why are prices cheaper if you add your own perks

[luckyinpa]

looking at summit to bermuda in june

 

i notice if you pick a category and then pick the default on the left side of the screen for just 1 perk, then add to make it all 4, that its cheaper than picking the right side of the screen which includes all 4 perks already. and yes i clicked thru to the end to confirm all 4 perks in both situations were added

 

why is this?

[bkbarrym]

Maybe it's the difference between non refundable and refundable deposits.

[wrk2cruise]

28 minutes ago, bkbarrym said:

Maybe it's the difference between non refundable and refundable deposits.

 

This!

 

Celebrity's website is the worst for viewing pricing options.

[sullyd]

they dropped lastnite 100.00 and this morning up 150.00 (went from 1299 to 1199 then 1349) 

Edited January 16, 2020 by sullyd

[miched]

Because you are doing the work and taking the time to investigate instead of taking their “bargain”  package pricing.  

There are a lot of ways to come out ahead but I don’t want to disclose them on a public forum for Celebrity to eliminate them.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Moby Jones]

Celebrity pricing and logic haven't gone hand in hand in a long time. It's very easy these days to overpay.

Do your homework and you'll not get suckered into a bad deal. 

[Want2Cruise 701]

The left side is the non refundable deposit vs the refundable deposit on the right.  

[bartzcrew]

Im so glad I  found this, I noticed that too. When I was on the right, I saw refundable, so when I booked by clicking from left, was surprised to see that the $900 we paid was not refundable and I couldnt figure out what i read wrong. 

Thanks! 

[miched]

33 minutes ago, bartzcrew said:

Im so glad I  found this, I noticed that too. When I was on the right, I saw refundable, so when I booked by clicking from left, was surprised to see that the $900 we paid was not refundable and I couldnt figure out what i read wrong. 

Thanks! 

I was told that you don’t lose your whole deposit.  I think it is $100 or $25 don’t remember if you transfer it depending on the cutoff date.  
 

it may be worth the reduced rate by using the non refundable for the big difference in cost and consider it like a insurance policy if you do cancel.  If you don’t you saved a lot of money.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[jelayne]

39 minutes ago, bartzcrew said:

Im so glad I  found this, I noticed that too. When I was on the right, I saw refundable, so when I booked by clicking from left, was surprised to see that the $900 we paid was not refundable and I couldnt figure out what i read wrong. 

Thanks! 

 With the non Refundable deposit if you cancel, change ship or sailing date you are charged a $100 administrative fee.  Then the remainder of your deposit ($700) is refunded in the form of a Future Cruise Credit which must be used within 1 year.

[Iamcruzin]

2 minutes ago, jelayne said:

 With the non Refundable deposit if you cancel, change ship or sailing date you are charged a $100 administrative fee.  Then the remainder of your deposit ($700) is refunded in the form of a Future Cruise Credit which must be used within 1 year.

In my opinion it's not a refundable deposit if the cruise line keeps your money and limits you to a time when it can be used.

[jelayne]

1 minute ago, Iamcruzin said:

In my opinion it's not a refundable deposit if the cruise line keeps your money and limits you to a time when it can be used.

It isn’t refundable.  I was responding to a question about the Non Refundable deposit. 

[Iamcruzin]

Just now, jelayne said:

It isn’t refundable.  I was responding to a question about the Non Refundable deposit. 

I guess since you used the word refunded I miss interrupted it. So it's a $100 penalty with a credit for the remainder that expires 1 yr from cancelation date. I guess it would be best to wait until just before final payment even if you know you have to cancel sooner in order to extend the time to book a new cruise.

[jelayne]

9 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

I guess since you used the word refunded I miss interrupted it. So it's a $100 penalty with a credit for the remainder that expires 1 yr from cancelation date. I guess it would be best to wait until just before final payment even if you know you have to cancel sooner in order to extend the time to book a new cruise.

You are correct.

We have switched 3 booking from refundable to non-refundable and booked another 20 months out with a non-refundable deposit.  The difference in prices has been substantial.  We don’t book cruises as places holders we only book cruises we intend to take.  If we have to cancel it would be for a reason covered by our travel insurance so we would be reimbursed for the deposit.

[DrKoob]

9 hours ago, sullyd said:

they dropped lastnite 100.00 and this morning up 150.00 (went from 1299 to 1199 then 1349) 

 

Lots of good comments on this thread but I wanted to respond to this one. Celebrity doesn't change these prices, an algorithm does depending on how many are selling. If a bunch are selling, the price goes up. If not, it goes down. No human involved. Lots of companies do this, especially airlines.

[wrk2cruise]

8 hours ago, jelayne said:

You are correct.

We have switched 3 booking from refundable to non-refundable and booked another 20 months out with a non-refundable deposit.  The difference in prices has been substantial.  We don’t book cruises as places holders we only book cruises we intend to take.  If we have to cancel it would be for a reason covered by our travel insurance so we would be reimbursed for the deposit.

 

I have been doing this as well.  My calculations are that if I move or cancel less than 1 in 3 cruises I come out way ahead.    Some suites the difference in rates are well over $1000 pp, same perks just NR/Refundable.

 

I have booked a couple of placeholder cruises while onboard and of course I do those as refundable with the $100 pp deposit.  Then when I switch to the cruise I want to take, usually pretty last minute, we select a NR fare.

[miched]

 Many passengers are basically penny wise and dollar foolish.  They will just pay the extra because it is convenient and don’t have the time.

 

Some will pay for the premium bev pack even though they don’t drink enough to justify because they don’t want to sign a slip but will then haggle in port to save a dollar on a cheap souvenir, taxi, or tour, or waste their time chasing after a free trinket.  

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[luckyinpa]

21 minutes ago, miched said:

 Many passengers are basically penny wise and dollar foolish.  They will just pay the extra because it is convenient and don’t have the time.

 

Some will pay for the premium bev pack even though they don’t drink enough to justify because they don’t want to sign a slip but will then haggle in port to save a dollar on a cheap souvenir, taxi, or tour, or waste their time chasing after a free trinket.  

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

you got that right!!!! my 1st ever cruise was in haven on NCL out of NYC. a lady had to sign in port for her drink and noticed the NYC tax on it. the 'lady' all dressed up prim and proper was very displeased at this. i laughed and thought how much even the cheapest haven room was at the time and she complained about a dollar tax on a drink. big SMH moment. now i notice haven has signs while in every port regarding the tax. 

 

also ive never seen anyone on this forum total their drinks to find out of the package was really worth it for them. other than NCL ,most of the lines charge arms and legs for the packages. 

 

ive also seen much better pricing on no perks rooms especially from TAs websites so those are options for people too. they arent GTY rooms either. 

[Cruizen Susan]

We have booked sailings both ways.   Pay substantially more for the included perks,  or book with no perks.   It turns out that the stripped down price with nothing included, ends up being more than the higher, initial cost.  By the time we add in the drinks, fancy coffees and teas, the bottled water, etc,  not to mention the gratuities on a 12 night or longer sailing,  PLUS the OBC and sometimes internet,  it usually costs less to pay the all-inclusive price to begin with.

[luckyinpa]

i think its priced like this for force you to take the 4 perks. it makes sense for profit and for those that only take 1, they make it out because the lower price still includes profit from the things you didnt even choose. id imagine even if you booked GTY they make some kind of profit from the perks. 

 

im gonna email my TA to see what his pricing is. he saved me 1000 on ncl haven but my guess is less on a veranda here but is better than nothing. 

[cgolf1]

On 1/17/2020 at 10:03 AM, luckyinpa said:

 

you got that right!!!! my 1st ever cruise was in haven on NCL out of NYC. a lady had to sign in port for her drink and noticed the NYC tax on it. the 'lady' all dressed up prim and proper was very displeased at this. i laughed and thought how much even the cheapest haven room was at the time and she complained about a dollar tax on a drink. big SMH moment. now i notice haven has signs while in every port regarding the tax. 

 

also ive never seen anyone on this forum total their drinks to find out of the package was really worth it for them. other than NCL ,most of the lines charge arms and legs for the packages. 

 

ive also seen much better pricing on no perks rooms especially from TAs websites so those are options for people too. they arent GTY rooms either. 

 

For our upcoming trips we did the math, moving from an inside no perks to an oceanview with 2 perks and how many drinks per day we would need to pay the same out of pocket for both cabins. It turned out to be 2 sodas and 2 mixed drinks were are break even so it was a slam dunk to book with the perks. We later added a 3rd perk for no additional cost during a sale, so we could just drink soda and break even. We would never pay outright for a beverage package since we generally average 1 adult drink per day. We do al lot of math when booking Celebrity to make sure we get the best deal.

Edited January 20, 2020 by cgolf1

[kearney]

What we have done this past cruise was to book two cruises onboard, taking advantage of the reduced deposit. The cruise we were pretty sure we would take we did non refundable, but the other was more of a place holder... so that we booked refundable. Then when we got home I began to track prices. During the Veterans day 4 perk sale I changed the first cruise to take advantage of the 4 perks. Now to be honest, the only perk I care about are either gratuities or OBC ...but thought we would try the 4 perks. The total ended up being less than the original cost of the cruise... although that original cost was not nearly as good as past cruises of similar length and cabin grade. During this same sale I moved the second cruise to later in the year and shifted to non refundable and got the 4 perks... this too ended up being cheaper than the earlier placeholder. My thought was that if we decide not to do the later cruise... the $200 deposit loss was not that bad a loss.  Each cruise with 4 perks, looks attractive on the surface, but when I go back and compare to past cruises... it is considerably more expensive... but when I factor in the $200 OBC received onboard along with the $200 from the promotion and the $300 from the perk... the cost/day is nearly the same as some of my other cruises. However, since we are retired and have flexible schedules... my next plan is to book a refundable onboard for a year or so out... and then look for cruises within the 90 day period and use the placeholder to allow me to have $200 obc. You can still get fairly good or at least better deals if you are flexible in terms of itinerary, time of year and cabin location... if you wait until after the full payment period. But since the economy has improved both Royal and Celebrity have taken advantage to raise revenue. I am sure other cruise lines have done the same. For us the result is fewer cruises...  Anyway, my one fear with trying 4 perks... is that it might be hard to go back to zero...

[drakes2]

35 minutes ago, kearney said:

but when I factor in the $200 OBC received onboard along with the $200 from the promotion and the $300 from the perk...

I also took advantage of the 4 perk promo. The extra I paid covers all the gratuities and now that gratuities have increased effective January 6th it's even more attractive.  The PBP came with it which covers San Pellegrino some decent wine and a couple of martinis. A week after the vets day sale I found another price drop and was able to keep everything as both promos still running. 

[kearney]

1 hour ago, drakes2 said:

I also took advantage of the 4 perk promo. The extra I paid covers all the gratuities and now that gratuities have increased effective January 6th it's even more attractive.  The PBP came with it which covers San Pellegrino some decent wine and a couple of martinis. A week after the vets day sale I found another price drop and was able to keep everything as both promos still running. 

Because we are Elite, the Captains cocktail hour handled most of our alcohol needs... and the occasional bottle of wine expense did not justify a beverage package... and the 90 minutes of internet was enough to check email. One reason we decided to take up cruising was to get away from the office. Back in the day with no internet..it was a way to get away from office calls mid vacation. Anyway... I wonder once I start ordering beverages off the premium list... will I be able to go back to a stripped down trip. We will see.

[drakes2]

33 minutes ago, kearney said:

Because we are Elite, the Captains cocktail hour handled most of our alcohol needs... and the occasional bottle of wine expense did not justify a beverage package... and the 90 minutes of internet was enough to check email. One reason we decided to take up cruising was to get away from the office. Back in the day with no internet..it was a way to get away from office calls mid vacation. Anyway... I wonder once I start ordering beverages off the premium list... will I be able to go back to a stripped down trip. We will see.

I'm also Elite and did enjoy the captains club benefits but the times were not always convenient.  The 90 minutes of free internet in actual fact was less as logging on and off each time with slow service ate up about 4 minutes.  I made two trips to the ilounge and 20 lost minutes could not be explained so they actually gave me another 45 minutes.  The $500 obc covers two excursions with enough left to purchase some duty free alcohol onboard.  I know I'll be spoiled and most likely will book with perks in the future.