When "free" isn't "free"

[eandj]

For some it works, others it doesn't. A person must be able to gauge whether or not it works for them to pay extra to get more. People fail to see a marketing plan as well. Yeah, it is supposed to entice you, that's called good marketing. Once you are enticed, it is up to you to understand the deal and read the fine print and all the stipulations. Just a thought.

 

Yes, I agree.

[eandj]

If there is no residential or senior special, you cannot buy a cruise without special add -ons. X tuck away " lower" pricing under 55+ or Residence discount, that is not combinable with perks.

 

Not sure about that. :confused: Our agent, when asked, was able to offer straight rates not including the X all inclusive pricing. Different coding. Making it more complicated for agents. But definitely available for us without the discounts you mention.

[Orator]

The perks on a TA include the great price, wonderful days at sea and the people you meet on the journey.

Edited February 24, 2016 by Orator

[Bo1953]

I really think some state should sue under deceptive advertising laws,

 

I like many people got excited about these FREE items after spending some time looking at it I found the cruise with free items was 1399$ and without was 909$ on senior rates Plus I could get shareholder discount which I can't this free sale.

 

In addition I am elite so I get free evening drinks so I wind up paying an additional about 500 dollars for about 250$ of extra items.

 

Actually, no state will sue them for this, as this is NOT deceptive, full T&C's are posted as required by law, rather we read them or not before clicking on the button is a different issue.

 

I suggest if you feel so disaffected by this, consider suing them yourself and try to make it a class action law suit if you or others have been harmed by the advertizing and T&C's. You have the power to file a complaint with your AG if you believe it is that egregious in lieu of here, that most likely would be most productive use of time and value to you and possibly others in your state.

 

Most of us understand it is marketing and accept and book or not based on this.

 

bon voyage...

[Banjo]

The perks on a TA include the great price, wonderful days at sea and the people you meet on the journey.

 

I just booked my 1st TA on my last December Silhouette cruise (which I had some very nice perks). They don't even throw you a bone for a TA. I think maybe I got $100 each OBC from Celebrity

 

I hope what you say is good :p

[Bo1953]

I just booked my 1st TA on my last December Silhouette cruise (which I had some very nice perks). They don't even throw you a bone for a TA. I think maybe I got $100 each OBC from Celebrity

 

I hope what you say is good :p

 

Have you tried various TA's who might sweeten the pot for you somewhat? That is if you are in the US.

 

bon voyage

[FlorenceItaly]

I just booked my 1st TA on my last December Silhouette cruise (which I had some very nice perks). They don't even throw you a bone for a TA. I think maybe I got $100 each OBC from Celebrity

 

I hope what you say is good :p

 

I am booked on the April 2, 2016 Constellation TA. I am in a Cat. 6 OV. I am receiving $250 OBC. I booked with a well known agency that advertises on CC. They also offer phone service. I have been very happy with their service. With that said, many on my Roll Call in OV's have been upgraded to balcony, no additional charge. I suspect they booked directly with Celebrity. Typically, I book directly, but, I never dreamed prices would drop. I got an excellent rate. I decided to go with a TA for the on board credit. I love the location of my Cat. 6(3112) so I have not called my TA yet to see if they can accomplish an upgrade for me.

[Banjo]

Have you tried various TA's who might sweeten the pot for you somewhat? That is if you are in the US.

 

bon voyage

 

Yes, when I booked it on the Silhouette I gave it to my usual big box TA and they gave me some nice OBC.

[ISABELLA]

Not sure about that. :confused: Our agent, when asked, was able to offer straight rates not including the X all inclusive pricing. Different coding. Making it more complicated for agents. But definitely available for us without the discounts you mention.

 

I covered it in post # 23

[The_Big_M]

Actually, no state will sue them for this, as this is NOT deceptive, full T&C's are posted as required by law, rather we read them or not before clicking on the button is a different issue.

 

I suggest if you feel so disaffected by this, consider suing them yourself and try to make it a class action law suit if you or others have been harmed by the advertizing and T&C's. You have the power to file a complaint with your AG if you believe it is that egregious in lieu of here, that most likely would be most productive use of time and value to you and possibly others in your state.

 

Most of us understand it is marketing and accept and book or not based on this.

 

bon voyage...

 

Agreed, talk about a litigious society.

 

This complies with the standard details of the offer. The promo has never applied to all rates e.g. guarantee, so this is nothing different.

[fleckle]

We in the USA (and probably residents of other countries as well) are very accustomed to being barraged with advertisements to buy our wonderful product and we will give you "free" a, b, c, and d.

 

People bite because they don't want to think about how much money they are throwing away when they say I couldn't pass up the "best" offer because they are giving me "free" this, that and the other.

 

 

To be informed consumers, about all we can do is figure out how much each one of those perks is really worth to each of us

(not just accept whatever value the cruise line claims it is worth).

 

We can almost always find a lower cruise price without any perks for which we qualify, but some are a lot better deals than others.

 

 

When it comes to gratuities, at least it is easy to know their actual value.

The true value of the other perks is not as easy to determine.

 

 

Whether or not a beverage package is a good deal depends on what and how much we really want to drink,

compared to how much we would end up drinking just because we have a drink package.

 

Time and again, we hear family members and friends brag about what a good deal they got with the beverage package while they are sitting on the ship downing drink after drink, day after day.

 

Then as soon as the cruise is over, they immediately start to regret consuming all the alcohol and sugar and calories that they never would have ordered otherwise, and it becomes a totally different story.

 

 

We don't want the unlimited internet package because we don't even use up all the internet time we get now, so that one is an easy decision for us.

 

 

Non-refundable onboard credit can be good if we use it to purchase things on the ship that we would buy anyway.

 

It seems wonderful and impressive to get $800 of onboard credit, but not so wonderful if we end up spending most of it on a lot of stuff that we don't really want just to use it up.

 

Now if only they would let us use that onboard credit to pay for future cruises, then that would be a different matter entirely. :D

 

 

So are those "free" perks a good deal?

The answer is yes, they definitely are a good deal for the cruise line and they help them sell a lot of cruises.

 

 

Edited February 25, 2016 by fleckle