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

[grandgeezer]

4 hours ago, vtcruising said:

It looks like this particular offer is until Oct 31st. They may extend it or modify it (I assume it’s likely).

 

The black bar across from the Celebrity logo says applicable sailings which means not every one. 

[Baron Barracuda]

4 hours ago, Doubt It said:

 

Evidence of the travel industry's success in their migration and cheapening strategy is in their share price.

 

 

 

Doubt stockholders are very happy either.  Despite adding many new ships, raising fares and cutting costs Carnival stock is 20% below where it stood 20 years ago.  RCL stock has done better over the long haul, but has barely budged since late 2015.  Last week Carnival stock tanked after they guided down expectations for 2020 blaming higher fuel costs, Brexit concerns and currency issues.  Royal faces the same issues and is apparently scrambling to find additional revenue.

[davekathy]

Playing devil's advocate. I'm not from Missouri but...  Two different flyers posted by others at different times in this  thread. Where doses it say for the bundled Beverage Package "perk"?  All it says is Beverage Package. Classic or Premium?  

 

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

Effective October 10, 2019, Celebrity's Beverage Package cost
increases by $14 pp per day and will be added to your price.
Book by October 9th to secure your Beverage Package with all
costs included!"

 

 

Where does it say anything about the $14.00 will be added to the CBP?  Of course when ever you bundled with selected perks it adds to the bottom line of your total cruise fare. Nothing new. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 1, 2019 by davekathy

[Fogfog]

11 hours ago, cruisedoctor said:

Let me preface this with the fact that I'm a travel agent, who attended a webinar for travel agents last week, where Celebrity introduced this new pricing policy, for bookings where the passenger chooses the Classic Beverage Package as one of their "free perks".  It does go into effect starting 10/10/19.  Current bookings and those made prior to 10/10/19 are exempt from the $14 pp/pd cruise fare increase. (this added cost for the drink package does NOT apply for suites) The following how I've been presenting "free perks" to my clients the past few years, and my take on why Celebrity is taking the approach they are.

 

Up until this point, a potential passenger wanting to purchase their cruise at the lowest price point could have done so by selecting a "no perks" cruise fare.  Also, if available on a sailing, qualifying for a senior or state discount, or an exciting deal, would get you a lower cruise fare...but these to were "perk-less".

 

Your other options were to purchase your cruise with 2 to 4 free perks.  But, the cruise fare for purchasing the cruise with these free perks was higher, than the cruise fare without the free perks.  And, the more perks you opted for, the higher the cruise fare was.

 

So, every time one of my clients wanted a price quotation for a stateroom I would provide them with 3 or 4 prices.

(1) Cruise fare with no perks

(2) Cruise fare with 2 perks

(3) Cruise fare with 4 perks

(4) And, on some sailings there was also a Cruise fare with 3 perks option.

 

I would then provide them the "value" of each of the 4 possible perks they could choose from, based on the length of their sailing.  This gave them all the information, on which they could determine which of the 3 or 4 cruise fares provided them the "best value", depending on which perks they would choose, and the extent to which they would be using those perks. 

 

The point to remember is that the cruise fare with the perks, was always higher than without any perks.  So even though they were "advertised" as free perks, you were still actually paying for them.  The trick was to only go with the "free perks" if their "useable value" by the client was greater than the increased cruise fare (compared to the perk-less cruise fare).

 

Norwegian Cruise Line also offers "free perks" and if you select a "free perk beverage package" a $19.80 per person per day "service charge" is automatically added onto the booking, and is payable along with the cost of the cruise.  An additional "service charge" is also automatically added onto the booking if you select a "free perk dining package".  These service charges appear as additional line items on the cruise invoice labeled as "service charges".

 

More often than not, when I book an Norwegian Cruise sailing for someone who hasn't sailed on them before, and inform them about the significant mandatory service charge on the "free perk beverage package", they are unhappy and don't understand why they have pay $19.80 pp/pd for what is supposed to be a "free perk".  I too wouldn't be happy if someone advertises a free gift with a purchase, and then at the time of payment, slaps on a additional charge for the free gift.  I'm sure they get a lot of blow-back from passengers because of these added service charges.

 

My guess, is that Celebrity doesn't want to make it so blatantly obvious that the "free" beverage package perk isn't as "free" as it used to be.  And, having unhappy passengers because of it.  So, by rolling in the additional cost of the "free" beverage package, into the cruise fare, the majority of passengers won't be aware of it, unless they read the fine print at the bottom of the advertisement; or the sales clerk at the cruise line points it out, or their travel agent calls it to their attention.  Most potential passengers won't recognize the change, because it won't be a separate line item on the cruise invoice, like it is on Norwegian's.  Ignorance is bliss.

 

For the well informed, it's still up to you to compare the different cruise fares (i.e., perk-less, or with multiple perks) in order to determine which total cruise fare is the best value for your particular situation.

 

Hope this helps!

 

One last IMPORTANT note.  If you already have a booking with a beverage package package perk, or if you make a booking prior to the change going into effect on 10/10/19.  Be VERY CAREFUL if you have ANY changes made to that booking after 10/10/19.  The webinar presenter commented that any change to the booking could cause the "grandfathered-in" beverage package to drop off, and be replaced with the new beverage package (with the $14 pp/pd charge) added onto your booking.  Also, if at some point you ask for a re-faring because of a price drop, that involves a "rebooking" procedure, and you will no longer be eligible for the "grandfathered-in" beverage package...and the newer beverage package will go on along with the additional $14 pp/pd charge to your new cruise fare. 

 

 

So they are raising the bundling of the bev package in the perks

Not sure why they had to make this a pp, pd fee and a big splash as opposed to just changing their perk pricing/bundles. 

In the end--the bev package will not be nearly discounted as before.... 

 

IF we elect to go "bare" and buy the bev package with a sale like the BOGO or 50% off, will that avoid this (and perhaps be less pp pd?) 

[prish]

Thanks a ton cruisedoctor, especially for taking the time to call Celebrity. Guess I’ll use my OBC and upgrade our existing classic package to premium, we always do this in any case. Appreciate your help and clear explanation 😊

 

BTW, I can upgrade on my cruise planner, isn’t it?

Edited October 1, 2019 by prish

[chamima]

5 hours ago, cruisedoctor said:

 

Now, if you have an existing booking which already has a classic beverage package on it. And, if you call and have it upgraded to the premium package prior to 10/10/19, it still will only cost you an additional $10 pp/pd.

 

But, I'm betting your question is really asking what happens if you want to upgrade that Classic to a Premium on your existing booking AFTER 10/10/19.  That wasn't in the presentation, and because I didn't want to disappoint you, I called Celebrity.  After a long period of consultation between supervisors, and the supervisor's supervisors, they came back with the following response: "most likely you would only be charged the $10 pp/pd additional upgrade charge".  My recommendation is, if you currently have a Classic package and you are considering upgrading to a Premium, that you do it prior to 10/10/19 just to be on the safe side. 

 

Thanks cruisedoctor!

That was my question also.

We have a lot of 2021 cruises booked on Celebrity - all with the Classic as a perk.

We usually try to upgrade to Premium on board so as to give the credit to one of the bartenders but I will now upgrade all of my cruises later today or tomorrow.

The only thing I'm grateful for is that I can do it online without bothering my poor TA who is overwhelmed with changes this week.

 

I have a feeling that these cruises (if we take them) will be our last with Celebrity. We've been more and more dissatisfied with these small changes that add up (along with the extra load that the crew  seem to have the last couple of years) and this is the proverbial "straw".

 

Anyways - thanks for the heads up!

[CulverCityCruisers]

I remember the days when there were NO perks and we all just paid for our drinks and at the end of the cruise got a printout with all our charges.  We all just paid on the back end.  Now we pay upfront!

[villauk]

4 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

Thanks cruisedoctor!

That was my question also.

We have a lot of 2021 cruises booked on Celebrity - all with the Classic as a perk.

We usually try to upgrade to Premium on board so as to give the credit to one of the bartenders but I will now upgrade all of my cruises later today or tomorrow.

The only thing I'm grateful for is that I can do it online without bothering my poor TA who is overwhelmed with changes this week.

 

I have a feeling that these cruises (if we take them) will be our last with Celebrity. We've been more and more dissatisfied with these small changes that add up (along with the extra load that the crew  seem to have the last couple of years) and this is the proverbial "straw".

 

Anyways - thanks for the heads up!

 

 

You’ll have to watch the fares over the next couple of years for price drops and work out if it’s worth repricing and paying the extra $14pp per day, or keeping the higher original fare. That will be the big hit now on booked cruises that are way in the future: any adjustments/price drops will mean paying the extra if one has opted for the beverage package as a perk.

[chamima]

12 minutes ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

I remember the days when there were NO perks and we all just paid for our drinks and at the end of the cruise got a printout with all our charges.  We all just paid on the back end.  Now we pay upfront!

 

 

I also remember those days but drinks were reasonably priced.

The wine we get with the Premium package for $12/glass is usually something we can purchase for that same $12 for a bottle at home.

The sparkling water we get that Celebrity charges $5/bottle for is $1 (or less)  a bottle retail.

Etc., etc., etc.

So now we get the beverage package so as not to feel totally ripped off.

[Straughn]

27 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

Thanks cruisedoctor!

That was my question also.

We have a lot of 2021 cruises booked on Celebrity - all with the Classic as a perk.

We usually try to upgrade to Premium on board so as to give the credit to one of the bartenders but I will now upgrade all of my cruises later today or tomorrow.

The only thing I'm grateful for is that I can do it online without bothering my poor TA who is overwhelmed with changes this week.

 

I have a feeling that these cruises (if we take them) will be our last with Celebrity. We've been more and more dissatisfied with these small changes that add up (along with the extra load that the crew  seem to have the last couple of years) and this is the proverbial "straw".

 

Anyways - thanks for the heads up!

I am trying to figure out where, on the Celebrity website, I go to do the upgrade from Classic to Premium. I have found it before, but can’t now. Please tell me where to do this. Thanks.

[chamima]

11 minutes ago, Straughn said:

I am trying to figure out where, on the Celebrity website, I go to do the upgrade from Classic to Premium. I have found it before, but can’t now. Please tell me where to do this. Thanks.

 

You have to sign in and go to your booking.

I'm trying to do one of my cruises to give you details but am having trouble - we may all need to call Celebrity to upgrade.

 

Edited October 1, 2019 by chamima

[akcruz]

56 minutes ago, Straughn said:

I am trying to figure out where, on the Celebrity website, I go to do the upgrade from Classic to Premium. I have found it before, but can’t now. Please tell me where to do this. Thanks.

 

I could be wrong but I believe you can only do it on the website within a certain amount of days of the cruise, I want to say 30 or 60???  Otherwise you have to call.

[goofysmom99]

1 minute ago, akcruz said:

 

I could be wrong but I believe you can only do it on the website within a certain amount of days of the cruise, I want to say 30 or 60???  Otherwise you have to call.

I'm within 60 days and couldn't find it so called CC yesterday.

[rakes5]

For us, this will mean we probably won't be selecting any perks, because only one of us drinks alcohol and coffee.

So we would be paying an extra $28 per day, or $196 extra for a 7 night cruise.

If we select BP and the $300 OBC, paying the extra $196, for a total of $496, or $70.85 per day for the drink package for one person to drink. That's exactly the same as one person paying the current $59 + 11.80 gratuity

[anniegb]

Cancelled

 

Edited October 2, 2019 by anniegb

[poffles]

12 hours ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

I remember the days when there were NO perks and we all just paid for our drinks and at the end of the cruise got a printout with all our charges.  We all just paid on the back end.  Now we pay upfront!

 

And I bet the drinks were cheaper too.  Marketing has altered what everyone expects and ultimately alters what many start thinking they 'need'.  I like my drinks and the package is great but it is creeping into being a very expensive convenience, as is buying a drink one by one on board (more so on Celebrity).

 

Edited to add that the 'free' perk is what drew me to Celebrity for the first time some years back.  And the perk really was free as I was watching prices and when the perk was offered it did not change the price at all, so we selected the Beverage Package and loved it, we were hooked.  So looking back, that was smart of them as I continued to sail with them and obviously paid the hidden cost of the 'free' perk along the way so they gained a customer.  Today I am at the point of bailing as I think it has run it's course, though I have no plans to sail for a while, Princess is looking inviting ... if I don't totally bail the industry and do a land vacation.

Edited October 2, 2019 by poffles
.

[ABoatNerd]

poffles, reading many CC cruise line threads across all brands, there is an emerging trend of people engaging in land vacations instead of cruising. I am one of them, with the exception of QM2.

 

After many years of cruising, I find cruising to be fake, increasingly divorced from the sea. Celebrity's removal/downsizing of forward viewing areas final nail.

 

In 2015, the last time I sailed Celebrity, we organized a post trip of Rio. Private car, driver and guide. The experience was outstanding, they arranged for lunch/dinners in outstanding local restaurants, front of the line for attractions, drives around the local area to small towns etc. We have been hooked on private (and some group) escorted land tours ever since.

 

The real world I have seen in this manner beats any experience I had on a cruise.

 

The costs are not greater or marginally greater than a cruise - but you sure do experience the land, people, food, animals, terrain etc - which I would think is the purpose of travel in the first place.

 

The costs are straightforward, versus the ridiculous, anti-consumer subject of this thread.

[bikerunner]

7 hours ago, rakes5 said:

For us, this will mean we probably won't be selecting any perks, because only one of us drinks alcohol and coffee.

So we would be paying an extra $28 per day, or $196 extra for a 7 night cruise.

If we select BP and the $300 OBC, paying the extra $196, for a total of $496, or $70.85 per day for the drink package for one person to drink. That's exactly the same as one person paying the current $59 + 11.80 gratuity

So Ingeneneral getting the drink package for 50% discount for 2 ppl. Still a good deal.  Also can’t compare what you pay at stores on what cruises restaurants charge.  There is always a min of 2.5  upcharge or more on drinks overall. And it’s a captured audience so not like you can shop elsewhere. For example restaurants I go to bars etc draft bud bud light is 3 a glass and figure about 165 glasses in a keg, I really doubt the bar is paying 450 dollars for a keg of beer.  these are just local sport bars not a chain etc.  yes I remember I use to get the perks free also able to smoke just about anywhere.  Why don’t we wish to have that back.  Alcohol is just as bad for you Things change.  Like many said going to shop around.  I do but still find celebrity works best for me overall on what I like.  

[anniegb]

On 9/30/2019 at 5:09 PM, goofysmom99 said:

Funny you should mention that.  I travel solo and for quite awhile, I've noticed that all the European Edge Exciting Deals have a 150% single supplement.  All the other ships are 200% solo, except for the Silhouette Northern TA.  I can't recall ever seeing a 150% on ANY European itinerary for as long as I've been cruising - only occasional TAs.  Just a hunch that the Edge isn't attracting quite as many "demographics" as they'd hoped.  It isn't attracting me, but I do have 5 cruises on S-class booked (for now).

On my first Celebrity cruise which was Eastern Med, the solo penalty was 150%.

 

I have only ever paid 200% solo penalty once on Celebrity and that was a NZ cruise.

 

Annie

[TeeRick]

Cruisedoctor- since you are a TA do you ever get a chance to give Celebrity feedback?  Do you ever feel like they listen?  Customers and probably TA's are really getting tired of these shell games around pricing.  I'm not debating the price or reasoning.  Can't they just announce a very simple price increase on beverage packages or on anything else?  Why does it have to be so complicated?  We will accept the new price and pay- or not.  Simple.  No need for these schemes with tricky language generating pages of posts on possible explanations here or anywhere else.  You are wonderful for helping us but that really should not be necessary.  We just need from them something like "Celebrity announces a total price increase of $xx USD on classic and premium beverage packages as of dd/mm/yyyy".  Period.

[poffles]

2 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Cruisedoctor- since you are a TA do you ever get a chance to give Celebrity feedback?  Do you ever feel like they listen?  Customers and probably TA's are really getting tired of these shell games around pricing.  I'm not debating the price or reasoning.  Can't they just announce a very simple price increase on beverage packages or on anything else?  Why does it have to be so complicated?  We will accept the new price and pay- or not.  Simple.  No need for these schemes with tricky language generating pages of posts on possible explanations here or anywhere else.  You are wonderful for helping us but that really should not be necessary.  We just need from them something like "Celebrity announces a total price increase of $xx USD on classic and premium beverage packages as of dd/mm/yyyy".  Period.

 

Me do think you are asking too much from them ... bwahahahahahahaha 🙂  Lost in a sea of smoke and mirrors, and I think that includes their own staff who have to answer to it all LOL  I don't think anyone would argue with marketing strategy to make more money but 100% agree with you ... stop messing with us so much!

[chamima]

9 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Cruisedoctor- since you are a TA do you ever get a chance to give Celebrity feedback?  Do you ever feel like they listen?  Customers and probably TA's are really getting tired of these shell games around pricing.  I'm not debating the price or reasoning.  Can't they just announce a very simple price increase on beverage packages or on anything else?  Why does it have to be so complicated?  We will accept the new price and pay- or not.  Simple.  No need for these schemes with tricky language generating pages of posts on possible explanations here or anywhere else.  You are wonderful for helping us but that really should not be necessary.  We just need from them something like "Celebrity announces a total price increase of $xx USD on classic and premium beverage packages as of dd/mm/yyyy".  Period.

 

 

💜😃😀💜💜💜

 

A simple "like" wasn't enough for your wonderful post.

 

Our wonderful TA is exhausted from making changes because of all of these games.

[poffles]

1 hour ago, chamima said:

 

 

💜😃😀💜💜💜

 

A simple "like" wasn't enough for your wonderful post.

 

Our wonderful TA is exhausted from making changes because of all of these games.

 

I suspect Celebrity reps are too 🙂

[Anchor Light]

17 hours ago, CulverCityCruisers said:

I remember the days when there were NO perks and we all just paid for our drinks and at the end of the cruise got a printout with all our charges.  We all just paid on the back end.  Now we pay upfront!

So true, and in most cases we now pay upfront for more than we actually consume in the case of packages.  I remember the day when buying an alcoholic beverage on board was cheaper than on land.  The cruise lines purchase their alcohol supply duty free and passed some of those savings on to us!

 

Times change and marketing/revenue-generating gimmicks abound throughout the industry.

[angelhelly]

16 hours ago, akcruz said:

 

I could be wrong but I believe you can only do it on the website within a certain amount of days of the cruise, I want to say 30 or 60???  Otherwise you have to call.

Call the captain club.

 

I had to do it for all my cruises, have them add the classic package to the cruise planner.

 

I booked the upgrade for my husband for our 2021 cruise already...