Would you like Celebrity to...

[Bridge Maven]

Another cruise line has a booking option which is less than its regular fare for people who book early but the deposit is not refundable. However, even though the deposit is non refundable it can be used for another cruise that is booked within a specified time frame after the cruise is canceled less a $50 per person service fee.

 

Would you like Celebrity to have a similar booking option?

[tea4ular]

If you read that "other" lines boards closely you'll see that a lot of customers are unhappy with that program.

 

I like the way it is now, especially if I can get a price match if the fare goes down.

[sunnytag]

No !

[Denny01]

Well, since it's an option, why not? If you don't want to take advantage of the lower fare for whatever reason, book 'normally'. If you think your booking is pretty firm and would chance 'losing' the deposit (or moving it to another booking) and you'd get a better deal, why not. Now, I'd hope it’s not restricted to only that discount in case the pricing drops, but since it's an option.....?

After reading some of the UK posts, it would be kind of like living in the UK and get a discount! They seem to lose their deposit if they cancel outside the allowable reasons.

We cruise Celebrity pretty consistently, and if we dropped a booking (haven't done that yet), there is an excellent chance of going to another Celebrity cruise so I'd at least like to see what it looks like - obviously it depends on how much you'd save.

So B Maven, put me down as a probable yup, try it out.

Denny

[kelmac]

Not sure I would like that program? What I would be interested in is a "Celebrity Booking Club" in which you make monthly payments into a cruise account at Celebrity. Once your account is up to a certain level you can bid on cruises at a reduced rate. The payments would be on going thing and would require the customer to commit to "X" number of months. (i.e. -- 24 months minimum)

Celebrity gets monthly payments and the interest that goes along with that, and customers could pick up some real bargains.

 

Example: You join the club today and send $200 a month to Celebrity. Let's say you find a cruise you really like Feb. 2011 and you now have $3,000 in your "Booking Club Account". Celebrity may have "?cat" Balcony guarantee cabins at $1,299 per person, but the first ten club members can pick up the cabin at $999 per person. If the cabin price comes down, club members would receive the reduced rate and money would be refunded to their account.

 

What do you think? Good idea or Goofy idea?:D

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[Bridge Maven]

Well, since it's an option, why not? If you don't want to take advantage of the lower fare for whatever reason, book 'normally'. If you think your booking is pretty firm and would chance 'losing' the deposit (or moving it to another booking) and you'd get a better deal, why not. Now, I'd hope it’s not restricted to only that discount in case the pricing drops, but since it's an option.....?

After reading some of the UK posts, it would be kind of like living in the UK and get a discount! They seem to lose their deposit if they cancel outside the allowable reasons.

We cruise Celebrity pretty consistently, and if we dropped a booking (haven't done that yet), there is an excellent chance of going to another Celebrity cruise so I'd at least like to see what it looks like - obviously it depends on how much you'd save.

So B Maven, put me down as a probable yup, try it out.

Denny

 

The lower priced option with a non refundable deposit for this cruise line is actually more flexible about subsequent price reductions because you can request one based on any advertised price up until two days before the cruise.

 

To give an example, my husband and I saved $600 on a seven night Caribbean cruise by booking the non refundable rate while a family of four saved $900 for the same cruise.

[Denny01]

Not sure I would like that program? What I would be interested in is a "Celebrity Booking Club" in which you make monthly payments into a cruise account at Celebrity. Once your account is up to a certain level you can bid on cruises at a reduced rate. The payments would be on going thing and would require the customer to commit to "X" number of months. (i.e. -- 24 months minimum)

Celebrity gets monthly payments and the interest that goes along with that, and customers could pick up some real bargains.......

What do you think? Good idea or Goofy idea?:D

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

 

We are now committed cruisers of going on at least one a year - heck, we made a 14N S American in Jan 09, and going on a B2B this Nov-Dec! Wild. And Celebrity is our line of choice.

 

I had been talking with a few others who love to cruise about some options where we'd commit to a number of cruises, pre-paying certain amounts and get nice discounts. But except for generalities of comparing it to some 'Time-Sharing' which isn't what I'm talking about, but your's sounds right on, I think!

 

We'd seriously consider signing onto an RCCL program maybe with Celebirty, RCL, Azamara options for more flexiblity where we'd pre-pay some amount for a set number of cruises or timeframes. They get the upfront money, and we'd get nice discounts.

 

Your's is very interesting, as is B Marven's approach being used by another line. Since I now we are going to cruise a lot, I'd love to get some discounts and wouldn't mind committing to a specific cruise line or group of lines.

 

Denny

[kelmac]

We are now committed cruisers of going on at least one a year - heck, we made a 14N S American in Jan 09, and going on a B2B this Nov-Dec! Wild. And Celebrity is our line of choice.

 

I had been talking with a few others who love to cruise about some options where we'd commit to a number of cruises, pre-paying certain amounts and get nice discounts. But except for generalities of comparing it to some 'Time-Sharing' which isn't what I'm talking about, but your's sounds right on, I think!

 

We'd seriously consider signing onto an RCCL program maybe with Celebirty, RCL, Azamara options for more flexiblity where we'd pre-pay some amount for a set number of cruises or timeframes. They get the upfront money, and we'd get nice discounts.

 

Your's is very interesting, as is B Marven's approach being used by another line. Since I now we are going to cruise a lot, I'd love to get some discounts and wouldn't mind committing to a specific cruise line or group of lines.

 

Denny

 

Hi Denny,

 

Like you, we are committed to Celebrity (or Azamara/RCCL good idea!) for the long run. We wouldn't mind prepaying monthly moneys if we could be guaranteed a special rate down the road. Not sure how the system would really work, so I just laid down some ideas.

 

Enjoy!

Kel:)

[Bridge Maven]

Even though I only know of one cruise line that currently does this, this concept is not unusual in the travel industry.

 

When we booked our flights from JFK to Barcelona we had a choice between a fully refundable air fare and one that was non refundable but considerably less expensive.

 

There are a number of hotels that offer considerable discounts to people who book a non refundable rate

[jackdiamond]

Kel-For us your idea is "goofy". We cruise two to three times per year, preferrably out of Lauderdale, but sometimes out of Tampa or Miami. We usually book one to one and a half years in advance, in order to acquire a desired cabin. As an example, we cruised a ten nighter in a mini-suite on the Emerald Princess in April; and, we will cruise a ten nighter in AQ on the Equinox this year. Next year we will do a ten nighter on the Ruby Princess, a seven nighter on the Radiance of the Seas and a 14 nighter on the Constellation. All of these cruises depart from Lauderdale, except the Radiance which departs from Tampa. Since we have cruised so much in the last eleven years; and, also since we prefer Lauderdale our future cruise options are limited.

[Bridge Maven]

If you read that "other" lines boards closely you'll see that a lot of customers are unhappy with that program.

 

I like the way it is now, especially if I can get a price match if the fare goes down.

 

It is obviously a risk for people who don't cruise often because if someone cancels a cruise without re-booking another one, they will have lost their deposit. On the other hand, it is only an option, so if someone prefers to pay the higher fare in exchange for being able to get their deposit back if they cancel they can.

 

Even though Celebrity is very good about adjusting your cruise fare if you bring a subsequent lower rate on Celebrity's website to their attention, this is the first time I ever heard of a cruise line that was willing to give you the lowest price guarantee based on any advertised rate for that cruise.

 

However, that cruise line obviously benefits in two ways. There are probably some people who cancel their cruise without re-booking another one so the cruise line gets to keep the deposit. Their lowest price guarantee also encourages more people to book directly with the cruise line instead of using a travel agent.

[Bridge Maven]

I just noticed something very interesting. There is one online travel agency, which I would never use, that has call us for a quote instead of posting the prices for their suites. It does, however, have the prices for this cruise line's other cabin categories.