changing from go!big to go!best after final payment?

[karli_ratte]

I've made final payment on our November cruise yesterday, but have only just sat down and calculated the cost and benefits of changing from our go! to the best!

11 nights, 2 people:

- total of 880€ extra for go!best.

- gratuities are 250€

- upgrade from classic to premium (which we always buy anyways) is 231€

- OBC would be 265€ total and we'll book excursions on board, so it will go towards costs already expected

 

that would leave 134€ in actual new costs for unlimited (although slow) internet for 2 people. 6€ extra per day, is it worth it?

 

Is that even possible after final payment? They'd have to pay back the gratuities already paid and then charge me the 40€ per day per person extra...

[TickledBlue]

While I doubt they'd let you make the change, it doesn't hurt to ask.

[bEwAbG]

Never hurts to ask. They'll generally always agree to take more money from you, but if the only way for them to process it is to cancel one order and start with a new one, they probably will say no since you're already past the final payment stage. The answer can also depend on your country. So the only real way to know is to contact them. I'd be interested to hear how they handle it.

Edited October 9, 2015 by bEwAbG

[ShawninFL]

You made your final payment yesterday, but was that the official deadline? I know my TA usually sets it a week before the official due date in case he has a client who is slow to respond to the final payment request. You may still be outside of your penalty period. It never hurts to try. Good Luck.

[cle-guy]

The BBB pricing is really treated as an add-on, they charge for each bump, I think you MAY be successful in your ask...

 

It's a flat $15 pp/pd to upgrade from Big to Better, and $45pp/pd to upgrade from Big to Best, therefore $30pp/pd to upgrade from Bigger to Best, unless they have special pricing running.

 

I made the attached "calclulator" to help in considering the various variables to help in making the decision.

 

I can't post Excel here, where you can just plug numbers, so have to do it with pen and pencil LOL.

BBB Pricing.pdf

Edited October 10, 2015 by cle-guy

[denatravels]

You made your final payment yesterday, but was that the official deadline? I know my TA usually sets it a week before the official due date in case he has a client who is slow to respond to the final payment request. You may still be outside of your penalty period. It never hurts to try. Good Luck.

 

 

For $$, yes-- that's a great point. For euros, don't think it matters.

[az_tchr]

Ask - The rules in the UK are alwaysent. Also as Cle stated Celebrity is always happy to make a change to colect more $$ from you. Is it worth it? you need to decide. Understand you in effect are making a new booking with whatever deal are in effect at the time you change. Also if you do not like the first answer - ASK someone else.

 

Good luck and happy cruising.

[karli_ratte]

You made your final payment yesterday, but was that the official deadline? I know my TA usually sets it a week before the official due date in case he has a client who is slow to respond to the final payment request. You may still be outside of your penalty period. It never hurts to try. Good Luck.

 

 

According to the online system final payment is not until a month before sailing (31st of October). Paper documents even say 14 days before sailing (approx 15th of Nov). So there's still a few weeks to go before the official final payment deadline. I just paid it so early to make sure my credit card doesn't max out while we travel.

 

It's 15€ for the better and 40€ extra for the best. We'd only do it for the internet, which is a lot cheaper this way than when getting a package. But then I need to decide if I actually want internet. My partner is a software developer and tends to spend too much time online reading up on stuff (I lack the knowledge of what he actually does) as it is. So maybe I shouldn't tempt him...

 

Still, I'll send an email to Celebrity and see what they'll say. I think I've reached my quota on annoying phone calls on this booking and I think I might already be flagged in their system :-)

[Iamcruzin]

I'm curious about this myself. If passengers are able to purchase an up sell for a higher category room after final payment it only makes sense that you should be able to purchase a higher incentive package as well. It would be like purchasing an excursion, drink package or dining package after final payment.

[ellenh]

I was able to switch from "Go Big" to "Go Best" on my upcoming Connie cruise but it was probably a little more convoluted than what you are looking to do. In my case prices dropped dramatically right after final payment date (I had booked several months earlier). I knew I couldn't get any refund on the price of my cabin but I thought (correctly) that I might be able to purchase an upgrade. I opted to go from a 2A to a CC class cabin. However, the "Go Big" price for the upgraded CC class was still less than what I had paid for my 2A cabin so the only way to "upgrade" (in Celebrity's eyes) was to upgrade both cabin and perks. So I was able to go from 2A "go Big" to C3 "Go Best" for way less than the standard upgrade for those packages (I think it was $240/person for a 12 day cruise).

 

I'm not sure this is typical or I just got lucky but it's worth asking!

[denatravels]

I was able to switch from "Go Big" to "Go Best" on my upcoming Connie cruise but it was probably a little more convoluted than what you are looking to do. In my case prices dropped dramatically right after final payment date (I had booked several months earlier). I knew I couldn't get any refund on the price of my cabin but I thought (correctly) that I might be able to purchase an upgrade. I opted to go from a 2A to a CC class cabin. However, the "Go Big" price for the upgraded CC class was still less than what I had paid for my 2A cabin so the only way to "upgrade" (in Celebrity's eyes) was to upgrade both cabin and perks. So I was able to go from 2A "go Big" to C3 "Go Best" for way less than the standard upgrade for those packages (I think it was $240/person for a 12 day cruise).

 

 

 

I'm not sure this is typical or I just got lucky but it's worth asking!

 

 

That's a great upgrade!!

[Iamcruzin]

I was able to switch from "Go Big" to "Go Best" on my upcoming Connie cruise but it was probably a little more convoluted than what you are looking to do. In my case prices dropped dramatically right after final payment date (I had booked several months earlier). I knew I couldn't get any refund on the price of my cabin but I thought (correctly) that I might be able to purchase an upgrade. I opted to go from a 2A to a CC class cabin. However, the "Go Big" price for the upgraded CC class was still less than what I had paid for my 2A cabin so the only way to "upgrade" (in Celebrity's eyes) was to upgrade both cabin and perks. So I was able to go from 2A "go Big" to C3 "Go Best" for way less than the standard upgrade for those packages (I think it was $240/person for a 12 day cruise).

 

I'm not sure this is typical or I just got lucky but it's worth asking!

 

I'm just amazed that their computer system was able to calculate that complicated change without melting. I hope you printed out the new invoice.

[karli_ratte]

Just a quick update. After my post weeks ago I didn't find the time to look into this anymore. Today I decided to give them a call. We're 24 days away from our sail date and we're definitely past final payment.

 

It was apparently the first request for the lady at the call center for a change from big to best, but she looked into it right away. As mentioned in my first post, I had already paid for the upgrade to the premium package and paid gratuities as well.

They charged me the 40€ extra per day for go!best minus the amount for gratuities, no questions asked. And I just cancelled the classic-to-premium myself afterwards online.

So that was a lot easier than expected, right?

 

The fun part? I now show an imbalance of the exact amount of gratuities in my online account :-) oh well... Apparently it will take a few days for "Miami" to fix this said the German call center lady :-) Let's wait and see...