Guarantee for 2 - more expensive for 1?

[andnosyd]

Here's a question I'm hoping someone can answer…Celebrity has a room guarantee for every room category that is much cheaper than if I select just single occupancy for the room because there is no guarantees for single occupancy rooms.

 

So my question is…if I book for 2 and don't have another person for the room, what happens when I check in? Does the phantom 2nd person just show as a 'no show'? I could just make up the credentials for guest #2…thoughts on this?

[Algebralovr]

If you book a second person into the room and they do not make the ship by sail away, they will likely be deemed a no-show and the port fees and gratuities should be refunded for your friend

 

I'm not sure about just making up a friend, though.

[gimletgal]

Here's a question I'm hoping someone can answer…Celebrity has a room guarantee for every room category that is much cheaper than if I select just single occupancy for the room because there is no guarantees for single occupancy rooms.

 

So my question is…if I book for 2 and don't have another person for the room, what happens when I check in? Does the phantom 2nd person just show as a 'no show'? I could just make up the credentials for guest #2…thoughts on this?

 

Seriously? This is a joke, right?

[Redtravel]

I hope that this topic makes Celebrity think about single bookings.

[andnosyd]

Not a joke. It's several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars less to book 2 in a cabin than 1 since they offer a guarantee for all cabin categories for 2 people, but don't offer the guarantee if your traveling solo. Crazy.

[scdreamer]

But your "friend" would have to have paid for the cruise by sail date, and a no-show would mean losing that money. Not sure how that would make it cost less than for a single.

[cruisestitch]

Say that the per passenger rate is $1000 each, making the total for two $2000, and the single would have to pay nearly all of that (they don't make a single pay twice the port charges and taxes). So maybe the single would pay $1800.

 

You find a guarantee rate for $500 per person, or $1000 per couple.

 

This is what leads to the question, why can't a person make, and pay for, a reservation for a phantom companion, take the guarantee rate, and then the phantom just simply is a no show (whose port charges and taxes would be refunded).

 

In the example above, the single would pay around $1800 by booking as a single, or around $800 total by booking as a couple.

 

But how often is the guarantee rate enough smaller to make it worthwhile to try this?

 

And what would happen if you did try it? That's the OP's question, if I understand correctly.

[gimletgal]

Say that the per passenger rate is $1000 each, making the total for two $2000, and the single would have to pay nearly all of that (they don't make a single pay twice the port charges and taxes). So maybe the single would pay $1800.

 

You find a guarantee rate for $500 per person, or $1000 per couple.

 

This is what leads to the question, why can't a person make, and pay for, a reservation for a phantom companion, take the guarantee rate, and then the phantom just simply is a no show (whose port charges and taxes would be refunded).

 

In the example above, the single would pay around $1800 by booking as a single, or around $800 total by booking as a couple.

 

But how often is the guarantee rate enough smaller to make it worthwhile to try this?

 

And what would happen if you did try it? That's the OP's question, if I understand correctly.

 

I understand exactly what the OP is proposing to do. It's called scamming the system!

[DebbieMacG]

I understand exactly what the OP is proposing to do. It's called scamming the system!

 

How is it scamming if they are willing to pay for two people?

[cruisestitch]

It's Celebrity that set up its pricing to make this possible.

 

The larger question, is, why doesn't Celebrity make its guarantee rates available to singles to book?

[insidecabin]

access cabins never seem to on GTY.

 

 

You also get the issue with 3+ rates sometime the GTY goes below the 3+ which does not get discounted so you are better booking multiple cabins.

[scdreamer]

Okay, now I see it.

 

I don't think it's scamming the system. After all, Celebrity would still be getting what they asked for in the GTY fare for two, and the phantom no-show will not be eating any meals, etc.

[andnosyd]

I really don't think it's scamming the system. It's not like I'm trying to sneak someone onboard. I just don't understand why I have to pay more for 1 person in a cabin. Their pricing structure is pretty unique in that way.

[Algebralovr]

I think if I were in your shoes, I would call my favorite travel agent and book the room. I might invite a friend that I would enjoy traveling with, or at least ask to book the room using their name. I wouldn't just make up a person.

 

I agree that Celebrity does it to themselves by only offering guarantee rooms to doubles, not singles.

[katydyd]

I would love to know if this works!

 

As someone who almost exclusively sails as a solo, it gets tiring being penalized for being single.

 

As far as "scamming the system"....I prefer to view it as a judicious allocation of resources.

[ghstudio]

It's a pretty glaring hole in the pricing.....and one that Celebrity should address. There are many singles newsletters and web sites that would just love to do an article on how singles are treated differently...and in this case, it's even if they pay the extra 100% for the phantom second person. So they pay the same as 2 in a room....but they can't book a lower guarantee fare.

 

I'm going to hope that celebrity doesn't do this intentionally....and it's something that has just never come up in a meeting.

 

perhaps you should write a note to Micheal Bayley on the topic....make it something that could appear in print on a singles web site :) If I were single, I wouldn't let this one drop....it's not a singles friendly policy and it is worth publicizing.

 

Someone might want to consider the following statement which is directly from the civil rights laws in the state of Florida:

 

The general purposes of the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 are to secure for all individuals within the state freedom from discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, or marital status and thereby to protect their interest in personal dignity, to make available to the state their full productive capacities, to secure the state against domestic strife and unrest, to preserve the public safety, health, and general welfare, and to promote the interests, rights, and privileges of individuals within the state.

 

I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that one could consider that cabins are priced in a discriminatory way against both handicapped and single individuals. I actually think they may be on very shaky ground that no one has poked at and may well be liable for significant penalties under the law. Remember I'm not a lawyer so this is just conjecture on my part.

Edited May 3, 2014 by ghstudio

[WestLakeGirl]

It's also not well known even among their own booking agents. Recently I was doing some on board booking and the future cruise sales agent began to discuss a guarantee rate. I said "I can't booke that" and he quickly consulted the supervisor who concurred. I don't know what would have happened if I had told him to go ahead with the guarantee, but now I wish I had tried.

[gimletgal]

I totally agree that the single supplement issue needs to be addressed. 4 of my last 5 cruises were sailed solo. I know full well the penalty we pay, yet I chose to sail anyway, and played by the rules. That is my only point here - the trying to beat the system. It is what it is.......rightly or wrongly.

[ghstudio]

Help me understand this better.

 

As a single, do you pay the same for the cabin as if two were in the cabin when you include the required single supplement...irrespective of taxes and port fees (and gratuities which aren't really part of this discussion)?

 

Let me ask this a different way. Are you as a single willing to pay the full cabin cost that's currently offered (less the taxes and port fees for a second passenger) as a couple would pay....but you are not allowed to book that cabin or take advantage of the offer because you are travelling alone (for the sake of this question and where I'm going with it...assume your current marital status is single).

 

 

The issue here, BTW, is not the single supplement...it's equality if you are willing to pay the full price as two people would pay...but you are not allowed to do so.

Edited May 3, 2014 by ghstudio

[cruisestitch]

Expanding on my earlier example.

 

Per Person fare for double accommodation -- $800 + $200 tax/port charges = $1000 so total of $2000 for the room

 

The single person booking that room pays $1800, that is, double the fare, plus one set of tax and port charges.

 

If a guarantee is offered, at say, $300 per person + the same $200 tax/port charges, the total cost for the two people in the room would be $1000

 

The single cruiser cannot get the room for anything less than $1800. So to your first question, yes, the single cruiser pays the full cabin cost.

 

And to the second question, the single cruiser would be willing to book the lower-priced guarantee, but is not allowed to.

[ghstudio]

Thanks...I'm going to poke at this locally. I may or may not be back on this topic.

 

As a realtor, I think: I have a client who wants to rent their apartment to some nice couple who will take care of things, but who doesn't want to rent to a single mom with kids who will scream, mark the walls, etc. Can he advertise the apartment for two adults only or offer a special discount for two adults to dis-incent single parents from applying....or can he just say he will not rent to a single (one) adult..he will only rent to two adults.

 

I think you can guess the answer.....

[WestLakeGirl]

Interesting point, fair housing, etc. but then there are always offers extended to couples only from the time share people, "come to our presentation, learn about fractional ownership, etc, " not available to single people, or at least there used to be such come-ons

[cruisestitch]

Harking back to the poster who wrote :

 

"After all, Celebrity would still be getting what they asked for in the GTY fare for two, and the phantom no-show will not be eating any meals, etc."

 

I've always been told that the reason that the single pays double fare is based on the fact that the actual cruise fare paid is not where the line makes their revenue. In fact, the cruise fare is sort of a "loss leader" and the cruise lines actually barely break even (or even perhaps lose money) on the fare paid. The actual money is made from the casino, the shore excursions, the bar tabs, the specialty dining, the photos, the massages, etc. etc. So while the phantom no-show isn't eating any meals, s/he also isn't spending any money on board. Thus the single person who is occupying the room alone has to make up for that lost revenue by paying double the fare.

 

Unfair? Probably. Illegal? I've always assumed not, since virtually every cruise line operates this way and you would think that it would have been challenged already.

 

But perhaps not.

 

And specifically in the case of the inability of singles to book GTY fares, this MAY be one of those awful artifacts of the outdated booking system we are all so fond of, the one that requires AQ passengers to choose early/late dining even though BLU is all open seating, etc. etc. A well-written plea to Michael Bayley to have someone investigate this might just get the ball rolling to investigate, and correct, the inequity?

[ghstudio]

Interesting point, fair housing, etc. but then there are always offers extended to couples only from the time share people, "come to our presentation, learn about fractional ownership, etc, " not available to single people, or at least there used to be such come-ons

 

However, they are not offered a lower price on the property than a single person. If they offered a discount to those who attended the sales seminar but only allowed couples to attend, they would be in violation of the law as I understand it.

[jagoffee]

It is hard to accept the fact that a solo cannot book a GTY and pay twice the GTY price like in a regular cabin. Seems silly to me. It might just be that the situation does not happen often enough to get Celebrity's attention. Or since the GTY rate is a strategy to get two people to cruise, so they can spend money on the ship. Sort of a "loss leader".

 

But it seems odd to me.