now offering 10% off various ad-ons

[jelayne]

The cruise lines will eventually squash travel agents just like the airlines. Stay tuned.

 

I'm confused:confused:

 

If Celebrity or Royal wanted to "squash" travel agents why would they automatically transfer any booking made while on board to the TA of record for the cruise you are on? Seems to me that if they wanted to eliminate the TA they would make it difficult to transfer a booking not do it for you.

[miataman19]

Just got off the phone with Michael and had a seamless conversation and order process for our sailing. Ordered $715 worth of packages and shore excursions and dinner reservations and was told at the end that a $71.50 OBC would show up on my folio on the 2nd day. I didn't even bring up the email I received. Good job Celebrity :).

[flsun]

Called back and was able to get it applied to upgraded bev pkg on all three of my 2015 cruises. Gotta love CC.....thanks!

 

Great news! Thanks for posting back that it worked for you. You just reminded me that I need to do this for our May cruise as well.

 

Wayneair - cruise lines are promoting TAs to cut down on their own employee needs and benefit requirements. It's the TAs who are now cutting back on benefit packages. However, the benefit of having someone else clean and cook while driving us to wonderful destinations is a benefit well worth the cost. ;)

[shipshape sam]

Called back and was able to get it applied to upgraded bev pkg on all three of my 2015 cruises. Gotta love CC.....thanks!

 

CC can be very helpful! Glad it worked for you! :)

[bobby4ireland]

MY DH & I, and 2 friends, booked this cruise with a Travel agent. We received the 10% discount tonight when I called to purchase the beverage package.

 

Nanatravel - we were even on a 'group rate' and were bale to get the discount/10% OBC. Our friends were given the Classic pkg, by the TA, and were STIIL able to get this promotion on the upgrade purchase to the Deluxe pkg. Although the agent initially said they would not be eligible, I asked him to check and received the good news.

 

bobby4ireland - I'm not sure what special booking window you're referring to, but we only booked this cruise 2 weeks ago, and we still qualified.

 

Here is the "fine print" from the promo's website:

 

* Offer applies to Caribbean sailings departing Jan. 1 – Mar. 31, 2015, and all other sailings departing Mar. 31 – Dec. 17, 2015. Purchase a qualifying shore excursion, beverage package and/or specialty dining reservation (the "Reservations") from Dec. 2-15, 2014, and receive an onboard credit ("OBC") in the amount of 10% of the total Reservations cost. OBC is per person and will be applied to guest's folio on the first day of the cruise. Any cancellation or changes to the reservations will result in a prorated reduction of the OBC. Offer excludes Celebrity Xpedition, Celebrity Exclusives, Private Journeys, overnight tours, Shore Excursion packages, and other special tours.

 

Offer is open to residents of U.S. and Canada and new individual pre-cruise reservations. Offer is non-transferable and not combinable with any other discounts, not applicable to charters, incentive, meeting or contracted groups, which would normally be eligible for Shore Excursions Commissions. OBC has no cash value, is applicable to cruise only, non-transferable, not redeemable for cash, and expires 10:00 PM on the final night of the cruise. Reservations are subject to availability. Shore Excursion prices are per person and are subject to change without notice. Offer is subject to change without notice. Celebrity Cruises reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions and to change or update fares, fees and surcharges at any time without prior notice.

 

 

 

hi FLSUN. thanks for the question and I trust I am responding here correctly to the question. We booked our cruise NOv 26th, booked the bev pckgs and shore excursions on Nov 28th. As noted above, we booked outside the window as Celebrity says so we are NOT entitled to the OBC. Congrats to all those who received it... the OBC will no doubt be well used by all for enhancing the cruise. If some booked before Dec 2 and still called back after that and received the OBC, then it appears there are some contradictions between the posts here and what we were politely but firmly told by Celebrity.

[stratixman]

So, has it been definitively established that the 10% discount is available on upgrades to the premium beverage from the classic beverage package obtained on the 123 or pick your perk promos? Reading through all the postings it seems that there has been mixed results from people trying to get the 10% applied to the upgrades.

[AlbertaCruisers]

So, has it been definitively established that the 10% discount is available on upgrades to the premium beverage from the classic beverage package obtained on the 123 or pick your perk promos? Reading through all the postings it seems that there has been mixed results from people trying to get the 10% applied to the upgrades.

 

At first it seemed to be a no (i was told no twice), but I understand that has now changed (yesterday) and you can get the 10% discount even if upgrading from the free classic promo package to premium. I was able to do so for 2 cruises (or so I was told, guess we will see once I get on the ship).

[stratixman]

Thanks for the info. I guess I will give Celebrity a call and see what they say.

[stratixman]

Ok. So I just got off the phone with the Capatains Club and got the 10% discount applied to the premium beverage package. Was lengthy wait on hold, due to call volume?, but the representative was quite cordial and efficient in handling my request. Can't ask for anyhthing more. In any event the 10% discount made it just that much more of a no brainer to do the upgrade.

[debshomespun]

I booked a shore excursion for our Solstice 1/27/15 Sydney to Auckland about 2 months ago. I am going to call Celebrity to see if I can cancel and rebook. The excursion was $389.00 PP! That would be a nice little chunk of change for extra OBC. Anyone else done this? TIA! :D

[AlbertaCruisers]

You shouldn't have to cancel and rebook. Just call in they have some sort of code they can add to get you the credit with canceling and rebooking.

 

 

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[gdpups]

I booked a shore excursion for our Solstice 1/27/15 Sydney to Auckland about 2 months ago. I am going to call Celebrity to see if I can cancel and rebook. The excursion was $389.00 PP! That would be a nice little chunk of change for extra OBC. Anyone else done this? TIA! :D

 

 

 

Below is what the promo says, so not sure if it would cover your cruise. Doesn't hurt to call and ask, please report back.

 

* Offer applies to Caribbean sailings departing Jan. 1 -Mar. 31, 2015, and all other sailings departing Mar. 31 -Dec. 17, 2015

[floralscent]

Below is what the promo says, so not sure if it would cover your cruise. Doesn't hurt to call and ask, please report back.

 

* Offer applies to Caribbean sailings departing Jan. 1 -Mar. 31, 2015, and all other sailings departing Mar. 31 -Dec. 17, 2015

 

 

We are sailing 12/4/2015 Australia/new Zealand. I called X today to book a few excursions and was told by 2 different reps (called twice) that my sailing doesn't qualify. They said Caribbean sailings only qualify. Then what does "all other sailings departing Mar. 31 -Dec 17, 2015 mean?

 

Anyone else sailing outside of the Caribbean get this offer? If I don't qualify, no big deal but then why does't the fine print say " Caribbean sailings departing Jan 1 - Dec 31.?

[patty1955]

We got this offer and a reminder for our TA next year.

[Turtles06]

We are sailing 12/4/2015 Australia/new Zealand. I called X today to book a few excursions and was told by 2 different reps (called twice) that my sailing doesn't qualify. They said Caribbean sailings only qualify. Then what does "all other sailings departing Mar. 31 -Dec 17, 2015 mean?

 

Anyone else sailing outside of the Caribbean get this offer? If I don't qualify, no big deal but then why does't the fine print say " Caribbean sailings departing Jan 1 - Dec 31.?

 

The reps with whom you spoke are wrong. The limitation to Caribbean sailings is only for Jan. 1-March 31, 2015 departures. All other sailings departing March 31-Dec. 17, 2015 are eligible for the offer, except those excluded in the fine print (such as on the Xpedition). All means all, as in every darn one (unless excluded in the fine print).

 

I've cut and pasted the offer details for you below from X's page, with a link to the page. I in fact got the promo applied about a week ago to our TA on the Eclipse departing from Southampton on Nov. 1, 2015. Last time I checked, Southampton was in the U.K., pretty far away from the Caribbean.

 

I suggest you call the cruise enhancements desk directly to deal with this; they are the folks who sell this stuff in advance: 800-722-5941

 

* Offer applies to Caribbean sailings departing Jan. 1 – Mar. 31, 2015, and all other sailings departing Mar. 31 – Dec. 17, 2015. Purchase a qualifying shore excursion, beverage package and/or specialty dining reservation (the "Reservations") from Dec. 2-15, 2014, and receive an onboard credit ("OBC") in the amount of 10% of the total Reservations cost. OBC is per person and will be applied to guest's folio on the first day of the cruise. Any cancellation or changes to the reservations will result in a prorated reduction of the OBC. Offer excludes Celebrity Xpedition, Celebrity Exclusives, Private Journeys, overnight tours, Shore Excursion packages, and other special tours.

 

Offer is open to residents of U.S. and Canada and new individual pre-cruise reservations. Offer is non-transferable and not combinable with any other discounts, not applicable to charters, incentive, meeting or contracted groups, which would normally be eligible for Shore Excursions Commissions. OBC has no cash value, is applicable to cruise only, non-transferable, not redeemable for cash, and expires 10:00 PM on the final night of the cruise. Reservations are subject to availability. Shore Excursion prices are per person and are subject to change without notice. Offer is subject to change without notice. Celebrity Cruises reserves the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies or omissions and to change or update fares, fees and surcharges at any time without prior notice.

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/htmlpage/buy-more-get-more?allowMobile=y&ecid=em_20680680&rid=146271513&mes=Celebrity%20PCP%20OBC%20Offer%20Dec%202014%20EM&emsc=CELBKPCP00000EM&empf=Y&emct=E&lnkid=HOL_DIN_BUT

[Oskial]

We had some trouble getting the discount but finally did. At least we hope we will. We have a Carabean cruise booked in April. Our TA spoke to a very nice person at Celebrity and was told that we didn't qualify for the discount because we had already booked and paid for our excursions back in October. We had 2 excursions booked and wanted to know if we could get an OBC for them. We didn't qualify for any of the discounts back then because we only booked 2 excursions and the deal was for 3 or more. We were also told that cancelling the excursions and then rebooking them would be no good because the system would recognize that we had booked them before. Our TA spoke to someone that had a little better authority and the solution is that we will be getting the 10% as an OBC after we take the excursions. It's only going to amount to about $40 or so but at least it's something. Thanks to the OP for posting this for everyone. I think we owe them a drink or two.

[moodyb1]

Just go 10% off all my shore excursions for my Mediterranean cruise next October on the Equinox. No questions asked, no problems. Easy, breezy.

 

Arlene

[flsun]

bobby4irelan - I booked a January 2015 cruise on Nov. 25th (before your booking date) and was able to get the OBC for both that cruise and our May Alaska cruise. No one mentioned the 'Caribbean cruise" exclusivity.

 

Be patient, don't take "no" as the final answer, and ask them to please put you on hold and ask a supervisor. It's worked for me and our fellow cruisers.

[bobby4ireland]

FLSUN: Thanks for the thought. I may give a call back, but having invested (spent) over 1.5 hours in total through 2 sessions with Celebrity people on this issue, with no resolve I have little expectation of any adjustment. All I can say is, what appears on this post as those being successful in receiving an OBC (retroactively for purchases made) is in contradiction to what my experience has been with representatives of Celebrity.

 

Best wishes and thanks again.

[shot2bits]

Humph! Only applicable to Canada and US. Merry Christmas!

 

 

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[phillygirl2400]

The Celebrity rep I worked with first said that the promo wasn't available, then said that I had to cancel my excursion and then rebook it, then said that it didn't apply to upgrading the 123go Beverly package. For each issue, she consulted her supervisor and then applied the promo.

 

 

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[phillygirl2400]

Bev package.

 

 

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[81Zoomie]

Just spoke to Cindy at Celebrity "cruise enhancements". She upgraded my PYP123 beverage package to premium and said I will get the OBC. Today is the last day. No problems :-)

[flsun]

I called this morning, at 8:05 EST, and asked for the OBC when I upgraded our Bev. pkg. for the AK trip in May. There was no problem, and she didn't even out me on hold to go check. I wonder if it's finally straightened out. :)

 

That said, I have 3 thoughts:

1) Might it have to do with cabin category, i.e. what each of us may have paid when booking?

2) The agent this morning reiterated that the promotion ends today - the 15th. If anyone plans to try again, today would be the last opportunity.

3) The first time I called, to get the OBC on our January cruise, I actually read posts from here to the agent and said, "Why is it that some people are getting a "yes" and others are hearing "no"? He put me on hold, came back to ask what I was reading from, and I told him. I never even rec'd the original promotional email and just went by this thread. Might be worth a try...

[floralscent]

Thank you Turtles06! I called the cruise enhancements desk today and explained that I was told twice that my cruise didn't qualify for the OBC promo. Axel paused for a moment, read the fine print and said yes, of course your itinerary qualifies.

 

Why does everything seem like such a chore with X and why must we fight for what is right? Thanks again!