Celebrity pricing. Will you sail at these prices? Anyone know of price drops?

[Denny01]

5 minutes ago, Mike981 said:

 

Den, just tell her it comes with a cook and a maid. My wife is the same and she is looking forward to this trip.

Wow, neat!

 

den

[Keys Kathy]

On 7/1/2021 at 11:44 AM, cruiserchuck said:

From what I have read on these boards, the early cruises are not that heavily booked.  I believe it is the need to use the FCC that is leading to the increase in prices.  I believe prices will drop once a lot of the FCC is used, assuming the ships are allowed to return to full capacity.  

Checking availability on the website we cannot mention, there are many, many cabins available on sailings. If they cabins show available, I would have to believe you can book it and the cruise is not subject to compacity control.

 

They are going to have to start making money. To do that, you have to get people on the ship to buy the upgraded drink package, specialty restaurants, shops, shore excursions etc. (Not to mention leaving my money in the casino)

 

Who do they want on board, "Friends and Family" at F&F rates or passengers who are willing to pay a fair price who they can upsell?

 

I am a Realtor, and the first thing I tell Sellers is you have to price the property correctly. If the price keeps Buyers from looking at the property, they cannot fall in love and eventually purchase it.

[tfred]

25 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

Checking availability on the website we cannot mention, there are many, many cabins available on sailings. If they cabins show available, I would have to believe you can book it and the cruise is not subject to compacity control.

 

They are going to have to start making money. To do that, you have to get people on the ship to buy the upgraded drink package, specialty restaurants, shops, shore excursions etc. (Not to mention leaving my money in the casino)

 

Who do they want on board, "Friends and Family" at F&F rates or passengers who are willing to pay a fair price who they can upsell?

 

I am a Realtor, and the first thing I tell Sellers is you have to price the property correctly. If the price keeps Buyers from looking at the property, they cannot fall in love and eventually purchase it.

A basic rule in business is once you lower the price, it is very hard to raise it back up.  Once you have frequent sales (4th of July !), then people wait for those big, frequent sales.  Ask Bed Bath and Beyond how their 20% off coupon is working.  No one buys anything there with a coupon and B B Y is tanking

 

X sells something that value can be added to  - free drinks, better shows, better food or service etc .  Their marketing campaign is trying to promote that to customers that get that idea.  Look at any resort in AZ, Las Vegas or Disney and there is no shortage of people dropping big money and smiling about it.  Those are the people that X wants to get on the ship.  

 

They have the big data that shows who spends and who doesn't.  My guess is that they know that price shoppers dont really spend all that much on board after embarkation.  These All In posts are littered with "I dont use the internet, specialty restaurants, drink or go to the spa". That isn't a business model ( or customer) that anyone wants if they want to remain profitable.  

[Keys Kathy]

18 minutes ago, tfred said:

A basic rule in business is once you lower the price, it is very hard to raise it back up.  Once you have frequent sales (4th of July !), then people wait for those big, frequent sales.  Ask Bed Bath and Beyond how their 20% off coupon is working.  No one buys anything there with a coupon and B B Y is tanking

 

X sells something that value can be added to  - free drinks, better shows, better food or service etc .  Their marketing campaign is trying to promote that to customers that get that idea.  Look at any resort in AZ, Las Vegas or Disney and there is no shortage of people dropping big money and smiling about it.  Those are the people that X wants to get on the ship.  

 

They have the big data that shows who spends and who doesn't.  My guess is that they know that price shoppers dont really spend all that much on board after embarkation.  These All In posts are littered with "I dont use the internet, specialty restaurants, drink or go to the spa". That isn't a business model ( or customer) that anyone wants if they want to remain profitable.  

I wish them luck. They tried to go for the younger demographic. Any idea how that worked out? In  my humble opinion, Covid created an entire new normal. Many people are still wearing masks and are simply not going to sail just yet, but they may go to Vegas or Disneyworld. Personally, I love the people in the car, by themselves, wearing a mask. 

 

I think the cruise lines need to price to get people on the ship to reinforce that cruising is safe.

[kimlovesfl]

On 6/30/2021 at 7:04 AM, stinkyenglishteacher said:

We looked at several Secrets resorts for this summer. For 7 nights non-preferred, it was $3k in some cases. Also, following the resort fan boards on FB, there were a lot more “hard partiers” than usual. 
 

Travel everywhere is costly right now. A family member with an RV can’t even book a spot as everywhere is full, but they said that it’s also double the cost.

 

Supply and demand drive the market. We just decided that for the money, we’d gamble on Celebrity. 

Don't even get me started on how much it costs to visit the National Parks this year. As hubby and I were planning our late summer/fall vacation, after deciding to cancel an NCL Med cruise in Oct due to high cost of airfare, several national park visits were on our radar. The cost of hotels and car rental put the cost out of the question. We are going to New Orleans for a week; got a good price on air, found a nice hotel for not too much, no car rental needed. Now, if we only had some extra $$ to book on the Edge for, like, NOW would be great. We both work at an Orlando theme park, and the demand right now is HUGE. 

[TeeRick]

4 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

I wish them luck. They tried to go for the younger demographic. Any idea how that worked out? In  my humble opinion, Covid created an entire new normal. Many people are still wearing masks and are simply not going to sail just yet, but they may go to Vegas or Disneyworld. Personally, I love the people in the car, by themselves, wearing a mask. 

 

I think the cruise lines need to price to get people on the ship to reinforce that cruising is safe.

But the few ships that are already sailing are at their pre-established capacities.  These capacities will increase over time.  So why would they need to lower prices now?  They have a back-log of FCC cruisers and Lift & Shift cruisers chomping-at-the-bit to get back on Celebrity.  So why would they need to lower prices now to show that cruising is safe?  

[bebe08]

We booked an Apex B2B cruise for April 2022 and there have been 2 price drops since we booked in Dec 2020.  

 

April 2 cruise has now dropped a total of 500 and Apr 9 a total of 680 so we are saving 1180 total on the 2 cruises.  We booked an Infinite Veranda with Elevate package.  I have also posted the info on price drops on both roll calls.

[Keys Kathy]

I received a "specials" email today which was coupled with "great deals". Celebrity was not among those "deals"

[dh1drill]

No I will not sail at these prices and yes they will drop prices if people start booking elsewhere I'm elite on celebrity and just booked another cruise one heck of a deal don't cave to sales tactics that celebrity are trying to sale you false move try another cruise line.

[deliver42]

I loved my only Celebrity cruise on the Equinox, but, unfortunately, can't afford anymore with these prices. I'll sail Princess for an upscale cruise, and Royal for a regular cruise. They're both more affordable than Celebrity.

[stevec999]

We have been looking and prices seem a good bit higher than we were used to.  As a side Carnival seems to be going after customers that have not cruised with them in a while. 7 day balcony with drink package for $650-$750pp. We have booked 3 so far. I know it’s a different experience than X but have always have a good time on Carnival.

 

We do have a Celebrity booked for next June. We do like aqua class. I retire June 1 and we board the 4th😁

Edited July 7, 2021 by stevec999

[4774Papa]

On 7/4/2021 at 9:43 AM, Keys Kathy said:

Checking availability on the website we cannot mention, there are many, many cabins available on sailings. If they cabins show available, I would have to believe you can book it and the cruise is not subject to compacity control.

 

They are going to have to start making money. To do that, you have to get people on the ship to buy the upgraded drink package, specialty restaurants, shops, shore excursions etc. (Not to mention leaving my money in the casino)

 

Who do they want on board, "Friends and Family" at F&F rates or passengers who are willing to pay a fair price who they can upsell?

 

I am a Realtor, and the first thing I tell Sellers is you have to price the property correctly. If the price keeps Buyers from looking at the property, they cannot fall in love and eventually purchase it.

With Always Included you are forced to pay for perks you don't want and prices are up and up.  We are moving to Royal that has way lower prices.

[SWFL Cruisers]

On 6/29/2021 at 4:44 PM, lostchild said:

There are a lot of FCC sitting out there waiting to be used.   Until they are all used up or expires on April 30, 2022, Celebrity could charge any price and people will still have to book.   Since they have to be used on sail by Sept 2022, prices should go back down a bit after that.

 

I have to use ours and still have not decided what to book yet.  The Alaska cruise we booked back in 2020 is now about 50% more with the same perks.

I guess in that case I would have just used the "Lift & Shift" option so the price would of been irrelevant, correct?

[lostchild]

26 minutes ago, SWFL Cruisers said:

I guess in that case I would have just used the "Lift & Shift" option so the price would of been irrelevant, correct?

I think so?  I have FCC instead.  I cancelled the original cruise earlier in 2020 and I don't think they have Lift & Shift at that time.

[Keys Kathy]

14 minutes ago, lostchild said:

I think so?  I have FCC instead.  I cancelled the original cruise earlier in 2020 and I don't think they have Lift & Shift at that time.

I was lucky. I had 2 I lifted and shifted. The prices now are MORE per person than we are paying for both of us. 

[Moonarino]

On 7/7/2021 at 12:11 PM, 4774Papa said:

With Always Included you are forced to pay for perks you don't want and prices are up and up.  We are moving to Royal that has way lower prices.

 

Yep. Pay more to "save" more. Nope.

 

I definitely would not be sailing X in November if I had to pay anywhere close to the prices I was seeing 2 weeks ago and for months before. I compared fake bookings for multiple ships and dates across multiple sites (including X), several times over the past several weeks, and the bottom line was pretty much outrageous every time.

 

About 3 months I did book a 7-day extended-family cruise on Harmony OTS for next spring, and it wasn't all that bad. Roughly average I'd say, inflation considered.

Edited July 9, 2021 by Moonarino

[tfred]

On 7/7/2021 at 11:57 AM, stevec999 said:

We have been looking and prices seem a good bit higher than we were used to.  As a side Carnival seems to be going after customers that have not cruised with them in a while. 7 day balcony with drink package for $650-$750pp. We have booked 3 so far. I know it’s a different experience than X but have always have a good time on Carnival.

 

We do have a Celebrity booked for next June. We do like aqua class. I retire June 1 and we board the 4th😁

everyone is looking for new customers - just at different levels.  The isn't  the same as stealing existing from other cruise lines 

 

Carnival isn't X - never will be 

 

[4774Papa]

9 hours ago, tfred said:

everyone is looking for new customers - just at different levels.  The isn't  the same as stealing existing from other cruise lines 

 

Carnival isn't X - never will be 

 

We have family and friends that have done Carnival, they say they enjoyed their cruises, but not as much as NCL or Celebrity.

Drink packages at about $100 per day per person, is no bargain for someone that normally drinks three or four glasses of wine a day.  Prior to becoming elite, we always purchased a 10 bottle wine package for way less that would be enough for a 14 day cruise.

[ItsADryHumor]

On 7/6/2021 at 6:42 PM, dh1drill said:

No I will not sail at these prices and yes they will drop prices if people start booking elsewhere I'm elite on celebrity and just booked another cruise one heck of a deal don't cave to sales tactics that celebrity are trying to sale you false move try another cruise line.

That sentence was painful to read from a grammatical standpoint. 
 

Are you related to ee cummings, perchance?

[Fouremco]

4 hours ago, stinkyenglishteacher said:

That sentence was painful to read from a grammatical standpoint. 
 

Are you related to ee cummings, perchance?

I do hope that @dh1drill is not one of your former students! 😇

[dh1drill]

On 7/9/2021 at 5:33 AM, stinkyenglishteacher said:

That sentence was painful to read from a grammatical standpoint. 
 

Are you related to ee cummings, perchance?

Trying to get something started I see.

[iancal]

Not an issue for us.  If the price is not competitive we simply book another cruise line/ship. 

 

IF we find all cruise line pricing high we simply select an alternative travel option.   

 

Cruising is not the only leisure trip game in town for us.  And we are not succumbing to some of the outrageous pricing that we have seen lately.  It will only encourage the cruise lines to keep pricing high.  Better to send them a message by refusing to buy, or buying from another cruise line.

Edited July 12, 2021 by iancal

[dh1drill]

On 7/9/2021 at 9:37 AM, Fouremco said:

I do hope that @dh1drill is not one of your former students! 😇

If you only knew my education.

[ItsADryHumor]

30 minutes ago, dh1drill said:

Trying to get something started I see.

As the poets Young Bloodz and Lil John once intoned, “Don’t start no stuff, won’t be no stuff.” 😉 I think Sean Paul was part of that, too. 

[Iamcruzin]

On 7/4/2021 at 10:20 AM, tfred said:

A basic rule in business is once you lower the price, it is very hard to raise it back up.  Once you have frequent sales (4th of July !), then people wait for those big, frequent sales.  Ask Bed Bath and Beyond how their 20% off coupon is working.  No one buys anything there with a coupon and B B Y is tanking

 

X sells something that value can be added to  - free drinks, better shows, better food or service etc .  Their marketing campaign is trying to promote that to customers that get that idea.  Look at any resort in AZ, Las Vegas or Disney and there is no shortage of people dropping big money and smiling about it.  Those are the people that X wants to get on the ship.  

 

They have the big data that shows who spends and who doesn't.  My guess is that they know that price shoppers dont really spend all that much on board after embarkation.  These All In posts are littered with "I dont use the internet, specialty restaurants, drink or go to the spa". That isn't a business model ( or customer) that anyone wants if they want to remain profitable.  

So true. The public has been conditioned to only buy during what is perceived to be a sale. To use your example if you price compare the same item, Bed Bath and Beyond is always is 20% more than other retailers selling the same product.