Current & future promotions. Anyone with a crystal ball (UK)?

[workingtocruise-59]

Hi

We are considering an X cruise in November this year. The last day to book for the current promotion is today. Does anyone have experience of one promotion finishing and another starting?

Should we really book tonight or wait and see?

 

Any advice would be most grateful though we realise what has happened before may not happen again.

 

Many thanks, in advance.

Edited August 28, 2019 by workingtocruise-59
typo

[andyfriend80]

I looked at this last time the offer expired and it didn't seem to make much difference; think there was slightly less OBC in the current offer than the previous one.  Luck of the draw though isn't it!

[mrsgoggins]

Have you checked on the approximate number of cabins available for your chosen cruise? If there are, there just may be better deals along, even if not tomorrow.  However, there are other variables that really does make that crystal ball necessary!

[bengaltiger1]

1 hour ago, workingtocruise-59 said:

Hi

We are considering an X cruise in November this year. The last day to book for the current promotion is today. Does anyone have experience of one promotion finishing and another starting?

Should we really book tonight or wait and see?

 

Any advice would be most grateful though we realise what has happened before may not happen again.

 

Many thanks, in advance.

Our cruise included the classic drinks package and $200 OBC when we booked a year ago. The price has dropped and Celebrity repriced the cruise and gave me the new promotion.  Classic drinks package, $200 OBC and gratuities paid.  It worked to our advantage as the new offer was better and the price dropped.  I am in the U.K. and book directly with Celebrity UK 

[peck]

I have just taken up the latest offer of  classic drinks package, no gratuites and $200 dollar obc. It was a bit of a no brainier when comparing the price of a interior cabin and upgrading with the package to an Oceanview cabin.

[villauk]

1 hour ago, bengaltiger1 said:

Our cruise included the classic drinks package and $200 OBC when we booked a year ago. The price has dropped and Celebrity repriced the cruise and gave me the new promotion.  Classic drinks package, $200 OBC and gratuities paid.  It worked to our advantage as the new offer was better and the price dropped.  I am in the U.K. and book directly with Celebrity UK 

 

 

Did you lose your deposit when you re-priced the cruise?

[RickT]

IMHO promotions basically shuffle the various components of the offer but ultimately the total price doesn't change all that much.  I've done much better catching a deal when Celebrity has actually dropped the price on a cruise due to cabin availability.  As others have said, check out how many cabins are available... keep an eye on the pricing and go for it when you feel the price is right.

[bengaltiger1]

Just now, villauk said:

 

 

Did you lose your deposit when you re-priced the cruise?

No we didn’t.  First time we have had a cruise drop in price too.  Saved £500 on top of getting the gratuities paid that we didn’t when we originally booked.  In addition, the cruise price has dropped further, but they wouldn’t re-price again, but gave me the difference in OBC.  

[villauk]

1 minute ago, bengaltiger1 said:

No we didn’t.  First time we have had a cruise drop in price too.  Saved £500 on top of getting the gratuities paid that we didn’t when we originally booked.  In addition, the cruise price has dropped further, but they wouldn’t re-price again, but gave me the difference in OBC.  

 

 

Very unusual, unless it’s an onboard booking or was booked under an initial price match guarantee (with an end date), for you not to lose your deposits. X used to honour price drops in the U.K. many moons ago.

[bengaltiger1]

1 minute ago, villauk said:

 

 

Very unusual, unless it’s an onboard booking or was booked under an initial price match guarantee (with an end date), for you not to lose your deposits. X used to honour price drops in the U.K. many moons ago.

 

Yes it was an onboard booking, but my other cruise isn’t and they have said they will re- price on that one too. Sadly, it’s only going upwards 😭

[mrsgoggins]

8 hours ago, villauk said:

 

 

Very unusual, unless it’s an onboard booking or was booked under an initial price match guarantee (with an end date), for you not to lose your deposits. X used to honour price drops in the U.K. many moons ago.

 

This is an interesting (and most welcome) development if it is across the board and not a one-off for some reason!

[PatEv]

We're on Connie from Dubai in December.  We booked on board last year.  When the price somewhat plummeted on our next cruise, I made the same phone call.  The upgrade fee was larger than the price??  However, as we booked on board, we could move the deposit to a random cruise in the future FOC (and repeat this as many times as we wish) and simply rebook.  We went from C1 (only paid for C2 and used Captains Club points) to S2 with the same perks and saved £550 in the process.

[mrsgoggins]

13 minutes ago, PatEv said:

We're on Connie from Dubai in December.  We booked on board last year.  When the price somewhat plummeted on our next cruise, I made the same phone call.  The upgrade fee was larger than the price??  However, as we booked on board, we could move the deposit to a random cruise in the future FOC (and repeat this as many times as we wish) and simply rebook.  We went from C1 (only paid for C2 and used Captains Club points) to S2 with the same perks and saved £550 in the process.

 

I have done very similar in the past.  And I have also phoned to upgrade at the new (greatly reduced) price and been allowed to do that by paying just a (very) small additional amount.

 

What the PP described however, is akin to the way it works in North America - being able to re-fare with no penalty or needing to move an on board booking (as you describe) - and that, to my knowledge, is a new development here in the UK.

[workingtocruise-59]

Many thanks for all the replies.

The new promotion has more OBC but free gratuities have been removed from all sailings except those departing from Southampton. There are free flights to Europe for some cruises.

We probably should have booked yesterday but hadn't sorted the flights.

[barbette165]

wtc-59 - has there been any change in  the bottom line price since yesterday?

 

I'm booked on the 29th November cruise on Reflection. Since I booked at the start of June,  I've been monitoring pricing and availability with a fervour verging on being OCD.

 

All cabins included in the promotion (Oceanview upwards) - including suites - had a price reduction late yesterday, which just about covers the difference between the old offer (CDP, $200 OBC + Grats) and the new offer (CDP + $300 OBC). (The only exception was Concierge cabins, which actually had an increase, but for about the past week they were cheaper than standard balcony cabins - so this increase was probably an unrelated correction of an anomaly).

[bogofman]

been waiting for the new offer, however its worse than before, same price no inc grats, just an extra $100 OBC , this  is a lot less than free grats,

 

shall still wait to see if the price drops

[workingtocruise-59]

1 hour ago, barbette165 said:

wtc-59 - has there been any change in  the bottom line price since yesterday?

 

I'm booked on the 29th November cruise on Reflection. Since I booked at the start of June,  I've been monitoring pricing and availability with a fervour verging on being OCD.

 

All cabins included in the promotion (Oceanview upwards) - including suites - had a price reduction late yesterday, which just about covers the difference between the old offer (CDP, $200 OBC + Grats) and the new offer (CDP + $300 OBC). (The only exception was Concierge cabins, which actually had an increase, but for about the past week they were cheaper than standard balcony cabins - so this increase was probably an unrelated correction of an anomaly).

Hi

Thank you.

We were looking at the 5th November TA and the prices appear to be just the same as yesterday but I will keep checking.

[Bretty]

21 hours ago, bengaltiger1 said:

Our cruise included the classic drinks package and $200 OBC when we booked a year ago. The price has dropped and Celebrity repriced the cruise and gave me the new promotion.  Classic drinks package, $200 OBC and gratuities paid.  It worked to our advantage as the new offer was better and the price dropped.  I am in the U.K. and book directly with Celebrity UK 

I’m pleased to read that as my cruise price has dropped, not by much but worth asking for, plus the extra OBC in the new promotion. I’ve sent an email to my Celebrity cruise consultant to see if I can reprice. I’m waiting to hear back but got an out of office note saying she’ll be back on Saturday. I hope I get good news.

[andyfriend80]

The cruises I was looking at have gone up in price (marginally) but the offers are slightly better.  Will be booking on board next week so will see how it goes.

[bengaltiger1]

On 8/29/2019 at 6:58 PM, Bretty said:

I’m pleased to read that as my cruise price has dropped, not by much but worth asking for, plus the extra OBC in the new promotion. I’ve sent an email to my Celebrity cruise consultant to see if I can reprice. I’m waiting to hear back but got an out of office note saying she’ll be back on Saturday. I hope I get good news.

Bretty keep us updated please. 

[Bretty]

16 minutes ago, bengaltiger1 said:

Bretty keep us updated please. 

@bengaltiger1 I noted when I checked over the weekend that an Aqua A2 is now only £100pp more than the rate I booked a Concierge C2. Admittedly I had got a coveted hump balcony on deck 9 so wasn’t sure 8 wanted to give it up, and the Aqua cabin had previously been outside my budget and not worth the high premium for the small difference.  Having not sailed with X before I don’t know the product yet, but my husband will certainly appreciate a smaller more intimate dining room experience as he’s generally antisocial and not good with large crowds of people. 😆  So I sent a second email.

 

My cruise consultant has replied to say she can’t reprice my booking on the same grade of stateroom, and would need to speak to a supervisor to see if he can do that. However, the upgrade is easy to do for the extra £100pp and I’ll get the new deal so I’ve opted for that. I’ve not been able to reach her by phone so sent an email with my preferred cabins and am waiting for her to confirm the changes. I’ll let you know when I hear back.

 

The idea of Blu is appealing but only moderately so, more so for my hubby, but on the other hand I would value and get some use of the PG and spa facilities and he won’t, so it’s a win-win I think.

[bengaltiger1]

2 minutes ago, Bretty said:

@bengaltiger1 I noted when I checked over the weekend that an Aqua A2 is now only £100pp more than the rate I booked a Concierge C2. Admittedly I had got a coveted hump balcony on deck 9 so wasn’t sure 8 wanted to give it up, and the Aqua cabin had previously been outside my budget and not worth the high premium for the small difference.  Having not sailed with X before I don’t know the product yet, but my husband will certainly appreciate a smaller more intimate dining room experience as he’s generally antisocial and not good with large crowds of people. 😆  So I sent a second email.

 

My cruise consultant has replied to say she can’t reprice my booking on the same grade of stateroom, and would need to speak to a supervisor to see if he can do that. However, the upgrade is easy to do for the extra £100pp and I’ll get the new deal so I’ve opted for that. I’ve not been able to reach her by phone so sent an email with my preferred cabins and am waiting for her to confirm the changes. I’ll let you know when I hear back.

 

The idea of Blu is appealing but only moderately so, more so for my hubby, but on the other hand I would value and get some use of the PG and spa facilities and he won’t, so it’s a win-win I think.

 

We loved Blu.  We chose cabins with cabins above and below to minimise the chance of noise. Good luck and nice to know that they will accommodate cabin changes in the UK as long as you are paying a little bit more.  

[Bretty]

On 9/2/2019 at 8:44 PM, bengaltiger1 said:

 

We loved Blu.  We chose cabins with cabins above and below to minimise the chance of noise. Good luck and nice to know that they will accommodate cabin changes in the UK as long as you are paying a little bit more.  

So I’ve finally heard back from my X cruise consultant and the upgrade has gone through for just £100pp over our original rate and the increase in OBC has been given.

There were a few cabins available and I considered aft cabins with cabins above and below, opted for a forward cabin after doing some research, and have chosen a cabin below the spa, not below the pool. It puts me close to the spa entrance and I don’t mind the extra legwork to get aft and down to the restaurant!

 

I’m very happy.

[bengaltiger1]

4 minutes ago, Bretty said:

So I’ve finally heard back from my X cruise consultant and the upgrade has gone through for just £100pp over our original rate and the increase in OBC has been given.

There were a few cabins available and I considered aft cabins with cabins above and below, opted for a forward cabin after doing some research, and have chosen a cabin below the spa, not below the pool. It puts me close to the spa entrance and I don’t mind the extra legwork to get aft and down to the restaurant!

 

I’m very happy.

 

Fantastic.