Celebrity won't let me pay to upgrade ....

We are booked Aqua on our next cruise in March, and have no perks.

Sky Suites are still selling and are only $A320 difference to Aqua each, so I called Celebrity today to ask if I could pay to upgrade. I was told this was not possible. I would have to cancel and rebook (with a penalty of $800).

Has anyone been able to pay the difference to upgrade, or was wrong to ask, I didn't expect it for free.

Had a similar quote on upgrading - additional $800 plus the price difference. Maybe because we're Australian.

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Call again and you may get a different answer.

We are booked Aqua on our next cruise in March, and have no perks.

 

Sky Suites are still selling and are only $A320 difference to Aqua each, so I called Celebrity today to ask if I could pay to upgrade. I was told this was not possible. I would have to cancel and rebook (with a penalty of $800).

 

Has anyone been able to pay the difference to upgrade, or was wrong to ask, I didn't expect it for free.

Seems that it must be after final payment. You would have to pay the difference between what you originally paid and the cost of the Sky Suite now, not the difference in today's prices between Aqua and Sky Suite. Is that the situation?

.....Sky Suites are still selling and are only $A320 difference to Aqua each, so I called Celebrity today to ask if I could pay to upgrade. I was told this was not possible. I would have to cancel and rebook (with a penalty of $800).

Has anyone been able to pay the difference to upgrade, or was wrong to ask, I didn't expect it for free.

I notice that you are in Australia, so the explanation could be that the policy is different there.

They have long had different policies for different countries (but possibly calling back and speaking with someone else may get you a different answer, as sometimes happens for us).

As Americans, we are allowed to upgrade and pay the difference with no problem as long as the price of the new cabin we want is at least $1 (one US dollar) more than the price we paid for our current cabin.

But there are exceptions made from time to time.

As an example, after the recent Caribbean hurricanes when the price of higher category accommodations dropped below what many customers had originally paid for lower category staterooms, people were allowed to upgrade and keep their existing perks without paying anything additional (although they did not receive any refund on the price difference).

There was no need to cancel and re-book.

The only change made to the reservation was the stateroom number.

The cruise line will make exceptions when it is in their best interest to do so.

In this case, they were willing to upgrade people who had already paid more and then resell the vacated lower category cabins to new passengers at the last minute at rock bottom prices.

So it was a win-win situation. Doing it that way gained them them the goodwill of the people who felt they had overpaid, it cost them nothing, and it enabled them to re-sell the lower level cabins.

Some of the Brits and Canadians who post here have reported using American travel agents in order to receive more favorable prices and policies.

But there are apparently some restrictions on doing that, and some cons as well as the pros.

Thanks for the responses. Yes it is after payment and now Aqua is not that much more than we paid.

I normally book through a US agent online - this time booked direct as the price was cheaper through Celebrity direct. The other half will try in the morning as it seems we have nothing to lose.

This cruise will get us to Elite Plus, so we really want the extra points - never going to get to Zenith !!

Thanks for the responses. Yes it is after payment and now Aqua is not that much more than we paid.

I normally book through a US agent online - this time booked direct as the price was cheaper through Celebrity direct. The other half will try in the morning as it seems we have nothing to lose.

This cruise will get us to Elite Plus, so we really want the extra points - never going to get to Zenith !!

We had a similar issue, we had booked and paid and then after the final payment date prices dropped a lot - the Aqua class was less than we had paid for a balcony and Suites were about what we had paid. I tried calling our TA and they offered an upgrade to Concierge for $350 US pp which I turned down and about five days later I tried again and this time got CC for $150 US for us both. I was happy with the better location and a free shore excursion so took it. It is frustrating when you book far ahead thinking you are getting the best price but we kept all our perks which were not included later.

We had a similar issue, we had booked and paid and then after the final payment date prices dropped a lot - the Aqua class was less than we had paid for a balcony and Suites were about what we had paid. I tried calling our TA and they offered an upgrade to Concierge for $350 US pp which I turned down and about five days later I tried again and this time got CC for $150 US for us both. I was happy with the better location and a free shore excursion so took it. It is frustrating when you book far ahead thinking you are getting the best price but we kept all our perks which were not included later.

How did you get a free excursion and how was the excursion chosen (or was it OBC)? Was this from your agent or Celebrity?

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We have upgraded a number of times and in our experience it hasn’t mattered whether it was before or after final payment. The cabin we upgrade to has to cost more than what we actually paid, not the difference between the current prices. Last upgrade from Sky Suite to Celebrity Suite cost us $31pp.

We have upgraded a number of times and in our experience it hasn’t mattered whether it was before or after final payment. The cabin we upgrade to has to cost more than what we actually paid, not the difference between the current prices. Last upgrade from Sky Suite to Celebrity Suite cost us $31pp.

It only matters because after final payment you can't just cancel and re-book. Sometimes there are other perks available as well as a better price. It's also true that guests from other countries sometimes have different options than those from the USA. My question was also because many times people are looking to pay the difference between the existing rates at the time rather than what they paid when they booked. Those questions have been answered.

We've upgraded many times as well but there are extenuating circumstances at times if you booked with a travel agent under a group rate. It's not always just pay a dollar more.

Some of the Brits and Canadians who post here have reported using American travel agents in order to receive more favorable prices and policies.

Different terms and conditions in different countries- that’s your answer. So, only take notice of posts by fellow Australians.

And we have upgraded a few times after final payment for no added cost because prices dropped that low. Each time it was handled by our TA in the US where we live....1A to A1 is a nice jump.

How did you get a free excursion and how was the excursion chosen (or was it OBC)? Was this from your agent or Celebrity?

 

 

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The excursion was from the TA and we could not choose the port. The price (on the tour company website) is $83.00 pp so I was quite happy to accept it, plus the free glass of champagne that comes with it!

So I called Celebrity back and they advised indeed had I booked through a US agency I could have got the upgrade for the difference advertised, but as I booked through the Australian website direct an upgrade is not available within final payment (without cancelling and rebooking)

So much for being loyal to Celebrity direct .... supposedly we are the biggest growing cruise market in the world, so I am tiring of inferior conditions and higher prices - it's not enough we have to pay a huge airfare to get anywhere ...

Rant over

We wanted to upgrade as well. We were told no. It was because we had booked under a certain promotion and the upgrade price was under a different promotion. Their policy is that you cannot change promotions after final payment.

Recently had same issue with upgrade from CC2 to SS here in US. The SS rate was only available for new bookings, and wasn't available for an upgrade after final payment for the difference in cost. A few days later a new rate code popped up that allowed me to grab the upgrade, although it was $200 more than the original price.

The excursion was from the TA and we could not choose the port. The price (on the tour company website) is $83.00 pp so I was quite happy to accept it, plus the free glass of champagne that comes with it!

It sounds like an Ensemble Travel Group consortium tour (I checked with CC years ago and they can be mentioned as they are not a specific travel agent but consortium agents belong too (American Express has another one)We have been on a number of cruises and the tours were top notch with a smaller group of people, good food (not a big buffet).

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It only matters because after final payment you can't just cancel and re-book. Sometimes there are other perks available as well as a better price. It's also true that guests from other countries sometimes have different options than those from the USA. My question was also because many times people are looking to pay the difference between the existing rates at the time rather than what they paid when they booked. Those questions have been answered.

 

We've upgraded many times as well but there are extenuating circumstances at times if you booked with a travel agent under a group rate. It's not always just pay a dollar more.

Actually after final payment I have cancelled and and rebooked. Both times we lost the deposit but the saving on the cruise fare were 2x the amount of the deposit. So we rebooked and moved to a Suite and still were money ahead and had the same perks + Michaels Club and Lumanie.

So I called Celebrity back and they advised indeed had I booked through a US agency I could have got the upgrade for the difference advertised, but as I booked through the Australian website direct an upgrade is not available within final payment (without cancelling and rebooking)

So much for being loyal to Celebrity direct .... supposedly we are the biggest growing cruise market in the world, so I am tiring of inferior conditions and higher prices - it's not enough we have to pay a huge airfare to get anywhere ...

 

Rant over

Unless you book in the US, your T&Cs are completely different from most of the posts here on CC - as you have discovered.

I’ve said it many times on CC previously, it’s not just about the initial price when booking via the US, it’s the flexibility that comes with the reservations.

 

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But there are exceptions made from time to time.

As an example, after the recent Caribbean hurricanes when the price of higher category accommodations dropped below what many customers had originally paid for lower category staterooms, people were allowed to upgrade and keep their existing perks without paying anything additional (although they did not receive any refund on the price difference).

 

 

 

 

Some of the Brits and Canadians who post here have reported using American travel agents in order to receive more favorable prices and policies.

But there are apparently some restrictions on doing that, and some cons as well as the pros.

 

Canadians have the same rules as the Americans. We do not need to book with US agents. Some of us look around to see who has the best deal of the day just like our neighbours to the south

The OP said the cruise is next March so they are not past final payment

The OP said the cruise is next March so they are not past final payment

Next March was 2018!! Original thread started in Jan 2018

The OP said the cruise is next March so they are not past final payment

Not sure why old threads are being reborn lately. Sometimes years later. Do people not see the dates anymore?

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Next March was 2018!! Original thread started in Jan 2018

I guess I missed that one .. but they were not past final payment . I wonder what happened. I should have my coffee before I read..lol