Updates to Zenith + Retreat with cruise only rate

[goofysmom99]

2 hours ago, jcpc said:

I priced out a few sailings. An example of what I'm seeing is:  Royal Suite on June 2025 sailing on Silhouette - a reduction of $600 using the Zenith rate (priced reduced from $16.1K to $15.5K.)  A savings of $600 on a $16000 booking is not going to make me jump back to booking suites on Celebrity.

 

After checking the zenith fare for next year's Eclipse TA, I looked at the price I'm paying for identical 13-night TA on Silversea for same period.  Celebrity Eclipse (2010 build), in an accessible S1 w/zenith discount, is still $200 more, +$299 for gratuities, than the solo fare I grabbed in early Feb for next year's Silver Ray (2024 build) accessible suite (way bigger and better than X's).  SS includes excursions, specialty dining, and $300 OBC.  I do appreciate the effort X is making, but so far, the product doesn't yet justify the price for me.  Royal Caribbean Group is probably quite happy, though, that I'm at least keeping this particular TA within the family.  

[phoenix_dream]

8 hours ago, RichYak said:

Isn't this true of any Celebrity cruise only rate? Why would it be different for the Retreat?

I actually was comparing the cruise only versus "all included" rates for another type of cabin, Aqua.  The difference on those was approximately double what the discount is for Zeniths.  So in fact it is different - it's considerably less of a discount for Zeniths!  (at least on the several cruises I was considering).  They must think we're stupid, which is not a very smart thing to do considering Zeniths are some of the most experienced cruisers.  I feel like I am being told, in not so many words, that I should be happy to be getting any discount at all.  And I am.  I just take offence as it being promoted as giving us a cruise only rate, when the difference is so much less than on Aqua cabins.  IMHO, at least based on the few sailings I've reviewed, is that we are getting a discounted rate (which is good) but not getting a "cruise only" rate, so please stop promoting it as such.  

 

[RichYak]

2 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

11 hours ago, RichYak said:

 

I actually was comparing the cruise only versus "all included" rates for another type of cabin, Aqua.  The difference on those was approximately double what the discount is for Zeniths. 

Understood. In reality, the difference should be greater for Retreat cruise only since they are removing premium beverage and premium wifi—not classic and regular. 

[tfred]

2 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I actually was comparing the cruise only versus "all included" rates for another type of cabin, Aqua.  The difference on those was approximately double what the discount is for Zeniths.  So in fact it is different - it's considerably less of a discount for Zeniths!  (at least on the several cruises I was considering).  They must think we're stupid, which is not a very smart thing to do considering Zeniths are some of the most experienced cruisers.  I feel like I am being told, in not so many words, that I should be happy to be getting any discount at all.  And I am.  I just take offence as it being promoted as giving us a cruise only rate, when the difference is so much less than on Aqua cabins.  IMHO, at least based on the few sailings I've reviewed, is that we are getting a discounted rate (which is good) but not getting a "cruise only" rate, so please stop promoting it as such.  

 

What were the actual numbers?

[phoenix_dream]

15 hours ago, tfred said:

What were the actual numbers?

On a sailing later this year I was considering, the difference in cost from cruise only or all included on an Aqua Class cabin was around $90PP per day, and that was for classic beverage and basic Wi-Fi. The difference in suite pricing (with and without entering my CC number for Zenith benefits to be applied) was only around $44PP per day. So while we are able to book cruise only, we are not getting anywhere near the discount that we would get in Aqua. 

[tfred]

19 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

On a sailing later this year I was considering, the difference in cost from cruise only or all included on an Aqua Class cabin was around $90PP per day, and that was for classic beverage and basic Wi-Fi. The difference in suite pricing (with and without entering my CC number for Zenith benefits to be applied) was only around $44PP per day. So while we are able to book cruise only, we are not getting anywhere near the discount that we would get in Aqua. 

well X is obviously "protecting the integrity" (using airline terms) of the Retreat. They aren't discounting that much for anyone. The Z discount seems to be about 5% for a Sky Suite.  Its something but it isnt 10% using the 90pp number.  

 

Cruise lines are there only hospitality area that doesn't weed out participants by making them re-up with dollars or nights every year or two.  They should start doing that   I dont know what the cutoffs should be but instant lifetime status doesnt help anyone. Sets expectations of pax that may become economically difficult in the future. 

[tomcruiser1234]

Hi. Just heard back from my travel agent. He had to contact the Zenith desk to get things moving to get it approved. The Royal Suite on eclipse on April 27th 2024 was credited $1300. It looks like $650 each for the cruise only discount.  Keep in mind since price dropped our on board credit from travel agent was reduced by $150. 

 

Celebrity is really is doing the right thing   Loyalty is important to us.  They are my choice and will remain so. 

 

Also. Credit goes to you folks on Cruise Critic. Sharing this info is huge. 

 

I hope this works out for others 

 

yippie celebrity. 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

Hi. Just heard back from my travel agent. He had to contact the Zenith desk to get things moving to get it approved. The Royal Suite on eclipse on April 27th 2024 was credited $1300. It looks like $650 each for the cruise only discount.  Keep in mind since price dropped our on board credit from travel agent was reduced by $150. 

 

Celebrity is really is doing the right thing   Loyalty is important to us.  They are my choice and will remain so. 

 

Also. Credit goes to you folks on Cruise Critic. Sharing this info is huge. 

 

I hope this works out for others 

 

yippie celebrity. 

Luck you.  My TA contacted the Zenith desk and was told no repricing for booking paid in full.

[mahdnc]

1 hour ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

Hi. Just heard back from my travel agent. He had to contact the Zenith desk to get things moving to get it approved. The Royal Suite on eclipse on April 27th 2024 was credited $1300. It looks like $650 each for the cruise only discount.  Keep in mind since price dropped our on board credit from travel agent was reduced by $150. 

 

Celebrity is really is doing the right thing   Loyalty is important to us.  They are my choice and will remain so. 

 

Also. Credit goes to you folks on Cruise Critic. Sharing this info is huge. 

 

I hope this works out for others 

 

yippie celebrity. 

 

nice.  Everyone on this board here would gladly give up $150 in travel agent OBC if we got our cruise price cut by $1300!

[tomcruiser1234]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

Luck you.  My TA contacted the Zenith desk and was told no repricing for booking paid in full.

Elayne,

 

try calling the Zenith desk.   I just got off the phone with my travel agent and Edwin. We got the money credited to our credit card.  When i first called, Edwin said that he couldn’t talk to me about numbers but would call and discuss the options with our agent. I wouldn’t give up on this one. 

[phoenix_dream]

5 hours ago, tfred said:

well X is obviously "protecting the integrity" (using airline terms) of the Retreat. They aren't discounting that much for anyone. The Z discount seems to be about 5% for a Sky Suite.  Its something but it isnt 10% using the 90pp number.  

 

Cruise lines are there only hospitality area that doesn't weed out participants by making them re-up with dollars or nights every year or two.  They should start doing that   I dont know what the cutoffs should be but instant lifetime status doesnt help anyone. Sets expectations of pax that may become economically difficult in the future. 

Actually some other hospitality areas do in fact do that.  For example, my DH just became a lifetime Diamond member at Hilton.  But I do get what you are saying.  Not sure I agree, but I get your point.  My big issue is that they are marketing it as a cruise only rate when in fact it really is a discount.  To be clear, I am happy for any discount they want to give me!  But I don't like the disingenuous marketing and communication of calling it a cruise only rate, when it really is a Zenith discount rate.

Edited March 29 by phoenix_dream

[billc23]

19 hours ago, tfred said:

well X is obviously "protecting the integrity" (using airline terms) of the Retreat. They aren't discounting that much for anyone. The Z discount seems to be about 5% for a Sky Suite.  Its something but it isnt 10% using the 90pp number.  

How large a discount is the move up program? 

[jelayne]

Move Up is hard to gauge as the bidding range varies based on what category you are booked in, what category you are bidding on and what you paid already.

So the range is not the same for everyone.  In fact there are times that a point in the bidding range would have you paying more than the cost to just outright upgrade. 

Edited March 30 by jelayne
Correction

[tfred]

18 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Actually some other hospitality areas do in fact do that.  For example, my DH just became a lifetime Diamond member at Hilton.  But I do get what you are saying.  Not sure I agree, but I get your point.  My big issue is that they are marketing it as a cruise only rate when in fact it really is a discount.  To be clear, I am happy for any discount they want to give me!  But I don't like the disingenuous marketing and communication of calling it a cruise only rate, when it really is a Zenith discount rate.

I think the cruise rate, no matter what cabin level, is just a discount and is not a function of the actual retail prices. 
 

X isn’t going to start heavily discounting the Retreat no matter what your level. Why would they? It is their premium product that seems pretty popular at present prices. X appreciates Z business but that love only goes so far 

[phoenix_dream]

23 hours ago, tfred said:

I think the cruise rate, no matter what cabin level, is just a discount and is not a function of the actual retail prices. 
 

X isn’t going to start heavily discounting the Retreat no matter what your level. Why would they? It is their premium product that seems pretty popular at present prices. X appreciates Z business but that love only goes so far 

I agree - why would they.  But I resent them promoting it as a "cruise only" rate when it is definitely not.  The difference in pricing versus Aqua class upgrading to all included proves that without a doubt!  It is a discount.  So that is my issue.

[jelayne]

I’m happy with the discount.  Would a larger one be better, of course.  But we pointed out an issue and they responded.  The $1,600 I got off my cruise makes me 😊.

[billc23]

11 hours ago, jelayne said:

I’m happy with the discount.  Would a larger one be better, of course.  But we pointed out an issue and they responded.  The $1,600 I got off my cruise makes me 😊.

I'm a new Zenith member and when I asked for a discount I was told no because I was not Zenith when I booked the cruise 2 years ago. Any other data points on this? Perhaps this is one of the things that it depends who you speak to. I'm not sure if this is a written policy consistently applied or someone's interpretation.

[jelayne]

10 minutes ago, billc23 said:

I'm a new Zenith member and when I asked for a discount I was told no because I was not Zenith when I booked the cruise 2 years ago. Any other data points on this? Perhaps this is one of the things that it depends who you speak to. I'm not sure if this is a written policy consistently applied or someone's interpretation.

Are you past final payment?  They told our TA it didn’t apply to bookings already paid in full.   But post # 85 had success by escalating it. 
 

I wasn’t expecting to get it but we decided to upgrade to a Suite Guarantee and when the TA priced it the Zenith cruise only rate was available.  
Was it the Zenith Desk that told you you didn’t qualify?

[billc23]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

Are you past final payment?  They told our TA it didn’t apply to bookings already paid in full.   But post # 85 had success by escalating it. 
 

I wasn’t expecting to get it but we decided to upgrade to a Suite Guarantee and when the TA priced it the Zenith cruise only rate was available.  
Was it the Zenith Desk that told you you didn’t qualify?

Yes, I am past final payment. I was told by a concierge who reached out to someone named A...(I do not like to say names but maybe she is with the Zenith desk) who said because the cruise was booked before I was Zenith, I do not qualify. I have no issue if this is the policy but I'm not sure if it is. Many frequent cruisers book 2 years ahead of time and maybe Celebrity  has not considered all the possibilities when putting out this new benefit, such as when one booked, captain's club status when booked, pre/post final payment, etc., and now the answer is up to interpretation.