Will the cost of cruises go down today?

[PROCRUISE]

Previously booked balcony cabin, deck 8,  slightly aft, for 2/22/24 9 day cruise. Total including paid gratuities, WiFi and drink page is $5110 double occupancy. Today (10/4/23) if I tried to book this cruise, I'd have to take a forward balcony cabin, deck 6, with only WiFi and drink page and the cost is $6565 double occupancy. Switching to HAL for additional cruises in 2024.

[Jeremiah1212]

42 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

I just looked at the price of a Celebrity Suite on our May Millennium sailing and it is almost the same exact price that we were quoted last April when we booked our Aqua Sky Suite.  So, I am not really seeing where prices have come down to match the loss of both pre-paid gratuities and OBC;  It looks more and more like our days of sailing with Celebrity are over.  

 

 

 

If anyone truly thought they were going to the time/effort to fundamentally change the pricing and profit structure then turn around and negate those efforts by lowering the prices, well..............🤨

[Pushka]

8 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Sorry- not trying to start a tipping thread.  Aussie cruise prices have traditionally had gratuities included in the base fare.  The explanation has been that the Australian culture in general does not tip for most things that we do here in the US. It is a cultural difference.  So they include it in the fare.

This is only a recent thing. I've been on several Cunard cruises in Australia until about 2017 and tips were not included in the price. They were added onboard. 

[Cockatoos]

18 hours ago, Baynanno1 said:

FireShot Capture 026 - Celebrity Cruises - www.celebritycruises.com.pdf 1.3 MB · 57 downloads

Check the Cruise purchase contract on the X website. Select the appropriate country of residence (Australia) then hit the "english" button. Contract says service charges are included in the price. Still the same as of 5 October 2023.

[goofysmom99]

53 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

If anyone truly thought they were going to the time/effort to fundamentally change the pricing and profit structure then turn around and negate those efforts by lowering the prices, well..............🤨

My only expectation was to be able to finally book Aqua class, cruise-only, for a reasonable amount more than Concierge (escape MDR menus).  On the one and only cruise I actually would like to do this, the daily upcharge from C2 to A2 is $256/day.  That's serious profit structure.  And like so many others, I'm looking and booking elsewhere....and it breaks my heart. 

[Ocdublin]

This is so true!  We also are looking at other cruise line!  We have been totally loyal to Celebrity Cruise Line, but no more it goes both ways! WE ARE DONE!

[Keys Kathy]

No. I priced an Aqua Class Cabin yesterday on the Sillie, which included tips, wifi, and drinks.The date is Dec 18th. The same sailing today is $306. higher. The rate itself is $158 then you add the tips at $18.50 pp per day. Needless to say, we are continuing to book Yacht Club. 

[Keys Kathy]

18 hours ago, Pushka said:

Agree. My booking of a few days ago specifically shows tips. 
 

 

 

Yes, but that was before the Oct 4th change.

[sweep2907]

I booked Sunday inside deluxe with all inclusive. Priced it up today and the cruise with all inclusive was slightly higher, but that now didn't include gratuities so I ticked them and hey presto.....my cruise 3 days after I booked is around £300 more which coincidentally is the cost of adding gratuities on. As celebrity rep said on Sunday it was unlikely prices would drop as would take far too long to change all their pricing. The reason it's changed is customer feedback as unanimously we all voted that wifi and drinks were most important when booking a cruise! These changes show a significant hike in prices and will probably mean more people will simply remove gratuities on their on-board account.

[mac_tlc]

So, as I stated in some prior posts, I have been tracking four random cruises since they announced this "enhancement" to our cruise experience. I will continue to track them for the next few weeks just for the heck of it.

 

All prices are for two, all included option.

 

Lets look at the Celebrity Beyond 8N sailing on May 18, 2024:

 

	Celebrity Beyond - 5/18/2024 - 8N Southern Caribbean
Category			9/15/2023	9/22/2023	9/29/2023	10/2/2023	10/3/2023		10/4/2023
E2			$    5,258	$    5,058	$     5,146	$   5,146	$     5,146		$      5,070
Aqua - A1			$    6,454	$    6,330	N/A	N/A	$     6,331		N/A
Aqua - A2					$     6,131	$   6,131	$     6,131		$      6,014
Sky Suite			$    9,936	$    9,811	$     9,811	$   9,811	$     9,811		$      9,547

 

Looking at the Sky Suite, the price since yesterday has dropped $264. The gratuities for two are $368 and they eliminated $600 OBC. So a net increase of close to $700.

 

The E2 dropped $72, the gratuities are $288 for two.

The A2 dropped $117, the gratuities are $296.

 

All categories are more expensive today than they were yesterday.

 

 

mac_tlc

Edited October 4, 2023 by mac_tlc

[tljordan444]

My Sunset veranda May 18 Southern with no adds is 2551.00 total I booked it July of this year. The same cruise is 3500 in an obstructed veranda. We are Elite so I will take advantage of the perks. I feel VERY lucky!!

[grandgeezer]

3 hours ago, verizon said:

This is what we called inflation.

You call a 40+% increase in price in one year inflation? I call it price gouging to the max.

When people stop giving them a pass on everything they do such as ridiculous price increases cutbacks in just about everything, maybe things will get better for the customers. There’s a better chance of the Bears winning the Super Bowl.

[mac_tlc]

Surely, the Beyond example is an outlier, so let's look at another one:

 

	Celebrity Ascent - 2/2/2025 - 7N Eastern Caribbean
Category			9/15/2023	9/22/2023	9/29/2023	10/2/2023	10/3/2023		10/4/2023
E2			$    4,667	$    4,467	$     4,468	$   4,468	$     4,468		$      4,440
Aqua - A1			$    6,256	$    6,131	$     6,131	$   6,132	$     6,132		$      6,018
Sky Suite			$   11,094	$   10,969	$   10,970	$  10,970	$   10,970		$     10,662

 

 

The Sky Suite dropped $308, the gratuities are $322 and they eliminated $600 OBC. A net increase of about $614.

 

The E2 dropped by $28, the gratuities are $259, a net increase of $230

 

The A1 dropped by $114, the gratuities are $259.

 

Again, all categories are higher today than yesterday. 

 

mac_tlc

 

Edited October 4, 2023 by mac_tlc

[JaneStarr]

I checked prices yesterday and today for several categories of cabins on a cruise I’m taking in March.  ALL AI prices were significantly higher when I added back in the cost of gratuities and the OBC eliminated from suite bookings. Here’s one example. I happened to find the exact same CS available for both day’s mock bookings.  Hope the collage I attempted as an illustration is clear enough.  I’m not bothering to put in the effort for the Veranda, Sunset Skysuite, Aqua Sky Suite or Guarantee cabins. All were higher when the removed items were added back in.

The effective Suite guarantee price increased by over $1,000 (when $800 OBC and $552 in Grats were added back into today’s price).
Celebrity must think very poorly of our math skills by insisting prices were adjusted to account for removal of gratuities, etc. The 5 examples that I checked showed exactly the opposite was true.

This is on ECLIPSE 12 NIGHT March 2nd, 2024

Edited October 4, 2023 by JaneStarr
Typos

[mac_tlc]

Yah, but those were the two newest ships, so the older ladies may be different.

 

 

	Celebrity Silhouette - 7/17/24 - 11 N - Northern Europe
Category			9/15/2023	9/22/2023	9/29/2023	10/2/2023	10/3/2023		10/4/2023
V1			$    6,412	$    6,116	$     6,022	$   6,022	$     6,022		$      5,545
Aqua - A1			$    9,122	$    8,997	$     8,997	$   8,997	$     8,997		$      8,401
Sky Suite			N/A	$   12,197	N/A	$  12,197	$   12,197		$     11,841
Aqua SS			$   13,572	$   13,447	$   13,447	$  13,447	$   13,447		$     13,041

 

The Sky Suite dropped $356, the gratuities are $506 and they eliminated $800 OBC. A net increase of about $1250.

 

The V1 dropped by $477, the gratuities are $396, a net decrease of $81.

 

The A1 dropped by $596, the gratuities are $407, a net decrease of $189.

 

 

Well, at least some categories are lower, but the Sky Suite is getting more expensive and less competitive with other lines. 

 

 

mac_tlc

Edited October 4, 2023 by mac_tlc

[tnm6217]

I check all of my cruise fares daily. Yesterday, my 5 night cruise on Summit in January 2024 in a Sky Suite was $4,411 (NRD, including military discount, I forgot to look at the OBC).

Today, I priced it with gratuities included and it is $4,596 - no OBC.

I paid $4,406 at the end of June and got $600 in OBC from Celebrity.

Edited October 5, 2023 by tnm6217

[NMTraveller]

I remember those that thought that the price of a cruise would go down after the removal of tips from AI and that the removal was a good thing.

 

🤣

 

 

[Pushka]

3 hours ago, Keys Kathy said:

Yes, but that was before the Oct 4th change.

Cruises booked from Australia must be price inclusive as per our federal legislation. And that includes compulsory charges like tips. So the changes made in USA are not relevant. 

[Pushka]

4 hours ago, Cockatoos said:

Check the Cruise purchase contract on the X website. Select the appropriate country of residence (Australia) then hit the "english" button. Contract says service charges are included in the price. Still the same as of 5 October 2023.

Can you post a link to this please? I just did a search on celebrity website using Australia and couldn't find a contract. Just a meaningless blurb. And nothing received with our booking. 
 

Cancel that, I didn't realise English was an actual link. 

Edited October 5, 2023 by Pushka

[Jim_Iain]

16 hours ago, Lena11033 said:

lol 

 

I just priced priced out a solo room - I don't know what maths they are using for AI but it's seriously messed up

 

 

Yikes... you could book a second cabin for the all included.   Have you calculated by adding perks al la carte?

[tigervixxxen]

8 hours ago, Islander500 said:

Checked pricing on Ascent TA in April last night and just now.  Exact same Infinite Verandah Cabin 

 

10/3 - no OBC, includes basic wifi, TIPS & classic drink package  - $4945.80 

 

10/4 - no OBC, includes basic wifi & classic drink package only  - $4970.80 

I’ve been looking at the fall TA, it looks to me $500 cheaper all included rate for veranda. 

[Team Stag]

We put down a deposit on a cruise last week that included: Bev, wifi, Tips & OBC.  Checked the price today of the same cruise that included Bev & Wifi (No OBC or Tips) was $300 less for the cabin.  Factoring in the Tips & OBC, this cruise is $800 more expensive per cabin.

We did not expect to see significant price drops today.  And I don't think we will for a while due to demand.  What I believe Celebrity is doing is trying to build some flexibility back into their pricing.  Before it mostly AI.  Now they can use things like Beverage package as a "perk".  Or a charge item.  And since they didn't really lower prices; they basically reset the bottom level.  

[quacker5]

17 minutes ago, tigervixxxen said:

I’ve been looking at the fall TA, it looks to me $500 cheaper all included rate for veranda. 

Double check that it isn’t $500 cheaper since as of today the tips aren’t included in All Included pricing.  The tips alone are close to $500 in a typical TA.  

[Keys Kathy]

5 hours ago, tnm6217 said:

I check all of my cruise fares daily. Yesterday, my 5 night cruise on Summit in January 2024 in a Sky Suite was $4,411 (NRD, including military discount, I forgot to look at the OBC).

Today, I priced it with gratuities included and it is $4,596 - no OBC.

I paid $4,406 at the end of June and got $600 in OBC from Celebrity.

I was shocked to find out that Fla resident rates are cheaper than military rates. Be sure you check it all ways, including senior rates if applicable.

[vjmatty]

Just checked our Infinity sailing for Feb 23, 2024, we’re in a SV with AI booked a year ago. I can’t see if there are price changes for SV because the category is sold out, but Aqua prices have dropped so they are now US$550 less pp than our current SV w/AI fare for standard Aqua and about the same price for Prime. The $450 total OBC is gone. Can’t calculate what grats would be since it’s not on my reservation. 
 

My question is whether a cabin change, category change or repricing, while keeping the same booking number, would trigger the loss of grats on either the AI or the Aqua cabins. I’m not sure if they can call it a “new booking” if it’s the same reservation.  I know whenever a new promotion comes out for “new bookings only” they sure don’t consider an existing refared booking as “new”. 

Edited October 5, 2023 by vjmatty