Price reduction after final payment

[kim826]

Just got off the phone with the internet agent I purchased two aqua cabins for my December 5th Solstice cruise. I noticed when I was checking pricing this morning that there was a drop of $75 per cabin so I called. I could get an increase in onboard credit but I would lose my free gratituities. Is this legit? Needless to say, I didn't take advantage of the increase in onboard credit as it wouldn't make up for the loss in gratituities, but I'm a bit miffed! Should I just relax and move on??

[bryanjaync]

Okay, probably going to get blasted for this, but.....prices for goods and services change all the time. It is just part of the market place. We purchase a cruise at a certain time thinking either the price is right, or we want certain cabins, or ships or dates. We basically balance the factors. Personally, i dont think we the passengers are 'owed' anything, because, over time, the supply / demand, the market place has shifted. If the price had gone up....would a passenger be okay with the cruise line coming back and saying...btw, we want more money from you after final payment. What am i missing ?

[kim826]

What my question is - can they take away a promised gratituity (which is stated on the invoice along with the promised onboard credit) to honor the price decrease after final payment by Celebrity?

[Jade13]

Just got off the phone with the internet agent I purchased two aqua cabins for my December 5th Solstice cruise. I noticed when I was checking pricing this morning that there was a drop of $75 per cabin so I called. I could get an increase in onboard credit but I would lose my free gratituities. Is this legit? Needless to say, I didn't take advantage of the increase in onboard credit as it wouldn't make up for the loss in gratituities, but I'm a bit miffed! Should I just relax and move on??

 

When did you purchase the cruise? Also note that a TA's commission might be approx. 16% (10% -20% unless they have a special group rate). This is minus the taxes, port fees (non-commission charges). So, if your OBC/gratuitity total would be more than about 8% than the agent would be making nothing if they gave it all back to you.

[cruie4ever]

Just got off the phone with the internet agent I purchased two aqua cabins for my December 5th Solstice cruise. I noticed when I was checking pricing this morning that there was a drop of $75 per cabin so I called. I could get an increase in onboard credit but I would lose my free gratituities. Is this legit? Needless to say, I didn't take advantage of the increase in onboard credit as it wouldn't make up for the loss in gratituities, but I'm a bit miffed! Should I just relax and move on??

 

The new policy(bookings after May 17th) states that after final payment there will be no OBCs offered for a price decrease.however, if there is a upgrades cabin available you are welcome to do the upgrade . you may or may not be charged a difference in price depending on the current cost of the upgrade vs what you have already paid Celebrity for your existing booking .

 

If you booked the cruise before May 17th ,then you should receive the lower price in the form of a OBC .

[Jade13]

What my question is - can they take away a promised gratituity (which is stated on the invoice along with the promised onboard credit) to honor the price decrease after final payment by Celebrity?

 

 

I believe if it would cost them money, yes. You don't say how much the cruise is or what type of price drop.

[kim826]

I booked before May 17th. They are telling me Celebrity will increase my onboard credit from the original 200 to 275 but the internet travel agent will take away my promised gratituities if I take advantage of that.

[ConnCruise]

Hey Kim,

 

 

 

I would press them on this. You've got nothing to lose. They absolutely should be supporting any price change on your booking.

 

They need your happy business more than they need an irritated customer.

 

Be polite, but insist on a no strings attached credit.

 

Good luck

[Jade13]

I booked before May 17th. They are telling me Celebrity will increase my onboard credit from the original 200 to 275 but the internet travel agent will take away my promised gratituities if I take advantage of that.

 

Ask how much OBC they would give instead of the gratuities? Was the original $200.00 OBC from booking onboard or from the agency, etc?

[kim826]

The original 200 obc was from the agency plus they offered the gratituities. They are still being offered online interestingly enough.

[CoachT]

Yes an agency can take away any offers if the terms of the sale have changed. It is perfectly legit.

 

When the cruise price does down due to a price drop, Celebrity offers the passenger OBC, but the amount of commission the agency receives does in fact go down.

[ConnCruise]

Hey Bryan,

 

Let me give you a real life example of why I totally disagree with what you said above.

 

Last spring we booked a c3 room on the Connie for a cruise to the western Med. (Just got off the boat last week, it was great!!! review coming)

 

Anyway, back in late Aug or Sept, after we paid in full, X began offering a 2 for 1.5 special, available for "new" bookings only. X had told us when we booked that they would support price reductions and we took this to be a price reduction. I posted here and most folks here said stuff like what you said above. "You'll never get it" or "they don't owe you anything" was what most folks said.

What actually happened was X was more than happy to cancel our original booking and rebook us into the very same cabin, less the $500 cancellation fee. The X rep was also most accommodating in pointing out that since we had bought "good for whatever reason" cancellation insurance we could claim that $500 fee. So, for about 45 minutes on the phone with X, we saved over $950!!! (We got the insurance refund they day before we left for Barcelona!)

[Jade13]

Hey Bryan,

 

Let me give you a real life example of why I totally disagree with what you said above.

 

Last spring we booked a c3 room on the Connie for a cruise to the western Med. (Just got off the boat last week, it was great!!! review coming)

 

Anyway, back in late Aug or Sept, after we paid in full, X began offering a 2 for 1.5 special, available for "new" bookings only. X had told us when we booked that they would support price reductions and we took this to be a price reduction. I posted here and most folks here said stuff like what you said above. "You'll never get it" or "they don't owe you anything" was what most folks said.

What actually happened was X was more than happy to cancel our original booking and rebook us into the very same cabin, less the $500 cancellation fee. The X rep was also most accommodating in pointing out that since we had bought "good for whatever reason" cancellation insurance we could claim that $500 fee. So, for about 45 minutes on the phone with X, we saved over $950!!! (We got the insurance refund they day before we left for Barcelona!)

 

Hmm, was that x's policy? I thought is was for 75% back in cruise credit. Also, how much was the insurance as that is never refundable.

[ConnCruise]

what I stated is exactly what happened. Certainly our original insurance fee was not refunded, but who cares. Our net savings was $950!!!! No one can quibble with results like ours

[bryanjaync]

Just to be clear, I have no problems at all with passengers going back and 'bargaining' to get a better deal. If it is in the interest of both parties, then it will happen. I was referring to persons (not on this thread in particular) who feel this have some God-given right to a lower price regardless of the contract they willingly entered into.

[lysolqn]

Just got off the phone with the internet agent I purchased two aqua cabins for my December 5th Solstice cruise. I noticed when I was checking pricing this morning that there was a drop of $75 per cabin so I called. I could get an increase in onboard credit but I would lose my free gratituities. Is this legit? Needless to say, I didn't take advantage of the increase in onboard credit as it wouldn't make up for the loss in gratituities, but I'm a bit miffed! Should I just relax and move on??

 

Yes, it's legit and it happens often. Agent-issued amenities like onboard credit, free gratuities, free insurance, etc. are in effect "gifts," the value of which is directly dependent on what you are spending. When your cost decreases, the agent's commission likewise decreases and so does the value of the gifts you receive from that agent. Apparently a price drop of $150 is enough to lose free gratutities from the agent. I'm guessing your reservation falls under the old price protection policy and thus the additional onboard credit you could get would not affect the agent's commision because it would come directly from Celebrity.

[Jade13]

Hey Bryan,

 

Let me give you a real life example of why I totally disagree with what you said above.

 

Last spring we booked a c3 room on the Connie for a cruise to the western Med. (Just got off the boat last week, it was great!!! review coming)

 

Anyway, back in late Aug or Sept, after we paid in full, X began offering a 2 for 1.5 special, available for "new" bookings only. X had told us when we booked that they would support price reductions and we took this to be a price reduction. I posted here and most folks here said stuff like what you said above. "You'll never get it" or "they don't owe you anything" was what most folks said.

What actually happened was X was more than happy to cancel our original booking and rebook us into the very same cabin, less the $500 cancellation fee. The X rep was also most accommodating in pointing out that since we had bought "good for whatever reason" cancellation insurance we could claim that $500 fee. So, for about 45 minutes on the phone with X, we saved over $950!!! (We got the insurance refund they day before we left for Barcelona!)

 

Good idea. If you have X's policy it is 75% back in Cruise Credit for Cancel for Any Reason. If it was X's policy than I am not sure how you got the cash back since it says "credit". Maybe it was another policy that refunded in cash, most are 75% or 85% back but it's more than that if not in the 100% non-refundable penalty stage.

[Gonzo70]

Yes an agency can take away any offers if the terms of the sale have changed. It is perfectly legit.

 

When the cruise price does down due to a price drop, Celebrity offers the passenger OBC, but the amount of commission the agency receives does in fact go down.

 

Agreed.

[kim826]

Just giving an update. I sent an email to the agent stating my displeasure with their willingness to honor the $75 obc per cabin but not willing to keep the prepaid gratituities (even though they are still listed on their website). I reminded them I have 9 cabins booked for March on a different ship which I had an opportunity to switch to a different agent earlier on but didn't. There was no response. I am moving on and focusing on having a great cruise. Thanks for your responses and clarifications.