Celebrity now offers cruise-only rates

[Maya_C]

Does anyone know if the Sale Only rates require a nonrefundable deposit?

[DirtyDawg]

1 hour ago, mfs2k said:

 

As for 'Always' included, I think they use the term always like I do; I Always remember our anniversary, or I Always remember Mrs. Dawg's birthday. 😉

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I like Celebrity a lot - but do strongly feel that they need to clear this matter up sooner rather than later. It's not doing them any favors. I, myself, feel led on -- I've told several acquaintances over the last few months that "Celebrity is now AI", and recommended they give it a try. Those people could end up thinking that I either didn't know what I was talking about or misled them! (Thanks A LOT Celebrity)

 

I propose that they can continue the AI approach/campaign, charge everyone for AI rates - and then offer those who (sign off in some manner) OBC equal to the savings if they booked without AI. Not a fare reduction, but OBC.

 

Tom

[wrk2cruise]

57 minutes ago, Maya_C said:

Does anyone know if the Sale Only rates require a nonrefundable deposit?

No they are available with refundable and non refundable deposits.

 

Here is a link to some FAQ for the new No Perks rate https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Special_Offers/CEL_5_5_22_No_Perk_Rate_FAQs.pdf

[Jeremiah1212]

45 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

I like Celebrity a lot - but do strongly feel that they need to clear this matter up sooner rather than later. It's not doing them any favors. I, myself, feel led on -- I've told several acquaintances over the last few months that "Celebrity is now AI", and recommended they give it a try. Those people could end up thinking that I either didn't know what I was talking about or misled them! (Thanks A LOT Celebrity)

 

I propose that they can continue the AI approach/campaign, charge everyone for AI rates - and then offer those who (sign off in some manner) OBC equal to the savings if they booked without AI. Not a fare reduction, but OBC.

 

Tom

 

The point is to entice the penny pinchers with the lower rate. There will be some that take it. Those customers typically don't want or need large OBC amounts. They want the cheapest product possible. The flip side for TA's is the upsell when people realize the lower rate really isn't worth it and go ahead and book the AI rate instead. 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

16 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

The point is to entice the penny pinchers with the lower rate. There will be some that take it. Those customers typically don't want or need large OBC amounts. They want the cheapest product possible. The flip side for TA's is the upsell when people realize the lower rate really isn't worth it and go ahead and book the AI rate instead. 

 

It's certainly a can of worms!

[The_Big_M]

35 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

The point is to entice the penny pinchers with the lower rate. There will be some that take it. Those customers typically don't want or need large OBC amounts. They want the cheapest product possible. The flip side for TA's is the upsell when people realize the lower rate really isn't worth it and go ahead and book the AI rate instead. 

 

That's one way of putting it. However, they would have only added this rate if they felt it was necessary to meet the market i.e. their pricing was above the level they were getting sufficient bookings.

 

If it was only on a few specific sailings they would have continued with the existing process of having no perks rates on guarantees and when they needed to sell a specific cruise.

 

Essentially, it isn't just penny pinchers they want to attract. They were just priced too high for their target, so have gone back to the old model of base rates, and rates with the extra inclusions.

[Ayden]

36 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

The point is to entice the penny pinchers with the lower rate. There will be some that take it. Those customers typically don't want or need large OBC amounts. They want the cheapest product possible. The flip side for TA's is the upsell when people realize the lower rate really isn't worth it and go ahead and book the AI rate instead. 

In my opinion one has to also consider the "point is" to increase sales in an environment of cancelations and travellers sitting on the fence due to this persistent covid situation.

Celebrity has often flip flopped on many  issues and I think this cruise only rate is just another way for them to appeal to a wider market share.  When comparing Celebrity to others we have found them to be vastly overpriced with all of the inclusions and I welcome being able to compare them and decide what works best for me without all the hype and smoke and mirrors pricing.

For the record, I do not consider myself a "penny pincher" but rather a savvy consumer trying to make an intelligent decision.

Let's see how this plays out.

[Maya_C]

1 hour ago, wrk2cruise said:

No they are available with refundable and non refundable deposits.

 

Here is a link to some FAQ for the new No Perks rate https://creative.rccl.com/Sales/Celebrity/General_Info/Special_Offers/CEL_5_5_22_No_Perk_Rate_FAQs.pdf

 

Thank you!

[Jeremiah1212]

45 minutes ago, The_Big_M said:

 

That's one way of putting it. However, they would have only added this rate if they felt it was necessary to meet the market i.e. their pricing was above the level they were getting sufficient bookings.

 

If it was only on a few specific sailings they would have continued with the existing process of having no perks rates on guarantees and when they needed to sell a specific cruise.

 

Essentially, it isn't just penny pinchers they want to attract. They were just priced too high for their target, so have gone back to the old model of base rates, and rates with the extra inclusions.

 

The focus is still on Always Included bookings. No perk is not a 'base' rate. It's priced essentially where you have to really think if its worth it to lose drinks/tips (you're paying anyway) and WiFi to save a couple hundred dollars.

 

Quoting Celebrity here... "Introducing NO PERK rates in refundable & non-refundable fares. Ideal for price-driven clients and creating demand through your marketing channels, our new NO PERK rates are the perfect opportunity to leverage lower rates to drive traffic and UPSELL clients to Always Included vacations, allowing you to earn more commission."

 

If a customer books Royal then adds a few thousand dollars in WiFi, drink packages, upgrades, etc. the TA makes no commission on that. With Celebrity you do. The $$ benefit to the TA is pretty substantial.

 

 

[Ayden]

2 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

The focus is still on Always Included bookings. No perk is not a 'base' rate. It's priced essentially where you have to really think if its worth it to lose drinks/tips (you're paying anyway) and WiFi to save a couple hundred dollars.

 

Quoting Celebrity here... "Introducing NO PERK rates in refundable & non-refundable fares. Ideal for price-driven clients and creating demand through your marketing channels, our new NO PERK rates are the perfect opportunity to leverage lower rates to drive traffic and UPSELL clients to Always Included vacations, allowing you to earn more commission."

 

If a customer books Royal then adds a few thousand dollars in WiFi, drink packages, upgrades, etc. the TA makes no commission on that. With Celebrity you do. The $$ benefit to the TA is pretty substantial.

 

 

Are we to assume you are a travel agent rather than a consumer?  

Makes a huge difference in perspective in my opinion.

[The_Big_M]

4 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

The focus is still on Always Included bookings. No perk is not a 'base' rate. It's priced essentially where you have to really think if its worth it to lose drinks/tips (you're paying anyway) and WiFi to save a couple hundred dollars.

 

Quoting Celebrity here... "Introducing NO PERK rates in refundable & non-refundable fares. Ideal for price-driven clients and creating demand through your marketing channels, our new NO PERK rates are the perfect opportunity to leverage lower rates to drive traffic and UPSELL clients to Always Included vacations, allowing you to earn more commission."

 

If a customer books Royal then adds a few thousand dollars in WiFi, drink packages, upgrades, etc. the TA makes no commission on that. With Celebrity you do. The $$ benefit to the TA is pretty substantial.

 

 

 

Of course the focus is on the highest rates; that's where they make the most money, and as they continue them it makes sense to retain the marketing investment they made in promoting them, rather than dumping the whole model.

 

It is a base rate though; it's offered on virtually all sailings unconditionally, and in fact it's just as combinable, commissionable and so on exactly the same as the other existing rates i.e. they're not even trying to discourage people from selecting it so it's evidently seen as a significant hurt to sales that they no longer had this product offering.

 

Any time you upsell whether from an interior to a suite, or with add-ons or flights there's a dollar benefit. That doesn't change the rationale that there's now a product with a close to half the commission COST effectively - that shows how bad the hurt is that they've made this an equal rate with their other rate levels.

[Bo1953]

18 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Now that “cruise only” fares are now available what will Captains Club members complain about?

LOL, do not tempt us....

 

bon voyage

[erlyvon]

21 hours ago, HskrCrsr said:

I received an email announcing Celebrity's new cruise-only rates:

 

Not available online ... so there's apparently no way to know if your cruise will offer these rates? And it won't be easy to compare prices without the phone call.

Planning to book a future cruise onboard in à couple weeks.  I'll assume since I'll be booking with à live Celebrity rep both options would be available?

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

The point is to entice the penny pinchers with the lower rate. There will be some that take it. Those customers typically don't want or need large OBC amounts. They want the cheapest product possible. The flip side for TA's is the upsell when people realize the lower rate really isn't worth it and go ahead and book the AI rate instead. 

It's not "penny pinching" we are both unable to drink any form of alcohol nor do we require unlimited WiFi . Compolsary AI simply added to our ( and many other passengers) costs for no benefit.

Clearly X has been losing business (we moved 2 cruises to other lines and apart from using up our FCC's have not booked a new cruise on X since the introduction of AI. This "new" in fact reverting to the "old" is fair to everyone. Hopefully it will also mean that solo passengers will no longer have to pay for 2 lots of tips, 2 WiFi packages and, worst of all 2 drinks packages.

Certainly in Europe X's prices were getting way out of line at double that of Royal and Cunard, this will also help to rebalance that difference.

[Dolebludger]

It is basically a good idea for a cruise line to offer choices in accomodations and inclusions. I just hope that this new approach doesn't result in confusion like the always included vs. cruise only did.

[HskrCrsr]

39 minutes ago, erlyvon said:

Planning to book a future cruise onboard in à couple weeks.  I'll assume since I'll be booking with à live Celebrity rep both options would be available?

That is an excellent question. The FAQ pointed to in post #29 above suggests you are correct:

Q: Is the NO PERK rate code applicable to Future Cruise bookings make onboard and combinable with the Future Cruise onboard credit (OBC) ?

A: Yes, your clients or you may make a Future Cruise booking onboard the ship and request the NO PERK rate code in addition to the OBC.

[wrk2cruise]

47 minutes ago, HskrCrsr said:

That is an excellent question. The FAQ pointed to in post #29 above suggests you are correct:

Q: Is the NO PERK rate code applicable to Future Cruise bookings make onboard and combinable with the Future Cruise onboard credit (OBC) ?

A: Yes, your clients or you may make a Future Cruise booking onboard the ship and request the NO PERK rate code in addition to the OBC.

 

Yes I'm sure you will have to request the rate as I doubt it will be offered up as an option.

[PTC DAWG]

IF it makes others happy, I'm glad they are offering both rates..AI works for me...I don't use the internet, but I get my money's worth on the drinks....prepaying the room grats in the rate is a bonus to me.  

 

As far as confusion, I don't get it.  I have seen "guarantee" rates on cruises over the last 6 or so months, it's always clear when pricing online. "Cruise only rate" or something similar was used in the wording.  

Edited May 6, 2022 by PTC DAWG

[jagoffee]

Amazing.  Celebrity gives people exactly what they have been requesting:  An option to book without the normal Always Included rate.  And then some people still complain.  I would hope that this change will at least result is less complaining.  
 

I remain among those that appreciate the simplicity of the AI over the previous 123 and BBB that were very complex.

 

Celebrity’s base rates reflect  the Always Included Items.  As I understand, Celebrity is now expanding the ability to have a special discount and remove the AI items.  I suspect the reduction is not enough of a discount to make it a good deal for most people.  But it will for some people and that is great.  It is good for them to have an option.  Good change IMO.

 

Perhaps we can all stop complaining.

Edited May 6, 2022 by jagoffee

[D C]

6 hours ago, mfs2k said:

I don't mind them offering specials, but when they are simultaneously advertising "ALWAYS INCLUDED" (Every Guest, Every Sailing), clearly it's contradictory.   "Almost Always Included" would be truthful. This banner ad for me was on CruiseCritic, just below this thread.  

 

 

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS

[gold1953]

7 hours ago, mfs2k said:

I don't mind them offering specials, but when they are simultaneously advertising "ALWAYS INCLUDED" (Every Guest, Every Sailing), clearly it's contradictory.   "Almost Always Included" would be truthful. This banner ad for me was on CruiseCritic, just below this thread.  

 

only means that on that day that everything is included .. not always and forever!

[Arizona Wildcat]

22 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Now that “cruise only” fares are now available what will Captains Club members complain 

Really simple that only available on a few sailings.  Not available on anything we wanted to book.

[goofysmom99]

I'm delighted cruise only is available on every cruise I currently have booked.  X is accomplishing one of their goals because I now intend to book a few more.  The solo fare isn't quite as punishing this way.  I had been researching other cruise lines and was all set to pull the trigger.

 

 

Edited May 6, 2022 by goofysmom99

[the penguins]

8 minutes ago, goofysmom99 said:

I'm delighted cruise only is available on every cruise I currently have booked.  X is accomplishing one of their goals because I now intend to book a few more.  The solo fare isn't quite as punishing this way.  I had been researching other cruise lines and was all set to pull the trigger.

 

 

I Ruth, ahead of the game as usual. We will be checking out the offers during our Silhouette cruise that starts tomorrow. Geoff and Anita.