Ever had luck getting a promo after final payment?

[CruiseLifeIsTheBest]

Well it finally happened. After many cruises with Celebrity, first time our cabin price dropped significantly after final payment. To add to the sting, we upgraded our cabin on 11/6 then the Veterans Day promo came out 11/7. Price dropped $1300 and added 2 additional perks (we currently have 2). I know they will not honor the price drop and totally get that, I rolled the dice wanting to ensure we got the cabin we wanted but wondering if anyone has had any luck getting Celebrity to add the promo. i.e. giving us the 2 additional perks? We are past a cancel and rebook being worth it 😩 TA is closed today so will have her call tomorrow. Thought some here may have experiences to share. 

[mayleeman]

I have written about this before. Last January, the day after final payment, I did a mock booking for our Reflection April cruise we took this past April. I saw a price drop of over $900 for our Aqua cabin category.

 

I knew that I could not expect a price drop after final (I had gotten 4 drops in the 3 previous months).But I saw the chat button, figured "why not try?," and sent a chat msg asking if they could do anything for us since the reduction occurred less than 24 hrs since we paid our balance. I was hoping for, at most, a $100 to $200 adjustment if they wanted to be nice.

 

A nice rep wrote back that they could not adjust the price, but they could offer 2 perks. I asked if it could be grats and drink pkg, and she said yes. Then she also added $200 in OBC because they had a promo going for MLK, JR., holiday week.

 

All told, since this was a 10 day cruise, we received over $1500 in value, almost 30% of what we had expected to pay altogether.

 

I have talked to a number of people, and haven't heard of anyone getting a deal like this. TAs have said they don't even call, and they thought it was because Celebrity may like to reward direct callers, or because it was our first Celebrity cruise.  We were really lucky, no doubt! We used the "out of the blue" OBC (plus our $38) to upgrade to premium package,  and that was wonderful.

 

I'd say, go ahead and try. Tell your TA my story if they resist trying to get it. If you have a nice story about your cruise (gparents coming? first in a while? going to Int Space Station for 3 yrs right after?), that might help!

Edited November 10, 2019 by mayleeman

[CruiseLifeIsTheBest]

29 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

I'd say, go ahead and try. Tell your TA my story if they resist trying to get it. If you have a nice story about your cruise (gparents coming? first in a while? going to Int Space Station for 3 yrs right after?), that might help!

Thanks! Appreciate the share. You never know unless you ask!

[grandgeezer]

If this is acceptable, what would you use for an argument if they took away perks after final payment? Same thing.

[CruiseLifeIsTheBest]

19 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

If this is acceptable, what would you use for an argument if they took away perks after final payment? Same thing.

Simply asking folks to share experiences they have had in this situation. Any to share? TIA

Edited November 10, 2019 by CruiseLifeIsTheBest

[mayleeman]

3 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

If this is acceptable

 

Unacceptable? Did I violate a rule of customership somehow? Should I have reconsidered asking if they could do something, and then declined the perks she offered? Should I hang my head?

[dani negreanu]

No.

Price drop after final payment -- we got a free upgrade to Concierge C2 (after being 1C), but they took away the perk (free grats).

The prices continued to drop... I called again asking at least for the free grats that were taken from me at the first upgrade. They categorically refused, instead offering me another free upgrade, this time to Aqua A1. I declined, since I don't like the location of those cabins.

There were more price drops, but I didn't bother.

I enjoyed my first cruise in a C2 very much 😁.

Edited November 10, 2019 by dani negreanu

[MEcruzr]

Our travel agent went to bat for us once... there was a large price reduction right after final payment. They agreed to split the difference and we got half of the reduction. We considered that a win!

[ShawninFL]

If there is a price drop after final payment, how it usually works, is you can upgrade to higher category, but you will not receive a refund or onboard credit for the difference.  When you make final payment you have to accept that that is the best price you're getting for that cabin on that sailing.  We usually try to upgrade our cabin when this occurs.  For our past cruise on Millennium at final payment we were in an Ocean view cabin with classic drink package, $300 OBC, plus $200 OBC from booking the cruise on a previous cruise. A month before departure there was a significant price drop.  We upgraded from our ocean view to Concierge Class for $300.00 per person, but with the cabin upgrade it also upgraded our drink package from classic to premium (which I always upgrade anyway), added prepaid gratuities (14 night cruise) and free WIFI.  We kept the $300 OBC, and unknown at the time of the upgrade, our $200.00 OBC from booking on a previous cruise increased to $250.00.  It turned out our upgrade was cheaper than if we'd stayed in our Oceanview and paid for the rest once we were on board the ship.  Sometimes  you have to look at it from the prospective of what you will spend on your vacation overall and not just what you pay for your cabin.

 

As a side note, this cruise on Millennium was affected by the Typhoon that hit Japan in October.  Our boarding date was delayed 2 days reducing our 14 day cruise to 12 days.  We received a refund for the 2 days lost as well as a 50% future cruise credit on the remaining balance paid after the refund due to the shortened cruise and slightly altered itinerary.  So our upgrade turned out to be half price!

 

[CruiseLifeIsTheBest]

Just to provide an update..as I mentioned we didn’t expect an adjustment due to a price drop after final payment..we knew the risk, we wanted the cabin, we are totally happy with the cabin and were willing to pay what we paid. As some have said in previous posts on these boards, we would not expect to be asked to pay more when the price goes up which it often does o why should we expect a refund when it goes down. Celebrity is in business to make money and expectations should be realistic given that fact. Having that said, we are very happy they agreed to give us the 2 extra perks matching the sale offer for perks. Must have looked at our casino trends and decided it was an okay business decision 😂😂😂

 

Seriously, very happy they were willing to add the extra perks. 

[sanger727]

It may be hit or miss. On ours they would not. After final payment there was a significant price drop and they ran a promo that included 2 perks for balcony and above (it was 1 when we booked). We could upgrade to concierge to free or pay to upgrade to aqua, but they refused to change us to 2 perks. They told us that the perks you book with is the perks you keep.

Edited November 12, 2019 by sanger727