Check your final payment due dates

[Momorider]

Not sure if this has been mentioned in this thread or not but I noticed on my reservation payment tab that they have a *.pdf file at the bottom of the page and it notes some fairly significant changes to the cancellation policy for booking after August 1st. (like 50% refund moving from 7-14 days to like 30 days depending on the length of the cruise, and they have added in a 75% threshold) :mad:

[PartyAllDaTyme]

[quote name='Momorider']Not sure if this has been mentioned in this thread or not but I noticed on my reservation payment tab that they have a *.pdf file at the bottom of the page and it notes some fairly significant changes to the cancellation policy for booking after August 1st. (like 50% refund moving from 7-14 days to like 30 days depending on the length of the cruise, and they have added in a 75% threshold) :mad:[/quote]

By golly, you're right. For most cruisers, the day we can't get our deposit back is the point of no return, but this could (more) seriously impact someone who needs to cancel close to the sail date and failed to get appropriate insurance coverage.

[hcat]

Thanks for strating this thread--we will have to check our due dates...we usually pay a bit early to avoid problems with computer systems but it would be good to know what is listed on our res.

Odd that they would make such a change without notice or a more public general announcment--it will only cause them headaches!

[PartyAllDaTyme]

The thing is, it wasn't supposed to be a change, at least not to existing reservations. But it does appear they tried to sneak this in under the radar.

[packedandready]

Read the first couple of posts of this thread a few days ago and since we made reservations in March '10 for April '11 I didn't read any more. Got bored today and looked at my due date and low and behold my date WAS moved.

Thanks to everyone who kept posting and keeping the thread at the top.

What's going to happen to all the reservations made by those not on CC? I didn't receive any notice, so they probably haven't either.

[lvcruiser]

[quote name='PartyAllDaTyme']You'd think that such a glitch would be universal-- either it affects all bookings or it doesn't. I'm not an IT person, but I do know that a stray line of bad code can have some strange effects. Where I work, we once had a promo code that wasn't working, but only for California residents. Eventually it was discovered that it somehow got tied to a line of code that prevented CA residents from ordering a certain product due to import restrictions (it contained kangaroo leather, the sale of which CA bans). It had nothing to do with if a customer was ordering that product or not. There could be some common element to certain reservations that is locking it up, preventing them from being able to change the date on just those particular reservations.

I'm just saying I believe Celebrity when they say they can correct the date on some reservations but not others, but I'd still be leery of completely trusting that a note on an account will prevent the booking from being cancelled early.[/QUOTE]

At this point, I would believe my TA more than Celebrity, and upon speaking to my TA, who I have used for nearly ten years, I received some rather distressing news. She said that it is RCCL's intent to make this change universal and they have no plans to revert anyone's due date back to the original, appeasing only the squeaky wheels and passengers they feel are vital to the business. If you have had your due date changed back to its original date, you either fall into one of those two categories, or you got lucky and found a CSR or Captain's Club employee that hadn't been brought up to speed yet on what RCCL is doing. She also said this rule was made in conjunction with the new rule regarding price drops after final payment; an attempt to stop the passengers who are booking a half dozen cabins on a cruise or cabins on a half dozen cruises, and then canceling all but one at the last minute. She said RCCL feels this problem has become epidemic for them. At the same time, this is a way for them to make extra money. Think about this: if the price drops on your cruise during the 70-75 day period, what is going to happen? They are buying themselves an extra five days of not having to refund anything if the price goes down to the cruisers who are still going to sail. Additionally, think of the interest they are making by holding your money for those extra five days. To you and me on an individual basis, that doesn't seem like a lot of money, but to them, five days interest on $2M per ship adds up.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but considering my own personal experience with the ineptitude of the Celebrity CSR's and their lack of knowledge of various situations and how to remedy them, I wouldn't believe a word any of them said regarding this issue. Lemmings have more knowledge of current goings on than Celebrity provides to their CSR's. I cannot believe this was a glitch in their computer system; this was planned and carried out. It will have little or no effect on me personally since I make my final payment anytime during the last 30 days that are allowed, but the principle of making this change in policy and then trying to cover it up with excuses will make me wonder if RCCL is still a company with which I want to deal. And please note that I am not picking on Celebrity - this is a mother corporation issue.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

[quote name='lvcruiser']At this point, I would believe my TA more than Celebrity, and upon speaking to my TA, who I have used for nearly ten years, I received some rather distressing news. She said that it is RCCL's intent to make this change universal and they have no plans to revert anyone's due date back to the original, appeasing only the squeaky wheels and passengers they feel are vital to the business. If you have had your due date changed back to its original date, you either fall into one of those two categories, or you got lucky and found a CSR or Captain's Club employee that hadn't been brought up to speed yet on what RCCL is doing. She also said this rule was made in conjunction with the new rule regarding price drops after final payment; an attempt to stop the passengers who are booking a half dozen cabins on a cruise or cabins on a half dozen cruises, and then canceling all but one at the last minute. She said RCCL feels this problem has become epidemic for them. At the same time, this is a way for them to make extra money. Think about this: if the price drops on your cruise during the 70-75 day period, what is going to happen? They are buying themselves an extra five days of not having to refund anything if the price goes down to the cruisers who are still going to sail. Additionally, think of the interest they are making by holding your money for those extra five days. To you and me on an individual basis, that doesn't seem like a lot of money, but to them, five days interest on $2M per ship adds up.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but considering my own personal experience with the ineptitude of the Celebrity CSR's and their lack of knowledge of various situations and how to remedy them, I wouldn't believe a word any of them said regarding this issue. Lemmings have more knowledge of current goings on than Celebrity provides to their CSR's. I cannot believe this was a glitch in their computer system; this was planned and carried out. It will have little or no effect on me personally since I make my final payment anytime during the last 30 days that are allowed, but the principle of making this change in policy and then trying to cover it up with excuses will make me wonder if RCCL is still a company with which I want to deal. And please note that I am not picking on Celebrity - this is a mother corporation issue.[/quote]

You are free to believe what you want. FWIW, I'm a CSR myself, and what I'm hearing from Celebrity "smells right" to me. There are plenty of posts from people that said, in effect, "No problem. Just call them and they'll change the date back." Doesn't sound to me like it required a ton of complaining and supervisor involvement, and I would think that there are darn few customers that they would feel are "vital to the business". If it's just a few CSRs that didn't get the word to hold the line on not changing the date back, we haven't heard much about the ones who are being sticklers for the new date.

For cruises booked prior to 8/1, has anyone been told that the date is 75 days, and, no, they insist on final payment by then? My experience so far has been that they've been willing to either change the date directly or to at least note the account not to cancel until 70 days. If it were possible to just change the date, why would they take the secondary route of flagging the account? Time will tell if we get stories of people whose cruise was cancelled because they missed the 75-day deadline, despite being told their account had a note not to cancel it until 70 days. In fact, I would think that we'd already be seeing some evidence of this for mid-October cruises.

I agree that part of this is to hold onto our cash a little longer, as well as widen the window a bit for unprotected price drops. I wish that it were otherwise, but it's a competitive business, and Carnival, Disney, HAL, NCL and Princess all use 75 days for the bulk of their cruises. I also agree that not all Celebrity CSRs are on the ball-- it did take a call to Captain's Club to get my booking noted, which I would have done in the first place, had I not been curious how the regular CSRs would handle it. (I was once told by a Celebrity CSR that, due to the earthquake in Haiti, Celebrity Xpedition would not be calling on Labadee:eek:-- had to explain to her that Xpedition stays in the Galapagos Islands!) That's why I'm paying five days early, and would encourage others to do so, as well. OTOH, maybe if they mess it up, I could get a free cruise out of them:cool:.

How, exactly, is the new due date supposed to prevent people from booking multiple cruises? As long as they cancel the unwanted ones by 75 days out, the new deadline has no effect, except to free up those cruises a whopping five days earlier than before. Yes, it will have some effect, but wouldn't begin to address the problem of multiple bookings. There was a thread a while back that reported a rumor that, as of 1/1/11, they will begin to keep $25 of a deposit, regardless of when the cruise is cancelled. That would have much more of an effect than telling people they have five fewer days to make up their minds.

[BonnieVA]

[quote name='PartyAllDaTyme']For cruises booked prior to 8/1, has anyone been told that the date is 75 days, and, no, they insist on final payment by then? [COLOR=red]No, quite the opposite. Had my dates changed easily & without whining/complaining; I just explained the situation, they put me on hold for a minute, then came back & changed the dates back.[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]Was also told that no one would lose their ressies or be penalized if they booked pre- 8-1. [/COLOR]My experience so far has been that they've been willing to either change the date directly or to at least note the account not to cancel until 70 days.[/quote]

[COLOR=red]I check my reservations on their site multiple times/day (just in case!) & they show the corrected, original dates. I also received emails from RCCL & X showing penalty date charts; those did show the difference between bookings made pre- 8-1 & those made after. I have been happy with the way they've handled my 2 Mercury ressies through all of this.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=red] [/COLOR]

[jackdiamond]

Our final date is Sept 13, for our Christmas cruise in AQ on the Equinox. I always pay it by phone with our TA about a week before the date, in any event, in order that the wife can do her actions on the computer to obtain that pass.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

[quote name='BonnieVA'][COLOR=red]I check my reservations on their site multiple times/day (just in case!) & they show the corrected, original dates. I also received emails from RCCL & X showing penalty date charts; those did show the difference between bookings made pre- 8-1 & those made after. I have been happy with the way they've handled my 2 Mercury ressies through all of this.[/COLOR]
[/quote]

Good to hear! Thanks!

[lvcruiser]

[quote name='PartyAllDaTyme']You are free to believe what you want. FWIW, I'm a CSR myself, and what I'm hearing from Celebrity "smells right" to me. There are plenty of posts from people that said, in effect, "No problem. Just call them and they'll change the date back." Doesn't sound to me like it required a ton of complaining and supervisor involvement, and I would think that there are darn few customers that they would feel are "vital to the business". If it's just a few CSRs that didn't get the word to hold the line on not changing the date back, we haven't heard much about the ones who are being sticklers for the new date.

For cruises booked prior to 8/1, has anyone been told that the date is 75 days, and, no, they insist on final payment by then? My experience so far has been that they've been willing to either change the date directly or to at least note the account not to cancel until 70 days. If it were possible to just change the date, why would they take the secondary route of flagging the account? Time will tell if we get stories of people whose cruise was cancelled because they missed the 75-day deadline, despite being told their account had a note not to cancel it until 70 days. In fact, I would think that we'd already be seeing some evidence of this for mid-October cruises.

I agree that part of this is to hold onto our cash a little longer, as well as widen the window a bit for unprotected price drops. I wish that it were otherwise, but it's a competitive business, and Carnival, Disney, HAL, NCL and Princess all use 75 days for the bulk of their cruises. I also agree that not all Celebrity CSRs are on the ball-- it did take a call to Captain's Club to get my booking noted, which I would have done in the first place, had I not been curious how the regular CSRs would handle it. (I was once told by a Celebrity CSR that, due to the earthquake in Haiti, Celebrity Xpedition would not be calling on Labadee:eek:-- had to explain to her that Xpedition stays in the Galapagos Islands!) That's why I'm paying five days early, and would encourage others to do so, as well. OTOH, maybe if they mess it up, I could get a free cruise out of them:cool:.

How, exactly, is the new due date supposed to prevent people from booking multiple cruises? As long as they cancel the unwanted ones by 75 days out, the new deadline has no effect, except to free up those cruises a whopping five days earlier than before. Yes, it will have some effect, but wouldn't begin to address the problem of multiple bookings. There was a thread a while back that reported a rumor that, as of 1/1/11, they will begin to keep $25 of a deposit, regardless of when the cruise is cancelled. That would have much more of an effect than telling people they have five fewer days to make up their minds.[/QUOTE]

You make some very good points. I asked my TA why pushing the final payment date up five days was going to stop multiple bookings and she said she didn't really know - that was just what Celebrity had told her. Supposedly, the five day difference will do something to curtail it, but I really don't know what. I told her that if anything, I think the new rule regarding price drops after final payment could backfire for Celebrity, since many people will simply wait to book until they are within that 75 day time frame. That could create a vicious spiral downward for the company, since their goal is to book out as early as possible, reducing the prices only if the bookings aren't going well. If more people wait to book, there will be less early bookings, possibly forcing Celebrity to bring the prices down prematurely. Of course, the possibility always exists that they have already considered this scenario and included it in the working business model.

Have I heard of anyone being forced into the 75 day window for a cruise booked prior to 8/1? Yes, myself. My TA told me I was locked in and the new date was permanent, so I called Celebrity to see for myself and also see if the Captain's Club might do any better. I was told the exact same thing - the change was permanent and would not and could not be moved back to the original date. When I brought up to the CSR that the Celebrity website stated that this was to apply only to cruises booked after 8/1, she said she didn't know anything about that and she was simply doing what she was told to do. I asked to speak to a supervisor. Someone else got on the line, indicating she was a supervisor and told me again that the due date change was permanent and would not be moved back. I told her I booked this cruise in March of this year, well before the 8/1 cutoff, and she said the 8/1 cutoff didn't matter; all bookings were falling under the new rule. She then said that I shouldn't feel so bad about this because Celebrity was only positioning themselves to be in line with the rest of the industry on this policy. Since it has been many years since I sailed with anyone other than RCCL, I couldn't argue. I asked her what would happen if a price drop occurred between the 70th and 75th day - would I still receive OBC for the price difference. She said no. I then told her that I had a receipt from Celebrity indicating when my final payment was due and if that scenario occurred and I was not given the proper credit, my attorney would be notified. She explained to me that my receipt was not my contract and until a contract was offered and accepted by both parties, Celebrity was not bound by any terms restricting them from making changes to due dates. I told her that whether she was right or wrong on this issue, Celebrity would not be taking the high road by refusing a refund or OBC and the ill will it could create would have just as big an effect on their bottom line as losing a lawsuit.

Please don't think I was bashing CSR's in general. I have been in one guest service industry or another for nearly my entire adult life, so I empathize with the CSR's that are forced to deal with the whiners that would complain if they were hung with a new rope. On the few times I have been forced to call Celebrity to resolve one issue or another, I have batted 1.000 with unfortunately getting the CSR's that don't know straight up from straight down, and that has given me the strong impression that Celebrity hires less than fully competent people to man these positions and at the same time, does not keep them completely up to date with changes and necessary information that should be used when dealing with their clients. I am sure there are some in the position that can actually walk and chew gum at the same time, but I simply haven't been lucky enough to find one yet.

If people are having better luck than me in getting their dates changed back, I am happy for them and will stand corrected. However, I would be leery of a CSR telling me that they will make a note on the account rather than being able or willing, whichever the case may be, to get into the system and manually change the date. "Notes" such as those get lost way too easily and when push comes to shove, it will be the customer who gets the short end and loses out. Even if we are within our legal rights because we have receipts showing the original due date, what is going to happen if we don't make payment before the 75th day, Celebrity rebooks our cabin to someone else, and we then raise a stink? If the cabin is gone, what is there to do? For some, that won't be a big deal because they aren't that interested in a specific cabin. But for others, such as myself, who books specific cabins, that would create a fair amount of consternation.

If you are correct in your "smell", I will applaud you and eat my words. Actually, I hope you are right because I like Celebrity and don't want to think ill of them. But my gut tells me different. I think it is much more likely that this is a planned business move rather than a computer glitch.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Okay, I stand corrected. Your story is disturbing to hear. From experience, I know that different supervisors (not necessarily Celebrity or RCCL) can say different things, so if it's important to have the date changed (in the system, not a note), you may want to try again at a different time of day. Like you, I'm not relying on a note.

If you booked prior to May 17th, the old price drop policy should still be in effect for you-- it shouldn't matter if there's a price drop 70 days, 75 days, or 2 days before sailing, you should get refundable OBC for the difference. If you booked after, this could affect you.

I would have issues with what Celebrity told you about the booking confirmation not being a legal contract. Mine states, [quote]Should you decide to cancel your reservation, this deposit is fully refundable until 70 days prior to sailing date (90 days for holiday sailngs).[/quote]
The 70-day due date is even highlighted. Since money changed hands, I believe we have a deal here. If this is not a contract and Celebrity gets to modify the terms, what would prevent them from adding a condition such as, "If full payment is not made within the next ten minutes, the passenger will be subject to a $10,000 penalty," [I]and then not even notify the passenger![/I]

I know Celebrity monitors these boards. Maybe someone will see to it that this is resolved in your favor. (Hint, hint!)

Maybe Host Andy has some insight or connections who can explain what's going on here. This isn't quite the snafu the change in the price drop policy was, but it might warrant some further digging on the part of the board mods. Any chance we could ask Carol Cabezas, Celebrity's director of sales strategy and automation, what's up with all this?

[BonnieVA]

Just an update & FYI: The orig pay date for my Oct 18, '11 cruise was Aug 9. When this fiasco started it was changed to Aug 4. I called & they switched my date back to Aug 9. I just checked (Aug 8) & my booking is still there & it still shows due date as Aug 9. (I'm paying it today, tho ;) !!)

I am still dumbfounded at the diference in answers we are getting from RCCL & X. Maybe I called early enough in this whole thing to get it fixed before the masses started calling. Maybe they decided, after a couple days of this, to not allow the switch back anymore??

[lvcruiser]

Party - I agree with you about having a deal because money changed hands, but since I am not completely versed in contract law, I wasn't going to argue with the lady over the phone, unable to show or quote proof that she was wrong. If the due date would have been a bigger problem for me, I would have made more than the two calls that were made (one by my TA and one by me.) Fortunately, it's not a big deal to me, other than the principle of the whole thing. I think this falls into the category of being right but still losing the battle. More disturbing to me was the statement she made about the OBC being forfeited after 75 days out when I had booked the cruise well before May 17th. This was a completely different issue regarding policy change, but I think she may have gotten the two issues confused and quoted me the wrong information. She had a cavalier, "that's the way it is" attitude that contributed to my decision not to argue with her since it would have done no good. Due to that attitude, something I have never encountered before with a customer service supervisor at Celebrity, but have seen out of the CSR's, I suspected that I may have been passed to another CSR by the first one I spoke with and was simply told that she was a supervisor. That also could explain why I was given what I strongly believe to be incorrect information. You may have noted that in my previous post, I stated that someone else got on the phone and stated that she was a supervisor, rather than stating that I talked to an actual supervisor. I am honestly not sure who I spoke with, and unfortunately, did not write down her name.

Bonnie, I am glad to hear your change is still in the system and appears to be what it should. You may have hit on something when you said maybe the difference in answers we are getting has something to do with timing because I am noticing several other posters saying they have had their dates changed back to the original also, and not just are being told by a CSR that a note will be made on the account. If it was important to me, I would try again, but I'll wind up sending in my money 80 or 85 days out anyway.

John

[PartyAllDaTyme]

lvcruiser-- glad to hear getting the date moved is not a huge issue for you. Still upsetting to hear about. Where I work, I've had calls transferred to me from an Order Entry agent, and the first words from the customer are, "Are you a supervisor? I asked to be transferred to a supervisor!" In fact, many minor issues can be resolved by a CSR agent, and the OE people are instructed not to transfer to a supervisor if they think a CSR can resolve it. But they [I]are [/I]supposed to let the customer know that they'll be speaking with a CSR, not a Supv. If I improperly identified myself as a supervisor, I'd lose my job. But that's us, not Celebrity. I certainly would hope they would have similar rules.

If the price drop issue comes up at any time after you make final payment, I'd still push for the OBC. As you've said, separate issue. Always a good idea to get names-- I spoke with Olivia on 8/5. I should have asked for an operator number, or some such, in case they have more than one Olivia.

[lvcruiser]

[quote name='PartyAllDaTyme']lvcruiser-- glad to hear getting the date moved is not a huge issue for you. Still upsetting to hear about. Where I work, I've had calls transferred to me from an Order Entry agent, and the first words from the customer are, "Are you a supervisor? I asked to be transferred to a supervisor!" In fact, many minor issues can be resolved by a CSR agent, and the OE people are instructed not to transfer to a supervisor if they think a CSR can resolve it. But they [I]are [/I]supposed to let the customer know that they'll be speaking with a CSR, not a Supv. If I improperly identified myself as a supervisor, I'd lose my job. But that's us, not Celebrity. I certainly would hope they would have similar rules.

If the price drop issue comes up at any time after you make final payment, I'd still push for the OBC. As you've said, separate issue. Always a good idea to get names-- I spoke with Olivia on 8/5. I should have asked for an operator number, or some such, in case they have more than one Olivia.[/QUOTE]

You can bet your life that I'll push all the way to the top if necessary to get OBC after a price drop. Here's a thought that probably falls under the category of "conspiracy theory" but I'll run it by you anyway: Celebrity is offering $150 OBC for balconies and $200 for suites if you book a Caribbean cruise between 8/1 and 8/14 that sails between October and April. Since we all know that many weeks during that time period will book out without a problem, why do you think they are making this offer? Any chance that they are trying to dangle a carrot for those who already booked their cruises before 5/17 to cancel and rebook to get the OBC? That would put you into the post 8/1 booking period and take away any chance to get OBC for a price drop after final payment. Am I too far out with my thinking this is possible and it is simply the coincidental timing of a planned promotion, or do you think this is plausible? I actually thought about doing it until I realized that I would lose my travel insurance premium along with the possibility of losing my cabin to someone on a wait list. I'll take my chances and see if there is a price drop later, and then get mentally prepared for the potential fight.

[bestmom1]

I just checked my on-line reservation, and under payment it only says check with my travel agent. Is there a way to see this if you booked with an agent?

As many have said, it really is only material if there is a price drop in the 5 day window between the original date and the new date. I'm quite confident that I would prevail in arguing that with X and would get the OBC. My agent always hedges anyway and sets final payment for about 80 days out. I'm very set on the specific cabin I have booked, same one for Thanksgiving and a TA next Spring. It's one of the few hump cabins with the 3xs larger balcony that also has a pull down bunk for DD.

As many have posted, I'm baffled at how X can do such a wonderful job on board and such a miserable job pre-cruise in the customer service department. I have had countless frustrating conversations with X CSRs trying to resolve pre and post cruise issues. (Still never have received the Riedel stemware Mom paid for in 2007)

[PartyAllDaTyme]

[quote name='lvcruiser']Here's a thought that probably falls under the category of "conspiracy theory" but I'll run it by you anyway: Celebrity is offering $150 OBC for balconies and $200 for suites if you book a Caribbean cruise between 8/1 and 8/14 that sails between October and April. Since we all know that many weeks during that time period will book out without a problem, why do you think they are making this offer? Any chance that they are trying to dangle a carrot for those who already booked their cruises before 5/17 to cancel and rebook to get the OBC? That would put you into the post 8/1 booking period and take away any chance to get OBC for a price drop after final payment. Am I too far out with my thinking this is possible and it is simply the coincidental timing of a planned promotion, or do you think this is plausible?[/quote]

I'm sure it was a factor, but I don't think they ever plan for a price drop. The goal is, of course, to sell out the ship for the highest price possible. When they price it according to they think is the actual market value, they get a better picture of how well the cruise is selling and can make accurate price adjustments. It's likely just more of a standard marketing offer if cruises aren't selling as well right now as they had hoped. The OBC offer is probably seen as a cheaper sales incentive than an outright price drop-- $200 of OBC buys $200 of goods and services, but that's after their markup. Their true cost might be a quarter of that, so they're only sacrificing $50 to sweeten the deal.

What I fear may happen is that cruises will begin to be artificially priced higher prior to the 75 deadline, discouraging bookings until after. They get some bookings from hapless souls who don't know that this is not a good deal, but not many. Then, after 75 days, they start adjusting the price as needed to fill up the ship. Any booking afterward is effectively nonrefundable (or with sizeable penalty, enough to keep most customers from cancelling) and they get closer to the airline industry's model. They have the 48 hour 110% price guarantee, but a price drop won't occur until bookings have been drying up for a couple of days, so they'll have relatively few of these guarantees to honor. It becomes a much more volatile situation in the last 2 1/2 months, with potential customers and the cruise line all playing the market.

However, I would hope that Celebrity would find that undesirable, and so would continue to price cruises throughout the year for what they truly feel is the right price point. I don't have a business degree, so I don't know it that would be their attitude or not. For all I know, they forecast that they would be better off with a "last-minute" scramble for bookings to fill the ship.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

[quote name='bestmom1']I just checked my on-line reservation, and under payment it only says check with my travel agent. Is there a way to see this if you booked with an agent?[/quote]

I get the same message, so, no, I don't think there's a way for us to view the date online. Another reason to book directly with X and transfer the booking later.

[lvcruiser]

[quote name='PartyAllDaTyme']
What I fear may happen is that cruises will begin to be artificially priced higher prior to the 75 deadline, discouraging bookings until after. They get some bookings from hapless souls who don't know that this is not a good deal, but not many. Then, after 75 days, they start adjusting the price as needed to fill up the ship. Any booking afterward is effectively nonrefundable (or with sizeable penalty, enough to keep most customers from cancelling) and they get closer to the airline industry's model. They have the 48 hour 110% price guarantee, but a price drop won't occur until bookings have been drying up for a couple of days, so they'll have relatively few of these guarantees to honor. It becomes a much more volatile situation in the last 2 1/2 months, with potential customers and the cruise line all playing the market.[/QUOTE]

I have stated a similar thought on other threads of this board, thinking that this move may backfire in Celebrity's face. Their ideal scenario is have a cruise pre-booked to capacity. However, the moves they have recently made appear to create the opposite scenario; one that will encourage the savvy cruisers to wait to the last minute to book their cruises. As I stated before, my TA seems to think this will eliminate their present problem of having to fill cabins at the last minute, but I disagree, believing it will have the opposite effect.

As a side note, my TA emailed me to let me know that although Celebrity doesn't want to change my due date back to its original, they are willing to give me the $150 OBC from the current promotion, even though the cruise has already been booked instead of going by their own rules and requiring the cruise to be booked between 8/1 and 8/14. Go figure. Other posters on this board have stated there will be no grandfathering of previously booked cruises, so here we go again with different CSR's giving totally different information to various clients. All I can say is, I'm keeping my mouth shut other than to say "thank you." She also told me she fully expects a price drop after final payment because of the slow business throughout the entire industry at the moment. Again, conflicting comments from different people. Others say the industry is doing just fine right now, so who are you going to believe? I don't know anymore.

[lbw]

OK, here's the latest on my final payment date. I called a week ago and supposedly got it changed back to original date of 8/22. A few days later when I checked online, it was back to the new earlier date of 8/17. Today I got an email stating that my "reservation will be canceled in less than seven days if payment in full is not made." So I called the RCCL reservation number again. I got a rep who seemed to know what was going on and could explain it. She said they were handling reservations made before 8/1 on an individual basis, IF the customer requests the final payment date moved back to the original. Then they note it on your record in the system, but don't actually change the blanket mailings or the website page which uses the new earlier date. She assured me that my reservation would not be canceled if I pay by the original date. So, I'm going to wait and see what happens. I have noted the times of my calls and the names of the two reps who assured me my old date is still valid, so I feel OK about waiting. Anyway, I wouldn't be to disappointed if I missed out on this cruise, since I have another longer one booked the following month.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Please let us know if you're able to make your final payment 70 days out, as you plan, or if it all goes kersploosh.

[Boiler Fan]

We, too, have had our final payment date moved up from 11/27/10 to 11/22/10 for our Feb. 5,2011 Western Caribbean cruise. This morning I noticed a big price drop for our cruise - C2 from $1,269/pp to $919/pp - a really nice price reduction. I called Celebrity and got the new price applied, but later noticed that the final payment date had been moved up 5 days. We booked this cruise in April, so I thought the 70 days would still apply, but maybe because of the price drop our final payment date was moved up. But it sounds like that applies to everyone. Anyway, I am so delighted to be saving $700, that I don't really mind final payment being 5 days earlier! :)

[PartyAllDaTyme]

[quote name='Boiler Fan']We, too, have had our final payment date moved up from 11/27/10 to 11/22/10 for our Feb. 5,2011 Western Caribbean cruise. This morning I noticed a big price drop for our cruise - C2 from $1,269/pp to $919/pp - a really nice price reduction. I called Celebrity and got the new price applied, but later noticed that the final payment date had been moved up 5 days. We booked this cruise in April, so I thought the 70 days would still apply, but maybe because of the price drop our final payment date was moved up. But it sounds like that applies to everyone. Anyway, I am so delighted to be saving $700, that I don't really mind final payment being 5 days earlier! :)[/quote]

I'm happy for you, and I wouldn't kick about getting the date moved up to 11/22. Still, it's supposed to be based on your original booking date, and unless you cancelled and rebooked (no reason to), they should still honor the 11/27 date.

Side note, someone just posted about a huge price drop for Solstice in January. Everybody, check your prices!

[CruisingChick]

Just wanted to post my experience.

I am booked to sail Mercury October 18th. My original final payment due date was August 9th. My booking invoice and an e-mail from my CVP both stated so. Then they instituted this new payment schedule and when I checked my on-line reservation the date was moved up to August 4th, although at the bottom of the page there is a link with an PDF file outlining the new schedule, which states I should be under the old schedule.

I did not make final payment until yesterday August 9th at 5:09 PM.