Dilemma - whats the best offer for new bookings

[soloadventurer]

I already have a booking but i can have one free change before the end of year.

 

What is the best offer for new bookings anyone has seen ?

At the minute the new celebrity booking offer includes a free basic drinks package something i currently dont have. So do i use my free change or hang on for something better ?

[mek]

I already have a booking but i can have one free change before the end of year.

 

What is the best offer for new bookings anyone has seen ?

At the minute the new celebrity booking offer includes a free basic drinks package something i currently don't have. So do i use my free change or hang on for something better ?

 

Unless the price of your cruise with the drinks package included is exactly the same price as the one you have booked, then it's not free. Can you get your same cabin,(if that is important), for the same pricing offer? What would the new price be if the drink package isn't included?

 

I took a cruise to Norway 2 yeas ago on Royal and had been watching prices when suddenly one week they were throwing in tips and an OBC for exactly the same price. I didn't do a lot of research to find out if there was a lower price w/o the extras because I was fine with the bottom line.

[soloadventurer]

When we booked the early offer was 1 free change within the year.

 

I checked you can change your booking to a better offer keeping the same cabin and no lost of deposit

[Jade13]

Is the price exactly the same?

 

When is your final payment date? Usually when the drinks package, gratuities, unlimited internet, or OBC is added the price of the cruise increases.

 

What country are you in/booking from?

 

 

 

 

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[soloadventurer]

Price is slightly cheaper - UK

[dutchclogs]

Just a headsup that you may not be able to take advantage of a new offer if it is for new bookings only. You ay have to book a different cruise?

[southernbreezes]

Just a headsup that you may not be able to take advantage of a new offer if it is for new bookings only. You ay have to book a different cruise?

 

We take a lot of cruises and I often cancel and rebook the same cruise and cabin once if not twice every cruise if the savings is more than $200.00. When you cancel you have no booking, therefore, you can make a "new booking". It is very rare that Celebrity is even within $500 - $600 of the rates I get we book group rates only with a big box online Travel Company out of New Hampshire that just does Cruise groups. Right now they are offering 3 Free perks on Ocean view and higher Celebrity Ships. If you book this then watch your trip I normally get this plus at least an extra onboard credit of $150.00 more. 90% of the time I get "best" all 4 perks for maybe an extra $300.00 per cabin. My next trip we have 4 perks "best" plus a total onboard credit of $450.00 way below what Celebrity wanted. Even if I pay a fee to cancel it still saves me in the long run.

[dutchclogs]

^ only fly in the ointment is if you have booked on board. If you cancel this you lose the booking ref, and thus booking on board obc. ITA that if drop/deal is good enough, you can still come out ahead even paying a cancellation fee. Mind you, it still hurts to have to forfeit your deposit which I have done in the past with a UK booking.

[debshomespun]

OP is from the UK. They have different rules than here in the US. :eek: They cannot just cancel and re book.

[Host Walt]

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[sammysgranny]

OP is from the UK. They have different rules than here in the US. :eek: They cannot just cancel and re book.

 

I’m from the UK. A few days I ago (and just before final payment was due) I noticed that Celebrity were offering a better deal than when I’d booked early. So I rang them and ended up cancelling my original booking (and losing my deposit) and rebooking the new offer. I kept the same cabin and ended up several hundred pounds better off and with more OBC.

[villauk]

I’m from the UK. A few days I ago (and just before final payment was due) I noticed that Celebrity were offering a better deal than when I’d booked early. So I rang them and ended up cancelling my original booking (and losing my deposit) and rebooking the new offer. I kept the same cabin and ended up several hundred pounds better off and with more OBC.

 

 

If you’d booked in the US, you’d have kept your deposit and got the price drop etc., that’s what debshomespun was referring to ;).

[The Shutterbug]

We're the same, booked under the Early Booking Guarantee with a UK TA for May 19. We did price US TAs but they were actually more expensive even including the perks.

 

I think we are going to use the one change you can make now and add in the classic drinks package, it is another £80 each but looking at the various deals for the same cruise in 2018 it's comparable. Will keep an eye out for anything that is much lower before final payment then it would be worth cancelling and rebooking despite forfeiting the £300 deposit.

[The Shutterbug]

I’m from the UK. A few days I ago (and just before final payment was due) I noticed that Celebrity were offering a better deal than when I’d booked early. So I rang them and ended up cancelling my original booking (and losing my deposit) and rebooking the new offer. I kept the same cabin and ended up several hundred pounds better off and with more OBC.

 

Hi, can I check - did you book under the Early Booking Guarantee and had you made any previous changes? thanks :)

[Bo1953]

We take a lot of cruises and I often cancel and rebook the same cruise and cabin once if not twice every cruise if the savings is more than $200.00. When you cancel you have no booking, therefore, you can make a "new booking". It is very rare that Celebrity is even within $500 - $600 of the rates I get we book group rates only with a big box online Travel Company out of New Hampshire that just does Cruise groups. Right now they are offering 3 Free perks on Ocean view and higher Celebrity Ships. If you book this then watch your trip I normally get this plus at least an extra onboard credit of $150.00 more. 90% of the time I get "best" all 4 perks for maybe an extra $300.00 per cabin. My next trip we have 4 perks "best" plus a total onboard credit of $450.00 way below what Celebrity wanted. Even if I pay a fee to cancel it still saves me in the long run.

 

The caveat can be in which country the OP has booked, will depend on all of this. If they say they are entitled to one change, now may be the time to do it, as the offers usually do not get any better than two (2) perks, unless the price has fallen a great deal.

 

bonvoyage

[gerelmx]

I already have a booking but i can have one free change before the end of year.

 

What is the best offer for new bookings anyone has seen ?

At the minute the new celebrity booking offer includes a free basic drinks package something i currently dont have. So do i use my free change or hang on for something better ?

Many variables at play. I can mention what I have observed about my cruises. 1) For the last Eclipse of March/18 there were price reductions every month since July last year, 2 months before the departure there was still 25% of the available cabins and prices continued to go down one month before the departure the concierges came to be cheaper than the interior that I originally bought in June / 2017. Quite the opposite is happening with my bookings for the Silhouette for March/2019 now a year of the sailing there are only about 30% of the cabins available and the prices are already going up my cabin cat 2B has gone up more than $ 500 in each stretch of the B2B. Sometime is better last minute and others as soon as it is available.