Can I just say I feel robbed by X pricing!

[lawgirl]

So in late 2011 I booked our April 2013 Hawaiian cruise and paid $5500 for two for S1 deck 6. Today reading our roll call, a few days ago X has some sale on suites for seniors (thus exluding me) and someone upgraded to a Gty S1 for $4000 and was assigned the S1 aft on same exact floor as us! Same room, just different corner.

 

So, I book 1.5 years out and pay $1500 more for exact room!!! This just makes me feel mad and stupid! Why not upgrade people and reward those who book early then sell the non suite rooms on sale?? I know, it's all about the money for X, but $1500 is alot of money to us and this sure leaves a bad taste in my mouth!

[Cruising89143]

Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. We took a $2400.00 hit recently on our cabin on the Reflection. It dropped in price about three weeks prior to the sail date. Nothing that we could do about it. We book early to get the exact cabin that we want so it's a roll of the dice.

[Starry Eyes]

so, somebody else quLified for a nice senior discount for that category and you do not yet qualify for senior pricing. does it have anything to do with booking a year and a half in advance? I can understand your frustration, lawgirl, but sometimes other people qualify for discounts. someday you will qualify for the senior discount. meanwhile, remember to check pricing regularly...maybe X will have a discount for NC residents. Or if you qualify for police, firefighter, or military discounts, maybe one of those will pop up someday.

[DebbieMacG]

You can't expect Celebrity to not reduce the price on unsold cabins the month before the cruise! They have to sail as full as possible.

 

Booking early v booking late is a gamble you have to take, sometimes it works in your favour.

 

Call them and explain your disappointment they may give you some OBC, worth a try! :)

[tserface]

Unfortunately, this happens on occasion. We almost went for one of those gty rooms (we do qualify for senior discount), but last time we did it we got a room right under the buffet and it was incredibly noisy every morning. The room was nice, but we ad to wake up at 5:30a every morning. So we figure the room we have is safer even though it's tempting.

 

We're going to have a great cruise though and you never know what deals for upgrades may pop up in the next 30 days.

 

Tom

 

So in late 2011 I booked our April 2013 Hawaiian cruise and paid $5500 for two for S1 deck 6. Today reading our roll call, a few days ago X has some sale on suites for seniors (thus exluding me) and someone upgraded to a Gty S1 for $4000 and was assigned the S1 aft on same exact floor as us! Same room, just different corner.

 

So, I book 1.5 years out and pay $1500 more for exact room!!! This just makes me feel mad and stupid! Why not upgrade people and reward those who book early then sell the non suite rooms on sale?? I know, it's all about the money for X, but $1500 is alot of money to us and this sure leaves a bad taste in my mouth!

[lawgirl]

so, somebody else quLified for a nice senior discount for that category and you do not yet qualify for senior pricing. does it have anything to do with booking a year and a half in advance? I can understand your frustration, lawgirl, but sometimes other people qualify for discounts. someday you will qualify for the senior discount. meanwhile, remember to check pricing regularly...maybe X will have a discount for NC residents. Or if you qualify for police, firefighter, or military discounts, maybe one of those will pop up someday.

 

Senior or not, if price drops like this, after final payment I don't know there is much I can do... Again, I just would think they would upgrade folks who book early or who are very loyal to X and then have discounts on lower cabins... Just saying its hard to accept, especially when there are so few Solstice S1s... They are somewhat interchangeable.

[Karen@Steve]

If this bothers you, never ask the people sitting around you on an airplane how much they paid for their ticket! Unfortunately, it's a supply and demand type thing and in the case of cruises you are able to see the current prices. Some one wisely said on these forums that you should buy at a price you can live with.

[Andy]

So in late 2011 I booked our April 2013 Hawaiian cruise and paid $5500 for two for S1 deck 6. Today reading our roll call, a few days ago X has some sale on suites for seniors (thus exluding me) and someone upgraded to a Gty S1 for $4000 and was assigned the S1 aft on same exact floor as us! Same room, just different corner.

 

So, I book 1.5 years out and pay $1500 more for exact room!!! This just makes me feel mad and stupid! Why not upgrade people and reward those who book early then sell the non suite rooms on sale?? I know, it's all about the money for X, but $1500 is alot of money to us and this sure leaves a bad taste in my mouth!

 

Hi Lawgirl,

 

Sorry, but all cruise lines run promotions for various individuals (i.e. Seniors, Residen Rates, Military, and so on). As the promotion is for Seniors, and you've said you aren't one - there's nothing for Celebrity to offer.

 

I totally appreciate your point, that some feel penalized for booking early. However, we've booked a number of sailings early - and watched the price rise significantly, so it works both ways. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't.

 

As you are beyond final payment, your options are limited. I recommend to keep checking for price drops in categories above yours. Perhaps if there are any price drops, you may score an upgrade - though I know the corner S1's are very desirable.

 

I wish I had better news for you. Have a wonderful Cruise !

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Price drops after final payment are common. They need to fill the ship. What you can do is upgrade. Check the other suite categories. One of them may be going for about what you paid. If they're less than what you paid, you can still upgrade. We just did that. We didn't get a refund for the difference (no refunds after final payment) but we got an upgraded category. On another leg of our upcoming series of 3 cruises, we moved from a celebrity suite to a royal suite for a small amount of money.

[chill6x6]

This basically happens to me every time I cruise. I book early to get the EXACT cabin I want. I understand full well that I'm not shopping for the best price and that prices DO drop a good bit within a few weeks of the cruise.

[lawgirl]

Probably I shouldn't check prices, then I wouldn't know!! I AM really excited about Hawaii so I will get over this! I guess I just assumed X upgraded folks to higher level cabins to fill them, then tried to book lower cabins, but I think I was naive! Thanks!

[gek]

It's all about supply and demand, risk and reward. If I want to guarantee that I get a certain cabin then I book early and pay extra. Zero risk but I pay for the peace of mind.

 

On the other hand if I wait for a sale price I may miss out entirely, either because the cabin I want doesn't become available or someone grabs it before me. However if I get what I am after then my greater risk is rewarded by a lower price.

 

If X upgrades you then they have to sell your cabin. Can they get the same price for it as they would have on the one they upgraded you to? Perhaps not in which case X loses out. Perhaps they won't even be able to sell your cabin in time.

[warmwinds]

I have 2 cruises booked right now, and BOTH of them fell outside of the 123 promotion. So I figured, why not call, say I'm feeling a little low since we are loyal Celebrity cruisers, and see what they had to say...after all, getting even our gratuities paid for would not kill them and would mean a lot to us just to feel our business is valued.

 

Know what they said?... "too bad, so sad".

 

So business is business, and we got the cabins we wanted on the cruises we wanted, but I do feel for you in this situation.

[Starry Eyes]

Probably I shouldn't check prices, then I wouldn't know!! I AM really excited about Hawaii so I will get over this! I guess I just assumed X upgraded folks to higher level cabins to fill them, then tried to book lower cabins, but I think I was naive! Thanks!

 

So, you think they should have given somebody in a balcony cabin a free upgrade to a sky suite? Wouldn't that mean your neighbor would have paid even less than the person who snagged the senior discount (potentially a $2000 or more difference from what you paid)? You'd have been happier with that? What about others in balcony cabins who did not get the upgrade...would they be happier being passed over?

[cruisestitch]

Plan a year in advance to go to a Broadway show. Pay $300 for your ticket. Find out that the person sitting next to you went to the Rush Ticket office five minutes before the show and paid $150.

 

Plan a year in advance to go on a vacation on the first day of spring break. Pay $150 for your hotel room. Find out that the person in the room next door booked last night and got charged $300 for an identical room.

 

Ya win some, ya lose some. That's the way supply and demand works.

[Macadian]

As the old saying goes, you pays your money, you takes your chances...:)

[4cats4me]

It is way cheaper to fly to Hawaii and stay for 10 days:eek: lol

Last year we had a 15 day Hawaiian cruise booked onPrincess from our home port, basic balcony cabin, not even a sofa, and it was going to run us around $5,500 for both, not even including air since we didn't need to fly, but we decided to simply fly to Maui instead and stay awhile, for a lot less I might add. There are pros and there are cons, but one thing is for sure: it doesn't matter how you get to Hawaii. The Important thing is that you GO to Hawaii:D

You $4,400 deal sounds pretty reasonable. Is it a 14 day cruise? If so, that is a fair price

[Denny01]

Our Black Sea cruise in Sep 2013 has been Inside cabins avail only and has gone up. If we'd waited looking for a deal, we'd have lost out.

 

I understand a bit paying more than a neighbor...and I do suggest you Don't check prices of your cabins after final payment, and not to worry about deals you weren't eligible for anyway.

 

There's always someone somewhere with a better deal, or at least will Tell you they got a better deal. Don't ask and don't tell. Kind of like one post that said they knew a lot of people who removed their gratuity OB payments. The obvious response was, who goes around asking or telling.

 

Den

[icat2000]

Price drops after final payment are common. They need to fill the ship. What you can do is upgrade. .

 

I feel the OP pain.

 

The biit about upgrading and added the following comment. Not in Australia. Tried and they point blank refused. Seems only cruisers from certain countries get that opportunity and others get left on the scrap heap.

[wallie5446]

We as of now, are the flip side. We have never booked more than 3-4 months ahead. Due to finally getting to cruise with one of our best friends, we booked on Reflection in November, ( what was up as one of the CC group cruise dates ) Our friends cruise basic, inside :eek: We are members of the aft snob society :D

They had to book an OV to get 123 and their cabin has gone up $900! Our C2 on the angel of the hump is up $360.

Point being, it could have gone the other way. But then you would have felt bad for the others that paid more, right?

[Moobaby214]

We have a C3 on the eclipse TA in April. Last year, same room we paid $1249. This year we paid $799. Prices change a lot, but I would've paid $1249 to do it again. It's all in what you find and are able/willing to pay. Last time I checked the same room is going for $1449.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[6andy6]

You can't expect Celebrity to not reduce the price on unsold cabins the month before the cruise! They have to sail as full as possible.

 

Booking early v booking late is a gamble you have to take, sometimes it works in your favour.

 

Call them and explain your disappointment they may give you some OBC, worth a try! :)

 

I think the point is...not the discount.

 

The point is you reward the early bookers (and just maybe....a cruise line makes an intelligent decision and breaks the discounting cycle) by upgrading those early bookers to the unbooked 'better' cabins the selling the cabins previously occupied at the discount.

 

Tis has 2 effects for an obviously blind cruise line yield manager;

 

1. Encourages more early bookers in the belief that they may get a good upgrade and stand a better chance of getting one;

2. Breaks the nexus of last minute discounting for the expensive cabins and people that hold out....which these days is more and more (why pay full price when you know the price will drop).

3. Builds more loyalty and long term a more flatter discounting cycle rather than Peaks and troughs so that the line will end up with better cash flow earlier on rather than last minute (and holding those deposits).

[Hlitner]

We feel the OPs pain, but its just the way the game is played. We sometimes do last minute bookings which can be a good deal or an awful deal. In 2011 we booked a 14 day X Caribbean Cruise (just after Thanksgiving) at the last minute and got a great military rate (it was a true steal). So in 2012 we decided to do a similar cruise at the same time of year and pass-up some pretty good early booking deals. We figured its easy to get a great deal on this particular cruise at that time of year. Well, this time we were wrong, the price went up out of sight....and we ended up booking a HA cruise for about half the price of the X cruise. You just never can tell :)

 

Hank

[skylight]

We booked last year for a Reflection May 2013 cruise in Aqua Class we were not allowed the 123 go package but we ended up getting an Aqua Class Suite for less than our original price. I had only paid a deposit so I had no trouble ringing Celebrity and upgrading. We are in Sydney and I always book with their website so I can get reductions when the price goes down:)

[Vonodin]

My DW and I booked an AQ for the first Solstice to Alaska this May when they first came out last year. Have been watching for a price drop... Right now.. it is $1200 more then we paid. I think it is unlikely that there will be a price drop.