Prices slashed on cruises that include Turkey

We have a Reflection cruise booked that has two stops in Turkey and the ship is more than half empty,

Prices are falling through the floor, and its now possible to get an Aqua class cabin for a lot less than we have booked at standard balcony

We are also getting a bit concerned and may consider canceling and losing our deposit

then either rebook at the much lower price ( will wait it out until near final payment.

The way the prices are falling, they will be paying us to go

or just cancel

Common celebrity move those Turkey stops to Greek islands/Malta/Italy

and watch the bookings rise!

You can see if they can reprice your current booking in AquaClass if it is before final payment, sometimes it will show the new price.

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Common celebrity move those Turkey stops to Greek islands/Malta/Italy

 

and watch the bookings rise!

Earlier today, I made a comment very similar to this on the Istanbul thread. I actually think that X would make more revenue by changing those itineraries now, even taking into account X having to compensate by paying air change fees etc. ;).

They can easily change those itineraries that only have a Turkey port of call by adding an extra sea day or rearranging other port stops where berths are still available. The major logistical problem would be those sailings that embark/disembark in Istanbul. Making the changes ASAP, and certainly before final payment, where possible, would possibly increase reservations for those cruises - surely better than continually reducing the cost pp ;)?

Our Reflection cruise two months before yours, also with two stops in Turkey, had been falling in price until a few weeks ago. Now it is climbing back up! Glad I was able to get my price adjustment when I did. :)

Celebrity is taking a chance .

Cruisers booking an itinerary that especially begins or ends there are also taking a chance and should have insurance that covers skipping the port and/or having to change transportation due to warnings from the government.

Tourism had dropped 40 % in Istanbul even before the recent Kurd attacks which killed American tourists in a popular shopping market. So yes, X has to offer rock bottom pricing to fill those rooms.

There are sooo many places to visit. Altho we would have liked to see that area of the world, I'd say we pretty much missed the chance to do it without worry or concern. We don't travel anywhere if we are worrying before we even start the trip.

But that's us.

We have a Reflection cruise booked that has two stops in Turkey and the ship is more than half empty,

 

Prices are falling through the floor, and its now possible to get an Aqua class cabin for a lot less than we have booked at standard balcony

 

We are also getting a bit concerned and may consider canceling and losing our deposit

 

then either rebook at the much lower price ( will wait it out until near final payment.

 

The way the prices are falling, they will be paying us to go

 

or just cancel

 

Common celebrity move those Turkey stops to Greek islands/Malta/Italy

 

and watch the bookings rise!

We are on this cruise, as well, and took advantage of all the price drops to move into our first suite. Can't beat the price for the amenities and perks! Each price drop we just called and got the price adjustment. Can't you do that instead of losing deposit and rebooking? I have noticed that the prices have stabilized in the past 2 weeks, even gone up on one suite class, so if you plan to do a price adjustment or upgrade you'd better move on it, no way to know if they will dip again.

We are not keen on Turkey, either, but we'll assess once we get closer to decide if we tour or have a ship day.

I agree with a lot of what's been said. We would not consider Turkey at the moment but the prices are so good it's worthwhile to book, if Celebrity change the ports it could still be win win.

My DH is really cornered about travel just now so many places not to go. I on the other hand would just wing it.

Even if they don't change the ports and you decide to make it a bonus "sea" day at these prices you can't lose.

I'm sad I'm low on vacation time this year or I'd be snapping one up.

We are sailing on the Reflection the trip before yours (8/19). Our sailing also has had falling prices and given a very very small roll call, I am sure there are lots of unsold cabins. My husband and I planned this trip well over a year ago. I am very apprehensive to travel to this region , although we will not cancel. Since this is a very port intensive itinerary I wouldn't mind if they just added one more sea day. Lets see what happens next month once the ships are in the Mediterranean area if there are any itinerary changes.

Just curious on something related to this. Do Cruise lines get paid to visit certain ports? i.e they get some payment from a tourist board or similar for each ship arrival? I have no idea as to the answer but it would not surprise me in the least if they do get paid to bring 2000/3000 tourists in at a time.

If this is happening, might explain the delay in cancelling the ports.

Just curious on something related to this. Do Cruise lines get paid to visit certain ports? i.e they get some payment from a tourist board or similar for each ship arrival? I have no idea as to the answer but it would not surprise me in the least if they do get paid to bring 2000/3000 tourists in at a time.

 

If this is happening, might explain the delay in cancelling the ports.

Definitely NOT.

In fact, ships face numerous charges to dock in just about any port, anywhere. Some charge more than others. But none actually PAY the ships to visit there.

The problem with deals like these is that if one cruises for the destinations (like I do), one would prefer to not buy a "pig in the poke" so to speak. In other words: I want to know where I'm going. I wouldn't want to plonk down money and then have them substantially change the schedule.

I'm not saying Istanbul would be absolutely top of my list (I've been there 5-6 times already), but I also wouldn't be too keen on just visiting a few random Greek isles....

(Also, is it possible that those August itineraries aren't selling so well because it is so miserably hot and crowded in the Med at that time of year?)

We were in a similar situation a couple of years ago. We wanted to visit St. Petersburg, Russia but there had been some tension between the U.S., Russia and the Ukraine. There were demonstrations in St. Petersburg and the prices really fell. In the end, we cancelled as the proposed alternative were additional sea days. We did not want to pay airfare plus and not be guaranteed to visit Russia. We did cancel and things did calm down in the region and the cruise went as planned (without us).:(

Definitely NOT.

 

In fact, ships face numerous charges to dock in just about any port, anywhere. Some charge more than others. But none actually PAY the ships to visit there.

Do you know that for a fact, or just guessing?

I struggle to believe, after working 30 years in the travel industry that ports are not paying hosting fees of one form or another. Airports do it, Airlines do it, Tour operators do it. Hence my question about cruise lines.

Bermuda springs to mind as a great example. Who needs the tourists the most, Bermuda or the Bahamas? Who will pay in one way or another to host a ship? Turkey might.

Just a educated guess from me.

I would be ok with them removing the remaining Turkish ports from our itinerary and maybe just having an extra sea day, as the intinerary is so port intensive as it is. I feel very uncomfortable with the situation over there at the moment, and while it would be disappointing to miss the ports, I'd rather skip them this time and try again in a couple of years or so.

We are on this cruise, as well, and took advantage of all the price drops to move into our first suite. Can't beat the price for the amenities and perks! Each price drop we just called and got the price adjustment. Can't you do that instead of losing deposit and rebooking? I have noticed that the prices have stabilized in the past 2 weeks, even gone up on one suite class, so if you plan to do a price adjustment or upgrade you'd better move on it, no way to know if they will dip again.

 

We are not keen on Turkey, either, but we'll assess once we get closer to decide if we tour or have a ship day.

I emailed and we lose the deposit, as we are uk, I did ask if we can upgrade without losing the deposit, but they didn't answer that,

Does anyone from the UK, have experience of upgrading to a better cabin, when prices have dropped,

I.e. if the cabin you are upgrading to is actually less than you are already paying, will they let us do it without losing the £300

Yes, this recent bombing has us rethink our planned cruise on the Equinox that ends in Istanbul, and we have already planned our flights with 3 days of land time in Istanbul...

If Celebrity change the final destination to some other port, will we get reimbursed for the flight change fees? We didn't book our flights with Celebrity.

Currently booked on the June 27th Reflection cruise and for the past few months they were slashing prices. However lately this has stopped (some suite prices had risen) and Inside and Suite categories are now sold out. I believe the fact that you are sailing toward the end of August and not more peak holiday time such as June or July has something to do with the already political unrest.

Definitely NOT.

 

But none actually PAY the ships to visit there.

Not yet but a few countries in that region sure would like a few thousand tourists on a regular basis so waving docking and port fees may be coming.

Probably cheaper to wave docking fees than to upgrade their security and catch the perps.

Bogofman - We have upgraded by paying a little extra, but have never tried to upgrade for less money and suspect they might not want to let you do that. We have also taken advantage of price drops and paid less for the cabin we have already booked, but there have been suggestions on CC that Celebrity UK are no longer allowing this (the last time we did it was a couple of years ago).

Celebrity UK were running a promotion at the beginning of this year that if you booked by a certain date, they would honour any price drops up to 31 December 2016, so if you booked recently, that might work out well for you. I would suggest phoning them and saying that you would like to upgrade to Aqua (rather than asking if they will allow it) and see what happens. If they don't want to do it, you could then ask them what options are available to you in these circumstances. I have always found them to be very helpful and understanding, so it's definitely worth a try. Hope you get a nice upgrade!:)

I would followup on the pricing.

Keith

I emailed and we lose the deposit, as we are uk, I did ask if we can upgrade without losing the deposit, but they didn't answer that,

Does anyone from the UK, have experience of upgrading to a better cabin, when prices have dropped,

 

I.e. if the cabin you are upgrading to is actually less than you are already paying, will they let us do it without losing the £300

I am also confused as to whether any perks included in the original booking ie drinks package would be transferred to any paid for upgrade ? We are in the UK.

I am also confused as to whether any perks included in the original booking ie drinks package would be transferred to any paid for upgrade ? We are in the UK.

When we have paid for an upgrade or taken advantage of a price drop in the UK, they have given us whatever their current deal is. You are not able to pay the current price but keep the perks given with a previous promotion. It can work both ways - the last time we had a price drop, we had booked without a drinks package, but when the price dropped, they were also including drinks and extra OBC - so we were very happy!

If prices go down, you just have to work out which is the best deal for you personally. In our case, the drinks package is nice to have, but really has a small monetary value as we don't drink very much (apart from coffees) and already get the Elite+ perks, but if you feel you would get good value from a drinks package you may decide you are better off paying a higher fare or not upgrading so you can keep your existing perks.

And just to muddy the waters for you even further, lovescarborough, Celebrity are currently offering drinks packages on European bookings, but the Ts and Cs say it is for new bookings only, so it won't apply to anyone adjusting an existing reservation. It does get complicated!:eek:

?.........It does get complicated!:eek:

Couple of thoughts: the Brussels airport and train station bombings today are going to put more fear into the minds of tourists planning trips to or through Europe this summer. From a law enforcement perspective, I'm not sure there is much that can be done about fanatics who want to strap on explosives and blow themselves up in public places. Individuals CAN make a difference. Travel to your comfort level. Vigilance is the by-word.

If you do decide to travel, throw political correctness out the window. You might hurt feelings by reporting someone or something that looks suspicious. At this point all I'd say is, too bad. In all the cases of these kinds of bombings that I have followed over the last few years there has been something suspicious just prior to the attack. Folks about to kill themselves in a bomb blast with explosives strapped to their bodies will not act normally. If you see an unattended piece of luggage or a back pack laying around, report it immediately.

......... Anyway, what I really wanted to post was the idea that the cruise lines have, indeed, made price shopping and comparing fares and perks difficult. It still can be done, you just have to make sure you are comparing apples to apples. If you are thinking about canceling an existing reservation to take advantage of a price drop, the loss of perks to do that for example, have to be taken into account. Booking a higher cabin category, while it may be more expensive, if booking this way, gets your perks back, the value may be worth it. It becomes a value based decision rather than one based on absolute pricing.

Keep in mind, cruise lines are interested in maximizing their margins per cruise. If they can get you to give them more cash by offering a more attractive cabin package that has intrinsic value to you, everyone is happy. A lot of that is going on when they offer price drops, won't allow you to combine the new price with the perks you had on the original booking but will allow you to rebook in a higher cabin class and regain the perks associated with that standard, not discounted, pricing. Celebrity is heavily into this strategy. Offering Concierge, Aqua and a Suite classes is a means of stratifying pricing beyond what they originally were doing and when price drops are offered on lower cabin categories, Celebrity is hoping you'll upgrade. Some of it works, IMO, most of it doesn't.