Go Stupid, Stupid-er, Stupid-est. My offer to you...

[ghstudio]

OK...we are elite + as well....but I like the idea of having wine or beer with lunch and certainly like the idea of having at least house wine for dinner...so we would pick the drink package as our first perk.....at celebrity prices, I think two or three glasses of house wine per day probably would cost more than the free gratuties or $150pp for the cruise.

 

We have little use for OBC's since we almost always arrange our own excursions. We also rarely dine in a specialty restaurant unless they make us an offer we can't refuse (BOGO). Our TA seems to always give us either an OBC and/or Free gratuties so one or both of those are almost always covered.

 

We do use the internet daily but we are disciplined and download our mail to read and reply to offline and we update quicken daily to check for credit card fraud. We rarely go over one of our elite + internet allowances....we don't use both of our minutes unless I am doing a "live from" blog here which I've done on the past few cruises.

 

So netting it out....if we book another celebrity cruise (we now cruise on several cruise lines...in the past we were dedicated celebrity cruisers), we will pick the classic package and let our TA fill in the other pieces with some sort of credit. Or more likely....it is only a matter of time until Celebrity starts to roll out their "let us make the grass even greener with a free "better" upgrade" type of promotions.

 

Look...they are going to try to hold the line on their new marketing (AKA revenue generation) plan as long as possible....but at some point the fear of empty cabins will set in and the "no more last minute sales" and similar bluster will be forgotten. Just hang in there for reality to set in in HQ.

 

Finally, 1-2-3 was in many cases a great deal...but it was a deal...a promotion and it worked. You really can't compare your great 1-2-3 deals with today's "list prices".

Edited July 23, 2015 by ghstudio

[BEAV]

it is only a matter of time until Celebrity starts to roll out their "let us make the grass even greener with a free "better" upgrade" type of promotions.

 

Look...they are going to try to hold the line on their new marketing (AKA revenue generation) plan as long as possible....but at some point the fear of empty cabins will set in and the "no more last minute sales" and similar bluster will be forgotten. Just hang in there for reality to set in in HQ.

 

 

I've already seen at least one TA advertise a "free" or reduced upgrade to Go Better and/or Go Best, so I agree, it's only a matter of time until =X= runs a similar promotion. And you're right, BBB isn't a promotion, it's a new, ongoing, no-expiration-date price structure which differs from limited-time promotions.

 

As to the promise (threat?) of no more last minute sales, the weekly Exciting Deals continues to live on week after week after week.

[d4m]

Celebrity's bean-counters continue to disappoint me. So I will dish out a little disappointment of my own, to THEM.

 

I have 3 Celebrity cruises booked between now and the Fall of 2016. I'm not booking any more cruises after that, unless I see Celebrity put something better on the table.

 

 

Bingo, the way to do it. We have two scheduled and will not book again with Celebrity until or unless things change.

[bayonnejoe]

While the perks you now pay for are, in essence, a wash for a 7-10 day cruise, the longer the cruise gets, the less value there is, because of the standard $300 onboard credit. DW and I have a 5 night on the Eclipse and the package is a great deal because we paid an extra $450 for the Go Best option. So for our $450 we get a value of about $548 ($300 OBC, $130 gratuities, $118 upgrade to premium beverage package, plus unlimited internet.) We also have the Go Better for a 4 nighter later in the year. Even a better deal. There is something else people should be very aware of! And I apologize if this has been addressed, either in this thread or the previous, but anyone who routinely purchases cruise insurance, should be aware that the Go Better or Go Best is now part of your cruise fare and could raise the cost of your insurance. I think at some point, Celebrity will realize the error of their ways, and will pro-rate the OBC for cruise days like they used to

[hcat]

OK...we are elite + as well....but I like the idea of having wine or beer with lunch and certainly like the idea of having at least house wine for dinner...so we would pick the drink package as our first perk.....at celebrity prices, I think two or three glasses of house wine per day probably would cost more than the free gratuties or $150pp for the cruise.

 

We have little use for OBC's since we almost always arrange our own excursions. We also rarely dine in a specialty restaurant unless they make us an offer we can't refuse (BOGO). Our TA seems to always give us either an OBC and/or Free gratuties so one or both of those are almost always covered.

 

We do use the internet daily but we are disciplined and download our mail to read and reply to offline and we update quicken daily to check for credit card fraud. We rarely go over one of our elite + internet allowances....we don't use both of our minutes unless I am doing a "live from" blog here which I've done on the past few cruises.

 

 

So netting it out....if we book another celebrity cruise (we now cruise on several cruise lines...in the past we were dedicated celebrity cruisers), we will pick the classic package and let our TA fill in the other pieces with some sort of credit. Or more likely....it is only a matter of time until Celebrity starts to roll out their "let us make the grass even greener with a free "better" upgrade" type of promotions.

!

Look...they are going to try to hold the line on their new marketing (AKA revenue generation) plan as long as possible....but at some point the fear of empty cabins will set in and the "no more last minute sales" and similar bluster will be forgotten. Just hang in there for reality to set in in HQ.

 

Finally, 1-2-3 was in many cases a great deal...but it was a deal...a promotion and it worked. You really can't compare your great 1-2-3 deals with today's "list prices".

 

This is a sensible approach. We too would pick Big with the Classic bev, and may have to use a TA to fill in the OBC....or hope for renewed early booking incentives as E+.....or give up the spa...EEK!

[woodyren]

Are you sure those quotes are for a 7 night cruise? My 7 night shows $105 to go Better (granted, only makes sense to take the OBC) and $315 for go best?

 

Remember - not everyone is Elite or Elite plus.....

 

.

His prices were clearly not for a 7 night cruise. Simple maths show they were for a 13 nighter.

 

This is why the promo gets a little crazy. Assuming everyone factors in drinks in the big/base fare option. It then depends on what people chose for option 2 and how many days the cruise is for.

 

Choice 1 "free" (agree what another poster said it is not FREE) gratuities. You will always lose regardless unless you are in a suite. You are paying $15pp per day for $13pp worth of grats. CRAZY STUFF. Why do they even bother to give you this option at the better stage?

 

Choice 2. $300 OBC. On cruise of less than 9 days you win. The shorter the cruise the more you win. 5 days at $15pp is 15 x 5 x 2 = $150 cost for $300OBC. Great deal. BUT if you take a 14 days cruise 15 x 2 x 14 = $420 cost for $300. Again CRAZY STUFF. Do the maths for any combo of days. Why doesn't this option just automatically disappear at the better stage for cruises above 9 days?

 

Choice 3. Internet. Sure you win and if you want the internet it is a cheaper way of doing it BUT it is only a big saving because Celebrity have over inflated their internet price so they can show you how much they are saving you in their advertising IMO.

[FireEater]

I won with the BBB. I looked at what I originally paid for my upcoming 10 day cruise, and for an additional $200 more from my original price, I now get the drink package for both of us, in addition to the $150pp OBC. That is only $10pp per day. It will help with the OJ and specialty coffee drinks for my wife and will do that for me, plus gets me to check out other type of adult drinks I want to try out.

 

So for $10 more a day, it was a DEAL for us....

 

Good going Celebrity!!!!!!!!!

[Jade13]

Looks like you only win with a 7 night cruise for OBC.

 

$105 (7x15) will get you $150. Wow.

 

The OBC is the same no matter the length of the cruise? No wonder someone initially stated the added perks work best on the shorter cruises.

[Jade13]

I won with the BBB. I looked at what I originally paid for my upcoming 10 day cruise, and for an additional $200 more from my original price, I now get the drink package for both of us, in addition to the $150pp OBC. That is only $10pp per day. It will help with the OJ and specialty coffee drinks for my wife and will do that for me, plus gets me to check out other type of adult drinks I want to try out.

 

So for $10 more a day, it was a DEAL for us....

 

Good going Celebrity!!!!!!!!!

 

Interesting. So this is a 10 day cruise? Also, it sounds like you had no perks to start with, correct?

[FireEater]

Interesting. So this is a 10 day cruise? Also, it sounds like you had no perks to start with, correct?

 

No I had the $150pp ($300 total) OBC already when I originally booked using the 123 perk back then. For the additional $200, I got the drink package now with the BBB. Now with that $150 OBC under my name, I am on the fence on using their money to upgrade the drink package should it warrant...I will give it 1 night or 2 max to see if I want to.

 

Any yes, this is for a Thanksgiving 10 day cruise.

Edited July 23, 2015 by FireEater

[whitshel]

What happens if you do a 14 night cruise? The $210 becomes $420 for which u get $300 back as obc!!!

 

Thats why I said a 7 day cruise. For a 7 day cruises the old math, new math, what ever math you want works out just fine. At the very least I'm getting a $300 OBC for $210. In my book that's a $90 saving. Plus a drink package.

 

Lets see on a 14 day cruise your still getting a drink package worth $1540, right? Stop at the 1st perk, obviously.:eek:

 

I never said it wasn't a silly promotion, but if I can save a few bucks, why not?

[Gordoncruickshank]

In looking at a 14 night cruise we are considering I can't see why anyone would choose "Better" however the "Best" is $630 pp more or $1260 for both.

 

 

 

In doing the math the value of the perks is $300 OBC, $ 362.60 gratuities, $330.40 upgrade to premium beverage, $349 unlimited internet for a total of $$1342. About a $80 savings - we will probably book Best - heck $80 will pay for our airport parking:D

 

 

I suspect you each get an internet package although you would probably never have purchased 2 packages before

[Gordoncruickshank]

Thats why I said a 7 day cruise. For a 7 day cruises the old math, new math, what ever math you want works out just fine. At the very least I'm getting a $300 OBC for $210. In my book that's a $90 saving. Plus a drink package.

 

 

 

Lets see on a 14 day cruise your still getting a drink package worth $1540, right? Stop at the 1st perk, obviously.:eek:

 

 

 

I never said it wasn't a silly promotion, but if I can save a few bucks, why not?

 

 

We prefer the 14 night cruises so it has no great saving for us. It only saves $17 on the Best upgrade (which gives each of us an Internet package.). We may get some additional discount/obc from TA as overall price will have risen.

[QE2_Fan]

OK...we are elite + as well....but I like the idea of having wine or beer with lunch and certainly like the idea of having at least house wine for dinner...so we would pick the drink package as our first perk.....at celebrity prices, I think two or three glasses of house wine per day probably would cost more than the free gratuties or $150pp for the cruise.

 

We have little use for OBC's since we almost always arrange our own excursions. We also rarely dine in a specialty restaurant unless they make us an offer we can't refuse (BOGO). Our TA seems to always give us either an OBC and/or Free gratuties so one or both of those are almost always covered.

 

We do use the internet daily but we are disciplined and download our mail to read and reply to offline and we update quicken daily to check for credit card fraud. We rarely go over one of our elite + internet allowances....we don't use both of our minutes unless I am doing a "live from" blog here which I've done on the past few cruises.

 

So netting it out....if we book another celebrity cruise (we now cruise on several cruise lines...in the past we were dedicated celebrity cruisers), we will pick the classic package and let our TA fill in the other pieces with some sort of credit. Or more likely....it is only a matter of time until Celebrity starts to roll out their "let us make the grass even greener with a free "better" upgrade" type of promotions.

 

Look...they are going to try to hold the line on their new marketing (AKA revenue generation) plan as long as possible....but at some point the fear of empty cabins will set in and the "no more last minute sales" and similar bluster will be forgotten. Just hang in there for reality to set in in HQ.

 

Finally, 1-2-3 was in many cases a great deal...but it was a deal...a promotion and it worked. You really can't compare your great 1-2-3 deals with today's "list prices".

 

 

We are only SELECT so the whole Elite freebies piece doesn't come into our equations, but I am with you on the whole logic you've outlined.

 

We will get either OBC or Free Grats from our TA so it seems pointless to pay for it via GBBB, particularly when we look at 12+ night sailings.

 

In the base Go Big price we would go with the Classic drink pkg and upgrade to Premium once onboard at $11.50 per day. (Approx $140 for a 12 night cruise)

 

We would prob take OBC from our TA, leaving us to prepay our own grats, so roughly an extra $144 each.

 

So for the base price plus $284 we have essentially got our own bundled 'Go Best' package aside from the Internet. If we need it we can get a timed $59 bundle with a Captains Club discount onboard. Possibly paid out of our TA's OBC.

 

Still seem a long way ahead than paying $$$$ for an all inclusive 'Go Best' bundle as offered by ==X==.

 

And this isn't even comparing to the good old 123Go promos. Chalk and cheese.

 

I will continue to evaluate true value on any all inclusive offer, as I suspect many will do the same. If the value is not there, then I'll look elsewhere.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Edited July 24, 2015 by QE2_Fan

[ChucktownSteve]

In looking at a 14 night cruise... we will probably book Best - heck $80 will pay for our airport parking:D

 

 

WOW your airport only charges $5.75/day parking?:eek:

[Gordoncruickshank]

WOW your airport only charges $5.75/day parking?:eek:

 

We have an airport parking booking for February/March next year - 4 weeks for £66 right across the road from main terminal building in covered multistorey facility, fast track security access included.

[kenevenpar]

I won with the BBB. I looked at what I originally paid for my upcoming 10 day cruise, and for an additional $200 more from my original price, I now get the drink package for both of us, in addition to the $150pp OBC. That is only $10pp per day. It will help with the OJ and specialty coffee drinks for my wife and will do that for me, plus gets me to check out other type of adult drinks I want to try out.

 

So for $10 more a day, it was a DEAL for us....

 

Good going Celebrity!!!!!!!!!

 

Are you factoring in the supply/demand portion of the fare. For you, if the true "base" fare goes down, you win under the old pricing or possibly under the new.

 

Congrats on a better deal!

[Ma Bell]

This is all very amusing. Anyone who thinks they have really been saving anything since the beginning of all these "promotions" is sadly mistaken. It's like the story of the frog that was put into a pot of water on the stove and loved swimming around. The heat was turned up little by little so he didn't realize he was cooked until it was too late.

 

There are so many things to take into consideration, including the difference in the product we have today, but the bottom line is whether one feels he is getting fair value for the price paid. We all have to make our own choices.

[Queen of Oakville]

I priced out my Nov 2015 Sillhouette cruise using BBB.

 

It has me paying $800 more. I get $200 less in OBC from x{not even taking into account the extra $300 from my TA - which I might still be able to get?} But now I've lost my 3/4 pax classic non-alcohol packages.

 

 

The 123GO made a lot more financial sense (for me), especially if you had a 3/4 pax. BBB holds no attraction for me. When I sail silhouette, if BBB is still in effect, I guess I won't be booking on board.

[Chunky2219]

Oh dear, this is something that's been troubling me for a while. I spotted the other day that after our next cruise DW and I will be a mere 12 points short of the rarefied atmosphere of the higher echelons of the Captains' Club. Upper-middle class, you might say, if using 1950s English parlance.

 

I'm absolutely terrified that when we cross the threshold it will trigger me into a cycle of whinging and whining about perks versus promotions and that someone might be getting something that I'm not, even if they've paid a king's ransoms for a Penthouse Suite.

 

Is there any medication or counselling I should look at getting? Or should I just continue to do the math, as our transatlantic cousins say, and figure out if I am happy or not with the deals on offer?

 

.

[Ruthk]

Every year, for years, we book our next cruise while on board. We always sail 2x 14 days b2b = 1 month of glorious sailing!

We have made the decision to bid farewell to Celebrity after this Jan./Feb. cruise and instead we will book a condo in Florida for the winter months. In the last couple of years the prices have gone up considerably to absorb the "free" offers. We have loved every Celebrity cruise, but it's time to move on. I guess "that's business"!

[blueboro]

Every year, for years, we book our next cruise while on board. We always sail 2x 14 days b2b = 1 month of glorious sailing!

We have made the decision to bid farewell to Celebrity after this Jan./Feb. cruise and instead we will book a condo in Florida for the winter months. In the last couple of years the prices have gone up considerably to absorb the "free" offers. We have loved every Celebrity cruise, but it's time to move on. I guess "that's business"!

 

Maybe I have been lucky but I have received the classic beverage package and generous amounts of OBC on our cruises the past two+ years and very little if any difference in fares from pre-promotion days. So count me as one who loves to cruise and not worry about what each drink, bottle of water, soda and coffee costs.

[RiotAct]

These alleged perks are only hidden by driving the cruise price upwards. If people cant see what is happening they need to go to the optometrist and have their eyes examined.

 

Or, take a basic math course :)

[1982CruzStart]

I am one of those much maligned bean counters though i do not work for Celebrity. I did a mock booking for a European cruise for 2016 under the BBB promo. We are new to Celebrity and have not yet taken our first cruise with them so no loyalty discounts. When i crunch the $ for the suite and number of days we would sail I come up with a different answer than almost everyone else here. We utilize the beverage package, use unlimited internet for business and personal reasons, pay the higher level of grats and can always find uses for OBC so in those circumstances we can save money booking under the best level to get everything we want. Having said that if our TA offered sufficient OBC to cover all or most of the things except the beverage package then the first or second levels might work.

 

I did a dummy booking at all 3 levels to check the price differences and then compared that to the cost for each thing individually. The BBB promos came out ahead. I couldn't compare it to the actual booking we have for 2016 because our class of cabin is sold out.

 

As most people have suggested you need to do the math yourself based on your own circumstances and determine what works best for you. Anytime i look at booking a cruise i compare the cost of the cruise to all my options for that itinerary. We like the all inclusive type package, have enjoyed that in the past and usually look for that when we plan our cruises. Assuming we do enjoy our 2 Celebrity cruises I will do that on any future cruises before determining if Celebrity is good value or not. If we don't enjoy the experiences then no matter how good a deal Celebrity offers we won't sail with them again.

[Jade13]

And I apologize if this has been addressed, either in this thread or the previous, but anyone who routinely purchases cruise insurance, should be aware that the Go Better or Go Best is now part of your cruise fare and could raise the cost of your insurance. I think at some point, Celebrity will realize the error of their ways, and will pro-rate the OBC for cruise days like they used to

 

Great point!