Price changes (within an hour)

[zitsky]

My husband and I had a good experience on Celebrity Equinox (Caribbean cruise).  I was researching prices for a new trip in early December 2020 and just happened to check twice to make sure I wrote down the right numbers.  I saw a price increase of more than $1,000 just 30 minutes later.  I do plan to send this itinerary to my TA.  But I'm surprised that the numbers changed so much in a short time.

 

Is Celebrity good about honoring prices if you document them (such as a PDF file)?

[sandc4e]

If you see a price you like put a courtesy hold (24 hours) - that way you can prove you had that offered.  I'm not sure if you have PDFs if they would be honored, maybe someone else knows. 

[zitsky]

Thanks.  I didn't know about a courtesy hold.

[wrk2cruise]

Until you make a booking they have no reason to honor a prior query.  Generally if I find something which I think is a deal I will put a 24hr hold on it and then review the invoice to make sure everything is as I believe it should be.

 

There have been issues with the Celebrity site not properly representing the fare with regards to refundable/non-refundable deposit and perks included.

 

There have been several posts recently with people with final summary screen shots which were not honored by Celebrity.

[zitsky]

I see no way to put something on hold.  Are you telling me to pick up the phone and call Celebrity?  I see no way to do this online.  I'm sorry if this is a dumb question but I am new to Celebrity.

[wrk2cruise]

To place the 24 hr hold you have to proceed to the summary page just before it asks for payment.  Then click on the Celebrity logo at the top left of the page.  A pop up will appear with an options to exit the reservation or place the hold.

 

You used to be able to cancel a hold on-line but you can't anymore, you can just let it expire or you can call to have it canceled.   It does allow you to put a hold on multiple cabins at once.

 

I always call to convert a hold to a deposited reservation.

 

Also if you are wanting to transfer to a TA you can do that within 60 days AS LONG AS it gets transferred before the final payment date.

 

If you are using a TA and it's after final payment and you put a cabin on hold and you want it assigned to the TA you have to call the TA and have them do a 3way call with you to allow the TA to take the cabin and release your hold.  

[wrk2cruise]

Were you pricing a suite?   The double savings promo ends today (at midnight).  That might explain a $1000 difference in fare if they inadvertently removed the extra $500 pp discount.

 

If you provide the sailing a category I can look at other sites for the current fares.

[zitsky]

Ok now I've put it on hold.

[wrk2cruise]

Did you get it to hold at the lower price?

 

By the way I live in brier creek area

Edited January 29, 2020 by wrk2cruise

[zitsky]

2 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Did you get it to hold at the lower price?

 

By the way I live in brier creek area

 

Not 100% sure.  Waiting for confirmation email.

[wrk2cruise]

I can give more advise if you want to email me at wrk2cruise at nc.rr.com.   Send the sailing date and stateroom category.    I'm not a TA.  I just hate to see people struggle with Celebrity pricing.

[zitsky]

I will send to my TA.  The thing is, I haven't had a chance to talk to my spouse about this.  We were thinking to do an Asian cruise before the coronavirus happened.  I will talk to my TA.  If the price has changed, as I think it will, we will wait for another sale before booking it.

[wrk2cruise]

Found that email is no longer working use wrk2cruise at gmail.com instead if you want.

 

The promo tomorrow goes back to 4 perks for the 3 perks price with the non-refundable deposit.

[Pushka]

Prices fell $2000 just before Christmas and so I grabbed a great deal. Of course they are higher than ever now. 

[Mimiya11]

Within 24 hours of booking AQ on the Summit, the price of our cruise went down by close to $600. This was yesterday.   Celebrity TA adjusted it for us but it would have been nice of him to tell us that tomorrow 4 perks are included rather than the 3 we got as we would have held off.  Will be curious to see what the cabin prices will be but we think we got a good deal.  There are tons of AQ cabins as of this morning for our sailing on March 6th available but we are locked in now that we paid the balance.     

 

Last year,  I took a screen shot of a booking I started for a Baltic Cruise we had booked already (oh those fake bookings 🙂 This offer included all perks plus premium beverage but by the time my TA went to change our booking within half an hour the site changed premium to classic.  Our TA fought for us sharing my screen shot.  But rather than agreeing to change the package, the Supervisor at Celebrity decided to reflect it as an OBC used to upgrade classic to premium.   

[Pushka]

I check prices every day because once a new price goes up, obviously it changes instantly online. Yesterday the price for a Sky Suite plus the four perks was $14,800 total. Today Celebrity is having a sale, splashes of gold on the website and the promo is 50% off the four perks. Checked the price, and the same suite is now $16,400. How does Celebrity get away with this? 

[suec12]

I am really getting annoyed with all the price machinations - keep mumbling about no more cruising. But then, yesterday I booked one. I had started on-line but thought I had a CC small discount and called in and ended up booking with agent At the very end, he pulls out the non-refundable credit......grrrrrrr. I had not seen this on the on-line booking. It seems like there can now be maybe 8 different prices for the same cruise. 

 

NYT had an article about this "dynamic pricing" in all areas of travel and how often all the players can change the prices. Again, very frustrating!

[luckyinpa]

so what do you think of this. on summit for my cruise 4 cabins on 9 were left and 1 on 8. been like that all day today. i emailed my TA around 6 tonight and he said only 1 on 9 and the one on 8 were left. the 9 was under the spa so no way did i want that but he put a hold on it so i had it. . then i said change it to deck8. he said it was gone. he thinks maybe they are doing something with inventory because for so many to be gone so quick is nuts

 

plus it's at higher prices than just a day ago. 

 

good news is he said if i see it i can hold it and then transfer to him since we are before final and id get the pricing that is today. which is still worse than a week ago but i wasnt ready to book. it was much cheaper for just 4 perks now 3 costs more. crazy pricing

[Luvcrusn]

Whenever you shop anything, but especially anything related to any type of travel, I recommend using an InPrivate or Incognito window. That will both avoid cookies and prevent directed ads appearing all over your online experience.

[zitsky]

3 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

Whenever you shop anything, but especially anything related to any type of travel, I recommend using an InPrivate or Incognito window. That will both avoid cookies and prevent directed ads appearing all over your online experience.

 

Thanks.  Will it change the price?

[ewespinme]

3 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

Found that email is no longer working use wrk2cruise at gmail.com instead if you want.

 

The promo tomorrow goes back to 4 perks for the 3 perks price with the non-refundable deposit.

Sending you a message ...

[Jim_Iain]

I've been seeing some pretty big swings in cruise pricing lately but normally tied to promotions coming and going and refundable and non-refundable fares.   I compare to my perk requirements and whether NR or Refundable.   The promotion that has been in affect for the past week to 10 days has been defaulting to NR deals without giving you the option of the Refundable price unless you press a couple extra buttons. 

 

Last week I got a $1,000 reduction by changing to a NR and getting 1 perk instead of 3.   For me that worked perfect for me.  

[luckyinpa]

1 hour ago, Luvcrusn said:

Whenever you shop anything, but especially anything related to any type of travel, I recommend using an InPrivate or Incognito window. That will both avoid cookies and prevent directed ads appearing all over your online experience.

 

can this bring back a sold out category..all my cabins magically disappeared at once tonight..sigh

[cruise kitty]

47 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

 

can this bring back a sold out category..all my cabins magically disappeared at once tonight..sigh

 

Actually sometimes it does ;)   I posted a couple of weeks ago about my cruise going on sale, but suddenly all cabins in my category disappearing....  checked via private window, & suddenly, amazingly, there were cabins available at the sale price.  Oh Celebrity 

[Luvcrusn]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

 

Thanks.  Will it change the price?

It will sometimes (depending upon where you're shopping and what you're shopping for) keep the price from rising on subsequent visits to the same site. A prime example of this is shopping for air fare on airline websites. At any rate it will keep you from getting emails from X to complete your booking.