1-2-3 Promotion available to World with exception of UK

[The_Big_M]

As I said, I used a TA in the US.:D

 

Exactly, which makes these comments and analogies about not selling to certain nationalities irrelevant.

 

All it is, as uktog and others have posted, a different marketing offer in a different region. And with any marketing offer, some you gain and some you don't.

 

And yes, some of the past marketing offers such as the age based offers have also been massively disadvantageous if you don't meet the criteria. Maybe we should have massive threads complaining of discrimination when each seniors offer pops up.

[Bod]

I'm from the UK, we booked our September 2013 cruise on board in September 2012 to get the cabin we wanted and the OBC and our booking is being managed by a UK TA.

 

I watch the cruise price and have also been miffed at the 123 offer. However, I notice this week that our cruise fare had dropped by approx $850/£532 per person! So I contacted my TA who rang X in the UK and they adjusted my invoice and now I've saved a huge amount on my cruise.

 

I am also aware of my friend who has booked a cruise for March 2014 via a UK TA and got the drinks package.

 

So these promotions are possible and you can get a reduction if prices drop. I know that my TA is very good because they get repeat business from me and we have a great relationship.

 

I suspect in some cases (not all) that's some TAs won't change the cruise fare as it may affect their commission from X

[SamfromOz]

So, is it really actual discrimination against UK citizens/residents, or is it just that Celebrity UK won't match the offer by Celebrity USA?

 

Is there anything to stop UK residents booking through a US travel agent (like we did) and getting the 1-2-3 go bonus? Or would Brits still be denied?

[MicCanberra]

So, is it really actual discrimination against UK citizens/residents, or is it just that Celebrity UK won't match the offer by Celebrity USA?

 

Is there anything to stop UK residents booking through a US travel agent (like we did) and getting the 1-2-3 go bonus? Or would Brits still be denied?

I suspect it is that the UK TAs and UK 'X' cannot rather than will not match the Us offer, just as the Aussie TAs and Aus 'X'.

However, some TAs do go above and beyond for you and it is finding these TAs that is the hardest part of planning a cruise.:D

[2aussiecruisers]

If everyone in the UK who is feeling discriminated against just used a US TA as most of us do in Australia (for the very reasons you are all complaining about) the situation would probably sort itself out - especially if you told your UK TA why you were not booking with them. If the TA's in the UK have reduced bookings they will do the compaining for you. If not you could do a lot worse than book through a US TA. I've got 3 cruises booked with the 123 promotion between now and April 2014. I wouldn't even consider going to an Australian TA or Celebrity Australia.

[English Tim]

If everyone in the UK who is feeling discriminated against just used a US TA as most of us do in Australia (for the very reasons you are all complaining about) the situation would probably sort itself out - especially if you told your UK TA why you were not booking with them. If the TA's in the UK have reduced bookings they will do the compaining for you. If not you could do a lot worse than book through a US TA. I've got 3 cruises booked with the 123 promotion between now and April 2014. I wouldn't even consider going to an Australian TA or Celebrity Australia.

 

This probably works with X at present, though when I recently booked a Princess cruise, US TA's weren't interested unless I had a US address. Now as it happens I do, but there was then a problem with using my Captain's Circle credits and status, as there are two different clubs, one either side of the Pond.

 

The use of cookies also makes life more difficult, as even when accessing a US site, such as X, the prices seem to appear in £ Sterling!

[2aussiecruisers]

This probably works with X at present, though when I recently booked a Princess cruise, US TA's weren't interested unless I had a US address. Now as it happens I do, but there was then a problem with using my Captain's Circle credits and status, as there are two different clubs, one either side of the Pond.

 

The use of cookies also makes life more difficult, as even when accessing a US site, such as X, the prices seem to appear in £ Sterling!

 

 

Yes, it does work with X at the moment and I hope it will for ever!!

 

My understanding is that there are some cruise lines that will not accept a booking through a US agent if you are not resident, and Princess is one of them. Celebrity & Azamara are not.

 

When I go onto Celebrity web site in Australia it knows I'm in Australia and the prices are in A$. The first thing I do is change my location to US (bottom right of the home page) and low & behold I see totally different specials and prices in US$. If I didn't do this I would not see any of the current promotions. In fact there is no 'specials' tab in the menu if you have your location as Australia. Correct me if I'm wrong but there is no mention of the 123 promotion at all on the 'Australian' site.

 

We are also being discriminated against in Australia but you just have to find a way around it - it's part of the challenge...

[Presto2]

After my 'rant' last night I was going to leave this subject, but having read some of the posts I'm more cross than ever now! :(

 

Is it me being paranoid, but is it likely that giving offers like this means that it entices people to book without Celebrity having to drop the prices -- because if the prices dropped people like us who booked last May for this coming August would be able to claim on the price drop deal?

 

Also, if Celebrity know that many of us are cross then why haven't they got someone to post on here to answer some of our questions?

 

I love the Silhouette and am sure we will love our cruise in August, but this leaves a nasty taste in the mouth and means that next time we most probably take a closer look at P&O again and Princess (who we have yet to try).

[nijh]

As I said, I used a TA in the US.:D

 

 

Aah - sorry I missed that.

 

I nearly went with a US TA, but the prices at the time were just about the same so I thought I'd 'buy British'. :rolleyes:

[nijh]

So, is it really actual discrimination against UK citizens/residents, or is it just that Celebrity UK won't match the offer by Celebrity USA?

 

I'll let you decide:

 

To qualify for the 123go! Offer, the following requirements must be satisfied: Cruise must be booked Jan. 7-Feb. 18, 2013 (the "Offer Period") and must be a 3-night or longer cruise, excluding Celebrity Xpedition®, that departs between Feb. 2013 and April 2014. Offer excludes Feb. 2013 sailings booked on or after Jan. 28, 2013, and all Celebrity Xpedition sailings. Offer only available for Ocean View or higher staterooms and for cruises sold at a Fivestar or Group X price program rate and cannot be combined with any other offer, promotion or price program. Offer is applicable to new individual bookings and to staterooms in non-contracted group bookings which staterooms are named and fully deposited during the Extended Offer Period. Bookings that meet all of these requirements are "Qualifying Bookings." Qualifying Bookings for a European sailing may choose any two of the following options (all other Qualifying Bookings may choose any one of these options): Classic Beverage Package for Two, Free Gratuities, or Onboard Credit. Limit of one Offer per stateroom. You must notify Celebrity of the option(s) you chose by Jan. 27, 2013, for Feb. 2013 sailings, or by Feb. 18, 2013, for all other sailings. All guests in stateroom must select the same option. Residents of the United Kingdom are not eligible for this offer.

 

I did the bold highlighting - but the rest is straight off the Celebrity web page.

[The_Big_M]

In fact there is no 'specials' tab in the menu if you have your location as Australia. Correct me if I'm wrong but there is no mention of the 123 promotion at all on the 'Australian' site.

 

There are specials for Australia, including a similar one to the 123 promotion, but which was modified for other promotions we have running.

 

Everyone is 'discriminated' against if you want to look at it that way, although it's more that they're just offering promotions which target certain groups of cruisers. For a long time those not old enough have been discriminated against as well on many cruises. Not much you can do to get around that either...

[u2cruiser]

After my 'rant' last night I was going to leave this subject, but having read some of the posts I'm more cross than ever now! :(

 

Is it me being paranoid, but is it likely that giving offers like this means that it entices people to book without Celebrity having to drop the prices -- because if the prices dropped people like us who booked last May for this coming August would be able to claim on the price drop deal?

 

Also, if Celebrity know that many of us are cross then why haven't they got someone to post on here to answer some of our questions?

 

I love the Silhouette and am sure we will love our cruise in August, but this leaves a nasty taste in the mouth and means that next time we most probably take a closer look at P&O again and Princess (who we have yet to try).

 

Hi Presto2,

 

I am following this thread and haven't contributed so far, as I don't really feel it impacts on me. We mainly book fly cruises through an internet TA, which usually include hotel add ons. We have had excellent deals so far. I don't look at price drops once we've booked, as the cruise is a small component of our trip if you consider the flight and hotel prices.

 

I did recommend Celebrity to some friends in my village and they secured a deal, their first ever cruise, including drinks package, 8 days to the Norwegian Fjords on Eclipse from Southampton for less than £800 in a balcony. A fantastic deal, but I don't want a cold cruise, or to cruise from Southampton again, so the deal doesn't entice me.

 

I think CC is a fantastic resource, but in this case has caused discontent. I believe that Celebrity is entitled to do whatever it needs to fill their ships, so I don't feel angry about it, but I can understand why many UK cruisers do, with the clumsy exclusion wording. Marketing needs to address the fact that we all have access to view (if not take advantage of) international offers through the internet and forums such as this, and cruise lines can shoot themselves in the foot by causing such discontent as this.

 

I have sailed Princess and P&O. Personally neither come anywhere near my S class experiences (I haven't sailed on the other Celebrity class of ships) and both were way more expensive than my Celebrity deals. P&O certainly left me feeling less than happy last time and I doubt we will book with them again for a long time.

 

Don't let this spoil your upcoming cruise; I remember how very excited you were last cruise, and how much you enjoyed it. You can vote with your feet next cruise by choosing one of the other lines if you're still annoyed :)

[jackiepaul61]

U2cruiser, I, too, am perfectly happy with the price I've paid for my cruise, including airfares etc. I don't even mind if my cruise is slightly cheaper for people in the US.

 

But, as has been mentioned before, we're being excluded from an offer that's worth over 400 pounds per week. It's a lot of money.

 

I still think the offers should apply to the actual CRUISES that don't seem to be selling as well. That way, the offer's there. Take it or leave it.

 

Just would seem a lot fairer to me.

[u2cruiser]

U2cruiser, I, too, am perfectly happy with the price I've paid for my cruise, including airfares etc. I don't even mind if my cruise is slightly cheaper for people in the US.

 

But, as has been mentioned before, we're being excluded from an offer that's worth over 400 pounds per week. It's a lot of money.

 

I still think the offers should apply to the actual CRUISES that don't seem to be selling as well. That way, the offer's there. Take it or leave it.

 

Just would seem a lot fairer to me.

 

Is it just the cruises they want to fill though? If so, then that would make perfect sense to apply the offers to those specific cruises for everyone.

I think it's more than that; they want to entice more Americans and Canadians to take long haul travel to the Med; mix up the demographic a bit more? More inclined to be happy with the tips?

 

They have a captive audience in UK cruisers for the Med and instead are applying offers from Southampton only to us, to compete with the ever increasing sailings on offer from that port. Most of the major cruise lines have ships based here for the season now; so many more cabins to fill. Once Brits get a taste of Celebrity, with a free drinks package thrown in, hopefully they will want to return?

 

These are purely my own thoughts on the situation. I haven't spent much time researching it. I see the offers as extras. If I was offered any of those extras free - great, but they wouldn't feature as important in my choice of ship or itinerary.

 

My daughter lives in Glasgow. Beautiful city. :)

[jackiepaul61]

You're probably right U2. But it's still only one port from the UK. It's EVERY trip for the US guests.

 

That's why it seems unfair. Everyone's struggling these days.

 

(V cold up here today! And grey:()

[jagoffee]

I suspect it is that the UK TAs and UK 'X' cannot rather than will not match the Us offer, just as the Aussie TAs and Aus 'X'.

 

If those of you that are UK residents really believe this to be true then it is easy to understand why you are so upset.

 

I do not live in the UK, but I really believe that it is Celebrity UK and UK TA that are driving this practice. I really do not understand why, but I find it really hard to believe that "Corporate" Celebrity would be the driver for something so absurb. One can certainly argue that Celebrity should not allow the UK based organization to make such a silly decision that reflects poorly on Celebrity. Perhaps there are some contract or legal requirements that force Celebrity to allow the UK based organization to make the decision. Perhaps things like deposits, insurance, specials, pricing, price adjustments. service charges, etc. are controlled by the UK contract/agreement. It does not match sense to me. I believe that Princess also has some "issues" in this area. The bottom line is the residents of the UK are being adversely affected by the overall situation in this particular case.

 

Good luck.

[harz99]

They have a captive audience in UK cruisers for the Med and instead are applying offers from Southampton only to us, to compete with the ever increasing sailings on offer from that port. Most of the major cruise lines have ships based here for the season now; so many more cabins to fill. Once Brits get a taste of Celebrity, with a free drinks package thrown in, hopefully they will want to return?

 

 

Did anyone see the travel agent adverts featuring 123 in yesterdays Daily Telegraph travel supplement?

 

Of course, they were only for sailings from S'oton. But in the same paper, there was a Royal Caribbean promotion offering good (for the UK) prices around £999 for some sailings again out of S'oton, against Celebrity at around £1500..

 

No 123 type offers but £500 per person cheaper for similar cabins and itineraries, I know where I would be booking, as I'd rather have the cash to spend as I wish than some "offer" for which the cabin prices have been jacked up to compensate.

[u2cruiser]

Did anyone see the travel agent adverts featuring 123 in yesterdays Daily Telegraph travel supplement?

 

Of course, they were only for sailings from S'oton. But in the same paper, there was a Royal Caribbean promotion offering good (for the UK) prices around £999 for some sailings again out of S'oton, against Celebrity at around £1500..

 

No 123 type offers but £500 per person cheaper for similar cabins and itineraries, I know where I would be booking, as I'd rather have the cash to spend as I wish than some "offer" for which the cabin prices have been jacked up to compensate.

 

Just looking at that offer in the Times harz99. All 14 nighters for £999 but only one is a balcony cabin and that's for the Med in October; Cork and Norway in June in an Ocean view and a July/August in an inside to Italian Med. I haven't compared Celebrity prices.

[kruzgal]

Celebrity prices for a balcony at the moment are very high - £2000 per person for a balcony med. cruise in September and even more than that for July/August trips to the baltics and fjords. We need 2 cabins so that's £8,000 before you start on tips, drinks etc. Sorry , but no way are we paying that. For the first time in years we don't have a cruise booked yet for this summer and are going to take our chances. If there are no cruises at the right price we will book a package holiday instead.

[kruzgal]

Having delved further I have come to the conclusion they just don't want us UK cruisers. Looking at US TA sites the price is pretty much the same as it would be here for a cruise in Europe this summer. However, the value of this promotion is enormous - we usually go for 14 nights ( 4 people) so that's over £400 for gratuities, £1800 for the classic alcohol package and £200 OBC totalling at least £2400 in lost benefits to us. Bye bye Celebrity :(

[swigso]

Having delved further I have come to the conclusion they just don't want us UK cruisers. Looking at US TA sites the price is pretty much the same as it would be here for a cruise in Europe this summer. However, the value of this promotion is enormous - we usually go for 14 nights ( 4 people) so that's over £400 for gratuities, £1800 for the classic alcohol package and £200 OBC totalling at least £2400 in lost benefits to us. Bye bye Celebrity :(

Do what lots are doing,

Use a US based T A.

😎

 

And 😝to X

[kruzgal]

I will certainly look in to doing this, but it's not something I have done before. Just need to do some research I suppose - it's difficult because others are not allowed to mention the names of TA's. How do you know which ones are ok?

[Sparkle 123]

Do what lots are doing,

Use a US based T A.

 

And to X

 

Exactly!! Although X are still getting our money but we are getting the benefits so its a win win!!

[Presto2]

Hi Presto2,

 

Don't let this spoil your upcoming cruise; I remember how very excited you were last cruise, and how much you enjoyed it. You can vote with your feet next cruise by choosing one of the other lines if you're still annoyed :)

 

Hi, thanks for the message - we won't let it spoil the fun ! Just needed a chunter :) Funnily enough we have just filled in all our passport details on the site and we still have 6 months to go ;)

[u2cruiser]

Hi, thanks for the message - we won't let it spoil the fun ! Just needed a chunter :) Funnily enough we have just filled in all our passport details on the site and we still have 6 months to go ;)

 

Great! You had me a bit worried there :eek: :D