Paying for cruise before final payment date

[dani negreanu]

For us, is the exchange rates....😁

[chamima]

2 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

For us, is the exchange rates....😁

 

Your exchange rates only get better and better the longer you wait.

(I was in Jerusalem all summer and I got less and less every week to exchange US dollars!)

[dani negreanu]

8 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

Your exchange rates only get better and better the longer you wait.

(I was in Jerusalem all summer and I got less and less every week to exchange US dollars!)

 

Well, I've paid almost in full the next cruise with a rate of 3.47$, now it's 3.53$...

With all the tension in the North, the $ is going up and up.

 

BTW, I've been paying before final payment lots of times, and if there was a price drop, I've been credited back in a couple of days. Booking through a travel agent.

[chamima]

8 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Well, I've paid almost in full the next cruise with a rate of 3.47$, now it's 3.53$...

With all the tension in the North, the $ is going up and up.

 

BTW, I've been paying before final payment lots of times, and if there was a price drop, I've been credited back in a couple of days. Booking through a travel agent.

 

לפני שבויים היה 3.44  

[dani negreanu]

4 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

לפני שבויים היה 3.44  

 

שבועיים

 

I rest my case 😁😁

[chamima]

2 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

 

שבועיים

 

I rest my case 😁😁

 

Stay safe!

[dani negreanu]

14 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

Stay safe!

 

Thanks Chamima, much appreciated.

Until the next round... It seems this one is over.... no casualties, that's the most important thing.

[sandancer]

On 8/30/2019 at 8:13 PM, gold1953 said:

It is not a contract until final payment date.. Yes you can get a refund of any or all of your money

Our travel agent in the US is adamant that if we pay early then the we can neither get a price drop or cancel and get a refund. The date we make the payment becomes the final payment date. I am starting to get very frustrated now. 

[chamima]

4 minutes ago, sandancer said:

Our travel agent in the US is adamant that if we pay early then the we can neither get a price drop or cancel and get a refund. The date we make the payment becomes the final payment date. I am starting to get very frustrated now. 

 

 

And my TA (also in the US) just last week specifically asked me NOT to pay for a cruise far in advance of the final payment date because if the price went down getting a refund is such a pain in the neck. Thereby saying that it is possible - just hard.

Sounds like your TA isn't willing to do whatever that "pain in the neck" process is to get you the discount.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We always pay down our cruise but make a final payment when it is due. One reason we do this is our Celebrity Visa does not have a high enough credit limit to pay for a RS all at one time.

[gerelmx]

On 8/30/2019 at 12:33 PM, sandancer said:

We are considering making final payment for a cruise early. I thought that if you did that and the cost of the cruise dropped before the “actual date” of final payment we would still get the lower fare. My TA says not. Once the cruise is paid for you would not be offered the new fare. 

Anyone have any experience of this. 

http://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Best_Price_Guarantee_19.pdf

 

Booking Information | 2018-08-03 | 02:28 PM
Best Price Guarantee
What is the Celebrity Cruises Best Price Guarantee? Our Celebrity Best Price
Guarantee ensures that you will enjoy the lowest advertised rate on your cruise fare and
your preferred promotional offer. If a lower cruise fare or different promotional offer
advertised to the general public is found and your booking meets certain requirements,
you may request to have that savings or promotion applied to your booking (savings
options vary by whether the request is submitted before or after the final payment due
date).
To apply for your onboard credit, Submit the claim form here.
If the request is submitted on or before the due date of final payment, the following
applies:
Request for a Lower Cruise Fare Request to Add or Change an Added
Value Offer
Celebrity will reduce cruise fare to
available prevailing cruise fare. If full
payment has been made, a refund will be
issued.
Celebrity will 1) apply an Added Value
Offer to booking and 2) go to prevailing
eligible cruise fare.
NOTE: If either the new cruise fare or
Added Value Offer is not combinable with
any promotion associated with the
existing booking, or changes are being
NOTE: If either the new cruise fare or
Added Value Offer is not combinable with
any promotion associated with the
existing booking, or changes are being
April 4, 2019
2
Request for a Lower Cruise Fare Request to Add or Change an Added
Value Offer
made outside of promotional booking
window, the existing promotion will be
removed from the booking.
made outside of promotional booking
window, the existing promotion will be
removed from the booking.
No refund or exchange will be given on a promotion offer (added value)
NOTE: an Added Value Offer refers to an amenity added to your booking, such as an
onboard credit, specialty dining, shore excursion, etc.
For a request submitted after the due date of final payment AND the booking is
within 48 hours from creation, the following applies:
Request for a Lower Cruise Fare Request to Add or Change an Added
Value Offer
Celebrity will apply an onboard credit to
the booking in the amount of 110% of the
difference in price.
Celebrity will 1) apply an Added Value
Offer to booking and 2) go to prevailing
eligible cruise fare.
NOTE: If the new cruise fare is not
combinable with a promotion associated
with the existing booking, the existing
promotion will be removed from the
booking. No refund will be made
within final payment
NOTE: If the new Added Value Offer is not
combinable with a promotion associated
with the existing booking, the existing
promotion will be removed from the
booking. No refund will be made
within final payment
No refunds will be given within penalty period. Request for changes made within
penalty period and after 48 hours from creation, are subject to cancellation penalty if
any changes are made.
Terms and Conditions:
The Celebrity Best Price Guarantee (the "Guarantee") is available to your clients that
are booked a Celebrity cruise or cruise tour on or after May 1, 2014. If your booking
meets either of the above requirements, you may request to have a lower cruise fare or
a promotional offer advertised to the general public applied to your booking. The lower
cruise fare and/or promotional offer must apply to the same cruise (defined as same
ship, sail date, stateroom category and number of guests). If within 48 hours from creation of
booking or if on or before the due date of final payment, regardless of creation date of booking. You can submit
a request to apply the lower cruise fare or promotional offer to your booking as
described in the charts above.
The onboard credit is non-refundable, non-transferable and has no cash value. Any
unused portion of the onboard credit as of 10 PM on the last night of the cruise will be
forfeited. Both the lower cruise fare and Value Added offer must be advertised by
April 4, 2019
3
Celebrity Cruises and bookable in the United States and Canada.
Group rates, membership programs, charters, or other Travel Agent promotions, travel
agent rebates and any other discount or promotion not offered by Celebrity Cruises to
the general public in the United States and Canada, including but not limited to travel
agent rebates are ineligible. The Guarantee does not apply to any rates loaded in error
by Celebrity Cruises, or any printing, typographical, administrative or technological error
in materials. Celebrity Cruises will not accept any Claim Form that it believes in its sole
discretion is the result of an error or is made in bad faith.
To submit a claim on behalf of your clients for the Celebrity Best Price Guarantee (a
"Claim Form"), click here. You will be asked to provide the lower cruise fare and/or the
Added Value offer (the "Requested Savings") and the web site address on which the
Requested Savings can be found. The Requested Savings must be available for
booking or redemption at the time that Celebrity reviews the Claim Form submitted on
behalf of your clients (usually within 48 hours from receipt of submission). Claim Forms
must be submitted in accordance with these instructions within 48 hours of booking your
cruise. Celebrity will verify the extent to which the booking is eligible for the Requested
Savings.
The Celebrity Best Price Guarantee is limited to one (1) Claim Form per cruise booking.
Any modifications, changes or cancellations made to an existing booking may disqualify
booking from eligibility for promotion. Claims that cannot be independently verified by
Celebrity Cruises shall not be accepted. Claims must meet all requirements otherwise
imposed on the Requested Savings, including residency, regional, membership, agerelated
or other requirements. If a Claim is verified, Celebrity Cruises will apply the
savings to your client's booking. Verified claims are limited to one (1) onboard credit per
booking. Onboard credit must be used on the associated sailing, is non-refundable,
non-transferable and has no cash value. Any unused portion of the onboard credit as of
10 PM on the last night of the cruise will be forfeited. By submitting Claim Form, your
clients fully and unconditionally agree to be bound by the terms and conditions and the
decisions of Celebrity Cruises. Celebrity Cruises reserves the right in its sole discretion
to modify or discontinue the Guarantee or to restrict its availability to any person, at any
time, for any reason, and without prior notice or liability to you. The terms that are in
effect at the time of your client's booking will determine their eligibility under the
Guarantee. Celebrity Cruises failure to enforce any provision of these Terms and
Conditions shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. The Best Price Guarantee is
only available to U.S. and Canadian consumers. Void where prohibited by law.
Frequently Asked Questions
1) An eligible fare or promotional offer must be: a) available for the same brand, ship,
sailing, category and number of guests as the current booking; b) available at the time
April 4, 2019

[gerelmx]

deleted because was repeated (double)

Edited September 2, 2019 by gerelmx

[sandancer]

Thank you. That’s a pretty comprehensive answer. Appreciate your input. 

[varoo]

3 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

We always pay down our cruise but make a final payment when it is due. One reason we do this is our Celebrity Visa does not have a high enough credit limit to pay for a RS all at one time.

 

When we were in a similar situation a number of years ago, we called the credit card company to request a higher credit limit. 

We were pleasantly surprised that it was handled quickly with one simple telephone call; no forms to fill out and no red tape.

 

We only asked for a temporary increase,  but they left the higher credit limit on the Visa account permanently.

It has turned out to be very handy numerous times since then, being able to make large payments with a single credit card transaction instead of needing to split them up.

                         

[RichYak]

Some have listed reasons why they would pay for a cruise in full prior to the due date. I'll add another. If you want to use Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card points to pay for a cruise, you need to pay the full amount at the time of booking. I did this last year with a Royal Caribbean cruise. There was a price drop and I had no issue getting a refund for the amount of the price drop.

[sandancer]

It occurs to me that rather than pay it in full I could make a large payment off the balance and leave a small amount owing. That would mean it would not be paid in full until the due date. Is that feasible or is it at the TAs discretion?

[emmas gran]

Hi if I can chip in here in UK agents want payment 12/15 weeks prior to cruise but then hold it until final payment date 6 weeks before. As example we paid 15th July for a cruise departing 28th Oct, is it the same in US and this agent doesn't want to mess with the system they have.

[Airrace]

Last year I paid for my cruise in full and just before we left the price dropped and when we boarded the ship I showed them the price drop and they issued me an on board credit.

 

Hope this helps

[chamima]

26 minutes ago, Airrace said:

Last year I paid for my cruise in full and just before we left the price dropped and when we boarded the ship I showed them the price drop and they issued me an on board credit.

 

Hope this helps

 

 

You're really lucky they did that.

Normally after the cruise line's final payment date you can't get any price reductions.

I think the discussion on here so far is about people paying in full for cruises BEFORE final payment dates and then getting refunds for price reductions that happen after final payment but befre the cruise line final payment date.

[mayleeman]

@gerelmx Nice that they made it so simple!

[sandancer]

Problem resolved. I realised that even if I left a small amount to be paid by final payment date then we are still eligible for price drops before that date. Thanks to everyone for the advice.