price, I have to cancel and rebook, obviously I'm not going to do this as I would lose my £300 deposit.

 

It's a couple of years since I requested a price drop from Celebrity, have things changed for UK customers? :(

[chemmo]

I think this is the same as always in the UK unless you booked on a 'price match deal'. We have one of these for 2018 cruise but as our room is now substantially more expensive I can't see us being able to apply it.

 

What you could do is look at the cost of rooms up a category and get your TA to contact Celebrity and see if you can get a free or cheaper upgrade.

 

Best wishes...

[stephenp]

Is anyone booking in the UK able to get price drops before final payment?

 

I have a cruise booked for next May, the price has dropped by £180 and the offer is still the same one I booked under. I rang my TA yesterday and they say Celebrity told them that to get the lower price, I have to cancel and rebook, obviously I'm not going to do this as I would lose my £300 deposit.

 

It's a couple of years since I requested a price drop from Celebrity, have things changed for UK customers? :(

 

Here in Germany also , CC and RCCL will no longer adjust the Prices

you have to cancel and rebook

 

Happy cruising

 

Stephen

[AnOnymously]

Think yourself lucky it was such a small price drop, ours was 25% representing £1000 in few days after booking (12 months in advance) and we were told the same.

 

If you had been a North American you would be entitled to an upgrade if you had paid final payment or cancel and refund if before. The UK and others are discriminated against with this difference, but there is a major thread in existence about that.

 

Remind them of the above facts when you contact them to ask for an upgrade.

Edited October 12, 2016 by AnOnymously

[DebbieMacG]

Thanks for the replies. My last price drop was for a Celebrity cruise in June 2014 and was through the same TA.

 

I know that Elite (& above) captains club also get a change to their booking for free so wonder why this wouldn't come into play.

 

I was happy with the price when I booked so its not a big deal but I did wonder when the change had come in and why.

[Chonga]

Hi Debbie, I was recently cancelled and rebooked at a lower price by a Celebrity rep who told me that we wouldn't lose our deposit as we were allowed the one change due to being Elite. So this should come into play.

 

 

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[villauk]

Thanks for the replies. My last price drop was for a Celebrity cruise in June 2014 and was through the same TA.

 

I know that Elite (& above) captains club also get a change to their booking for free so wonder why this wouldn't come into play.

 

I was happy with the price when I booked so its not a big deal but I did wonder when the change had come in and why.

 

They stopped offering the price drops a few years ago and even then some TAs didn't honour them, you had to confirm prior to booking ;).

[Chunky2219]

No longer honoured, you have to cancel and lose your deposit. The previous system (until about 2014 IIRC) was a great differentiator for X and made them a very attractive line.

 

Hence the reason why I no longer advance book with Celebrity, they are no different to the Carnival brands now in the UK.

 

 

.

[chemmo]

No longer honoured, you have to cancel and lose your deposit. The previous system (until about 2014 IIRC) was a great differentiator for X and made them a very attractive line.

 

Hence the reason why I no longer advance book with Celebrity, they are no different to the Carnival brands now in the UK.

 

 

.

 

There is a gamble to this, however, especially if you are room or category fussy. The first gamble is availability, there have been no suite rooms left on our Asian cruise which is over a year away for some months. The second is price....our 2018 Caribbean cruise is now about £1,000 more than we paid. This cruise does have a price guarantee, these price guarantees on early bookings are good to look out for. They will not help you very near to cruise date but do offer some security.

 

Have you had any success OP re Elite status or looking at upgrades?

Edited October 14, 2016 by chemmo

[AnOnymously]

No longer honoured, you have to cancel and lose your deposit. The previous system (until about 2014 IIRC) was a great differentiator for X and made them a very attractive line.

 

Hence the reason why I no longer advance book with Celebrity, they are no different to the Carnival brands now in the UK.

 

 

.

Are Celebrity under same ownership as Carnival or are you saying they just operate in same style?

 

Which lines do you now regard as fair in regards to price drops?

[cruisestitch]

"I know that Elite (& above) captains club also get a change to their booking for free so wonder why this wouldn't come into play."

 

Is this something specific to UK cruisers? This is not an Elite benefit in general and I'm wondering where you got the information about it.

[Chunky2219]

No. All the Carnival lines (Carnival, Cunard, P&O, HAL, etc.) have always in my experience operated the same policy in the UK - 10-15% non-refundable deposit and if the price drops then tough luck. So if we're only half fussy about a sailing, I've always held off and sometimes got a great deal. As others have said, sometimes they fill up, so it's a cruise missed. C'est la vie.

 

Celebrity, and I also believe their parent RCCC always used to honour a price drop and I've had some magnificent savings on this. For one cruise I got two drops but the second one cost me a £30 admin fee. £k+ each time on suite bookings.

 

Since last year, when they started rolling out fancy deals and chucking in booze deals the only way to get a lower price when they fall is to cancel and re-book the same cabin. I did this for our May sailing this year and it cost 2 x £150 lost deposit. But I still ended up over £1100 better off when the the deal was done.

 

It's not a system that engenders any sort of loyalty. Especially when customers across the pond can pre-book and hold half a dozen voyages to then withdraw and get their deposit back - hence being a significant component of the late arising good deals when they free their cabins up. It's nothing to do with local laws, it's all about commercial decisions so I won't be booking an more cruises with them two years out. There are plenty of other ways to spend my holiday £££s if good deals don't open up.

[jael001]

I took a price drop and lost my deposit but still saved about £900 on our cruise this last August. It wouldn't have been worth it for £180 saving but for such a huge amount it was.

[AnOnymously]

Their prices rock and roll more than a yatch in a hurricane.

 

Such massive price changes do not endeer them to us at all, so however good the end cruise is we shall not book with them again, this our first cruise with Celebrity and last.

 

Some of the bussiness plan is that the North American market is saturated with cruise lines, and so they do anything, including allowing them to book several cruises and withdraw, in the hope of securing some. Unfortunately for them it has a serious backfire effect in the UK and other places when we are denied that option with that roller coaster ride. Everytime I view the cruise we are on, cabins become available that were not available and the price has changed.

[chemmo]

Their prices rock and roll more than a yatch in a hurricane.

 

Such massive price changes do not endeer them to us at all, so however good the end cruise is we shall not book with them again, this our first cruise with Celebrity and last.

 

Some of the bussiness plan is that the North American market is saturated with cruise lines, and so they do anything, including allowing them to book several cruises and withdraw, in the hope of securing some. Unfortunately for them it has a serious backfire effect in the UK and other places when we are denied that option with that roller coaster ride. Everytime I view the cruise we are on, cabins become available that were not available and the price has changed.

 

Celebrity is no different than other lines, if you book through any line or book an AI resort and you will find some people have paid more and some less than you. Likewise booking flights you can, if you are not careful, end up paying as much for coach as others may have paid for business.

 

You also have the option of booking through a US travel agent, many U.K. cruisers do this.

 

I have to be honest and say I don't think we have ever been on an X cruise and made a loss...we book very early, often with perks, OBC or price promise. We do watch prices and generally see an upward trend right until final payment. We also have the security of the exact room we want and all that time to enjoy planning.

 

We do meet cruisers who don't prebook anything and just look out for last minute deals, great way to go if you have flexibility of time, you are not room faddy and not itinerary driven.

 

You obviously have recently not had recent good experiences, I am sorry, but don't let it put you off cruising any line or X in particular! Try looking at booking cruises as itineraries come out, like us, you may find this is the best way to go...

Edited October 15, 2016 by chemmo

[AnOnymously]

Celebrity is no different than other lines, if you book through any line or book an AI resort and you will find some people have paid more and some less than you. Likewise booking flights you can, if you are not careful, end up paying as much for coach as others may have paid for business.

 

You also have the option of booking through a US travel agent, many U.K. cruisers do this.

 

I have to be honest and say I don't think we have ever been on an X cruise and made a loss...we book very early, often with perks, OBC or price promise. We do watch prices and generally see an upward trend right until final payment. We also have the security of the exact room we want and all that time to enjoy planning.

 

We do meet cruisers who don't prebook anything and just look out for last minute deals, great way to go if you have flexibility of time, you are not room faddy and not itinerary driven.

 

You obviously have recently not had recent good experiences, I am sorry, but don't let it put you off cruising any line or X in particular! Try looking at booking cruises as itineraries come out, like us, you may find this is the best way to go...

 

Some do seem worse than others, not bothered about people booking last minute, but some cruise lines like Celebrity and Cruise and Maritime do have dramatic swings and well in advance.

 

We have booked for a particular type of cruise the Jet Set Sail, which was the attraction to this line, we have used other lines and done a good deal of river cruising.

 

Really am getting too old to book abroad and if any issues try and deal with them. So I am put off American based lines who offer a very different product in North America than they will to the rest of us.

 

Maybe they just don't want UK customers and others on board really so they give us really bad deals, like more expensive cruises, non-returnable deposits and no price promise.

Edited October 15, 2016 by AnOnymously

[chemmo]

Some do seem worse than others, not bothered about people booking last minute, but some cruise lines like Celebrity and Cruise and Maritime do have dramatic swings and well in advance.

 

We have booked for a particular type of cruise the Jet Set Sail, which was the attraction to this line, we have used other lines and done a good deal of river cruising.

 

Really am getting too old to book abroad and if any issues try and deal with them. So I am put off American based lines who offer a very different product in North America than they will to the rest of us.

 

Maybe they just don't want UK customers and others on board really so they give us really bad deals, like more expensive cruises, non-returnable deposits and no price promise.

 

I assume you have not been on your cruise yet? I would just say forget the pricing and now just enjoy it. As very regular uk Celebrity cruisers I would say we always feel welcomed and always enjoy.

 

If you board 'cross' with the company you are likely to focus on issues not on what is an excellent product.

 

Sincere best wishes for a great cruise- one so fantastic you will want to book again!

[AnOnymously]

Still a year or nearly ahead. Not cross because with a bit of hassle got it sorted, and I always look forward to holidays and cruises, if its good I will enjoy it! Thanks for your good wishes.

 

But I am stubborn! Once I have decided not to use a company again, that is just what happens. Try me on some travel companies that we have used, they only get one chance to get it right and booking with Celebrity is more of a gamble than their casino and I understand that one always loses in the end there.;)

Edited October 15, 2016 by AnOnymously

[Amyracecar]

I was recently online about to pay our balance and noticed the price had dropped by over £1200 (varied depending on the US or UK website too). I realised booking via my TA would have saved us even more so rang up to ask if they could drop the price. They did state that this wasn't something UK customers can do but after some discussion and pointing out that I could just cancel and get the same thing far cheaper they did drop by about £800. (Slightly less than if i'd cancelled and lost the deposit) I also lost my OBC but we rarely spend much of that anyway & I was happy to keep my cabin, dining times etc (my dining time is long since booked up) so worth checking with them to see if they can help.

 

However as for pricing and loyalty, you win some you lose some. Even if I'd not had this result my opinion of Celebrity will be based purely on the experience. (My first time too)

In the past we've been really lucky & saved similar amounts based on price hikes after booking, but you can't always expect that. It probably averages out over time.

 

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[sandancer]

If you have a TA that can save you £800 you should stick with them. Almost all TAs and the cruise lines refuse point blank to let us have price drops in the U.K. I wouldn't hesitate to cancel and rebook losing the deposit if it meant such a good saving.

 

 

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