Celebrity Prices

[Virgo61]

Celebrity is our favorite cruise line. We've taken about 12 cruises with them and will become Elite Plus after our cruise in January. We were looking for a 7 day California cruise for September 2017. The price for a Veranda cabin, mid ship came to $3724.60!, with 1 free perk. Basically the same cruise on Princess was $2488 for a cabin that was much larger and with the "sip and Sail" promo gave us the beverage package for free. Celebrity may be better but not THAT much better.

[Tangocherie]

Agree. It seems to me that Celebrity is now over priced.

[emileg]

Celebrity is our favorite cruise line. We've taken about 12 cruises with them and will become Elite Plus after our cruise in January. We were looking for a 7 day California cruise for September 2017. The price for a Veranda cabin, mid ship came to $3724.60!, with 1 free perk. Basically the same cruise on Princess was $2488 for a cabin that was much larger and with the "sip and Sail" promo gave us the beverage package for free. Celebrity may be better but not THAT much better.

The question is whether Celebrity is filling the ships at those fares. I imagine some fares may come down in some places as some people might be less inclined to travel.

[teecee60]

 

Celebrity is our favorite cruise line. We've taken about 12 cruises with them and will become Elite Plus after our cruise in January. We were looking for a 7 day California cruise for September 2017.

 

The price for a Veranda cabin, mid ship came to $3724.60!, with 1 free perk. Basically the same cruise on Princess was $2488 for a cabin that was much larger and with the "sip and Sail" promo gave us the beverage package for free. Celebrity may be better but not THAT much better.

 

Celebrity has been my favorite line for the last five or six years, but I am not "locked in" with them. ;)

 

Your "Elite" status transfers to equivalent "Diamond" status on sister cruise line Royal Caribbean. :)

 

Explorer OTS has a 7 night Pacific Coast cruise next September 22nd (balcony)@ $874pp. :cool:

 

I just booked a similar 8 night cruise on that ship (inside) for THIS September... for only $374pp w/ $175 OBC. :D

Edited July 15, 2016 by teecee60

[BEAV]

Celebrity is our favorite cruise line. We've taken about 12 cruises with them and will become Elite Plus after our cruise in January. We were looking for a 7 day California cruise for September 2017. The price for a Veranda cabin, mid ship came to $3724.60!, with 1 free perk. Basically the same cruise on Princess was $2488 for a cabin that was much larger and with the "sip and Sail" promo gave us the beverage package for free. Celebrity may be better but not THAT much better.

 

Pricing for cruises 14 months out can very well seem outrageous. They are testing the waters to see if they can move inventory at those prices. If they can't, prices will invariably come down.

 

You can also seek out agencies that have group rates. We've been doing well in that area lately with Celebrity. For example, a 15 night cruise that Celebrity is selling for $5299 we were able to get for $4314 by using an agency that has group rates, as well as including the same perks the higher rate offers. Shop around!

[Bo1953]

Celebrity is our favorite cruise line. We've taken about 12 cruises with them and will become Elite Plus after our cruise in January. We were looking for a 7 day California cruise for September 2017. The price for a Veranda cabin, mid ship came to $3724.60!, with 1 free perk. Basically the same cruise on Princess was $2488 for a cabin that was much larger and with the "sip and Sail" promo gave us the beverage package for free. Celebrity may be better but not THAT much better.

 

Since you are 13 months out from the sailing and some 8 months out from final pay date, X may be MUCH better by then or MUCH worse based on your comparison, especially if they sell to 90% capacity like my Alaska cruise.

 

You must purchase based on the perceived value you will receive from either sailing, rather that be size of cabin or size of perks...

 

bon voyage

[paradyne64]

Booked an Alaskan Cruise out of Seattle in September 2015 for May 2016 sailing, cost was $3709.78. Cat 1A Veranda, including insurance, pick 2 perks and $100 OBC.

 

Booking same cruise right now for May 2017 sailing date in same cabin now costs, $4420.54. Cat 1A Veranda, including insurance, pick 2 perks and NO extra OBC.

 

Yep, so why the big cost increase?

[mailmama]

Supply and demand rules here. Sometimes TA's buy up big blocks of rooms and then have to dump the unsold about 6 months out of sailing. Keep looking for the price to go down as an option.

[COMBOY]

Celebrity is our favorite cruise line. We've taken about 12 cruises with them and will become Elite Plus after our cruise in January. We were looking for a 7 day California cruise for September 2017. The price for a Veranda cabin, mid ship came to $3724.60!, with 1 free perk. Basically the same cruise on Princess was $2488 for a cabin that was much larger and with the "sip and Sail" promo gave us the beverage package for free. Celebrity may be better but not THAT much better.

 

Prices are never in set stone and like the airlines can rise and fall with the tide. Some cruise lines like to set the prices high and see what the demand is like. Some folk simply aren't price sensitive and book the going rate. You can always book at that rate and watch see if prices fall and get a price adjust prior to final payment. I can assure you that if demand is weak for that cruise prices will fall like a lead balloon. Cruise lines also offer many discounts and special to fill cabins during the year. That $3724 is probably their starting rate rack for Sep 2017. Sep is low season as kids are going back to school so I'm pretty sure you can find a much better rate. So why is Princess much cheaper? Well, every cruise lines has a difference pricing strategy and maybe they would rather fill berths now by offering cheaper rates vs reducing prices later.

[OBX-Cruisers]

Just got an email from X this morning with their most recent promotion of "Reduced Loyalty Rates" for select cruises in Dec. 2016. These "Exclusive" rates are on the Reflection-7Nt, Equinox-14Nt or Silhouette-9Nt, over Christmas and New Year for EQ or just New Year for RFL and SIL.

 

We took a similar 14 Nt cruise on the Eclipse in 2014 over Christmas and New Year and paid what I thought was on the high side of our budget, $207 pp/Nt. This per day cost included a Classic drinks pkg and prepaid Grats, Veranda 1A cabin; $5800 Total Cost....a substantial sum that I thought would be worth our first over 2 holidays cruise.

 

For the "Exclusive" "Reduced Loyalty Rates" for 2016 in the recent email, a comparable 14 Nt cruise on the Equinox in the same class 1A cabin with the exact same perks added would be $300 pp/Nt; Total Cost $8410. Since we have grown to like AQ class, an AQ cabin on this same Equinox cruise would cost a total of $11,630 (YIKES!!) with a difference of over $100 pp/Nt for the AQ privileges as compared to the 1A Veranda cabin cost. We like Blu but not that much!!! and then the question becomes how much you use the Persian Garden.

 

Both comparisons were calculated without insurance, same perks, same cabin class and for essentially the same sailing dates (i.e., apples to apples without exaggeration).

 

For such EXCLUSIVE LOYALTY RATES, we will have to seriously think about luxury land trips for future vacations. These cost comparisons did not include other factors of getting to and from the port, pre- or post-cruise hotels and meals, insurance or incidentals (e.g., parking) that would be additional to these cruise costs.

Edited July 19, 2016 by OBX-Cruisers

[BecciBoo]

That's hilarious...I just got clobbered for saying the same thing about RCCL over on that board! RCCL is doing the same, guess it's company wide.

 

We'll just have to up the ante if we want to keep cruising, it is what it is......:o

Edited July 19, 2016 by BecciBoo

[teecee60]

 

Just got an email from X this morning with their most recent promotion of "Reduced Loyalty Rates" for select cruises in Dec. 2016.

 

For the "Exclusive" "Reduced Loyalty Rates" for 2016 in the recent email, a comparable 14 Nt cruise on the Equinox in the same class 1A cabin with the exact same perks added would be $300 pp/Nt; Total Cost $8410. Since we have grown to like AQ class, an AQ cabin on this same Equinox cruise would cost a total of $11,630 (YIKES!!) with a difference of over $100 pp/Nt for the AQ privileges as compared to the 1A Veranda cabin cost. We like Blu but not that much!!! and then the question becomes how much you use the Persian Garden.

 

For such EXCLUSIVE LOYALTY RATES, we will have to seriously think about luxury land trips for future vacations.

 

We'll just have to up the ante if we want to keep cruising, it is what it is......

 

If you "need" a 4,000 or 8,000 sq. ft. home... you can't complain that the price is higher than a 2,000 sq. ft. home. :cool:

 

If you "need" a Mercedes or Rolls, you can't complain that the price is higher than a Toyota. ;)

 

If you "need" to cruise in a suite... or AQ... or even a 1A... you can't complain that the price is higher than an OV or inside. :rolleyes:

 

I cruise Celebrity (and RCCL) 30-60 nights/year and never pay more than $50pp/day... usually $40pp/day... and some times $30pp/day. :eek: :o :D

 

 

There's a thread on the RCCL board where a guy is happy about a "military discount" of $4,000 off his $6,000, 7 night cruise to Alaska.

 

That is NOT a discount of ANY kind... simply RCCL admitting it can't find enough people to pay that kind of money for a 7 night cruise.

Edited July 19, 2016 by teecee60

[OBX-Cruisers]

TeeCee60:

Can't disagree with you on your comment

"If you "need" to cruise in a suite... or AQ... or even a 1A... you can't complain that the price is higher than an OV or inside."

 

However, I wasn't complaining or comparing to OV or Inside cabins as you suggest.

I was only giving an example of how prices on a particular itinerary, cabin class and length of cruise on a similar X ship had changed significantly. We didn't stay in an OV or Inside on a similar itinerary but those prices for the cruise I compared probably went up too.

We once cruised exclusively in OV cabins but escalated to Verandah in the last few years Since looking at 4 walls does not do if for us in an inside cabin we have never tried that at ANY price. On the other hand, we fully understand how others enjoy the darkness in such cabins and prefer them from many comments and reviews on CC.

Each will find what they want on a ship and hopefully all will have a great cruise like we usually have in our 25+ cruising experience.

[roxievegas]

Our first cruise (way back in the dark ages) was an inside cabin for 3 night cruise out of Long Beach. Since then, we have had one Ocean View, and all the rest were Veranda (one suite). I prefer Veranda, but our next cruise is 7 night Alaska. Inside is $999pp or $1699pp for veranda. For a $1,400 savings, I can live without a window or veranda for 7 nights. We are not getting any perks, but we did a 13 night transatlantic and only spent $98 for drinks, so we are not concerned about drinking. We have places we would like to go to and I try to book the cabin at under $150pp per day. That is my budget.