Celebrity Best Price Guarantee Help

[renaroo]

Hi all … this is not my first time cruising, but it is my first time on Celebrity. I have an Alaskan cruise booked in June 2015 for my husband, daughter, parents, and me. I booked my cruise in November 2014 directly through Celebrity. I've looked at the prices regularly, just checking to see if there are any price drops. The prices have stayed exactly the same, up until today.

 

Today there was a big drop on both my cabin and my parent’s cabin. I double checked the cruise and dates before calling Celebrity, and yes, everything was correct. I was disconnected 3 times before I finally was able to speak to an agent. The agent said she did not see a price drop. She asked me to refresh my screen, so I took a screen shot first, then refreshed. I still saw the same price drop even after refreshing. We puzzled over the differences for a while, and she double checked and checked with some colleagues. About 10 minutes into the call, I refreshed the page again and the prices went back up.

 

I asked for help resolving the issue since she didn’t know what to do and she put me through to the resolutions department. I emailed them my screenshot and after about 30 minutes, they said their team didn’t see any evidence of the prices I clearly saw on celebrity.com.

 

The woman in resolutions said she would have to forward the information to her management team and that they would get back to me after the weekend. She explained to me that prices fluctuate, which I understand, but it seemed as though she was hinting that they may not honor the price drop since it is no longer showing up. However, it WAS current while I was on the phone with them – they just, strangely, couldn’t verify it.

 

Hopefully I’ll get a positive resolution next week when the management team looks at it, since I know for certain that the prices, dates, cabin category, etc. were a match, but in the meantime I’m stumped over how they were not able to help me.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts, opinions, or advice?

[blindrid]

Any promotions with your current booking?

 

Did you submit a claim form?

[renaroo]

Any promotions with your current booking?

 

Did you submit a claim form?

 

I booked with the 123go! promo, which is still available. I didn't submit a claim form but I did call them right away. The problem was while I was on the phone with them, they said they couldn't "see" the same rate that I could see, even though I was looking at celebrity.com. I didn't bother submitting a claim form afterwards because while we were on the phone the price went back up. Thanks for responding.

[Flatbush Flyer]

Hi all … this is not my first time cruising, but it is my first time on Celebrity. I have an Alaskan cruise booked in June 2015 for my husband, daughter, parents, and me. I booked my cruise in November 2014 directly through Celebrity. I've looked at the prices regularly, just checking to see if there are any price drops. The prices have stayed exactly the same, up until today.

 

Today there was a big drop on both my cabin and my parent’s cabin. I double checked the cruise and dates before calling Celebrity, and yes, everything was correct. I was disconnected 3 times before I finally was able to speak to an agent. The agent said she did not see a price drop. She asked me to refresh my screen, so I took a screen shot first, then refreshed. I still saw the same price drop even after refreshing. We puzzled over the differences for a while, and she double checked and checked with some colleagues. About 10 minutes into the call, I refreshed the page again and the prices went back up.

 

I asked for help resolving the issue since she didn’t know what to do and she put me through to the resolutions department. I emailed them my screenshot and after about 30 minutes, they said their team didn’t see any evidence of the prices I clearly saw on celebrity.com.

 

The woman in resolutions said she would have to forward the information to her management team and that they would get back to me after the weekend. She explained to me that prices fluctuate, which I understand, but it seemed as though she was hinting that they may not honor the price drop since it is no longer showing up. However, it WAS current while I was on the phone with them – they just, strangely, couldn’t verify it.

 

Hopefully I’ll get a positive resolution next week when the management team looks at it, since I know for certain that the prices, dates, cabin category, etc. were a match, but in the meantime I’m stumped over how they were not able to help me.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts, opinions, or advice?

 

 

Yet another reason to identify and use a top producing TA for that line. They talk to the sakes rep while you end up talking to a call center in a place like Nebraska.

 

 

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[cle-guy]

At minimum, complete the claim form to be sure your claim is at least in the system.

 

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/best-price-guarantee

 

In comments tell them you have the screen shot of the fare, and ask them how to send that proof to them.

 

Hopefully you have the shot showing the sub-category pricing, i.e. 1A, 1B, 1C etc. not just the Suite, Aqua, Concierge, Veranda, OV, Inside general pricing, to verify you have exact same cabin sub-category.

 

Prcing is dynamic and changes all the time, so it is possible someone direct booked the fare from underneath you trying to change yours.

 

I just booked airfare where I checked it was $310, 30 minutes later $340, next morning $410, that afternoon $320.

 

From practicality standpoint it would be very odd to see a price today that is inclusive of the all-in 123 (if Concierge or above) at better pricing than when just 1 perk applied.

Edited January 3, 2015 by cle-guy

[blindrid]

At minimum, complete the claim form to be sure your claim is at least in the system.

 

https://secure.celebritycruises.com/best-price-guarantee

 

In comments tell them you have the screen shot of the fare, and ask them how to send that proof to them.

.

 

Exactly what I would. Your screenshot would have time, date on the bottom which would help prove your case.

[jagoffee]

I booked with the 123go! promo, which is still available. I didn't submit a claim form but I did call them right away. The problem was while I was on the phone with them, they said they couldn't "see" the same rate that I could see, even though I was looking at celebrity.com. I didn't bother submitting a claim form afterwards because while we were on the phone the price went back up. Thanks for responding.

 

I suspect the price you saw and have saved might be a price without the 123 Go promotion.

[fleckle]

The cruise line's agents look up cruises on a different system than the ones that we, the passengers, use and one system may update before the other does.

 

When I have had that experience of looking at a screen showing prices or cabins that the agent claims not to see, I find the best thing to do is to tell the person exactly where I am looking (i.e., provide the URL) so that we are both looking in the same place.

 

Some will accept screen shots, but others are well aware that screen shots can be manipulated to show whatever someone wants.

 

I know that people who use travel agents sometimes save screen shots when they are unable to reach their TA in a timely manner and need to wait for a return call, and have heard of incidents where such screen shots were accepted as well as others where they were not.

 

[BosoxI]

I was trying to add a booked cruise t o my account but I received an alert saying my information was incorrect. I was positive I had entered it accurately by tried a second time. Again, the same alert appeared. Finally, I caled the Cap[tain's Club. The agent said she had no trouble using my five digit reservation number, the same number that failed for me. I asked her if she had added "0s" before or after the number. No, she replied. I tried again and this time I got a message asking if I wanted to "own" the reservation. I checked "yes" and suddenly the reservation went through but with two

0s added to the original number. Strange how the agent's screen and my screen differed while using the same info.

Edited January 4, 2015 by BosoxI

[renaroo]

Thanks for the ideas about what may have happened with the price changes and suggestions re: the claim form. I wrote an email to the Celebrity vacation planner I originally booked with, too. She was great, so I'm hoping she can help me follow up. Who knows if she can help, but at least I wrote out what happened, including the fact that the price went back up again WHILE I was on the phone with Celebrity. I'm still wondering why their weekend team claims they have no evidence of that price drop. I SAW it and I SAVED it. If anything, they made a pricing update/error that showed up briefly before changing it back. At least that's one theory I have. ???

 

I hope they will honor their price drop, even though it appears to have only been on their site briefly. I'll post an update once I hear back from the resolutions team in case anyone is curious.

 

Thanks again. I've been having a ton of fun reading through cruise critic, especially since Celebrity is a brand new line for us. :)

[miched]

One time I seen a cheaper price for a booked cruise. I took a screen shot and then had to wait until operating hours of my TA. I called and inquired about the lower price. Was told that it was not any cheaper. I looked at my screen shot and then realized that it was for the cruise that followed the on that I had booked. Another time while looking I seen it was cheaper but then seen that I was looking at the next year. It is easy to do on Celebrity's website the way that it is set up. I now always check to make sure that I am looking at the correct date.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[ghstudio]

The only time I found a price drop on celebrity's web site, I called and price matching was refused. Celebrity was selling at a special travel agent price!!! In fact there was no way to find the "current" price on the web site. Needless to say, I was just a bit annoyed by the ethics....we cancelled the cruise.

 

 

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[Mr. Click]

Never booked directly with X but I have had good luck getting price drops by watching closely. We currently have a Baltic cruise booked, booked it last summer to get the perks and the cabin we wanted. In the following two months it dropped about $100 and I got that lower price without losing any perks, then a few weeks later it dropped another $1200 and my TA--one of the online big ones and I love her--was able to get me the lower price, same cabin but we had to give up one of our two pre-paid grats that she was paying. Yes, I can give up $160 to save $1200.....since then the price has gone back up but I still check about once a week just in case. This is where using a good TA helps, they have been great over the years getting me the lower prices. Once on RCI when the price went down after our final payment, she still got me a nice cabin upgrade just because I asked nicely.

[renaroo]

I haven't heard back from Celebrity yet - on Saturday, the rep I spoke to said they would receive my claim on Monday (1/5) and get back to me within a couple days. I guess I'll hear back sometime today, or more likely tomorrow.

 

Now I'm wondering if I should have just booked the new fare the moment I saw it and cancelled the original booking. That seems like more work for everyone, though. Has anyone ever just booked a new low fare, then cancelled the old one, just to be sure to "lock in" the lower fare?

 

Thanks again for all your feedback! I appreciate it. :)

[cle-guy]

I haven't heard back from Celebrity yet - on Saturday, the rep I spoke to said they would receive my claim on Monday (1/5) and get back to me within a couple days. I guess I'll hear back sometime today, or more likely tomorrow.

 

Now I'm wondering if I should have just booked the new fare the moment I saw it and cancelled the original booking. That seems like more work for everyone, though. Has anyone ever just booked a new low fare, then cancelled the old one, just to be sure to "lock in" the lower fare?

 

Thanks again for all your feedback! I appreciate it. :)

 

I do this often, actually keeping both reservations for a period of time, as I await my TA to take control of it.

 

The down side, is if you do happen to have perks that can travel from one reservation as it changes (such as some book on board perks, or some fare reductions, that allow perks to travel i.e. that do not require "new bookings only").

[MisterBill99]

Stupid question.. is this only intended for prices posted on Celebrity's website, or otherwise advertised by Celebrity? I just found a price $40 cheaper than what I booked a cruise for, but the rate is at an online agency. I tried submitting a request with Celebrity, worst case they say no.

[cle-guy]

Stupid question.. is this only intended for prices posted on Celebrity's website, or otherwise advertised by Celebrity? I just found a price $40 cheaper than what I booked a cruise for, but the rate is at an online agency. I tried submitting a request with Celebrity, worst case they say no.

 

Doubtful you'll have success, part of the T&C of the Best Price Guarantee is:

You will be asked to provide the lower cruise fare and/or the Added Value offer (the "Requested Savings") as found on the Celebrity Cruises website.

 

You seem to have found your offer on a 3rd party site. 3rd parties often buy discounted cabins, have their own offer etc, so of course X can't be expected to meet the deals offered by anyone out there selling a cruise. This is of course, unless you can find the same price on X site, then you are golden. Also have to be exact same cabin category available (i..e. 2A matching 2A price, not just a "veranda" price.

 

However, you can always cancel with X and rebook with the agency if not past cancellation, or transfer existing reservation to the agency if your booking is under 60 days old.