On board credit for Europeans + upgrade

[Stoffel1982]

As most of you know, i live in Belgium. We booked a cruise with an American travel agent. We don't get on board credit, but Americans do get $400 when they book the same cruise.

 

Do NOT get me wrong, it's not that i think it's wrong or unfair it's just something i want to know. We payed in € so we already made a good deal :)

 

Also, we got the inside-out promo so we'll be staying in a balcony 2C cabin but we paid for an inside cabin. What if we would like upgrading to lets say an 1A cabin... How much do you think that would cost? Of course it depends on the availability etc. but the cruise is for July 2014 :)

 

Thanks for your answers!

[Waihekean]

You would have to look on the Celebrity's web site to see what the current pricing is. If you see a good price on another category to upgrade, then contact your TA and get them to change the booking.

 

Please note: if booked with a TA, you have to go through them to change a booking and you can not downgrade.

The other thing to remember is that you will have to go with wathever the promotion is at the time and you can not take other promotions with you like a free beverage packet. You should be able to take the TA's OBC with you, but that would be at their discretion. Hope this helps;)

[Michidoeme]

We live in Europe as well and book thru US TA. We get the same conditions (OBC, senior rates, free gratuities if applicable) as their US clients, except if there would be a specific rate for residents of a US State or Canada. We can upgrade under same conditions, i.e. if new rate is not for New Bookings Only or if original booking was at a special promotion rate. Upgrade price is difference between original booked price and present price of new cabin, plus maybe a small difference in taxes.

We pay in their original currency, i.e. US dollars and either benefit or loose some depending on the development of exchange rate.

[Stoffel1982]

Thanks for the answers! Did you guys book with cruise direct? The OBC is something we would really appreciate ;-)

 

 

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[wrk2cruise]

One thing to remember is on an upgrade the price difference is going to be from the price you paid to the price of the new cabin. Not in your case from the current price of a 2C to the new cabin.

 

Also I think you mentioned the name of a travel agency which is not allowed on Cruise Critic.

[Stoffel1982]

Oops, didn't know that... Can i still remove it?

 

 

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[Michidoeme]

Bij eerste woord van naam die jij genoemd hebt dan punt voorderste deel van komediant in engels. Wij bellen altijd.

[b_cruise]

What cruse is this? I booked July 14 Europe and I dobt have an obc?

[Stoffel1982]

Bij eerste woord van naam die jij genoemd hebt dan punt voorderste deel van komediant in engels. Wij bellen altijd.

 

Bedankt voor de tip! Jullie bellen voor het 'OBC' en vragen er dan gewoon naar? Er staat duidelijk bij dat het enkel voor Amerikanen is, maar vind dat best oneerlijk :-)

 

 

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[Michidoeme]

We only get OBC and or free gratuities if this applies for that specific trip, normally it says so on their webpage, but you can alway ask what else they are willing to give. Sometimes they do something special or they have a group booking. I have not talked to a US resident going on exactly same trip in exactly same category, so can not really compare apples to apples, but we feel we are treated equally.

 

Last trip we booked on board when they had a good offer with extra OBC from Celebrity, then we transferred to TA who gave us the free gratuities on top.

[Stoffel1982]

I don't know if it is totally legal offering discounts or promos to Americans and not to Europeans... Discrimination?

 

 

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[Waihekean]

I don't know if it is totally legal offering discounts or promos to Americans and not to Europeans... Discrimination?

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I think you will get most of the promotions, if you book through an American TA. Not all Americans can have all promotions either, have to read through the fine print.

Keep an eye out for the Wave promotions, these usually are very good for price drops or changes to existing bookings.

So far I have found that booking when cruise beomes available i.e. early booking/saver has been the best price.

 

For American TA's Go to Cruise Critics Reviews button here on the main page at top left. They advertise a lot there with TA's and I think they are all good.

For me I picked the one that was the best for easy contact. Even have a free number to call when establishing contact and after that we e-mail. Ze zijn fantastisch ***** mee op vakantie te gaan:p

[UniPac]

As I am from Europe i have always booked directly with X or with a local TA.

If I book now and a promo is available later, i won't get the promo without cancelling my booking, paying a 10% fee (or more if the cruise date is closer) and re-booking.

 

From what i read here is that if booking with US TA you can change your booking to get perks like OBC or beverage packages? Are there any fees etc. on that? What about the cancellation policy?

[Waihekean]

As I am from Europe i have always booked directly with X or with a local TA.

If I book now and a promo is available later, i won't get the promo without cancelling my booking, paying a 10% fee (or more if the cruise date is closer) and re-booking.

 

From what i read here is that if booking with US TA you can change your booking to get perks like OBC or beverage packages? Are there any fees etc. on that? What about the cancellation policy?

 

You will have to check with them if they change a fee for changing a booking. My one never did. You usually get a small OBC from the TA at start of booking. To get the cruise line perks, you probably will have to be a new booking. However I could have changed my booking to the 1,2,3 promotion (with free bev package and OBC), but had to pay $1,000 more then my original booking, so was not worth it.

But the process would be for me to e-mail my American TA to see if I am eligible and usually have reply back next day with the new price.

 

Funny thing is, my latest booking is directly with Celebrity and feels strange to have no one to communicate with. But will see how it pans out to go directly.

[Michidoeme]

Our last cruise we booked as a 1A hump cabin while on board Celebrity and got a special promotion obc of 550. Back home we switched to large US TA with phone call and got free gratuities from them. Now last week there was a special senior rate on - less than 70 days to sailing - we were able to switch to Aqua class by paying 20 in total extra - which was the difference in price we paid at the time for 1A and the senior rate for Aqua now - and kept our obc and gratuities, all with a phone call to our TA. Never were charged changing fees. All our payments after the initial on board deposit where handled by the TA, but debited from our credit card directly to the Celebrity account, so no worry that TA would sit on money. For other cruises which where repositioning cruises we booked one way plane tickets for very good prices through Choice Air.

[UniPac]

Thanks for the information!

 

Well that sounds really good. Now i need to find one of those US TA where i can book my 2015 cruise now (and get the OBC currently offered by celebrity) and maybe change it when a beverage package promo shows up.

 

To bad that there is no place here were it is allowed to refer to TAs...

[Michidoeme]

By-the-way, if there is a special promotion or senior rates and it says For New Bookings Only, then we are not able to change or upgrade either without loosing all benefits from first booking and possibly loosing deposit depending on when the change would be. Some times a couple of days later, the same cheaper rates are still there for all bookings and then we can upgrade.