Residency and promotion eligibility

[grayjay]

When reading through the posts I kept wondering that it seems to be widely accepted now that it's either the (sometimes significantly) higher standard rate WITH a promo or a residency/senior/military rate WITHOUT any perks.

But I can still remember the time of about two years ago when it was perfectly possible to get a reduced rate PLUS a free beverage package etc. I remember a cruise we took 2014 where we got a guarantee balcony rate AND a free beverage package and another with a senior rate and some extra perks as well. When Celebrity started giving out the beverage packages that now everybody seems to love so much you were able to get it for a transatlantic ( not any more), a senior rate ( not any more) , guarantee rates ( not any more) etc.etc.

Of course I do know the reasons why this kind of promo "presents" were stopped - if you don't earn enough money, shareholders won't be happy - so try to attract as many passengers as possible, get them to pay as much as possible either when booking or on board.

That's how markets work but I still wish the time back when you had less promotions but a clearer policy in regard to what you were supposed to pay. When looking at my TA's website now I find three different pricings to choose from. If I try to find the same pricing on Celebrity's website I get lost because prices seem to change all the time during the booking process. So I choose my trusted travel agency for bookings .

[az_tchr]

This is exactly what I mean about all of the red tape with the promos and or open passages. I booked my cruise a few days after it was released so I know the price I'm getting now is lowest that it has been.

 

Mike - I booked my cruise when it was announced about 18 months ago. Had a price of $2699 for C class cabin pp. This included 123GO. I could have taken a resident fare of $2450, A senior fare of $2400, A shareholders fare of $2449, or a captains Club fare of $2324 - but none of these included 123GO. Need to read the fine print as many fares are not combinable.

 

As to your comment - 76 days from my sail date noticed X dropped the price to $1799 with the same promotions available. Only difference was I was not eligible the upgrade of one class within C cabins (big deal). Happily took the $1800 refund. Fares go up if there is lots of demand, but can also go down if things do not work out with bookings. You never know.