Go big, go better... UK

[aka_bitsy]

Hi everyone. We're planning on booking an Asian cruise for March 2017 but in the UK the Go Big, Go better, Go best pricing structure hasn't appeared yet on the website. The current offer ($300 on board spend) finishes in a few days and I wondered if anyone knew whether the go big go better offer was coming to the UK after that?

 

We will do pre-paid gratuities and a drinks package whether the offer appears or not. I know that no-one has a crystal ball so will obviously make my own decision but from experience, if the Go big, go better was to come to the UK, does it seem to be a better deal or would we be better off just booking now before the other offer ends?

 

We've only done one cruise before (also with Celebrity) so don't have much experience of seeing how prices and offers change. Any nuggets of advice would be appreciated!

[DYKWIA]

Hi everyone. We're planning on booking an Asian cruise for March 2017 but in the UK the Go Big, Go better, Go best pricing structure hasn't appeared yet on the website. The current offer ($300 on board spend) finishes in a few days and I wondered if anyone knew whether the go big go better offer was coming to the UK after that?

 

We will do pre-paid gratuities and a drinks package whether the offer appears or not. I know that no-one has a crystal ball so will obviously make my own decision but from experience, if the Go big, go better was to come to the UK, does it seem to be a better deal or would we be better off just booking now before the other offer ends?

 

We've only done one cruise before (also with Celebrity) so don't have much experience of seeing how prices and offers change. Any nuggets of advice would be appreciated!

 

We booked from the UK for a med cruise last year for months and months the prices were CRAZILY high £5000 (2000 higher) or so for a balcony with a drinks package and sometimes a bit of OBC - just the cruise no airfares. About 4 months before the cruise date the prices dropped to £2000 with no extras. £3000 saving goes a long way. It will buy drinks packages and OBC and a whole lot of money left over.

 

Some think these free offers are great, others, myself included, believe more often than not the prices are heavily inflated to include these freebies.

[aka_bitsy]

Thanks. I'm sure you're right about inflating their prices to include the freebies - Celeb have to make their money back somehow. You made a great saving but I'm not sure that we'd be brave enough to leave it until that close to sailing!

[Gordoncruickshank]

The better/best program does not seem to have arrived here. Celebrity UK run different promotions. Currently for the new release cruises they are only doing free flights to Europe.

[Mynki]

Hi everyone. We're planning on booking an Asian cruise for March 2017 but in the UK the Go Big, Go better, Go best pricing structure hasn't appeared yet on the website. The current offer ($300 on board spend) finishes in a few days and I wondered if anyone knew whether the go big go better offer was coming to the UK after that?

 

We will do pre-paid gratuities and a drinks package whether the offer appears or not. I know that no-one has a crystal ball so will obviously make my own decision but from experience, if the Go big, go better was to come to the UK, does it seem to be a better deal or would we be better off just booking now before the other offer ends?

 

We've only done one cruise before (also with Celebrity) so don't have much experience of seeing how prices and offers change. Any nuggets of advice would be appreciated!

 

The best advice is to treat each and every sailing individually. For example, right now there is a 2016 cruise I booked two days ago. An S2 cabin, using todays exchange rate via xe.com of £1 =$1.522 results in the following price differences :-

 

Celebrity UK including port charges, taxes and gratuities ($197.40) $4257.57 per person.

 

US TA including port charges, taxes, gratuities, unlimited internet, premium beverage package and $600 OBC ($300 Celebrity, $175 standard TA, $125 previous customer from TA) $2980.38.

 

So $1277.19 cheaper with an additional $1427.40 value in perks per person if you were to buy them individually. This is an exception with specific reasons as to the cost differences mind.

 

Another unusual factor at play here is that if you were to compare this S2 deal to an AQ1 cabin price by adding the cost of unlimited internet, balcony gratuities and upgrade from classic to premium beverage package, and additional £125 OBC, so total cost of cruise minus OBC. The cost of the cabins work out at the following :-

 

A1 = $227.17 pppn.

S2 = $223.37 pppn

 

The S2 having access to Luminae, MC, Butler, larger room, two complimentary dinners in specialty restaurants and a few fluff type perks. Strange eh? :)

 

On the flipside, our next years Baltic cruise was booked through Celebrity UK when they had the buy one, get the second half price offer running. I emailed US TA's at that time but they could not get anywhere near the UK deal.

 

So in short, treat every sailing individually. Ignore anyone who makes sweeping statements such as booking in the US is always cheaper etc. Though do understand the differences in booking procedures in regards to cancellations etc. In the UK if you cancel you will lose your deposit. In the US your deposit will be refunded up until around 60 to 75 days depending on the length of your sailing. Check with your individual agent though.

[hobbsie65]

The best advice is to treat each and every sailing individually. For example, right now there is a 2016 cruise I booked two days ago. An S2 cabin, using todays exchange rate via xe.com of £1 =$1.522 results in the following price differences :-

 

Celebrity UK including port charges, taxes and gratuities ($197.40) $4257.57 per person.

 

US TA including port charges, taxes, gratuities, unlimited internet, premium beverage package and $600 OBC ($300 Celebrity, $175 standard TA, $125 previous customer from TA) $2980.38.

 

So $1277.19 cheaper with an additional $1427.40 value in perks per person if you were to buy them individually. This is an exception with specific reasons as to the cost differences mind.

 

Another unusual factor at play here is that if you were to compare this S2 deal to an AQ1 cabin price by adding the cost of unlimited internet, balcony gratuities and upgrade from classic to premium beverage package, and additional £125 OBC, so total cost of cruise minus OBC. The cost of the cabins work out at the following :-

 

A1 = $227.17 pppn.

S2 = $223.37 pppn

 

The S2 having access to Luminae, MC, Butler, larger room, two complimentary dinners in specialty restaurants and a few fluff type perks. Strange eh? :)

 

On the flipside, our next years Baltic cruise was booked through Celebrity UK when they had the buy one, get the second half price offer running. I emailed US TA's at that time but they could not get anywhere near the UK deal.

 

So in short, treat every sailing individually. Ignore anyone who makes sweeping statements such as booking in the US is always cheaper etc. Though do understand the differences in booking procedures in regards to cancellations etc. In the UK if you cancel you will lose your deposit. In the US your deposit will be refunded up until around 60 to 75 days depending on the length of your sailing. Check with your individual agent though.

 

Totally agree & I think they are doing the go big go better promo in the States at the moment.

[mrsgoggins]

Some great information here, but can you tell me how you get to see those US prices? Do you just ask your US TA to price up?

 

I can get the US site up but it soon reverts to the UK site the moment I do a search.

[goody1]

Hi everyone. We're planning on booking an Asian cruise for March 2017 but in the UK the Go Big, Go better, Go best pricing structure hasn't appeared yet on the website. The current offer ($300 on board spend) finishes in a few days and I wondered if anyone knew whether the go big go better offer was coming to the UK after that?

 

We will do pre-paid gratuities and a drinks package whether the offer appears or not. I know that no-one has a crystal ball so will obviously make my own decision but from experience, if the Go big, go better was to come to the UK, does it seem to be a better deal or would we be better off just booking now before the other offer ends?

 

We've only done one cruise before (also with Celebrity) so don't have much experience of seeing how prices and offers change. Any nuggets of advice would be appreciated!

 

Hi, I can give you my experience of the way costs fluctuate from month to month. We are booked on the Eclipse July 17 for 14 nights to the Baltic.

A 1A Verandah in August was £2200 each with no extras. 2 weeks later in the Daily Mail, they were doing the 2nd Guest at half price, plus Classic Drinks Package and 14 nights parking at Southampton for £1616 each. With pre-paid gratuities it worked out at £1728 each. Needless to say we booked it.

Yesterday, I looked on Celebrity's website and the price for the same grade of cabin with only the free car parking or $300 obc included is nearly £2400 each.

 

Who knows, it will probably come down again, however I am more than happy with what we have paid.

[Mynki]

Some great information here, but can you tell me how you get to see those US prices? Do you just ask your US TA to price up?

 

I can get the US site up but it soon reverts to the UK site the moment I do a search.

 

Hi

 

We're unable to mention specific TA names on here due to forum rules. However, the company we use has a search engine for all cruise lines. It shows starting prices for inside, OV, balcony and suite categories. You then click on a button and specify how many and what type of cabins you want and then get an email with current quotation. Or you can simply call them up and ask using a UK free phone number.

 

It's always wise to get quotes from both UK and US companies IMHO. If on a Celebrity sailing from the UK, you may get a better deal like the buy one get one half price mentioned above.

 

In my experience US TA's tend to offer better perks and have more flexibility with deposits. Though the UK / EU has better consumer protection laws compared to a US cruise contract.

[aka_bitsy]

Thanks everyone for all your replies they're really helpful. I think I might hang on for a while before booking and see how the prices and offers go - I didn't realise they changed them that much. Hopefully I'll find myself a bargain but if not we'll still be happy I'm sure!

[Mynki]

Thanks everyone for all your replies they're really helpful. I think I might hang on for a while before booking and see how the prices and offers go - I didn't realise they changed them that much. Hopefully I'll find myself a bargain but if not we'll still be happy I'm sure!

 

There are four Celebrity cruises in March 2017. With the US TA we use the current offers are :-

Inside cabins

 

$75 OBC

 

Ocean View and Balconies

 

$75 OBC + One of the following

 

An additional $300 OBC, so a total of $375 OBC or

Prepaid gratuities or

Unlimited internet or

A classic beverage package

 

You then have the option to pay an additional $15 per person per night and receive any one additional perk. Yes that is correct, even though this may mean spending more than that perk would cost you on board!!! :D

 

Or you can pay an additional $45 per person per night and receive all four perks and have your classic beverage package upgraded to a premium beverage package.

 

Suites

 

£375 OBC

Unlimited Internet

Prepaid gratuities

Premium beverage package

 

Hope that helps. I'll PM you the name of the company if you like.

[villauk]

Thank you for that information. I have - and currently hold - bookings with a US TA so I'm aware of the booking conditions/currency movement risk vs more advantageous pricing/cancellation options/OBC. And I believe I know the site another poster was referring to (thanks :)).

 

I had thought that maybe there was a way to access Celebrity's own US site without it reverting to the UK one, and it doesn't look like there is.

 

There is a way. You would need to download and install Tunnelbear or a similar means of disguising where your computer is. Use that when you wish to access the US sites.

 

There is a way without using a proxy site. I keep the .com tab open on my ipad and change the country on the bottom right. It always reverts back to the UK option when it reloads, and then I just change it back to the US. To get the .com site up initially, search for something obscure in your search engine, say 'celebrity jobs' and it will pull up the .com site rather than the UK one. You can then change your country at the bottom and perform planning a cruise search ;). FYI, it is different from the regular UK site, even when it's on the UK option. Here's a link, see if it works: http://www.celebritycruises.com/home?wuc=USA

 

 

Mynki,

I've been saying for years that it always pays to check both sides of the pond for pricing, but 9 times out of 10, the US overall works out better because of the extra perks. I cannot get OBC from any UK TAs to the amounts I'm offered in the States. The big draw is also the added flexibility of the refundable deposits and the ease in which cabins etc. can be changed. One definite no no for me, I would never book a guarantee in the UK - not when I can book via the US and move my cabin allocation if not happy with the assignment ;).

 

Last year when they opened the new itineraries the promo was on the Concierge cabins - all 3 perks with every booking. Nothing like that offering this year :(.

[Mynki]

Mynki,

I've been saying for years that it always pays to check both sides of the pond for pricing, but 9 times out of 10, the US overall works out better because of the extra perks. I cannot get OBC from any UK TAs to the amounts I'm offered in the States. The big draw is also the added flexibility of the refundable deposits and the ease in which cabins etc. can be changed. One definite no no for me, I would never book a guarantee in the UK - not when I can book via the US and move my cabin allocation if not happy with the assignment ;).

 

Last year when they opened the new itineraries the promo was on the Concierge cabins - all 3 perks with every booking. Nothing like that offering this year :(.

 

Totally agree. Though with us it's US 5 - UK 1 right now.

 

We got a result recently, booked an A2, bumped to A1 through CC. Then the price plummeted as the particular itinerary did not sell well, so managed to rebook and get a W class room for $400 less than we were happy to pay in the first place.

 

We were allocated an S2 a few days later, called the TA, tried our look and managed to bag 6145 on Millennium, one of the best 2 S1 class suites on the ship. Why the UK do not allow you to switch I don't know.

 

Personally I'd like to nook through UK TA's but they're just not as competitive or flexible as they could be.

 

That said, I believe some lines do not allow UK residents to book through US travel agents. Or as in HAL's case now, only allow previous UK guests to book I believe.

 

Perhaps others can confirm?

[upwarduk]

In the 'old' days when tickets were sent through the post, you had to have a USA address to book via a US TA.

I thought all that had stopped after email.

[Gordoncruickshank]

There is almost no difference between the newly released cruises for 2017. Prices high in both UK and US with nothing offered in either area.

 

We tend to get around 6% discount when we booked rather than the obc that US TAs give

Edited December 13, 2015 by Gordoncruickshank

[mrsgoggins]

Thanks to all who have contributed great information to this thread. I have picked up some good tips. You can see from my signature that I am relatively new to cruising but I have been packing 'em in!

 

I will now regularly check on the 'website-I-can't-mention' to decide whether to book direct (my preference), UK travel agent (I have one who gives a discount) or US travel agent (I have one who gives OBC). For instance, I checked out a couple of cruises I expect to be come down in price because they include Istanbul (and based on comment I have read on Cruise Critic, I am still expecting that many Americans will be giving that destination a wide berth at the moment) and sure enough, they were a good deal cheaper than on Celebrity's own site. I will sit tight and see what happens.

 

Thanks again - and to the OP. Oh, and I'll get my techie son to enable me to see the Celebrity US website :)

[kikki21]

There are four Celebrity cruises in March 2017. With the US TA we use the current offers are :-

Inside cabins

 

$75 OBC

 

Ocean View and Balconies

 

$75 OBC + One of the following

 

An additional $300 OBC, so a total of $375 OBC or

Prepaid gratuities or

Unlimited internet or

A classic beverage package

 

You then have the option to pay an additional $15 per person per night and receive any one additional perk. Yes that is correct, even though this may mean spending more than that perk would cost you on board!!! :D

 

Or you can pay an additional $45 per person per night and receive all four perks and have your classic beverage package upgraded to a premium beverage package.

 

Suites

 

£375 OBC

Unlimited Internet

Prepaid gratuities

Premium beverage package

 

Hope that helps. I'll PM you the name of the company if you like.

 

Mynki - I'd also be really grateful if you can PM me the name of the company please as looking into booking a 2017 cruise! :)

[little britain]

The best advice is to treat each and every sailing individually. For example, right now there is a 2016 cruise I booked two days ago. An S2 cabin, using todays exchange rate via xe.com of £1 =$1.522 results in the following price differences :-

 

Celebrity UK including port charges, taxes and gratuities ($197.40) $4257.57 per person.

 

US TA including port charges, taxes, gratuities, unlimited internet, premium beverage package and $600 OBC ($300 Celebrity, $175 standard TA, $125 previous customer from TA) $2980.38.

 

So $1277.19 cheaper with an additional $1427.40 value in perks per person if you were to buy them individually. This is an exception with specific reasons as to the cost differences mind.

 

Another unusual factor at play here is that if you were to compare this S2 deal to an AQ1 cabin price by adding the cost of unlimited internet, balcony gratuities and upgrade from classic to premium beverage package, and additional £125 OBC, so total cost of cruise minus OBC. The cost of the cabins work out at the following :-

 

A1 = $227.17 pppn.

S2 = $223.37 pppn

 

The S2 having access to Luminae, MC, Butler, larger room, two complimentary dinners in specialty restaurants and a few fluff type perks. Strange eh? :)

 

On the flipside, our next years Baltic cruise was booked through Celebrity UK when they had the buy one, get the second half price offer running. I emailed US TA's at that time but they could not get anywhere near the UK deal.

 

So in short, treat every sailing individually. Ignore anyone who makes sweeping statements such as booking in the US is always cheaper etc. Though do understand the differences in booking procedures in regards to cancellations etc. In the UK if you cancel you will lose your deposit. In the US your deposit will be refunded up until around 60 to 75 days depending on the length of your sailing. Check with your individual agent though.

 

Fabulous post and very sound advise!

Sign up to the emails - just this second got one from a UK TA with 'prices slashed' for Reflection in April 2016! If you get enough of these you can start to gauge when the price drops come as they need to fill the cabins so your optimum time to book.

 

I too flip between the US and UK.

My US TA is fabulous, will swap rooms, gets price drops before I even spot them, and of course instant refund if I cancel before final payment.

Whenever I book in the UK I bang my head on the wall when ever there are price drops. Learn the hard way!

Edited December 14, 2015 by little britain

[Lutzyboy]

Hi there. We recently booked on http://www.celebrity.com for 25th Aug 2016 on Equinox.

Normally we book a balcony cabin and buy a drinks package and internet, but after a bit of research and comparisons we found that taking a Sky suite was actually saving us money. Included were the 4 perks. We always take a drinks package and internet but usually would have tipped at our own discretion, but if prepaid then we got select dining option, so we did this as it was one of the perks. On top of the 300$ OBC we got a special on line discount of 1866euros. In the Sky suite we also get two dinners in one of the speciality restaurants.I compared the cost of a balcony cabin with all the usual add ons to the Sky suite with included "perks" and found it much cheaper to go with the Sky suite which does have other little benefits included.

We are UK citizens living in Gran Canaria and I am not sure whether our location made a difference. I got quotes from UK companies and they could not come close to the deal I was getting online. One company suggested that once I went through the booking process online and filled in my address the price would change because I was out side the USA. This didn't happen.

After discounts our total price with all the perks in a Sky suite S2 for 13 nights is 4456 Euros which works out at 171 euros per person per night (approx $188 or 124GBP)

On the web site it said this offer ends in Jan, and I think it started mid Nov. The basic balcony price without any extras was costing 113 Euros pppn so the premium drinks package alone on top of this would have just about brought it up to the Suite price.

We have cruised quite a bit and it can pay to spend time comparing all the different providers online, often there are "promotions" which sound great but when you look into them it's really the same basic price with the cost of the "promotion" added in. But for us this time we reckon we have got a good deal.

[Gordoncruickshank]

Hi there. We recently booked on http://www.celebrity.com for 25th Aug 2016 on Equinox.

Normally we book a balcony cabin and buy a drinks package and internet, but after a bit of research and comparisons we found that taking a Sky suite was actually saving us money. Included were the 4 perks. We always take a drinks package and internet but usually would have tipped at our own discretion, but if prepaid then we got select dining option, so we did this as it was one of the perks. On top of the 300$ OBC we got a special on line discount of 1866euros. In the Sky suite we also get two dinners in one of the speciality restaurants.I compared the cost of a balcony cabin with all the usual add ons to the Sky suite with included "perks" and found it much cheaper to go with the Sky suite which does have other little benefits included.

We are UK citizens living in Gran Canaria and I am not sure whether our location made a difference. I got quotes from UK companies and they could not come close to the deal I was getting online. One company suggested that once I went through the booking process online and filled in my address the price would change because I was out side the USA. This didn't happen.

After discounts our total price with all the perks in a Sky suite S2 for 13 nights is 4456 Euros which works out at 171 euros per person per night (approx $188 or 124GBP)

On the web site it said this offer ends in Jan, and I think it started mid Nov. The basic balcony price without any extras was costing 113 Euros pppn so the premium drinks package alone on top of this would have just about brought it up to the Suite price.

We have cruised quite a bit and it can pay to spend time comparing all the different providers online, often there are "promotions" which sound great but when you look into them it's really the same basic price with the cost of the "promotion" added in. But for us this time we reckon we have got a good deal.

You also get to use Luminae and Michael's Club.

[aka_bitsy]

Thanks everyone for your replies they've been really helpful - I will definitely be shopping around before I put any money down! Mynki thanks for your offer but I've just seen the post about PMS so I will look around a bit :)

(Edited)

Edited December 14, 2015 by aka_bitsy

[aka_bitsy]

Oops that should have read pm's and not PMS!

[Mynki]

Oops that should have read pm's and not PMS!

 

:D No problem.

 

At the risk of sounding smug, I noticed 90 minutes ago that the cruise I used as an example (which we have booked) has dropped $400 per person today. We only booked it last Thursday.

 

One call to a toll free UK number to the TA resulted in a $800 saving with all of our perks remaining intact and no loss of deposit etc.

 

UK TA's really need to up their game here.

[harz99]

:D No problem.

 

At the risk of sounding smug, I noticed 90 minutes ago that the cruise I used as an example (which we have booked) has dropped $400 per person today. We only booked it last Thursday.

 

One call to a toll free UK number to the TA resulted in a $800 saving with all of our perks remaining intact and no loss of deposit etc.

 

UK TA's really need to up their game here.

 

I think that's a bit unfair as UK TAs are hamstrung by the RCCL UK bppking conditions. I used to be able to get certain changes from my UK TA who had the right connections, since the call centre moved to Guatemala - no chance.