Cost of Celebrity cruises

[poinsettiaplate]

Is it just me or does it seem like Celebrity is hiking the prices of their cruises?  Especially those longer than a week, those in the Caribbean, and those in 2020?

[C 2 C]

This is one example.  The Celebrity ship is newer, includes several "free" perks but both get you into the warmth of the Caribbean.

 

[WestLakeGirl]

Well, yes, but I don’t think they are equivalent experiences.  Look at the ship ratings.  What is the value of the included perks on each line?  What is the square footage of the rooms?

Edited March 8, 2019 by WestLakeGirl

[bigbeergut]

Looks like it's time for the Serenade

[bigbeergut]

Just now, WestLakeGirl said:

Well, yes, but I don’t think they are equivalent experiences.  Look at the ship ratings.  What is the value of the included perks on each line?  What is the square footage of the rooms?

 

Is the weather on the pool deck the same?

[jelayne]

The pool deck is full of sunny faced kids!  Last time we did Royal in the Caribbean it was during school and there were still over 60O kids.   I’ll pay more and sail on Celebrity.

[h20skibum]

31 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The pool deck is full of sunny faced kids!  Last time we did Royal in the Caribbean it was during school and there were still over 60O kids.   I’ll pay more and sail on Celebrity.

You usually will not have that many kids on an 11 night in January.  Parents take their kids on the shorter ones around the break times.

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, Arno. said:

This is one example.  The Celebrity ship is newer, includes several "free" perks but both get you into the warmth of the Caribbean.

 

I just looked up the referenced X cruise and a veranda and an OV on the Reflection for this particular cruise are the same price. So in your reference you're  basically comparing the price of a veranda cabin on the Reflection with a OV on the Seranade. Interesting that the TA website you got this info didn't tell you this.

 

We also just finished a 21 day b2b on the Reflection in a corner aft-facing SS cabin on deck 11 for about $350 pp/day. For us we have noticed if we book when the cruise first gets released, we usually can get a pretty good deal, besides getting the cabin we want, as compared to the prices 6-12 months from the sail date. 

Edited March 8, 2019 by Ken the cruiser

[Willow1213]

Prices seem to have gone up this week as well with the swap to a new promo “kids sail free”. The 2 perks free “Sail beyond” rate is almost $200pp higher this week than it was last week on our sailing (unless I’m reading into something incorrectly)

[Denny01]

If you want to rely on one cost comparison, go for it. But I suggest you look at the actual cruise line website, or check with a good TA. Even though the price listed above are avail for an Oceanview and that same website show a nice low price for a balcony, when you go to the RCL website, there are no balconies available. 

 

I’d be very cautious of websites showing such ‘great deals’, even ones that look OK. I’ve tried to use the website Arno showed and when I got to the place to pay for the price shown, it stated ‘this deal is no longer available’. It doesn’t seem to stay up on actual costs too well, as is happening on that website right now, it shows great prices for a balcony on the RCL ship, but no baloncies are really available. 

 

Buyer beware.

 

Den

[Host Jazzbeau]

Why would you expect a Chevy and a Buick to cost the same?  [Actually, it was when GM started making that happen that they went in the bumper.]  Celebrity should always cost more than Royal, and less than Azamara.  That's the way to protect your brand identities.

[bkbarrym]

16 minutes ago, Willow1213 said:

Prices seem to have gone up this week as well with the swap to a new promo “kids sail free”. The 2 perks free “Sail beyond” rate is almost $200pp higher this week than it was last week on our sailing (unless I’m reading into something incorrectly)

Generally, I have found pricing to be higher than I have experienced in the past and not just for Edge sailings. For our upcoming Summit cruise we wound up booking an OV instead of our usual balcony to keep costs in line with our budget. 

 

I have been monitoring pricing ahead of our final payment date for our June cruise which is due the end of March.  I checked pricing today and found a price for "exciting deal" with no perks that worked out less than what I had booked at (Sail Beyond) with 2 perks and additional $100 OBC. Adding back in the gratuities and excursions that I had booked using the OBC I had, I still caome in over $300 cheaper. Will keep monitoring with hope of getting it down even lower or perhaps upgrading to a balcony. 

[Luvcrusn]

We have noticed a distinct rise in X pricing, especially over the last 4 years. A cruise we've booked in the Caribbean next year on Reflection for 10 nights is higher in cost by $100pp than a cruise this past December on Silhouette for 12 nights in an identical cabin. Before booking it, we explored other options on Royal, Princess, HAL,  Norwegian, MSC and Oceania. We compared apples to apples, similar accommodations and amenities as much as possible and came back to X as offering us the most value/service for the money. Not everyone would agree, since everyone has to evaluate for themselves what's important, but for the time being we're content. X still offers a smoke free interior that is very valuable to us since I can use the casino instead of completely having to go "up and around" it on other cruise lines. We also on next years cruise for the additional cost got the Go Best along with a large amount of additional OBC besides the $300 that comes with the Go Best. While I fully understand that we're ultimately paying for those things, when we costed out similar inclusions on the other lines, we couldn't come close.

 

We are not interested in booking the Edge class at this time because the costs of that ship are, in our opinion, outrageous for what's being delivered. We don't care for the IV's because we like a true balcony rather than sitting by an open window. 

[lovescarborough]

5 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Why would you expect a Chevy and a Buick to cost the same?  [Actually, it was when GM started making that happen that they went in the bumper.]  Celebrity should always cost more than Royal, and less than Azamara.  That's the way to protect your brand identities.

We've sailed both Serenade and Reflection. The difference between them is like chalk and cheese. Definitely not in the same league. Reflection is beautiful. Serenade we found was a bit tatty, poor quality bed and we couldn't even get our suitcase underneath. Food was poor and speciality restaurants not that much better. You really do get what you pay for. 

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I'm noticing that in Canada, New England, Asia, South America, the prices are relatively close to the competition.  Caribbean and Hawaii, sky is the limit.  Overpay if you want, but 2nd mouse gets the cheese!

[upwarduk]

7 hours ago, bkbarrym said:

For our upcoming Summit cruise we wound up booking an OV instead of our usual balcony to keep costs in line with our budget. 

Summit has been been through its ‘Revolution.’

Some body has to pay for it.

[bigbeergut]

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Why would you expect a Chevy and a Buick to cost the same?  [Actually, it was when GM started making that happen that they went in the bumper.]  Celebrity should always cost more than Royal, and less than Azamara.  That's the way to protect your brand identities.

 

Actually there are often significant differences between a Chevy and a Buick even on vehicles that may appear to be the same on the outside.  Although NVH in all cars has dramatically improved over the years, Buicks usually have additional content to reduce NVH even more because that is a key feature in their Brand identity.  In addition Buicks usually have different interior and powertrain options to support the Brand.  

[Stateroom_Sailor]

26 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

Summit has been been through its ‘Revolution.’

Some body has to pay for it.

 

The loyalists' duty.

 

After watching our Hawaii cruise drop well below half price, before final payment, it is amazing that X hasn't learned their lesson and doubling down.  Our Sky Suite dropped as low as $1,999, but in 2021, OV costs $2,399.  People are going to book Hawaii on other lines, and they'll have to have a last minute fire sale, again...  apparently on all the Caribbean too.  🙄

 

 

[4774Papa]

Celebrity has been our preferred cruise line since our first X cruise in 2011.  We have done 10 on Celebrity, 7 on NCL and 1 on Royal Caribbean.

 

We focus more on itinerary and price than the ship.  Still we love the S class ships.

 

However, both NCL and Celebrity have gone to price bundling with beverage packages that seriously inflate the cost of the cruise.  We can still book a repo or TA with Celebrity (those are not bundled) for good prices, but in comparing Celebrity against Royal Caribbean, we find significant prices differences that favor Royal.  We had our first Royal cruise on a TransPacific from Sydney to Seattle last year and loved it.  The Diamond Happy Hour is even better on Royal than the Elite Happy Hour on Celebrity.  The Diamond event runs from 4:30 to 8 and you can order drinks or wine in the MDR.  For 23 days we didn't pay a nickel for any alcohol due to this.

 

In looking at TransAtlantics, we were looking for a 2020 TA from Rome to Florida and even when the X cruise is not bundled, Royal's price is 40% lower than Celebrity's.

 

The Royal ship we were on was Explorer of the Seas, it is not one of Royal's mega ships (we avoid those).  While its design was not as good as an S class on Celebrity ( we missed the sunset bar behind the buffet), it worked for us.  The entertainment on Royal was great.  We even saw two great ice shows.  The MDR food was slightly below Celebrity's but better than NCL's.

 

Not sure when we will find another competitive Celebrity cruise?

[Alsmez]

1 hour ago, upwarduk said:

Summit has been been through its ‘Revolution.’

Some body has to pay for it.

 

Very true. We booked our upcoming May Summit cruise last January while onboard Silhouette, before the Revolution schedule had been publicized. We were planning to book AQ but noticed that a Sky Suite was only a few hundred dollars more, and the salesperson STRONGLY encouraged us to grab one at that price. When the Revolution schedule came out, the price of Sky Suites jumped over $1000 per person and never came back down. They've been sold out for months now, though, even at the higher price. There is definitely a demographic that values the exclusivity and is willing to pay for it.

[Cyber Kat]

We always consider the whole package - cruise line, ship, itinerary, departure port (do we have to fly) rather than just price. Price is a consideration, of course, but not our primary one. It’s all relative anyway. 

 

We were looking at Viking, Azamara and Regent for our spring 2020 cruise - we like smaller ships - but most were at the top of what we wanted to spend. I decided to check out Celebrity and after reading a lot on this board, we think Celebrity will be a good fit, despite the fact that Equinox is at the top end of our preferred ship size. It’s not a mega ship, at least. 

 

We found a great itinerary with all new ports for us in a corner Sky Suite with drink package, gratuities, internet and OBC for about half of the other cruises we were looking at. We think we got a bargain. It’s all relative 😝

[Ontario Cruiser]

We booked outside cabin on the Summit for Jan 2020. Then cancelled the price is now over $1000cdn more.

OntarioCruiser

 

[C 2 C]

15 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I just looked up the referenced X cruise and a veranda and an OV on the Reflection for this particular cruise are the same price. So in your reference you're  basically comparing the price of a veranda cabin on the Reflection with a OV on the Seranade. Interesting that the TA website you got this info didn't tell you this.

 

 

I did not look at the balcony rate but the info is there by clicking on the sailing #

Here is the balcony rate:  Sorry I only looked at the OV rate since the free stuff has a considerable price tag.

There is no way we would ever pay $700 or more per day for a stateroom.  We don't have $21,000 to spend for a month in the Caribbean.  It's bad enough that we have to pay a third more because of our Canadian sized dollar for any cabin.  Some of us just took the wrong career path.  We pick the ship and cabin that will give us room and board for a month at a  time in the Caribbean for $9,999. (US$)

 

Celebrity includes

choose THREE of the following offers:
1. An additional $300 per cabin onboard credit (for a total per cabin onboard credit of $350), or
2. FREE pre-paid gratuities for two, or
3. A FREE Classic Beverage Package for two, which includes select alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages onboard, or
4. Unlimited Internet access for two.

 

[Redtravel]

We have sailed on many Celebrity winter cruises. We are elite plus. We sailed on Reflection early a January. It was the only 14 night Caribbean raise this winter. However since we like longer cruises and don’t like doing b2b on Celebrity, we took the cruise. It was nice. It was crowded especially in the buffet and Show Lounge.  We looked at doing another similar cruise next winter. Again there is only one 14 night sailing in February.  The fares were out of sight. To book a similar type of cabin, it would cost double what it cost us this year. We did not book and do not intend to book any Celebrity cruise again until prices drop.  We are looking at other vacation options. There are several other cruise lines that are being considered.  We have booked 3 future 2019 cruises. None are on Celebrity.  I keep looking at possible 2020 cruises.  Today, Celebrity announced kids sail free. That will likely increase fares. Somebody has to pay for the kids. 

[C 2 C]

16 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Why would you expect a Chevy and a Buick to cost the same?  [Actually, it was when GM started making that happen that they went in the bumper.]  Celebrity should always cost more than Royal, and less than Azamara.  That's the way to protect your brand identities.

The problem is that Celebrity wants you to pay Lincoln prices for an Edsel.