Website Pricing Surprise

[Islander500]

New website pricing protocol is confusing at best. I got a notice that there was a summer savings promotion so I checked the new Celebrity website.

 

Searched for a cruise and price, and the website shows the price with NO indication it is a special promotion or anything like that. Not Book and Go, not Exciting Deals, nothing.

 

You choose a cabin and move to next page where it asks you the GO Big, Better, Best and other questions which you answer.

 

You move to the Book and Pay page and it now it's applied the Summer Savings promotion, but it has repriced the stateroom to a higher price which you've never seen before. It doesn't flag that.

 

Hopefully, you notice that Celebrity has repriced the stateroom as your total is now hundreds of dollars higher. In my case it was $600 higher for a 7-night cruise.

 

You are confused. You try it again. Same thing happens. You call. They tell you the original price was a special promotion and they replaced it with the Summer Savings promotion that you didn't specifically ask for. It did it automatically without telling you that your stateroom price would now be significantly higher. You ask where did it say on the website that the original price was a special promotion. They cannot answer that. Of course not, since it doesn't.

 

Or you don't notice and pay an extra $600. :mad:

 

Buyer beware.

Edited June 10, 2017 by Islander500

[ghstudio]

Reminds me of when Kohls had a 20% off MSRP sale and when I went to buy the item, their "list price" was 20% more than the MSRP shown on the manufacturer's site. I haven't shopped at Kohl's since.

 

Celebrity plays the same game...and the Travel Agents just pick up the Celebrity words. The only one looking out for you is....of course...you.

 

We travel a lot...and for the most part, the sales are a zero sum game....if the perks go up, the price of the cabin goes up. If the discount goes up, the price of the cabin goes up. In fairness, this type of marketing is not unique to Celebrity....

[Bo1953]

I bet you it was the 'perks' in the fine print which is the cause for the increased price.

 

bon voyage

[NLH Arizona]

I bet you it was the 'perks' in the fine print which is the cause for the increased price.

 

bon voyage

I was thinking the same thing.

[Islander500]

There was no fine print nor anything that said that the initial posted price was a promotional price. Would seem to be an easy fix if not deliberately done this way.

 

I completely understand that you don't get multiple promotions. Except when there is no mention that the original posted price IS a promotion. And it is replaced with a significantly higher price in the final book & pay page with no notice.

 

I'm going with ghstudio's explanation.

[Bo1953]

Okay, so I could not let this one go....

 

On the front page of the website which is viewable to me, it clearly states "SAVINGS EVENT

 

Everyone in your stateroom—any stateroom—saves up to $150 off their cruise fare.* Plus, book an ocean view or higher and everyone gets free drinks.

SAVINGS EVENT

 

Below is from the click-though page.

 

First two guests each choose 1 free perk:

Classic Beverage Package • Prepaid Tips • Unlimited WI-FI, and $150 to spend on board.

Friends and family in your stateroom get:

Classic Non-alcoholic Beverage Packages and 40-minute Internet Packages

 

Want it all and more?

Book Suite Class accommodations and the first two guests get all FOUR perks—with an upgrade to a Premium Beverage Package. Plus, everyone in your stateroom saves $200 off their cruise fare.*

Savings per person is based on type of stateroom:

 

• $50* Inside
  
• $100* Ocean View or Veranda
  
• $150* Concierge Class or AquaClass®
  
• $200* Suite Class
  

Set sail on your next vacation and take advantage of our Summer Savings Event. Book by July 5, 2017 and get this incredible offer applied to almost any sailing departing July 1, 2017 through April 30, 2019.

 

 

Which is one (1) perk, go to two (2) and guess what, price increases as I would expect.

 

It is quite possible that the website you are using does not state this or states otherwise or did not have the click-through for the T&C's.

 

 

bon voyage

[Islander500]

Okay, so I could not let this one go....

 

On the front page of the website which is viewable to me, it clearly states "SAVINGS EVENT

 

Everyone in your stateroom—any stateroom—saves up to $150 off their cruise fare.* Plus, book an ocean view or higher and everyone gets free drinks.

SAVINGS EVENT

 

Below is from the click-though page.

 

First two guests each choose 1 free perk:

Classic Beverage Package • Prepaid Tips • Unlimited WI-FI, and $150 to spend on board.

Friends and family in your stateroom get:

Classic Non-alcoholic Beverage Packages and 40-minute Internet Packages

 

Want it all and more?

Book Suite Class accommodations and the first two guests get all FOUR perks—with an upgrade to a Premium Beverage Package. Plus, everyone in your stateroom saves $200 off their cruise fare.*

Savings per person is based on type of stateroom:

 

• $50* Inside
  
• $100* Ocean View or Veranda
  
• $150* Concierge Class or AquaClass®
  
• $200* Suite Class
  

Set sail on your next vacation and take advantage of our Summer Savings Event. Book by July 5, 2017 and get this incredible offer applied to almost any sailing departing July 1, 2017 through April 30, 2019.

 

 

Which is one (1) perk, go to two (2) and guess what, price increases as I would expect.

 

It is quite possible that the website you are using does not state this or states otherwise or did not have the click-through for the T&C's.

 

 

bon voyage

 

Thanks Bo,

I appreciate your help. But I only picked one perk. What happened by adding that one perk was that it increased the original stareroom price by $600. Their explanation was that the original stateroom price already included another unnamed promotion, but there was no notice of that anywhere. The reservation carried the posted price of the stateroom I had selected, presumably the regular price, since there was no indication that it was special price. Then on the final page where you click Book & Pay, the stateroom price increased by $600 with no explanation or notice.

My point is that the new increased price could be easily missed when you think you're getting an advertised promotion but you're not, since they tell you that the price it showed initially had a promotion you never knew about included, and then they remove it on the final page with no notice or explanation.

 

 

Maybe it's deliberate. Maybe not. The new website is a mess. I have a cruise booked and paid in full that the website says I paid over $1,000 more than I actually paid. It makes no sense as that's not what's on the invoice or what was charged to my credit card or what was on the original reservation. Who knows what that is. :')

[jelayne]

It's things like this that keep me from booking on-line. I prefer to speak to a person who can explain the pricing and option as the booking is being done. Once booked I transfer to a TA so I can limit my need to use X's website.

 

More often than not I book with a TA initially and do that via phone also.

[bigbeergut]

Thanks Bo,

I appreciate your help. But I only picked one perk. What happened by adding that one perk was that it increased the original stareroom price by $600. Their explanation was that the original stateroom price already included another unnamed promotion, but there was no notice of that anywhere. The reservation carried the posted price of the stateroom I had selected, presumably the regular price, since there was no indication that it was special price. Then on the final page where you click Book & Pay, the stateroom price increased by $600 with no explanation or notice.

My point is that the new increased price could be easily missed when you think you're getting an advertised promotion but you're not, since they tell you that the price it showed initially had a promotion you never knew about included, and then they remove it on the final page with no notice or explanation.

 

 

Maybe it's deliberate. Maybe not. The new website is a mess. I have a cruise booked and paid in full that the website says I paid over $1,000 more than I actually paid. It makes no sense as that's not what's on the invoice or what was charged to my credit card or what was on the original reservation. Who knows what that is. :')

 

Can you tell us a little more about the other promotion? Senior, resident or military discount? perhaps?

 

I have seen this before with the older website. You would get one price with the advertised promotion, but would see a lower price (and no perks) when you selected "see if you qualify for other offers". The approached has been used for some time and has always appeared to be a price increase for the benefits. Good Luck

[caribill]

A perk is something that is free.

 

If I have to pay extra to get a "perk", it is not a perk, it is an additional purchase for the cruise.

[Islander500]

Can you tell us a little more about the other promotion? Senior, resident or military discount? perhaps?

 

I have seen this before with the older website. You would get one price with the advertised promotion, but would see a lower price (and no perks) when you selected "see if you qualify for other offers". The approached has been used for some time and has always appeared to be a price increase for the benefits. Good Luck

 

Yes, I remember when it would do that on the old website. That made sense, but not that way now.

 

When I called, the rep told me the posted price was an Exciting Deals price, but it's not showing on the Exciting Deals flyer. :confused:

 

It is what it is. I just wanted others to pay attention to this new and not improved website pricing model. It's just easy to miss.

[champagne123]

Yes, I remember when it would do that on the old website. That made sense, but not that way now.

 

When I called, the rep told me the posted price was an Exciting Deals price, but it's not showing on the Exciting Deals flyer. :confused:

 

It is what it is. I just wanted others to pay attention to this new and not improved website pricing model. It's just easy to miss.

I spent hours trying to navigate the new website this morning. I gave up.... I am one that needs to see in "black and white" the details of what ever it is I am researching. I found it impossible. Why in the world all the websites feel the need to change everything (and very rarely for the better/easier, is beyond me. Trip Advisor just changed theirs also. It is terrible.

Edited June 11, 2017 by champagne123
.......

[ezemoney]

just priced a cruise to Bermuda next august. cabin was 1499.00 pp and the obc for our perk and the room price jumped to 1649.00pp. a couple of lines over there was a discount of 300.00 to take the cabin price back down to 1499.00pp so the perk was free!

 

later,

 

ezemoney

[Islander500]

just priced a cruise to Bermuda next august. cabin was 1499.00 pp and the obc for our perk and the room price jumped to 1649.00pp. a couple of lines over there was a discount of 300.00 to take the cabin price back down to 1499.00pp so the perk was free!

 

later,

 

ezemoney

 

Maybe I'm mistaken but I thought they were advertising the Summer Savings as a free perk PLUS either $100 or $150 discount on the price of the cabin, depending on whether you chose a veranda or concierge/aqua. I think that is the $300 discount you mention except that celebrity repriced (increased) the posted cabin fare so you didn't get that part of the advertised Summer Savings. Neither did I.

[Wanderlost]

I am confused by all this also. I priced a cruise on the website which included one perk, called a Celebrity representative to book, and was quoted a different price. This was after telling him the specific cabin and class I wanted (A-1 for the price of A-2 due to my CC status). He had priced it at the A-1 price with two perks. When I corrected him, he just said "oh, yea, I need to re-price this". It seems you must really do your research when booking a cruise with Celebrity but it may be this exists with all cruise lines.