Disappointed & very Unhappy with Celebrity Business Practice

[jerseygirl3]

I had a terrible experience with RCI. I assisted my brother and SIL and their family with a cruise this summer on Freedom of the Seas. When I called to book them, I asked if there were any incentives or specials offered. I was told there were none. About two weeks after booking, I received an email for all kinds of amenities (free spa treatment per cabin...they booked two cabins....$100 OBC per cabin....among other odds and ends). It was applicable to all cruises booked between April 20 and May 7 (I don't think those are the actual dates, but pretty close). Nothing said about new bookings only. My brother's cruise booking date fell within those aforementioned dates.

 

I called RCI and "fought" with them for over an hour. They agreed it should have been offered to them at the time of booking, but in order to get it now, they would have to cancel and rebook. The problem with that was that they needed connecting cabins (they are putting their young children in the cabin next door to them) and there were none left. If they were to cancel and their cabin went into inventory, anybody on a waiting list could have swooped it up before rebooking them. It wasn't worth taking that chance, so they lost out.

 

It really aggravated me that since it didn't apply to new bookings only and they fell within the booking dates, they should have just been given the promo and not have to cancel and rebook.

 

But RCI wouldn't budge. Really makes for an aggravating start to a vacation....

 

Jo-Ann

[jcrandle]

I remember the good old days when cruise lines actually published prices in their brochures, those pricing varying only by season - high, low, shoulder, holiday, plus the early bird saver (book six-plus months out and get the guaranteed lowest fare). All you had to do was pick your sail date/accommodations and shop around for a TA offering the best discount off the brochure price and you were DONE! Now you pick your sail date/accommodations and spend the ten months leading up to your cruise monitoring prices on an hourly basis, chasing sales you can't take advantage of, and scratching your head as you try to figure out why your senior, resident, group, five times price reduced inside cabin in the bowels of the ship which you booked almost a year ago is costing you $5000 more than the penthouse suite some guy booked a week before the cruise. I can't tell you how happy I am that Celebrity finally decided to simply things!

 

I can also remember when each seat in the tourist section of the airplane was sold at the same price, and similarly for the first class section. Additionally, the first class passengers boarded first, then the rest of us. Today, each ticket may well be individually priced, and there are 6 or 8 boarding zones. I'm not sure if the change is better or worse, but we are stuck with it.

[diesel1973]

Totally agree with "Dazed". A vacation is when you leave all your worries at home and just enjoy yourself. How can you put a value on fun? I wouldn't let a couple hundred dollars ruin my vacation, because they keep printing more and more money every day! When you are laying in that box, it's too late to say" You know,I should have spent that extra $200 and went on that cruise and enjoyed myself" OK,I'm off my soapbox!:p:p

[Leesie6351]

I have always agreed with the posters who basically say in every business, there will always be price changes and we just have to live with it-- life is not always fair. HOWEVER, today, I just saw that for my 7/9 sailing on the Connie my cabin class C2 has gone down by half from $3500 to $1700!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is just not right.:eek: There are still some very good cabins left and someone who did not put down a deposit over a year ago while being assured onboard another X ship by the passages hostess that rates would never be any lower than those, to see someone come in and snatch up the same cabin category for half the money is outrageous. Another poster suggested what they should do is upgrade currently paid up passengers to higher categories and sell the lower categories to new passengers. That at least would make sense. Mine is a northern european sailing to the arctic circle. Ironically, even my airline has lowered their prices $200 and I'm stuck because since it costs $195 to make changes, it doesn't pay so for this cruise I'm paying an extra $1900 x2= $3800 for a C2 that I wouldn't have paid if I waited until now to book.

 

I' m newly retired so from now on, I'll take my chances for most cruises. X needs to reevaluate their policy before we all decide to take our business to a competitor. We love to travel and especially to cruise but money is obviously tight as it is for everyone and for some reason X still thinks the gravy train is rolling.

 

Thanks for listening to my vent-- it's 3:25 AM EDT now and I couldn't sleep after seeing those price reductions

[jjl64]

Once you make final payment you will not be receiving anything if

the price of your cabin goes down.

 

Yes, we had already made our final payment. Once it is made you cannot get money back or an OBC, but you can get an upgrade if there is one available. Celebrity has upgraded us twice in the past two weeks with no issues at all.

[diligaf51]

What products can you purchase for one price and get a rebate when the price goes down? The only ones I can think of are cruises and flights. The expectation of people has risen as a result of the cruise industry's largess.

Go buy a shirt at a clothing store, see the price go down and then see how successful you are at getting the difference refunded to you.

[Jade13]

What products can you purchase for one price and get a rebate when the price goes down? The only ones I can think of are cruises and flights. The expectation of people has risen as a result of the cruise industry's largess.

Go buy a shirt at a clothing store, see the price go down and then see how successful you are at getting the difference refunded to you.

 

In the US most large chain retailers giver you a 7-14 day price adjustment time period.

 

Btw, our Celebrity cruise last year was purchased within the final payment date which has the 48 hour price adjustment clause. Our cruise went down 50% within 72 hours (grrr). I did call anyway (no luck) because for all we knew the rate changed happened the night before. They would not give us even a little OBC. I still think a large drop like that within 3 days of purchase could have been handled differently. Apparently HAL still gives OBC after final payment, and interesting Celebrity was suppose to be going more in-line with their competition (Carnival brands) when they changed their policy.

[4774Papa]

I think NCL does better on this issue, since they use the upsell fairy to offer upgrades to passengers that have already booked.

 

Both the Med cruises that I have been on with NCL were sold out and waiting until the last minute is not an option. Also, to buy the airfare early enough, you need to book at least 6 months in advance. I will continue to book early, unless I decide to go to the carib. where we can just drive to South Florida.

[dodger1964]

In the US most large chain retailers giver you a 7-14 day price adjustment time period.

 

Btw, our Celebrity cruise last year was purchased within the final payment date which has the 48 hour price adjustment clause. Our cruise went down 50% within 72 hours (grrr). I did call anyway (no luck) because for all we knew the rate changed happened the night before. They would not give us even a little OBC. I still think a large drop like that within 3 days of purchase could have been handled differently. Apparently HAL still gives OBC after final payment, and interesting Celebrity was suppose to be going more in-line with their competition (Carnival brands) when they changed their policy.

 

Our last cruise had exact same situation BUT we did get the credit...Booked on Friday afternoon, checked price on Saturday and was $250per person cheaper...had to jump through a couple of hoops, but was able to get OBC. I guess ymmv. It shouldn't be that way.

[jerseygirl3]

I have always agreed with the posters who basically say in every business, there will always be price changes and we just have to live with it-- life is not always fair. HOWEVER, today, I just saw that for my 7/9 sailing on the Connie my cabin class C2 has gone down by half from $3500 to $1700!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is just not right.:eek: There are still some very good cabins left and someone who did not put down a deposit over a year ago while being assured onboard another X ship by the passages hostess that rates would never be any lower than those, to see someone come in and snatch up the same cabin category for half the money is outrageous. Another poster suggested what they should do is upgrade currently paid up passengers to higher categories and sell the lower categories to new passengers. That at least would make sense. Mine is a northern european sailing to the arctic circle. Ironically, even my airline has lowered their prices $200 and I'm stuck because since it costs $195 to make changes, it doesn't pay so for this cruise I'm paying an extra $1900 x2= $3800 for a C2 that I wouldn't have paid if I waited until now to book.

 

I' m newly retired so from now on, I'll take my chances for most cruises. X needs to reevaluate their policy before we all decide to take our business to a competitor. We love to travel and especially to cruise but money is obviously tight as it is for everyone and for some reason X still thinks the gravy train is rolling.

 

Thanks for listening to my vent-- it's 3:25 AM EDT now and I couldn't sleep after seeing those price reductions

 

Hmm, not sure where you are seeing that price, but the price I see for that sailing for a C2 is $3,682/pp with tax and fees.

 

If, indeed, it has dropped by as much as you say, I would be annoyed as well.

[Denny01]

Hmm, not sure where you are seeing that price, but the price I see for that sailing for a C2 is $3,682/pp with tax and fees.

 

If, indeed, it has dropped by as much as you say, I would be annoyed as well.

The poster is seeing the new C2 price for New Bookings Only on the Tuesday Specials.....a good reason Not to look at your cruise on Tuesday Specials and loose sleep over someone getting a good deal and you aren't. Booked a Jan 12 standard 7N Caribbean Eclipse cruise and have a feeling it will go down, so I'll watch it during the time I can get the price drop, and it may well go on the Tue Specials in December or so.....I won't look! And yes, there are upgrades instead of OBC's, but we want to try Aqua Class so won't be looking for 'upgrades'.

 

Den

[richsea]

Hmm, not sure where you are seeing that price, but the price I see for that sailing for a C2 is $3,682/pp with tax and fees.

 

If, indeed, it has dropped by as much as you say, I would be annoyed as well.

 

The price is for a happy hour special.....good only today for new bookings, it's not on Celebrity's website.

Bottom line - under the new policy, if you're retired, or your work schedule is such that you can travel on short notice, it pays to watch the weekly specials.

My problem seems to be that although we're retired, planning our cruises in advance is much of the fun of traveling. another problem is that when booking on short notice, the extra airfare can eat up your savings.

I just try to keep the mindset that if I was happy with what I paid, & a lower fare becomes available later that I can't take advantage of, I at least paid a price that i was happy with at the time of booking.

[4774Papa]

Rich said

The price is for a happy hour special.....good only today for new bookings, it's not on Celebrity's website.

Bottom line - under the new policy, if you're retired, or your work schedule is such that you can travel on short notice, it pays to watch the weekly specials.

My problem seems to be that although we're retired, planning our cruises in advance is much of the fun of traveling. another problem is that when booking on short notice, the extra airfare can eat up your savings.

I just try to keep the mindset that if I was happy with what I paid, & a lower fare becomes available later that I can't take advantage of, I at least paid a price that i was happy with at the time of booking.

 

 

As you, I like the travel planning. It allows me to get into the trip before we go and make the best decisions on airfare pre or post cruise hotels and tours.

Fortunately, most of the cruises that we are interested in are in Europe, South America, Australia or Asia. These tend to sell out early.

[Leesie6351]

The poster is seeing the new C2 price for New Bookings Only on the Tuesday Specials.....a good reason Not to look at your cruise on Tuesday Specials and loose sleep over someone getting a good deal and you aren't. Booked a Jan 12 standard 7N Caribbean Eclipse cruise and have a feeling it will go down, so I'll watch it during the time I can get the price drop, and it may well go on the Tue Specials in December or so.....I won't look! And yes, there are upgrades instead of OBC's, but we want to try Aqua Class so won't be looking for 'upgrades'.

 

Den

 

I couldn't sleep last night so stupidly looked at the Tuesday Specials. OMG- thought I was having a nightmare:eek: There was my 7/9 Connie cruise with my C2 cabin category for half-yes half- the price I paid when I booked onboard the Infinity 18 months ago.:mad: I called my trusty TA who made a valiant effort to get me something-anything-in the way of compensation-- X would not budge. I could have paid a $900pp cancellation fee and rebooked still saving $900 ppbut would have risked not getting back the same cabin which I wanted, would have had to risk not getting early seating, would have had to re-book shore excursions and make sure our reservation was correctly tied to our friend's for dinner (new friends we met here on CC), re-request luggage tags and lose the $200 OBC from X we had gotten for booking on board another cruise + the OBC from our TA would have been reduced from $600 to $300 sooooooooooooo, I decided to convince myself I had dreamed the whole thing.

 

We have already booked 2 more cruises but we have learned 2 lessons from this-- wait until after final payment if we can to book and do not pre-book excursions,restaurants etc. until 2 weeks out from cruise.

 

Kudos to my TA for trying and bah humbug to X for these ridiculous new policies. I understand the concept of sales and markdowns everyone but this is getting absurd.:mad:

[4774Papa]

I couldn't sleep last night so stupidly looked at the Tuesday Specials. OMG- thought I was having a nightmare:eek: There was my 7/9 Connie cruise with my C2 cabin category for half-yes half- the price I paid when I booked onboard the Infinity 18 months ago.:mad: I called my trusty TA who made a valiant effort to get me something-anything-in the way of compensation-- X would not budge. I could have paid a $900pp cancellation fee and rebooked still saving $900 ppbut would have risked not getting back the same cabin which I wanted, would have had to risk not getting early seating, would have had to re-book shore excursions and make sure our reservation was correctly tied to our friend's for dinner (new friends we met here on CC), re-request luggage tags and lose the $200 OBC from X we had gotten for booking on board another cruise + the OBC from our TA would have been reduced from $600 to $300 sooooooooooooo, I decided to convince myself I had dreamed the whole thing.

 

We have already booked 2 more cruises but we have learned 2 lessons from this-- wait until after final payment if we can to book and do not pre-book excursions,restaurants etc. until 2 weeks out from cruise.

 

Kudos to my TA for trying and bah humbug to X for these ridiculous new policies. I understand the concept of sales and markdowns everyone but this is getting absurd.:mad:

Bummer

[jerseygirl3]

How do you get the Tuesday Specials? Are they emailed? Would appreciate advice on how I can start receiving the notices.

 

Jo-Ann

[Denny01]

How do you get the Tuesday Specials? Are they emailed? Would appreciate advice on how I can start receiving the notices.

 

Jo-Ann

 

Here is the website:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Exciting_Deals/XcitingDeals_cel_tues.pdf

 

Den

[Lois R]

How do you get the Tuesday Specials? Are they emailed? Would appreciate advice on how I can start receiving the notices.

 

Jo-Ann

 

Hi,:) Save that link Denny just posted to one of your favorite keys.

They usually show up on Thursdays/Fridays but you have to wait

until Tuesday to book.

[austinlw]

I have to say, I just benefited from a big price drop. We had been booked on Equinox for the 11 day Med cruise next May. I got the Celebrity email yesterday with this fall's deals. Long story short, we will now be taking our 11 day Equinox cruise this October for less than half the price. Already booked it and canceled the May 2012 reservation for no charge. Thank you Celebrity! You just made our upcoming European vacation very affordable!

:D

[jerseygirl3]

Here is the website:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Exciting_Deals/XcitingDeals_cel_tues.pdf

 

Den

 

Thanks!

 

Jo-Ann

[Jade13]

Our last cruise had exact same situation BUT we did get the credit...Booked on Friday afternoon, checked price on Saturday and was $250per person cheaper...had to jump through a couple of hoops, but was able to get OBC. I guess ymmv. It shouldn't be that way.

 

Also, since were in a AQU class there was no place to move as the Suites were about double with very little availability. The people who make out are those booked into an Inside or OV who are able to upgrade. The policy in affect now rarely helps anyone in AQU or a Suite, and that in itself causes frustration.

 

I also see you booked on a Friday and price change was on Saturday. They do have a 48 hour price guarantee, so that was within their policy.

[dodger1964]

 

I also see you booked on a Friday and price change was on Saturday. They do have a 48 hour price guarantee, so that was within their policy.

 

That is true, but it wasn't easy to get obc...nobody works in the needed department on the weekend...on monday finally got to somebody and they told me couldn't see the price I had seen on Saturday...I had made a "courtesy" reservation on saturday that had the lower price for exact same cabin level..and had a printout of it it if need be.

 

I don't think if I hadn't done that I wouldn't have gotten the credit...But glad it finally worked out.

[KruzPrincess]

This is only half right. After final payment is made a person won't be able to get a credit or OBC if the price of their cabin goes down. However, they can upgrade to a better cabin at its reduced price which provides an opportunity to get more for the same price or slightly more.

 

Have you tried to do that recently. They wouldn't let me do it. I've already posted my story a couple times in this thread, so I won't repeat it. I tried, my TA even went to the regional manager and they refused. OTOH, someone on my same cruise got a 2 level suite upgrade at no extra cost after final payment. It's all in how much juice your TA has apparently.

[Goofyisme]

Have you tried to do that recently. They wouldn't let me do it. I've already posted my story a couple times in this thread, so I won't repeat it. I tried, my TA even went to the regional manager and they refused. OTOH, someone on my same cruise got a 2 level suite upgrade at no extra cost after final payment. It's all in how much juice your TA has apparently.

 

I did it for my cruise last week.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

I also see you booked on a Friday and price change was on Saturday. They do have a 48 hour price guarantee, so that was within their policy.

 

That is true, but it wasn't easy to get obc...nobody works in the needed department on the weekend...on monday finally got to somebody and they told me couldn't see the price I had seen on Saturday...I had made a "courtesy" reservation on saturday that had the lower price for exact same cabin level..and had a printout of it it if need be.

 

I don't think if I hadn't done that I wouldn't have gotten the credit...But glad it finally worked out.

 

For the Best Price Guarantee, the process to claim it is to complete a form on the Celebrity website when you note the price drop. They will use that as the basis for determining if you notified them within the 48 hour window. If you did not submit the form, this is likely the reason you had to jump through hoops.