Transatlantics and Repositioning Cruises

[littlekatiebird]

The vast majority of people won't talk about the price they paid for a cruise so they can convince themselves they got a good deal, regardless of how much they spent.

 

You can almost always find a 13 to 15 night Celebrity transatlantic for $599pp to $699pp if you wait to book till 4-10 weeks out. (sometimes even $499pp)

 

Right now you can get the November 1st Reflection T/A for $639pp with $375 OBC

 

or the December 1st Silhouette T/A for $699 with $350 OBC.

 

Using choice air negates high airfares when booking late. (example is $525 to Rome or $450 to Istanbul)

 

The perfect example right now is a B2B cruise November 12th on Celebrity Constellation from Istanbul to Florida. 27 nights for $1098pp!!! On top of that insanely low price, you can get $450 shareholder OBC, and another $175 OBC from the internet site.

 

I'm assuming these prices are for inside cabins...I have been tracking prices for this cruise since May and saw similar pricing for inside cabins at $699 for this TA...I see that it is now almost double that on the Celebrity website. So maybe for the OP it was just a timing issue.

 

I held off on booking to see if there would be any perks offered for the TA although it was not the case with Celebrity my Travel agent offered free gratuities so I jumped on it and was able to use miles for a flight back from Rome...I'm happy. It's good to know about Choice Air, as when I look at one-way prices from Rome to LAX, they are ridiculous.

[happy 2 b cruising]

There is no way to know at this time whether people have booked with the same rationale as my friends, or not. It will be interesting to see what happens as Final Payment date approaches.

 

I am not talking about people who are looking for fire-sale prices. I am talking about people who know the cruise market really well, and know when pricing is relatively out-of-whack.

 

In the meantime, we have given up this game, and have booked on Oceania. Seriously better value.

 

We have always been early bookers on Celebrity because of work scheduled vacations, we are now retired so we will try the after final payment booking. We will take our Family vacation on Royal Caribbean this year Thanksgiving week because of the Grandchildren's school schedule. We booked this a year out. Final payment was two weeks ago and the prices have been on a roller coaster ride ever since. Never dropped to what we paid, but did drop for a higher cabin so we upgraded for the difference. Being it is the sister company to Celebrity hopefully they don't start the same up and down pricing after final as they are now doing on Royal Caribbean.

[Hlitner]

I guess this thread has gotten into various booking strategies, and over forty plus years of cruising we have probably tried them all :). Strategy should change with market conditions but a lot also depends on the cruiser. If you have your heart set on a specific cruise then you might benefit from booking far in advance and then monitoring for price changes. Waiting for the last minute (inside final payment period) can sometimes bring great financial benefits, but other times it can backfire. Personally, we are "equal opportunity cruisers" having traveled with 14 cruise lines over many years. When we decide to wait, it is normally with the mindset that we are going to be flexible. Last year we waited to get a good last minute deal on the late November 14 day cruise on the Eclipse, but the prices only went up. In the end we booked a 14 day Holland America cruise for about half the cost of the Celebrity cruise since HA had some great bargains that same week. So if you want to be a last minute booker...be flexible on both your itinerary and cruise line.

 

Hank

[Pobman]

Yes its all a gamble ... if you absolutely definitely want it then you have to pay for it ... otherwise throw the dice and see.

 

There is a repositioning cruise in 2015 I like the look of, the 2013 version ended up at approx $1000 with various perks depending on the TA.. the 2015 version is currently listed at more than double that and most TA offered no perks... so I for one will wait. If I miss out then there will be something else to take instead.

[Holly g]

Yes its all a gamble ... if you absolutely definitely want it then you have to pay for it ... otherwise throw the dice and see.

 

There is a repositioning cruise in 2015 I like the look of, the 2013 version ended up at approx $1000 with various perks depending on the TA.. the 2015 version is currently listed at more than double that and most TA offered no perks... so I for one will wait. If I miss out then there will be something else to take instead.

 

Could you tell me how you found the 2015 TA on the Celebrity cruise site?

I tried but only shows 2015 for Carribean, etc but I can't find the TA's.

[zoncom]

Too early to book 2014s.. Looks like 6 X ships in Europe next season so there will be excellent pricing. Didnt see as many Europeans on my B2B euro cruises this Spring. Things are bad over there. Take a look at 2013 Fall TA pricing, best ever.Patience.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Could you tell me how you found the 2015 TA on the Celebrity cruise site?

I tried but only shows 2015 for Carribean, etc but I can't find the TA's.

Probably a typo ,

[peterm]

If the rooms are selling without the perks or obc why offer them

If the rooms do not sell there will be a perk

 

We booked Reflection-TA for April 2014 in April 2013 for $ 1,699 and got a price reduction in June 2013. The price for our CC stateroom went down to $ 1,349 + Tax = $ 1,480 pp. We got a discount from our agent ($ 110 pp) and OBC from Celebrity-Passage ($ 150 pp). Our cruise costs now $ 1,220 for a 16 day voyage = $ 76 per Person/Day for a Concierge Cabin!

 

Most of the transatlantic cruises are sold out - I don't believe that the cruise line can give away a concierge stateroom for less than $ 76 a day.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

We booked Reflection-TA for April 2014 in April 2013 for $ 1,699 and got a price reduction in June 2013. The price for our CC stateroom went down to $ 1,349 + Tax = $ 1,480 pp. We got a discount from our agent ($ 110 pp) and OBC from Celebrity-Passage ($ 150 pp). Our cruise costs now $ 1,220 for a 16 day voyage = $ 76 per Person/Day for a Concierge Cabin!

 

Most of the transatlantic cruises are sold out - I don't believe that the cruise line can give away a concierge stateroom for less than $ 76 a day.

at Xmas 2012 we book Silhouette April 2013 15 day crossing for $999 in Aqu A1, with $300 future cruise credit and $150 obc from the travel agent

That is what I am waiting for next April again

[Pobman]

Could you tell me how you found the 2015 TA on the Celebrity cruise site?

I tried but only shows 2015 for Carribean, etc but I can't find the TA's.

 

Sorry should have been clear I was talking about a repo from Australia so not a trans alatlantic ... just mentioning the process in general, and how the 2015 one of the current cruise is currently vastly more expensive than the 2013 version ended up at.

[CathyCruises]

We booked our 1B on the April '13 Silhouette TA for $49.93/pp/pd + $250 shareholder credit. If the '14 rates aren't close to that, we won't be going. . .