Pick your perk poll

[Cruise Junky]

Sorry, don't think I can do a proper poll from my phone. For anyone that has had pick your perk in the past , or any variation if it , can you tell me if your price went up or stayed the same and where you sailed

 

For me , stayed the same and sailed Hawaii

 

 

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[Redtravel]

The added perks like 123GO, etc. cost money. When there were no included perks, prices were lower. I would like to go back to no perks included. Basic cruise at a basic price. You pick and pay for the added features. It would increase bookings. Most people look at the bottom price. They do not think about the added costs that they may buy on the cruise.

[Christine Frances]

I guess I'm weird as I have had the pkg 3 times and never looked at any prices. I usually only order wine in the MDR and I let the somellier make my choices depending on my pkg limits. I also knew that there were good beer choices in both pkgs but for the life of me, I have no idea what individual drinks cost. I had them make me a Caesars but no clue as to what pkg iPt fell under lol. Sorry guess I can't vote:)

 

Opps thought we were talking about drink prices going up not cruise prices duh

Edited May 29, 2014 by Christine Frances

[happy cruzer]

Just checked the cruise I have booked for Europe next year and outside cabin went up 200. Maybe getting ready for the new promo? Since already have the bev package from on board booking, this price increase will keep me for trying for the second perc.

[cruisingsince94]

We are not big drinkers so we do not get any real value from a drink package in the 123Go promo. Its coming back on June 2nd by the way. Our TA always pays our gratuities and we get a specialty dinner on occasion so for us we always take the OBC.

I agree that these "promos" tend to result in higher cruise prices but it was negligible on our Caribbean itinerary. We felt we made out pretty well on that one.

[cruisingsince94]

Just checked the cruise I have booked for Europe next year and outside cabin went up 200. Maybe getting ready for the new promo? Since already have the bev package from on board booking, this price increase will keep me for trying for the second perc.

 

I agree with you. Will be interesting to see what the prices do over the upcoming weekend.

[Cruise Junky]

Just checked the cruise I have booked for Europe next year and outside cabin went up 200. Maybe getting ready for the new promo? Since already have the bev package from on board booking, this price increase will keep me for trying for the second perc.

 

 

We booked onboard too but want to change to a Europe cruise. I'm having my TA do it today so hopefully no price shocks before next week. So far the price us still showing the same

 

 

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[flyingv4me]

My Caribbean cruises in January fluctuated by no more than $50 +/- until after final payment date. I chose the bev packages on both cruises from the 123 choices and upgraded to premium alcohol. I'm looking forward to the promotion beginning next week to have my TA book a family cruise to Alaska next year.

[cruisingsince94]

We booked onboard too but want to change to a Europe cruise. I'm having my TA do it today so hopefully no price shocks before next week. So far the price us still showing the same

 

 

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Hopefully your TA will get it done. I talked to our TA this morning while doing a booking and she told me to check my email on Sunday. That told me that any price moves will hit in the next couple of days.

[wv4891]

Our Equinox Transatlantic, Oct 2014, just kept going up and up in price, till it sold out (yes, I know cabins can be had if you know the right agencies). I'm glad that I booked us early on for this one.

 

Oh, BTW there is no 123 promo on this cruise for people from the U.S. and Canada. I believe that our lucky friends in the U.K. have this offer.

 

On the two cruises that I had the 123 promo package, Solstice to Hawaii and Solstice to Alaska, with upgrade to Premium, there was some price increases. It's kind of been what's happening lately with Celebrity Cruises. Yes, I know, some prices have gone down, just not on the cruises I have been on.

Edited May 29, 2014 by wv4891

[Cruise Junky]

Hopefully your TA will get it done. I talked to our TA this morning while doing a booking and she told me to check my email on Sunday. That told me that any price moves will hit in the next couple of days.

 

 

They're not wanting to honour my beverage package from the On board booking....errrr

 

 

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[wallie5446]

We sailed to the Eastern Carrib last Nov '13, on the Reflection, booked in Feb '13 under the PYP program. Cost was a roller coaster thru final. By the time we sailed our C2 was up $400 pp with no perks.

 

Our up coming 11 day on the Equinox is now up $710 pp for our 1A, ( none left ) and a veranda GTY is up $600 pp, both with no perk from which to pick.

[happy cruzer]

Just checked the cruise I have booked for Europe next year and outside cabin went up 200. Maybe getting ready for the new promo? Since already have the bev package from on board booking, this price increase will keep me for trying for the second perc.

 

Just a bit more, this cruise has never had any promos for it, it was only announced a few months ago, I'm pretty sure. I've watched for about two months and the price never changed until today. And I do expect some fluctuations over the next year but this one looked and sounded like a duck :p

[Pilot70D]

The added perks like 123GO, etc. cost money. When there were no included perks, prices were lower. I would like to go back to no perks included. Basic cruise at a basic price. You pick and pay for the added features. It would increase bookings. Most people look at the bottom price. They do not think about the added costs that they may buy on the cruise.

 

There is no such thing as a free lunch in today's world or in this case neither is there a free drink. We are booked on the combined Christmas and New Year's cruise on the Eclipse. Prices for this particular cruise have risen astronomically to insane levels (see several of my posts tracking current cabin prices on the roll call for this cruise). I realize that this cruise is unusual and that demand remains sky high, much more so than for a normal two week cruise. When I booked our cabin during the Give Thanks special last year our S1 cost a little under $8,000 for the both of us. That same cabin, if one were available, is selling currently for over $19,500 for two people.

 

We do have two more =X= cruises booked for 2015. In some instances the price increases for 2015 are breath taking. All of these 'free' perks and beverage packages have to paid for in some fashion. All of the 1-2-3 Go, all of the 'free' beverage packages have a price to be paid even if there is no explicit charge for them. Some of the moves =X= has made have proven to be wildly unpopular with the customer base.

 

In any food service operation, be it afloat or ashore, alcohol sales is usually the highest margin product offered and often generates the largest amount of profit dollars as well. Celebrity is no different in this respect. =X= went along happily for years with passengers paying for their drinks - high octane, low octane or no octane. Then along comes the era of the beverage packages, not just a soda card but full beverage packages. OK, management realized that a major source of profit bucks had been reduced therefore they took steps to limit and or cap the cost of providing these beverage packages.

 

They approached this from a supply side point of view as well as a price point issue. From the supply side of this issue they couldn't get the booze much cheaper than they were already getting it but they could and did cut back on the number of bar staff personnel. This had two desirable effects looking at it from management's point of view. (1) It reduced their overall manpower costs and (2) it forced somewhat of a slow down in how frequently many people could get drinks or refills at the various bars. Relatively speaking the number of passengers desiring a drink or a refill remained the same while the number of bartenders decreased. The result is fewer drinks being provided over a given time period. I know, I know - the Celebrity cheerleaders will now chime in and say that they never had a problem getting a drink at any time. However, there are several postings to this effect in several threads. We noticed cutbacks in the numbers for bar staff personnel during our recent cruise on the Eclipse. We just didn't think much about those cutbacks at the time.

 

Celebrity also attacked the price point issues. They increased the price for virtually all hard liquor drinks as well as for wine and beer. The impact on the standard alcoholic beverage package was much greater than on the premium alcoholic beverage package. This in turn caused such a furor that =X= has now adjusted what is and is not included in these packages. Adjustments have now been made to placate the masses but Celebrity can still make adjustments or fine tune them as management sees fit.

 

=X= has raised the price for every single bottle of wine by some 21% and I suspect that the price increase was made primarily to cover the costs associated with the beverage packages. =X= also has increased the initial pricing on many 2015 cruises compared to the same cruise pricing for 2014 cruises. Some of the price increases are the natural result of the increased cost in general of doing business. OTOH, I think that in part the price increases are going to cover the cost of the 'free' beverage packages.

 

Please don't misunderstand - Celebrity is still our favorite cruise line. We enjoyed our last cruise on the Eclipse enough so that we booked the same ship, same cabin for Christmas & New Year's this year. We simply hope that the cost of covering all of these 'freebies' doesn't drive the price of cruising on Celebrity up to a point that many find unacceptable.

 

Everyone have a great day and enjoy that next cruise.

;):);)

[Christine Frances]

They're not wanting to honour my beverage package from the On board booking....errrr

 

 

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Saw your post and as I had to call Captain's Club about something else, I asked him if this is correct. He said that the on board booking promo (123 + OBC) can be transferred to another ship and sail date, no problem. You would lose the 123 if you transferred to a Transatlantic or Transpacific though. Hope this helps. Call Captains Club to re verify @ 1 800 760 0654 I thought it was strange because I do that all the time lol

Edited May 29, 2014 by Christine Frances

[Cruise Junky]

Saw your post and as I had to call Captain's Club about something else, I asked him if this is correct. He said that the on board booking promo (123 + OBC) can be transferred to another ship and sail date, no problem. You would lose the 123 if you transferred to a Transatlantic or Transpacific though. Hope this helps. Call Captains Club to re verify @ 1 800 760 0654 I thought it was strange because I do that all the time lol

 

 

Thanks for your post. I believe it's all sorted. I did call Captains Club who escalated it to Star Accounts who called my TA. Someone in Top Accounts needs some training... They were arguing for 1/2 hour that I'd lose my beverage package. Captains club were great

 

 

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[godawgs2012]

My wife and I are looking at Feb. 07, '15 5 night sailing on the Constellation. We planned on booking an Aqua class, which has increased from $779.00 to $899.00. Tips on this cruise I believe are $12.00 a day for this class (never sailed on Celebrity before) so the "free tips" are actually costing you $120.00. I was excited about this new perk, but now - not so much.

[Christine Frances]

My wife and I are looking at Feb. 07, '15 5 night sailing on the Constellation. We planned on booking an Aqua class, which has increased from $779.00 to $899.00. Tips on this cruise I believe are $12.00 a day for this class (never sailed on Celebrity before) so the "free tips" are actually costing you $120.00. I was excited about this new perk, but now - not so much.

 

That is why we book early if we are interested in an itinerary as the prices usually go up. The tip option is worth the same amount as your increased fare. Maybe you would be better off with the drink package if you and your partner would be drinking more than $12 a day each = ie water, fresh oj, specialty coffee's and teas, beer, wine or cocktails. I would be excited! Have a great cruise.

[jelayne]

We have taken 2 cruises with 1 2,3 free beverage package. Price on the 2013 transpacific was significantly higher at sailing than what we paid with the 123

promo. The other cruise dropped by less than $100 after the promo ended.

 

Have 3 more cruises booked with 1,2,3 or Pick Your Perk this year. Two are in July and are now past final payment. The price on 1 is slightly over $2000 more; the other is almost $200 more & they now have the Take 2 Perk. Personally, we prefer the 1,2 3 vs Take 2. The 3rd isn't at final payment and prices are the same as we paid with 1,2, 3.

 

So far we haven't seen any big price drops after 1,2, 3 or PYP ended.

[chrismakris]

We booked last January on board the Summit for this January coming up in a Sky Suite. We got the Beverage package(will be upgrading) + a $250 OBC. As of right now, it looks like there are no Sky Suites available but I do seem to remember the price being at least $300 more than what we booked for on board.

[MicCanberra]

Prices on the most of the cruises I have been on, just seem to keep rising, I don't think it has anything to do with the perks but simple supply and demand.

I am glad it worked out for you Cruise Junky, wouldn't want you going thirsty.:D

[godawgs2012]

It's just strange because when you search for the trip on Celebrity's website, it says the AQ is $779.00 for that date but when you click to go forward, all of the cabin prices increase in price by at least $100 pp. I would guess that there is a glitch somewhere in the system and one of the pages has not been updated to show the newly increased prices.

[Cruise Junky]

It's just strange because when you search for the trip on Celebrity's website, it says the AQ is $779.00 for that date but when you click to go forward, all of the cabin prices increase in price by at least $100 pp. I would guess that there is a glitch somewhere in the system and one of the pages has not been updated to show the newly increased prices.

 

I got that yesterday. The first screen said $1,899 but once you clicked to book it jumped to $2,099

[Cruise Junky]

I am glad it worked out for you Cruise Junky, wouldn't want you going thirsty.:D

 

You're a good man :p

[MicCanberra]

You're a good man :p

 

I am still looking forward to having that drink together someday.:D