Heads up on Celebrity’ new promotion beginning on May 11th

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We had the 10% applied to our booked Alaska cruise, along with the $1,000 Sail Now Savings and a FCC. We also moved a NRD booking because there was nothing we wanted or could "shift" it to and also got the 10% and Save Now Savings.  We saved over $7K between the 2 cruises. 

[njcanuck]

Well I tried to get this applied via Celebrities "Best Price Guarantee", which one might assume could be used to get the "Best Price"

 

I had used this back in March when the price of my cruise dropped almost $900, but yesterday it was another $526 lower.  

 

I got the following response "We regret to inform you that we are unable to apply the requested Best Price Guarantee. According to our records, the reservation has already had a lower price applied. We are not able to apply the Best Price Guarantee program after the pricing has already changed. "

 

So while it doesn't say it on the web site you can only get the FIRST "best price" guarantee.   Once you do it the first time apparently they are saying you can't do it again, although it doesn't say that on the website under the best price guarantee.

 

I guess I have to get on the phone with my travel agent and cancel and rebook since this cruise is not till August 2021.  I'll loose the extra $200 OBC from booking on board, but it's still $500 less.

 

 

 

 

[Big_G]

Called Celebrity last night (unaware of the new promotion) to grab a price drop and the phone rep never mentioned it. I took advantage of the price drop but forgot to check the new invoice before hanging up. When I finally looked the 'Loyalty' discount was on the invoice and I saved an additional $700 on top of the price drop. Nicely done Celebrity.

[Luv2Crus40]

Wow, that's really good to know that the "best price" guarantee is only good one time.  I will have to choose wisely.  I imagine they will be doing more specials, especially for any 2020 cruises to get the cabins filled.

Edited May 12, 2020 by Luv2Crus40
mispelled word

[wrk2cruise]

@njcanuck

 

From the FAQ page

 

You may change the cruise price and offer up to 48 hours prior to the departure date. You must contact your travel advisor or call Celebrity Cruises at 1-800-437-3111 in North America or (316) 554-5961 worldwide at least 48 hours prior to sailing. You may change the price and offer as many times as desired up to 48 hours before sailing. For bookings within final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded in the form of non-refundable onboard credit; for bookings outside of final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded to the original form of payment used for the cruise fare. Certain promotions will be excluded from the policy. A list of exclusions will be provided.

Edited May 12, 2020 by wrk2cruise

[njcanuck]

12 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

@njcanuckFrom the FAQ page

 

You may change the cruise price and offer up to 48 hours prior to the departure date. You must contact your travel advisor or call Celebrity Cruises at 1-800-437-3111 in North America or (316) 554-5961 worldwide at least 48 hours prior to sailing. You may change the price and offer as many times as desired up to 48 hours before sailing. For bookings within final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded in the form of non-refundable onboard
credit; for bookings outside of final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded to the original form of payment used for the cruise fare. Certain promotions will be excluded from the policy. A list of exclusions will be provided.

Well that's good to know.

 

I emailed their best price guarantee, with a pdf of the lower price and the response I got back was :

 

Dear Mr & Mrs Burrell:

Thank you for your email.

We regret to inform you that we are unable to apply the requested Best Price Guarantee. According to our records, the reservation has already had a lower price applied. We are not able to apply the Best Price Guarantee program after the pricing has already changed. 

Kind regards,

Coupon Redemption Team
Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd."

 

I emailed back and said "WTH" am waiting for a response, but given the current price is $500 less I was going to call my travel agent and rebook.  It seem Celebrity doesn't follow their own policies.

 

 

[Luv2Crus40]

21 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

@njcanuck

 

From the FAQ page

 

You may change the cruise price and offer up to 48 hours prior to the departure date. You must contact your travel advisor or call Celebrity Cruises at 1-800-437-3111 in North America or (316) 554-5961 worldwide at least 48 hours prior to sailing. You may change the price and offer as many times as desired up to 48 hours before sailing. For bookings within final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded in the form of non-refundable onboard credit; for bookings outside of final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded to the original form of payment used for the cruise fare. Certain promotions will be excluded from the policy. A list of exclusions will be provided.

 

Of course they add at the end Certain promotions will be excluded from the policy. A list of exclusions will be provided. 

They always give themselves a back door for a fast exit.  Anyone seen the "list of exclusions" yet?

[wrk2cruise]

37 minutes ago, njcanuck said:

I emailed their best price guarantee, with a pdf of the lower price and the response I got back was :

 

Since you are booked with a TA then it's really the TA that has to take care of getting the promo added or the reservation repriced with the promo.  There should be no reason to have to rebook.   Let your TA take care of it.

[VitaminSea53]

Thanks for the Heads-Up!!

 

[Bo1953]

3 hours ago, njcanuck said:

Well that's good to know.

 

I emailed their best price guarantee, with a pdf of the lower price and the response I got back was :

 

Dear Mr & Mrs Burrell:

Thank you for your email.

We regret to inform you that we are unable to apply the requested Best Price Guarantee. According to our records, the reservation has already had a lower price applied. We are not able to apply the Best Price Guarantee program after the pricing has already changed. 

Kind regards,

Coupon Redemption Team
Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd."

 

I emailed back and said "WTH" am waiting for a response, but given the current price is $500 less I was going to call my travel agent and rebook.  It seem Celebrity doesn't follow their own policies.

You really need to do this through your TA to begin with, maybe that is the issue at hand for you?

 

bon voyage

[Bo1953]

In my previous post I indicated that the Promo was not of value to me, then realized that my TA needed to take care of this for us and the other five (5) joining us....

 

I was told that the overall fare may be reduced by 10% retaining all of our Perks and X granted OBC....

 

I will know tomorrow the reason I keep hitting my head up against the wall with these things and I have a TA to hit their head up against the wall... LOL

 

bon voyage

Edited May 13, 2020 by Bo1953

[Georgia_Peaches]

Heard back from our TA today and the 10% off promo is a no go on our March 2021 cruise.  As our category is sold out, I would have to cancel and rebook at a higher price AND lose my NDR.  We have $1500 refundable OBC so I guess we'll use this as our discount.  Hope the ship sails.  Apparently it's quite full (Connie, March 8, Touch the Panama Canal) with so many applied FCC.  The suite category is completely sold out but they had about dozen available when I looked last month.

 

So happy for all those who have been able to snag a discount!

[yorky]

I was told on the Facebook page not available. Captains club a one cat upgrade.

[Pinboy]

20 hours ago, gordylad said:

Does anyone know if this is for bookings made in the u.s. only?

Thanks


Sent from my iPad using Forums

That's a " Good One "---I assume you mean US citizens.

Why would Celebrity limit a '' Deal " to US citizens only ????

So, being from Canada, I tested it- and saved over $ 600 ( US ) but had to give up $200 ( US ) in OBC that we received when booking onboard.  ( Still have enough OBC left for the 4 night Specialty Dining pkg ).

 

[royalcruz]

28 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

That's a " Good One "---I assume you mean US citizens.

Why would Celebrity limit a '' Deal " to US citizens only ????

So, being from Canada, I tested it- and saved over $ 600 ( US ) but had to give up $200 ( US ) in OBC that we received when booking onboard.  ( Still have enough OBC left for the 4 night Specialty Dining pkg ).

 

U.S. and Canada are the same division.

[royalcruz]

We're Elite members and didn't get the email. I was going to call and get this promo change first thing this AM because it's easier to get thru. By the end of yesterday the price had gone up, cutting our $100 savings down to about $60 total. I also noticed that they eliminated the senior, military,  and resident rates at some point yesterday on this cruise (I wasn't planning on using them anyway because I prefer the 4PERKS promo). I don't feel like calling for this smaller amt, as sometimes the phone reps mess up the booking causing me aggravation. So I'll wait and see if there is another good drop. Timing is everything with Celebrity deals, but hours on hold isn't my style LOL.

[Pinboy]

27 minutes ago, royalcruz said:

U.S. and Canada are the same division.

" same division " ???

We can book in either $ US or $ Canadian on their website or onboard.

LOL-- I " almost " made a political statement about your " same division " comment, but, but, I " chickened out "  for fear of " getting the hook " from CC. 

 

 

[upwarduk]

1 hour ago, Pinboy said:

That's a " Good One "---I assume you mean US citizens.

Why would Celebrity limit a '' Deal " to US citizens only ????

I have been told many times that ‘it’s not a Celebrity UK promotion.’

We have different T&C, for instance we have always lost  our deposit if we cancel a cruise.

Normally TransAtlantic cruises never had drinks packages included, but I got one in 2013- as it was a Celebrity UK promotion.

My last booked cruise included gratuities as it was ex Southampton. Cruises booked with Celebrity in Australia  have also included gratuities, as it’s not in their culture to tip, so Celebrity UK we’re going down  the Australian route, as British cruisers often withdraw tips.

In  short very different promotions are seen between US and other countries.

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

1 hour ago, Pinboy said:

That's a " Good One "---I assume you mean US citizens.

Why would Celebrity limit a '' Deal " to US citizens only ????

So, being from Canada, I tested it- and saved over $ 600 ( US ) but had to give up $200 ( US ) in OBC that we received when booking onboard.  ( Still have enough OBC left for the 4 night Specialty Dining pkg ).

 

Why did you have to give up the OBC for booking onboard. We kept ours on both cruises.

[bob278]

Probably because the promotion is for cruises booked between May 11 and June 1 so it had to be rebooked with current  prices/offers.  Can't simply add the discount to existing/  That would have been great because on our cruise, the resident discount was $3,080 and the military savings was only $1,200.  But we still got a net $600 decrease in cruise fare and picked up the perks.  Good deal for us.

[Bo1953]

Hello all I just found out that by letting my TA take care of figuring out the new promo, I saved $1,500!!!!

 

I only gave up $100 in OBC, at that...

 

What was I thinking when trying to do it myself?

 

Lesson learned, for now....  😎

 

Happy Camper Am I!!!

 

bon voyage

[yorky]

Sadly we often get the raw end of the deal in the UK, certainly not offered to us according to their rep on the Facebook page.

[royalcruz]

1 hour ago, Pinboy said:

" same division " ???

We can book in either $ US or $ Canadian on their website or onboard.

LOL-- I " almost " made a political statement about your " same division " comment, but, but, I " chickened out "  for fear of " getting the hook " from CC. 

 

 

Very funny. Yes, RCCL sales is divided into regions of the world. U.S. and Canada both fall within the North America division. Citizens of either can book directly through that office.  U.S. travel agents can sell to citizens/residents of both countries, although not all agencies are setup to accept both currencies. So I would imagine that the same promos are available in both countries. 

[D C]

27 minutes ago, yorky said:

Sadly we often get the raw end of the deal in the UK, certainly not offered to us according to their rep on the Facebook page.

Makes dual-citizenship look appealing, doesn't it? Or at least a "summer residence" somewhere else.  I had no idea that how drastically different offers were in different parts of the world until reading on various forums.  

[Big_G]

20 hours ago, Big_G said:

Called Celebrity last night (unaware of the new promotion) to grab a price drop and the phone rep never mentioned it. I took advantage of the price drop but forgot to check the new invoice before hanging up. When I finally looked the 'Loyalty' discount was on the invoice and I saved an additional $700 on top of the price drop. Nicely done Celebrity.

Just a quick follow-up. Given the success of my Apex endeavor, I called back to get the reduction in my October 2021 Summit sailing. The final savings was only $30. Upon reviewing the invoice I could see where in both instances their was a change in the original booking promotion. It didn't matter much in my Apex booking. I still saved $700 plus the price drop but Summit it was a bigger loss so in the long run it only saved me $30.