MisterBill99

1 minute ago, dlh015 said:

That is extremely generous! (I would take option #2...)

That was my first impression, but given that the price of Galapagos cruises for 2023 is likely higher than I originally paid, I think just moving to 2023 and getting the full refund is preferable.

We were supposed to be on Xpedition starting this Saturday, and I just got this notice from my travel agent! I free upgrade to Flora would have been nice, but a full refund on my $13k vacation PLUS rebooking or an FCC is very nice.

 

 

Dear Travel Partner,

We have some important information regarding your guest's upcoming Galapagos cruise vacation aboard Celebrity Xpedition^{® .}

Celebrity Xpedition recently underwent a routine drydock for standard maintenance and renovation required by the Galapagos National Park. During its final post-drydock trials, additional unforeseen mechanical issues were discovered. Despite our team's round-the-clock efforts to solve this issue in time, the ship's transit to its embarkation port has been delayed by several days. This unfortunately means our Celebrity Xpedition sailing, scheduled to embark Saturday, October 22nd, 2022 must be cancelled.

We ask that you please contact your client(s) to rebook their vacation with the following options:
 

• Receive a full cruise refund,  and air fee refund (if applicable)* and
• Move to an alternate Celebrity Xpedition date on any open 22/23 season sailing**

OR

• Receive a full cruise refund and air fee refund (if applicable)* and
• Receive a 100% FCC Future Cruise Certificate of cruise/vacation package purchased (excluding air, cruise care and taxes and fees)
   

Thanks for the review.  Do you recall which restaurant Celebrity took you to for dinner the night before the cruise? We're going to be there one extra day and found someplace, but want to make sure it's not the same one they will take us to.

Never mind, I found it thanks to TripAdvisor reviews -- The Glory (lagloria.com.ec). Not the place I found near the hotel, so all is good.

On 9/3/2022 at 12:25 PM, Fly and Sail said:

Only book through FBC when they offer a credit such as the recent $500 off. Otherwise book direct.

On our recent cruise from Iceland, we met a couple at breakfast one day who had just boarded, two days into the cruise. They had booked through FBC and missed their connecting flight in Copenhagen and thus missed the ship (they booked a cheaper flight instead of just flying non-stop to Iceland from the US). Celebrity got them a hotel room at the airport in Iceland once they arrived, then booked them on a flight to the next port they could board at and got them a hotel room there. They had to pay taxis out of their own pocket, but were expecting to be reimbursed by Celebrity.

I had generally not booked through FBC, but it was good to hear that they actually do take care of getting you to the ship if you arrive late. I could have used them when Covid was blowing up in early 2020 as when my cruise out of Singapore was cancelled, and I had a heck of a time getting a refund from Singapore Air for a flight I had booked on my own through Chase Travel (ended up having to get the US DOT involved to get my refund). In that roll call thread, some wisea** kept saying "well, everyone knows you should book your air through the cruise line in case the cruise is cancelled", as if that had ever been a major concern. So now I am more open to booking through them instead of on my own.

On 8/21/2022 at 3:27 PM, mahdnc said:

I imagine that you can have your TA switch your booking to the GALAPNOAIR promo, if you decide to book on your own.

Not sure if it was my TA or the person I was speaking to at FBC, but I was unable to get this switched recently. Not a big deal for me since I just booked my flights through Celebrity. It was initially a bit of a money loser for me since my flights were under $500, but JetBlue recently decided that they are no longer flying to Quito from FLL on Tuesday-Thursdays, and I was scheduled to fly on a Wednesday in October. I only found out about this when I got an email from Celebrity saying that there had been a chance to my flights. It took almost a month for them to rebook me, and changed me from JetBlue to Delta in both directions through ATL, and the new flights are over $500, at least on the Delta site. Also, it turns out that Delta does not charge a baggage fee for flights to Quito while JetBlue does, so that's a $120 savings there. And I was not charged for the change in my flights.

Friends we are cruising with decided that they did not want to stay overnight when we return from the cruise, even though the hotel is covered, and Celebrity would not allow them to book the 11:58pm flight the day we return. So they bought tickets on their own and forfeited the free flights offer since they could not get the promotion changed. They're in FLL and were going to be on that same flight to Quito that was cancelled. I think they'll need to go to Miami for a flight on AA. I could have gotten on that flight, but it required a 6am flight from NY, so no interest. Oh, and they weren't even notified about the flight cancellation by JetBlue and only found out when I told them!

One thing that may be of use to someone. The flights they booked me on to Quito only had a 1:13 layover in ATL and no later connecting flight. I wanted to switch the first flight to something earlier from a more convenient airport (where we are flying back to) but the rep started telling me about penalties for flight changes after final payment, even though FBC had just notified me of the new flights 30 minutes earlier. Only after I pointed out the very short connection time did his attitude change, and he agreed to submit a request to move me to the flight I wanted with a three-hour layover.

3 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

You have to call.

 

I have the $125/$500 offer on two cards.  Still need to book a cruise to use the offer.

I guess that I got lucky having the $250/1000 this time. I used it on my card to pay the deposit.  The cruise is in November, so I'll have to pay it by late August, anyway (this TA does final payment 90 days before sailing but not a big deal).

On 6/17/2022 at 9:22 AM, molly361 said:

Buy yourself some OBC

Is there a way to do this in the Cruse Planner, or do I need to call?  On another board, someone had posted "I called the gifts number 1-800-722-5443 and purchased OBC of $900 to go over $1000 for my cruise. " I still owe $300 on a November cruise and have the $250/1000 on one more card. It would be a shame to let it go to waste. I have free gratuities and a bunch of OBC already, so I will get most of it refunded (but not to the same AMEX card obviously, and likely to a debit card so I don't get dinged points on the refund)

On 6/22/2022 at 9:09 AM, exm said:

See:

 

Thanks for the pointer. Most people who post about this particular deal use the word AMEX in the title, since it's an AMEX Offer, not an American Express Offer (yes, it's an American Express card, but many people just call in AMEX). I missed that post because I was searching for AMEX.

NM

On 6/24/2022 at 8:59 AM, publicpersona said:

There are some that advise adding as many Amex offers to your card as possible in order to generate replacement offers quickly (up to the limit of 100), but that sounds like too much work to me.

It's really not that difficult. If you're using a web browser, view all the offers and then go to the bottom of the screen and add the last one you see. The list will keep moving and the Add to Card button should always be where your mouse is, so you can just click again. You can easily add 10 per minute by just clicking as the list moves. And it's not a matter of generating replacement offers as it is the system only showing the first 100 available offers in no obvious order and effectively hiding the rest so you have no idea what you're missing unless you get under 100.

3 hours ago, njhorseman said:

I think you're "finding it odd" because you're calling it "tax" when it's not tax, it's non-commissionable fare that the agency has added into their enumeration of taxes and fees rather than including it in the fare as the previous poster has explained.

Cruise lines are not permitted to break out the NCF that way but travel agents are permitted to and some do. 

Forget the artificial breakdown of the components and just focus on the bottom line total. 

 

Beg to differ on cruise lines not being permitted to break out the fee. When I look on the Royal Caribbean site, it also shows those taxes and fees separately. $371.50 divided by two is $185.75, which is the $186 that the non-group fares are showing on the TA website I posted a shot of earlier.

On 6/28/2022 at 8:33 AM, sanger727 said:

 

This is a common TA tactic. And, yes, I've seen that before. They pull the non-commissionable part of the fare out as a fee. Makes their rate look cheaper and lets them justify giving less OBC because your "rate" is lower. 

Well, I haven't noticed it, but maybe it hasn't been as blatant. And I find it odd that there are two different groups at the same price but with different taxes.

In any event, I am likely going to end up booking the higher tax agent because they're currently offering free gratuities and $225 OBC, so their perks more than make up for the higher taxes. When I initially checked last week, they only had free specialty dining and less OBC and the lower tax agent had the better deal.

6 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

The real point is that you are asking why the "taxes AND FEES" differ --- why shouldn't they differ?  The line is selling them as different products -- while all those deals may look the same to you, the line is obviously calling them different things -- and if you look closely you will see that two of them - the "30% Savings" and the "Senior NRD" carry the same $166 fees - while the "Group 7116490 30% Savings" carries $217 in fees.    Unless you comb through the fine print, with a fine tooth comb, you cannot assume that the products are identical --are there different cancellation terms?, are there different privileges?  If you are convinced that there is absolutely no difference, do the intelligent thing and book the lower total cost deal.

Give me a break. They are the same product. The non-refundable deposits are clearly marked as NRD and one has the lower rate and another has the higher one. The difference in taxes/fees is based on whether it's a group rate or not.

57 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Look at the fares from Royal themselves.  The "taxes and fees" category from travel agents very often include the "non-commissionable fare" as a "fee", so that they can offer a lower base fare (the commissionable portion).  While the cruise lines are regulated as to what can be included in the "port taxes and fees", travel agents are not.

Interesting point. So you're suggesting that they're fudging the numbers to make more of it non-commissionable, at least as far as the customer is concerned and in terms of what any OBC would be based on.

Royal is showing $185.75, so the same as the non-group rate.

11 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Most taxes are not “one size fits all” - but are based on a variable.  Sales taxes are based upon the amount paid for the thing - not its inherent value. So a pair of shoes costing $50 would carry a sales tax of $3 if there were a 6% sales tax - but if sold on sale at $40 the sales tax would be $2.40  —- at  the same tax rate —- on an identical pair of shoes.  Other taxes and fees (in particular) vary pursuant to a number of conditions.

But you missed the point. The tax on a $40 pair of shoes is going to be less than the tax on a $50 pair of shoes. In this case, the tax on a $432 fare has higher taxes than a $644 fare. And here's a snippet of the fares, including showing that different $644 fares have different fees! 

Here's a strange one, even for me. I am looking at booking a sailing on Royal, the TA I checked had a group rate of $432 and "Taxes and fees" (not port charges) of $217.  Fine, but they show several rates for the same cabin category (senior, resident, non-refundable deposit, brochure, etc.), and non-group fares had taxes and fees of $186. I asked the TA about it, and she told me that the taxes/fees are set when the group is booked and do not change. And it's lower for the higher fares, so it's not some percentage based on the fare.

Even stranger, I posted a request for quotes at a site and got prices that had the $432 price and taxes/fees of $159.31. Also found that pricing on a different TA site.

I've always considered myself pretty savvy about cruise pricing, but this one has me stumped (and the TA's just say "yeah, that's how it is"). How can the same cruise and category have different taxes/fees depending on what rate you pick?

53 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Because you sounded unhappy about paying $280 to park (plus gas and tolls both ways) I figured the perhaps $80 Uber/taxi costs  plus the train fare might be a good alternative - but nothing is perfect.  You might want to explore car service to/from home and cruise terminal.

I don't think that anyone should be happy about paying $40 a day to park, but given the alternatives, it's likely the best option for me. Car services are even more expensive than Uber, probably comparable to pier parking once you factor in tips.

Certainly, if we weren't talking about luggage, taking the train is the best option. I typically do that instead of driving into NYC, since the senior rate train ticket is only $12.50 round trip. And parking is only $10 per 24 hours, and free on weekends. So in theory, I could park there for the week for $60 and avoid Uber on the way to the train. But I'd still have to deal with the luggage on the train. As my wife says, we already paid a bunch for the cruise (Oceania), what's another $280 for parking?

7 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Probably makes sense - especially if you put much value on your time.  Grabbing local transport to/from pier to off site parking would be a hassle.

 

But, From Northern Westchester you could consider Metronorth to Grand Central then NYC taxi  to/from cruise terminal.

I live a half hour from Metro-North so I'd have to Uber to the train station and the cruise terminal (at least $20 each), and don't really feel like doing Metro-North with a 24" suitcase and backpack, nor my wife with her suitcase and rollable carry-on (which she has enough trouble with in the airport invariably dragging it because it doesn't have the new style turnable wheels). Not to mention dealing with the luggage on the train. I've seen other people do it when going to LGA. Not for me.

54 minutes ago, GTJ said:

I certainly overlooked that notation about taxes! Is this the only parking facility in New York City that advertises a tax-inclusive rate? I never have a need for parking, so I have not done a survey. But my recollection is that "everyone" advertised tax-exclusive rates.

 

With the tax situation the off-pier price advantage still exists, but less so . . . the additional cost for on-pier parking is about 30 percent higher compared to off-pier parking. In the end, some will prefer the convenience of on-pier parking, while others will prefer the economy of off-pier parking (virtually the same dichotomy that exists for on-airport and off-airport parking), without one answer being clearly better than the other.

Many discount parking websites like Parkwhiz advertise rates that are inclusive of taxes.

The difference is more like 25% instead of 30, and you would probably need to add a tip to for the person who drives you over and back.

Now, if you can get the rate without that $60 professional fee, it might be worth it. 

32 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

Not to belabor the point, but if you watch the cartoon video on their website it states they are located "right across from the terminal". To me 5 blocks south of Pier 88 is not "right across from the terminal".

 

This site claims that two locations (including Park Right) are 0.01 miles from the terminal. Clearly they are not.

Manhattan Cruise Terminal Parking | Parkway Parking

On 5/11/2022 at 8:45 PM, njhorseman said:

 

 

The $19.99 price quote does not include taxes and if you have anything bigger than a modest size sedan they'll charge you more than $19.99. The way they compute the number of days you'll be charged means that for a 7 night cruise you'll be charged for 8 days of parking as opposed to 7 at the cruise terminal. If you want them to shuttle you to and from the pier you'll also pay more.

 

So, it really isn't "half price" any more than it's directly across the street.  That having been said you will save some money in exchange for a loss of convenience and a greater risk of damage to your car.

My preference is to park at the pier. Others may disagree.

Yes, I noticed that the off-site places end up charging you for eight days because of the way that they calculate it.

We live in Northern Westchester and I can get a reasonably priced Hertz rental with no drop charge via corporate rate. But Hertz closed their 43rd Street location, which means I'd need to use 55th between 6th and 7th or 34th between 8th and 9th. I was debating taking an Uber down, it would cost me $100 or so, but going back doesn't seem to be feasible since they seem to charge almost double.  We could get the Hertz car for going home, but we'd have to Uber there which would add $20 to the cost. The whole thing will probably cost me close to $200.

Bottom line is, I am thinking of just giving in and paying the $280 for parking at the pier for seven nights. It would be nice if there were a better parking option, even a few blocks away. But it seems that off-site options are all around $200, so we're back to the same outcome.

So it turns out that Celebrity won't allow you to book a flight for the last day of the cruise if you have the hotel room booked as part of the package, even if the flight is at 11:55pm. So our friends won't be flying home that day.

On 6/18/2022 at 10:52 AM, Suzanne123 said:

We are flying in on Thursday, a day early, for the 10 day trip on the Flora, using Marriott points for the extra night. Celebrity told me that they would have someone at the airport to greet me and get me to the Marriott if I would tell them in advance my flight numbers.  
The actual cruise begins and ends on Sundays, and Celebrity pays for the hotel that last night.  You fly out the next day, Monday (unfortunately for me, 11:55 PM).
 I read somewhere that the Marriott will hold your luggage that last day if you want to tour.

Thanks, that is good to hear about being able to add the first night on your own and still get transportation included. Our friends are planning to fly out (also a very late flight) on the night that we return from the cruise and not use that last night, but that's their decision.

So I guess this is the current generic Galapagos thread. Back to flying in early; if I were to do that, how much does Celebrity charge for an extra night at the JWM? I can book it myself for under $200. And if I book on my own, presumably I'd need to make my own way to the hotel, rather than having Celebrity get us a cab.

Friends we are sailing with (we booked the 10-night package) don't want to stick around in Quito after we get back and were thinking of booking a flight back that day, but I'm guessing that is not a good idea given that the charter flight may be late getting back (as a review mentioned happened to them on arrival at the ship). They were going to ask Celebrity to move the hotel night from the end to the start of the cruise, but that's not gonna happen.

8 hours ago, CaroleSS said:

I know this question is slightly OT, but we are looking at a cruise (Flora) and our TA is offering some OBC. If the cruise is all-inclusive, what can you use the OBC for?

 

I'm guessing the OBC is "use it or lose it", but I can't think of anything that isn't included! Ideas?

OBC is pretty useless on the ship, other than for a massage. My TA agreed to pay me in a Celebrity gift card, which she will apply at final payment. A popular huge online agency was offering cash back and my TA matched that when I booked what seems like a lifetime ago.

That said, TA OBC is usually refundable if you don't spend it, but I'd rather not find out with a sizable amount.