New "fee" of $14/day on Perks Drink Package to be added?

[RICCruisers]

Very good post by JonnyCT81. This explains what will happen on 10/10. My only question is why would the 4 Perks choice have to pay the extra $14.00. There are only 4 Perks available to choose from and 1 of the Perks will be the Beverage Package. The price of the cruise will be significantly higher if you choose 4 Perks vs. 2 Perks. Shouldn’t X include the $14.00 into the actual pricing of Cruise + 4 Perks?  

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, RICCruisers said:

As Jelayne states that Celebrity has not stated anywhere the extra charge is for Gratuities. 

 

I will agree that Celebrity does not state that the $14.00 per person per day is for Gratuities on the Beverage Package. But, I will also say that when you look at the price of the Premium Beverage Package at $70.00 per day and figure their standard 20% Gratuity it equals $14.00. A Coincidence?

 

Me Thinks it is NOT.  

 

Rule #1 - There are no coincidences. 

 

 

The Classic package, which is what is a offered  perk (for all but suites who get the Premium,)would have slightly lower gratuities.  

[CulverCityCruisers]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

Thanks for shedding some further light on the situation.

 

On the question of purchasing a beverage package as opposed to selecting it as a perk, you say that there will be no increase if it is purchased onboard. What about pre-purchasing online, also no increase? 

Remember, when you get the Beverage PKG as a "PERK" the price is reduced and NOT full price.  When you purchase on board you pay FULL PRICE with no reduction, so, it will cost you more onboard

[Fouremco]

27 minutes ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

Remember, when you get the Beverage PKG as a "PERK" the price is reduced and NOT full price.  When you purchase on board you pay FULL PRICE with no reduction, so, it will cost you more onboard

Yes, I realize that a perk is not full price. In fact, a perk should be free, but that's a concept that Celebrity is struggling with. My question to @JonnyCT81 pertained to the pricing of a pre-cruise purchase versus an onboard purchase. According to his post, the latter will not be subject to the new $14 pp/pd fee, and I'd like to know whether or not the pre-cruise purchase will also be exempt from this latest cash grab. 

[fizzy1]

[JonnyCT81]

14 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Yes, I realize that a perk is not full price. In fact, a perk should be free, but that's a concept that Celebrity is struggling with. My question to @JonnyCT81 pertained to the pricing of a pre-cruise purchase versus an onboard purchase. According to his post, the latter will not be subject to the new $14 pp/pd fee, and I'd like to know whether or not the pre-cruise purchase will also be exempt from this latest cash grab. 

Hi there,

 

To put it in context, let's assume you book an "Exciting deal" and get your cruise at a super low rate with no perks.  

 

If you book the beverage package onboard or before hand on your cruise planner on the website, you will have pay the per day price, plus the 20% gratituity, it won't affect your cruise rate.

 

If you want to purchase your cruise with the beverage package included, it will increase your cruise fare by $14/pp, per day. 

 

If you're buying it separately, the pricing for the package will remain the same (I haven't been told the beverage package pricing is changing, but these things do change all the time).  

 

Hope this helps!

[Fouremco]

2 minutes ago, JonnyCT81 said:

Hope this helps!

Yes, thank you very much. Now I need to add a few more columns to the spreadsheet I created just a few months ago to determine the most cost effective option when booking a Celebrity cruise.

 

 

[Spif Barwunkel]

5 minutes ago, JonnyCT81 said:

Hi there,

 

To put it in context, let's assume you book an "Exciting deal" and get your cruise at a super low rate with no perks.  

 

If you book the beverage package onboard or before hand on your cruise planner on the website, you will have pay the per day price, plus the 20% gratituity, it won't affect your cruise rate.

 

If you want to purchase your cruise with the beverage package included, it will increase your cruise fare by $14/pp, per day. 

 

If you're buying it separately, the pricing for the package will remain the same (I haven't been told the beverage package pricing is changing, but these things do change all the time).  

 

Hope this helps!

Either way, purchasing the Premium Beverage Package at time of booking or upgrading to PBP at a later date will not incur the additional  fee, correct?

[hcat]

Still confused but  it is very likely we would not pick a perk that adds to the cruise cost. Just seems wrong.

 

We,ll bring our  2 btls of wine,  fiji water and soda with us in a wheelie carry on , and  supplement with Elite breakfast...mimosa and specialty coffee as well as at the Elite  gathering or Elite added to card perks. 

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

This is an entirely different situation. Like it or not, Celebrity has turned into a booze cruise. Of all the posts so far, how many have said that this would be their line in the sand, and they wouldn't pay it, or change cruise lines? If this doesn't sputter, I can see them doing it again in six months or so.

 

That's your opinion or are you speaking for yourself.  "If" the increase isn't worth the BP as a bundled perk we won't select it. No problem.  Plus there are a lot of other options to select from the BPs besides alcohol. At least for us. Speaking only for ourselves we drink more bottled water than wine or beer. We started cruising long before BPs and that's not a reason for "us" to or not to cruise with Celebrity. 

[davekathy]

5 hours ago, weregoingcruising said:

Celebrity  hasnt' announced anything yet. I called 1 Touch and they don't have any info yet. I will wait for the official announcement from Celebrity.

That's been my stance on this subject starting with the first rumor that it was going to go into effect 1 September and now this new date of 3 or 10 October. Time will tell.  But then again, I don't always believe everything from the Celebrity call center employees either. 

Edited September 30, 2019 by davekathy

[jelayne]

A couple of weeks ago Celebrity moved the date for revolutionizing the Eclipse into 2021 and published the revised schedule.  Some booked on cruses during the new dates for redoing the Eclipse  called the Capt Club, emailed and were told the date hadn't been changed.   

 

Unfortunately the folks at Celebrity who are interacting with the customer are the last to be informed of changes .

[Iamcruzin]

4 hours ago, richstowe said:

BTW , anyone else sick of seeing Lisa's smiling face at the top of CC's Celebrity page ?

I could guess what she's smiling about . 

Yes! Why do we have to see that face?  I'm so tempted to photoshop a beard and horns on her.

[akcruz]

49 minutes ago, davekathy said:

 

That's your opinion or are you speaking for yourself.  "If" the increase isn't worth the BP as a bundled perk we won't select it. No problem.  Plus there are a lot of other options to select from the BPs besides alcohol. At least for us. Speaking only for ourselves we drink more bottled water than wine or beer. We started cruising long before BPs and that's not a reason for "us" to or not to cruise with Celebrity. 

 

I do think you were the base customer for Celebrity a few years back and therefore adding the package as a perk was a good marketing tactic that didn't cost them much if anything at all.  However, to increase the number of customers marketing tactics have changed to lure in a younger crowd where the beverage package is a bigger draw.  In this case I am assuming the beverage package is beginning to cost them $$ so something has to be done.  The newer demographic needed to fill all those new ships is changing the bottom line and unfortunately other changes will need to come because of that.

Edited September 30, 2019 by akcruz

[rimmit]

3 minutes ago, akcruz said:

 

I do think you were the base customer for Celebrity a few years back and therefore adding the package as a perk was a good marketing tactic that didn't cost them much if anything at all.  However, to increase the number of customers marketing tactics have changed to lure in a younger crowd where the beverage package is a bigger draw.  In this case I am assuming the beverage package us beginning to cost them $$ so something has to be done.  The newer demographic needed to fill all those new ships is changing the bittom line and unfortunately other changes will need to come because of that.

 

THIS!!  This is the most accurate statement I have seen so far.  X as of recent has been shifting gears in their demographic dept.

 

I was sailing X before we had kids in 2010z. Since we had kids we have been almost exclusively RCI and some Disney.  I had always watched X sales but they never had KSF unlike other cruiselines so we avoided them.  Most recently with the KSF we have started booking them as they offer a great value, esp. for those with kids and also appreciate a BP.   So now we are booking X more than RCI as it is a better value and sometimes even cheaper with more perks.

 

We had some friends that have done the same thing.  Started RCI, but found X to be a better value.  While X is never going to be go after the families as aggressively as RCI and Disney does (they are not putting an ice skating rink in anytime soon) they are obviously looking to expand their demographic.  In the process of doing so, the amount the BP is costing them has likely increased to a point requiring an intervention.

[davekathy]

5 minutes ago, akcruz said:

 

I do think you were the base customer for Celebrity a few years back and therefore adding the package as a perk was a good marketing tactic that didn't cost them much if anything at all.  However, to increase the number of customers marketing tactics have changed to lure in a younger crowd where the beverage package is a bigger draw.  In this case I am assuming the beverage package us beginning to cost them $$ so something has to be done.  The newer demographic needed to fill all those new ships is changing the bittom line and unfortunately other changes will need to come because of that.

It just frosts my stones when someone posts narrow minded statements that Celebrity's BP perks= booze cruises, not matter the demographics. 

[RICCruisers]

Trying to theorize why X is implementing this new charge is fruitless.

 

None of us were in the room where the decision was made. I know many people complain about X’s IT Department. I can assure you those IT folks are using a wide variety of analytics to slice and dice the revenue to make a variety of recommendations on how maximize revenue. Celebrity has all of our personal information like age, zip codes, # of cruises, which perks are selected, which web pages we view and much much more. Toss all of this information into a computer program and we’d all be amazed at what gets spit out. 

 

They likely analyze each cruise and  know how many guests had which perks. They can then run the numbers against the demographics of that cruise. They can then run the numbers breaking them out by who the Captain, Hotel Director, Cruise Director or F&B Director was. The number of Sea Days can also be thrown into the mix which can tell them the optimal number when planning future cruise calendars. The amount of information available is endless. The tricky part is how to best use it. 

 

Or or maybe I’m totally wrong and they just throw ideas against the wall and see what sticks. 

 

Many of you have strong opinions about LLP. I have my own. Pro or Con, one thing I do know is she is a smart businesswoman who is definitely making changes at Celebrity and using as much input as she can get in order make Celebrity successful. 

 

Time to get off my soapbox, my time is up. 

Edited September 30, 2019 by RICCruisers

[wpgcycler]

Dunno if this has already been mentioned but, doesn't anyone else find it amusing when people go on about X marketing to a younger demographic that they seem to forget they were once a member of that very same demographic X is targeting?

[gordiej]

5 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Thanks for shedding some further light on the situation.

 

On the question of purchasing a beverage package as opposed to selecting it as a perk, you say that there will be no increase if it is purchased onboard. What about pre-purchasing online, also no increase? 

I couldn’t possibly imagine that purchasing a cruise add-on either online in advance, or once onboard, would cause the underlying fare of your cruise to change. 

The price you pay for the add-on will be the price you pay. Period. Will that be $14 higher in the future than today? Perhaps. Who knows, they’re always changing excursion and other prices and sometimes having sales. But it’s not going to change what you already paid for your fare. 

[Shadow9612]

6 hours ago, JonnyCT81 said:

On 10/10 there will be four new rates:

- Cruise Only (No perks)
- 2 Perks
- 2 Perks w/ Beverage Package
- 4 Perks

@JonnyCT81 thank you for the information in your post.  Do you know, will each of those four rates be available with non-refundable and refundable deposits (for Canada + US) ?

[Doubt It]

23 hours ago, Toftwood said:

Which would be your cruise line of preference nowadays? I really don’t like the “passenger mix” on some other lines.

 

Actually, no cruises contemplated, first time since 1989. Had moved up the food chain thinking a better experience, not. Oceania, not (read reviews these days, yikes), Crystal not bad, Regent excellent.

 

But, all are downgrading and I and our friends got the impression that all cruise lines are anti-customer these days. 

 

Moved to land vacations; best trip of our life in June on a premium trip through Austria, Switzerland, Germany, France - then QM2 home from Hamburg to NY. Outstanding, well beyond any cruise. Excellent local food experiences, special cultural experiences organized for our tour, prepaid and organized attractions, luggage pick up at door of ones hotel room. Not a complaint. 

Had excellent premium wine included in the package (you could see it poured so you knew what it was) and then you could pick other beverages al a carte. We even had local Austrian wine and Swiss wine, excellent.

 

Got a 3 week trip, including QM2 sheltered balcony, for less than my Oct 2018 17 day trip on Oceania - no contest which was the more rewarding experience; the land tour.

 

My large Canadian TA in Vancouver says that cruise bookings are way down in her agency but land tours are way up; being booked by the younger set and the retirees. They are corporately moving to emphasize land touring and downplaying cruising. She also indicated that there is growth in the specialty cruises like Iceland, Canadian north etc but not the mass lines.

[Iamcruzin]

6 minutes ago, Doubt It said:

 

But, all are downgrading and I and our friends got the impression that all cruise lines are anti-customer these days.

 

 

Cruising used to be a luxury vacation with food and entertainment. My first cruise on Carnival in 1986 while not white glove it was still a better all around experience in terms of food and accommodations than some experiences today. There was a time that I could choose any line and know what to expect. All had good service and good food. Now it’s a mass produced experience with ships getting bigger and bigger and promotions that require a consult with a financial advisor and an Attorney instead of a travel agent in order to fill the ships.  Some will argue that cruising is less expensive now that what it was 30 years ago. It’s certainly not the same experience and for some reason it was easier to afford then, than it is now.

When they start removing furniture or replacing it with that of form and no function they have hit rock bottom in terms of caring about that customer.

 

[ExArkie]

Just curious, having read all of this thread, but would this have been easier to swallow (sorry, couldn't pass that up) if Celebrity announced the following? Due to the popularity of the beverage package perk, they can no longer afford to offer it for free. Therefore, starting October 10, new bookings can choose to purchase the package for $14 per day per person. This will count as one of the perks in your booking.

 

The net result is the same - a formerly-free perk is being discontinued, but Celebrity would offer the same service at a price below full retail. Maybe it is just me, but I would be more willing to go along with the perk being a reduced price package as opposed to being charged more for the cruise as a result of choosing a "free" perk, even though it costs me the same amount of money either way.

[TeeRick]

10 hours ago, wpgcycler said:

Dunno if this has already been mentioned but, doesn't anyone else find it amusing when people go on about X marketing to a younger demographic that they seem to forget they were once a member of that very same demographic X is targeting?

None of us like to admit that we are being replaced by younger people!🧓👴

[Straughn]

I always get the beverage package, and if not in a suite, I upgrade from classic to premium before  I ever set foot on the ship. I drink water, soda, tea during the day, and  some combination of wine and bourbon in the evening. Drunk- no, mellow- yes. I almost never have alcohol during the day. Whether or not I get my monies worth is immaterial to me. I don’t have to sign a slip; if I don’t like the wine, I can get something else. I pay for the alcohol package in advance, so I can budget for it.  Lastly, I don’t have a multi page bill at the end of the cruise. 

Edited September 30, 2019 by Straughn