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Booking 2 Cruises wth overlapping itineraries


realnice46
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Has anyone booked 2 cruises with overlapping dates? Celebrity has sale with low deposits but we’re not sure which of 2 itineraries for 2021 will work this far out. We have a granddaughter who will graduate college but don’t have exact dates yet.

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3 hours ago, jagoffee said:

I have never done it, but unfortunately Celebrity does allow it.

If you live in UK you would certainly loose your deposit on the one you cancelled.

i also believe this is starting to be the case in the USA, with non refundable deposits, so be careful how you book.

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5 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

If you live in UK you would certainly loose your deposit on the one you cancelled.

i also believe this is starting to be the case in the USA, with non refundable deposits, so be careful how you book.

To the best of my knowledge, there are currently no cruise offerings in the USA with only non-refundable deposits. We always have the alternative choice to book with a refundable deposit.

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3 hours ago, jagoffee said:

I have never done it, but unfortunately Celebrity does allow it.

What's unfortunate about it? People are willing to pay more for the flexibility of refundable deposits, versus non-refundable deposits. It's a good business model for Celebrity since they have to come to some decision at least 90 days prior to the departure. I'm sure they would rather have two overlapping Celebrity bookings than a Celebrity booking overlapping with a Princess booking. :classic_rolleyes:

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8 hours ago, realnice46 said:

Has anyone booked 2 cruises with overlapping dates? Celebrity has sale with low deposits but we’re not sure which of 2 itineraries for 2021 will work this far out. We have a granddaughter who will graduate college but don’t have exact dates yet.

Yes.  We did the Edge then the Harmony and both went to a couple of the same ports.  We enjoy St Martin and loved going to the beach each time.  Have been to PR multiple times so we didn't do any shore x's.  But IMO the ship is the destination and the ports an added bonus.  You will have a ball as having your granddaughter with you will be a wonderful experience for all.  If you enjoy touring, so many different x's are also available at each port.

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4 hours ago, upwarduk said:

If you live in UK you would certainly loose your deposit on the one you cancelled.

i also believe this is starting to be the case in the USA, with non refundable deposits, so be careful how you book.

The OP is in the usa. However, even if they did lose their deposit, its only $20!

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1 hour ago, justcrusn said:

The OP is in the usa. However, even if they did lose their deposit, its only $20!

Are you sure the deposit is only $20, or whether it’s to ‘lure you in.’

At the moment, there is a TA in the U.K. who is advertising deposits of £1. However what it doesn’t tell you in the advert, is that they will take the remainder of the deposit (£350 p.p) in 8 weeks time from  the credit card you booked with. 

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We have booked the same cruise with different cabin categories.  We had one booked and then about a month later while on board a ship  we  booked the other using Future Cruise Certificates for both.   We explained to the Celebrity rep what we were doing and he said he would try but it usually wasn’t allowed.   We had both for a few months and then transferred one to another cruise.   Just give it a try.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

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12 hours ago, realnice46 said:

Has anyone booked 2 cruises with overlapping dates? Celebrity has sale with low deposits but we’re not sure which of 2 itineraries for 2021 will work this far out. We have a granddaughter who will graduate college but don’t have exact dates yet.

You might be able to go on her schools academic calendar to see when graduation will be.  I have twins at different schools and my biggest fear was they would graduate the same day.  I was able to go on both of the schools calendars and determine their graduations dates were a week apart.  Worth a try.

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No problem with overlapping reservations.....in fact, celebrity likes to be able to show that their ships are so close to being sold out (so they can justify higher prices).  That's the whole idea behind the low deposits....shadow fill the ships and show high bookings......we'll face really filling the ship later.  

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While not the best practice there is no prohibition against it and it is more common than one would think.   Out of respect for fellow travelers it is always appreciated if you release (cancel) the cruise you will not take to free up the cabin.   In the U.S. there is not penalty and you get a full refund of deposit if cancelled prior to final payment date.

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1 hour ago, Jim_Iain said:

While not the best practice there is no prohibition against it and it is more common than one would think.   Out of respect for fellow travelers it is always appreciated if you release (cancel) the cruise you will not take to free up the cabin.   In the U.S. there is not penalty and you get a full refund of deposit if cancelled prior to final payment date.

.. unless you book a non-refundable deposit. Even in the US. They are available now, and that's the one that usually gives you the best pricing and/or perk. So the OP needs to be careful about that.

 

I have 3 celebrity cruises booked, 1 of them with a non-refundable deposit. Which for me was worth it for the extra perk and it is not that far out. I am loosing the extra perk on the other 2, but they are so far out that it is not worth the risk to me.

 

Also, the $25 deposit offer might not be the best price, including group pricing from TA and such. Even booking onboard, we had to pay the remaining of the full deposit to be transferred to our TA group (keeping the obc for booking onboard), but we got a much better pricing.

Edited by angelhelly
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11 hours ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

What's unfortunate about it? People are willing to pay more for the flexibility of refundable deposits, versus non-refundable deposits. It's a good business model for Celebrity since they have to come to some decision at least 90 days prior to the departure. I'm sure they would rather have two overlapping Celebrity bookings than a Celebrity booking overlapping with a Princess booking. :classic_rolleyes:

IMO it is unfortunate, because the practice of having two booking over roughly the same time frame or even on the same cruise, removes certain cabins and may drive up prices for your fellow cruisers. IMO it is not really fair for everyone.

 

Whether it is a good business model for Celebrity is debatable, but since Celebrity and many other cruise companies in the US allow the practice, they must agree with you that it is a good business model.  

 

The model for car rental reservation is much worse with no deposit required and multiple bookings allowed.  

 

I do not like the Airlines business model related to reservations, but I would think it would be a better model for the business.  

 

I beleive the US cruise line model is driven by what is required to be competitive in the US cruise market and not because it is a good business model for the cruise line.  Celebrity is forced to follow the model to be competitive.

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6 hours ago, jagoffee said:

IMO it is unfortunate, because the practice of having two booking over roughly the same time frame or even on the same cruise, removes certain cabins and may drive up prices for your fellow cruisers. IMO it is not really fair for everyone.

 

Whether it is a good business model for Celebrity is debatable, but since Celebrity and many other cruise companies in the US allow the practice, they must agree with you that it is a good business model.  

 

The model for car rental reservation is much worse with no deposit required and multiple bookings allowed.  

 

I do not like the Airlines business model related to reservations, but I would think it would be a better model for the business.  

 

I beleive the US cruise line model is driven by what is required to be competitive in the US cruise market and not because it is a good business model for the cruise line.  Celebrity is forced to follow the model to be competitive.

I believe both of our opinions are sincere. Just a couple of additional comments:

 

From an ethical perspective, if a cruise line allows certain multiple bookings, then I would not find one consumer's booking decision unethical (i.e. unfair) even if it might impact other consumers negatively in the short run.

 

I say in the short run since the available inventory, after the multiple booker releases one of the bookings prior to final payment date (when everyone in the US will still have the opportunity to have their fares repriced if the prices drop), will be the same as if the multiple bookings had never happened. At that point prices should tend to adjust to the same point as if the multiple bookings had never existed. And I say tend, since markets are not perfect.

 

And best business practices must recognize the market environment - including that of the competition; they cannot be designed in a vacuum.

 

Again, I appreciate the sincerity of your opinion and appreciate the ability to discuss our diverse opinions here on CC.

 

Happy Cruising

 

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