Please Explain "Lift and Shift"

[Wisconsin Travelers]

I have seen this phrase over and over again on Celebrity message boards and I have no idea what it means!  Does it refer to changing your existing booking to a new date for a better price?  Or re-pricing a booking when there's been a price reduction?  Can someone give me a simple explanation?  Thanks.

 

[luv2travel90266]

[Arizona Wildcat]

1 hour ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

I have seen this phrase over and over again on Celebrity message boards and I have no idea what it means!  Does it refer to changing your existing booking to a new date for a better price?  Or re-pricing a booking when there's been a price reduction?  Can someone give me a simple explanation?  Thanks.

 

Watch the video or simply think moving an existing reservation by one year to the same cruise at the same price.

It is clearly described on the Celebrity website

[Bruin Steve]

The quick synopsis:

If your 2020 cruise was cancelled, you can move it to, basically, the same cruise in 2021...Same ship, same number of days, same basic itinerary...same dates--WITHIN 30 days...

IF that cruise exists, you can move your existing booking--Same cabin category, same price, same perks--to the new 2021 cruise.

 

We did it completely by the rules for one cruise--Our July 12, 2020 Infinity 7 night cruise in the Adriatic got moved to the July 19, 20217-night Infinity cruise--we actually even got the SAME Concierge class deck 8 cabin.  Same Drink package, same included gratuities, same OBC.

 

Our other 2020 cruise actually didn't have an exact or close to exact match, so we did a lot of negotiating...and ended up with something else--but don't count on doing that---it's difficult.  They insist you do the refund or 125% FCC in that case...which actually gives you more flexibility--but only if next year's cruise you want to replace it with can be had with the same perks for a price within a 25% increase or less...

 

BUT, if you want the same cruise a year later...and it's available AND the cost would have driven the price up over 25% or you would lose your perks, the "lift and shift" is the way to go...though you are leaving your money in their hands for an extra year and taking some risk...

[wrk2cruise]

5 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

If your 2020 cruise was cancelled,

 

It's not only cancelled cruises.  You can also do this for future reservations.   I did it on my September Equinox cruise.  The down side is there are many sailings where there isn't a qualifying itinerary  12 months out.   For example Reflection 10/11 night itineraries have moved to Edge next year.   While they will allow ship changes between M and S class ships they aren't allowing changes from M or S class to E class ships. Other itineraries have changed # of days, etc.

[Ride-The-Waves]

Its simply a "hook" used by the cruise line to keep your money into their pot.  Cruise lines do not have any clue as to whether the "same" cruise "next year" will be available, if the ports will permit cruise ships visiting, if the ship will have the same cabins available do to social distancing, etc.  It enables the cruise line to keep the fantasy alive that all is well and no changes will be required.  Additionally, prices are not "guaranteed."  You are playing on their turf, so to speak.  Cruise lines can change any aspect of the cruise, including price, on their whim.  And as their costs increase do to COVID-19 required changes to ship designs and procedures, those cost will be passed on to future cruises.

[Bruin Steve]

27 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Additionally, prices are not "guaranteed." ...  Cruise lines can change any aspect of the cruise, including price, on their whim.

Actually, they can't...That is the point of the "Lift and Shift"--they are giving you that future cruise at the SAME price (and terms) you paid for this year's cruise.  You can cement in your price using the Lift-and-Shift...OR you can cement it in by booking today using the FCC...or merely by booking.  But, in those latter two cases, you get today's published price while with the Lift-and-Shift you are getting the same price as when you booked that cruise for this year.  Just as always, booking cements in your price (absent YOU later repricing it for a lower rate).  The cruise line, as always, can raise prices for those who book in the future as they see demand changing (including supply/demand changing IF they need to limit passengers)...but that burden is borne by those booking later.

As to changing the itinerary, yes, the cruise line has ALWAYS been able to do that...and they have cine it to us many times, substituting ports, for example.  And, if some port decides not to allow cruise ships, that would cause them to do that.  The cruise line could even cancel the cruise entirely.  And, say the pandemic continued through next year, everyone could be canceled again...BUT, whenever you book a cruise, you take those same risks.

But, as to price, my prices for 2021, having done the Lift-and-Shift, are now cemented in at the price and perks I booked my 2020 cruises at--which are better prices and terms than I would have gotten right now by canceling and re-booking.  Whether they are still better over the course of the next year is anyone's guess.  If they need to decrease supply for "social distancing", my guess is those prices will start looking very good.  IF Covid-19 is curd in the meantime and they are back to full supply but some are still hesitant to sail, my prices may be not so good.  If Covid id cured and everyone wants to book to make up for not cruising this year, my prices might be great.

And, if Covid is cured, I will guess ALL of those ports will want the cruise ships as it is a big part of their local economy.  If it is not cured, we may end up canceling those cruises ourselves.

[Wisconsin Travelers]

Thanks everyone for the explanation.  Since I didn't have any cruises booked for 2020 which were cancelled, this didn't apply to me but if it had I might have gambled on taking the same cruise next year. 

 

[TFree]

33 minutes ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

Thanks everyone for the explanation.  Since I didn't have any cruises booked for 2020 which were cancelled, this didn't apply to me but if it had I might have gambled on taking the same cruise next year. 

 

Not to complicate matters, but it also applies to early 2021 cruises if you have any, and if the 2022 sailings for that region have been released (the last date eligible would be May 4, 2022).  We had a February 2021 Asia cruise that we moved to essentially the same cruise in February 2022.  In this case, the price was the same, so we did not need to use Lift and Shift.  But if the 2022 cruise had been more expensive, my understanding is that we could have done so.

 

Tom & Judy

[yorky]

3 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Its simply a "hook" used by the cruise line to keep your money into their pot.  Cruise lines do not have any clue as to whether the "same" cruise "next year" will be available, if the ports will permit cruise ships visiting, if the ship will have the same cabins available do to social distancing, etc.  It enables the cruise line to keep the fantasy alive that all is well and no changes will be required.  Additionally, prices are not "guaranteed."  You are playing on their turf, so to speak.  Cruise lines can change any aspect of the cruise, including price, on their whim.  And as their costs increase do to COVID-19 required changes to ship designs and procedures, those cost will be passed on to future cruises.

That’s simply not true.

[Purplsmurf]

3 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Its simply a "hook" used by the cruise line to keep your money into their pot.  Cruise lines do not have any clue as to whether the "same" cruise "next year" will be available, if the ports will permit cruise ships visiting, if the ship will have the same cabins available do to social distancing, etc.  It enables the cruise line to keep the fantasy alive that all is well and no changes will be required.  Additionally, prices are not "guaranteed."  You are playing on their turf, so to speak.  Cruise lines can change any aspect of the cruise, including price, on their whim.  And as their costs increase do to COVID-19 required changes to ship designs and procedures, those cost will be passed on to future cruises.

This is not true at all. What money do they have? All that they would have is a deposit. In our case it’s $25/person. Also, prices ARE guaranteed. That’s why they offered this. We were supposed to sail in August. Before it was actually cancelled the prices had drastically come down. We repriced and upgraded and when lift and shift became available we moved it to next year. We are keeping all 4 perks and going to pay about $2000 less than the current prices for the same sailing next year. Great program!

[Mike981]

I worked with my TA this week to move my 1/15/21 cruise on the Reflection, to 1/14/22 on the Constellation (I only have a small deposit down at this point).
Same price and all four perks. Now we are waiting on confirmation from Celebrity. I know we will hate not having a winter getaway, but we are pleased with the option.

Not having to worry about any issues with the virus, deciding when I should purchase air and general concerns of the changes to the cruise experience helped us make the decision.

But the biggest worry was being stuck on a boat after the cruise is over. That would ruin us financially. 

[poffles]

1 hour ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

Thanks everyone for the explanation.  Since I didn't have any cruises booked for 2020 which were cancelled, this didn't apply to me but if it had I might have gambled on taking the same cruise next year. 

 

 

The 'lifted' cruise does not have to be one that was cancelled, it could be one in the future.   You can shift up to May 2022 which means the lifted cruise could be one up to May 2021.

[PTC DAWG]

5 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Its simply a "hook" used by the cruise line to keep your money into their pot.  Cruise lines do not have any clue as to whether the "same" cruise "next year" will be available, if the ports will permit cruise ships visiting, if the ship will have the same cabins available do to social distancing, etc.  It enables the cruise line to keep the fantasy alive that all is well and no changes will be required.  Additionally, prices are not "guaranteed."  You are playing on their turf, so to speak.  Cruise lines can change any aspect of the cruise, including price, on their whim.  And as their costs increase do to COVID-19 required changes to ship designs and procedures, those cost will be passed on to future cruises.

You seem bitter, and do not understand “lift and shift” at all

[dawnprincess]

We personally used this to switch from a Thanksgiving 2020 cruise on Apex to Thanksgiving 2021 on Apex. I believe as long as the cruise date is within 3 weeks of the old cruise date it applies. When we booked we got a $200 onboard credit plus had chosen the free internet perk which was carried over to the new reservation. My sister-in-law has booked a Sunset Balcony. The price for 2021 was $900 more per person than what she paid so this was a great deal. Plus she got a much better cabin location. Also my husband and I had booked under a $50 reduced deposit promotion and didn’t have to pay more. Our reservation numbers remained the same too. Good deal for us!

Edited June 6, 2020 by dawnprincess

[Wisconsin Travelers]

Many of you seem to have used this switch for late 2020 cruises.  We just recently booked a Caribbean cruise on Reflection for December 4, 2020.  Do you really think this cruise might not go or we might have problems getting back?  Should we consider rebooking it for December 2021?  You folks are making me nervous!!

[luv2travel90266]

The choice is yours if you wish to retain a future reservation (which might be cancelled) or push the reservation out when hopefully the earth is healthier. I have used the Lift and Shift on a Celebrity and Azamara reservation as I would rather sail later in the future than risk being quarantined on a ship. In both cases the itineraries were similar and 12 & 13 months later and in the case of Celebrity it is was a significant savings vs making a new booking. Yes my deposit is in their hands but that was a requirement of booking prior to the  pandemic. The travel industry realized programs like Lift and Shift benefit their patrons, exercise goodwill but they are not perfect nor should that be expected.  

 

There are few guarantees in life and we hope we get to enjoy another day and cruise again and that these companies survive and prosper in the future. Wishing all my fellow cruises good health and smooth seas.

[Fouremco]

Personally, I wouldn't cruise in December 2020, even if Celebrity decides to risk it. I'm not generally risk adverse, but I have no confidence that Celebrity or any other line will be able to implement sufficient health and safety protocols without eliminating much of the enjoyment of a cruise. FWIW, we postponed a March 2021 cruise for a year.

 

I'd push it off for a year. You need to look at the options of cancelling and rebooking, doing an L&S now, or waiting to see if Celebrity cancels before doing an L&S.

[TFree]

1 hour ago, Wisconsin Travelers said:

Many of you seem to have used this switch for late 2020 cruises.  We just recently booked a Caribbean cruise on Reflection for December 4, 2020.  Do you really think this cruise might not go or we might have problems getting back?  Should we consider rebooking it for December 2021?  You folks are making me nervous!!

Nobody knows, but my hunch is that December cruises will go.  I don't have any scheduled until April, but I would consider going if I had a December cruise, particularly if I only had to fly a few hours to get to the departure port.

Tom & Judy

[GreenValleyDogWalker]

3 hours ago, TFree said:

Nobody knows, but my hunch is that December cruises will go.  I don't have any scheduled until April, but I would consider going if I had a December cruise, particularly if I only had to fly a few hours to get to the departure port.

Tom & Judy

 

Hope your hunch is correct - we have a cruise booked in September (Equinox-Southern Caribbean) -

 

Couldn't help but notice that you are from Nipomo - we retired from that area several years ago - lived on Highway one - up on the Mesa - (actual address was in Arroyo Grande, however) 

 

Is Jocko's Open ??  

[sfaaa]

15 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Its simply a "hook" used by the cruise line to keep your money into their pot.  Cruise lines do not have any clue as to whether the "same" cruise "next year" will be available, if the ports will permit cruise ships visiting, if the ship will have the same cabins available do to social distancing, etc.  It enables the cruise line to keep the fantasy alive that all is well and no changes will be required.  Additionally, prices are not "guaranteed."  You are playing on their turf, so to speak.  Cruise lines can change any aspect of the cruise, including price, on their whim.  And as their costs increase do to COVID-19 required changes to ship designs and procedures, those cost will be passed on to future cruises.

It's up to you to say Yea or Nay. What exactly is the problem?

[TFree]

13 hours ago, GreenValleyDogWalker said:

 

Hope your hunch is correct - we have a cruise booked in September (Equinox-Southern Caribbean) -

 

Couldn't help but notice that you are from Nipomo - we retired from that area several years ago - lived on Highway one - up on the Mesa - (actual address was in Arroyo Grande, however) 

 

Is Jocko's Open ??  

We retired TO Nipomo (Trilogy).  We love it here - the best move we have made.  Jocko's is open but only for takeout as of now.

 

Tom & Judy

[bouhunter]

22 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

You seem bitter, and do not understand “lift and shift” at all

Correct on both points 🙂

 

[zitsky]

I just looked at a lift and shift to replace my 9 night Southern Caribbean cruise.  I was only given one option, a 9 night ABC cruise.  It wasn't attractive to me.

 

 

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

I just looked at a lift and shift to replace my 9 night Southern Caribbean cruise.  I was only given one option, a 9 night ABC cruise.  It wasn't attractive to me.

 

 

Too bad. A lot of posters can't find any replacement and would jump on the opportunity to L&S to an ABC cruise.