Are Celebrity alienating UK Passengers if so why?

[GonzoWCS]

17 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

It works both ways. Two different markets. When the GB site has a better offer than the US site like the Fly Cruise deals, more OBC, etc. people booked in the US can’t take advantage of it either. 

Concur

 

Cheers

[hopeless holiday booker]

2 hours ago, Justpackingmybags said:

Another thing to consider: UK prices always include the port taxes, which are an add-on to US prices (a bit like shopping here - our prices always include tax, whereas over the Atlantic you add on 2 lots of tax, generally)

Swings and roundabouts. 

I still find it cheaper booking through a US agent.  I don't book direct with Celebrity.

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, KforKitty said:

I can see the US pricing using a VPN but as soon as I login to my reservation the sale prices disappear and prices revert to UK£.

 

 Catherine 

Because your booking was made here.

All bookings/reservations default back to the original country and currency. 

Once you have selected a country  you have to stick to it for the duration of the booking.

[the penguins]

2 minutes ago, hopeless holiday booker said:

I still find it cheaper booking through a US agent.  I don't book direct with Celebrity.

Essential that you compare like with like. Most US agents will refund part of the price as OBC which lowers the total. Unless you pay in full when booking you have to accept that your booking is subject to currency fluctuations.

Savings can vary widely we are currently looking at a 2025 cruise on HAL. The prices are virtually identical but the US price includes: tips, drinks and WiFi. 

[hopeless holiday booker]

58 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Essential that you compare like with like. Most US agents will refund part of the price as OBC which lowers the total. Unless you pay in full when booking you have to accept that your booking is subject to currency fluctuations.

Savings can vary widely we are currently looking at a 2025 cruise on HAL. The prices are virtually identical but the US price includes: tips, drinks and WiFi. 

Even with currency fluctuations and the fact that you have to pay the full amount 3 months in advance rather an than 2 plus you get more included as you've said above.

[scottie920]

As OP, we have read all the comments with interest. Thank you. Not surprisingly it is weighted between those who have and those who have not. We have been on numerous Celebrity Cruises and cannot recall where the UK (European) were given such a fantastic deal on excursions and drinks/dining packages. Just the standard 5%. (or CC discount). 
Yes, UK passengers can book with USA Travel agents to obtain the reduced fares, discounts, OBC etc but why should we have to? If Celebrity think it is advantageous to introduce a ‘special offer’ in my view this should apply worldwide not to a geographical area. 
I am sorry but I do think this is isolating UK/EU. Before you comment we agree it’s choice and we understand if we don’t like it, cancel or don’t book, which is fine we will. But is this where Celebrity are heading? Very sad if they are. 
 

[Moby Jones]

21 hours ago, scottie920 said:

Flash sales for excursions/drink packages etc for or North American/Australasia colleagues. Nothing whatsoever for UK passengers as far as I can see. The difference financially is around 40% on same cruise. For example excursion UK site £205 per person.USA site $145 (£113) per person. 
I can completely understand these passengers booking at these extremely good prices and well done if you have been fortunate to do so but why should UK passengers have to pay more for the same experience.

Surely we should all pay the same amount for excursions or are Celebrity expected UK passengers to subsidise others.

 

I'm in the UK. And be thankful you are too. 

You have the ability to book your cruises in either the UK or the US and can choose who to use depending on who is offering the best deal at the time. 

We've booked in the US when UK pricing was significantly lower the UK and vice versa. I wouldn't get hung up on one single flash sale. By all means contact Celebrity UK and express your displeasure. You never know what they may say to you. But investigate US bookings and learn to play the game would be my advise. 

[scottie920]

7 minutes ago, Moby Jones said:

I'm in the UK. And be thankful you are too. 

You have the ability to book your cruises in either the UK or the US and can choose who to use depending on who is offering the best deal at the time. 

We've booked in the US when UK pricing was significantly lower the UK and vice versa. I wouldn't get hung up on one single flash sale. By all means contact Celebrity UK and express your displeasure. You never know what they may say to you. But investigate US bookings and learn to play the game would be my advise. 

Thank you for your reply however with respect this is missing the point. Apart from currency fluctuations all passengers should pay the same price for product and services at the time of advertisement/booking independently which geographical are they book from. 

[Mark_UK]

44 minutes ago, Moby Jones said:

I'm in the UK. And be thankful you are too. 

You have the ability to book your cruises in either the UK or the US and can choose who to use depending on who is offering the best deal at the time. 

We've booked in the US when UK pricing was significantly lower the UK and vice versa. I wouldn't get hung up on one single flash sale. By all means contact Celebrity UK and express your displeasure. You never know what they may say to you. But investigate US bookings and learn to play the game would be my advise. 

 

Pretty sure there would be nothing stopping a US based person booking via a UK travel agent, but don't see anyone rushing to do that! Wonder why?

Edited September 2, 2023 by Mark_UK

[Moby Jones]

24 minutes ago, Mark_UK said:

 

Pretty sure there would be nothing stopping a US based person booking via a UK travel agent, but don't see anyone rushing to do that! Wonder why?

They're not allowed too. In the same vain, not every US based TA is able to take bookings from UK clients. But the big box agents are. And when they block book rooms and have inventory to sell off they can be considerably cheaper than UK bookings. In fact that's when you get the very best deals. 

The subject has been done to death on here for anyone who wants to use the search facility. 

[Moby Jones]

42 minutes ago, scottie920 said:

Thank you for your reply however with respect this is missing the point. Apart from currency fluctuations all passengers should pay the same price for product and services at the time of advertisement/booking independently which geographical are they book from. 

In your opinion. Which isn't unreasonable I'd add. 

But that's not how the real world works. Many brands price differently in different countries. 

In rare instances I've even found suites cheaper in the US whereas aqua class balconies were cheaper in the UK, on the VERY SAME SAILING. I'll let you ponder that and ask why? 

[villauk]

And I’ll add the X used to honour price drops over here and then stopped many years ago.

[Homosassa]

1 hour ago, scottie920 said:

Thank you for your reply however with respect this is missing the point. Apart from currency fluctuations all passengers should pay the same price for product and services at the time of advertisement/booking independently which geographical are they book from. 

I live in Florida.

 

We just booked a cruise for this January from Tampa.

 

The cruise must not be full and it is a month out from final payment.

 

No surprise - Celebrity had a reduced Florida Resident rate to induce us to book.

 

We also found that on the excursions beside the "Flash Sale, " when we made a selection and went to pay, we also had a resident reduction.

 

As many of the excursions  we picked had the statement that a minimum number of passengers had to book for the excursion to run, our incentive to book has helped guarantee that that number will be reached and the excursions will be available for others.

 

Sometimes one benefits from an offer, sometimes one doesn't.

 

It evens out over time.

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, scottie920 said:

As OP, we have read all the comments with interest. Thank you. Not surprisingly it is weighted between those who have and those who have not. We have been on numerous Celebrity Cruises and cannot recall where the UK (European) were given such a fantastic deal on excursions and drinks/dining packages. Just the standard 5%. (or CC discount). 
Yes, UK passengers can book with USA Travel agents to obtain the reduced fares, discounts, OBC etc but why should we have to? If Celebrity think it is advantageous to introduce a ‘special offer’ in my view this should apply worldwide not to a geographical area. 
I am sorry but I do think this is isolating UK/EU. Before you comment we agree it’s choice and we understand if we don’t like it, cancel or don’t book, which is fine we will. But is this where Celebrity are heading? Very sad if they are. 
 

X also has a different price structure in Australia/New Zealand where it promotes tips not required and increases the base price to include them. 

Another issue is high season pricing because what is and isn't high season varies. For example our Grandson lives in Dallas and his summer break was June to 8 August whereas in the UK high season doesn't end until early September. 

X and all the other international cruise lines play the same game each trying to fill their ships at the highest possible prices.

Of course it's not only travel which is why, as we all know, a dozen red roses which costs the same to produce will more than double in price around St Valentine's Day.

[Moby Jones]

13 hours ago, villauk said:

And I’ll add the X used to honour price drops over here and then stopped many years ago.

UK TA's also let them down with bookings made onboard. 

You can book onboard to take advantage of additional OBC and then have your booking transferred to your TA. Our big box US based TA added $425 of OBC per cabin the last time we did this on top of the additional $300 OBC we received just for booking onboard. 

But UK TA's often baulk at this idea. So the last time we booked onboard the booking went to the US and not UK. The American players understand the importance of winning peoples business. 

The price didn't go down since May 2022 though. Unbelievably it's now up around 160% which is simply ridiculous. 

[Chrisclaire]

On 9/2/2023 at 5:26 PM, scottie920 said:

As OP, we have read all the comments with interest. Thank you. Not surprisingly it is weighted between those who have and those who have not. We have been on numerous Celebrity Cruises and cannot recall where the UK (European) were given such a fantastic deal on excursions and drinks/dining packages. Just the standard 5%. (or CC discount). 
Yes, UK passengers can book with USA Travel agents to obtain the reduced fares, discounts, OBC etc but why should we have to? If Celebrity think it is advantageous to introduce a ‘special offer’ in my view this should apply worldwide not to a geographical area. 
I am sorry but I do think this is isolating UK/EU. Before you comment we agree it’s choice and we understand if we don’t like it, cancel or don’t book, which is fine we will. But is this where Celebrity are heading? Very sad if they are. 
 

Hi scottie920

We are in the UK also & travel next month.

We actually managed to get a great deal on a few excursions in May 2023.

I just happened to be browsing excursions on the app and there were great reductions.

Same applied to drinks packages & speciality dining!

Guess we got lucky

Keep checking 😊