Dramatic price drop since booked

[Shadow9612]

8 hours ago, villauk said:

 

U.K. bookings have totally different T&C to those of other countries. I’ve been using the same US TA for over 10 years now, mainly for the flexibility which isn’t available over here.

How did you decide which US agent to use ?  I'm in Canada and we don't get nearly as many perks or OBC from travel agents in Canada compared to the US. I'm not asking for names, as I realize this can't be given on CC, just the thought process on how you approached finding a US agent and then felt comfortable with them...

[Lolabunny488]

19 minutes ago, Shadow9612 said:

How did you decide which US agent to use ?  I'm in Canada and we don't get nearly as many perks or OBC from travel agents in Canada compared to the US. I'm not asking for names, as I realize this can't be given on CC, just the thought process on how you approached finding a US agent and then felt comfortable with them...

 

Yes I’d be interested to know that too. 

[stefndoug]

I booked over a year ago too...and once final payment happened the prices dropped...but I knew that would probably happen as that is normal for these 1 way cruises.  We were in an oceanview and just upgraded to a balcony for $100/person more (and I kept my 2 perks).  I am in Canada...it wasn't a problem for my TA to do this with Celebrity.  They even say, they are more than happy to take our money 🙂   That sucks about the UK bookings.  

 

Stefani

[villauk]

4 hours ago, Shadow9612 said:

How did you decide which US agent to use ?  I'm in Canada and we don't get nearly as many perks or OBC from travel agents in Canada compared to the US. I'm not asking for names, as I realize this can't be given on CC, just the thought process on how you approached finding a US agent and then felt comfortable with them...

 

3 hours ago, Lolabunny488 said:

 

Yes I’d be interested to know that too. 

 

 

The M&M is a wonderful tool to chat and make connections. On one of our very early sailings, we met a lovely couple and they recommended a US TA. We were very pleased with the service, saw the booking online immediately - which wasn’t the case over here - and the payment went directly to the cruise line (again, not the case over here as it’s the TA who takes the money).

[sandancer]

Same here.  Recommended by fellow cruisers. I particularly like that the payment is made to the cruise line and appears on your credit card as that. On the rare occasions that we have cancelled the refund has made directly back to the credit card. Only word of caution is the gamble you take with the currency exchange rates but even when they are not great the other advantages outweigh that. I would love to share but unfortunately this is against the rules of the board so can’t do that. 

[Tourist1292]

3 minutes ago, sandancer said:

Same here.  Recommended by fellow cruisers. I particularly like that the payment is made to the cruise line and appears on your credit card as that. On the rare occasions that we have cancelled the refund has made directly back to the credit card. Only word of caution is the gamble you take with the currency exchange rates but even when they are not great the other advantages outweigh that. I would love to share but unfortunately this is against the rules of the board so can’t do that. 

Even I use a big box TA, all my payments appeared to be directly at Celebrity on the credit card.

[sandancer]

It’s so much better than the way it’s done here in the UK where you pay the travel agent and they pass on the payment to the cruise line. 

[fragilek]

I didn't know that happened - but just checked with mine and they pay direct too (husband cc card in the past and he wont know what  or who he's paying I just sort out all the booking then hand the phone over  to him when I get to the payment part  lol )- I had just assumed the agent would get the money then pay the cruiseline the way it works here in UK. So I am happy to find that out especially as to pay the rest I don't want to use a cc with its added protection but a fairfx card as I have loaded up $ in case of  a brexit sanario causing an even bigger fall in the £ . 

[fragilek]

A heads up for others asking about how to choose an agency- I just googled and came across a sort of comparison web site were you put in the cruise you wanted then different agents sent their best offers.  I then checked a few out on the places below

 

better buisness bureau ( bbb) to check for A+ score 

checked if they where members of  Cruise Line International Association (CLIA) - not sure if that's is important or not (perhaps USA folks could comment) but I figured the more they were registered with the better.  We then used a cc card to limit risk

I have now 2 cruises booked with 2 different USA agents depending on which gave me the better price on the compassion type site. On both bookings I keep checking for cheaper as I can cancel for free but haven't even seen anything close to the deals I got sent after asking for quotes on that site.

 

Both showed in the cruise-lines manage bookings pages the following morning by 8am after being booked at 11.30pm uk time.

[abbydancer2003]

On 3/22/2019 at 9:49 AM, justcrusn said:

Its interesting about human nature. NO one has ever wanted an adjustment if the price increases, they want to be locked in, but if the price goes down, they want the current offer. 

We were just on a cruise where the prices dropped dramatically after final payment.  We're in the US so we were able to upgrade from an SS to a CS for 300.00.  Two days after doing that, the CS dropped several hundred dollars below what we paid.  They happily gave us the 300.00 back as refundable OBC.

 

It then dropped again, I called about maybe some extra OBC, and was very friendly, polite and with no expectations.  The first time I called the agent actually said something about they wouldn't ask for extra money if the price went up, so why should they give us credit if the price went down.

 

On a subsequent call about something else, I asked again, and they gave us a little more OBC.

 

 

[wendychloecruiser]

On our upcoming cruise we had three price drops for a total savings of close to $2000.   I would have been completely out that money if I had booked with a U.K. agency.  With the adjustments I didn’t lose any of the $450 OBC nor the grats that were included also.

[sandancer]

59 minutes ago, fragilek said:

I didn't know that happened - but just checked with mine and they pay direct too (husband cc card in the past and he wont know what  or who he's paying I just sort out all the booking then hand the phone over  to him when I get to the payment part  lol )- I had just assumed the agent would get the money then pay the cruiseline the way it works here in UK. So I am happy to find that out especially as to pay the rest I don't want to use a cc with its added protection but a fairfx card as I have loaded up $ in case of  a brexit sanario causing an even bigger fall in the £ . 

As long as you have made part payment i.e. the deposit you still get the credit card protection. 

[villauk]

14 hours ago, sandancer said:

As long as you have made part payment i.e. the deposit you still get the credit card protection. 

 

 

Correct.

[sandancer]

4 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

Correct.

I would love to claim superior knowledge but actually it was Martin Lewis on one of his Money shows. He seems to know everything and more about credit cards,!

[cruiseerf]

Just an Example:   May 6th Reflection cruise from Dublin to Iceland (gonna be cold brrr)..... 

We were quoted 2 years ago for an onboard booking......$6989 per person.  so lets say $14K USD for two in a skysuite.   4 perks included.

 

We just saw this same cruise selling one month after final payment for $4200 for two in the same skysuite with no perks.....A drop of almost 10K USD.....For people who ponied up that $$ in advance and paid final payment.....I feel for them.  On the upside,  the top suites were not sold and the Royal suite was selling for 8K for two.....for the ten night cruise....perhaps some of them upgraded?  Here's hoping. 

 

One would think if Celebrity priced their cruises more accurately, this would not happen?  It breeds ill will amongst their loyal customers. 

 

Safe Sails.  

[villauk]

10 minutes ago, sandancer said:

I would love to claim superior knowledge but actually it was Martin Lewis on one of his Money shows. He seems to know everything and more about credit cards,!

 

🤣 Martin Lewis is fabulous with his money saving tips.

 

I heard an example on my local radio show where a couple had paid the deposit of a couple of hundred pounds for their £56,000 (approx) house extension and the balance from their savings accounts. Something went wrong with the build, but they were able to claim back for the whole amount because the deposit was on their CC. One of those that stays in your mind.

[villauk]

2 minutes ago, cruiseerf said:

 

 

One would think if Celebrity priced their cruises more accurately, this would not happen?  It breeds ill will amongst their loyal customers. 

 

Safe Sails.  

 

Yes, I’ve just read on another thread that Edge sailings have been reduced to $599 😮! I imagine that will be the face of quite a few that have paid the extortionate rates X have been asking. I do think it’s starting to backfire on them as there appears to be quite a few long-standing X cruisers who are looking elsewhere. One recently who has booked with Crystal for less than X.