Massive Price Drop - Equinox - thank you Celebrity!

[Wilde_37]

It certainly pays to keep an eye on a booked cruise!

 

I booked 11 nights on Equinox out of Rome on November 11th next. I originally had a 2B balcony at a cost of €1,379 each (plus tax). I just checked online and saw that it had dropped by a staggering 44% to €767.

 

I phoned Celebrity and they offered to honour the price drop (a total saving of €1,224)

 

However here's what I decided to do... I got an upgrade to Aquaclass - 1601 (with the massive balcony) for €933, and the rest credited back to my invoice. So not only have I now saved €446 each (€892 total saving) and upgraded to Aquaclass.

 

I'm a very happy chappie today!!!!! :D

 

BTW - strange that online now an Aquaclass is €933 while Concierge class is €1,111. Funny how their system works!

[kitkat9438]

That's awesome!! On our cruise on the Eclipse last December, the price dropped on the Aquaclass to be below CC as well. It's crazy. Just love Aquaclass. Congratulations. It's always good to save money. :D

[austinlw]

Congratulations. I just did something similar. We were booked on Equinox 11 day Med cruise next May. Got a Celebrity email yesterday about fall deals, so I checked it out. Found that we could do the Oct 20 Equinox 11 day cruise to the same ports (different order) for less than half the price of the one we were booked on. After careful consideration (work schedules, etc.) we made the new reservation and canceled the old one. I considered upgrading to Aqua for what still would have been a big discount from the original price, but I went for the very highly discounted Guarantee Verandah, so we'd have more money available for sightseeing and future travel. We are excited to be 4 months away from a trip we've been saving for for a long time, and now we can afford it a whole lot more easily! Thank you Celebrity!

[Cary T]

We are booked and had made final payment on the Equinox 11 day Med cruise July 18. I was checking prices and noticed that Aqua class was now the same price I had paid for a 2B verandah so I called X and asked if we could upgrade without additional charge but they said we would have to pay the upgraded gratuities. So we will now be in Aqua class for $11.00 upgrade charge-for both of us! Sweet.

[Dorset Cruiser]

I think these kind of posts should be banned by CC as they upset people in the UK who cannot get any pricedrops:(

[SusieV]

I think these kind of posts should be banned by CC as they upset people in the UK who cannot get any pricedrops:(

 

I thought I have seen that UK'ers get price drops even after final payment when North Americans don't?

 

But either way, these posts are good reminders to always check your cruise! Silhouette's Caribbean sailings had a nice price drop a few days ago, too.

[ariawoman]

Sounds like you got a fantastic deal, OP! Good for you! I hope to someday have this happen to me! I checked my equinox booking but the only price drop on it was for Guarantee cabins... :(

[Dorset Cruiser]

I thought I have seen that UK'ers get price drops even after final payment when North Americans don't?

 

But either way, these posts are good reminders to always check your cruise! Silhouette's Caribbean sailings had a nice price drop a few days ago, too.

 

 

No price drops either before or after final payment in the UK:(

[Cruise Junky]

I think these kind of posts should be banned by CC as they upset people in the UK who cannot get any pricedrops:(

 

The OP is in Ireland. Do they operate under a different set of rules?

[simon stingray]

No price drops either before or after final payment in the UK:(

 

I have had our price adjusted on our upcoming Silhouette Inaugural cruise-then when there were further price drops, I called X again and upgraded us from a veranda to a Sky Suite.

 

I was aware that the rules had recently changed for us in the UK but my understanding is that there are no longer any price drops AFTER final payment-but you can upgrade to a higher category stateroom/suite to take advantage of the lower rates.

 

Have I got it wrong?:confused:

[Wilde_37]

I think these kind of posts should be banned by CC as they upset people in the UK who cannot get any pricedrops:(

 

 

Hate to disagree with you :o

 

I am in Ireland - and my booking is through celebrity UK. You will always get price drops as long as it is before final payment date. I've done it many times with both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. :D

[BrusselsGirl07]

Congratulations - that is a huge price drop, and I would have done as you did as well, upgraded to a higher category but still with savings!!

[rwadam]

Congratulations! My AQ cabin on the Equinox for the Oct. 20th sailing also just dropped -- for the second time since I booked last November -- for a total of 36% from original booking price. Yeah!

[merseababe]

I am from the UK and had also read from these boards about price reductions so I contacted my Travel Agent who replied as follows:

 

"I understand that you may have seen your Celebrity cruise at a lower price since booking. However, as cruise companies operate on a "fluid pricing" policy, rates can go up or down the nearer we get to departure date. However, any reduced rates would only be available to new bookings made so, unfortunately, we are not be able to offer a reduction against the cost of your cruise."

 

So no joy for me. :confused: Perhaps if you book direct with Celebrity and not via a Travel Agent you may get these price reductions?

[pete_coach]

There have been some significant price drops but, it is really dependent on the itinerary. I believe the price drops are only for cruises that are hitting Middle Eastern countries (even Greek destinations are troublesome). I suspect that the sales are very poor and many folks are cancelling. A colleague has upgraded to a Sky Suite and still got a bunch of money back.

I see no drops in other cruise prices, such as ours, departing Barcelona :(

[Suite Susie]

No price drops either before or after final payment in the UK:(

 

You do get them in the UK if you book direct with Celebrity - I double checked when I booked with them recently. I hope to take advantage of these if my Sept 19th sailing on the Equinox drops. The cheaper cabins seemed to have dropped but not the S2's. Fingers crossed as we've stretched ourselves a bit too far!! Susie

[Wilde_37]

I am from the UK and had also read from these boards about price reductions so I contacted my Travel Agent who replied as follows:

 

"I understand that you may have seen your Celebrity cruise at a lower price since booking. However, as cruise companies operate on a "fluid pricing" policy, rates can go up or down the nearer we get to departure date. However, any reduced rates would only be available to new bookings made so, unfortunately, we are not be able to offer a reduction against the cost of your cruise."

 

So no joy for me. :confused: Perhaps if you book direct with Celebrity and not via a Travel Agent you may get these price reductions?

 

The cynic in me might think that an "Official Looking" paragraph from my travel agent might be an attempt on their behalf to preserve their commission, which is undoubtedly a percentage of the cruise price actually paid!!! I could be wrong of course but it's why I prefer to book directly with Celebrity. At least that way I can speak directly with Celebrity and hear it from the horse's mouth - so to speak :D

 

BTW - 24 hours later - I'm still smiling :D:D:D

[simon stingray]

The cynic in me might think that an "Official Looking" paragraph from my travel agent might be an attempt on their behalf to preserve their commission, which is undoubtedly a percentage of the cruise price actually paid!!! I could be wrong of course but it's why I prefer to book directly with Celebrity. At least that way I can speak directly with Celebrity and hear it from the horse's mouth - so to speak :D

 

BTW - 24 hours later - I'm still smiling :D:D:D

 

I think you're exactly right-that's why I also prefer booking directly with X.

 

I no longer see the benefit of booking with a Travel Agent as I believe they are no longer permitted to sell cruises any cheaper than the cruise line itself and here in the UK Travel Agents just do NOT give OBC.

 

And when I called X here in the UK regarding the price Reduction, there was no problem at all-price reduced, stateroom upgraded and they confirmed that my OBC for making the reservation onboard Constellation last year was still in place. All very friendly polite & efficient.

 

Congrats on the upgrade:cool:

[merseababe]

Having read your replies I thought I would check out prices direct with Celebrity UK.

 

I booked my cruise - Celebrity Equinox 26 March 2012 - 11 Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise in January this year at a price of £1600.00 per person (excluding gratituties) including flights from Heathrow - Total cost £3,200.00.

 

Today I phoned Celebrity Offices direct in the UK for prices for 2 guests for a 1B category Veranda Cabin on Panorama Deck with flights from Heathrow (exactly the same as I booked in January through Gills Cruises).

 

The price they gave me today was £1936.20 per person inclusive of gratuties! Gratutities are £76.10 per person thus giving a basic cost of £1860.10 per person - Total cost £3,720.20. So at todays prices I am still £520.20 better off.:)

[mysticmum]

I am from the UK and had also read from these boards about price reductions so I contacted my Travel Agent who replied as follows:

 

"I understand that you may have seen your Celebrity cruise at a lower price since booking. However, as cruise companies operate on a "fluid pricing" policy, rates can go up or down the nearer we get to departure date. However, any reduced rates would only be available to new bookings made so, unfortunately, we are not be able to offer a reduction against the cost of your cruise."

 

So no joy for me. :confused: Perhaps if you book direct with Celebrity and not via a Travel Agent you may get these price reductions?

 

Merseababe, we were told the same thing by our travel agent when we enquired a few weeks ago because of all the US postings about refunds. BUT today my husband tackled Celebrity direct and they told him they would honour the price drop but our travel agent would have to phone and request it. He phoned the travel agent who started to go through their usual speech about it being only for new bookings etc, but politely stopped her and pointed out that Celebrity had agreed and the result is a £600 price drop for us. So if I were you I would get your TA to try again. One point though is we have not hit our final payment date so not sure if that would make a difference. Good luck anyway.

 

Sue

[Wilde_37]

One point though is we have not hit our final payment date so not sure if that would make a difference. Good luck anyway.

 

Sue

 

 

Even if you have hit your final payment date, you might be entitled to the difference in on board credit or an upgrade.

[Stevie Lawson]

Hi Wilde37

Do you use a particular agent at Celebrity each time you book ?

Cheers

[kruzgal]

I think the critical thing for those of us in the UK is to talk to your TA about price drops before booking through them and to use a specialist cruise travel agent, not one on the high street. Sometimes the special offers will say for new bookings only but at other times it is just that the price has dropped and then you can get this honoured in the UK.

[Keith1010]

Glad to hear that it worked out for the original poster.

 

Keith

[Mystic Eye]

i also booked 12 months in advance on the eclipse for 4 of us in concierge class then I saw it advertised for AQ guarantee £ 500 cheaper a total of £2000 not a trifling amount.Tried through my TA to upgrade at least or transfer my booking but wouldnt. Lost my £600 deposit and rebooked with a different ta same day at the cheaper price same day I also booked another cruise with Rcci (same owners):confused:for 3 of us in the Med July 10th but after my TA explaining what good customers we were no result.I though they had a price Quarantee if you booked so early but I will not be booking so far in advance in future

It certainly pays to keep an eye on a booked cruise!

 

I booked 11 nights on Equinox out of Rome on November 11th next. I originally had a 2B balcony at a cost of €1,379 each (plus tax). I just checked online and saw that it had dropped by a staggering 44% to €767.

 

I phoned Celebrity and they offered to honour the price drop (a total saving of €1,224)

 

However here's what I decided to do... I got an upgrade to Aquaclass - 1601 (with the massive balcony) for €933, and the rest credited back to my invoice. So not only have I now saved €446 each (€892 total saving) and upgraded to Aquaclass.

 

I'm a very happy chappie today!!!!! :D

 

BTW - strange that online now an Aquaclass is €933 while Concierge class is €1,111. Funny how their system works!