Sunseeker322

Apparently there is a rule about anything over 6 rooms. That is why every place has told us they dont like more than 6 rooms and we may have to do cruise line hotels but they may have the same issue. Many folks flying straight to the ship as it is a 12 night cruise and they can only be away so long. For those that are not we want a hotel in a good area not a business, financial or industrial district. 

If I sell the 5 balcony cabins with 3 perks I will most likely need 20 plus rooms as I still have oceanview too. 

8 hours ago, helpthejuggler said:

 

How many nights?

When are you visiting? Does it clash with a huge event? UEFA Champions League etc

 

When you say refused is it just the booking form doesn't support it?

 

I would contact the hotels directly for a large group booking or ask a travel agent. That is a group beyond my experience, but others may have advice

I am used to doing a 70 room block but on this trip most folks are flying straight to the ship. I have never had so much trouble getting more than 6 rooms and that's considered a group. I will try Hilton and see if that helps. I had wanted to do a more local hotel with local flavor and was looking at the H10 hotels specifically Casanova, however my customers object to paying in euro.

I am a Hilton Honors member so let's see if that works.

I still have 5 balconys left if I sell those I may need even more rooms !

Thanks for all your help

I am not sure why most hotels are refusing to give me 14 rooms 

12 minutes ago, helpthejuggler said:

 

Of those Condes do Barcelona, which we have stayed at around 2011.

It is good for Casa Batllo and Casa Mila.

 

But it was quite expensive (thru Celebrity), nothing special and not convenient for walking to those locations. I reckon 20 min walk to Pl. Catalunya at the end of Las Ramblas.

 

I would recommend H10 Madison, Barcelona Catedral, Hotel Jazz, Hotel Lleo or Hotel REC as other better choices

My problem is right now I need 14 rooms and most hotels are refusing to give me more than 6 so we probably have to go with cruiseline hotels . Excellent information thanks so much 

We have a group going out of Barcelona 

The 4 cruise hotel options are Gates Diagonal , Condes de Barcelona, NH Sants or Silken Gran Havana.

Which one would be best suited for walking to tourist areas such as La Ramblas or Gothic Quarter. 

Been yelled at all day about our cabin prices for this 12 night cruise so thought I would refocus on hotels.  Thank you for your valued input .

7 hours ago, kearney said:

I think the problem that Celebrity faces is that they have been able to get prices that are more than double a comparable S class from a portion of the cruising population. But if they were to suddenly drop the price to fill cabins to say equal to S class... think how ticked off the people would be who paid early and double. Is it worth the risk to anger those passengers who can clearly afford the high prices... to fill the ship. In the short term until the image has been set... it is probably better for them to hold tight and hope that over time more passengers will like the whole experience.. then if prices do drop they are still high. Better for them to keep high prices and toss in perks. Think about how profitable the drink packages must be to the cruise line... even OBC... the only perk that costs them... is the gratuities... at least I hope that the money we spend on that goes to the people it is supposed to go to. I think they will be biting their nails but holding firm to higher prices unless they miss quarterly numbers by a big enough margin... and then they will likely say it is the volatile stock market that is keeping customers away... face saving... But we will have to see. I loved the ship would go on it again... but not at the price we paid... which was much less that what they are charging now. Unless they mess up S class we will stick with that

The way ships handle selling the high end suites is to increase price , but they don't always sell so what is often done is lower category prices are reduced thus giving the options to upgrade , Celebrity told me if anyone sees a lower price after final let them know and we can most likely upgrade them. Another cruise line handles it differently they give an onboard credit for a portion of the difference of new lower price. There is always something to make people happy. There is no reason not to lower the prices because selling the ship out is the main goal with most lines.Also oftentimes they like having higher category cabins available because they can upgrade folks from category they are in , fill the higher end cabins and have more lower end cabins to sell last minute. I became very good friends with ship inventory on multiple lines and paid attention to the way inventory is handled post final payment. 

I have seen luxury lines like Silversea and Regent lower their fares to fill the ship as revenue is better when you have more people onboard to offset port charges taxes. Spend money in speciality restaurants, shore excursions, spa, onboard shops, increased tips to supplement wages, wifi and wine package purchases etc. Most of the lines know the cabin is only a portion of the revenue, you need an almost full ship to do well. Celebrity and Holland being premium class and not luxury class don't necessarily attract cruisers with unlimited bank accounts. It's actually smart to do what you have to do to fill the ship . Some folks can't book early because of health or family situations , but once they clear their schedule to go on a cruise they will flock to the more affordable options as a rule. 

We keep checking inventory and pricing for March. No change in inventory still lots of options and cabins , price staying same on all cabins except the insides just went down $50pp. Hopefully the prices will go down so more folks can go 

as someone who does many groups I can say feedback is critical to all businesses.  I always pass out a,survey at end of cruise asking what people liked what they didn't what would they like to see more of etc. We truly care about making people happy and without feedback we cannot do that. This is a great informative platform to see what people find and what their opinions are. A place to ask questions you can't find the answer to anywhere.  All this leads to a,better matching of people's needs to the perfect cruise for them.  I doubt you will find a business that doesn't applaud feedback and if you do that's not a good sign. 

Thank you 39august. Could not find the posts or photos of it but if you say the equipment does not cause a problem that's good enough for me 😊

Guess nobody has any photos of this balcony 

That's very true . After final the only cabin changes are upgrades where you pay more. Which tax the cabin will have is always a mystery , today's taxes or the tax when you originally booked.

Jelayne that sounds like a re-faring due to price change option

Excellent question 

A far cry from when I contacted ship inventory on HAL. The upgrades were confirmed immediately and at times they would let me chose cabins out of what they had for inventory.

I wonder if it's better at the pier or onboard to upgrade on Celebrity ? 

Since the ship is set to be "Revolutionalized" maybe the obstruction will be removed by March 2020 ?

Hello after booking this cabin I read somewhere the balcony is obstructed. Anyone have photos of the obstruction so we can see how bad it is ? No mention of this was given when it was booked .

Thank you !

Thank you for this info 😊

Fyi anyone wanting a suite should book today as prices increase by several hundred dollars tomorrow.  Granted starting tomorrow you get to choose 2 perks but that is irrelevant with suites. 

Thats my tip for the day 🚢

Whatever market they are trying to appeal to will have to make lots of money. The prices are tough with the ups and downs of the stock market. People are more conservative 

I book all my groups with group sales but this is the first I have heard about this. So it's like an auction not a sure thing , I must check it out. 

Thank you !

So glad the Edge is super fuel efficient

Perhaps they could pass the savings in fuel onto the customers with lower prices?

Does anyone have any experience with paid upgrades at reduced cost? 

When I did my groups on HAL I was able to get everyone reduced cost upgrades, but have never gotten anyone on the phone that knows what I am talking about at Celebrity.

I don't mean just pay the difference upgrades I mean reduced cost.  Let me know if this has been offered to you. 

Thank you 

7If I were your agent I would go to bat for you , but it's up to your agent to do so.

I was going to book these cabins for some of my musicians,  but if I did I would have a riot in my hands . Very glad to know about this as I have have put them in those categories on their other ship classes and they were not like this.

I was told to go look at them online cause I could not for the life of me visualize what they were saying. Thank goodness for this wonderful group of folks here that posted the photos so I could see and the other extremely helpful feedback.  I am.very new to the site and am still learning how it works but it's wonderful to have feedback and to be able to express concerns and post the good things people like as well. People look forward to their trips and it's important they are happy 😊