New pricing strategy fleetwide starting April 4, 2019

[cruisestitch]

citruscruiser, Thanks for explaining why I couldn’t get the links to work.

 

but I wonder why Celebrity blocks those sites?  Hmmmmm?

[Jeremiah1212]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

citruscruiser, Thanks for explaining why I couldn’t get the links to work.

 

but I wonder why Celebrity blocks those sites?  Hmmmmm?

I'm surprised credentials are not required to access anything on that site. It's a TA site that routinely has yet to be made public info and promotional data available. I'm always a bit nervous to repost anything from that site so they don't shut it off. 

[Lastdance]

How about...go basic and spin the wheel for percentages off once onboard to pick your perks...this makes my head spin and come up with all sorts of stuff...I am trying to simplify my life, but nothing is simple nowadays!

Edited April 2, 2019 by Lastdance

[Edinburghgirl1]

Just checked the UK website for an up to date price for the repositioning cruise I booked on board the Silhouette a couple of weeks ago.  Above the cruise details there was a red banner stating "Free drinks, Gratuities and on board credit"!  The price had gone up £500 but it was still worth cancelling and rebooking as our deposit was only £59.  When I called the agent at Celebrity UK she  stated this was an error and the terms and conditions stated these perks do not apply to repositioning cruises however there may be some offers available  from tomorrow on these type of cruises but she was unable to give me details until then.  Wondering if they are starting to update their system and it had flagged up the deals early.  Hope so. We would have bought a drinks package anyway but waited to see if there were any special offers nearer the time but if we get one included with gratuities for paying a bit more on the price even better. 

[mikkelhansen]

For fun, I just checked the pricing for our January 2, 2021 Equinox Western Caribbean sailing.

We booked two category 11 inside staterooms during our last cruise, and we got two cat. 11 insides with prepaid gratuities, 100$OBC (from booking during a cruise) and free wifi (this was extraordinarily applied to both staterooms, due to vaguely-described terms) for ~2030$ total per stateroom.

The base price for a cat. 11 on the same sailing with no perks as per current standard for inside staterooms has now bumped from ~1750$ per stateroom (799$ per person plus tax and gratuities) to ~2375$ per stateroom (1119$ per person plus tax and gratuities), this price hike is already shown on Celebrity's website as well as on the websites of five larger TAs I have checked today.

That is a shocking 40% increase in the base "cruise-only" price - and tax, gratuities (and in our case wifi) yet to be applied on top of that!

A few TAs still have cat. 12 insides for ~760$ per person, but I suppose they have previously locked that price by making a group/block reservation of several staterooms.

 

Interestingly, a cat. 7 oceanview stateroom (cheapest non-inside category) on the same sailing is still ~2540$ per stateroom, INCLUDING two perks and refundable deposit. So a measly 165$ for higher category stateroom and two perks included (which could even include the pre-paid gratuities, which is still to be applied on top of the 2375$ for the cat. 11 inside, thus effectively reaching 2540$ for a cat. 11 inside including gratuities = the same as the price for a cat. 7 INCLUDING two perks).

 

The new, drastically higher base price for an cat. 11 inside stateroom could refelct the future Sail Plus rate, ie. including two perks. And if the cat. 7 oceanview just about keeps its current pricing for the future Sail Plus rate (above-mentioned rate is including two perks from the "Sail Beyond" promotion, so very much comparable to the "Sail Plus" tier), one should seriously consider upgrading from an inside stateroom to an outside.

Bear in mind, my calculations above are on cat. 11 insides, there are both cat. 10 and cat. 9 insides, which are even more expensive in base price.

 

It will definitely be interesting to see where the base prices settle, when the strategy rolls out tomorrow.

[mikkelhansen]

18 hours ago, BEAV said:

I wonder if the new price structure w/perks will include the unlimited Internet package or be replaced with the less expensive new "surf" plan...…?

I found this on an Australian TA's website (can't name it due to CC rules), but I would suppose it would be applicable for US/CA bookings as well:

 

CELEBRITY - SAIL YOUR WAY

starts Thursday!

Celebrity Cruises sailings of 4 nights or longer departing 4th May 2019 – 30th April 2021

> Sail: Cruise Only Price – discount off “standard”. (Lowest Available Fare). NO perks!

> Sail Plus: Choice of Two Perks Included at “standard” pricing

Perk options include: 
  - Classic Beverage Package
  - US$300 Onboard Credit per stateroom
  - Unlimited Xcelerate Wifi
  - Additional US$300 Onboard Credit per stateroom

> Sail All Included: Four Perks Included – At “standard” pricing plus an additional charge of AU/NZ$60 pp /pd

Sail All Included will offer all of the above perks plus an Upgrade to the Premium Beverage package.

Offer is applicable to all stateroom categories.

Book a Suite & receive Sail All Included FOUR perks for FREE!

Sale ends 1 May 2019

 

Interestingly, this TA calls the Sail Plus tier "standard" and the Sail tier "discount off standard", whereas I would have supposed that the new cruise-only rate ("Sail") would be the new standard. But apparently not.

 

42 minutes ago, mikkelhansen said:

Interestingly, a cat. 7 oceanview stateroom

Of course, I meant a cat. 8 oceanview in my previous post.

 

Edited April 3, 2019 by mikkelhansen

[BEAV]

Thanks, mikkelhansen, for that good news!

 

Leave it to the great Down Under where it’s April 4 already!

Edited April 3, 2019 by BEAV

[Cruise Junky]

1 hour ago, mikkelhansen said:

I found this on an Australian TA's website (can't name it due to CC rules), but I would suppose it would be applicable for US/CA bookings as well:

 

CELEBRITY - SAIL YOUR WAY

starts Thursday!

Celebrity Cruises sailings of 4 nights or longer departing 4th May 2019 – 30th April 2021

> Sail: Cruise Only Price – discount off “standard”. (Lowest Available Fare). NO perks!

> Sail Plus: Choice of Two Perks Included at “standard” pricing

Perk options include: 
  - Classic Beverage Package
  - US$300 Onboard Credit per stateroom
  - Unlimited Xcelerate Wifi
  - Additional US$300 Onboard Credit per stateroom

> Sail All Included: Four Perks Included – At “standard” pricing plus an additional charge of AU/NZ$60 pp /pd

Sail All Included will offer all of the above perks plus an Upgrade to the Premium Beverage package.

Offer is applicable to all stateroom categories.

Book a Suite & receive Sail All Included FOUR perks for FREE!

Sale ends 1 May 2019

 

Interestingly, this TA calls the Sail Plus tier "standard" and the Sail tier "discount off standard", whereas I would have supposed that the new cruise-only rate ("Sail") would be the new standard. But apparently not.

 

Of course, I meant a cat. 8 oceanview in my previous post.

 

 

have gratuities been removed as a perk?  they seem missing.

[mikkelhansen]

4 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

have gratuities been removed as a perk?  they seem missing. 

I noted that as well, but that may just be for the Australian market (gratuity may be included in the base price in AUS - here in Scandinavia, gratuities are non-optional during booking and thus "included" in the base price).

The flyer in my original post very clearly states a choice from "the usual suspects"; 300$ OBC, gratuities, classic beverage package and wifi package as the four available perks.

Edited April 3, 2019 by mikkelhansen

[Cruise Junky]

2 minutes ago, mikkelhansen said:

I noted that as well, but that may just be for the Australian market (gratuity may be included in the base price in AUS - here in Scandinavia, gratuities are non-optional during booking and thus "included" in the base price).

The flyer in my original post very clearly states a choice from "the usual suspects"; 300$ OBC, gratuities, classic beverage package and wifi package as the four available perks.

Oh of course, forgot about it being an Australian TA. Makes sense now - thanks

[mikkelhansen]

Note: Both screenshots below are based on a cat. 11 inside stateroom on the January 2, 2021 Equinox sailing.

 

The new pricing seems to be slowly rolling out in Oceania/Eastern Asia as of now, including Celebrity's own website, although it seems somewhat glitchy on their own website. This "Choose Your Cruise Fare" box is new to me, and probably covers the "Sail" respectively "Sail Plus" tiers. If I choose the refundable deposit, I don't get to choose between the perks, and only the 300$ OBC perk is automatically applied, but this may be a Japanese promotion plan. This screenshot quotes in US dollars, but is reached already now by choosing "Country: Japan" at the bottom of Celebrity's website:

 

An Australian TA already has the new pricing completely implemented in their website, see below (this screenshot quotes in Australian dollars):

 

 

So overall, it seems that the enormous price hike I mentioned in an earlier post has now somewhat flattened out, seeing as the new pricing is beginning to roll out.

Edited April 3, 2019 by mikkelhansen

[Edinburghgirl1]

I booked a repositioning cruise onboard a couple of weeks ago and only got $100 on board credit.  Checked tonight and on Celebritys UK website the price has gone up £250 per person but they are now offering drinks package free gratuities and $200 on board credit. I’ll be cancelling and rebooking in the morning. A drinks package on a repositioning cruse is a result with all those sea days!

[villauk]

3 minutes ago, Edinburghgirl1 said:

I booked a repositioning cruise onboard a couple of weeks ago and only got $100 on board credit.  Checked tonight and on Celebritys UK website the price has gone up £250 per person but they are now offering drinks package free gratuities and $200 on board credit. I’ll be cancelling and rebooking in the morning. A drinks package on a repositioning cruse is a result with all those sea days!

 

 

If you booked onboard, transfer your booking to another sailing rather than losing your deposit by cancelling.

[Edinburghgirl1]

Doing a back to back so need to keep this sailing. Deposit was only £59 so even if we lose that we are still quids in getting the drinks package for 15 nights, 

[villauk]

5 minutes ago, Edinburghgirl1 said:

Doing a back to back so need to keep this sailing. Deposit was only £59 so even if we lose that we are still quids in getting the drinks package for 15 nights, 

 

 

You can rebook the sailing under the new terms, then move your one onboard deposit to something in the future and not lose any money. If it’s a B2B on X, just keep the one you are okay with and move the other one and rebook.

Edited April 3, 2019 by villauk

[RichKath]

We booked today for Barcelona-Buenos Aires 16 days Nov 20 for £1469 each (2D) with free grats, drink package & $200 OBC. It was the same price yesterday, but without any extras.

 

We did the same cruise last year and paid  £1749 each, inc grats for a C2 with $100 OBC but no drinks package. That was booked on board a previous cruise at a special rate.

Edited April 3, 2019 by RichKath
Last year price corrected

[luv2cruise0611]

30 minutes ago, RichKath said:

We booked today for Barcelona-Buenos Aires 16 days Nov 20 for £1469 each (2D) with free grats, drink package & $200 OBC. It was the same price yesterday, but without any extras.

 

We did the same cruise last year and paid  £1749 each, inc grats for a C2 with $100 OBC but no drinks package. That was booked on board a previous cruise at a special rate.

Did you book your cruise today, while onboard to get the $200 OBC?

Edited April 3, 2019 by srfoxymom

[RichKath]

8 hours ago, srfoxymom said:

Did you book your cruise today, while onboard to get the $200 OBC?

 

No, the booking was made in the UK. The UK current deal is "Sensational Spring Offers" with free Drinks package, gratuities and up to $300 OBC.

[Edinburghgirl1]

Didn’t have to cancel Cekebrity  are just changing price and adding on perks so we didn’t lose our deposit or existing on board credit. Price had gone up by £500 from what we were quoted at future cruise desk onboard  but the classic drinks package for 2 was going to cost us £1327.50 and we are now getting an extra $200 on board credit so a great result all round. 

[Jeremiah1212]

I checked a few cruises and really see no difference other than the base fare being easier to find.

 

They still show $315/pp for all 4 perks on a 7 night cruise. All of the cruises I checked still show the premium package as the drink package with all 4 perks, not the classic. From the info sheet posted earlier, I understood you would get the classic package with all 4 perks. I hope that continues to be the case. 

[Beachin2]

Checked our March Eclipse B2B.  Leg #2 is the 15 night TP to San Diego that had no "perks" available when booked. 

 

Adding the gratuity and beverage packages (after repricing, of course) netted out to a 40% savings bottom line if we would have bought the BP as an add on.  Grats are grats, would have paid them anyway so that zeros out.  Certainly better than any of the BP sales I've seen.

 

Nice to finally have a sale that really was a sale for us.

[NantahalaCruiser]

I tracked three different cruises prices/perks from 4/1/19 to 4/4/19:

 

In all cases the price to upgrade from 2 perks to 4 perks is still $45 per day with the Premium Beverage Package upgrade included.

 

Millennium 7-N Alaska 7/24/20

A2 with 2 perks increased $150 ($2499 to $2649)

2B with 2 perks increased $100 ($2249 to $2349)

 

Price increases may be within normal market movement

 

Equinox 11N S. Caribbean 5/2/20

A2 with 2 perks increased $150 ($2199 to $2349)

1B with 2 perks increased $100 ($1849 to $1949)

 

Again, price increases may be within normal market movement

 

Reflection 13N Transatlantic 10/20/20

A2 refundable 0 perk to non-refundable 0 perk increased $6 ($2799 to $2805)

A2 refundable 0 perk to refundable 2 perk increased $500 ($2799 to $3299)

1B 0 perks also increased $6 going from refundable to non-refundable

1B refundable 0 perk to 2 perk also increased $500 ($2219 to $2719)

 

Don't like the $6 increases while going from refundable to non-refundable!

 

Don't know whether or not the old refundable 0 perk fares increased from March to April 1st; but if not, then the $500 ($38.46 per day) increase for 2 perks looks like a very good price for the value of gratuities and the Classic.

 

Happy cruising.