New Celebrity Bundle Pricing (Go! Big, Go! Better, Go! Best)

[DYKWIA]

Big, better, best

 

Some people will go Best (even if it does offer duff value) purely because it is marketed as "best" and they want to be in that group. Some people find status very important.

 

The whole concept of paying for OBC and not getting a bonus (let alone a loss) I find bizarre. Why would I want to tie my money up when I can just charge my expenditure to my account and pay at the end on a card. This seems even more relevant when some suspect that on board restaurant prices are being hiked because of the amount of money sloshing around in OBC. Perhaps they need to reflect what you spend on board to Captain Club points.

[PoppyandNana]

What personal value is there in spending $180 to get $150 in OBC? I get the drink package, it's convenient and freeing. But I don't get paying $180 for $150 OBC or $155 in tips.

 

What about a ten day cruise where you would pay $180 for $260 in tips? The longer the cruise the greater the value of this component.

 

Also, isn't the OBC $300?

Edited July 8, 2015 by PoppyandNana

[chamima]

What about a ten day cruise where you would pay $180 for $260 in tips? The longer the cruise the greater the value of this component.

 

Also, isn't the OBC $300?

 

It's $15 per person, per day to add best.

That makes the 10 day cruise $300 to pay for the tips (which are ALL, except for those in suites, less than $15 per person per day)

 

 

The $300 OBC is for two people. The charge to upgrade for those two people is also $300. So at 10 days it's a wash.

You are comparing the upgrade charge for ONE person to the credit given to TWO people. That's why it looks advantageous.

Edited July 8, 2015 by chamima

[hcat]

Time for a vacation for me...hopefully one away from the internet!

 

I went to check the current price on our 2017 Equinox cruise..and our date did not come up at all in the Big Better Best .listings for Equinox Jan 2017....ones before and after our date did come up...

 

I called X......rep said there is no issue and it is open to book on his end...and he had pricing for the Big, Better Best ( they are clearly pushing Best in a nice way)

 

Oddly, if I google the cruise date...it links to Celeb but without the big,better best.,.wonder if they just did not load it properly?

 

Just wondering if anyone else has not been able to find their cruise listed,

 

Despite assurances from the Celebrity phone rep yesterday, I am still concerned that out Jan ,9 2017 11 day Equinox cruise does not come up on the Celebrity website (it is listed in our My Celeb Cruises)

 

Hope this is some type of website omission and is not going on hold for some wierd reason....so far in advance. We really are looking forward to this one.,,

 

Thanks to helpers on this thread I did manage to take a screen shot of the cruise before ours (1/2 for 7 days ) and the one after ( 1/20 for 10 days) and will try to post it.....wish me luck!

Edited July 8, 2015 by hcat

[hcat]

Received an Error message....on attempt to insert screen shot....will try another way later...thanks for helping me along in tech 101!

[Nova Scotia cruiser]

Despite assurances from the Celebrity phone rep yesterday, I am still concerned that out Jan ,9 2017 11 day Equinox cruise does not come up on the Celebrity website (it is listed in our My Celeb Cruises)

 

Hope this is some type of website omission and is not going on hold for some wierd reason....so far in advance. We really are looking forward to this one.,,

 

Thanks to helpers on this thread I did manage to take a screen shot of the cruise before ours (1/2 for 7 days ) and the one after ( 1/20 for 10 days) and will try to post it.....wish me luck!

 

I just tried it and it shows a 11 day cruise on Jan9, 2017....they must have fixed it.

[chamima]

On an iPhone or iPad just press the top right (on/off) button at the same time as pressing the round button at the middle bottom.

 

It worked!

Thank you!!!!! :D

[hcat]

It's $15 per person, per day to add best.

That makes the 10 day cruise $300 to pay for the tips (which are ALL, except for those in suites, less than $15 per person per day)

 

 

The $300 OBC is for two people. The charge to upgrade for those two people is also $300. So at 10 days it's a wash.

You are comparing the upgrade charge for ONE person to the credit given to TWO people. That's why it looks advantageous.

 

This is coming into focus...thanks

 

for us, booking in AQ class, the grats and OBC perk would generally be a wash for the price of BIG. Free 24/7 internet not needed as we get 200 min each as E + (.only used to check on our family, pet, and obtain boarding passes if flying)

 

. Our best choice would be to select the Classic drink package for for some drinks, teas, etc, and then we'd have to pay grats and hope for some other OBC promo...if not available, I would skip the spa visits!

 

BTW what is the daily value of the Classic package,.... (we have no need to upgrade to Premium)

 

Prices are coming very close to our fav All Inclusive Resort at the Concierge Level....only upcharge there is the spa which has great services at very reasonable fees)

[hcat]

I just tried it and it shows a 11 day cruise on Jan9, 2017....they must have fixed it.

 

Thanks so much..I will still practice getting that screen shot to post....but really happy the cruise is now listed!

[SFL]

As I see the BBB program, It is really degrading the Captains Club benefits if you are in the three top tiers - Elite, Elite Plus & Zenith. We are Elite Plus (working towards Zenith) and usually take longer cruises with a balcony cabin. I don't need any more free drinks, I have more internet than I can use (when you can get connected) and usually get OBC/ free gratuities when booking on-board or from a travel agent. There is no upside for us as DW will not do an inside, so we will be waiting for any special offerings after our current bookings!

 

I agree, we too are approaching a new Elite tier and this new strategy is too confusing. It will now force us to look elsewhere when we decide to Big Ship cruise again. The scheme of this new pricing campaign negates any upper tier Captain Club Benefits and makes "loyalty benefits" a non consideration in future cruise bookings, IMHO.

[JaneStarr]

This is coming into focus...thanks

 

{{{Snip}}}

 

BTW what is the daily value of the Classic package,.... (we have no need to upgrade to Premium)

 

Prices are coming very close to our fav All Inclusive Resort at the Concierge Level....only upcharge there is the spa which has great services at very reasonable fees)

 

$55 + 18% gratuity = $64.90 pp/night. Celebrity marketing flyers seem to round this to $65 when showing "values"

Jane

[judatt]

We booked a b2b on the Solstice from Singapore to Sydney and then Sydney around New Zealand for next October/November and used our travel agent. We made the booking a couple of months ago. Our travel agent had a deal that if you booked a C2 you received free gratuities, free drink package for 2 and $450 OBC per cruise.

 

I went to Celebrity's website and plugged in "best" which comes closest to what we are receiving (we don't have the free unlimited internet but the OBC we are receiving is more) and the difference in pricing was substantial - between the 2 cruises about $3500.

 

Send a thank you message to our travel agent thanking her for the good work she did on our behalf a couple of months ago!

[Want2Cruise 701]

I just priced out our 10/nt Summit cruise for Jan. 2017 (we booked back in April) and the price is $1,200 more. I priced out the better with the Beverage Package and OBC. I added the gratuities in myself since we had 3 perks back when we booked. I didn't even build in the fact that we had an additional $300 OBC for booking onboard for a total of $600 OBC.

 

Seems like they are substantially increasing prices since July 6. I am glad we booked back when we did. I would not pay $5,507 for a C1. That's a little crazy to me anyway.

[WAVTAM]

Meanwhile........this week's Exciting Deals are alive and well, and continue to exist in this new pricing environment!

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Exciting_Deals/XcitingDeals_cel_tues.pdf

 

How does one sign up for these "Exciting Deals"??????[/b]

[Wine-O]

How does one sign up for these "Exciting Deals"??????[/b]

 

Go thru your travel agent to get OBC from them, or contact Celebrity direct.

[Tangocherie]

What about a ten day cruise where you would pay $180 for $260 in tips? The longer the cruise the greater the value of this component.

 

Also, isn't the OBC $300?

 

So sorry, but you got it wrong. Tips for most categories is $12.95/day/pp. Comes out to $129.50/pp for a 10 day cruise. You pay $15/day/pp for Go Better. Total of $150/pp for the cruise. Thus you come out under.

 

It's the same for OBC which is $150/pp not $300. So you pay $150 to get $150. Big deal! :eek:

[BEAV]

How does one sign up for these "Exciting Deals"??????[/b]

 

Bookmark the link. It updates weekly (usually on Thursday or Friday) with the following week's listings.

[ORV]

We booked a b2b on the Solstice from Singapore to Sydney and then Sydney around New Zealand for next October/November and used our travel agent. We made the booking a couple of months ago. Our travel agent had a deal that if you booked a C2 you received free gratuities, free drink package for 2 and $450 OBC per cruise.

 

I went to Celebrity's website and plugged in "best" which comes closest to what we are receiving (we don't have the free unlimited internet but the OBC we are receiving is more) and the difference in pricing was substantial - between the 2 cruises about $3500.

 

Send a thank you message to our travel agent thanking her for the good work she did on our behalf a couple of months ago!

 

I'm pretty sure that anyone that has a previous booking where they had 3 perks, Concierge & up, will come out better leaving their reservation be. About the only people that this will work better for is those that didn't book under any type of promo, or just the drink package. And that depends on what their pricing has done since they booked.

 

I have two cruises booked, one with 3 perks, it's a huge difference. The other I booked with a drink package and Spring Savings of $100 per person. Currently if I made a change it would cost me basically a couple of hundred dollars more to go to best, than if I bought them individually. The Spring Savings promo makes the difference in that one. Also that I don't value the internet for 2. Some couples will, especially those that might use a text program that is Wifi based. BTW, the base price of neither cruise has changed!

 

Everyone needs to understand the math and then do it. All this pearl clutching over the CC benefits and threatening to cruise other lines is just a tempest in a teapot. It's still a good deal. I think most of it is more of matter of not really understanding.

[ISABELLA]

I don't care what it is, no one will pay $180 for $150 worth of service. Celebrity needs their head examined

 

I don't think Celebrity care it is all make sense for us, - they only care what make sense for X.

I am sure they have plan B, if bookings start to drop, like making up all kind of additional incentives/ or special pricing.

Thank God I have cruises booked for 2016 and I don't have to deal with this nonsense.

[Wiltonian]

I don't think Celebrity care it is all make sense for us, - they only care what make sense for X.

I am sure they have plan B, if bookings start to drop, like making up all kind of additional incentives/ or special pricing.

Thank God I have cruises booked for 2016 and I don't have to deal with this nonsense.

 

Yes. I predict 'pay for Big and get Better' before the end if the year.

 

Stuart

[GottaKnowWhen]

I agree, we too are approaching a new Elite tier and this new strategy is too confusing. It will now force us to look elsewhere when we decide to Big Ship cruise again. The scheme of this new pricing campaign negates any upper tier Captain Club Benefits and makes "loyalty benefits" a non consideration in future cruise bookings, IMHO.

 

I agree that initially this will be confusing, particularly on existing bookings. But as a long term strategy it seems simple. If you have CC perks that cover drinks and internet, then don't pay extra for those. Just pay the base price for your cabin category, take the OBC and enjoy your cruise.

[Cruise Junky]

I don't think Celebrity care it is all make sense for us, - they only care what make sense for X.

I am sure they have plan B, if bookings start to drop, like making up all kind of additional incentives/ or special pricing.

Thank God I have cruises booked for 2016 and I don't have to deal with this nonsense.

 

It's actually a good illustration of a common marketing trick. By putting in an option that is less palatable you drive people to pick the other two. By having people scoff at the second option it may make more people select the third option.

[hcat]

$55 + 18% gratuity = $64.90 pp/night. Celebrity marketing flyers seem to round this to $65 when showing "values"

Jane

 

Thanks for doing all the math,,,...Selecting Classic is probably best for us under the BIG category....

 

we are booked thru Jan 2017...thought about looking for Spring 2017, but will wait and see how things go,,.

[richsea]

I agree that initially this will be confusing, particularly on existing bookings. But as a long term strategy it seems simple. If you have CC perks that cover drinks and internet, then don't pay extra for those. Just pay the base price for your cabin category, take the OBC and enjoy your cruise.

 

Absolutely agree. I don't see how BBB negates Elite & above perks. If you are satisfied with the CC drinks & internet offered with the perks, the you don't have to pay to upgrade; just take the OBC, & use it as you see fit, whether it's excursions, additional drinks, or on board shopping.

As far as any increase in base prices are concerned, we'll just continue to look for sailings with a cost that we are comfortable with & book it. If we feel the cost is too high, well, there are other cruise lines out there, & some very similar to Celebrity.

[GottaKnowWhen]

Here is my own analysis of one of my booked cruises. As currently booked has no 123Go benefits.

 

Concierge Cat C3 7 Night Alaska Aug 2016

 

In Nov 2014 listed at $2099.

In Feb, 2013, went to $2199

In Mar, 2015, went to $2099

In Apr, 2015, went to $2199

In Jun, 2015, went to $2299

 

As of 8 July 2015:

Go Big = $2299

Better = $2404 (= + $105 compared to Big)

Best = $2614 (+ 210 compared to Better)

- - — - - -

I booked in April at $2199

 

If I need to rebook Big at $2299, and I choose $150 OBC, net price decrease of $50.

 

If I rebook Better at $2404, choose $150 OBC and Beverage Pkg, net price increase of $55 yields $385 value beverage package.

 

If I rebook Best at $2614, net price increase of $265 (- $95 gratuities = net increase of $170) yields $455 Premium Bev Pkg + $299 internet.

 

I would welcome someone to check my math, but to me it looks like a no-brainer: the Big Better Best is a far better option than sticking with my original booking.

Edited July 8, 2015 by GottaKnowWhen
corrected bev pkg price and gratuities