Advice please - to book with Celebrity direct or not ?

[downundermatt]

As an Australian I have always found better deals with US agents, and had no problem booking with them.

This year I was most disappointed when my Cruise price dropped considerably, and the agent would not consider any kind of OBC or refund, even when I attempted to pay more to upgrade.

An upgrade would have got me to ELITE category before the recent changes :mad:

Many others on Cruise Critic boasted or large refunds, upgrades or OBC as they booked thru Celebrity direct.

My question is will Celebrity honour/match promotions offered through travel agents, such as free gratuities, or on board credits ?

[welshfamily]

It depends on what Celebrity rules are in your country. Most people who post about these offers are Americans. I often read these posts and wonder how the posters get such wonderful deals. Booking with Celebrity is not a level playing field. Just look at last years 3-2-1 go deal. That was not available to UK residences. We had already booked but it was upsetting to read about others managing to add this to their bookings. Others will tell you, the protection is greater in the UK but no one has ever compared a UK cruiser with a US cruiser when things have gone wrong and posted the different way they were treated.

 

Anyone out there who can please chip in.

 

 

Here in the UK travel agents are no longer allowed to discount Celebrity cruises. We always used to book with a travel agent and received between 10 and 15 % off as well as a small amount of onboard credit. This did make it impossible to upgrade when prices dropped etc. in 2012 we had to lose our deposits (£600) and rebook to change to AQ and we still saved £1000. That was for 4people in 2cabins and yes we were happy, who doesn't like to save money. It now makes no sense to book with anyone other than Celebrity and this allows you to keep control of your booking. In 2013 I booked a low balcony very early and changed to AQ when the price dropped. You have to be careful this only works if you are upgrading i.e. paying more money.

This year who knows. We lost our cruise due to a charter and as the cruise was still slightly over a year away Celebrity didn't have to 'make it up to us'.

 

I'll be honest here, we love Celebrity cruises and the only thing that matters to me really is the price we, as a family pay. As teachers we have to travel in a 4week window. The prices for next year are high, over £190 a day per person for cruise only 2c. We only paid £154 last year for AQ and flights. Therefore we are now playing a waiting game.

 

Hope you get a more useful answer from another poster.

[MrSquiggle70]

I'm an Aussie and recently booked an 18 night Tahiti Treasures Sydney to Hawaii in Apr 14 for 1 adult and 2 children. The cruise is close to booked out with only Inside, Concierge and a couple of suites left. The quoted on Celebrity website for an Inside cabin was round $9600 for the three of us (eek!!) and $11600 for Concierge. I enquired with an Australian TA who was able to book an Inside 3 berth for $6200 ($3400 less then celebritycruises.com). However, my TA couldn't book a Concierge cabin for less than the price advertised on the celebritycruises.com website.

 

Shop around at the major TAs and compare the prices to the Celebrity website. Best deal gets the deal. It's as simple as that.

 

 

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[20pluscruises]

As an Australian I have always found better deals with US agents, and had no problem booking with them.

This year I was most disappointed when my Cruise price dropped considerably, and the agent would not consider any kind of OBC or refund, even when I attempted to pay more to upgrade.

An upgrade would have got me to ELITE category before the recent changes :mad:

Many others on Cruise Critic boasted or large refunds, upgrades or OBC as they booked thru Celebrity direct.

My question is will Celebrity honour/match promotions offered through travel agents, such as free gratuities, or on board credits ?

 

My last cruise I booked directly through Celebrity and it was $200 less than online sites when all was said and done.

[waterbug123]

The quoted on Celebrity website for an Inside cabin was round $9600 for the three of us (eek!!) and $11600 for Concierge. I enquired with an Australian TA who was able to book an Inside 3 berth for $6200 ($3400 less then celebritycruises.com). However, my TA couldn't book a Concierge cabin for less than the price advertised on the celebritycruises.com website.

 

 

Unless Australian TA's ARE allowed to discount, I would assume that for that big of a difference, the TA probably had some group space they had previously blocked when prices were lower, but that they only had group space available for insides, not concierge. When TA's offer things like free gratuities, or a small amount of OBC, it is generally understood that they are paying for these things out of the commission they receive, but for savings of over $3000 I can't think of any explanation besides you getting put into a group.

[MrSquiggle70]

I can't really explain the difference. I asked the TA to check the price was right and to ensure it was for three and not two pax and she confirmed it. I then later changed cabins from a three berth to a four berth and it was repriced a hundred dollars less. Very strange. It would be nice to be able to secure that price difference for a Concierge cabin, but I'll just be happy with my Inside and put the savings to port activities and other such fun. Again, cruise prices can vary greatly from site to site, and day to day, so it pays to shop around, compare and check back on changes before final payment.

 

 

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[riclop]

As an Australian I have always found better deals with US agents, and had no problem booking with them.

This year I was most disappointed when my Cruise price dropped considerably, and the agent would not consider any kind of OBC or refund, even when I attempted to pay more to upgrade.

An upgrade would have got me to ELITE category before the recent changes :mad:

Many others on Cruise Critic boasted or large refunds, upgrades or OBC as they booked thru Celebrity direct.

My question is will Celebrity honour/match promotions offered through travel agents, such as free gratuities, or on board credits ?

Use a TA for OBC.