Tips on Savings with Celebrity

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I'm curious what everyone does to save money with their bookings, or even on the ship. Do you book well in advance, or look for last minute deals? Then there's the topic of airfare, and Choice Air.

 

Also do you book direct with the cruise line, or a TA? If you own RCL stock, how often is it useful? I just did a similar Holland America thread, and it was very informative! :)

[MicCanberra]

I'm curious what everyone does to save money with their bookings, or even on the ship. Do you book well in advance, or look for last minute deals? Then there's the topic of airfare, and Choice Air.

 

Also do you book direct with the cruise line, or a TA? If you own RCL stock, how often is it useful? I just did a similar Holland America thread, and it was very informative! :)

We book early, it helps with planning leave, etc and the prices rarely gets beaten for the itineraries we have chosen so far. When the price has been beaten, it is last minute and then the higher airfares (to get there) would erode any of the savings.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

We book early, it helps with planning leave, etc and the prices rarely gets beaten for the itineraries we have chosen so far. When the price has been beaten, it is last minute and then the higher airfares (to get there) would erode any of the savings.

 

I wouldn't even take a chance on the cheaper 7 cruises anyways, unless you live near port, or have flexible vacation time and itineraries to choose from. We booked our airfare for the Millennium in December, so far it hasn't changed, but I'll check again when it's 4-5 weeks out.

[teecee60]

I'm curious what everyone does to save money with their bookings, or even on the ship. Do you book well in advance, or look for last minute deals? Then there's the topic of airfare, and Choice Air.

 

Also do you book direct with the cruise line, or a TA? If you own RCL stock, how often is it useful? I just did a similar Holland America thread, and it was very informative! :)

 

Everyone has different circumstances... (working/retired, timing or health issues, family commitments and budgets)

 

...and preferences. (early vs. last minute, favored itineraries, cabin preference, dining options, shore excursions)

 

What works best for one person, may be incompatible or unacceptable for another.

 

I have complete flexibility with scheduling, and find FANTASTIC rock bottom prices (10 days to 5 months out) on inside cabins, and get OBC from the T/A in addition to the RCCL shareholder credit. (I do the same on Princess and Carnival where THEY let you combine multiple perks/discounts/OBCs)

 

Some people think prices are all the same, but you can almost always find lower cruise fares through online travel sites that are cheaper than those listed by Celebrity.

 

Then there is the battle between perks available through booking earlier/on board, (sometimes at a higher price) vs. booking through a T/A later. (after price drops... if any)

 

I have spent 89 nights on Celebrity cruises with 15 more booked, all for an average of $42pp/night including port charges (because most fares are listed that way) but excluding taxes and tips. (because everyone pays the same for those (OK, just a wee bit more for suites) And that does NOT include a minimum of $250 OBC for every one of the seven 14 or 15 night cruises with X.

 

I NEVER book specialty dining packages, because I almost always get 50% off once on board. (twice @ 25% off)

 

I NEVER book Celebrity shore excursions, because I and fellow Cruise Critic members can do MUCH better on our own.

 

I ALWAYS slap a luggage tag on a case of Coke to save another $55.

 

I have saved HUGE amounts of money on one way Choice Air flights to or from Europe.

Edited June 10, 2014 by teecee60

[MicCanberra]

I wouldn't even take a chance on the cheaper 7 cruises anyways, unless you live near port, or have flexible vacation time and itineraries to choose from. We booked our airfare for the Millennium in December, so far it hasn't changed, but I'll check again when it's 4-5 weeks out.

 

The last minute sales can be sometimes cheaper than the first offer sales. But like you said they are only good if you live near a port, can go on a moments notice and do not care which cabin or ship you are on.:D

[Love to travel more]

We book early, it helps with planning leave, etc and the prices rarely gets beaten for the itineraries we have chosen so far. When the price has been beaten, it is last minute and then the higher airfares (to get there) would erode any of the savings.

 

 

I agree! For us Aussies the airfares to European destinations or USA can be very prohibative - especially if you only have a short amount of time to holiday. If we book really early/off peak we can usually get a airfare to London for around $2,000AUS ex adelaide, last minute/ peak times can be up to $3400AUS. With cruising -even though expensive- it is so much more enjoyable to wake up in a new port each day (without having to pack and unpack as on a bus tour) and the sail ins to many of the ports especially Istanbul and Venice have been simply amazing!

 

Pricing for us Aussies is normally the same as Celebritys call centre pricing, US online travel agents can in some cases give Aussies cheaper prices but I am wary as I am not sure if there were a problem whether our travel insurance would cover us.

The good news for us however is that more and more ships are coming to Australia, and if you are flexible with dates you can pick up some last minute good deals!

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I have complete flexibility with scheduling, and find FANTASTIC rock bottom prices (10 days to 5 months out) on inside cabins, and get OBC from the T/A in addition to the RCCL shareholder credit. (I do the same on Princess and Carnival where THEY let you combine multiple perks/discounts/OBCs)

 

Some people think prices are all the same, but you can almost always find lower cruise fares through online travel sites that are cheaper than those listed by Celebrity.

 

Then there is the battle between perks available through booking earlier/on board, (sometimes at a higher price) vs. booking through a T/A later. (after price drops... if any)

 

I have spent 89 nights on Celebrity cruises with 15 more booked, all for an average of $42pp/night including port charges (because most fares are listed that way) but excluding taxes and tips. (because everyone pays the same for those (OK, just a wee bit more for suites) And that does NOT include a minimum of $250 OBC for every one of the seven 14 or 15 night cruises with X.

 

I NEVER book specialty dining packages, because I almost always get 50% off once on board. (twice @ 25% off)

 

I NEVER book Celebrity shore excursions, because I and fellow Cruise Critic members can do MUCH better on our own.

 

I ALWAYS slap a luggage tag on a case of Coke to save another $55.

 

I have saved HUGE amounts of money on one way Choice Air flights to or from Europe.

 

From what I understand, the shareholder benefits beat or match OBC given by Crown and Anchor as long as you book an Inside or OV. We love the promenade cabins, and plan to rarely book a balcony again unless it's a steal. As for CCL stock, that's even more on our the priority list! Just not when the Dow is at 17K...

 

I've just found a TA myself, and am very impressed with some of his offers and insight. Haven't priced out Celebrity yet. Would you say you save $200ish with your TA on average? I know some people who've retired from cruising for health reasons, and offered me $1000 in gift cards for $800. Not sure if I want to mess with it.

 

We've been booking excursions in the Caribbean through the cruise line, after a little shadiness in St. Lucia (most of the people were great though). We went privately in Alaska unless they were offered the same price on Celebrity.

 

Do they let you bring Coke onto Celebrity? Choice Air sounds like the way to go for Transatlantics!

[Redtravel]

Shop your cruise. Prices can vary. Although Celebrity claims to be set prices, you can get better deals. Many TAs offer excellent perks. Some TAs form groups and book at a lower fare using the group rate. Keep a watch on changes in cruise fares. You can cancel and rebook anytime before the final payment is due. There can be a lot of fluctuation in fares. Look for the Tuesday deals from Celebrity. I have often booked them. Last year, I booked a Panama canal cruise. I had been watching the prices. They kept going up. Too much for me. Then it showed up as a Tuesday deal. Cruise fare was very low. In May, I did the same thing on a Bermuda cruise. Booked the week before it sailed. Saved a lot of $$$$. Either book early or wait. Often, after final payment date, if the cruise has empty cabins, they will be discounted. Plane fare can also be a deal maker or breaker. With the increases in airfare recently, a low cruise fare may not be a good deal if it costs a lot to get to the ship. For people who can drive to the ship, there are often last minute reductions. Happy cruise shopping.

[woodyren]

I am lucky that I now only work part time, have employers who understand my circumstance and are happy with me disappearing for a few months at a time (and equally as important allowing me to come back to work). Coming from Australia the airfare costs add a lot to the total price of a cruise so my strategy to reduce the overall per day costs is to try and string a number of cruises including 1 repo (as they are normally the cheapest) together. As an added bonus I have been able to get extra OBC by booking multiple cruises at the same time through the same TA. I guess they give up some of their commission but get a decent reward for booking without much effort because I have done most of the research already. We spent 43 days last year on 4 different cruise lines, all in balconies for under 4K PP US including all port charges and tax. If we did insides we also could have gone close to that $43 a night mark before tax I would think.

 

I always try to start at a lower level, depending, on what perks are on offer, when booking (and know I will be happy just to be on the ship) and move up if the price is right. This particularly applies to repo cruises as they are so cheap so there are very few perks available even when booking higher category cabins.

 

I will book our next series of cruises on board this time so that I can get even more OBC added to what we get from the TA.

 

We also don't eat in the specialty places as we find the food in the MDR, buffet or other complimentary places to be just fine.

 

Other money saving things we do is to catch public transport rather than limos/taxis from airports or to cruise ports, never visit the casino, not drink much on board, limit our spending on excursions etc. This (hopefully) allows us to spend more days at sea and me to spend less days at work. That's the plan anyway.

Edited June 10, 2014 by woodyren

[TravelerThom]

I wouldn't even take a chance on the cheaper 7 cruises anyways, unless you live near port, or have flexible vacation time and itineraries to choose from. We booked our airfare for the Millennium in December, so far it hasn't changed, but I'll check again when it's 4-5 weeks out.

What are "the cheaper 7 cruises"?

[Merriem]

What are "the cheaper 7 cruises"?

 

I agree. Prices on the premium cabins do not normally go down. I just found today that a well know online agency quoted me $2,000 more than what the Celebrity website said.

 

As far as waiting to the last minute, we would prefer to get the cabin we want and not hopefully wait for a deal.

[akowilm]

We pay what we are comfortable with, and usually book well in advance with a 123 promo. We currently have 3 booked. We don't look for a price drop when the sailing is near, but we will request an upgrade if the price on a better cabin is the same or near what we paid. Recently, we helped friends do this on a 5 night Western Caribbean on the Connie. They paid $379 for a deck 3 oceanview and we upgraded them to a Concierge class on deck 7 (I think?) for $5 the week of sailing. This included the beverage package. I can't imagine a vacation for a better value than that!!

[justcrusn]

We have found the best deals to be trans atlantic cruises if you can pull that off, they usually are two week cruises. if you are flexible with time off, wait, wait,wait till the tuesday specials about 75-90 days out. The catch is you will likely be getting a "guarantee" cabin and you can't pick which one, only the category. Stay in concierge class and above and all should be fine.

 

We have never been able to beat choice air rates, from london to florida was about $400-$500 and venice to florida was $600.

 

Take your two bottles of wine or champagne as well as some cokes or water in your carry on, unless you're in aqua and they give you water anyway.

 

We only do a few specialty restauants each cruise, and ONLY if they are discounted.

THEY ARE. If you go to any demonstrations casually mention you would like to dine there that night and they usually offer. OR look for the podium outside the buffet and ask there.

 

The art auctions are vilified by many but its a glass of free champagne if you arent doing anything better.

 

If you are a beer drinker, you can usually get a bucket where you pay for say 5 and get six.

You DO NOT have to drink them all right then, take one back to your cabin and put it in the cooler for later if you want, the only challenge is opening them!

[BuddyBee]

What are "the cheaper 7 cruises"?

Yes, what are the "cheaper 7"

[Compass Rose Monica]

.......

I have saved HUGE amounts of money on one way Choice Air flights to or from Europe.

 

Hi Fred,

 

Would you know if the choice air prices go up as one gets closer to the cruise date or do the prices stay about the same? I usually book as soon as the filght schedules come out but wouldn't mind (sometime in the future) booking a cruise 'last minute'.

 

Thanks,

 

Monica

[teecee60]

Hi Fred,

 

Would you know if the choice air prices go up as one gets closer to the cruise date or do the prices stay about the same? I usually book as soon as the filght schedules come out but wouldn't mind (sometime in the future) booking a cruise 'last minute'.

 

Monica

 

We've done Choice Air for all four of our T/As on Celebrity, and I always check the associated airfares against Orbitz/Expedia and the airlines when looking for deals on cruises. There are different prices for different flight itineraries, but they don't seem to CHANGE much over time, say from 6 months prior to 2 weeks prior. (might have to track that just to KNOW)

 

One way deals to or from Europe seem to be significantly better deals than R/T.

 

Two years ago, we flew Choice Air Minneapolis to London for $394pp for the Connie T/A. :eek:

 

Last minute airfares with Choice can still be really good deals. Only 10 days prior to departure, I booked last fall's 15 night Reflection T/A from Rome for $449pp with $250 OBC, and got my Choice Air flight to Rome for only $508. ;)

 

Last year's 27 night Connie Med-T/A was only $599+$499pp and Choice Air to Istanbul was only $439! (Delta wanted $2,800 for the EXACT same flights) Friends of ours did that one but we missed it. :(

Edited June 10, 2014 by teecee60

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Yes, what are the "cheaper 7"

 

I mean to type, "The cheaper 7 day cruises". A 7 day Alaska or Caribbean cruise for $450, I wouldn't bother hoping it drops to $399 a month before sailing.

[Shake]

Follow Mr. TeeCee advise whether you like balcony's or insides. :D

 

If peace of mind is your guiding light, go ahead book early and pay the higher prices. :(

[teecee60]

Follow Mr. TeeCee advise whether you like balcony's or insides. :D

 

If peace of mind is your guiding light, go ahead book early and pay the higher prices. :(

 

Hi guy! If you're not already booked, check out the 17 October Reflection T/A. Got a $649pp with $350 OBC. :D

 

Just got off the Silhouette. Several couples booked $630pp insides and got FREE upgrades to 2C balconies. Best T/A itinerary yet. ;)

[Shake]

Hi guy! If you're not already booked, check out the 17 October Reflection T/A. Got a $649pp with $350 OBC. :D

 

Just got off the Silhouette. Several couples booked $630pp insides and got FREE upgrades to 2C balconies. Best T/A itinerary yet. ;)

 

AllWays great to hear from you. The itinerary improved from last years Reflection TA we traveled together. Congrats you nailed $$ another smoking cruise. Sure the early bookers are :mad: warm. We would be with you again but we decided with a down under cruise in about the same time in early November. You'll have a blast, this is a good one!!

[neptuno]

Hi guy! If you're not already booked, check out the 17 October Reflection T/A. Got a $649pp with $350 OBC. :D

 

Just got off the Silhouette. Several couples booked $630pp insides and got FREE upgrades to 2C balconies. Best T/A itinerary yet. ;)

 

 

Great price! Celebrity's website says $949 inside. Where did you get that deal? tia

[teecee60]

"Memorial Day Sale" by that very-popular-with-Celebrity-cruisers online site, the name of which, may not be mentioned here on CC. (but they often have sales reps with dedicated office space on some X cruises) ;)

 

Insides were $649pp and they threw in $100 OBC. :D

 

Balconies were $899pp with $100 OBC, free gratuities, and a free specialty dinner. :eek:

 

You could get another $250 OBC from shareholder benefit. :cool:

Edited June 11, 2014 by teecee60

[MicCanberra]

"Memorial Day Sale" by that very-popular-with-Celebrity-cruisers online site, the name of which, may not be mentioned here on CC. (but they often have sales reps with dedicated office space on some X cruises) ;)

 

Insides were $649pp and they threw in $100 OBC. :D

 

Balconies were $899pp with $100 OBC, free gratuities, and a free specialty dinner. :eek:

 

You could get another $250 OBC from shareholder benefit. :cool:

Very good prices.:D

[hirobmay]

I NEVER book specialty dining packages, because I almost always get 50% off once on board. (twice @ 25% off)

 

Really? D'oh!