Can a UK resident book through the Celebrity US website?

[deek72]

I'm looking at a cruise on Equinox, 26 June 2022.

 

An inside cabin is £834 (approx $1,150) but the same cruise and cabin in $629 on the US website. 

 

Is there anything to stop me booking through the US website? 

 

Thanks for any advice.

Edited July 28, 2021 by deek72

[dcb1000]

45 minutes ago, deek72 said:

I'm looking at a cruise on Equinox, 26 June 2022.

 

An inside cabin is £834 (approx $1,150) but the same cruise and cabin in $629 on the US website. 

 

Is there anything to stop me booking through the US website? 

 

Thanks for any advice.

I have booked 2 cruises on the Silhouette next November. US prices were a lot lower and also had a 10% off for captains club members when I booked. 

I checked with Celebrity UK and they said if the website let's you book go ahead. 

 

[excitedofharpenden]

I don't think it will let you do it because of address details. Unless you have a US address.  Better off to find a US travel agent who will work with you.  You might also receive further incentives from them. Google is your friend as unfortunately discussion of specific travel agents is not allowed here. 

 

Phil 

[upwarduk]

13 minutes ago, excitedofharpenden said:

I don't think it will let you do it because of address details. 

That certainly used to be the case, but nowadays most TA’s email invoices and you can print out luggage tags on line, so it should be possible, in theory.

[Sussex Cruiser]

I use a US travel agent all the time, and it has never been an issue (haven't tried on the Celebrity website though).  I stopped cruising with Princess as they blocked you booking outside your country, and I'm grateful that they did as Celebrity is much better and I haven't looked back!

[emmas gran]

I have just looked at the website on IPad and it's the US site BUT it says at the top of the page "Welcome to Celebrity.com Continue to your country of residence by visiting United Kingdom website. Promotions may vary by country."

It is also worth remembering that Port Fees and Taxes are added to the price you see (so I believe)

[little britain]

As Phil says the address is an issue; but others have reported as nothing gets sent by post does it really matter what address you put? .

I have used a great USA TA for years who is partnered to a green credit card 💳 

[RickT]

Friends from the UK have done this by using a US TA.  Keep in mind the rules are a bit different.  Also research any TA to make sure they don’t charge extra fees.

[Lazirus65]

I have never had any issues booking via the USA, I normally just phone Celebrity direct , it will also cost you nothing if you have Wi-Fi calling on your phone.

[deek72]

Thanks for your help everyone. I'll have a go at booking direct and see what happens. 

 

Edit: I just did a dummy rum and, as emmas gran said, it adds $276 taxes and fees = total $1534 for 2 people, which equates to approximately £550 each compared to £834 each on the UK site.

 

I got as far as proceed to payment and it didn't even ask for my address. 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2021 by deek72

[deek72]

9 hours ago, emmas gran said:

I have just looked at the website on IPad and it's the US site BUT it says at the top of the page "Welcome to Celebrity.com Continue to your country of residence by visiting United Kingdom website. Promotions may vary by country."

It is also worth remembering that Port Fees and Taxes are added to the price you see (so I believe)

I'd rather take advice from experienced cruisers, thank you 😂

[excitedofharpenden]

10 hours ago, deek72 said:

Thanks for your help everyone. I'll have a go at booking direct and see what happens. 

 

Edit: I just did a dummy rum and, as emmas gran said, it adds $276 taxes and fees = total $1534 for 2 people, which equates to approximately £550 each compared to £834 each on the UK site.

 

I got as far as proceed to payment and it didn't even ask for my address. 

 

 

That's good to know. Thank you for coming back to advise. 

 

Phil 

[sgmn]

22 hours ago, deek72 said:

I'm looking at a cruise on Equinox, 26 June 2022.

 

An inside cabin is £834 (approx $1,150) but the same cruise and cabin in $629 on the US website. 

 

Is there anything to stop me booking through the US website? 

 

Thanks for any advice.

I've booked through an American on line travel site a couple of times.  Two things to remember, abta travel protection won't apply and dollar rates go up and down, by the time you pay final the rate may be better or worse 

[Definitas]

We have booked many cruises with Celebrity in the US (but when we started we did have a US address of a relative). They offer an NRD fare (non refundable deposit) which requires a $900 deposit but does give a large reduction. It is non refundable but transferable to another cruise for a variable fee. Promotions are often better in the US, particularly on board bookings but, as previously mentioned, the £pound can go down as well as up and we have ended up paying a few hundred dollars more when final payment was due. I also don’t usually recommend booking through an agent because it just complicates things when problems occur (if you book through an agent Celebrity will not speak to you due to contractual arrangements. You can’t even ask questions.) Also, if you have to cancel or defer, any credit certificate issued will be in dollars and not useable against a UK booking. That said, we have 4 booked for next year, two in the US and 2 in the UK so it’s all about the research and what works best for you. 

[isdoo]

I have done, but as you lose your protection, at the moment I wouldn't. 

 

Your UK rights are far stronger than the USA. 

[Jim_Iain]

On 7/28/2021 at 4:09 AM, emmas gran said:

I have just looked at the website on IPad and it's the US site BUT it says at the top of the page "Welcome to Celebrity.com Continue to your country of residence by visiting United Kingdom website. Promotions may vary by country."

It is also worth remembering that Port Fees and Taxes are added to the price you see (so I believe)

You use to be able to get around this by changing the country at the very bottom of first screen.  They kinda hid it but if you look at the picture click the down arrow and it pulls up a list of countries.   It may be easiest just to contact a TA many will work with you.

 

 

 

[emmas gran]

37 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

You use to be able to get around this by changing the country at the very bottom of first screen.  They kinda hid it but if you look at the picture click the down arrow and it pulls up a list of countries.   It may be easiest just to contact a TA many will work with you.

 

 

 

Thanks we have a good friend that works for an Atlanta based agency should we need to use an American agent.  The thing I quoted was just trying to give advice to a newish cruiser, I am also aware of changing the country on the website 👍

[excitedofharpenden]

8 hours ago, sgmn said:

I've booked through an American on line travel site a couple of times.  Two things to remember, abta travel protection won't apply and dollar rates go up and down, by the time you pay final the rate may be better or worse 

This would be a consideration for me if the figures were close, but there is a big difference in this case that makes it worthwhile. Of course the UK price might catch up with the US one. That happened to me once. Booked it through a US travel agent and then two days later the UK price came down to pretty much the same so I cancelled the US booking and did it in the UK. That was in the days of fully refundable deposits in the US regardless. 

 

Phil 

[the penguins]

11 hours ago, excitedofharpenden said:

That's good to know. Thank you for coming back to advise. 

 

Phil 

You can but apart from comparing like with like on pricing you should:

1) allow for currency fluctuations as your final payment could be months away.

2) if you cancel what was a great rate when buying is a terrible rate when refunding.

3) if you have a complaint you will have to fight in the US. Much easier and better protection in the UK - I have years if experience in this sector.

[deek72]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

You can but apart from comparing like with like on pricing you should:

1) allow for currency fluctuations as your final payment could be months away.

2) if you cancel what was a great rate when buying is a terrible rate when refunding.

3) if you have a complaint you will have to fight in the US. Much easier and better protection in the UK - I have years if experience in this sector.

I would pay in full at booking so currency fluctuation wouldn't be an issue.

 

With regards to difficulty when complaining, I wouldn't imagine it being any more difficult that dealing with the UK side unless it was something really complicated. This will be my 9th cruise and I've never had any cause to complain so that's not really a consideration either.

 

Obviously, cancellation in the current climate has now got to be taken into account but hopefully a 2022 cruise won't need to be cancelled. 

[deek72]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

You use to be able to get around this by changing the country at the very bottom of first screen.  They kinda hid it but if you look at the picture click the down arrow and it pulls up a list of countries.   It may be easiest just to contact a TA many will work with you.

 

 

 

Thanks for that. I've been having to access the US site through a VPN 😀

[ScotsLady]

We always book Celebrity with an American agent crucon, and get better prices than we would in U.K. 

[wynnne]

A couple of things from my experiences:

- I use a US TA with an 0800 number, so although I do almost everything by email, I can phone for free if I need to get hold of her in a hurry. 

- I have a USD bank (Transferwise) account, and I convert on the day of the booking the full amount from GBP to USD, to lock in the rate. There is a small cost for this, but to me it's worth it. 

[excitedofharpenden]

12 hours ago, the penguins said:

You can but apart from comparing like with like on pricing you should:

1) allow for currency fluctuations as your final payment could be months away.

2) if you cancel what was a great rate when buying is a terrible rate when refunding.

3) if you have a complaint you will have to fight in the US. Much easier and better protection in the UK - I have years if experience in this sector.

Oh yes. I realise this. Did you read my follow up post that goes on to qualify the exchange risk issue?  And I've had years of experience too as a cruiser and have done it all ways. So far I haven't had to complain. Not sure what I'd need to complain about that I couldn't handle myself. 

 

Phil