Celebrity pricing strategy

[adolfo2]

It’s interesting that RoyalC has cut prices by 30%, added instant savings & Kids Sail FREE, for “close-in” sailings (example: Oasis of the Seas on Sept 6^th 2020) yet the price of the July 5^th 2020 Celebrity Summit sailing has barely changed since our original booking last November.

 

Hopefully, Celebrity doesn’t play games (i.e. drastic price reductions POST the April final payment date). If they do, I will cancel so fast and re-book w/new money that it will make their head spin as this is a “Cruise with Confidence” sailing.

[tallnthensome]

They are doing like NCL ..... raise prices and hope you won’t notIce or that you’re made of money .....and try and rip the money on the overpriced fares from your hand. 

[az_tchr]

1 hour ago, adolfo2 said:

It’s interesting that RoyalC has cut prices by 30%, added instant savings & Kids Sail FREE, for “close-in” sailings (example: Oasis of the Seas on Sept 6^th 2020) yet the price of the July 5^th 2020 Celebrity Summit sailing has barely changed since our original booking last November.

 

Hopefully, Celebrity doesn’t play games (i.e. drastic price reductions POST the April final payment date). If they do, I will cancel so fast and re-book w/new money that it will make their head spin as this is a “Cruise with Confidence” sailing.

Celebrity and others have always priced using computers on the most they think you will pay.

It appears that for many cruises in April, May, June and July they have removed that matrix.  The reason is cruising cannot resume until this epidemic is over.  Do you think that is likely to happen in 3-4 months?  I have a TA booked in April. Was upgraded to a Celebrity suite for $200pp!  Great upgrade on an empty ship.  LOL.

The other biggie for pricing is final payment. Thousands cancell just before that date since those of us in the USA can book totally refundable until then and many cancel.

[niakwa]

Have May 9 Norway sailing booked. Have checked with my Celebrity travel advisor on price to rebooked same thing for May 8, 2021 cruise and resulted in increase of $500! in fare

[nikel]

38 minutes ago, niakwa said:

Have May 9 Norway sailing booked. Have checked with my Celebrity travel advisor on price to rebooked same thing for May 8, 2021 cruise and resulted in increase of $500! in fare

 

The cruise I am booked on for next month to Hawaii is well over $1,000. pp in a lower category and only 11days instead of 13 for next year and the year after.  Crazy !!!!

[Mr. Click]

We are booked for Ireland and Iceland out of Dublin 10 nights on May 18, similar cruise out of Amsterdam on May 17, 2021 is about the same price but no "perks" and in a 1B vs A1 so that it two whole catagories down.  If I had in two perks it goes up $1k over what we would have dad this May.  I don't see the world getting better in the next 6 weeks so I am hoping they cancel before I do .....then I can watch for better pricing on May  2021.  Me and Otis Redding, just sitting on the dock of bay watching the tide go away....

[tallnthensome]

Heck, my Apex Cruise way out in April 2022 is more than a thousand dollars more now with zero perks versus the four I got And at a grand less. 

[grandgeezer]

This might be off point because it refers to Royal Caribbean, same company.

Check their x-citing deals, especially their Oasis Class ship, especially Europe. For the April and May sailings, pricing for balconys are less than half of the normal price. Also the transAtlantic, on I believe the Anthem, is less than $40 p.p. p.d., including taxes and fees for an inside.

They no there is no chance of the sailings happening, so take the money, use it and let them use the fcc for later when prices are back to normal, whenever that might happen.

[melish27]

1 hour ago, niakwa said:

Have May 9 Norway sailing booked. Have checked with my Celebrity travel advisor on price to rebooked same thing for May 8, 2021 cruise and resulted in increase of $500! in fare

We're looking at something similar—great deal on a 5-night Western Caribbean sailing on April 11 (yes, Day 29 of X's "30-day" moratorium—but that's another story; I'm assuming they'll cancel soon). To book the same sailing in 2021, which is fast filling up, we'll have to shell out almost $1,000 more to get a room one deck lower and similar perks; we're temporarily booked with an April 8 down payment deadline (no, they can't apply FCC to that), and yes it's the Infinity, which will be dry-docked and upgraded by  then, but still...

[nikel]

41 minutes ago, melish27 said:

We're looking at something similar—great deal on a 5-night Western Caribbean sailing on April 11 (yes, Day 29 of X's "30-day" moratorium—but that's another story; I'm assuming they'll cancel soon). To book the same sailing in 2021, which is fast filling up, we'll have to shell out almost $1,000 more to get a room one deck lower and similar perks; we're temporarily booked with an April 8 down payment deadline (no, they can't apply FCC to that), and yes it's the Infinity, which will be dry-docked and upgraded by  then, but still...

 

I wouldn't count on the Infinity getting it's dry dock !!

[melish27]

3 minutes ago, nikel said:

 

I wouldn't count on the Infinity getting it's dry dock !!

Why not? It's one way to ensure the ship is squeaky-clean. (But I take your point—X is probably more concerned with staying afloat than renovating ships, even if they're charging more for those [planned] renovations.)

[MamaFej]

1 hour ago, grandgeezer said:

This might be off point because it refers to Royal Caribbean, same company.

Check their x-citing deals, especially their Oasis Class ship, especially Europe. For the April and May sailings, pricing for balconys are less than half of the normal price. Also the transAtlantic, on I believe the Anthem, is less than $40 p.p. p.d., including taxes and fees for an inside.

They no there is no chance of the sailings happening, so take the money, use it and let them use the fcc for later when prices are back to normal, whenever that might happen.

Call me a cynic, but it seems like Celebrity is hanging those "deals" out there: hoping people will jump in and pay for them, knowing they'll be canceled, but will get a 125% FCC, infusing cash into a company that is currently losing more that its taking in. In the mean time, they are raising prices on cruises that might actually sail to such a level that that 125% FCC is effectively worth about 50-60% of what people paid for them. 

 

I have lots of future cruises booked, and my FCCs will go toward those. I'll be okay in this. But I'm not sure the "pay for a doomed cruise now and get a 125% return on your investment" strategy is really wise. 

 

Note: I'm NOT saying that this is what you're suggesting. A reply to your post just seemed like a nice place to say what I've been thinking. 

 

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 minute ago, MamaFej said:

Call me a cynic, but it seems like Celebrity is hanging those "deals" out there: hoping people will jump in and pay for them, knowing they'll be canceled, but will get a 125% FCC, infusing cash into a company that is currently losing more that its taking in. In the mean time, they are raising prices on cruises that might actually sail to such a level that that 125% FCC is effectively worth about 50-60% of what people paid for them. 

 

I have lots of future cruises booked, and my FCCs will go toward those. I'll be okay in this. But I'm not sure the "pay for a doomed cruise now and get a 125% return on your investment" strategy is really wise. 

 

Note: I'm NOT saying that this is what you're suggesting. A reply to your post just seemed like a nice place to say what I've been thinking. 

 

 

Also remember, not everyone who gets a FCC will be able to go on the cruise due to life events.  My WAG is 5-10% of X's FCCs will go unused.

[robinbtigger]

I thought about booking an Alaskan in August about cruise 2 weeks ago and did not.  That cruise is now $200 more with less perks (2 instead of 4) and a the classic beverage package instead of the premium package.  I think I'll wait for the prices to come back down.

[deliver42]

From what I've seen, except for MSC, all the cruise line's prices have spiked.I was looking forward to booking something with almost anyone, but not at these prices.Maybe, if people aren't in a hurry to book, the prices will get back o reality.

[yorky]

20 hours ago, adolfo2 said:

It’s interesting that RoyalC has cut prices by 30%, added instant savings & Kids Sail FREE, for “close-in” sailings (example: Oasis of the Seas on Sept 6^th 2020) yet the price of the July 5^th 2020 Celebrity Summit sailing has barely changed since our original booking last November.

 

Hopefully, Celebrity doesn’t play games (i.e. drastic price reductions POST the April final payment date). If they do, I will cancel so fast and re-book w/new money that it will make their head spin as this is a “Cruise with Confidence” sailing.

You will not be sailing in July, with respect we all need to get real about this, this is huge and it’s not going away in just over three months.

[Oceangoer2]

1 hour ago, yorky said:

You will not be sailing in July, with respect we all need to get real about this, this is huge and it’s not going away in just over three months.

What are your thoughts re sailing in November...some are thinking this will last over a year?

[Jeremiah1212]

Winter 2020/2021 prices have been really high across all lines even prior to the current situation. But you can't say one line 'cut' by 30%, another by 50% and so on. The final price never works out like that. Ever. With the school year being so uncertain I think the kids sail free may a moot point too. 

 

The cruise lines will make up for this by either offering lower prices to boost volume, or higher prices to manage pent up demand  if the demand is there. Who knows what will actually happen. It's way too early to tell.

[yorky]

6 minutes ago, oceangoer2 said:

What are your thoughts re sailing in November...some are thinking this will last over a year?

Over in the UK they think the virus could be at it’s peak in June, looking at Italy we are maybe two to three weeks away from being where they are now, 800 deaths in one day. Even if it starts to tail off from June onwards it’s obviously going to a prolonged period of time for things to return to anywhere near normal. 

[as3369]

Keep in mind that even after booking, prices will fluctuate several times.  I booked a TA for April 2020 in August 2019.  From the time I initially booked the cruise on the Edge, the price dropped over $700 per person and the perks went from 2 to 4 at final payment.  Also, I was able to secure a Sunset Veranda which was not available at initial booking.  My travel agent followed all of these price drops and credited my account.

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

I believe their heads are already spinning...

[HS2BS]

We have 2 bookings in May that Celebrity may/or not cancel, its after final payment. I know we can transfer the booking to another later cruise, but do the perks that we have transfer?

 

Hal

[TeeRick]

Why worry about deals and prices at this point?  Let's see when cruise ships are allowed to sail again first.  And how full they are.  Then perhaps think about deals.  Wasting your time right now I think.

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 minutes ago, HS2BS said:

We have 2 bookings in May that Celebrity may/or not cancel, its after final payment. I know we can transfer the booking to another later cruise, but do the perks that we have transfer?

 

Hal

 

No.

[Luvtoeat]

Last week my Sept. 10 day cruise increased by $1500.00 with a ton of open cabins in 2A. 3-4 days ago it was only up $1100.00. Last night it was only up about $800.00. Very glad I got the deal I did about 6 weeks ago but who knows if the ship will be sailing in Sept. I had to include CFAR in my travel insurance since Celebrity's cancellation policy didn't go out that far. Hoping for the best for everyone.