50% Off Beverage Packages

[goofysmom99]

3 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

It is more than frustrating it is infuriating, especially for AQ bookings.  I love AQ but can't book it cruise only. Of course the same goes for suites. Relatives just booked to join us on a cruise in AQ and to upgrade they are going to be paying almost half of what it would cost them to buy a package with this sale if in another class of cabin. Don't know why Celebrity is penalizing AQ passengers this way. As Zenith we are already having to pay for perks we earned but that's a gripe 

I book a veranda and add specialty restaurants every night (Blu is good but not that good).  Saves quite a bit.  And the specialty chefs will frequently make off-menu surprises after a few visits.

[MisterBill99]

From checking on my TA's site, the $50 bonus OBC seems to be back today, so for anyone who repriced their cruise (not drink packages or excursions) Wednesday, be sure to call and get the extra $50. I figured it would be back for the holiday weekend, but wasn't sure when it would start. But Celebrity was claiming it was the last hours for the current promotion, so I'm not that surprised.

[champagnecruiser]

4 hours ago, RichYak said:

I see the same thing

Me too.

last night Classic Beverage was £42.93 pppd  total for two of us £858.60

Classic is now £62.23 pppd which is £1244.60 🤷🏼‍♀️

So happy we bought as soon as we saw your post RichYak!!

[poffles]

Wow, this is a new twist on increasing base cost to offer a 'discount'.  The before 'sale costs' that I now see (USD$) are a joke!  Their system is clearly bonkers.

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by poffles

[Tee & Chilli]

Premium Wi-Fi was originally $30.99 it’s now $34.99 before discounts. In case cases the sale isn’t all that great. 

[jamieben]

This is so frustrating! I was planning on booking the premium package today but won’t be now at this price! Not a good way to do business to suddenly raise the base price 😡 

[Tillylooloo]

10 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

Ok this is crazy. I just logged in again, and the prices for the alc packages jumped to $74/day Premium and $64/day Classic. Seems like X has just manipulated the base price for this.

I'm finding this too. Space of 4 hours... they've pushed up the on board price by 45%! Then discounted. I tried to buy last night but the site kept crashing. Now I'm left feeling ripped off!  

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

Yeah it looks like they increased the base price of the beverage packages for all sailings (not just the ones eligible for the sale) in order to decrease the savings that were offered at the start of yesterday. If the sale price they offered yesterday was in error, how did they not catch it before making it live? I think they've got an old man in charge of their pricing systems.

[Tierun]

So I’m not the only one who woke up this morning feeling disappointed.

[jamieben]

I'm currently on the phone with X and they are trying to tell me that yesterday was a special sale despite the fact that this "sale" is ongoing until the 30th... I've told them the price of the beverage packages has been the same since I booked my cruise back in Feb and it's very obvious that the base price has been increased just to accommodate this "sale". Not impressed

[Georgia_Peaches]

5 minutes ago, jamieben said:

I'm currently on the phone with X and they are trying to tell me that yesterday was a special sale despite the fact that this "sale" is ongoing until the 30th... I've told them the price of the beverage packages has been the same since I booked my cruise back in Feb and it's very obvious that the base price has been increased just to accommodate this "sale". Not impressed

Not only that, if you read Celebrity's site about drink package pricing, the regular price is listed at "starting at $109 per person/per day"  So it's the starting at caveat which essentially says they can adjust the price however they want.  SMDH

[jamieben]

5 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Not only that, if you read Celebrity's site about drink package pricing, the regular price is listed at "starting at $109 per person/per day"  So it's the starting at caveat which essentially says they can adjust the price however they want.  SMDH

Ya I'm waiting for that comment lol. I will post if I have any sort of resolution to this! I told them they should be expecting more calls as there are going to be a lot of people that are upset about this

[Georgia_Peaches]

55 minutes ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

If the sale price they offered yesterday was in error, how did they not catch it before making it live?

Unlike when the unlimited wifi was mistakenly priced so low for the entire length of the cruise, I don't think it was an error like that.  Their site openly says the starting price of the Premium package is $109 pp/pd.  So to that end, I don't think they will try to come back to those of us who got the deal at the starting price minus 50%.  If anything, their mistake was that they didn't use the caveat phrase starting at to increase the regular price before the flash sale  went live.  (My apologies if that's what you meant).  Someone likely realized that they forgot to raise the regular price before the flash sale because so many people jumped on the sale.  

 

I think it would be far less sleazy if they just kept the base price of $109 pp/per day and rather than calling it 50% off, call it 30% off instead.

Edited May 25, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[highway180]

I feel your pain. Cheers to those who were able to score a deal!!, Another wonderful Celebrity IT screw up. I was in a unusual situation. My wife had the zero pkg, i had the premium pkg. So i called to get the 50% discount. After multiple attempts, X came to the conclusion my sailing didn't qualify: booked it last year, but sailing this July., so I was told no, supervisor said no. I had explained that it was in my cruise planner and i could purchase it at any time. They said it was impossible, so I offered to send them a screenshot, but told it wouldn't change things. the problem having done so, I would've had to upgrade my wife and I both, which was more than I had originally paid. Did however rebook my specialty dining and excursions

[Lena11033]

Not that I needed a drink package but looked at the premium one, for Canadian prices it's normally about $137 a day (I have it saved for pricing out if I need a package or not so easy to check) - today Canadian prices before the 'discount' is $200 a day

[highway180]

i just looked at my cruise planner for a cruise next year, and the premium drink pkg was "on sale" for $137.99 per day plus grats!

[Georgia_Peaches]

56 minutes ago, Tierun said:

So I’m not the only one who woke up this morning feeling disappointed.

I think I got in just under the wire. I had it in my cart all day but waited for DH to come home before pulling the trigger.  Shortly after I paid the price jumped. My disappointment is in seeing how Celebrity manipulated the prices of the product...literally in real time.  I know they're in the business of making money and I don't begrudge that at all. But if you're going to advertise a flash sale that ends May 30th, honor the price you advertised for the length of time posted.  I expect better from them!

Edited May 25, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[jamieben]

3 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I think I got in just under the wire. I had it in my cart all day but waited for DH to come home before pulling the trigger.  Shortly after I paid the price jumped. My disappointment is in seeing how Celebrity manipulated the prices of the product...literally in real time.  I know they're in the business of making money and I don't begrudge that at all. But if you're going to advertise a flash sale that ends May 30th, honor the price you advertised for the length of time posted.  I expect better from them!

I have the same feeling. It's very disappointing! The prices were already crazy at full price, this "new" base price is totally insane! I would never have paid the full price but the 50% off made it more enticing. Our cruise is very port intensive so they are going to be making money off us anyways as we surely won't be using it to its full potential but this is definitely leaving a bad taste in my mouth!

[terrydtx]

13 minutes ago, highway180 said:

Did however rebook my specialty dining and excursions

We rebooked excursions yesterday on our 4 upcoming cruises over the next 10 months and saved over $1000. It seems today the excursion prices have not jumped higher like drinks and Wi-Fi did late yesterday. Early yesterday the spa services pricing showed a 30% discount, but by last evening they too were back showing with no discounts. If the early prices yesterday were a mistake that they attempted to fix later, I bet they lost a ton of revenue yesterday morning..  Celebrity again is being consistent about being inconsistent. 

Edited May 25, 2023 by terrydtx

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

8 minutes ago, highway180 said:

I feel your pain. Cheers to those who were able to score a deal!!, Another wonderful Celebrity IT screw up. I was in a unusual situation. My wife had the zero pkg, i had the premium pkg. So i called to get the 50% discount. After multiple attempts, X came to the conclusion my sailing didn't qualify: booked it last year, but sailing this July., so I was told no, supervisor said no. I had explained that it was in my cruise planner and i could purchase it at any time. They said it was impossible, so I offered to send them a screenshot, but told it wouldn't change things. the problem having done so, I would've had to upgrade my wife and I both, which was more than I had originally paid. Did however rebook my specialty dining and excursions

It's probably not that the pricing issue. They probably can't do it due to the new rules established in Dec where one person is not allowed to purchase an alcoholic bev package for themselves while another person in the same stateroom has not.

[terrydtx]

3 minutes ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

It's probably not that the pricing issue. They probably can't do it due to the new rules established in Dec where one person is not allowed to purchase an alcoholic bev package for themselves while another person in the same stateroom has not.

I thought this has always been to rule for drinks packages?

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

8 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I think I got in just under the wire. I had it in my cart all day but waited for DH to come home before pulling the trigger.  Shortly after I paid the price jumped. My disappointment is in seeing how Celebrity manipulated the prices of the product...literally in real time.  I know they're in the business of making money and I don't begrudge that at all.  It's just...IDK...it feels a little sleazy.  I expect better from them!

This is regular practice for RCI. They'll adjust the base prices and discount % frequently. Also the pricing varies from sailing to sailing. Really hard to keep track of.

[highway180]

1 minute ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

It's probably not that the pricing issue. They probably can't do it due to the new rules established in Dec where one person is not allowed to purchase an alcoholic bev package for themselves while another person in the same stateroom has not.

That was not the issue. Celebrity has no problem splitting packages as I did due to medical reasons....My wife is a diabetic (but you have to cal to accomplish it) The pricing was only supposed to apply to New bookings with certain sail dates. My sailing was booked last year so technically it did not qualify, even though my cruise planner would allow it. I might have been able to cancel what i had, rebooked through the planner, then called again to change my wife's plan back to the zero pkg. More work than it was worth

[jamieben]

Ok a little update!

 

After being on the phone for an hour, they are now claiming this is an IT issue that is suddenly causing the prices to be higher. They have escalated the situation and it will hopefully be resolved. Not sure how much I believe this but I will keep an eye out over the next few days...

[Lena11033]

2 minutes ago, jamieben said:

Ok a little update!

 

After being on the phone for an hour, they are now claiming this is an IT issue that is suddenly causing the prices to be higher. They have escalated the situation and it will hopefully be resolved. Not sure how much I believe this but I will keep an eye out over the next few days...

 

I'm not sure I'd believe that either, even stores on land raise prices before offering 'discounts'.