Price Drop Happy Hour Question

[pamkev]

This upcoming Tuesday Happy Hour special from X will have a price drop for our upcoming Zenith cruise. We booked this cruise when it first came out and now the CC price is quite lower than what we paid. Final payment has been made, is there any chance we will be able to get a refund? I have called and emailed our ta. Has anyone else had any luck with this happening after final payment. Thanks

[rebeccalouise]

it doesn't look like you are far enough out. You cruise is in a month.

[DC2OC]

On our last cruise after a price drop we requested an room upgrade and a partial refund and got both.It was on the Mercury in May....Frank:)

[mmp13]

If it is a happy hour price Celebrity will not honor it . what they say they will do is allow you to cancel your booking and rebook....Here's the catch 22....since you have already made final payment, there is a cancellation penalty (substanstial). It negates the money you would save by rebooking. If you see a regular price drop on the Celebrity booking site ( not happy hour)hour they should honor that. You can always call and ask! good luck1

[Andy]

This upcoming Tuesday Happy Hour special from X will have a price drop for our upcoming Zenith cruise. We booked this cruise when it first came out and now the CC price is quite lower than what we paid. Final payment has been made, is there any chance we will be able to get a refund? I have called and emailed our ta. Has anyone else had any luck with this happening after final payment. Thanks

 

Hi Pamkev !

 

Sorry, but do not expect it to happen. Celebrity does not honor a price match against a Happy Hour offer. If you see the price drop on most other fares, they will honor it, but Happy Hour deals are the exception.

 

Of course, you can always have your TA ask, but I would not expect any good news.

 

Please let us know what happens. Good Luck !

[poetic license]

Pam, I HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS!:(

 

Condolences,

Nicki

[psupa]

Where do you find the happy hour prices or specials?

[iamirish]

We have three cabins and "The Happy Hour Price" dropped $461 per cabin or over $1,300 for our three cabins.

 

My TA called and customer "no-service" said that it only applied to NEW Bookings!!

 

She e-mailed her rep and tried to get us either a rebate or SBC - again the answer was NO!!

 

I have written (yes, the old fashion letter to the Captain Club Representative in Florida) - I am waiting for a response from them, but I am NOT very optimistic.

 

I might add, that two of the cabins, we are paying the 200 % single supplement charge.

 

Tom

[jerseygirl3]

When I booked my first Celebrity cruise, I asked my TA if she honored price drops. She said yes, with the exception of Happy Hour Specials. She let me know up front that Celebrity does not honor those. There has been a reduction in our price for our Century cruise next April, and that has been honored.

[cruiser2004]

We have three cabins and "The Happy Hour Price" dropped $461 per cabin or over $1,300 for our three cabins.

 

My TA called and customer "no-service" said that it only applied to NEW Bookings!!

 

She e-mailed her rep and tried to get us either a rebate or SBC - again the answer was NO!!

 

I have written (yes, the old fashion letter to the Captain Club Representative in Florida) - I am waiting for a response from them, but I am NOT very optimistic.

 

I might add, that two of the cabins, we are paying the 200 % single supplement charge.

 

Tom

 

Tom,

 

My experience has been that emails do no good when dealing with Celebrity no-service. The one thing that you can try is to keep calling Celebrity. One small advantage in dealing with Celebrity customer service, is that you often get different answers to the same question, depending on who you happen to talk to. If your TA won't call or SAY they have tried to call and have had no luck, try calling yourself and ask to speak to a supervisor. Celebrity will say that if you booked with a TA, they must be the one to call, but my personal experience is that is not always true. You have to be willing to be put on hold for long periods of time. To me this practice does not seem fair to punish those who book early and reward those who wait until the price drops on happy hour specials. Last year on Princess I had no problem when calling customer service when a similar price drop occurred, shortly before my cruise, and they adjusted my fare in the name of good customer relations.

[mmp13]

I hope someone has success. I was with my TA when he tried to get the happy Hour price for our upcoming cruise. He was on the phone for well over an hour and made all the arguments re punishing early bookers and not honoring customer loyalty . went through several so called supervisors but it was a no go. I will follow-up with a letter. Maybe if they hear from enough of us they will reconsider Happy hour sales in the future. I know all the arguments pro and con it just makes me angry when I see somebody paying 800 dollars less for the same thing. Not really like going into a department store and finding out I could have saved 2 dollars. We are talking major amounts of money here.

[pamkev]

Thanks everyone for your help. I have talked to my ta and they were going to try. I will keep you posted. It doesn't sound like much can be done!

[mmp13]

Good luck pam! Hope you do better than I did.

[pamkev]

It was as I suspected a no go. It would have save me around 200.00, which would have been more on board drinks so they would have gotten it back anyways. Now I will just spend less.:(

 

Pam

[geoherb]

Celebrity's "Happy Hour" specials are found on a lot of travel agency websites. I googled Celebrity Cruises "Happy Hour" to find the ones for tomorrow. Or you can ask your TA if he or she receives emails or faxes about them. I wish we could go more at the spur of the moment. I'd love to be able to take advantage of some of these deals.

[Dick in Falls Church]

This is a Galaxy Mediterranean. We had what I thought was a decent price on an Oceanview. Wife thought balcony was a requirement, so cost escalated.

 

Not Happy Hour prices, but a considerable drop in prices after the 90 day limit.

I called my TA. They checked, and said that Celebrity wouldn't drop the prices. However, for a total of $105, we could get upgraded to a suite.

 

Would lots rather have had a refund, but it's better than a poke in the eye.

Downside--not sure this isn't like letting the camel get its nose under the tent!

And, maybe we'll get a triple credit for this trip!

[cruisingdelt]

Where do you find the happy hour prices or specials?

 

Try these links:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/happy_hour/XcitingDeals_CEL_tues.pdf

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/promowave/CEL.pdf

[Andy]

It was as I suspected a no go. It would have save me around 200.00, which would have been more on board drinks so they would have gotten it back anyways. Now I will just spend less.:(

 

Pam

 

Hi Pam !

 

I am in the same boat (pardon the pun). Our sailing is on Happy Hour tomorrow, and the difference in price is significant. I am well aware that these are last minute deals, and they are trying to fill the ship. With that said, it is a disappointment, that people who are booking the same cabin as I am will be paying much less than what I paid, or will be getting a MUCH better cabin for the same price I paid for my cabin. Either way, it truly makes you wonder about booking 9 months in advance, and letting them hold your deposit, while the person who books tomorrow, gets a much better deal. I can see this annoying those who booked a while ago.

 

Honestly, I am not mad at Celebrity at all, as those are the rules. However, I feel that at the very least, Celebrity should consider letting you pay the difference and upgrading to a better cabin, while not giving refunds. I feel that would be a fair solution to the Happy Hour saga.

 

Let's hope Celebrity will consider this option in the future.

[BEAV]

Of course there's always the 'argument' that those who book early and pay higher non-happy hour prices have access to all the 'premium' cabins. And on the Millie-class ships, there are many cabins within certain categories that are premium with their larger balconies, etc. The folks booking last minute happy hour prices are taking pot luck ... whatever cabins are left over.

 

We sailed Connie this past April. In the beginning we booked a standard concierge cabin, only to later snag a cancellation on one of the aft cabins with the huge balconies (which greatly contributed to our overall enjoyment of the cruise). After that, the CC cabins appeared on Happy Hour sale. But we were all too happy to pay more for such a premium CC cabin as opposed to feeling like we were being penalized for not being able to take advantage of the sale prices because of the fact we had booked earlier.

[pamkev]

Hi Pam !

 

I am in the same boat (pardon the pun). Our sailing is on Happy Hour tomorrow, and the difference in price is significant. I am well aware that these are last minute deals, and they are trying to fill the ship. With that said, it is a disappointment, that people who are booking the same cabin as I am will be paying much less than what I paid, or will be getting a MUCH better cabin for the same price I paid for my cabin. Either way, it truly makes you wonder about booking 9 months in advance, and letting them hold your deposit, while the person who books tomorrow, gets a much better deal. I can see this annoying those who booked a while ago.

 

Honestly, I am not mad at Celebrity at all, as those are the rules. However, I feel that at the very least, Celebrity should consider letting you pay the difference and upgrading to a better cabin, while not giving refunds. I feel that would be a fair solution to the Happy Hour saga.

 

Let's hope Celebrity will consider this option in the future.

 

 

Totally Agree with you Andy.

[Tuna]

I understand that it can be frustrating. And it kind of irritated me too when someone mentioned how much they paid when they booked a special. However, we should keep in mind that these Happy Hour specials help fill up the cabins at the last minute, which in a way, keep the cruise prices down. Also, when we book early, we pay for the luxury of booking the cabin we want and to do long-term vacation planning. I can't afford to sail with only 3-4 weeks' notice, so I can't take advantage of the specials.

[mmp13]

I agree with Andy for the most part. others have pointed out that everyone has sales and this is true. there is a difference though. When I purchase a car or clothing at the beginning of the season, I know that the same product I'm purchasing will be available at the end of the season at a lower price. I have an option . If I purchase an item at the beginning of the season I get to enjoy it for the entire season. MY choice. In the case of the cruise, If I book early,The cruise line takes a signifigant amount of money from me in the form of a deposit and then earns more money on that money in the form of interest accrued while they hold it. . Even if you book a hotel early They ask for a credit card number but do not charge your card until check in . If you don't show then they charge you a ppenalty up to and including full price. The cruise industry has the best of both world when you consider how much interest they accrue on deposits for early bookers and then reserve the right to put the same product on sale ahappy hour and deny the same people who have paid the deposit many times 9 to 12 months in advance the right to sale prices. When you think about it. they have it made. I am certainly not going to let it ruin my cruise but I can't help but feel a little resentful about the way the system works!