UK TA’s must think we’re stupid

[wendychloecruiser]

I recently got a quote (just to be thorough) from a U.K. travel agent with and without gratuities. (No drinks nor OBC). When the value of the grats was added to the lower quote, it was less than the rate that included the grats. Really? Do they not think that we could do basic math?

 

This is to advise people to ask for rates that don’t include the extras then do your own calculations for the value of these perks. You may be surprised both ways.

 

I ending up booking with my tried and trusted US TA that when I paid an extra $300, I received premium bev pkg and internet and grats. Also $450 OBC. And the rate was significantly lower than the U.K. even after adding the $300. Now that was easy math. Happy dance. :D:D

[gerelmx]

Do you check your quote in Celebrity UK site?

 

 

This is the current promo in UK site:

Book an eligible Ocean View Stateroom or above by 31 May 2018 on selected sailings departing April 2018 - April 2019, and enjoy:

 

• A free Classic Drinks Package for two, worth over $900pp*
  
• $300 to spend onboard per stateroom
  
• A free non-alcoholic Classic Drinks Package, plus $100pp to spend onboard for additional guests sharing the same stateroom as you and your partner
  
• An upgrade to a Premium Drinks Package, $300 to spend onboard, unlimited WiFi, and pre-paid gratuities when you book a Sky Suite or above
  

Or, book an eligible Ocean View Stateroom or above on selected cruises departing May 2019 - April 2020 and you’ll still receive a free Classic Drinks Package for two.

For your perfect getaway, book today. Hurry, offer ends 31 May 2018.*

[wendychloecruiser]

Yup. Checked and compared. US quote still much less than the U.K. quote.

[wendychloecruiser]

Now to balance things out a bit, I have had Med cruise rates that were significantly better when book with a U.K. TA. Homework is time consuming but sometimes there are financial rewards to be gained.

[Pepsi36]

I recently got a quote (just to be thorough) from a U.K. travel agent with and without gratuities. (No drinks nor OBC). When the value of the grats was added to the lower quote, it was less than the rate that included the grats. Really? Do they not think that we could do basic math?

 

This is to advise people to ask for rates that don’t include the extras then do your own calculations for the value of these perks. You may be surprised both ways.

 

I ending up booking with my tried and trusted US TA that when I paid an extra $300, I received premium bev pkg and internet and grats. Also $450 OBC. And the rate was significantly lower than the U.K. even after adding the $300. Now that was easy math. Happy dance. :D:D

I wanted to book a 7 night Fjords cruise April 27th 2019 and the only perk I was offered from 2 UK TA's was the classic drinks. No OBC or internet. With one I could get half price tips and the other $110.00 speciality dining voucher.. I will wait to see what the summer offers are

[mickey89]

It depends when you booked. UK prices were increased significantly mid March and from that day forward cruise prices became cheaper via a US T/A.

Our B2B cruise on the Silhouette is now $2500 more expensive if I booked today in the U.K. and $2170 cheaper than the US price.

Celebrity are taking everyone for a ride with their pricing policy, probably will our last until their prices become more realistic.

[UKPete71]

I recently got a quote (just to be thorough) from a U.K. travel agent with and without gratuities. (No drinks nor OBC). When the value of the grats was added to the lower quote, it was less than the rate that included the grats. Really? Do they not think that we could do basic math?

 

This is to advise people to ask for rates that don’t include the extras then do your own calculations for the value of these perks. You may be surprised both ways. :D:D

It's not just the UK where you see pricing anomalies. I've been pricing a 10 night cruise for 2019 with a US agent and the difference between the Go Big and Go Better deals is $150 per person.

 

Now for Go Big I'd take the Classic drinks package. If I was to Go Better then the free grats are only worth $135, so would actually cost me an extra $15pp. The OBC as a perk is $150, so the same as the difference between the deals. Internet isn't an option as we'd only buy one package to share and would use our Captain's Club to get that discounted.

 

You have to wonder what their thought process is with the pricing?

[Pepsi36]

It's not just Celebrity though, RCCL are charging nearly £1,000 more this month than when I booked last month with less perks.

[villauk]

It’s always best to check both sides of the pond and remember there’s always more flexibility on the US bookings than there are on the U.K. ;). I’ve never booked a GTY in the U.K. and wouldn’t because of not being able to change the allocated cabin for another in the same category like you can in the US.

 

The Med prices for next year are eye watering. I’ll hold on to my 2 placeholders until I see something I’m more comfortable with ;).

[Pepsi36]

It’s always best to check both sides of the pond and remember there’s always more flexibility on the US bookings than there are on the U.K. ;). I’ve never booked a GTY in the U.K. and wouldn’t because of not being able to change the allocated cabin for another in the same category like you can in the US.

 

The Med prices for next year are eye watering. I’ll hold on to my 2 placeholders until I see something I’m more comfortable with ;).

Several years ago we could change cabins and even cruises without charge in the UK but not any more.

[villauk]

Several years ago we could change cabins and even cruises without charge in the UK but not any more.

 

 

Correct, we could even get price drops.

[katysuerx]

I wanted to book a 7 night Fjords cruise April 27th 2019 and the only perk I was offered from 2 UK TA's was the classic drinks. No OBC or internet. With one I could get half price tips and the other $110.00 speciality dining voucher.. I will wait to see what the summer offers are

 

 

 

One comment on the internet on the Norwegian Fjords cruise... when we went in August 2016, the Internet was VERY spotty. This may have changed but it was something the crew discussed and made passengers aware of. So if you are in a position to get another perk, maybe pick something besides internet for this specific cruise.

 

 

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[Pepsi36]

One comment on the internet on the Norwegian Fjords cruise... when we went in August 2016, the Internet was VERY spotty. This may have changed but it was something the crew discussed and made passengers aware of. So if you are in a position to get another perk, maybe pick something besides internet for this specific cruise.

 

 

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Thanks but it's not an option as a perk at the moment. The Spring offer isn't even giving $300.00 OBC just the classic drinks for next April cruise and depending on the TA one small additional perk like half price tips or a Small speciality dining voucher.

[Project_gal]

Now to balance things out a bit, I have had Med cruise rates that were significantly better when book with a U.K. TA. Homework is time consuming but sometimes there are financial rewards to be gained.

 

Although there do not seem to be any hard and fast rules, pricing has always seemed to me to linked to the expected desirability of a cruise in different markets rather than any true value. A Med cruise to an American customer is likely to be seen as "exotic" but to a UK customer as more "common-place". The perception of a Caribbean cruise is likely to be the opposite.

 

As for many things in life, you can usually get the best deal on something sold in the "wrong" place. You do not buy Irish silver in Dublin, for example.

 

As for gratuities, a UK customer is more likely to see having them paid in advance a "convenience" and, a new cruiser at least, may well believe that they have paid all possible gratuities rather than just the basics.

[John182]

One comment on the internet on the Norwegian Fjords cruise... when we went in August 2016, the Internet was VERY spotty. This may have changed but it was something the crew discussed and made passengers aware of.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

It's the steep fjords. You need line of sight to the satellite for the connection to the internet. So it is not going to change unless they send someone up on top of the fjord with a relay of some sort.:)

[UKPete71]

It’s always best to check both sides of the pond and remember there’s always more flexibility on the US bookings than there are on the U.K. ;). I’ve never booked a GTY in the U.K. and wouldn’t because of not being able to change the allocated cabin for another in the same category like you can in the US.

 

 

For a recent cruise we took which we had the MiL in tow we booked a GTY veranda with Celebrity UK, whilst we booked the MiL’s Oceanview room via a US TA as that worked out cheaper than booking with Celebrity UK. She also received some OBC from the TA.

 

We knew the risk with location for our GTY but actually loved the stateroom we were given.

 

As you say, it pays to check both.

 

 

 

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[Provence55always]

How do you get a U.S. TA. I thought to do that you had to have a U.S. address?

[wendychloecruiser]

How do you get a U.S. TA. I thought to do that you had to have a U.S. address?

 

You do not need a US address. If “they” say you do, call someone else.

 

But if you want a very legal US address check out MyUS.com.

[Provence55always]

Thanks for that information. Bit late for my next two cruises but will definitely check out when booking next time.

[UKPete71]

You do not need a US address. If “they” say you do, call someone else.

That's how it worked for me. I tried a few and some said they couldn't help me as I'm in the UK. I found one that would and have booked three further cruises with them and have also had one that I booked on board assigned to them. They also have a UK freephone number too if I need to call them for anything.

 

The only downside is factoring the time difference when calling them. Thankfully they are based on the east coast.

[Jaeke]

That's how it worked for me. I tried a few and some said they couldn't help me as I'm in the UK. I found one that would and have booked three further cruises with them and have also had one that I booked on board assigned to them. They also have a UK freephone number too if I need to call them for anything.

 

The only downside is factoring the time difference when calling them. Thankfully they are based on the east coast.

 

What US TA do you use? We’re hopping to book a Trans-Atlantic next April. I would like to do my homework before checking the on-board prices when we’re on the Reflection in July.

[villauk]

What US TA do you use? We’re hopping to book a Trans-Atlantic next April. I would like to do my homework before checking the on-board prices when we’re on the Reflection in July.

 

It’s against CC rules to quote any TAs.

[villauk]

That's how it worked for me. I tried a few and some said they couldn't help me as I'm in the UK. I found one that would and have booked three further cruises with them and have also had one that I booked on board assigned to them. They also have a UK freephone number too if I need to call them for anything.

 

The only downside is factoring the time difference when calling them. Thankfully they are based on the east coast.

 

I’ve been using the same US TA for the last 7 or 8 years - lost count of the number of cruises she’s booked for us and have not found the time difference to be an issue ;).

[Mynki]

I recently got a quote (just to be thorough) from a U.K. travel agent with and without gratuities. (No drinks nor OBC). When the value of the grats was added to the lower quote, it was less than the rate that included the grats. Really? Do they not think that we could do basic math?

 

This is to advise people to ask for rates that don’t include the extras then do your own calculations for the value of these perks. You may be surprised both ways.

 

I ending up booking with my tried and trusted US TA that when I paid an extra $300, I received premium bev pkg and internet and grats. Also $450 OBC. And the rate was significantly lower than the U.K. even after adding the $300. Now that was easy math. Happy dance. :D:D

 

It's always prudent to get quotes from the UK and US.

 

I've found recently that the UK regularly offers better deals on Celebrity sailings from Southampton and those starting in the Med. I have found better UK deals for the Caribbean too but these are not common.

 

Some time ago I posted that I'd found Celebrity suites for considerably less in the UK compared to the US. Twenty four hours later the price here in the UK increased considerably even though the same number of CS cabins remained!

 

Yesterday I had an email from a well known third party price monitoring site showing that an AQ room on an Asian Millennium cruise had decreased in the US but increased in the UK!!!

 

To any newbies reading, always undertake your due diligence and treat every single cruise price on its own merits. Ignore anyone who makes sweeping statements and always check both UK and US pricing to get the best deal. But...... Do your research to ensure you fully understand the pros and cons of both UK and US bookings. There is a lot to learn!

[villauk]

It's always prudent to get quotes from the UK and US.

 

 

I’ve been saying the same for years here on CC; I’m sure some are probably sick of reading ‘my mantra’ :D.