Buy 1 Get 1 Half Price!?

[PennyWisePoundFoolish]

I have been exploring booking a Med Cruise on Eclipse. After looking at prices in brochures, i went online to book and was disappointed to discover that prices had increased so much that I would be paying the same or slightly more for the "special offer" than the guideline price in the brochure. I understand that prices can go up and down but think the offer may mislead some into thinking they are getting a bargain. Agent says price increase is due to the popularity of the cruise.

[judymag]

Thought it was just me who found that

[snh01]

Well at the start I bought an Adriatic buy one get one half for 2508gbp. It's now 3228gbp, so it is demand as the first rate was a good deal vs pre offer prices ... But now not so much but I guess that's demand caused by sales.

[ghstudio]

You'll find lots of offers on cruises and you'll find that cruise lines and TA's love to just move the $'s around so they look different and hopefully look better but somehow the total cost is the same. It's the old, "raise the price and put it on sale for the original price" game. When good better best (and 1-2-3) appeared....surprise, surprise, the prices went up to include at least part of the cost of the "giveaways". It's not unique to cruises....but it is almost commonplace on cruises.

[PennyWisePoundFoolish]

Thanks for the comments! I'll keep a look-out and see if the price drops nearer the end of the promotion.

[Iamthesea]

It's like the promo/ploy that Oceania advertises.

 

Book cruise ...and the airfare is FREE. As it turns out, the airfare is only free from certain cities. Many people, including us, would have to fly to that city on our own dollar. :rolleyes: We priced it out and are able to fly from our hometown to Ft. Lauderdale for the same price as the allowance ($300) from Oceania. :) So Oceania deducted the $300 pp from our cruise fare. Had we taken up the offer and used the airfare allowance, it would have still cost us another $300 to get from home to ATL or CLT.

Edited September 30, 2015 by Iamthesea

[kitty9]

I have discovered that these 2 for 1 "deals" aren't really deals at all, but just marketing tools to get unsuspecting people to think they're getting great deals, but it's usually not the case. The luxury lines started this business a few years ago, and now the rest may be trying. In the case of the luxury lines, in their brochures they always listed two fares, one fare called brochure rates (which everyone knows you never pay) and the second fare called something like early booking fares. When they announced the 2'fers, they got rid of the early booking fare, and based the 2'fer on the much higher brochure rate. What you actually wound up paying was nearly the same fare that you would have if you had booked two fares on the old early booking rates. Like I said, it's nothing but a marketing tool.

[CathyCruises]

Prices have also gone up significantly since the GBBB started. Some of the cruises I've been following have shown prices with and without the GBBB, and unless you drink a LOT, they're not worth the upcharge. So be sure you are comparing deals with identical perks to get true pricing picture.

[Finabear]

Speaking of moving the money around:

I tried to book a cruise under Go BIG with an online TA that gives free pre-paid tips. I realized she hadn't asked which item I wanted as part of the Go Big and she had to call Celebrity. Turns out I wasn't eligible for one because I had booked under the senior rate. But for another $300 I could get $300 of OBC. Seriously? Yes, the rate I was looking at was lower than the Celebrity site but REALLY???? We went back and forth for awhile. The TA went to bat for me (we have booked our last several cruises with them) and the money got moved around to my satisfaction. Needed a calculator handy though.

[DebbieMacG]

It really depends on supply and demand, prices go up and down all the time.

 

I had been keeping an eye on a celebrity suite for a cruise next year. When the offer came out the prices did NOT go up and I saved £1700. Many others have saved as well (there was another thread about this a while back) but depending on when you first looked at prices and when you book, it may appear as if prices have increased/decreased :)

[Wiltonian]

When "2nd person half price" was launched by Celebrity UK, it was a good deal on many cruises - we cancelled and rebooked to get a Balcony cabin for no more than we'd made previously for an OV. But Celebrity prices do rise on high-demand cruises, especially as final payment day approaches. On our cruise in Sept 2016, the base balcony price has gone from £2.5K to £3K for two in the last month.

 

Stuart

Edited October 1, 2015 by Wiltonian

[2islandhoppers]

Speaking of moving the money around:

I tried to book a cruise under Go BIG with an online TA that gives free pre-paid tips. I realized she hadn't asked which item I wanted as part of the Go Big and she had to call Celebrity. Turns out I wasn't eligible for one because I had booked under the senior rate. But for another $300 I could get $300 of OBC. Seriously? Yes, the rate I was looking at was lower than the Celebrity site but REALLY???? We went back and forth for awhile. The TA went to bat for me (we have booked our last several cruises with them) and the money got moved around to my satisfaction. Needed a calculator handy though.

 

I agree. This whole promotion is nothing but a ploy to make you think you got a great deal. The reality is you pay for it in a higher fare. We ended up paying less by taking the "no deal" rate and pre-paying our gratuities. We had to prepay tips because as Celebrity was unable to confirm us in traditional dining, Select dining required us to prepay. WHAT??!! Never had that happen on any other cruise line. Are they afraid we're going to stiff the wait staff since we don't have an assigned table? As soon as Celebrity had our money 'tho, guess what - the "waitlisted" traditional dining was confirmed.:cool:

[ShakeDaddy]

Hey Mr. "2 Post" Poundwise.

 

This promo appears to be not all that great.

 

Suggest you do your DD and learn for yourself what IS a Great Price and WHAT isn't. :D

[sha1955]

Quick question, when you cancelled and re booked, did you lose your deposit?

[PennyWisePoundFoolish]

Hey Mr. "2 Post" Poundwise.

 

This promo appears to be not all that great.

 

Suggest you do your DD and learn for yourself what IS a Great Price and WHAT isn't. :D

 

Mrs "2 Post" Poundwise replying!

Don't know what DD stands for but my original post was because I had already learnt for myself that the deal on offer was not Great and I wanted to share that with others.

Helpful advice welcome.

[az_tchr]

If you cancel before the cutoff date (75 days for a 14 day cruise and less for shorter cruises) you are eligible to change to a price drop, new promotion or cancel at no cost in the US. Some TAs charge $50 and others zero. If you have a history and several bookings with the TA, all will do changes for free in my experiences with three big box TAs in the US.

[DrivesLikeMario]

DD = Dear daughter.

 

Just monitor prices. If you wait until the last minute, you might get a better deal. UK pricing is totally different than in the US so a lot of these posts aren't really geared to the UK market.

[villauk]

DD = Dear daughter.

 

Just monitor prices. If you wait until the last minute, you might get a better deal. UK pricing is totally different than in the US so a lot of these posts aren't really geared to the UK market.

 

I actually think DD means due diligence in this case ;). But you are correct, the UK pricing is totally different. I priced a cruise for next year both over here, with the BOGO 1/2 price, and with my US TA (no 1/2 price promo) and the US price still worked out less expensive for the cabins I wanted. Lesson: always check both sides of the pond, irrespective of what 'offer' is running ;).

[hancock]

DD=Due diligence, as well.