Celebrity Cruise Math or How to Quickly Tell Which Package to Pick

[niccikatie]

Thank you all for the fabulous feedback. Please let me know if you see any issues with the tool.

 

Ask and ye shall receive! I updated the spreadsheet with fields to budget a per person/per night budget for beverages (or I guess you could really add anything there!). Here's a new screenshot and the link is the same as in the first post.

 

[kjmvacation]

Thanks so much for this- your spreadsheet help me answer a ton of my questions and is fun to try different options. Thanks for posting this and sharing it. Works fantastic!

[wencam]

Hi All! I've been stuck in a morass of trying to figure out Celebrity's cruise math on which option (Big, Better, Best or straight discount) would work best for us. I created a spreadsheet for myself and thought others might benefit from it, so I created a dropbox link to my spreadsheet if anyone would like to use it.

 

Here's a screenshot of a sample of it. All you have to do is fill in the purple and light blue cells and it will do all the calculations for you.

 

I'm open to feedback if this doesn't work for people, but this is what I used to figure out which options to choose on my next cruise. Hope it helps someone else!

 

 

Celebrity Cruise Comparison Tool Excel Link

 

 

Thanks so much niccikatie! I'm going to have to try that when we start researching our next cruise!! :)

[NAVFAM]

You nailed it and it's still simple! Nice aesthetics too.

 

Best addition to the X CC forum since the S Class cabin review sticky. In fact this should become a sticky.

 

Regards,

MARK

[Jeremiah1212]

Awesome job. I usually run and hide from anything that opens in Excel when I'm not at work but this is one that is quite helpful!

 

Our best value once OBC factored in is with Go Best since we got it for the Go Better price through a TA. I came to that conclusion with a sharpie and a legal pad which looks like a complete disaster but it did the job! Your version is much easier on the eyes.

[bookitdanno]

This is great work, thank you so much.

 

One question, though.

When I go to the Celebrity site to "Book" a cruise, if I select veranda, all I get is a "Go Big" or "Go Better" or "Go Best" prices.

 

Where does the "Base Price" come from?

 

Thanks

[bEwAbG]

This is great work, thank you so much.

 

One question, though.

When I go to the Celebrity site to "Book" a cruise, if I select veranda, all I get is a "Go Big" or "Go Better" or "Go Best" prices.

 

Where does the "Base Price" come from?

 

Thanks

 

There's usually a sentence somewhere on that page that says something like "want to see if you qualify for a different discount?" If you select that, you can book with just the state resident discount or try any others that you qualify for that are applicable to that sailing. Most of those do not include any extras, though you have the option of adding them back on.

[beachgirl111]

WOW!! You put a lot of work into this....I'm sure there are many people who are not Excel spreadsheet literate who will appreciate this!!!

[Husky61]

Thanks for the worksheet, but for us we wouldn't use it. We just took all four of the offers for our last cruise.:)

[razzyrup]

Thanks so much for this! In an earlier post I was struggling with whether I need to stay on an inside cabin or upgrade and based on this it come so close that I've decided to splurge.

 

One note though, the go big, best, better only applies to the first two people in the cabin and we have 4 staying in one, so when I updated it actually calculated the gratuities saving for all 4 instead of 2 (at least that's what they told me), which affected my final number and which one to pick.

 

Thank so much for your work on this!

[niccikatie]

Thanks so much for this! In an earlier post I was struggling with whether I need to stay on an inside cabin or upgrade and based on this it come so close that I've decided to splurge.

 

One note though, the go big, best, better only applies to the first two people in the cabin and we have 4 staying in one, so when I updated it actually calculated the gratuities saving for all 4 instead of 2 (at least that's what they told me), which affected my final number and which one to pick.

 

Thank so much for your work on this!

 

Oh good point - you're right about the gratuities! I'll have to think about how to fix that. I'll let you all know when I update that.

[niccikatie]

This is great work, thank you so much.

 

One question, though.

When I go to the Celebrity site to "Book" a cruise, if I select veranda, all I get is a "Go Big" or "Go Better" or "Go Best" prices.

 

Where does the "Base Price" come from?

 

Thanks

 

Depends on when you're booking. Right now, if you choose higher than veranda, it will automatically apply the Half Off Sale and give you the GBBB options. Sometimes, you get a base fare and have to upgrade to GBBB. If you don't put anything in the Base Fare cell, it will still function appropriately. I fixed the conditional formatting so that if you leave any of the fares blank, it will still highlight the lowest price for the two total columns.

 

I did fix the issue with gratuities. Now, if you have greater than 2 passengers and are looking at promotions that have gratuities included, it will calculate the selected gratuity for any passengers above 2.

Edited September 23, 2016 by niccikatie

[QE2_Fan]

Oh good point - you're right about the gratuities! I'll have to think about how to fix that. I'll let you all know when I update that.

 

Great tool! I did a similar exercise as a Drink Beverage Calculator to help people determine if a package is worth it vs paying as you go. Not perfect, but its good for a guide in general!

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NR5hlMjY0zh5c6WWe88iITw1taOAAO_6-TYCA2SWU4U/edit?usp=sharing

 

Back to your awesome calculator - one thing I've picked up is as I'm using the tool for a Quad Share basis, whilst the gratuities now reflects the extra cost for the 3/4th pax, in the GO BEST FARE option, the beverage upgrade is not reflected (which has been selected for the 3/4th pax in the "CHOOSE BEV PKG UPGRADE Here" section.

I believe even on GO BEST that the 3/4th pax still only get the classic non alcoholic package included, so any upgrade costs will still apply.

 

P.S. I'm impressed you've even allowed for 3/4th pax pricing! Brilliant for us as we still travel with the kids :-)

[niccikatie]

Great tool! I did a similar exercise as a Drink Beverage Calculator to help people determine if a package is worth it vs paying as you go. Not perfect, but its good for a guide in general!

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NR5hlMjY0zh5c6WWe88iITw1taOAAO_6-TYCA2SWU4U/edit?usp=sharing

 

Back to your awesome calculator - one thing I've picked up is as I'm using the tool for a Quad Share basis, whilst the gratuities now reflects the extra cost for the 3/4th pax, in the GO BEST FARE option, the beverage upgrade is not reflected (which has been selected for the 3/4th pax in the "CHOOSE BEV PKG UPGRADE Here" section.

I believe even on GO BEST that the 3/4th pax still only get the classic non alcoholic package included, so any upgrade costs will still apply.

 

P.S. I'm impressed you've even allowed for 3/4th pax pricing! Brilliant for us as we still travel with the kids :-)

I used your other spreadsheet for a different cruise! It's very helpful!

 

Thanks for the input! That was a great catch! We sail with our daughter, so I wanted to be sure to get those 3/4th included. I've updated the spreadsheet to add the upgrade for pax 3/4 in the Go Best field. Would you mind testing it? You should be able to make all your selections and it will only take the upgrade price for 3+ pax in the go best line now (and it will only do it if you have more than 2 pax in the passengers field, so it shouldn't throw anything off for those sailing with less).

 

Thanks again!

[Mirage]

Nicely Done. I have two cruises booked that I am running the numbers on with your spreadsheet against the not as elegant calculations I had tried. Your work is much appreciated.

[sanger727]

Neat little tool. I have a quick guestimation technique I worked out when we were pricing out our last cruise. I've never been able to get a non-perk price at any significant discount, so I assume that I'll be getting at the minimum go big with the beverage package (has the most monetary and non-monetary value to me). I know that I'm going to pay gratuities either way and the 11.80 is worth it to me to upgrade the beverage package. So, I know that I'll be paying the base fare plus $25.30 extra pp per day as my starting point. So, just take the go big price minus 25.30 x the days of the trip. Then all I have to decide is whether or not the dollar amount leftover is worth unlimited internet and $150 OBC (only $150 since this is all for pp pricing) to me; Realistically, I won't be purchasing internet on it's own or spending $150 on the ship without the go best promo so those aren't worth face value to me.

 

On our next cruise, the go best price was originally an extra $410 pp for a 12 day cruise... So that was easy, an extra $107 was worth $150 OBC and internet. Now, we didn't choose it because we were actually able to get a discounted fare that took an extra $200 off the fare but wasn't combinable with go best (but it was with go big). Later, when they ran a different sale we wanted to try and upgrade to go best but the go best price was then an extra $540pp. Couldn't justify spending an extra $237 to get $150 OBC and internet.

[niccikatie]

Nicely Done. I have two cruises booked that I am running the numbers on with your spreadsheet against the not as elegant calculations I had tried. Your work is much appreciated.

 

Thanks! I hope it helped you :)

 

Neat little tool. I have a quick guestimation technique I worked out when we were pricing out our last cruise. I've never been able to get a non-perk price at any significant discount, so I assume that I'll be getting at the minimum go big with the beverage package (has the most monetary and non-monetary value to me). I know that I'm going to pay gratuities either way and the 11.80 is worth it to me to upgrade the beverage package. So, I know that I'll be paying the base fare plus $25.30 extra pp per day as my starting point. So, just take the go big price minus 25.30 x the days of the trip. Then all I have to decide is whether or not the dollar amount leftover is worth unlimited internet and $150 OBC (only $150 since this is all for pp pricing) to me; Realistically, I won't be purchasing internet on it's own or spending $150 on the ship without the go best promo so those aren't worth face value to me.

 

On our next cruise, the go best price was originally an extra $410 pp for a 12 day cruise... So that was easy, an extra $107 was worth $150 OBC and internet. Now, we didn't choose it because we were actually able to get a discounted fare that took an extra $200 off the fare but wasn't combinable with go best (but it was with go big). Later, when they ran a different sale we wanted to try and upgrade to go best but the go best price was then an extra $540pp. Couldn't justify spending an extra $237 to get $150 OBC and internet.

 

Glad you found something that worked for you!

[QE2_Fan]

Would you mind testing it? You should be able to make all your selections and it will only take the upgrade price for 3+ pax in the go best line now (and it will only do it if you have more than 2 pax in the passengers field, so it shouldn't throw anything off for those sailing with less).

 

Thanks again!

 

Hi, that was quick! I've tested and it seems all ok - tried with an upgrade for only 3rd pax and also both 3rd/4th and all looks good! Many thanks.

 

Where I get myself confused staring at the figures after input is to determine if there is value to spend the extra (say from GoBetter to GoBest) to secure 2 extra perks. I don't normally allow for internet pricing - but if could pay only $50 pp more to Go Best then I'd be happy to use the free internet as a perk!

 

The catch here is that you are paying the same upgrade price for all pax, including the 3th/4th in the cabin. So need to keep in mind that if say for $150 you could upgrade to Go Best which had $320 more value in perks, for quad share you would effectively be paying $300 for that same $320 of value (as the upgrade fee would be paid by all pax, however the perks themselves are only extended to the first 2 passengers).

 

Not sure your calculator can show that (or needs to) but just how I tend to evaluate possible further value (if any) by upgrading to Go Best.

 

Cheers!

[santa24]

This would be great if I could get it to work. I was just calculating it out manually last week. Not sure if I am doing something wrong or missing something somewhere. I downloaded it to my computer but none of the drop down boxes work for me. I can input information in the appropriate boxes but no drop downs. Any ideas?

[rain_bowbrite]

Wow. This is impressive. I wish I would have seen it a couple of weeks ago before I booked my two cruises. I think I did an ok job figuring the math in my head, but now I may download your tool just to double check it. I'm also trying to convince myself that I need to book a third cruise to take advantage of the 2 for the price 1 perk before they expire...

 

Such a great value!

[niccikatie]

This would be great if I could get it to work. I was just calculating it out manually last week. Not sure if I am doing something wrong or missing something somewhere. I downloaded it to my computer but none of the drop down boxes work for me. I can input information in the appropriate boxes but no drop downs. Any ideas?

 

You know, one other person had that problem but they never wrote back if it resolved or not. I have the sheet locked to prevent inadvertent changing of the formulas or entering info where it doesn't belong. Try unlocking the sheet. The password is unlock.

[santa24]

You know, one other person had that problem but they never wrote back if it resolved or not. I have the sheet locked to prevent inadvertent changing of the formulas or entering info where it doesn't belong. Try unlocking the sheet. The password is unlock.

 

Thanks so much for trying to help but inserting the password didn't make any difference. I had downloaded this without logging into drop box and when it didn't work, tried logging into drop box to download. Still no difference. I guess there must just be some setting on my computer or in Excel that just won't allow me to use the drop down boxes. The gratuities are set at Suite $17.00 and won't change; for the drink packages I can only right click and then with the option of 'pick from drop down list', I only can still go with Select One or Choose Bev Pkg here. I will keep looking to see if there is something I am missing, otherwise back to manually calculating. Thanks again for the help.

[rain_bowbrite]

I will keep looking to see if there is something I am missing, otherwise back to manually calculating. Thanks again for the help.

 

You've probably already tried this, but are you double-clicking on the boxes? They weren't working for me either at first and I realized I was only clicking once, for me double-clicking the boxes made the dropdowns appear. I'm using Excel on a Mac (not sure that makes a difference).

[niccikatie]

Thanks so much for trying to help but inserting the password didn't make any difference. I had downloaded this without logging into drop box and when it didn't work, tried logging into drop box to download. Still no difference. I guess there must just be some setting on my computer or in Excel that just won't allow me to use the drop down boxes. The gratuities are set at Suite $17.00 and won't change; for the drink packages I can only right click and then with the option of 'pick from drop down list', I only can still go with Select One or Choose Bev Pkg here. I will keep looking to see if there is something I am missing, otherwise back to manually calculating. Thanks again for the help.

 

Oh no! I'm so sorry it's still not working. Once the document is unlocked, you could just enter the correct amounts in the white boxes. It will still pull them in correctly, but makes it a bit more manual.

 

You've probably already tried this, but are you double-clicking on the boxes? They weren't working for me either at first and I realized I was only clicking once, for me double-clicking the boxes made the dropdowns appear. I'm using Excel on a Mac (not sure that makes a difference).

 

I created it in Excel for Mac and don't have the same experience, but it could be a version thing, too. Thanks for sharing what worked for you!

 

Regardless, I hope it gets working and I wish there were more that I could do to fix it!

[santa24]

Thank you niccikatie and rain_bowbrite for your help.

 

Unfortunately double clicking wasn't the issue. I am working on a PC but I don't know if that is the issue.

 

So I once again unlocked it and this time put the figures in manually. That seemed to work for the most part. The only issue I had was that it was taking the OBC off a one person fare. Perhaps I was supposed to enter in the cruise cost for 2 people in the cruise fare section? Anyways, that is what I did and everything calculated out correctly, so all is good. Thanks for all the work you went to for this niccikatie! you've made it all a lot easier for many of us.