paulh84

11 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

I still don't understand why anyone does a "book later" certificate.  Just book a "named" sailing as far out in the future as you can with a refundable deposit.  Then when you decide on an actual sailing just move the reservation to that ship/sail date.  At that time you can even choose to change it to the NRD rate.   If you decide not to cruise you can cancel and get the deposit refunded without the 1 year limit.

I typically do. There is no reason to spend vacation time sitting at a desk with a rep to do what I can easily do on my own. There were some posts about losing the OBC if you changed sail dates on a refundable rate. That’s the only reason I buy them since when transferring to a group rate you have to pay the remainder of the deposit anyway. 

12 hours ago, -The-True-North- said:

Does any purposely buy inside than do a move up?

 

Is it usually cheaper this way?

 

Inside: 809

Balcony: 995

 

Difference is 186 x 2 = 372

 

Would a move up be less than that usually? I'm reading the move up and it seem so.

 Not for me. If a balcony is what I want I’m not risking being in an inside over $372 no matter what the cruise length is. 

1 hour ago, Lastdance said:

Are these in Europe or Caribbean?  I have been checking so many sites for great pricing, but none include gratuities and bev package for the refundable price.  We usually book suites, that come with everything except gratuities and OBC until I send to my TA.  However, I will continue to look and take note of a variety of companies.  I got burned with a big box company and actually Celebrity came to my defense during Covid.  Of course this was back when, IMHO, they cared about you in a suite or non-suite.

Potentially any itinerary. If you look on sites that have multiple prices shown for the same cabin (as in sometimes they will show like a dozen rates) some will say group. They don’t necessarily call out that the price is a much much better deal or what it includes. 

3 hours ago, Lastdance said:

Elaborate on Refundable deposits.  Do you get the non-refundable price with a refundable deposit?  Sorry if I am unclear.  Maybe a group rate with refundable?

 

I have been with my TA for 10 years and she spends hours on the phone with Celebrity nowadays.  Her OBC is excellent and I have a great relationship with her, but maybe I do need to look for a new one because her frustration level is extremely high.

Some group rates come with classic beverage package, basic WiFi and are refundable at a price that is almost always less than the cruise only rate you would get booking direct with Celebrity. Our next cruise had about $3,200 price difference and one for 2026 had a $2,000 price difference. And the prices don’t go up and down so there is no need to monitor prices after you book. 

6 minutes ago, 1Virgo said:

 

Protection

When you use Flights by Celebrity℠ to book your air travel, we’ve got your back. You enjoy 24/7 travel service, so you have the peace of mind knowing there’s someone looking out for you. Our Flights by Celebrity℠ Specialists are on hand monitoring your flights, so if there are any delays or cancellations that jeopardize your travel plans, they’ll work quickly with the airline to get you on the next available flight to get you to your ship. So, take comfort in booking your complete vacation with us all at once, and let us take care of everything.

Exactly. It doesn't say they will rebook you on any airline to get you there. If I have a delay I'm 99% sure I could rebook my self through the airline app or at the gate more efficiently than calling FBC and having them have the conversation for me. 

2 hours ago, 1Virgo said:

for us, the big reason to book FBC is in the event of a weather or mechanical delay, they will get you to the ship even if on a different airline

 

Is this in writing somewhere? Everything on the website refers back to FBC "working with the airline to........" which is ultimately exactly what you do yourself when there is a delay. If you are trying to get to some obscure port a few days into a cruise, that may not be much help. After two FBC booking attempts I have doubts they are adept at accomplishing anything outside from taking a reservation via phone. 

No need to print. You can use the app or your Apple wallet.  

I never look at the wine lists. Just ask what they recommend, or ask if they have any suggestions by the glass that are not on the menu. The Chateau Souverain cab they try to slip in is terrible. And despite the chokehold Decoy apparently has on Celebrity guests, I don’t want it every night either.

The whole crux of the MoveUp system is to maximize revenue so it would be incorrect to definitively say what you initially paid flatly has no bearing on your likelihood of winning a bid. It would make no sense to base it solely on new revenue which is exemplified by lower cabins not being able to bid on upper suites.

No way. The airlines that make money from co-branded cards sell miles to banks but they have passenger volume that is exponentially higher than what Celebrity or RCG carries. 
 

The Celebrity card is terrible, even at the proposed bonus. Captain’s Club status has very little value. Despite being Elite, I don’t think we’ve ever actually benefited from one of the perks. The point value is also extremely low. It’s not like an airline where you have potential a free (minus fees) loyalty upgrade from economy to business that saved you $10k on a single flight. That has value. A free scoop gelato or $8 savings on your WiFi package does not. 

Sort cruise during March? It’s definitely possible. We skip anything shorter than 7 nights, the months of March, April and President’s Day week. We have been pretty successful in avoiding Spring Breakers, big family groups and the like. 

1 minute ago, Bask said:

 

I am trying to find contact info for their tech support, but apparently they are ghosts that require an exorcism to locate. Just want to verify that this situation is their actual intent, versus an error or something else. Zero communication on the update/requirement, the old version worked fine 2 days ago. I get the new version requires IOS 17 (iPhone 11 or newer)...but surprised they killed the older version at the same time with no upfront notification

It's no mistake. It says it clear as can be. Celebrity does not offer customer 'tech support'. iPhone 8 and older will not support the iOS 17 and beyond so you will inevitably start losing functionality as your phone ages. 

4 minutes ago, hcat said:

but X does hold sailaway and sail in parties on E class ships  from the helipad area..so they are there..if not used???

I have never seen the helipad accessed by passengers on E class. 

Some S class ships can accommodate a light helicopter. The ones marked WINCH ONLY means exactly that. It’s used as the hoist location but no landings. You can see this on Reflection. 

17 minutes ago, tfred said:

that occupancy number above 100% is basically pure profit

 

it also means is that the ships are not sailing with empty cabins - they are full - which is why there is minimal discounting. There are some cruises that are reduced for sure, but widespread discounts are not being done.  Discounts that historically included OBC and  tips are now gone  

Mostly - but the three brands being rolled into one metric adds complexity. Royal Caribbean would be very likely to sail with 3 or more, Celebrity would occasionally (but rarely) sail with 3 or more and Silversea seems very unlikely to sail with 3 or more. Essentially the Royal Caribbean metric would inflate the metric in comparison to the other two brands. But ultimately I don’t think any Celebrity ships are sailing with many empty cabins, especially suites, due to MoveUp awards. 

32 minutes ago, RichYak said:

"Demand has been increasing" can be a nebulous phrase. It could simply mean they have more bookings year over year. They also have more capacity to fill with new ships, so if bookings were the same as last year, that would be really bad, and more bookings would not necessarily be good unless it was a LOT more.

 

I'm just not sure how RCG actually defines "demand".

They view demand largely as a result of net yield increase while increasing prices. You can also look at deposits. From 2022 to 2023 they jumped from 4.6 billion to 5.3 billion held. 2018 and 2019 were 3.1 and 3.4 billion. A 70% increase in deposits held compared to a 22% capacity increase from 2018 to now. 

Occupancy is represented as percentage to account for capacity changes. It took a hit in 2023. For 2017, 2018 and 2019 occupancy was in the 108% range. 2023 was 105.6%. There are a lot of variables there but 3% is not a small number on this scale which speaks to the push to fill more cabins with 3 and 4 people. They have under-realized capacity. 

1 minute ago, publicpersona said:

 

Do you realize what you posted is EXACTLY what I said?

You have not read or comprehended what I posted. 

1 minute ago, publicpersona said:

 

Say what? While they do reserve the right to add a supplemental charge relating to unanticipated occurrences (such as fuel surcharge), there isn't leeway in the contract to simply raise the fare after your purchase.

 

Of course, someone who purchased the booking discussed in this thread may or may not have the booking cancelled. The relevant verbiage is below:

 

Yes there is....

https://www.celebritycruises.com/guest-terms/united-states-english/

e. Correction of Errors. In the event that a Cruise or CruiseTour is booked but the Cruise Fare listed, quoted or advertised through any website, Carrier sales person, travel agent or any other source is inaccurate or unavailable due to an electronic error, typographical error, human error or any other error causing the Cruise or CruiseTour to be sold, or listed for sale, quoted or advertised, in a quantity or for an amount not intended by Carrier, Carrier reserves the right to correct the erroneous fare by requesting Guest to pay the correct amount intended, re-berthing Guest in other accommodations onboard the Vessel, or by canceling this Agreement in exchange for a full refund. For the avoidance of doubt, in no event shall Carrier be obligated to honor any such booking resulting from the error or otherwise be liable in such circumstances.

If you are just wanting an early check-in time just do it on the app. It takes maybe 10 seconds to select the time then go back and finish later. 

9 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I think that the Zenith's cruise a lot more and help fill up their ships.  Therefore they are more valuable than the person who cruises once per year.  I suspect that demand is starting to soften a bit.  They have to plan for the future.

It would make more sense if there are actually very few Zeniths booking suites so the impact to the bottom line is more or less unaffected and the complaints are hushed. The reality is when you see comments like "they lost $xxxxx dollars because I went elsewhere" is just not the way it works. 

16 hours ago, the penguins said:

the wording is correct basic WIFI can only be purchased pre boarding. Once onboard you can only purchase the Premium WIFI option. 

They stopped selling Basic WiFi a la carte several months ago. If you book Cruise Only you cannot purchase Basic. You have to purchase Premium. 

The ABBA singalong has got to go. At least they have seemed to back off the Jason Derulo. One thing at a time…

14 minutes ago, Traderboy said:

The point is that a simple photo is not a large upload.   

The data involved in downloading say the BBC website (including lots of pictures)  far exceeds what I am talking about.  This is allowed on the basic WiFi package.

 

In my opinion they do it on purpose  - to make money for Celebrity.  Not because they cannot handle the data uploads.

 

This is totally normal. It's because the bandwidth is geared to prioritize downloads over uploads. That is why the download speed is much faster than upload speed. People spend far more time downloading (ie your website viewing) than they do uploading. To make it more palatable for people to browse and use apps, they pull back the upload speed. 

23 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

 

I agree with this, I am 43 this year and really enjoy E class. The millennium ones I've done and probably won't do again, so its going to depend on the ship if people come back I think, if I had done M class first I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it as much (Beyond was my first cruise). Next 3 cruises I have with Celebrity are all E class - I may at some point try S but would depend on itinerary.

 

I think the yo-yoing to try and appease people is a huge problem. Some of the things I get business wise but others it's a problem and bad planning, they loose customers and then back track and by that point its too late. They need someone doing better business research before making changes. But not everyone is going to be happy, specific people want the older ships while others want newer ones.

We've been Retreat cruisers more often than not lately and still have two booked. But after all of the yo-yo changes to suites on our recent Ascent cruise (which really was mostly great) we decided to shift gears and try the 298 passenger the Ritz Carlton Evrima next winter. We did book the cheap seats but it's priced similarly to a Celebrity Suite on a E Class. Maybe RC will not live up to my hopes. Maybe it will. But I can't convince myself to spend that kind of money on Celebrity right now. 

To be fair they do spell out the limitations clearly.....

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/onboard-packages/internet-and-phone-packages

There is an error there but it's not pertaining to the limitations. It should state Basic WiFi is not available pre-cruise. 

17 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

That'll be interesting considering there are songs with that title and it's just a common phrase...

That has no bearing on a service mark or trademark. A registered trademark does not give HAL exclusive control of the term. There are two other companies who also have active service marks on the phrase Have It All. 

Celebrity is definitely trying hard to be the jack of all trades. They need to choose a direction and stick with it.  But every time they make a change the "loyalists", as they call themselves, don't agree with, they cause hysteria then Celebrity reverts. This is where the disconnect comes in between their marketing and what the actual product is on board. 

Their target market can be 40-55 year olds all day long. Where they fail is realizing that 40 year old me is a very different customer than my parents were at 40. But as long as they continue to pander the 65, 70, 80+ crowd they will have a tough time bringing in a new crop of repeat younger new customers. 

We're fine with it largely because we know what to expect but I'm curious how many of the recent new Celebrity customers actually come back.