Cruisetour Pricing FYI

[Veronda817]

I wanted to share some info that may not be common knowledge about cruisetour pricing (or it may be...but those of us on my cruisetour were definitely not aware!). I was on Millie during the interrupted August 16 cruise in Alaska. We were quite glad that we had booked a land tour with Celebrity because we'd at least get to see a little more of Alaska than the one port we got to see. Everything went splendidly, and we appreciated the way Celebrity handled the issues. The one "bad" day was being transported from the ship to our land tour. Our entire tour was happy to be seeing Alaska with the added bonus of the cruise refund plus a future cruise credit of 100%. However, as the refunds came trickling in, it became clear that Celebrity drastically reduces its cruise fare when adding a land tour. We were in and Aqua Class cabin, and I recall the cruisetour land portion adding about 50% more to the cruise-only fare, which I felt was fair because the land tour was about four days and the cruise seven, so even though we were losing free food and going down in level of accommodations, it was approximately the same amount of money per day. The breakdown of cruise and tour fares were not apparent anywhere. Usually it is not an issue because everyone who purchases them get to do both. However, since we took the land portion, our refund and FCC are MUCH lower than expected, and it turns out it's because of the "discounted" cruise fare you get (but don't know you're getting) to take the now clearly VERY expensive land tour. We MIGHT be able to get an oceanview for a similar cruise with the FCC we're going to receive instead of the AQ we had actually bought. This has been discussed in the compensation threads, but I wanted to be sure everyone was aware of it in case it's important to you. Again, it should usually not matter because it would be rare for this to happen again, but it's been frustrating for those of us who are getting back just a portion of what was expected for a very costly vacation that did not go as planned (but still cost almost as much!). I'm happy for getting a refund and FCC, but it was disappointing to pay as much as we did for what we got.

[CPT Trips]

The lesson I learned from your, and others, experiences is to be certain that the invoice clearly states the cost for each item . . . Fare, tax, port fees, land tour.

[Veronda817]

The lesson I learned from your, and others, experiences is to be certain that the invoice clearly states the cost for each item . . . Fare, tax, port fees, land tour.

 

Yes, I hope TAs and cruiselines will be more willing to do this! My invoice had just the total price, and I thought it was weird but didn't do anything about it, and now I wish I had!!

[CPT Trips]

They will only do it if we demand it and have the "stones" to actually cancel at final payment if they don't.

[dolson367]

Hey Veronda817! We ate dinner together at Blu twice during that 8/16 "cruise", glad to have found you.

 

Sorry to hear about your refunds and FCC credit with the cruisetour being lower than expected, but I'm glad you had a good tour (and so jealous that you've actually seen Alaska).

 

We're booked on the same itinerary for a 6/20 sailing next summer (put a deposit down and waiting for the FCC to come, but my refund was exactly what I expected). Hoping to see more than 100 miles of Alaska and to see a few other ports.

[Veronda817]

Hey Veronda817! We ate dinner together at Blu twice during that 8/16 "cruise", glad to have found you.

 

Sorry to hear about your refunds and FCC credit with the cruisetour being lower than expected, but I'm glad you had a good tour (and so jealous that you've actually seen Alaska).

 

We're booked on the same itinerary for a 6/20 sailing next summer (put a deposit down and waiting for the FCC to come, but my refund was exactly what I expected). Hoping to see more than 100 miles of Alaska and to see a few other ports.

 

So great to hear from you again! We enjoyed our dinners with you and have talked about the fun atmosphere of Blu where you can meet others or feel more private. I thought you had booked a mid-August sailing to get your awesome cabin??? But I know you weren't sure about timing with work. Wonderful you get to experience it again. We loved the interior of Alaska (you should have seen the views we had of the Denali peaks for three days!!), but we're really unsure whether we want to attempt the coast again...there are just so many places we want to visit! I do feel as though I want to see calving glaciers (we did land on an interior glacier in Denali, but they seem so different in the ocean!) and whales, so the decision will be whether we go back to Alaska to see them or somewhere like Iceland. Yes, I was disappointed when we got our refund and the pricing with cruisetours came to light, but I still don't have much to complain about. While we're waiting for the FCC to come in, I'm tossing around the ideas of Transatlantic, New England/Canada, and Panama Canal! Enjoy the excitement of waiting for the trip all over again...and I'll be thinking of you pulling away from Ketchikan!!!