Does loyalty matter?

I'm a long time Celebrity only cruiser. Today I went on the site to check on an upcoming cruise. I find out that new bookings only receive a substantial discount on my upcoming cruise. I spoke with celebrity and they would not let me upgrade my current holiday booking. Is this right? Should I stick with this line?

That's the Celebrity way.

You could call again. Never know.

NO-move on

We are D+ and of course elite with X. If you are not, and far from those loyalty levels, I would cruise any line I wanted for the right price. I just got a travel company's flyer for HAL and they are offering many cruise with 4 perks from PP GRATs, basic alcohol drink package, internet etc. I think other cruise lines are doing it as well.

Having said that, it is nice to get some special treatment/acknowledgement that does come with the loyalty rewards even if you do not appreciate or use it.

If you have to aske them you are not happy. Go to another cruise line. This is not a lot different than some other lines. The low price is to entice new bookings not just move bookings around. Makes sense to me.

Since you are after final payment you might want to see if there is a higher category that you can upgrade to for a minimal amount.

Celebrity will reprise your booking before final payment but not after final payment. It has been that way for the 5 years we have been sailing on Celebrity.

It's like the cable companies that offer terrific deals only to new customers but don't offer the same to decades-long customers. It's a way of drumming up new business.

Since you are after final payment you might want to see if there is a higher category that you can upgrade to for a minimal amount.

 

Celebrity will reprise your booking before final payment but not after final payment. It has been that way for the 5 years we have been sailing on Celebrity.

This is good advice. Upgrading to a higher category for a minimal amount is your only option.

Marie

Thank you for your suggestions. We are Elite status on Celebrity so you can see why I'm a bit angry and frustrated

I'm a long time Celebrity only cruiser. Today I went on the site to check on an upcoming cruise. I find out that new bookings only receive a substantial discount on my upcoming cruise. I spoke with celebrity and they would not let me upgrade my current holiday booking. Is this right? Should I stick with this line?

I think ya kick the sand off your flip flops and move to another line. That will teach em who's boss.

But being a long time Celebrity customer, is this the first time you have paid attention to the booking guidelines?

I'm a long time Celebrity only cruiser. Today I went on the site to check on an upcoming cruise. I find out that new bookings only receive a substantial discount on my upcoming cruise. I spoke with celebrity and they would not let me upgrade my current holiday booking. Is this right? Should I stick with this line?

If you are not past final payment, can you cancel and rebook?

It's like the cable companies that offer terrific deals only to new customers but don't offer the same to decades-long customers. It's a way of drumming up new business.

You're 100% right

Since only 30% of Celebrity's clientele are repeat cruisers, the hook is to get new people to try Celebrity since they make up 70% of the ship , If you look at the numbers 30% of Celebrity guests are repeat customers, and another 25% are people who have cruised on another line but are new to Celebrity. The rest are first-timers.

I would guess most all the lines share those statistics

I'm a long time Celebrity only cruiser. Today I went on the site to check on an upcoming cruise. I find out that new bookings only receive a substantial discount on my upcoming cruise. I spoke with celebrity and they would not let me upgrade my current holiday booking. Is this right? Should I stick with this line?

Loyalty doesn't matter. It's just a marketing scam to entice repeat business by providing customers with status while luring them in with free goods and services as a reward. The only reasons to sail on any line would be the price, service, entertainment, accommodations and the itineraries that they provide. If any one line provides this for you then I would stick with that line. Oddly enough its seems that those with the highest loyalty status on any cruise line seem to complain the most. What I find strange is the fact you are a long time cruiser and you are unfamiliar with the new booking only price structure.

If Celebrity meets your needs than I would stick with them. If not then it's time to try another line. I would recommend Princess as a back up line.

Does Loyalty matter? Let me paraphrase a conversation we had with a favored cruise agent regarding HAL. We are 4 Star Mariners (soon to be 5 Star) on HAL which is actually harder to get then Elite Plus (our status on X). We asked about getting an upgrade on a long HAL cruise and our cruise agent said the only time she sees free upgrades is for new cruisers. Most lines have figured out that frequent cruisers are already sold on the brand...so they would rather give breaks to new cruises (hoping they become frequent cruisers).

We used to love our Elite Plus perks on Celebrity...but now that we are always getting drink packages...the Elite and Elite Plus benefits have become minimal. Why go to the Elite cocktail party with limited drink selection when we have a drink package? The Internet minutes are nice as is the laundry perk (especially on long cruises). But since we started getting drink packages we seldom take advantage of any perks.

Hank

My experience has been no cost reduction

If you can be flexible there are a lot of ways to get a better cabin.

I think all lines have a "new bookings only" policy on some sales.

I think they are generous when they let you take advantage of price drops, if I go to the bakery and buy a cake for $5 and tomorrow it's on special for $4 they don't give me a refund.

I think they are generous when they let you take advantage of price drops, if I go to the bakery and buy a cake for $5 and tomorrow it's on special for $4 they don't give me a refund.

Generous has little to do with it! Just good business. We once had a long cruise (about 4 weeks) under booking and noticed a large price drop/promotion a few weeks before final payment. When we asked about repricing our booking we were told it was for "new bookings only." I said fine...and canceled the cruise (it was more then a $20,000 booking). The following day our cruise agent called and said that the particular cruise line (not Celebrity) had called her and was now willing to give us the better price and promotion. We said, "No thank you" and a few days later booked a longer cruise with a different line. Vote with your money...folks.

Hank

You're 100% right

 

Since only 30% of Celebrity's clientele are repeat cruisers, the hook is to get new people to try Celebrity since they make up 70% of the ship , If you look at the numbers 30% of Celebrity guests are repeat customers, and another 25% are people who have cruised on another line but are new to Celebrity. The rest are first-timers.

 

I would guess most all the lines share those statistics

Your numbers really surprise me. What source are you using? You are saying that 70% of the passengers on a Celebrity cruise have not previously cruised with Celebrity? And almost half of the passengers have never been on a cruise?

This has not been our experience with people we meet, but we tend to take longer cruises.

And to answer the OP's question. I do not think that the number of previous cruises has an impact on the ability to obtain a reduction in fare after final payment. The policy used to be different. The policy is now about upgrading.

Your numbers really surprise me. What source are you using? You are saying that 70% of the passengers on a Celebrity cruise have not previously cruised with Celebrity? And almost half of the passengers have never been on a cruise?

This has not been our experience with people we meet, but we tend to take longer cruises.

 

And to answer the OP's question. I do not think that the number of previous cruises has an impact on the ability to obtain a reduction in fare after final payment. The policy used to be different. The policy is now about upgrading.

I agree; the 30% repeat cruisers figure seems low to me. We will board our 13th Celebrity cruise this week and have never met anyone on their first cruise and very few on their first Celebrity cruise.

Like you we take longer cruises and maybe the 5-7 day Caribbean cruises skew the numbers. Our last 2 cruises (17 & 18 nights) had over 900 Elites; add in the Select & Classic and it was well over 60% repeat cruisers.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. I do always have to wonder about folks when their very first post to CC is negative. Is it for real or troll?

Welcome to Cruise Critic. I do always have to wonder about folks when their very first post to CC is negative. Is it for real or troll?

If it is not for real, why would someone post? Do you think the OP is working for another cruise line and trying to discredit celebrity?

Given I have seen this issue raised many times on these forums I did not think it was suspicious.

I tried upgrading a bunch of bookings yesterday and the Celebrity agent couldn't make it happen. We had promotional pricing and she said the system wouldn't allow the upgrade because you can't change promos after final payment. If there is a Standard price drop that we like on an upgrade she said to call back to request it. Standard prices do drop but mostly in the lower categories it seems. Too bad, because there are really good deals right now, and an inexpensive upgrade would have been nice. In the past the only last minute deals I saw on my cruises were senior, resident, and exciting deals and they weren't combinable. Next time I might wait to book.

Yes, loyalty matters but it doesn't get you everything you want. In this case, it won't override a system set up for new bookings.

I pick my cruises and lines based totally upon itinerary and price. I have as much loyalty to a cruise line as they have to me - none.

DON