Solstice Dec 14 2008 non inaugural pricing?

[rolfecms]

So, everyone has been predicting prices would drop after the 12th . . . any new predictions? When all the reservations have been cancelled???

 

Check the prices now - it looks like they've dropped. :)

[hajekfam]

They still are a little higher than the original booking prices for Captain's club members - which were a premium price to start with.

[cruzmaven]

Prices were reduced from what they were (when this was still the inaugural sailing) but are higher than original booking rates and much higher than what 11/30 and 12/7 sailings were originally offered for. So X is benefiting people who booked late and is doing nothing for those of us who booked when the cruise was first available. X waiting for prices for 11/30 and 12/7 to catch up, before adjusting 12/14. Nice.:mad:

[florisdekort]

HAL is handling things in a weird manner.

 

At first, Eurodam's July 5 sailing was the first revenue sailing and thus the inaugural. Then they added a new revenue sailing for July 2 (with pretty steep prices for that matter, I am paying $1,800 for 3 nights in a balcony cabin - not a suite). As (to my understanding) the "inaugural" is the first revenue sailing, the July 2 sailing should now be called inaugural.

 

Yet HAL continues to call the July 5 sailing the inaugural, and calls the July 2 sailing a "pre-inaugural", a term which in my opinion should only be applied to the free preview cruises cruiselines normally schedule for travel agents, etc.

 

Maybe Celebrity should simply have called Solstice's November 23, 30 and December 7 sailings "pre-inaugurals" too... :rolleyes:

 

Floris

[Cyric]

Thank you, I couldn't have said it better. I received the call about changing to the earlier sailing, but nothing was mentioned about a $100 credit to put towards the air fare change. We have 6 cabins booked for my husbands "surprise 65th birthday" with our 4 sons and nephew. Everyone had to put in for vacation and it is not possible for them to make the date change. It's a shame because his birthday is actually Dec. 7th, but when we booked the 14th was the first available date. I agree if they can sail sooner they should, but the 12/14 week should have prices adjusted. We should not be paying more than the inaugural week. I am just reading this thread for the first time today and am saddened at the attitude of Celebrity. It doesn't make sense that they are not bothered by cancellations from the 12/14 sailing. I was ok paying more because this was to be an inaugural sailing.

[forensic]

We have cancelled, we are extremely saddened by the entire situation. We love sailing on =X= cruise line but we are very unhappy with the way =X= Management has handled this entire "inaugural" situation. Those of us that booked early, early on are among Celebrity's most loyal customers and as such I think that they could have treated us a little better.

 

At this point we have cancelled this cruise and booked an Equinox Med cruise in its place. BUT DH and I have decided that if this Med cruise does not go off as planned, it WILL be the last cruise we book with Celebrity.

 

As of this date we have booked 6 cruises with =X= we have only actually sailed 2 of them as booked, 1 more cruise as the second re-schedule by Celebrity, and the others never happened for one reason or another. We have now booked our 7th cruise - to the Med. This goes as scheduled or we are done!

[C 2 C]

Those of us that booked early, early on are among Celebrity's most loyal customers and as such I think that they could have treated us a little better.

 

As of this date we have booked 6 cruises with =X= we have only actually sailed 2 of them as booked,

 

I realize that this process has not been easy on many people but I do have a question.

 

You have booked a total of 6 Celebrity but have cruised with them only twice without a problem. Have all your cruises with other lines all go off as planned?

[Coreopsis]

I stumbled across a price drop on this cruise (Dec 14). I don't think all categories are as low as the other mid-December add ons when they were originally announced . . . but check it out.

 

=X= still has our deposit for 2 cabins on this cruise - for the moment. I am so annoyed at how they handled this. So sad that so many others have cancelled as well - I was looking forward to meeting these kind folks.

 

We are looking at a Mexico land based vacation or a cruise the same week(different line) and a land based option. Haven't decided yet, but the airfare savings alone - combined with the mistreatment makes it all the more attractive.

[vivavino]

I have previously reported my initial experience with Celebrity years ago, where they waived a single supplement for new bookings, and did NOTHING for existing bookings. I swallowed that $1000 pill, and haven't forgotten it.

 

BUT - I do think Celebrity is getting a bad rap, when some of the unfortunate communications were due to travel agent choices. When I made my switch from 12/14 to 12/7, I was gently encouraged to hang tight with my reservation as they were trying to get the prices down to match.

 

Well, of course, I knew that the initial pricing for 12/7 was a **DEAL**, and if I waited, there wouldn't be as much of a price difference, so there was no savings to be had by waiting. I applied my deposit from 12/14 to the earlier date, and all is well.

 

Some travel agents, reportedly, never told their bookings that Celebrity had offered a same-cost change to the real maiden voyage, or that the line would pay something toward the airline change fees if they switched.

 

SO, while there's plenty to be unhappy about in the way this was handled, I wouldn't assume that Celebrity is 100% responsible for all the issues.

 

Some people simply need better travel agents, so it's not up to the traveler to keep track of everything that happens with new ships.

 

And, if you're hanging out waiting for airfares, be aware that several airlines (including AirTran) have recently rearranged their schedules, and some of the Saturday flights are already increasing in price.

 

Safe travels.

[Cyric]

I have previously reported my initial experience with Celebrity years ago, where they waived a single supplement for new bookings, and did NOTHING for existing bookings. I swallowed that $1000 pill, and haven't forgotten it.

 

BUT - I do think Celebrity is getting a bad rap, when some of the unfortunate communications were due to travel agent choices. When I made my switch from 12/14 to 12/7, I was gently encouraged to hang tight with my reservation as they were trying to get the prices down to match.

 

Well, of course, I knew that the initial pricing for 12/7 was a **DEAL**, and if I waited, there wouldn't be as much of a price difference, so there was no savings to be had by waiting. I applied my deposit from 12/14 to the earlier date, and all is well.

 

Some travel agents, reportedly, never told their bookings that Celebrity had offered a same-cost change to the real maiden voyage, or that the line would pay something toward the airline change fees if they switched.

 

SO, while there's plenty to be unhappy about in the way this was handled, I wouldn't assume that Celebrity is 100% responsible for all the issues.

 

Some people simply need better travel agents, so it's not up to the traveler to keep track of everything that happens with new ships.

 

And, if you're hanging out waiting for airfares, be aware that several airlines (including AirTran) have recently rearranged their schedules, and some of the Saturday flights are already increasing in price.

 

Safe travels.

It doesn't matter now, but I did not deal with a travel agency. You said we should use better travel agents. I made our reservation on the internet. Then was called by Celebrity rep and told about the change of the maiden voyage. I was never offered anything towards airline change fees by Celebrity. We also have 4 other couples who are booked and they never even received a phone call about the change. No travel agents were used. Can anyone give a good reason to book on the internet instead of using a travel agent? Booking on a Celebrity cruise can give you $250 onboard credit, but a travel agent can offer the same. Also, back to the date change, sometimes it's not possible to change plans once you commit. We are very disappointed that we booked for the maiden voyage not only because it is no longer the maiden voyage, but we are paying more for our week now than the week of the new "maiden voyage".

[Coreopsis]

and some resident discounts.

 

As everyone predicted, the prices are coming down in line with other cruises during that low season period.

 

Dumb move for them not to try to take care of those who were already booked . . . I suspect they will drop even more.

[hcat]

We had bad luck with our booking for this ship so far --we were booked for Dec 14th when it was the Inaugural-- we changed to a later date fearing it was a bit too close to the Holidays...then of course Dec 14th was no longer the inaugural anyhow...

 

Now we just found out there is a large group on our newly booked date... in trying to switch Celeb would not honor our orig. lower price or the lower fuel surcharge that we were quoted...

 

Finally, we agreed to absorb the extra cost but then found that there were no really great cabins available for the alternate date--so we are sticking with the large group week ---hope it will work out Ok. & that this ship will be worth it......

[Coreopsis]

We had bad luck with our booking for this ship so far --we were booked for Dec 14th when it was the Inaugural-- we changed to a later date fearing it was a bit too close to the Holidays...then of course Dec 14th was no longer the inaugural anyhow...

 

Now we just found out there is a large group on our newly booked date... in trying to switch Celeb would not honor our orig. lower price or the lower fuel surcharge that we were quoted...

 

Finally, we agreed to absorb the extra cost but then found that there were no really great cabins available for the alternate date--so we are sticking with the large group week ---hope it will work out Ok. & that this ship will be worth it......

Oh dear . . . is that 3 strikes? That's not much fun planning with so many changes and disappointments - I find the excitement leading up to a vacation and planning is half the fun. Or not, in this case.

 

I hope good luck will come your way now and you can look forward to a great vacation.

 

When you say large group . . . what percentage of the passengers will they represent?

[hcat]

Thanks for your concern

We're hoping it works out & that the ship is worth it! We have had some neg experiences with groups in the past--but also some trips where the group though large had no impact--hoping that is the case here.

 

Hopefully our cc group will grow & we'll have our own little group on board!