Tons of Promotions -- Is this the norm?

[Smiles3usa]

I've made a deposit on my first Celebrity cruise for Oct 2014. Since I booked in June, there have been 3 different promotions : 1-2-3 go, Pick your perk, 15% giving thanks and now, come Friday there is another 1-2-3 only better. Is this how Celebrity normally operates? I find it totally confusing. I don't mind watching for price drops -- and my trip has had a few. But figuring out which promotion is better...and how it effects the bottom line is frustrating.

 

From my perspective, it seems to be all marketing gimmickry. I thought Celebrity was an established product. Why all the new gimmicks to sell it?

Edited November 27, 2013 by Smiles3usa
typo

[chrismakris]

Hello Smiles,

 

I'm not an expert cruiser but from my understanding the industry is still having a bit of a backlash from the Costa Concordia disaster and what has happened on a few of the Carnival cruise ships. So that might be one of the reasons for all the promos.

 

The 1-2-3 Promo was very popular. That was half the reason we booked our cruise. If you have a promotion that works and gets people on your ships instead of someone else's or someone chooses a cruise over an all inclusive, then you might as well do it again.

[suec12]

I certainly agree with the OP - too many promotions! and often they are "tricky" and make it very difficult to find the actual price (or the price has increased to include the FREE beverage package). I would rather have a bottom line price and then pay for whatever extras I am interested in.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

It does seem to be the norm lately. I agree, it's confusing. And they always seem to arrive after I've booked, although I did manage to snag the Thanksgiving one. So I don't worry about it too much. I enjoy cruising with Celebrity. If I can get a deal, great, but the lack of a deal probably isn't going to keep me from cruising. Life is short. I intend to enjoy the time I have left. I'm grateful that I can afford to cruise.

[kitty9]

In all honesty, I wish Celebrity would cram all these promos and just give us a decent price without all these bouncing fares---or at least keep their fares the same unless a cruise is selling poorly---then reduce the prices. But these bouncing fares and promotions tend to hack people off. Hey, Celebrity. What about reducing your constantly rising fares and dump the silly promos. I think customers would appreciate that much more than a fairly inexpensive drinks package. If I can afford a cruise, I can afford a classic package.

[AlbertaCruisers]

I love the 123 Go Promo, we book early, know the prices we are comfortable with, and for the far out cruises if prices haven't changed and we can add a free drink package - I'm not going to question that!! If your cruise is closer and the price has increased from what you booked at you just have to determine what works best for you, i.e. how much are you really going to spend on drinks on the cruise.

 

Celebrity has also been very good about adding it to existing bookings, which takes the guess work our of when to book (but I don't think that applies if you are past final payment).

 

I think the 123 Go promo was genius of Celebrity and I'm surprised no one else has followed (the HAL one wasn't as good for Caribbean cruises as it was only a $100 drink card, not a package). The promo got us cruising Celebrity, and now we love it, other then a few exceptions (friends, etc), we will be cruising Celebrity all the time now, with or without the 123 go deal (but luckily right now more with than without)! Celebrity gets my business and all my onboard spending (which is unfortunately more than we plan each time! :D)

[Cruising89143]

Seems that all cruise lines are running deals. Wave season starts in January and it looks like some are getting a jump on things. We book when we find a cruise that we like and if a deal comes our way that we can use then we try to take advantage of it. No big deal if we can't. We don't book unless we feel that it's a good price to begin with.:)

[teecee60]

From my perspective, it seems to be all marketing gimmickry.

 

You pretty much nailed it!

[travelberlin]

In all honesty, I wish Celebrity would cram all these promos and just give us a decent price without all these bouncing fares---or at least keep their fares the same unless a cruise is selling poorly---then reduce the prices. But these bouncing fares and promotions tend to hack people off. Hey, Celebrity. What about reducing your constantly rising fares and dump the silly promos. I think customers would appreciate that much more than a fairly inexpensive drinks package. If I can afford a cruise, I can afford a classic package.

 

Well said!

[tgmtgm]

I'm just pi**ed off that they keep exempting the transatlantic sailings from every single one of their recent promotions. What's up with that?! :mad:

 

Tony

[hapicruisin]

I'm just pi**ed off that they keep exempting the transatlantic sailings from every single one of their recent promotions. What's up with that?! :mad:

 

Tony

 

I expect they exempt the Transatlantics because those cruises are usually a good deal even without a promo, as I have found out on a number of occasions. :)

[AlbertaCruisers]

I expect they exempt the Transatlantics because those cruises are usually a good deal even without a promo, as I have found out on a number of occasions. :)

 

The other theory I have heard is there are a lot more days at sea for people to drink a lot more, so giving a free drink package may be more costly...

[keesar]

The number of promotions has greatly increased lately. The deals used to be state residency, seniors, municipal workers, etc. However, the cruise industry had reached a point where there were so many ships launched with larger capacities. They are all trying to fill the ships.

 

Also, if you notice, they often increase the prices shortly before a promotion is launched. Reminds me of other industries.

[tgmtgm]

The other theory I have heard is there are a lot more days at sea for people to drink a lot more, so giving a free drink package may be more costly...

 

I can somewhat understand the rational behind not wanting to offer free drink packages on cruises with 6+ sea days in a row, but how about the other promos? "Giving Thanks"?- not on a transatlantic! Additional obc offers?- nope, not valid on TA's. It's discouraging to say the least :(

 

Tony

[kitty9]

The number of promotions has greatly increased lately. The deals used to be state residency, seniors, municipal workers, etc. However, the cruise industry had reached a point where there were so many ships launched with larger capacities. They are all trying to fill the ships.

 

Also, if you notice, they often increase the prices shortly before a promotion is launched. Reminds me of other industries.

 

You're so right on this. Stores and other businesses raise their prices right before a sale and then slap on a "Sale" tag and say it's a great deal. My sister is a CPA and one of her clients is a large, family owned, group of stores. They put on a price sticker, with a price that's nowhere near to what the fair retail value is of the product, and then they put an orange sticker next to the original one that says "Sale Price". But in reality, the "sale" price is what the actual retail price should be. All marketing gimmicks.

[emileg]

You're so right on this. Stores and other businesses raise their prices right before a sale and then slap on a "Sale" tag and say it's a great deal. My sister is a CPA and one of her clients is a large, family owned, group of stores. They put on a price sticker, with a price that's nowhere near to what the fair retail value is of the product, and then they put an orange sticker next to the original one that says "Sale Price". But in reality, the "sale" price is what the actual retail price should be. All marketing gimmicks.

Take a look at Viking River Cruises. There is always a half price sale! Always! And no one would ever pay the non-sale price, ever. Nevertheless, Viking, like Celebrity, offers a fine product.

[S.O.C.I.O.C.A.T.s]

From one with 30 years marketing experience, it is a new marketing strategy: keep the list price high and discount by promotions; especially discount after the payment due date to keep ships full. I too would rather lower prices and fewer discounts.

[purrlinda]

Since this appears to be the new normal, I've had to adjust and become a more savvy consumer.

 

I will say that I booked my C3 on the 123 Go Promo back in February for my cruise this coming February at $1199 per person. (Selected classic bev package). I have checked all through the year and with the exception of the Giving Thanks 15% promo, there have been no lower prices offered on that category. I really anticipated that the price would go down and I'd have to do the math to get to the bottom line. As of right now, the price is $1399 for that category. I will be very interested to see if that's what they sell it at during this special that starts tonight at 1201AM.

 

Last year, my cruise never went down in price after final payment, but I will be watching to see if this one does. I do find this to be one of the thing that niggles at me the most. However, as I'm very particular about category and location when I cruise, I'd much rather book the cruise early and get what I want, than wait until closer to the travel date and perhaps get a better price but need to take a guarantee.

 

The marketing gimmickry is so frustrating but as I don't expect it to change, I've had to adapt to it.

[4cats4me]

in all honesty, i wish celebrity would cram all these promos and just give us a decent price without all these bouncing fares---or at least keep their fares the same unless a cruise is selling poorly---then reduce the prices. But these bouncing fares and promotions tend to hack people off. Hey, celebrity. What about reducing your constantly rising fares and dump the silly promos. I think customers would appreciate that much more than a fairly inexpensive drinks package. If i can afford a cruise, i can afford a classic package.

 

amen