Did Celebrity change their policy on re-pricing and upgrading rooms?

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

Today I went into one of our reservations for next year, and was looking to see what the price was for a one category upgrade, and what I saw and what they quoted were two different prices. She told me it’s because it’s not a new booking, that I couldn’t take advantage of the new offers, and I had to stick with my military current offer. Question, when did this change?  I used to re-price all the time and get lower rates. So now when we book that is it, no more price drops??

[miched]

Why can’t you cancel and then rebook?  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[wrk2cruise]

What about Cruise With Confidence.  You are supposed to be able to take advantage of prevailing rates.  Now if  it's some special promo for New Bookings only maybe not.   Like others have said you should be able to cancel and rebook anyway and at least get FCC for you old deposit and re-apply it to the new booking.

 

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

3 hours ago, miched said:

Why can’t you cancel and then rebook?  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

I don’t think we can since it is NRD. We’ve always been able to take advantage of price drops or change rooms if the next room rate dropped to a reasonable rate, but today talking to someone from India, she said no and that it was for new bookings only. Just wondering if this was just a mistake on her part or if this is a new policy.

[jelayne]

Did you do a mock booking at the current rate with military discount and NRD?  The military discount isn’t always available nor is the NRD always available.

 

If the mock booking  at today’s rate using both the Military Discount & NRD are less than you booked at I would call again.

[wrk2cruise]

Do what @jelayne says as that would be "prevailing rates" and you should always be able to reprice at prevailing rates.  Also may want to call on the Captains Club number as they are generally more experienced representatives.

[Alakegirl]

I wasn’t aware that Celebrity used any call centers in India,  having only interacted with representatives in Kansas and Florida?

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

9 hours ago, jelayne said:

Did you do a mock booking at the current rate with military discount and NRD?  The military discount isn’t always available nor is the NRD always available.

 

If the mock booking  at today’s rate using both the Military Discount & NRD are less than you booked at I would call again.

Thanks I did the mock booking 1st time just checking the military box and got a higher price with a 920.00 discount. Then I did it a second time using my Capt Club # and checking military, and got a better price taking off (1582.00): CARBBONUS NRD $862.00 and RETREATNRD $720.00. When I called she told me since it was not a new booking, I had to stay with the military rate I have, and would have to pay the higher rates to switch rooms.   When I looked at the best price guarantee it still states you can change offers. 

I have a SS suite now and they are completely sold out. The CS is not much more under the new offer and in a better location, but she said I could only do military rate. I almost lost my SS, because she switched me and then we got disconnected, and she never called me back. I had to call again and explain to another lady with a heavy accent, to get my original room back. 
 

Does anyone have the Captains Club reservation number?  I’d like to give them a try.

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

1 hour ago, Alakegirl said:

I wasn’t aware that Celebrity used any call centers in India,  having only interacted with representatives in Kansas and Florida?

Same here, I’ve always had people from the US, but not yesterday I talked to two heavy accented women. Not overly friendly either. Maybe due to the losses the Cruiseline has had they are outsourcing?

[gcorgain]

I have been able to change my NRD to take advantage of new promotions (obviously losing anything from the original promotion). Worst case you should be able to change the booking for $100pp. under the standard NRD terms. I'd call again. Unfortunately Celebrity phone agents can be inconsistent.

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

1 hour ago, gcorgain said:

I have been able to change my NRD to take advantage of new promotions (obviously losing anything from the original promotion). Worst case you should be able to change the booking for $100pp. under the standard NRD terms. I'd call again. Unfortunately Celebrity phone agents can be inconsistent.

Thank you!

 

[Bo1953]

3 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

I wasn’t aware that Celebrity used any call centers in India,  having only interacted with representatives in Kansas and Florida?

That has been my experience as well.... always U.S. based CSR's.

 

bon voyage

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, DiamondSuiteCruiser said:

Same here, I’ve always had people from the US, but not yesterday I talked to two heavy accented women. Not overly friendly either. Maybe due to the losses the Cruiseline has had they are outsourcing?

How odd, we have individuals who are U.S. residents (born in the U.S.) who have 'heavy accents' to my ears from different regions of the U.S.

 

bon voyage

[Oceangoer2]

2 hours ago, DiamondSuiteCruiser said:

Thanks I did the mock booking 1st time just checking the military box and got a higher price with a 920.00 discount. Then I did it a second time using my Capt Club # and checking military, and got a better price taking off (1582.00): CARBBONUS NRD $862.00 and RETREATNRD $720.00. When I called she told me since it was not a new booking, I had to stay with the military rate I have, and would have to pay the higher rates to switch rooms.   When I looked at the best price guarantee it still states you can change offers. 

I have a SS suite now and they are completely sold out. The CS is not much more under the new offer and in a better location, but she said I could only do military rate. I almost lost my SS, because she switched me and then we got disconnected, and she never called me back. I had to call again and explain to another lady with a heavy accent, to get my original room back. 
 

Does anyone have the Captains Club reservation number?  I’d like to give them a try.

From Celebrity website...Contact Us.....hope this helps.

• Captain's Club Assistance and Inquiries 1-844-418-6824

• Captain's Club Email Address: CelebrityEngagementCenter@celebrity.com

 

 

 

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

For those that have had positive input, I truely thank you! Those that just like to be sarcastic to get to a high number of post, I have no words.🤐 

 

I called the certified vacation planner and he said the only difference he sees is the price of the protection plan that online is giving me, it's much lower than his price and he said he was unable to adjust that. So its looks like for now we stay where we are. 

 

Does anyone have and input on changing rooms online? When I click change rooms I can select the room I want, but it is very vague, it show me for less than 300.00 ea we can upgrade, but doesn't show the break down. So I'm not sure if that includes the insurance, or if I'd be paying a total of 2000.00 more when that is added and not just under 600.00. The cruise planner insurance rate came up to over a thousand dollars for the two of us, and online in the mock booking it gave me 678.00 total.😖  So frustrating!

Thanks again for all the help!

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

1 hour ago, Bo1953 said:

How odd, we have individuals who are U.S. residents (born in the U.S.) who have 'heavy accents' to my ears from different regions of the U.S.

 

bon voyage

 Thanks for your input! 🙄 Some people just like to be trolls and bullies!

[wrk2cruise]

I think the issue is that you may be requesting the 10% captains club discount and that is technically for new bookings.  However generally they will apply the change as you can easily cancel and rebook.   I'd explain to the rep if they give you trouble that you could cancel and rebook.  Remember the worst case is you'd have to re-deposit and then you could apply the FCC for your original deposit as payment later.   I have heard of people repricing with the discount without jumping through these hoops.  I would hope you could still get the military discount as well as it is not listed in the exclusions below taken from the email of the offer.

 

 

Offer is only combinable with prevailing Always Included rates that are named during the Offer Period. Offer is combinable with non-refundable fares only. Offer is not combinable with Refundable Rates, Group Rates, Simply Sail, Other Loyalty Promos, Travel Agent rates, Exciting Deals and Employee Cruise Rates. After the Offer Period, the Offer will be removed from the booking if the guest cancels and reinstates the booking, applies a fare change, or changes the ship or sail date of the booking; certain other changes to the booking may also result in removal of the Offer. Offer applies to new, individual bookings confirmed at prevailing rates. Individual reservations can be transferred into an existing group, assuming required criteria are met. Single occupancy guests paying 200% cruise fare are eligible for Offer. Refer to the Cruise Ticket Contract for additional terms and conditions.

[poffles]

5 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

I wasn’t aware that Celebrity used any call centers in India,  having only interacted with representatives in Kansas and Florida?

Few times I had reps in Jamaica, one time the call kept cutting in and out as they were having technical difficulties, call finally dropped fully and I called back and ironically got another rep in Jamaica that was also having some issues so I asked if they were in Jamaica given the accent and they were so it would be a 'follow the sun' type support.

[Ashland]

OP...If they say their going to charge you any sort of change fee ($100pp) ask for them to check with a supervisor. We just did on our NRD changed sailing date, itinerary and upgraded our category and they waived the fee.

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

1 hour ago, poffles said:

Few times I had reps in Jamaica, one time the call kept cutting in and out as they were having technical difficulties, call finally dropped fully and I called back and ironically got another rep in Jamaica that was also having some issues so I asked if they were in Jamaica given the accent and they were so it would be a 'follow the sun' type support.

This happened Sunday. I had to call three times before I could reach someone. They would answer and it went dead twice, then dropped call while talking to the rep, she took my number just in case, but never called back. Had to call a forth time to fix my reservation, and get my original room back. It was a disaster, and I’ve never had such a hard time before with Celebrity. Today had a totally different experience, no issues except different pricing on the website (lower) for cruise care than the vacation planner had. 

[DiamondSuiteCruiser]

1 hour ago, Ashland said:

OP...If they say their going to charge you any sort of change fee ($100pp) ask for them to check with a supervisor. We just did on our NRD changed sailing date, itinerary and upgraded our category and they waived the fee.

Ashland, thanks they didn’t say anything about a change fee, I guess the issue is the cruise care insurance on their end, charging more than the website showed. Today I told him I could send him a screenshot of what mine is showing, or put a hold on a reservation and he could get in and see the price. He told me it wouldn’t make a difference because he could not adjust the cruise care price. He said it was a glitch on the website. I was willing to pay maybe 1000.00 more for the upgrade, but not over 2000.00 not worth it for us. I guess I need to just let it go, it wasn’t meant to be. I can still keep an eye out for a better price down the road, since this cruise isn’t until next Oct. The ship seems to be filling up quickly though.

Thanks for the great advise, much appreciated!

[zitsky]

Celebrity pricing is certainly interesting.  I find they can be flexible.  I was going to do a Caribbean cruise before Covid canceled it.  It was a mistake fare that they agreed to honor.  It should have been $1100 more expensive.

 

I have another cruise booked in Europe.  I haven't seen price changes up or down.  I've compared my time in November to the same cruise in Sept or Oct.  There is a big difference there.

[mayleeman]

I did not know that you can cancel and then use FCC for the same ship same date. (No fee with CWC?) We had a later booking for the same ship as one we were cancelling and they directly transferred all our money including NRD with no fee. If we had not had the second booking already, we would have gotten FCC with $100 pp fee.

 

That was preCovid, tho (2019).

Edited May 5, 2021 by mayleeman

[wrk2cruise]

On 5/3/2021 at 3:54 PM, DiamondSuiteCruiser said:

Ashland, thanks they didn’t say anything about a change fee, I guess the issue is the cruise care insurance on their end, charging more than the website showed. Today I told him I could send him a screenshot of what mine is showing, or put a hold on a reservation and he could get in and see the price. He told me it wouldn’t make a difference because he could not adjust the cruise care price. He said it was a glitch on the website. I was willing to pay maybe 1000.00 more for the upgrade, but not over 2000.00 not worth it for us. I guess I need to just let it go, it wasn’t meant to be. I can still keep an eye out for a better price down the road, since this cruise isn’t until next Oct. The ship seems to be filling up quickly though.

Thanks for the great advise, much appreciated!

You should put the new room on 24hr hold being careful to add insurance and whatever.  Then call in and ask them to send you a guest invoice so you can review it to make sure it includes everything as you understand on the website.   If it's still the lower price I'd call and reference the held reservation.   It should be a no brainer at that point escalate if necessary.

[LGW59]

12 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

You should put the new room on 24hr hold being careful to add insurance and whatever.  Then call in and ask them to send you a guest invoice so you can review it to make sure it includes everything as you understand on the website.   If it's still the lower price I'd call and reference the held reservation.   It should be a no brainer at that point escalate if necessary.

I did exactly this for an Oct 2022, Beyond cruise.  Made my courtesy hold on Saturday and sat on it, Monday a lovely lady named Jennifer called me from Celebrity to see if I wished to proceed, everything in my courtesy hold was confirmed, got my email confirmation.  I just looked at the same cruise a bit ago, prices have already gone up.