Would you book Celebrity more often if not for the much higher prices for refundable deposits?

[Stockjock]

6 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

$900 NRD is too expensive for us. However, our 3 upcoming Celebrity cruises were booked onboard or with a FCC purchased onboard (1 personally and 2 by friends while sailing). $200 NRD for those, and losing that is likely less than the cost of travel insurance. 

I have an upcoming Greek Isles cruise and I think the NRD differential was something like $250-$300, which I thought was very reasonable, so I took that option.  But yes, $900 difference is a bit much for me.  So I just don't book it, but obviously some will feel differently and simply take the lower NRD rate.

Edited May 10, 2023 by Stockjock

[alyssamma]

5 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

How are they handling non-refundable deposits these days?  Do you lose the entire amount or does some part of it go to a FCC, which is what they were doing after a $100 pp penalty.

My understanding is the deposit is gone. No FCC. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong 

[chisoxfan]

Refuse to book a non-refundable and if this becomes the norm.... we just won't cruise. We were set on booking a family cruise with three cabins in YC on MSC and we decided against it when we learned deposit was non-refundable.  Cruising is already the most restrictive travel option since the travel becomes essentially non-refundable within 90 days so the NR deposit in my mind just adds insult to injury.  We have booked high end all inclusives in prime season without any deposit and ability to cancel within 3 to 7 days. I don't need any angst a year or two before we cruise regarding deposit loss because of unforeseen issues.

If they want to offer heavily discounted pricing with non refundable fine... they seem to want to add the non refundable 'penalty fare' to 'normal' prices which I am not  buying into. Doing some mock bookings I was amazed at the huge penalty for non refundable- often many times potential loss of deposit with NR fare.  Seems like they are using gun to the head marketing. Well as they say it is their business and they can run it as they choose but the decision for many may become not just what cruise line we will take but what vacation we will take. JMHO

 

[jagoffee]

9 minutes ago, chisoxfan said:

Refuse to book a non-refundable and if this becomes the norm.... we just won't cruise. We were set on booking a family cruise with three cabins in YC on MSC and we decided against it when we learned deposit was non-refundable.  Cruising is already the most restrictive travel option since the travel becomes essentially non-refundable within 90 days so the NR deposit in my mind just adds insult to injury.  We have booked high end all inclusives in prime season without any deposit and ability to cancel within 3 to 7 days. I don't need any angst a year or two before we cruise regarding deposit loss because of unforeseen issues.

If they want to offer heavily discounted pricing with non refundable fine... they seem to want to add the non refundable 'penalty fare' to 'normal' prices which I am not  buying into. Doing some mock bookings I was amazed at the huge penalty for non refundable- often many times potential loss of deposit with NR fare.  Seems like they are using gun to the head marketing. Well as they say it is their business and they can run it as they choose but the decision for many may become not just what cruise line we will take but what vacation we will take. JMHO

 

I do not look at it in the same way.  For me Celebrity is offering a significant discount to book with a non refundable deposit.  The way it is presented (extra charge for a fully refundable deposit) is a more convenient way for those wanting to save money by booking the non refundable deposit fare.  I suspect that a majority of cruisers book the lower fare with the NRD.  
 

I also view a GTY has a price reduction from the regular fare and not an increase for a non GTY booking.

 

The  choice of how to view the changes is an individual choice.  I am happier with my choice.

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

Most people probably noticed a jump in the refundable rate on March 2nd when the reduced the second passenger discount from 60% off to 50% for refundable deposit bookings.  That discount reduction has carried through to the current sale which is listed as running through July 6th.  Higher prices for refundable deposits is something that's going to stay in Celebrity's playbook it seems.

[chisoxfan]

26 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

I do not look at it in the same way.  For me Celebrity is offering a significant discount to book with a non refundable deposit.  The way it is presented (extra charge for a fully refundable deposit) is a more convenient way for those wanting to save money by booking the non refundable deposit fare.  I suspect that a majority of cruisers book the lower fare with the NRD.  
 

I also view a GTY has a price reduction from the regular fare and not an increase for a non GTY booking.

 

The  choice of how to view the changes is an individual choice.  I am happier with my choice.

Guess I am not seeing it as a significant discount in the historical cruise price context but glad you are happy with your options.  In my case with MSC the cabin subjectively had increased about 25% from three years ago (not too bad in today's world) but of course added the deposit 'restriction'. The cruise lines are going to do whatever the public will allow to maximize profits (which is certainly the way things should operate in a free market).  We all have the options to jump in with both feet or walk away. It is ironic that I was upset with MSC's YC NR deposit while the line is cited positively here for not charging a NR deposit on other cabins.

[miched]

I think they went with the NRD deposit option to keep passengers from booking many cruises that they had no intention of taking.

 

In the past people would book many cruises when they came out to lock up the prime or most desirable locations.   Right before final payment they would cancel but wanted the option in case they felt like taking a cruise.    I seen this happen on cruises that I booked.   The cabins with the larger balconies would be booked within a few hours of being rolled out.  At final payment those cabins would become available.  I know because I kept checking so I could change cabins and get one of them.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Oceangoer2]

25 minutes ago, miched said:

I think they went with the NRD deposit option to keep passengers from booking many cruises that they had no intention of taking.

 

In the past people would book many cruises when they came out to lock up the prime or most desirable locations.   Right before final payment they would cancel but wanted the option in case they felt like taking a cruise.    I seen this happen on cruises that I booked.   The cabins with the larger balconies would be booked within a few hours of being rolled out.  At final payment those cabins would become available.  I know because I kept checking so I could change cabins and get one of them.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Agree...but....perhaps some of those 'cancelled' cabins are TA's releasing their unsold and on hold cabins.  JMO.

[jagoffee]

2 hours ago, chisoxfan said:

Guess I am not seeing it as a significant discount in the historical cruise price context but glad you are happy with your options.  In my case with MSC the cabin subjectively had increased about 25% from three years ago (not too bad in today's world) but of course added the deposit 'restriction'. The cruise lines are going to do whatever the public will allow to maximize profits (which is certainly the way things should operate in a free market).  We all have the options to jump in with both feet or walk away. It is ironic that I was upset with MSC's YC NR deposit while the line is cited positively here for not charging a NR deposit on other cabins.

I agree cruise pricing is not lower from an historical perspective, just the opposite.  I was only comparing NRD to refundable.

[chisoxfan]

2 hours ago, jagoffee said:

I agree cruise pricing is not lower from an historical perspective, just the opposite.  I was only comparing NRD to refundable.

I just think the pricing concepts are crazy. We booked 2024 Ascent Caribbean 7 night Sky Suite in Jan. with refundable deposit. Currently (and there seem to be plenty of cabins and this is not an inspiring itinerary) the current much higher fare goes up by 1700 for fully refundable which really makes no sense to me..  For some exotic cruise I get it but they seem to be playing a random game of 'what will the market bear?'  Maybe if they had a fixed upcharge for refundable (5-10%) I could be more sold on the cruise lines trying to differentiate between refundable and non refundable fares. Again as a consumer I feel like it is a 'gun to the head' approach.
Anyway just my opinion and based on current bookings it seems as if they are in the driver seat as many cruisers are OK with this.  

[D C]

On 5/9/2023 at 1:07 PM, Stockjock said:

I can usually get a cruise on MSC with a balcony and Wi-Fi and easy plus drink package for less money than I would get for an ocean view without any of those perks on celebrity. I would be the first one to admit that Celebrity is a superior cruise line to MSC, but the numbers definitely do make a difference for us. 

We've shied away from looking at MSC after we met a couple on X who said they figured out first hand that MSC stood for My Sh**ty Cruise.  I do wonder how much of a difference we'd see in reality.  We spent a week on Princess in Jan and concluded that while we prefer X, we couldn't justify the X premium in price. 

Edited May 10, 2023 by D C