Celebrity Cruises' "Best Price Guarantee" is a lie.

[C-Dragons]

3 hours ago, RomanH said:

From the reply to my submitted Best Price Guarantee request form:

 

"Please be advised that the lower rate you have mentioned is with the Exciting Deals offer which is only applicable for new bookings and cannot be applied to your already created booking."

I have never submitted a form of any kind for X price drops.

Once upon a time I called X direct. Now I call my TA and she does it for me.

If X is declining to give you the reduced fare, apparently something is not quite right.

IMO, you should call and speak to a X agent as there isn’t anything anyone here can do to fix the problem. Good luck.

[Jim_Iain]

6 hours ago, poeticlicensed said:

So does the best price guarantee only hold if you call and tell them you saw your cruise at a lower price? 

Yes.   It is not automatic.   You have to call either your agent or Celebrity to have the adjustment in price.

[poeticlicensed]

56 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yes.   It is not automatic.   You have to call either your agent or Celebrity to have the adjustment in price.

Well thats just a pain in the derriere

[Lastdance]

1 hour ago, poeticlicensed said:

Well thats just a pain in the derriere

Agreed, but it just depends on whether that money is important enough for you to call, as many do not pay that close attention, along with why Celebrity doesn’t automatically give it to everyone.  Yes, it is a game and your decision to play...cruising for the best price is a learning curve.  We have all been there too!

Edited September 2, 2023 by Lastdance

[the penguins]

7 hours ago, poeticlicensed said:

Well thats just a pain in the derriere

It's a simple 2 step process:

1) you need to identify that the price has dropped.

2) You need to contact X or your Agent to get the lower price.

Wether this is worth it is your decision, it can save $ hundreds or virtually nothing.

Same applies to price drops/offers on, for example,  excursions. 

Book ships excursions, private tours or do nothing - your choice.

Upgrade drinks and or WiFi - your choice.

Is the next grade of cabin worth the extra few $'s - your choice.

Bid to upgrade or stick - your choice.

Book a guarantee cabin and hope for a free upgrade - your choicem

For many it's part of the game/fun of cruising for others just a pain.

No right or wrong just choices.

Relax and enjoy your cruise.

 

 

[RomanH]

9 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yes.   It is not automatic.   You have to call either your agent or Celebrity to have the adjustment in price.

No. You can call Celebrity as often as you want: the Best Price Guarantee does not apply to "Exciting Deals," and you will get no price adjustment. Which means it's not really a guarantee.

[RomanH]

7 hours ago, Lastdance said:

Agreed, but it just depends on whether that money is important enough for you to call, as many do not pay that close attention, along with why Celebrity doesn’t automatically give it to everyone.

It's a significant amount of money so spent several hours calling (wait time was over an hour for a while). And I was told that with "Special Deals" like this one they don't give ANYONE a price adjustment.

[RomanH]

44 minutes ago, the penguins said:

It's a simple 2 step process:

1) you need to identify that the price has dropped.

2) You need to contact X or your Agent to get the lower price.

 

 

Nope! With "Special Deals" like the one offered now you do NOT get the lower price. Ever. It's in the fine print for the "Special Deals" -- "Offer applies to new individual bookings" -- but not mentioned in the guarantee. 
 

That's why I'm angry. I'm fine playing games but not when they make up new rules to cheat.

[tigervixxxen]

25 minutes ago, RomanH said:

It's a significant amount of money so spent several hours calling (wait time was over an hour for a while). And I was told that with "Special Deals" like this one they don't give ANYONE a price adjustment.

I’d it’s that significant and you haven’t made the final payment is it worth it to completely cancel and create a new booking using the Exciting Deals offer? 

[RomanH]

58 minutes ago, tigervixxxen said:

I’d it’s that significant and you haven’t made the final payment is it worth it to completely cancel and create a new booking using the Exciting Deals offer? 

I have a non-refundable deposit. The agent suggested refundable in the future but the extra cost would be about what I'd save now.

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, RomanH said:

Nope! With "Special Deals" like the one offered now you do NOT get the lower price. Ever. It's in the fine print for the "Special Deals" -- "Offer applies to new individual bookings" -- but not mentioned in the guarantee. 
 

That's why I'm angry. I'm fine playing games but not when they make up new rules to cheat.

As I said - first check that the price has changed (perhaps I should have "your" rather than "the".) In your case the price of your offer hadn't changed you were comparing against a fare with different rules.

You are implying (well more than implying) that X changed the rules after you had booked but this is incorrect - the original post clearly shows that to claim you would have to meet certain conditions.

Regretably as so often the devil is in the detail.

 

[mayleeman]

19 hours ago, RomanH said:

I still haven't made the final payment (because that means any further reductions in price would get me credit instead of cash).

 

Clarification: It is after the final payment deadline that you don't get price adjustments. If you were entitled to a price guarantee adjustment, you would still get a refund, not just credit, if you had paid the whole amount prior to the deadline. 

Edited September 2, 2023 by mayleeman

[horseymike]

it is a misrepresentation " Best Price Guarantee" .

[mayleeman]

Reading the reasoning why the guarantee is not a guarantee reminds me of John Candy explaIning the "rules" of poker in Stripes.

[bnurick]

14 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yes.   It is not automatic.   You have to call either your agent or Celebrity to have the adjustment in price.

Jim, I know you have had success with this, could you provide an example as to how you were able to get a lower fare adjustment so people know what to monitor?

[Jim_Iain]

4 hours ago, bnurick said:

Jim, I know you have had success with this, could you provide an example as to how you were able to get a lower fare adjustment so people know what to monitor?

 

I compare using Celebrity Site -  To be quick and easy -

 

I first search on the Cruise -  

Choose Book now and select number of staterooms, # Guests

 

From the results I book mark that page -  e.g.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/booking-cruise/selectRoom/stateroomCategory?pID=EG12K163&sDT=2023-12-09&sCD=EG&sCT=CO&roomQuantity=1

 

From that page I can quickly come back and do a mock booking for the room type I am comparing in a couple seconds.

 

From the final booking screen it summarize the Total Price as well as what is included.   Once I have this I compare it to my booking which I keep in an Excel Spread sheet .      If a cheaper price I email my Agent and he has the booking re-priced.  

 

 

[bEwAbG]

I would ask them to review the call and see what the agent said when you were booking.  Doesn't a company have to explain its terms and conditions clearly?  It's fine to point to the details online but that assumes one books online and not through a phone agent.  If the agent misrepresented what the offer was, I think the company owes some consideration. 

[bnurick]

19 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I compare using Celebrity Site -  To be quick and easy -

 

I first search on the Cruise -  

Choose Book now and select number of staterooms, # Guests

 

From the results I book mark that page -  e.g.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/booking-cruise/selectRoom/stateroomCategory?pID=EG12K163&sDT=2023-12-09&sCD=EG&sCT=CO&roomQuantity=1

 

From that page I can quickly come back and do a mock booking for the room type I am comparing in a couple seconds.

 

From the final booking screen it summarize the Total Price as well as what is included.   Once I have this I compare it to my booking which I keep in an Excel Spread sheet .      If a cheaper price I email my Agent and he has the booking re-priced.  

 

 

Thank you. Sent you a fb message.

[RomanH]

5 hours ago, bnurick said:

Jim, I know you have had success with this, could you provide an example as to how you were able to get a lower fare adjustment so people know what to monitor?

I went to the website every few days & went through the steps to rebook the cruise. That tells you what the current price is, & then you can simply call & cite the Best Price Guarantee.

 

Fingers crossed the cheaper offer isn't in their "Exciting Deal" category, because then they say tough luck.

[RomanH]

6 hours ago, horseymike said:

it is a misrepresentation " Best Price Guarantee" .

Exactly! "We guarantee you'll pay the lowest price ... except sometimes you won't."

[RomanH]

6 hours ago, mayleeman said:

 

Clarification: It is after the final payment deadline that you don't get price adjustments. If you were entitled to a price guarantee adjustment, you would still get a refund, not just credit, if you had paid the whole amount prior to the deadline. 

Thanks! I did not know that.

[RomanH]

8 hours ago, the penguins said:

As I said - first check that the price has changed (perhaps I should have "your" rather than "the".) In your case the price of your offer hadn't changed you were comparing against a fare with different rules.

You are implying (well more than implying) that X changed the rules after you had booked but this is incorrect - the original post clearly shows that to claim you would have to meet certain conditions.

Regretably as so often the devil is in the detail.

 

I'm focusing entirely on the guarantee. Yes, the "Exciting Deals" say they're only for new bookings. But read the guarantee: nowhere does it say "except for Exciting Deals." It says to get a price adjustment to these, your booking must meet "special conditions," but those seem to be either (1) you didn't actually book, or (2) you booked with a refundable deposit, cancel, & rebook. In either case, your original booking will not get a price adjustment. This is why I suspect these "special conditions" where you can price adjust to an "Exciting Deal" don't actually exist.

[RomanH]

50 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

I would ask them to review the call and see what the agent said when you were booking.  Doesn't a company have to explain its terms and conditions clearly?  It's fine to point to the details online but that assumes one books online and not through a phone agent.  If the agent misrepresented what the offer was, I think the company owes some consideration. 

Thank you for this. I've already spent probably four hours on the phone, calling over & over with a one-hour hold time, hoping to get someone helpful on the line, finally getting a supervisor. (The first guy I spoke to said he could repeice is for $100 per person.) I'm done. I've moved on to the "spread the word" phase. 

[RomanH]

1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

I compare using Celebrity Site -  To be quick and easy -

 

I first search on the Cruise -  

Choose Book now and select number of staterooms, # Guests

 

From the results I book mark that page -  e.g.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/booking-cruise/selectRoom/stateroomCategory?pID=EG12K163&sDT=2023-12-09&sCD=EG&sCT=CO&roomQuantity=1

 

From that page I can quickly come back and do a mock booking for the room type I am comparing in a couple seconds.

 

From the final booking screen it summarize the Total Price as well as what is included.   Once I have this I compare it to my booking which I keep in an Excel Spread sheet .      If a cheaper price I email my Agent and he has the booking re-priced.  

 

 

Thanks for that. I did essentially the same thing. Unfortunately, the lower price that I found was dubbed an "Exciting Deal," which means the "Best Price Guarantee" goes out the window.

[wrk2cruise]

The Exciting Deal pricing is much different than the standard pricing.  If you look at the standard pricing it's way inflated then some convoluted math involved to do the 75% off the second passenger or whatever the promo is.

 

Exiting deals are $xxxx for each passenger then taxes/fees added.

 

I read the exciting deals T&C on the website where they are all listed.   They don't explicitly state "new bookings only" just "must be booked between x and y" dates which I guess is the same thing.  Your sailing was booked outside that range.

https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/Exciting_Deals/CEL_Exciting_Deals.pdf

 

You have to look at it like if you found a lower price listed on some TA site, they are not going to match that as it's not apples to apples what you booked.

 

The purpose of Exciting Deals is to fill the last remaining rooms on the ship.  As I stated earlier they have historically only been offered after final payment has passed which would avoid this situation as you can't reprice any reservation after final payment unless the price changes within 48 hrs of your initial booking.

Edited September 2, 2023 by wrk2cruise