Wow! Canadians get a heck of a deal...

[Bruin Steve]

So...I'm checking out my cruise for next month to see what the current pricing and availability is...and, when I narrow the search to March 2016 and Fort Lauderdale and forget to check "Cruise Only", a whole bunch of choices come up...most of them titled something like "Si Its All Included Hamilton Book & Go"...or Quebec or Montreal or whatever...

 

Anyway...I booked many months ago and my balcony cabin cost me $1249 pp...and that price hasn't really changed much...They are still showing balcony cabins starting at $1249...

 

So...I look at the pricing on that "Si Its All Included Hamilton Book & Go"...and it shows a balcony cabin starting at $1226! So, I do a search to find out what this promotion is...and what I find is that it INCLUDES AIR...from CANADA!!!:

 

These Caribbean Book & Go Vacation Packages include:

--Air travel from 7 Canadian airports 7

--Night Western Caribbean or Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard Celebrity Reflection®reg or Celebrity Silhouette®

--Veranda stateroom

--Classic Beverage Package

--Transfers between South Florida airport, hotel, and cruise port

--Night in a South Florida hotel for some departure airports

--Gratuities & taxes

 

Seriously? That's a heck of a deal...

 

My price, BTW, included the drink package and gratuities...but certainly not taxes, airfare, hotel and transfers! All that for LESS than the price of the cruise for the rest of us??

[FlorenceItaly]

I also noticed this!

 

 

 

Marie

[Max Bet]

That's all well and good but the last time Celebrity put something on my credit card I was charged $1.51 exchange rate!:mad: Ended up costing $190 Canadian for 3 cheap bottles of wine!

Edited February 10, 2016 by Max Bet

[Moonlitherial]

Some of them are good deals but please note that our dollar has dipped so low that what used to be pretty close to 1-1 at today's rates that cruise would cost us just over $1700.

 

They are missing a lot of Canadian travellers due to the exchange rate so understandable that the price is dropping - they fly that plane if it's full or half full.

[Bruin Steve]

Yes, that rate is in US Dollars...and yes, that's a larger number of Canadian dollars...but, heck, it would also be over 23,000 Mexican pesos...

 

The exchange rate is whatever it is...but the cost of the cruise is still "apples for apples"...$1249 USD gets ME a cruise, drinks and tips...$1226 USD gets YOU that same cruise, drinks and tips...plus taxes, airfare, hotels and transfers...

 

The cruise line isn't responsible for making up for your lousy exchange rate...But they are giving you almost $1000 per person in extras...

 

Tell me ANYWHERE you can use your Canadian Dollars to purchase any item at a 1 to 1 exchange rate? Exchange rates are irrelevant...You are paying LESS than I am and getting so much more...

[lovemylab]

While there are some good deals out of select airports, keep in mind that not all Canadians fly out of Hamilton ;)

 

The March 20th sailing isn't available out of my nearest airport; however, the one departing the week before is. The price I'm getting for a package with flights is $2,693pp in US dollars. Cruise only would be just under $1,400pp in US dollars, so the package with air is hardly a deal.

 

Once converted to Cdn dollars, that package would be $7,500 Cdn per couple. In comparison, a 7 day stay at a Sandals resort for the same week would be $5,000 Cdn per couple (including airfare and transfers). There are other 4 and 5 star resorts showing for $1,500-$2,000pp.

 

I'm not surprised at all that Celebrity has dropped some prices. As someone else mentioned, Celebrity has to fly that plane whether it's full or half full. At $1,249pp US (or $1,750 Cdn), this is allowing Celebrity to compete with the AI resort packages.

[thon]

I tried to replicate exactly what the OP got but was unable to do so. Celebrity has been offering these all included packages from Canada since 2014 or before. Every time I go online I get some different combination of Canadian cities, but for some reason never Ottawa where I live and where I know they offer this package from. I took it in March 2015 on Reflection.

 

Anyhow, when you see this on the Celebrity website you have to go all the way through the the process of actually "booking" the particular cruise. For instance by doing this on Silhouette in March from Montreal it is over $1700 USD for the cheapest available balcony cabin. You cannot just take the "advertised" rate as the final one.

 

For Canadians, for a number of reasons, these really are pretty good deals (if we ignore the exchange rate) but I really don't think that what we get is superior to what Americans can buy in their country. Even ignoring the exchange rates, I have difficulty believing that we get a better deal. Of course, I am always open to being corrected!

[lobster129]

So...I'm checking out my cruise for next month to see what the current pricing and availability is...and, when I narrow the search to March 2016 and Fort Lauderdale and forget to check "Cruise Only", a whole bunch of choices come up...most of them titled something like "Si Its All Included Hamilton Book & Go"...or Quebec or Montreal or whatever...

 

Anyway...I booked many months ago and my balcony cabin cost me $1249 pp...and that price hasn't really changed much...They are still showing balcony cabins starting at $1249...

 

So...I look at the pricing on that "Si Its All Included Hamilton Book & Go"...and it shows a balcony cabin starting at $1226! So, I do a search to find out what this promotion is...and what I find is that it INCLUDES AIR...from CANADA!!!:

 

These Caribbean Book & Go Vacation Packages include:

--Air travel from 7 Canadian airports 7

--Night Western Caribbean or Eastern Caribbean cruise aboard Celebrity Reflection®reg or Celebrity Silhouette®

--Veranda stateroom

--Classic Beverage Package

--Transfers between South Florida airport, hotel, and cruise port

--Night in a South Florida hotel for some departure airports

--Gratuities & taxes

 

Seriously? That's a heck of a deal...

 

My price, BTW, included the drink package and gratuities...but certainly not taxes, airfare, hotel and transfers! All that for LESS than the price of the cruise for the rest of us??

 

Hi Steve,:)

 

We are also booked on Reflection sailing in 2 weeks. X has been marketing that same promo to Canadians on our cruise also. It does not seem to be working too well for X. Still lots of cabins open to book in all categories. Of course we are way beyond final payment.

 

Did get email from X today offering upsell from our 1A cabin to CC for $300 (per cabin/not pp) and $400 for AQ. We declined as we have mid-ship hump cabin and love our location. Might reconsider if they offer us a suite...;)

 

BTW, we are "Elite" Capt Club status. Our DS & DIL sailing in cabin next to us were NOT offered an upgrade (booked same date/same rate) They are "Select". So looks like X is complying with their policy of offering upgrades to Celebrity loyalists first.

 

Becky

[TeaBag]

I have never seen any of these deals for the west coast cities. Guess we're too far from Florida.

[Moonlitherial]

Yes, that rate is in US Dollars...and yes, that's a larger number of Canadian dollars...but, heck, it would also be over 23,000 Mexican pesos...

 

The exchange rate is whatever it is...but the cost of the cruise is still "apples for apples"...$1249 USD gets ME a cruise, drinks and tips...$1226 USD gets YOU that same cruise, drinks and tips...plus taxes, airfare, hotels and transfers...

 

The cruise line isn't responsible for making up for your lousy exchange rate...But they are giving you almost $1000 per person in extras...

 

Tell me ANYWHERE you can use your Canadian Dollars to purchase any item at a 1 to 1 exchange rate? Exchange rates are irrelevant...You are paying LESS than I am and getting so much more...

 

The point is, Celebrity has gotten accustomed to a certain number of Canadian passengers, and with the exchange rate changes in the last year that number has dropped. They're doing the same thing they always have - marketing to get the response they want.

[Colfireman]

It's too bad that Celebrity does not include the "West Coasters" in this promotion. I have seen some of the ads for this promo and prices were around $2200.00 Canadian.

[Cruise Junky]

I'm just going to sulk out West as we don't get these deals :(

[DYKWIA]

Airlines do this sort of pricing (country specific promos) all the time, it's how they fill planes.

 

its often way more expensive to say fly British Airways LHR to LAX than it is to fly some European City-LHR-LAX (same transatlantic BA flight)

 

Best we had was a saving of about £1100 pp on a club class return flight.

[RickT]

Bruin Steve,

 

The X website strikes again. As thon pointed out, once you go through a few pages and actually try to book it for that rate it changes into a much more expensive price. I'm still looking at your cruise (well over 150 cabins still available at last count) and thought I had finally scored..... Until I tried to book it and realized the price was much more than if I booked the cruise and airfare separately (as a side note I actually saw the "Celebrity 737" airplane at my local airport tonight).

 

I'm still hopeful I'll find a better price but at the moment X seems content to either let the ship sail with empty cabins or see what sort of upgrades they can sell before facing reality.

[Pavovsky]

Airlines do this sort of pricing (country specific promos) all the time, it's how they fill planes.

 

 

 

its often way more expensive to say fly British Airways LHR to LAX than it is to fly some European City-LHR-LAX (same transatlantic BA flight)

 

 

 

Best we had was a saving of about £1100 pp on a club class return flight.

 

 

I have found that too although taxes out of Heathrow are high - not charged on connecting flights. Indeed last week I booked the same BA flights through American for about 30% less than the BA price.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sp2]

Bruin Steve,

 

The X website strikes again. As thon pointed out, once you go through a few pages and actually try to book it for that rate it changes into a much more expensive price. I'm still looking at your cruise (well over 150 cabins still available at last count) and thought I had finally scored..... Until I tried to book it and realized the price was much more than if I booked the cruise and airfare separately (as a side note I actually saw the "Celebrity 737" airplane at my local airport tonight).

 

I'm still hopeful I'll find a better price but at the moment X seems content to either let the ship sail with empty cabins or see what sort of upgrades they can sell before facing reality.

 

I think the all inclusive packages need to be booked through a travel agent, or by calling Celebrity at their 1-800 number. Perhaps that is why your price is changing when you try to book online. We only booked a couple of weeks ago and we are paying approx $2400 Canadian per person from Ottawa, on Mar 5 Reflection, for a 2A balcony cabin. I think that is pretty good when you consider that it includes direct flight from Ottawa, classic drink package, transfers to and from the port, and gratuities. We did the same package last year on Silhouette and it was about $200 less per person, but the exchange rates were much better then than they are now.

 

I think the pricing is more dependent on how full the planes are, not on the cabin availability. Once the plane is full that's it, regardless of whether cabins on the ship are still available. The planes are chartered from Canadian North and are great flights too, with a hot meal and alcoholic beverages included.

 

Its great to be Canadian!:)

Edited February 11, 2016 by sp2

[BigB0882]

I wish someone would tell me how to always win!! :p

[canusa1]

This will be our third. all inclusive package from Hamilton. Although it would have been cheaper to do the cruise and air on your own we would rather do the package. We are only 10 min from the airport and by being there 2 hours pre flight it is not a problem.

 

Canadian North has proved to be a a fantastic carrier. The service is excellent, the food good by airline standards. Last year we were 3 hours late leaving Hamilton due to a snow storm. The Celebrity rep told me that the last word from Miami was that if we could not get out until later in the day that Celebrity would fly us to Mexico were we could join the cruise.

 

With being late leaving and having to go through Miami airport and customs we were still at the airport when the ship was to leave. We were not concerned as Celebrity was holding the ship for our arrival. The buses were there is take us to the Fort Lauderdale port. When we got to the port the celebrity reps were there asking for our stateroom numbers and handing out our cards. They told us to get on the ship as we had to go to the muster information station. When we came out of the room that they were presenting the information in we had already left port.

 

The price was higher this year than the past two packages but with our dollar being what it is that is understandable. One would wonder if they offer the packages again next year. I would think that it will all depend on what our dollar is worth. They set up these packages month in advance so it will not be until the fall that we hear if they are going to do them again.

 

For the people out west you could fly from Calgary on West Jet stay only 5 min from the airport in Hamilton and do the cruise. What you save on the drink package and pre paid gratuities it might be worth it. For the West coast people unless West Jet have a sale not so much.

[Max Bet]

Nah, we love Casino VIPers. As stockholders of the cruise lines we always thank gamblers for their significant contribution to the bottom line :). When one goes to cities like Las Vegas and Macau they see some amazing hotels/resorts and facilities built from gambling profits. And it is the same on cruise ships where casinos are good for profits. What we have never understood is how every major gambler claims to always win, and yet the Casinos apparently make a hefty profit.

 

Hank

 

The worst I have ever done is break even. The best I have ever done is $10,000. My wife however, not so much, but she keeps her budget pretty low.

[gold1953]

Yes, that rate is in US Dollars...and yes, that's a larger number of Canadian dollars...but, heck, it would also be over 23,000 Mexican pesos...

 

The exchange rate is whatever it is...but the cost of the cruise is still "apples for apples"...$1249 USD gets ME a cruise, drinks and tips...$1226 USD gets YOU that same cruise, drinks and tips...plus taxes, airfare, hotels and transfers...

 

The cruise line isn't responsible for making up for your lousy exchange rate...But they are giving you almost $1000 per person in extras...

 

Tell me ANYWHERE you can use your Canadian Dollars to purchase any item at a 1 to 1 exchange rate? Exchange rates are irrelevant...You are paying LESS than I am and getting so much more...

 

With the exchange for us Canucks it is well over $1700. Cruise lines deal with exchange rate everyday from many countries. When sales are down they make offers. Better to have the cabins full and people on board spending money.

Way more than cruise lines are suffering.. Look at cities on the border of our countries. They normally make a fortune off Canadians. They are suffering as well. Florida is suffering and thousands are staying home. Prices have dropped to entice us to travel

Prices jump all over the place . My Eclipse for Oct. has DOUBLED!

 

Oh.. and also we see Florida resident discounts very often that are not offered to us.. it all evens out