I think I just scored a pretty good deal

Please explain if I'm misunderstanding, but I think I just went from Go Big to Go Best and it only added $300 to my invoice

I have a trip booked and simply called in with some questions and to make a payment...

I had the cruise for 2, Go Big(classic drink package) and added gratuities....total balance $6600 remaining after deposit

Called in today and asked what the difference would be if I switched to Go Best....drop the cost of the gratuities since they are included with Go Best and add everything in.....Premium Drink package, wifi, gratuities, and $300 OBC....new balance $6900

It looks like I just added $300...say for the OBC...and got upgraded to the Premium drink package and wifi for free.

I have the emailed invoice showing this new total as well as the new one after I made the payment.

Am I figuring this wrong? Is it better to upgrade to Go Best after the initial booking? Either way, I'm pretty happy with what just transpired.

I’m glad you feel that way. Most of us do who make a reservation. It’s a ‘good deal’ to us if we sign up for it, but definition. And it does look nice.

Den

It sure seems like you got a good deal. Perhaps the Big Price for your cruise was also reduced, therefore you were able to pay to move to Best and save money. Perhaps you also would have been able to reduce the price if you would have stayed with the Big bundle.

I do not think it is necessarily better to upgrade to the Best bundled later unless Celebrity is running a special.

Congratulations and enjoy your cruise.

Please explain if I'm misunderstanding, but I think I just went from Go Big to Go Best and it only added $300 to my invoice

 

I have a trip booked and simply called in with some questions and to make a payment...

 

I had the cruise for 2, Go Big(classic drink package) and added gratuities....total balance $6600 remaining after deposit

 

Called in today and asked what the difference would be if I switched to Go Best....drop the cost of the gratuities since they are included with Go Best and add everything in.....Premium Drink package, wifi, gratuities, and $300 OBC....new balance $6900

 

It looks like I just added $300...say for the OBC...and got upgraded to the Premium drink package and wifi for free.

 

I have the emailed invoice showing this new total as well as the new one after I made the payment.

 

Am I figuring this wrong? Is it better to upgrade to Go Best after the initial booking? Either way, I'm pretty happy with what just transpired.

Not completely sure what you meant by "and added gratuities"; but if you meant that you chose to prepay your gratuities and that the prepaid gratuities were part of the cost of $6600 in your initial invoice, then the cost without the prepaid gratuities would have been lower.

For purposes of discussion let's assume that the gratuity prepayment was $14.50 per day times 7 days times 2 people = $203. Then the initial cost with the Big and no prepayment would have been $6600 minus $203 = $6397. And the cost to go from Big to Best would have been $6900 minus $6397 = $503 per couple.

In comparison, the typical cost to go from Big to Best is $45 per day per person and $45 times 7 days times 2 people = $630. So in this example your deal would have been $630 minus $503 = $127 per couple better that the usual cost to go from Big to Best - a nice but not too exciting savings.

Some will disagree, but I do think that "go best" is often a very good deal especially for anyone who is planning to upgrade to the premium alcohol drink package and who will make use of the wifi package. The usual cost to upgrade is $45.00 per day, the minimum cost for gratuities is now $14.50 per day, and the cost to upgrade to the premium drink package is $16.50 per day. For $14 more per day, it is a great deal to have unlimited wifi and the OBC. When Celebrity began allowing us to use OBC for pre-booking shore excursions, dining packages, etc. the OBC became much more useful.

A couple of years ago, when I upgraded us to "go best" on a 7 night cruise, I remember figuring out that the wifi package ended being free, with the OBC costing me a less than the $300.00 value. At the time I wrongly thought the the wifi pricing would come down.

This year I received the "go better" perk with my booking and chose the classic package and the wifi for an upcoming 9 night cruise. Moving from the included "go better" perk to a paid "go best" perk does not make sense in this situation.

This year I received the "go better" perk with my booking and chose the classic package and the wifi for an upcoming 9 night cruise. Moving from the included "go better" perk to a paid "go best" perk does not make sense in this situation.

That's what I found on my cruise also. Just sit down and count the dollars it costs compared to what it costs to buy separately. We did the drinks package and $300 OBC with ours.

Congratulations! I hope you have a fantastic cruise! :-D

So, a few things I have learned from replies here and doing a little research based on the replies here...

After I posted and reread this, it somewhat came across as a humble brag. I wasn't trying to boast about the deal I got. More just excited and passing along the info so if someone else wanted to make a quick call to inquire.

So it does look like the price of the cruise has dropped a little, and that's why the increase seems so small in the grand scheme.

The way I was approaching it was...we got a cruise at a price we were willing to pay. Nothing I can do if the price drops....even if there is, I'm not one to go through the effort to cancel/rebook/etc...I booked through X so I don't have a TA to do all of the footwork for me. So our price is good. I was able to upgrade to the premium drink package, get wifi, and get a $300 OBC for $300 more. That's how I saw it as a good deal.

I don't cruise a lot, so I am always open to learning more on tricks and savings. I was simply trying to pass along something I was able to do that another cruiser may want to try to make that call.

Happy cruising!

So, a few things I have learned from replies here and doing a little research based on the replies here...

 

After I posted and reread this, it somewhat came across as a humble brag. I wasn't trying to boast about the deal I got. More just excited and passing along the info so if someone else wanted to make a quick call to inquire.

 

So it does look like the price of the cruise has dropped a little, and that's why the increase seems so small in the grand scheme.

 

The way I was approaching it was...we got a cruise at a price we were willing to pay. Nothing I can do if the price drops....even if there is, I'm not one to go through the effort to cancel/rebook/etc...I booked through X so I don't have a TA to do all of the footwork for me. So our price is good. I was able to upgrade to the premium drink package, get wifi, and get a $300 OBC for $300 more. That's how I saw it as a good deal.

 

I don't cruise a lot, so I am always open to learning more on tricks and savings. I was simply trying to pass along something I was able to do that another cruiser may want to try to make that call.

 

Happy cruising!

You will see quite a few “humble brags” here. Congrats! Happy cruising

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I am glad you passed the info because I will call my TA to try to score a similar deal. My cruise is in two weeks so I doubt I will get anything at this point but we never know!

I think it's great, I am very happy for you... And a bit jealous! Lol!

You did very well! I just tried to do the same with our booking, which we booked with one complimentary perk (we chose free grats) and change it to two perks adding $300.00 OBC. The extra cost was $396.00. So, it would cost us $96.00 to get $300.00. Uh, no thanks. However, if we chose the drinks package the extra $396.00 would be a good deal. We're Elite+ so we receive complimentary drinks and therefore, the drink package would not appeal to us. You just have to do the math for yourself and see how these deals work out for your particular cruise. Happy to hear it worked out well for the OP!

I was suspecting that the price of the actual cruise fare had dropped some, but I"m with you. If you're you were fine with paying $6600.00 for the cruise, classic drink package and gratuities, and they then said we can get you everything you have plus wifi, $300.00 OBC, and upgrade you to the premium package for $300 total more, then go for it. I had a similar deal our cruise leaving in two weeks. Since the price of the face decreased I could upgrade from go better to go best for $200.00 total. So for $100 p.p. we added $150 p.p. OBC, unlimited wifi, and upgrade to premium drink package which we alway upgrade to anyway. It was a no-brainer for us. Have a great cruise.

So, a few things I have learned from replies here and doing a little research based on the replies here...

 

After I posted and reread this, it somewhat came across as a humble brag. I wasn't trying to boast about the deal I got. More just excited and passing along the info so if someone else wanted to make a quick call to inquire.

 

So it does look like the price of the cruise has dropped a little, and that's why the increase seems so small in the grand scheme.

 

The way I was approaching it was...we got a cruise at a price we were willing to pay. Nothing I can do if the price drops....even if there is, I'm not one to go through the effort to cancel/rebook/etc...I booked through X so I don't have a TA to do all of the footwork for me. So our price is good. I was able to upgrade to the premium drink package, get wifi, and get a $300 OBC for $300 more. That's how I saw it as a good deal.

 

I don't cruise a lot, so I am always open to learning more on tricks and savings. I was simply trying to pass along something I was able to do that another cruiser may want to try to make that call.

 

Happy cruising!

I did not take your original post as a brag - merely an expression of joy!

Just so you know, in the US if you are still before the final payment date, you do not need to cancel and rebook to take advantage of a price drop - you merely have to call Celebrity, or your TA if you booked with one, and ask them to have your existing reservation repriced - just a simple phone call. However, you still need to check for any changes in included perks to make sure that the lower price is a good deal.

Congrats and well done.

When you’re on a travel forum with like-minded individuals who understand the feeling of stumbling across a good deal, then it doesn’t come across as bragging.

I cancelled and rebooked all my Celebrity organised shore excursions about a month back when Celebrity had their last sale. It saved me less than $100, but I was proud as punch for getting the same product for a cheaper price. Lol