What is going on with Celebrity pricing for next year ??

[gofish]

We booked a Baltic Reflection cruise for next year when we were on Solstice last month. It is an SS room next to my brothers. He booked awhile back so our room next door is $2000 more than his. It is the same price for Celebrity 12 days that we are paying for 22 days on Seabourn.,

If the price doesn't drop we will be cancelling that cruise.

In three weeks we will be doing 14 days on Viking, will see how we like Viking and maybe switch my brother and us for next years cruise.

[grandgeezer]

Correct: most times they do fill them but at prices well below that of the ‘regular’ pax.

 

Based on sales and profits, there probably very few cabins sold at a much reduced price. I'm guessing drinks are their highest profit item. If they can't sell it with over 1,000% market up, based on what I pay at home, somethings wrong. I talking about buying it and drinking at home (domestic beer). The mark up based on where we "drink out" is around 100%.

[montythecat]

Barneymag started this fascinating thread by quoting some X Baltic prices. I have just received an e mail from a company, who are one of the UK’s largest national internet cruise retailers, which includes a Celebrity 14

day Baltic cruise from Southampton for £1579 for a balcony cabin this August. This is a thousand pounds

less than their current prices for May 2019 and it is peak season. I appreciate, of course, that booking less than

two months from departure is no good for a lot of people

who have to plan ahead. However, this is a little piece of evidence that if ships aren’t full X will panic and reduce prices.

[excitedofharpenden]

Barneymag started this fascinating thread by quoting some X Baltic prices. I have just received an e mail from a company, who are one of the UK’s largest national internet cruise retailers, which includes a Celebrity 14

day Baltic cruise from Southampton for £1579 for a balcony cabin this August. This is a thousand pounds

less than their current prices for May 2019 and it is peak season. I appreciate, of course, that booking less than

two months from departure is no good for a lot of people

who have to plan ahead. However, this is a little piece of evidence that if ships aren’t full X will panic and reduce prices.

That's the rub of course. Go and have a look at some of the Interline rates on Celebrity for "late availability". They'll make you weep and wish you work(ed) for an airline.

 

Phil

[laslomas]

Barneymag started this fascinating thread by quoting some X Baltic prices. I have just received an e mail from a company, who are one of the UK’s largest national internet cruisef retailers, which includes a Celebrity 14

day Baltic cruise from Southampton for £1579 for a balcony cabin this August. This is a thousand pounds

less than their current prices for May 2019 and it is peak season. I appreciate, of course, that booking less than

two months from departure is no good for a lot of people

who have to plan ahead. However, this is a little piece of evidence that if ships aren’t full X will panic and reduce prices.

 

l have had that one from a couple of agents too. It is certainly a good price for peak season. I often thought the late bargains within a couple of months of sail date were due to the fact in N. America one can cancel with no penalty. Maybe there will be fewer such last minute bargains in the future with the non refundable deposits now.

[jimzgoldfinch]

£1579 is for an X guarantee. I presume there will be not perks. Other balcony prices are for guarantees as well but as you will be paying that appropriate for the cabin, I presume that you will get the current perks of drinks package and internet.

 

Good price for someone looking for a last minute deal especially when next years cruises are at least 30% more expensive.

[yorky]

While we carry on sailing the Caribbean we will probably stick with Celebrity but for the med or Baltic we would now move to another line, they are pricing us out. Just had a reply from Celebrity asking if they would add the free WiFi which was added to the classic package for new bookings three weeks after we booked with no increase in cabin price and as suspected they are not interested.

[TeeRick]

Not sure why folks are convinced that all cruises sail full. It is simply not true. Yes, some cruises are completely full but there are plenty of others with empty berths. The cruise lines do try to unload their unsold inventory, even if it means giving the cabins away. There are sometimes last minute deals accessible through various cruise agencies (the best deals are usually not advertised but simply made available to those who have registered their e-mails with the agency for last minute deals). Cruise lines can also unload excess space by offering big discounts on interline sites which are exclusive to those who work in the travel industry. In fact, we have dined with several airline pilots while on Celebrity cruises who snagged some amazing last minute deals.

 

And then there are cabins that are offered to employees, port workers, etc. There are lots of strategies to fill those empty berths, but this does not mean the cruise line is selling that space at anywhere near the price paid by most cruisers. So even when you hear that a ship is completely full it does not mean its full of passengers who paid the normal price.

 

Hank

 

Hank, agree that not all ships sail full probably particularly in the Caribbean or other highly competitive areas like Alaska in the summer. Maybe there are some deals out there. But newer ships on popular or more unique itineraries seem to be full. I think a good way to judge is to see how many cabins are available after final payment date. For standard Caribbean itineraries there are usually quite a number at lower prices. For longer, less frequent itineraries say Panama Canal or Canada/NE there are precious few cabins past final payment date and those are often inside cabins. So if you are cruising the Caribbean and don't care too much about the ship and/or cruiseline or even cabin, it pays to wait. If you want to go on a popular route/ship/time, book early to get your cabin of choice at the cheapest price- it will only go up from there.

[villauk]

Based on sales and profits, there probably very few cabins sold at a much reduced price. I'm guessing drinks are their highest profit item. If they can't sell it with over 1,000% market up, based on what I pay at home, somethings wrong. I talking about buying it and drinking at home (domestic beer). The mark up based on where we "drink out" is around 100%.

 

 

Read the following 2 posts following yours (Phil’s & Montythecat) - they tell a different story ;).

 

 

That's the rub of course. Go and have a look at some of the Interline rates on Celebrity for "late availability". They'll make you weep and wish you work(ed) for an airline.

 

Phil

 

Barneymag started this fascinating thread by quoting some X Baltic prices. I have just received an e mail from a company, who are one of the UK’s largest national internet cruise retailers, which includes a Celebrity 14

day Baltic cruise from Southampton for £1579 for a balcony cabin this August. This is a thousand pounds

less than their current prices for May 2019 and it is peak season. I appreciate, of course, that booking less than

two months from departure is no good for a lot of people

who have to plan ahead. However, this is a little piece of evidence that if ships aren’t full X will panic and reduce prices.

[grandgeezer]

Read the following 2 posts following yours (Phil’s & Montythecat) - they tell a different story ;).

 

It doesn't address the point of how many are sold at a lower rate. 1%, 10%, 50%?

[dabear]

It has been our experience that popular destinations with limited seasons such as Alaska or Baltic, sail reasonable full in prime months (June to August) with the best prices booked early. Deals an be found in shoulder seasons of May & SEPTEMBER. On the other hand year around destinations not in peak season such as caribbean in summer or fall can be cheaper closer to sail date.

[yorky]

It has been our experience that popular destinations with limited seasons such as Alaska or Baltic, sail reasonable full in prime months (June to August) with the best prices booked early. Deals an be found in shoulder seasons of May & SEPTEMBER. On the other hand year around destinations not in peak season such as caribbean in summer or fall can be cheaper closer to sail date.

 

The same A1 cabin for September this year in the Caribbean is £550 more than we paid for the same cruise September 2019 so not always

[riclop]

You have to pay for the EDGE!!!!!

[BosoxI]

That's the rub of course. Go and have a look at some of the Interline rates on Celebrity for "late availability". They'll make you weep and wish you work(ed) for an airline.

 

Phil

 

For an airline employee to truly benefit, he would want to fly standby to/from the embarkation/disembarkation ports. That can be very difficult. But the thought of reduced cruise fares plus free flights certainly is an appealing one.

[cruisin lady ca]

Hi All

 

Only started cruising with X back in 2014 but have enjoyed 5 Cruises with them since.

 

 

Next cruise is Baltic cruise on Eclipse and have been tracking X pricing for 2019 for 6 months and every European itinerary I look at for next year is crazy pricing compared to our previous 5 cruises

 

 

Always booked a C3 Concierge (like the location rather than the supposed perks) and on every cruise we’ve always received a classic drinks package and usually OBC and/or pre paid grats inc in pricing

 

 

Here’s my rough pricing for 2 people for last 4 years inc classic drinks and grats

 

 

2014 - 11 night Canaries on Eclipse £3000 (£273 per night)

2016 - 14 night Baltic on Eclipse £4000 (£286 per night)

2017 - 10 night Greek Islands on Reflection £3200 (£320 per night)

2017 - 10 night Canaries on Eclipse £3300 (£330 per night)

2018 - 12 night Baltic on Eclipse £3560 (£297 per night)

 

 

So for the last 5 cruises we have paid between £273 and £330 per night inc classic drinks and grats in a C3 Concierge cabin

 

 

2019 price examples - 12 night Baltic on Reflection £5440 (£453 pn)

14 night Baltic on Silhouette £6740 (£481 pn)

14 night Med on Silhouette £7000 (£500 pn)

 

So these typically are £150 to £200 per night more expensive than anything before on X - don’t even dare look at Edge as its even more crazy pricing - this means a 10 night is working out at £1500 to £2000 more than last year and a 14 night Baltic or Med cruise around £3000 more than we have paid over the last couple of years !!! Why ???

 

Nothing extra included apart from classic drinks and WiFi this time, but tbh I’m not bothered about internet etc when on a cruise and always had the drinks included over last 5 cruises

 

Not sure if this is just a UK pricing issue or if the same for US pricing for European cruises - also just checked cabin availability for a June 2019 Baltic cruise and around 140 C3’s available out of the 150 on the ship !

 

Thoughts ? Do we predict a significant sale shortly for 2019 if they don’t start filling these cabins ??

 

Appreciate thoughts from experienced X cruisers who may have seen this before

 

Responding to your question about US pricing, I booked a July 2018 Baltic cruise on Eclipse last April while onboard Equinox. At the time, I booked a 2A cabin because of the high price. There was a fare drop the first week of July - and was able to upgrade to a 1A cabin without incurring a fare increase. A week later the fare dropped again and I was able to upgrade to a C2 cabin. A week later the fare dropped again and I was able to upgrade to an A2 cabin with Go Best perks (instead of the Go Better perks I originally chose). We are paying less than our original fare, thanks to the multiple fare drops within the space of one month. The fares have gone up consistently from the beginning of August 2017 until a few weeks ago when it appeared that the cruise was sold out.

 

I noticed that the number of available C2 cabins was quickly diminished. I believe this is a result of the one category upgrade for Captain's Club members. After all, paying a C3 fare for a C2 cabin is a bonus.

 

I booked a Sept 2019 Italy/Croatia/Spain cruise on Constellation last fall. Within the last month, I have taken advantage of two price reductions. One was a small drop ($100 pp) and the second was due to the current Celebrity sale ($300 savings per cabin). So, I am ahead by $500 - and will enjoy my A1 aft facing cabin that much more. IMHO it makes sense to book a cruise well in advance and then track the fares. If you are lucky, you can capture fare reductions.

[Bo1953]

You have to pay for the EDGE!!!!!

 

Yes, you do... we have to be on several over the next year!

 

Cannot wait...

 

bon voyage

[Atriumgirl]

It's not just Celebrity pricing that has gone silly. We normally cruise on Regent and reckon to pay on average anything between £250 and £290/night. Their current advertising is showing almost double that. Doubtless there are 'deals' to be had but we haven't found them yet. We are sailing on Silhouette in September and by the time we add on gratuities, a bit of wifi (we get 90 mins as Elite), any drinks outside the restricted drinks package and any shore trips, our nightly rate is way higher than we paid for our TA on Regent in February. We'll just have to rethink our entire cruising strategy.

[chromered7]

Greedy greedy cruise companies believe that money is no object, WRONG. Vote with your cash try different things, newer cruise lines, river cruises and land based all inclusive. They have taken their passengers for granted with lower standards, questionable food portions, reduction in crew numbers, fewer activities and changes to drinks packages that boarder on highway robbery. The double standard remains for people booking cruises in the UK , as apposed to our cruising friends in the States where travel agents will honour price reductions. The bubble will burst at some point what a shame that some cruise companies may be left with ghost ships that are too expensive to travel on and their business starts to sink . The choice is yours fellow cruisers .

 

 

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[4774Papa]

Greedy greedy cruise companies believe that money is no object, WRONG. Vote with your cash try different things, newer cruise lines, river cruises and land based all inclusive. They have taken their passengers for granted with lower standards, questionable food portions, reduction in crew numbers, fewer activities and changes to drinks packages that boarder on highway robbery. The double standard remains for people booking cruises in the UK , as apposed to our cruising friends in the States where travel agents will honour price reductions. The bubble will burst at some point what a shame that some cruise companies may be left with ghost ships that are too expensive to travel on and their business starts to sink . The choice is yours fellow cruisers .

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Come on, the cruise lines are in business to make a profit. In order to continue attracting future passengers, their ships much be clean and modernized. Also, their cruises must be competitive on the product and price with other cruise lines.

 

Calling them greedy is a bit over the top. We care nothing for the overpriced drinks packages that have inflated Celebrity's prices (also other lines line NCL). We have stopped taking cruises that bundle with the drinks packages unless the overall price is competitive. Our last X cruise was a transatlantic that didn't have bundled pricing and our next X cruise is a repo with no bundled pricing.

 

 

We did our first Royal C cruise not long ago, because it didn't have price bundling and it was considerably cheaper than an X cruise. Celebrity and Royal C are owned by the same company.

 

Clearly, X has decided that many cruisers will go with inflated cruise pricing because they like the drink package. I read all the time about how much cheaper it is, even for elite cruisers that get the free happy hour, but they like the convenience of not worrying about what they pay for drinks. I you keep track of how much you spend on alcohol on a cruise, for moderate drinkers, especially ones that get most of their drinking done at happy hour, you would never go for the drinks package.

[Bo1953]

Greedy greedy cruise companies believe that money is no object, WRONG. Vote with your cash try different things, newer cruise lines, river cruises and land based all inclusive. They have taken their passengers for granted with lower standards, questionable food portions, reduction in crew numbers, fewer activities and changes to drinks packages that boarder on highway robbery. The double standard remains for people booking cruises in the UK , as apposed to our cruising friends in the States where travel agents will honour price reductions. The bubble will burst at some point what a shame that some cruise companies may be left with ghost ships that are too expensive to travel on and their business starts to sink . The choice is yours fellow cruisers .

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

Yes, I concur, that is the reason we just booked two (2) more sailings on the Edge and cannot wait....

 

Bon voyage

 

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[Pavovsky]

It has been our experience that popular destinations with limited seasons such as Alaska or Baltic, sail reasonable full in prime months (June to August) with the best prices booked early. Deals an be found in shoulder seasons of May & SEPTEMBER. On the other hand year around destinations not in peak season such as caribbean in summer or fall can be cheaper closer to sail date.

 

 

That is a fair assessment. I also think the cruise lines are banking that customers who want a specific cruise at a specific time will book earlier and therefore will pay a premium - particularly relevant with new shiny ships. For those with flexibility - good deals can be had but flexibility on itineraries and dates is needed (agree on shoulder season deals) but one really does need to move quickly. The online travel agent I use allows me to request updates of price changes - I have trackers now on several cruises I am interested in next year. I am also tracking at what stage this year the same cruises are discounted but I accept that is not scientific.

[grandgeezer]

Yes, I concur, that is the reason we just booked two (2) more sailings on the Edge and cannot wait....

 

Bon voyage

 

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You concur with the comment yet you went out and booked two more cruises? I can only think of two reasons why you would do that and neither one is very flattering.

[mrsgoggins]

Greedy greedy cruise companies believe that money is no object, WRONG. Vote with your cash try different things, newer cruise lines, river cruises and land based all inclusive. They have taken their passengers for granted with lower standards, questionable food portions, reduction in crew numbers, fewer activities and changes to drinks packages that boarder on highway robbery. The double standard remains for people booking cruises in the UK , as apposed to our cruising friends in the States where travel agents will honour price reductions. The bubble will burst at some point what a shame that some cruise companies may be left with ghost ships that are too expensive to travel on and their business starts to sink . The choice is yours fellow cruisers .

 

 

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Despite my 'cruising frenzy' of the last 4 years, as shown below, we have always taken independent land-based vacations and that is going to increase again as we cut back on cruises, primarily for the reason underlined above. I don't think North American passengers who chase reduced prices and make multiple bookings have any idea how much this can irritate on this side of the Atlantic.

 

Yes I know that with RCI-owned cruise lines you can research prices and book with US travel agents, (and I have done so in the past) but I don't think this should be necessary and so I am (largely) opting out.

 

Today I will be changing a European cruise booking, made on board, for a cheap-ish Florida cruise in 2020 (where we always spend January, and always include a cruise) because it has gone down in price and had internet included in addition to the drinks package. Had I been able to re-price, I would have done so. I did consider making a cash reservation and re-booking, but then I thought 'Nah, it's Europe; let's book cheap flights, good hotels and a car and spend time really getting to see a couple of places well'. So, chromered7, I have made my choice ;)

[emmas gran]

We are doing 4 weeks Yacht Club on MSC end of March for the same as 2 weeks on Connie March 2019. Have booked 3 MSc YC to give it a try as after 15+ Celebrity incl 3 RS the product is declining for the price paid.

However we still have the 4 X booked also

[deliver42]

Emma's gram, you will LOVE the YC.