Celebrity Edge Sky Suites Cost Pre Covid vs Now

[mk960072]

Wondering if Sky Suites were more expensive prior to COVID, the same price as now or perhaps less expensive prior to COVID.  I cant help but think demand has increased the price significantly since Celebrity starting sailing in June 2021.  Right now the average sailing costs on Edge for an S2 Sky Suite for a 7 day Caribbean are around $3300 per person.  I would love to sail Celebrity Edge again in the S2 but I cannot justify the additional costs when I can sail in a Penthouse Suite on Oceania for less money.  

[Ken the cruiser]

First thing that comes to mind is you have to reduce that $3,300 pp if you are going to compare prices as the SS price includes free gratuities, one free internet account per person and a free premium drink package along with $300 OBC per person. As I recall from our 10 cruises with Oceania, they only give you one free internet account per stateroom and 3 bags of laundry (20 pieces per bag) if you book a concierge or higher cabin. I know, you also get free specialty restaurants with O, but you get to eat all of your meals in Luminae when you book a sky suite or higher.

[mk960072]

Ken to make it as even Steven as possible between Celebrity and Oceania I did add in the cost of premium beverage package for two on Oceania, tips for a PH3 on Oceania and Wifi is free on Oceania.  And I removed the $300 per person OBC on Celebrity and Oceania was still by far cheaper.  You are correct you dont have to pay for specialty restaurants on O but with the smaller ship of 600 persons it made it somewhat even wrt Luminae.  Thanks for your input.

[bEwAbG]

There is no real value to what's included unless you must have it, e.g., I can get by without a full drink package and come out ahead.

 

To answer the original question, pricing was high on Edge pre-COVID because it was a brand new ship.  It is high post-COVID because it's only one of a few ships currently sailing + there is a huge population of passengers who have Future Cruise Certificates to use by a certain date due to all of the cancellations that keep happening.  I would say it's artificial demand but it is demand nonetheless.  Some of the older ships have better prices, but I think most are still priced too high for what you're really getting.

[TMLAalum]

IMHO all ships all sky suites and above are mucho more coin.

[Silkroad]

OP have you factored in the current 10% Captain’s Club discount on Caribbean cruises (also Alaskan cruises, I believe)? 

[bajathree]

1 hour ago, mk960072 said:

Wondering if Sky Suites were more expensive prior to COVID, the same price as now or perhaps less expensive prior to COVID.  I cant help but think demand has increased the price significantly since Celebrity starting sailing in June 2021.  Right now the average sailing costs on Edge for an S2 Sky Suite for a 7 day Caribbean are around $3300 per person.  I would love to sail Celebrity Edge again in the S2 but I cannot justify the additional costs when I can sail in a Penthouse Suite on Oceania for less money.  

Well there is something that is obviously attracting you to Celebrity Edge that you would love to sail on her again. If you can't justify the price then it would have been an easy decision and you would have already booked Oceania without looking back or wondering. Just my take on it. 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, mk960072 said:

Ken to make it as even Steven as possible between Celebrity and Oceania I did add in the cost of premium beverage package for two on Oceania, tips for a PH3 on Oceania and Wifi is free on Oceania.  And I removed the $300 per person OBC on Celebrity and Oceania was still by far cheaper.  You are correct you dont have to pay for specialty restaurants on O but with the smaller ship of 600 persons it made it somewhat even wrt Luminae.  Thanks for your input.

OK, you've caught my interest since I've got pretty much nothing to do until we go on our Edge B3B cruise this coming Saturday in a S2 sky suite.

 

I found a 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Oceania Riviera sailing 1/4/23. The "cruise only" fare (to include port fees) is $4,143 pp for a PH3 Penthouse cabin. The gratuities is $23 pp/day and the beverage package is $40 pp/day which brings the total to $4,773. A similar 10 day Caribbean Edge cruise sailing 1/10/23 with all the perks is $5,349 - $300 OBC = $5,049 pp.

 

So, if you're simply comparing cruise fare costs, it would definitely appear the PH3 is the better deal in this comparison. Which, of course, then just leaves the "fun factor" part of the cruise to consider, and as we all know, that is subject to each person's own cruising desires. IMHO we would have a grand time on either cruise, but there would probably be a wider variety of events to choose from on the Celebrity cruise!! 😎

Edited August 2, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[mk960072]

25 minutes ago, Silkroad said:

OP have you factored in the current 10% Captain’s Club discount on Caribbean cruises (also Alaskan cruises, I believe)? 

I did not, thank you for the reminder!!  Every bit helps doesn't it. 

[cruisingxpert]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I found a 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Oceania Riviera sailing 1/4/23. The "cruise only" fare (to include port fees) is $4,143 pp for a PH3 Penthouse cabin. The gratuities is $23 pp/day and the beverage package is $40 pp/day which brings the total to $4,773. A similar 10 day Caribbean Edge cruise sailing 1/10/23 with all the perks is $5,349 - $300 OBC = $5,049 pp.

$40 pp a day beverage is only for wine, beer and champagne at lunch and dinner.  Premium Beverage package is $60 a day pp and their wine by the glass selection is not comparable to Celebrity choices.

Don't get me started on their Champagne by the glass - Germain.  I love Oceania and it is my cruise line of choice but I was on the Edge in 2019 and I was very impressed.

[mk960072]

1 hour ago, bajathree said:

Well there is something that is obviously attracting you to Celebrity Edge that you would love to sail on her again. If you can't justify the price then it would have been an easy decision and you would have already booked Oceania without looking back or wondering. Just my take on it. 

Thanks for telling me what I already know, please reserve postings for addressing the question.

[mk960072]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

OK, you've caught my interest since I've got pretty much nothing to do until we go on our Edge B3B cruise this coming Saturday in a S2 sky suite.

 

I found a 10 day Caribbean cruise on the Oceania Riviera sailing 1/4/23. The "cruise only" fare (to include port fees) is $4,143 pp for a PH3 Penthouse cabin. The gratuities is $23 pp/day and the beverage package is $40 pp/day which brings the total to $4,773. A similar 10 day Caribbean Edge cruise sailing 1/10/23 with all the perks is $5,349 - $300 OBC = $5,049 pp.

 

So, if you're simply comparing cruise fare costs, it would definitely appear the PH3 is the better deal in this comparison. Which, of course, then just leaves the "fun factor" part of the cruise to consider, and as we all know, that is subject to each person's own cruising desires. IMHO we would have a grand time on either cruise, but there would probably be a wider variety of events to choose from on the Celebrity cruise!! 😎

Have fun on the Edge; we just came off 31 JULY and loved the S2 suite.  If you see Marko in Luminae please tell him Sal and Amy Green said hello; we adore him.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, cruisingxpert said:

$40 pp a day beverage is only for wine, beer and champagne at lunch and dinner.  Premium Beverage package is $60 a day pp and their wine by the glass selection is not comparable to Celebrity choices.

Don't get me started on their Champagne by the glass - Germain.  I love Oceania and it is my cruise line of choice but I was on the Edge in 2019 and I was very impressed.

All I will say is you will notice in my signature section, there are no future cruises booked with O and chances are there never will be again and I'll leave it at that.

[cruisingxpert]

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

All I will say is you will notice in my signature section, there are no future cruises booked with O and chances are there never will be again and I'll leave it at that.

Just trying to point out that the 60 a day pp plus suites get internet for 2 devices on Celebrity( only 1 device on O) would make the cost about the same.

Did you like your Crystal Cruises?

[Ken the cruiser]

1 minute ago, cruisingxpert said:

Just trying to point out that the 60 a day pp plus suites get internet for 2 devices on Celebrity( only 1 device on O) would make the cost about the same.

Did you like your Crystal Cruises?

No worries. Yes, we have definitely been wowed twice by Crystal!! We first sailed on the Serenity on a 21 day California/Mexican Riviera B2B cruise in 2017 and discovered what a truly luxury cruise was all about. Then we did a 30 day SE Asia cruise from Singapore to Shanghai on the Symphony and were doubly wowed!! In fact the picture under my handle is a sunset over Vietnam from our balcony and the picture below was also from our balcony when we were docked downtown overnight, first in Hong Kong and then in Shanghai. Crystal also has by far the best enrichment program we've ever had the privilege of attending. Unfortunately, though, Crystal has only two ocean liners, so their itineraries are limited. 😎

 

[bajathree]

2 hours ago, mk960072 said:

Thanks for telling me what I already know, please reserve postings for addressing the question.

Prices for sky suites on Edge were higher pre-covid than now.

[RICCruisers]

We were booked for an 11 night ABC Island cruise on Edge in November 2020 departing 1/24/22 in an S3 for $4499 pp. It was changed to an 11 night cruise on the same dates on Silhouette and the price for an S2 (lowest Sky Suite on S Class) is currently $7969 pp which is almost double what we are paying. Fortunately X allowed us to Lift and Shift. They also gave us an additional $400 OBC since we “downgraded “ from an E Class to an S Class ship. The only change was taking off Bonaire and adding an overnight in Curaçao. 
 

My answer to your question is a resounding YES the pricing on Sky Suites are definitely higher priced now than they were pre-COVID days.