Celebrity Pricing Policy

[speedwell]

I'm interested to know if Celebrity use the same pricing policy in the US as in the UK.

 

On the 9th Sept. I asked for a quote on a Baltic cruise. Since I was going on a cruise on the 13th, I thought I would check the prices and incentives on board. On the 15th Sept the quote was £375 more and on the 25th Sept it had increased by a further £300.

 

On checking my price alert e-mails when I got home, I found that there had been a price increase almost every day since the current promotion started and that the cost today is nearly £900 more than on the 9th Sept.

 

I understand the concept of supply and demand, but there appears to be lots of cabins available in the category I was checking. Does the US have the same pricing policy or are the prices quoted more stable?

[cle-guy]

I'm interested to know if Celebrity use the same pricing policy in the US as in the UK.

 

On the 9th Sept. I asked for a quote on a Baltic cruise. Since I was going on a cruise on the 13th, I thought I would check the prices and incentives on board. On the 15th Sept the quote was £375 more and on the 25th Sept it had increased by a further £300.

 

On checking my price alert e-mails when I got home, I found that there had been a price increase almost every day since the current promotion started and that the cost today is nearly £900 more than on the 9th Sept.

 

I understand the concept of supply and demand, but there appears to be lots of cabins available in the category I was checking. Does the US have the same pricing policy or are the prices quoted more stable?

 

Every itinerary and sailing is unique, and fares change all the time, and fares can vary from US to other locations, as do promotions.

 

Looking at my upcoming sailing, pricing for a C2 for example has changed:

• $1,379 3/25/14
  
• $1,479 5/22/14
  
• $1,529 5/30/14
  
• $1,679 11/25/14
  
• $1,779 12/5/14
  

And today this category is sold out.

 

Last year, my sailing on this same one, we had 42% open cabins at final payment. Ship sailed full 74 days later. Some cabin categories on this one had as many as 15 fare changes over time.

 

Ships are sailing full, they know it, so just because a few months out there is lots of open cabins, doesn't mean it will remain that way.

[az_tchr]

Really quite simple (LOL) in that Celebrity uses a computer model just like the airlines to price cabins. The more demand the higher the price. Seems most cruises are booked at a higher rate than last year and thus as cabins filled the prices moved up. we are back to the place where people are looking at a cruise as a cheap vacation.

 

If you want a "deal" the time to book is the day after final payment is due - 74 days for longer cruises. This is the date that cabins blocked out for groups by TAs and cabins reserved through both TAs and X for individuals must make final payment. Until this time there is little or no cost to cancel. Lots of cabins are sort of "take a look" bookings. We used to book two different itineraries and decide just before final payment which one we wanted to do. Others will cancel because of health issues - waiting till the last possible date hoping they or family members will be able to do the trip. Thus often lots of cabins come on the market on this date and must be moved.

 

When there are large price reductions after the payment date X and the others will often offer "deals" on an upgraded cabin. However, for those already booked any price reduction requires a lot of negotiation and probably a bit of cruising history with X.

[speedwell]

I used to book very early, but for my recent cruise I did wait until near the payment date and paid less than half of the price paid by those who booked early.

[Barwick Cruiser]

I used to book very early, but for my recent cruise I did wait until near the payment date and paid less than half of the price paid by those who booked early.

 

You got lucky I think...my Feb 2016 b2b has more than doubled since I booked months ago and my category has been sold out for weeks. I imagine some cabins in my category will open up after final but I really like the cabin I have so for me it paid to book early. Guess it depends on where you go and the time of year...def supply and demand!

[RocketMan275]

I used to book very early, but for my recent cruise I did wait until near the payment date and paid less than half of the price paid by those who booked early.

 

Assuming those who booked early were in North America, why wouldn't they apply for a price reduction? Wouldn't they wind up paying the same price as you? Didn't you take a chance that the prices would increase?

[Mr. Click]

Prices and incentives are always changing. With all of the "promos" being offered now it is harder and harder to sort it all out going forward. On our Baltic cruise this past May/June we booked 10 months ahead with some perks. Three months later there was a dramatic price drop and our TA did some wheeling and dealing to get us the lower price and to keep our perks too....the other cruises we have booked now, Australia/New Zealand, Spain and Portugal and Alaska have done nothing but go up since we booked so I guess I got it right. The current ones are showing ships that are very full so while I will keep watching, I don't expect to see any drops.

[jelayne]

Assuming those who booked early were in North America, why wouldn't they apply for a price reduction? Wouldn't they wind up paying the same price as you? Didn't you take a chance that the prices would increase?

 

After final payment the fare will not be adjusted down. If there are higher category cabins available at more than you paid there is the opportunity to pay the difference an upgrade. On our first Celebrity cruise we booked a low level veranda, prices dropped on Aqua cabins so for $35 each we moved from a veranda to Aqua.

[RocketMan275]

After final payment the fare will not be adjusted down. If there are higher category cabins available at more than you paid there is the opportunity to pay the difference an upgrade. On our first Celebrity cruise we booked a low level veranda, prices dropped on Aqua cabins so for $35 each we moved from a veranda to Aqua.

 

If you read the post I was responding to, you'll see my questions were addressed relative to a cruise that had not reached final payment.

[alcpa1]

As you can tell cruising prices are fluid.

Your question however, related more to UK cruise prices. There are different controls on cruise pricing offered. There is no doubt about that. On one cruise a couple of years ago Aussie friends got substantially better pricing than we Yanks did. We have seen the same for friends from Scotland. But the reverse can be just as true.

If I am not mistaken your UK deposits are non-refundable up to final payment. That is not true for North American (US and Canada) cruisers. Just the differential between the pound and the dollar can make a difference too.

As for price drops after final payment....it's not a given. We have cruised at the same time of the year many times from the same embarkation ports. This year the price for our cabin class is $800+ more after final payment than the price we paid 10 months ago. Anything can happen and usually does when calculating cruise fare.

[speedwell]

alcpa1

 

As you say, the prices are fluid but I didn't expect them to change every day. You are correct that UK residents lose their deposit if they cancel the cruise, but on the Sept 2015 cruise I lost my deposit and still saved £900 plus a higher grade cabin. I was probably very lucky and took advantage of a limited time offer.

 

I use a US travel agent fairly regularly, but it does depend on the exchange rate and which country has the better promotional offer at the time.

 

I have cruised on Eclipse 8 times and I'm beginning to think that instead of reserving my favourite cabin well in advance, I may as well take a late deal and hope to get a reasonable cabin.

[yorkyred]

Our cruise in November has gone up and up and only has guarantees left in most of the Balcony cats at lower levels so you just never know. Interestingly I also priced up for a cruise next September. We use a TA that is linked to a big ta in the states but use a London address. You get through to Florida when phoning the freephone number but don't get the benefits of US cruisers such as not losing your deposit. The price using an American TA for that September cruise is way more than booking with the UK one so its not always cheaper.

[DYKWIA]

We got great reductions in the UK on a wide range of Celebrity cruises for this summer in Europe around about late April (still at least 6 weeks before final payment). The one we picked worked out 50% less than we paid last year (and we thought that was a good price) for the same ship, same cabin grade (gte balcony), itinerary and freebies (none :D ).

 

I had been tracking the prices for about 8 months and they were significantly more expensive, changing daily, one offer replaced with another. In those months I saw lots of "warnings" about how availability was low, book now to avoid disappointment, prices will go up when this offer ends etc etc - but then one weekend - several UK TAs and Celebrity themselves slashed prices for about 36 hours. No freebies, just low prices.

 

It worked for us, YMMV. One risk I see about waiting (other than the reduction never materialising) is that airfares do seem to go up significantly the longer you leave it and at the last minute can be silly.

 

I also found it useful to watch the prices of other cruise lines - there were several ships doing similar itineraries around about that time (2 week med cruises ex Southampton) and they were all significantly cheaper than Celebrity (Cunard, RCL, P+O) - At one point Celebrity were asking over £5000 for a 2C cabin about 40% more than the other lines.

 

At the moment cruises are offering us very good value and we are enjoying them a lot. If and when that changes we'll probably shift back to land based holidays, there is no way I would pay £5000 for a 2 week cruise around the Med, for example.

Edited October 3, 2015 by DYKWIA

[yorkyred]

We got great reductions in the UK on a wide range of Celebrity cruises for this summer in Europe around about late April (still at least 6 weeks before final payment). The one we picked worked out 50% less than we paid last year (and we thought that was a good price) for the same ship, same cabin grade (gte balcony), itinerary and freebies (none :D ).

 

I had been tracking the prices for about 8 months and they were significantly more expensive, changing daily, one offer replaced with another. In those months I saw lots of "warnings" about how availability was low, book now to avoid disappointment, prices will go up when this offer ends etc etc - but then one weekend - several UK TAs and Celebrity themselves slashed prices for about 36 hours. No freebies, just low prices.

 

It worked for us, YMMV. One risk I see about waiting (other than the reduction never materialising) is that airfares do seem to go up significantly the longer you leave it and at the last minute can be silly.

 

I also found it useful to watch the prices of other cruise lines - there were several ships doing similar itineraries around about that time (2 week med cruises ex Southampton) and they were all significantly cheaper than Celebrity (Cunard, RCL, P+O) - At one point Celebrity were asking over £5000 for a 2C cabin about 40% more than the other lines.

 

At the moment cruises are offering us very good value and we are enjoying them a lot. If and when that changes we'll probably shift back to land based holidays, there is no way I would pay £5000 for a 2 week cruise around the Med, for example.

 

I'm honestly not sure there is any sure fire way of getting the cheapest deal. For the November cruise mentioned we booked an inside cabin early, six months later the prices dropped and we cancelled and got a balcony on the hump for less than the inside. Prices then started to rise again and never came back down unless you accepted a guarantee. I'm happy enough getting a 13 night cruise in a balcony plus drinks package plus onboard credit for *£2770

Edited October 3, 2015 by yorkyred

[sandyss]

I suspect that with Celebrity providing blocks of cabins to TAs to sell, that Celebrity may be creating an artificial scarcity - and using that scarcity to raise prices on the remaining cabins. A cruise that we have booked for September 2016 has had very few cabins available for a couple of months. It seems that virtually any time a cabin in a "sold-out" category becomes available, the price goes up. An example is that the cost of a 2B cabin has increased from $2,289 on 12-9-14 to a current cost of $3,269. An A2 has increased from $2,899 to $3,979. There was a total of 12 increases mostly in the range of $50 - $100, although the last increase was a whopping $250.

[cle-guy]

A cruise that we have booked for September 2016 has had very few cabins available for a couple of months. It seems that virtually any time a cabin in a "sold-out" category becomes available, the price goes up.

 

This sounds just as much about supply and demand pricing as anything else.

 

Scarcity = low supply = higher price.

 

Cabin was sold out, one comes back, it's very scarce - the last one, and thus quite valuable.

 

Any business would do the same, raise pricing on limited supply until such time as they determine the remaining supply will go unsold, and lower prices last minute to the extent they feel won't canibalize higher fares over time but causing lots of people to wait for that final price drop.

 

A ship's cabin is a perishable good just like a carton of milk. Once final boarding is announced, anything unsold is garbage, the cabin has expired like a gallon of milk after a couple weeks.

[RocketMan275]

This sounds just as much about supply and demand pricing as anything else.

 

Scarcity = low supply = higher price.

 

Cabin was sold out, one comes back, it's very scarce - the last one, and thus quite valuable.

 

 

Absolutely. I booked a OS on Allure of the Seas about a year ago at about $5250 total for two. All but one OS are now sold and the price for the remaining OS is ~$14,500. Too bad I can't get RCI to buy it back from me. I'd let it go cheap, say $12,500. I'd even throw in $100 OBC.