Another price drop question

[happy cruzer]

So can anyone explain in general how they work?

 

I have a cruise booked with through the gift card special that included the match that is applied as a discount.

 

Would I need to see a price for my cruise that is lower than my discounted rate? or lower than the booked rate? my invoice shows both. Also they applied the discount to just one person's rate not the other cruiser, could one person get a price adjustment?

 

So I guess I am asking what do they consider your price? the booking rate, the discounted rate? the discounts plus OBC or included gratuites?

 

What have people experienced? Actual experiences are very helpful, we all know that if you call the cruise line directly you have chance of being misinformed.

 

Thanks in advance for sharing.

[Hlitner]

We always do price comparisons by simply taking the total "real" cost (including the cruise fare, taxes, fees, etc) and also factor in any amenities such as On board credits, pre paid gratuities, etc. We then divide by the number of cruise days to get to the "real" passenger cost/day. By using a cost per passenger day number..it makes it very easy to not only compare price changes in a particular cruise...but it makes it easy to compare different cruises (even on multiple cruise lines).

 

One possible complication is when there is air or air credits included in the fare and we normally remove the air factor from our calculations. When we compare different cruises (and lines) and one includes air and the other does not we simply subtract the real value of the air from our calculation so we are comparing apples to apples.

 

Hank

[Lsimon]

re:Another price drop question

 

So can anyone explain in general how they work?

...

 

In the USA you can get your fare adjusted to a lower rate at any time up to the date after which deposits are no longer 100% refundable. That date is usually the same date that final payments are due so it is generally just referred to as the final payment date regardless of when you actually made your full cruise payment. In some other countries it does not work this way.

 

The adjustment will be to the actual net cruise price itself. Any amount you actually paid will be applied to this amount. The existence of special discounts, OBC or other such offers makes this a little more confusing as these may not carry over if they were based on the prior selling price so there are no hard and fast rules as to what happens to these items. So if these things are part of your cruise booking you'll have to check with whomever you've booked through to see if you can benefit from a price reduction or not.

 

After final payment the general rule is that there are no adjustments to cruise fare with the only formal exception being for fare drops within a short time (I think it is 3 days) of the initial booking (if it was made after final payment date). However, at least in the USA, Celebrity usually allows one to upgrade if prices fall by applying the actual cash you've paid to the current selling price of a higher category cabin. In this scenario the current selling price of your current cabin makes no difference as the only relevant factors are the cash you've paid and the current selling price of the cabin you'd like to change to. While it appears most cruisers have been able to get this type of upgrade there are occasionally reports here on Cruise Critic of some who have had their requests denied for reasons that are not always clear. Also in rare cases there are price drops so significant that it is to one's benefit to cancel their booking, forfeit a portion of their payment, and make a new booking at the lower price but they might not be able to retain their current cabin location of they do this.

 

Of course if you are using a TA then all of this will also depend on the willingness of your TA to make the change. I've read reports here on Cruise Critic of some awful TA's who refuse to make such adjustments. Also, some TA's charge fees for any such changes. So be sure to ask about fees and change policy before you book with any TA.

[Kamloops50]

When I book my Princess cruises my PVP says I can price adjustments up to 72 hrs before the cruise.

[Kevnzworld]

You will generally see the major price reductions on cruises whose final payment window has closed.

The purpose is to attract new bookings, not tie up the customer service phone lines lowering fares for existing bookings.

If you like cruises on sale, my advice is to be flexible, and wait. There is usually at least one cruise in most categories that goes on sale. Right now there are a number of the 7 day Caribbean ones for January on sale. The popular or more limited sailings rarely see price drops.

[Andy]

When I book my Princess cruises my PVP says I can price adjustments up to 72 hrs before the cruise.

 

Thats great news if you are sailing on Princess, but that's not the case with Celebrity.

[ariawoman]

So can anyone explain in general how they work?

 

I have a cruise booked with through the gift card special that included the match that is applied as a discount.

 

Would I need to see a price for my cruise that is lower than my discounted rate? or lower than the booked rate? my invoice shows both. Also they applied the discount to just one person's rate not the other cruiser, could one person get a price adjustment?

 

So I guess I am asking what do they consider your price? the booking rate, the discounted rate? the discounts plus OBC or included gratuites?

 

What have people experienced? Actual experiences are very helpful, we all know that if you call the cruise line directly you have chance of being misinformed.

 

Thanks in advance for sharing.

 

You didn't mention if you're booked directly through X or through a TA.

 

I'm just taking a guess here but I'd think the price would need to drop to lower than the amount you're currently paying for the category you're booked in.

 

For example, say I paid 2700 for a C2 cabin, but that was 150 under what the actual C2 price was because I got a category upgrade booking on board. I believe the price would need to drop to below 2700 for the C2 in order for me to ask about a price reduction (thus negating my category upgrade so to speak - but whatever). I technically paid the price of a C3 for the C2.

 

Not sure if that makes any sense but that's how I interpret my personal situation. I booked on board and received OBC and a category upgrade. I'd technically "lose out" on the category upgrade, should the price of a C2 drop below 2700 (i want to say a C2 when i booked was actually 2850 or something). Personally I'm not worried about losing that perk since the overall cost is what I'm concerned with. I'm not factoring in the OBC since i'm getting a set amount based on what I booked.

 

A price drop could impact any OBC coming from a TA however, as their perks are likely based on the fare and if the fare drops, their perks could also drop. So it's at that point that I'd need to evaluate what made more sense by talking to the TA. For example, I qualified for OBC from the TA for 400, but if i asked them to honor a price drop, they might drop that OBC to 300 - so I need to make sure the drop is worth the potential loss in OBC from the TA.

[kitty9]

When I book my Princess cruises my PVP says I can price adjustments up to 72 hrs before the cruise.

 

Princess' procedures have absolutely nothing to do with how Celebrity handles the situation. Celebrity does not adjust prices after final payment date.

[Hlitner]

When I book my Princess cruises my PVP says I can price adjustments up to 72 hrs before the cruise.

 

As others said, this has nothing do with Celebrity. But beware that although Princess's reps will tell you this over the phone in reality it can often be nearly impossible to get a Princess price adjustment after final payments. They will often have specials inside the final payment period and the fine print will say "applies to new bookings only." That being said, some folks have good luck trying to negotiate for a free upgrade or possibly an on board credit.

 

Hank

[biker1972]

It is also good to note that Princess has far more cabin fare classes then X so their upgrades might be a balcony cabin near the aft becoming a balcony cabin 3 doors closer to mid-ship. But, hey, an upgrade is an upgrade, right! :rolleyes:

[SusieV]

You didn't mention if you're booked directly through X or through a TA.

 

I'm just taking a guess here but I'd think the price would need to drop to lower than the amount you're currently paying for the category you're booked in.

 

For example, say I paid 2700 for a C2 cabin, but that was 150 under what the actual C2 price was because I got a category upgrade booking on board. I believe the price would need to drop to below 2700 for the C2 in order for me to ask about a price reduction (thus negating my category upgrade so to speak - but whatever). I technically paid the price of a C3 for the C2.

 

Not sure if that makes any sense but that's how I interpret my personal situation. I booked on board and received OBC and a category upgrade. I'd technically "lose out" on the category upgrade, should the price of a C2 drop below 2700 (i want to say a C2 when i booked was actually 2850 or something). Personally I'm not worried about losing that perk since the overall cost is what I'm concerned with. I'm not factoring in the OBC since i'm getting a set amount based on what I booked.

 

A price drop could impact any OBC coming from a TA however, as their perks are likely based on the fare and if the fare drops, their perks could also drop. So it's at that point that I'd need to evaluate what made more sense by talking to the TA. For example, I qualified for OBC from the TA for 400, but if i asked them to honor a price drop, they might drop that OBC to 300 - so I need to make sure the drop is worth the potential loss in OBC from the TA.

 

No, I have an email from Celebrity which confirms that you can get the drop based on the price in the category you paid for, not received. So in this case, you could get a price drop from a C3 if you got a C2.

 

If the price happens to drop in the C2 category and not C3, you can get that too of course but then you can no longer price match to the C3.

[ORV]

You didn't mention if you're booked directly through X or through a TA.

 

I'm just taking a guess here but I'd think the price would need to drop to lower than the amount you're currently paying for the category you're booked in.

 

For example, say I paid 2700 for a C2 cabin, but that was 150 under what the actual C2 price was because I got a category upgrade booking on board. I believe the price would need to drop to below 2700 for the C2 in order for me to ask about a price reduction (thus negating my category upgrade so to speak - but whatever). I technically paid the price of a C3 for the C2.

 

Not sure if that makes any sense but that's how I interpret my personal situation. I booked on board and received OBC and a category upgrade. I'd technically "lose out" on the category upgrade, should the price of a C2 drop below 2700 (i want to say a C2 when i booked was actually 2850 or something). Personally I'm not worried about losing that perk since the overall cost is what I'm concerned with. I'm not factoring in the OBC since i'm getting a set amount based on what I booked.

 

A price drop could impact any OBC coming from a TA however, as their perks are likely based on the fare and if the fare drops, their perks could also drop. So it's at that point that I'd need to evaluate what made more sense by talking to the TA. For example, I qualified for OBC from the TA for 400, but if i asked them to honor a price drop, they might drop that OBC to 300 - so I need to make sure the drop is worth the potential loss in OBC from the TA.

 

On my most recent cruise this is not how it worked, I got the reductions for the C3 category which is what I booked, but booked the C2.

 

No, I have an email from Celebrity which confirms that you can get the drop based on the price in the category you paid for, not received. So in this case, you could get a price drop from a C3 if you got a C2.

 

If the price happens to drop in the C2 category and not C3, you can get that too of course but then you can no longer price match to the C3.

 

This is what I experienced, not sure about the second part though, that didn't happen. C2 never got lower than the C3 price I was at.

[happy cruzer]

So you guys are saying you look at the price you paid? So if you get a discount on cruise price then that adjusts the price you paid whereas if you have an OBC that doesn't adjust the price you paid?

 

Thanks for sharing experiences.