Whats going on with celebrity pricing

[bogofman]

We have a cruise booked for this August on Reflection, i'm watching weekly as prices are tumbling :eek:

 

Problem for us we booked in UK and cannot change booking without losing our deposit.

 

so it needs to drop below £300 before i am in profit.

 

Next time i will not be booking early and will wait .

 

Out of interest i looked for a similar cruise on reflection in August 2017 and the price is twice as much now without any offers ( drinks etc)

 

Why do they do this when i know it will be half that price this time next year.

I know prices will drop as they have for the last 3 years we have booked this time of year.

 

Only this time they seem to be knocking off £100 per week, from what looked like the low point ( when we booked)

 

I wish they would post the actual price they want us to pay and let us book as early or as late as we like.

 

OR

 

change the uk booking so we can change bookings without losing deposits, or make the deposit low enough to not bother about.

[SetU2]

You never know, our cruise in May has steadily climbed since we booked it. All supply and demand.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Edited February 16, 2016 by SetU2

[irishgal1970]

Other members of cruise critic have suggested that UK cruisers book through a US-based travel agent to avoid the problems with canceling and losing the deposit.

Edited February 16, 2016 by irishgal1970

[DYKWIA]

.....

 

Why do they do this when i know it will be half that price this time next year.

.....

 

Because people book at those high prices

[villauk]

Other members of cruise critic have suggested that UK cruisers book through a US-based travel agent to avoid the problems with canceling and losing the deposit.

 

To us, it's worth the small difference in the exchange rates. You can swap and change around promos and deals, as well as obtaining extra OBC from US TAs. We've had several price drops on our next cruise (virtually halved in price since initial pricing) - no hassle, just altered immediately :).

 

Now I just wish X would vary their itineraries. Cruising in the school holidays definitely limits the itineraries, especially during the summer months when most ships are in Europe :(. A nice pacific coastal would be great, even a northeastern US would be a change.

Edited February 16, 2016 by villauk

[Fouremco]

We've almost always booked as soon as an itinerary has been opened up and we have never seen a price drop below our initial price. Perhaps it's been our choice of cruises, or just plain dumb luck, but we will continue to book as far in advance as possible.

[az_tchr]

As other have said they rise and fall like the tides according to demand. Last years cruise dropped some $900pp. The one last fall rose a few hundred dollars. Upcoming TA has dropped by almost $250 which is exactly the amount we received for booking on board

[captain99]

Up to 40% off select sailings ??....euh,really...

[davekathy]

We've almost always booked as soon as an itinerary has been opened up and we have never seen a price drop below our initial price. Perhaps it's been our choice of cruises, or just plain dumb luck, but we will continue to book as far in advance as possible.

 

This also has been our experience.

[Cruise Junky]

Our upcoming cruise dropped $550 pp last night. 2 days after final payment. The sailing before ours is going for $1,199 for a balcony guarantee. Not bad for a 12 day med cruise.

 

Keep watching. Lots of availability on a lot of them

[Music Cruiser]

Just guessing, but I suspect that the Virus scare in the Carribean is affecting bookings and pricing? And of course they are passing on the fuel savings to us, aren't they?;)

[DYKWIA]

Up to 40% off select sailings ??....euh,really...

 

Over 60% last year on some cruises - the annual 14 day Med cruise on Eclipse was selling at about £5300 per cabin (balcony) - with "free" drinks package about 11 months before sail date. about 4 months before sail date it dropped to £2000 per cabin (guarantee balcony)

Edited February 16, 2016 by DYKWIA

[GUT2407]

You never know, our cruise in May has steadily climbed since we booked it. All supply and demand.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

So true.

[Baron Barracuda]

We sailed Infinity through pc last Sep. Booked almost two years ago and prices just kept going up. At final pmt date there were very few cabins available and price had almost doubled. After final pmt almost a hundred cabins appeared and price dropped well below what we paid. Either large group cancelled or some ta released big block. Just shows that monitoring price trend and room availability is sometimes a waste of time. Now dw doesn't want me to book future cruises until 30 days before sailing.

[barneymag]

We have a cruise booked for this August on Reflection, i'm watching weekly as prices are tumbling :eek:

 

Problem for us we booked in UK and cannot change booking without losing our deposit.

 

so it needs to drop below £300 before i am in profit.

 

Next time i will not be booking early and will wait .

 

Out of interest i looked for a similar cruise on reflection in August 2017 and the price is twice as much now without any offers ( drinks etc)

 

Why do they do this when i know it will be half that price this time next year.

I know prices will drop as they have for the last 3 years we have booked this time of year.

 

Only this time they seem to be knocking off £100 per week, from what looked like the low point ( when we booked)

 

I wish they would post the actual price they want us to pay and let us book as early or as late as we like.

 

OR

 

change the uk booking so we can change bookings without losing deposits, or make the deposit low enough to not bother about.

 

Have to agree with bogofman as this is a UK problem only (poss EU and Aus/NZ as well) as we don't have the advantage of the US system of if lower pricing you can simply get the new pricing/perks

 

Don't give me all the usual EU/UK protection stuff either as this is completely undermined compared to the rip off of future pricing offered in the UK

 

We booked our June 2016 cruise back in July 15 - for 14 nights Baltic cruise C3 category, inc classic drinks package, $300 OBC and free gratuities for a total of £4000 for 2 - On Sept 1st 2015 (I had just embarked the Anthem of the Seas that morning !!) X puts out new pricing for same category @£3300 inc classic drinks package but no OBC or pre paid gratuities - the OBC and gratuities are worth about £450 so I am £250 worse off for booking in July ..... Cancel you say !!! Ok in US but in Uk I lose a £300 deposit so would be worse off .... so we live with it and enjoy our 2 weeks on Anthem

 

We get back and check prices every few weeks and then in Jan X launch their latest offer buy one get one half price and free classic drinks .... great !!! I check pricing and see that our C3 is now £4500 !!!!:eek: so even more expensive and no OBC or pre paid grats ..... result !! I did OK and got an OK deal .... I think (although I would have be £250 better off if I'd booked 2 months later !) ??? and then today price drops to £3899 inc drinks package ..... still not as good as our deal but still a massive drop since last week (£600 !!!)

 

As bogofman states I checked our identical cruise for Jun 2017 on Eclipse and the same cabin will set us back £4700 with no drinks, OBC or gratuities (add them on and we're talking approx £6200 !!!!!) ..... Now where is the incentive to book early in the UK ??

 

I would never book early in the UK as we have zero price protection from loss of deposit (yes we have protection for it going up ... but at this mark up you got to be kidding!!)

 

I will wait and see who gives the best offers and itinerary in the coming months before I book as there is no advantage for booing early in the UK !

Edited February 16, 2016 by barneymag

[fantasy51]

What would you consider to be a good deal on a Balcony cabin in August? I am new to Celebrity so I don't know the prices. I can see a 13-night sailing for £1250 per person in Balcony Concierge, including drinks package. Is that good or does it come down further at that time of year?

[barneymag]

What would you consider to be a good deal on a Balcony cabin in August? I am new to Celebrity so I don't know the prices. I can see a 13-night sailing for £1250 per person in Balcony Concierge, including drinks package. Is that good or does it come down further at that time of year?

 

I think that seems a geat price for a UK deal, especially in August. Which ship and itinerary as this will help ... We always have booked Concirerge Balcony and generally pay around £140 pp per night on Celebrity inc drinks package and usually have some OBC thrown in, however we always sail out of a UK port.

 

At £1250 pp for a 13 night it's less than £100 pp per night all inclusive so I think good deal ! I assume it's out of a EU port do you need to factor in flights etc UK cruises out of Southampton seem to be more expensive to the UK market as we can probably avoid flying !

Edited February 16, 2016 by barneymag

[justcrusn]

If the cabin matters most: BOOK EARLY

If the price matters most: BOOK LATE

Perks are like a wild card they vary....

You will almost always get the lowest price booking after final payment, on the Tuesday specials (but no perks). The downside to that plan is you get the leftover cabins no one else wanted, far from the elevators usually.

We paid a good price for cabin 1138 on constellation because we wanted THAT CABIN.

Other times we have taken a last minute guarantee for low $$$$

 

As the old saying goes "you pays your money and you takes your chances"

 

Book when you're happy with the entire deal.

[bogofman]

Maybe Celebrity should follow Royal Caribbean and offer low deposits in the UK, I missed the £25pp , but got the current £50p

 

Pricing on Royal have been stable for a while , maybe will change when the current deals end on the 29th.

 

If the deal is better, I will cancel , lose tge 100 and book again

 

I think our up coming celebrity cruise will have many more price drops, as a lot more cabins have become available,

 

I'm assuming the low take up, is caused by the Turkey ports on the itinaries

 

I agree about the med itinaries needing more variety , 2017 looks very limited and the number of nights per cruise has dropped. It reminds me of the size of products in super markets all getting smaller to keep the price the same as customers ae used to paying.

[Fouremco]

If the cabin matters most: BOOK EARLY

If the price matters most: BOOK LATE

Perks are like a wild card they vary....

You will almost always get the lowest price booking after final payment, on the Tuesday specials (but no perks). The downside to that plan is you get the leftover cabins no one else wanted, far from the elevators usually.

We paid a good price for cabin 1138 on constellation because we wanted THAT CABIN.

Other times we have taken a last minute guarantee for low $$$$

 

As the old saying goes "you pays your money and you takes your chances"

 

Book when you're happy with the entire deal.

Our personal experience has been the booking early works for both cabin selection and price, but YMMV. That said, don't lose sight of the fact that the majority of respondents here don't live in Florida as you do, and last minute flights are often more expensive, if seats are even available.

[teecee60]

We sailed Infinity through pc last Sep. After final pmt price dropped well below what we paid.

 

Now dw doesn't want me to book future cruises until 30 days before sailing.

 

 

She's a smart girl... if you have the flexibility and don't mind switching to a different, lower priced cruise.

 

I was on Infinity for 14 nights through the PC a few years ago for $799pp with $150 OBC. (not shareholder credit) A tablemate refused to believe we got such a good deal... until he went to the internet café on board and booked the 15 night cruise back to California for only $699pp. :eek: :D ;)

 

Our personal experience has been the booking early works for both cabin selection and price, but YMMV. That said, don't lose sight of the fact that the majority of respondents here don't live in Florida as you do, and last minute flights are often more expensive, if seats are even available.

 

I did a 15 night transatlantic on Reflection for only $449pp... (with $250 shareholder OBC) booked only 10 days before sail away.

 

My one way flight to Rome through Choice Air (now AIR2SEA) was only $508... booked only 8 days prior to the flight. :o

 

There ARE some incredible deals (right now even) available after final payment if you are flexible with itinerary and cabin type.

Edited February 17, 2016 by teecee60

[Project_gal]

We've almost always booked as soon as an itinerary has been opened up and we have never seen a price drop below our initial price. Perhaps it's been our choice of cruises, or just plain dumb luck, but we will continue to book as far in advance as possible.

 

This has almost invariably been our experience. [i still watch prices weekly - why I cannot explain!] It is only comparatively recently that Celebrity have disallowed price drops in the UK and, in all the time they were allowed, we only experiences one price drop of, from memory, less than £100.

 

I think that those who see price drops are those who book later. Many cruise prices rise and then fall probably according to usual booking patterns. Traditionally, in the UK, holidays are not booked more than a year in advance. It is now possible to book your cruise more than 2 years in advance.

Edited February 17, 2016 by Project_gal

[villauk]

 

There ARE some incredible deals (right now even) available after final payment if you are flexible with itinerary and cabin type.

 

And this line is the most important factor in any of your low cost cruise deals. Many working pax can't leave it until the last minute as they have to prebook holiday leave months in advance. If you are a family and need more than one cabin close together, again you need to ensure the location of the cabins so can't guarantee what is left is suitable. Flexibility is vital, but unfortunately not available for everyone :(.

 

Now, if you are retired and have no ties - no problem. Many of us could not even consider staying onboard as your friend did for a further 15 nights (this amount of time may be the total annual leave allowance for an individual, never mind an addition to the cruise they have just taken :eek:)!

 

I look forward to a time when I can take a cruise on a whim, but no doubt, knowing my luck, the flight costs will be astronomically high - then I'll need to emigrate to FL - perfect excuse :D.

[MicCanberra]

Agreed, last minute deals are beckoning and being able to jump on these when they arise will be awesome.:D

[fantasy51]

I think that seems a geat price for a UK deal, especially in August. Which ship and itinerary as this will help ... We always have booked Concirerge Balcony and generally pay around £140 pp per night on Celebrity inc drinks package and usually have some OBC thrown in, however we always sail out of a UK port.

 

At £1250 pp for a 13 night it's less than £100 pp per night all inclusive so I think good deal ! I assume it's out of a EU port do you need to factor in flights etc UK cruises out of Southampton seem to be more expensive to the UK market as we can probably avoid flying !

 

Thanks for the encouragement. The price includes flights from UK to Europe. Perhaps this itinerary is cheaper because we fly out of Istanbul? Perhaps savvy travellers are avoiding it for that reason. My thought is, as long as I book the Celebrity flights (rather than doing my own), then if something goes wrong and they skip Istanbul, they have to get me back home.

 

I want to try Celebrity but I am a bit concerned about the state of the ballroom dancing on board (I have another thread on this), seeing it's my normal cruise activity in the evening.