Galapagos Air Promotion Disappeared - No worries as long as you have the confirmation that it was there at one time

[Ken the cruiser]

Here's a fun fact. We went to book our RT airfare through Celebrity Air for our Dec 2023 Galapagos cruise today. All went fine up until it was time for the CA person to post the $750 per person FLYGALAPAGOS discount we received when we booked the cruise back in Dec 2021. For some reason it had disappeared from our booking.

 

To resolve the issue, the CA person had to contact the Galapagos desk POC who then had to contact their supervisor to have it reposted to our booking. Luckily, we had our original confirmation that showed we had received the air promotion when we originally booked the cruise. Not quite sure when the promotion disappeared from our booking, but it sure helped to have that original confirmation. 😊

[NutsAboutGolf]

Just checked the see how much they were charging for the Flora, cheapest is $959/night before fees and taxes 🤯

[cruisequeen4ever]

I’m glad you got it solved! We were looking into the newest promo for Galapagos 2024 and 2025, and they must have deeply buried the free airfare side of the promo. Although the promo email had it in big letters, it was nowhere to be found once I searched the cruises on Celebrity’s website.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I’m glad you got it solved! We were looking into the newest promo for Galapagos 2024 and 2025, and they must have deeply buried the free airfare side of the promo. Although the promo email had it in big letters, it was nowhere to be found once I searched the cruises on Celebrity’s website.

Do you see under Discounts on a mock booking where it lists Special Offer? That Offer relates to the "included" FLYGALAPAGOS promotion of $750 per person if you book your flight through Celebrity Air, which on the other hand you will not get if you opt for the $1,000 "special offer" discount off the cruise fare as depicted below.

 

[Shiba_Lover]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Just checked the see how much they were charging for the Flora, cheapest is $959/night before fees and taxes 🤯

I was able to snag a guarantee suite on Flora for the 10 night trip (3 nights in Quito as well as the 7 night Galapagos).  It saved $3800 over the price of the cheapest suite available at the time I booked.  We finally got our room assignment and we got a pretty decent location - one of the infinite veranda sky suites, so saved even more I guess.  No bad rooms on the ship, so for sure worth doing a guarantee if you can find it offered.

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Just checked the see how much they were charging for the Flora, cheapest is $959/night before fees and taxes 🤯

When we booked our Dec 8, 2023 10-day cruise on the Flora when it first came out, it was $8,902 per person for the SS with a real balcony, which included the Elite+ discount as well as the Air promotion. The price for that cabin has jumped $1,400 pp since then.

Edited February 23, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[NutsAboutGolf]

Just now, Ken the cruiser said:

When we booked our Dec 8, 2023 10-day cruise on the Flora when it first came out, it was $8,902 per person for the SS with a real balcony, which included the Elite+ discount. The price for that cabin has jumped $1,400 pp since then.

 

Thanks.  I know the non-expedition ships fares went up but seeing your post just made me wonder how much they've increased for 2023...Cheapest rates for any expedition ship was just a tick under $600/night PP before fees and taxes

[Norwaylady]

🤩🤩 @Ken the cruiser your going to Galápagos??? 
Looking forward to that❤️ We are looking into 2025…. So I’m really trying to figure out what ship. X or Hurtigruten….

 

[Ken the cruiser]

2 minutes ago, Norwaylady said:

🤩🤩 @Ken the cruiser your going to Galápagos??? 
Looking forward to that❤️ We are looking into 2025…. So I’m really trying to figure out what ship. X or Hurtigruten….

 

Yes, in early Dec 2023, and of course, it's going to be an awesome Live From thread! 😊

 

I just looked at the Dec 5, 2025 10-day Flora cruise and the price for a SS with Veranda like we got is definitely more per person (with the Elite+ discount) than we paid! $8,902 versus $11,819! Ouch!!

 

[Norwaylady]

14 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Yes, in early Dec 2023, and of course, it's going to be an awesome Live From thread! 😊

 

I just looked at the Dec 5, 2025 10-day Flora cruise and the price for a SS with Veranda like we got is definitely more per person (with the Elite+ discount) than we paid! $8,902 versus $11,819! Ouch!!

 

Yes🫠 it’s pricey. Just keep in mind that we follow offers to the Nordic market. So our campaign is not the same as to the us market…. 

So when you had your offer, we never have a similar deal. 
 

The small xploration is very good priced in Norway. It’s only 16-guests, so it’s different than Flora. 

At Hurtigruten we get the same pricing on a 50-pax vessel and it includes airfare in economy round trip Norway. 
But nothing is decided yet😅

 

[prmssk]

Thanks for the info.  Booking our airfare is next on my to do list for our Nov 2023 cruise. How were your rates through Celebrity Air compared to booking direct?  I have been hesitant to call because the prices of the flights I want are not cheap at all right now!  And we don’t have many good options. 

[Shiba_Lover]

13 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Thanks for the info.  Booking our airfare is next on my to do list for our Nov 2023 cruise. How were your rates through Celebrity Air compared to booking direct?  I have been hesitant to call because the prices of the flights I want are not cheap at all right now!  And we don’t have many good options. 

We are on the Flora in October and also got the $750 offer off offer.  We actually wound up paying only $150 each with the X offer.  Our flights however are horrible - but they would be if we booked ourselves or booked through X (since we live in the mountains in the middle of nowhere).  We fly from Santa Fe to Dallas to Miami to Quito.  But hey - we only pay $150 each and can just hang out in the Centurion Lounge on our layovers.  We have no option to fly direct.  This was the best option to arrive in Quito at a decent hour (8:30 PM as opposed to 11:30 PM then have the drive to the hotel).

 

[Ken the cruiser]

22 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Thanks for the info.  Booking our airfare is next on my to do list for our Nov 2023 cruise. How were your rates through Celebrity Air compared to booking direct?  I have been hesitant to call because the prices of the flights I want are not cheap at all right now!  And we don’t have many good options. 

Initially we wanted to book a RT Delta flight but wound up booking an AA flight using Celebrity Air, as it was about $600 per person cheaper and with a refundable rate. The Delta RT flight fares were stupid, around $1476 pp (nonrefundable) if we had booked directly and $1900 if we would have booked it through CA. Both flights got there around 9 pm. After deducting the $750 per person Celebrity Air discount, the AA flight cost about $125 pp extra, which of course also includes transfers between the hotel in Quito and the airport, both coming and going, which booking directly does not.

[prmssk]

24 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Initially we wanted to book a RT Delta flight but wound up booking an AA flight using Celebrity Air, as it was about $600 per person cheaper and with a refundable rate. The Delta RT flight fares were stupid, around $1476 pp (nonrefundable) if we had booked directly and $1900 if we would have booked it through CA. Both flights got there around 9 pm. After deducting the $750 per person Celebrity Air discount, the AA flight cost about $125 pp extra, which of course also includes transfers between the hotel in Quito and the airport, both coming and going, which booking directly does not.

That’s not the news I wanted to hear. Delta is by far our best option for itinerary.  If we do AA, it is multiple layovers and more than twice the travel time. The only advantage to AA is we wouldn’t have a red eye home when the trip is over. 

[mahdnc]

We booked an Xpedition cruise for this coming November.  At the time of booking (nearly 2 years ago), Celebrity was offering a double club points promotion.  Because we are unsure that we will be credited properly (264 points per person), I am keeping all the documentation--just in case.

 

As far as air is concerned, we booked with American Airlines which will connect us thru Miami for both directions of travel.  It cost about $700 pp RT (economy class).

 

I am assuming that the Galapagos cruises are insulated from the latest round of onboard cutbacks.

Edited February 23, 2023 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

After deducting the $750 per person Celebrity Air discount, the AA flight cost about $125 pp extra, which of course also includes transfers between the hotel in Quito and the airport, both coming and going, which booking directly does not.

 

The airport/hotel transfers are included in the price of the cruise tour package and do not require that you purchase your air thru Celebrity.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

9 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

The airport/hotel transfers are included in the price of the cruise tour package and do not require that you purchase your air thru Celebrity.

 

OK. But if it were us booking separately, I would verify that with the folks at the Celebrity Galapagos desk just to make sure that independently booked flights are covered.
 

The reason I say this is because when we posed this question to the Celebrity Air person we worked with today, he said the transfers were only included if the flights are booked with Celebrity Air. 
 

But you might be right. 

[mahdnc]

10 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

OK. But if it were us booking separately, I would verify that with the folks at the Celebrity Galapagos desk just to make sure that independently booked flights are covered.

 

Well that goes without saying since we will have to communicate our flight schedules to Celebrity.  Besides, we will be arriving UIO ahead of time so I am not sure if it will be available to us.

[prmssk]

57 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

We booked an Xpedition cruise for this coming November.  At the time of booking (nearly 2 years ago), Celebrity was offering a double club points promotion.  Because we are unsure that we will be credited properly (264 points per person), I am keeping all the documentation--just in case.

 

As far as air is concerned, we booked with American Airlines which will connect us thru Miami for both directions of travel.  It cost about $700 pp RT (economy class).

 

I am assuming that the Galapagos cruises are insulated from the latest round of onboard cutbacks.

What is the time period of the double points offer you booked under?  We booked ours around the time of a double points offer (around Black Friday of 2021) but it clearly stated Galapagos cruises were excluded.  We took advantage of it for a different cruise but assumed our Galapagos cruise would not qualify.  

[mahdnc]

11 minutes ago, prmssk said:

What is the time period of the double points offer you booked under?  We booked ours around the time of a double points offer (around Black Friday of 2021) but it clearly stated Galapagos cruises were excluded.  We took advantage of it for a different cruise but assumed our Galapagos cruise would not qualify.  

 

Booking period was May 1 - Jun 30, 2021.  Here are links to the promotion itself: Link 1 and Link 2.

[prmssk]

3 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

Booking period was May 1 - Jun 30, 2021.  Here are links to the promotion itself: Link 1 and Link 2.

Thank you!  We booked later in the year so won't get that benefit. 

[mahdnc]

Just now, prmssk said:

Thank you!  We booked later in the year so won't get that benefit. 

 

Celebrity likes to rotate their promotions.  In my case 2x club points were offered, but there was no free air.  The free air is better.  Later free air was offered (and the 2x club points were removed) but the cruise/tour price also went up a little so it was all still a wash.  So what I am trying to say, is that I am sure that your overall deal was good even without the 2x points.

[Suzanne123]

1 hour ago, mahdnc said:

 

Well that goes without saying since we will have to communicate our flight schedules to Celebrity.  Besides, we will be arriving UIO ahead of time so I am not sure if it will be available to us.

We arrived in Quito a day early for the 10 day tour last month.  We booked airfare independently with Delta.  Write to Galapagosflightinfo@celebrity.com with your flight information, and they will meet you at the airport, transfer you to the Marriott, and take care of the flight to and from Baltra. 

[cruisequeen4ever]

22 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Do you see under Discounts on a mock booking where it lists Special Offer? That Offer relates to the "included" FLYGALAPAGOS promotion of $750 per person if you book your flight through Celebrity Air, which on the other hand you will not get if you opt for the $1,000 "special offer" discount off the cruise fare as depicted below.

 

Ohhh, that helps; thank you! 

[dardan]

On 2/23/2023 at 11:45 AM, Norwaylady said:

Yes🫠 it’s pricey. Just keep in mind that we follow offers to the Nordic market. So our campaign is not the same as to the us market…. 

So when you had your offer, we never have a similar deal. 
 

The small xploration is very good priced in Norway. It’s only 16-guests, so it’s different than Flora. 

At Hurtigruten we get the same pricing on a 50-pax vessel and it includes airfare in economy round trip Norway. 
But nothing is decided yet😅

 

We are doing the 16 person boat in May 2024.  A different experience but so looking forward to it.  We booked on board in Dec. 2022 and got a 20% discount and airfare for free.