Celebrity pricing. Will you sail at these prices? Anyone know of price drops?

[Keys Kathy]

We all know that the X prices are waayy out of line right now. Anyone who watches the pricing knows that inventory doesn't seem to be moving. As an example, I have been watching the S1 on the Apex on Jan 29th, they have sold 3 cabins in the last 6 months. 

 

Now we get to the "Always Included", which does not seem to MEAN always included. I get advertisements for a great price from several agencies. When I nibble at the price, I find out it is "sail only".

 

Personally, I think this extremely confusing to the public. X pushes the "AI" and I might be a bit daft so I looked it up and Always means "at all times; on all occasions." Ok, so perhaps I misunderstand the word "all". So I looked...."used to refer to the whole quantity or extent of a particular group or thing."

 

Is anyone else feel like we are being mislead? At least Big, better, best let us choose what level we wanted to pay for. 

 

Can we make a pact to let each other know about any price drops?

[tallnthensome]

My cruise on the Apex is about $3500 more than I booked at so no I would never book at these new prices . 

Edited June 29, 2021 by tallnthensome

[Keys Kathy]

Just now, tallnthensome said:

My cruise on the Apex is about $3500 more than I booked at so no I would never book at these new prices . 

Yeah, I know. What we are paying for 2 is now less than would be for 1 of us now. 

[lostchild]

Until all the FCC issued in 2020 expires (April 30, 2022 I think), prices would not drop.

[Keys Kathy]

10 minutes ago, lostchild said:

Until all the FCC issued in 2020 expires (April 30, 2022 I think), prices would not drop.

Please explain

 

[lostchild]

2 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

Please explain

 

There are a lot of FCC sitting out there waiting to be used.   Until they are all used up or expires on April 30, 2022, Celebrity could charge any price and people will still have to book.   Since they have to be used on sail by Sept 2022, prices should go back down a bit after that.

 

I have to use ours and still have not decided what to book yet.  The Alaska cruise we booked back in 2020 is now about 50% more with the same perks.

[MR_T]

We booked the apex TA for this year (Oct 10th) back in December 2019 and looked recently and it’s move than double what we paid… 😱 to be honest that’s why we are still planning on doing it as I’m afraid we won’t see a deal like we got again any time soon… we booked under the all 4 perks promo and also extra OBC from our agent so this new all in deal doesn’t come close to ours. 

[PTC DAWG]

Apex seems high for sure, Equinox is more in line with what I’m used too…9 day next fall, I have one of those booked…

 

Have a lift and shifted Apex cruise next March..booked before AI, $3000 for 2 in aft cabin, classic drinks and $600 OBC…this was originally an Edge booking with a forward balcony…the round looking balcony…they gave us an SV on Apex with a lift and shift..kept the drinks and OBC in place..

[TMLAalum]

Our 1st cruise ever was on the NCL Pearl to Alaska r/t Seattle in 2008. I recall we paid @$3600 for two in a veranda. No drinks or tips included. We are only at $500 more for our upcoming Alaska cruise on the Millennium 13 years later but drinks and gratuities are included. 

[Keys Kathy]

I kept looking at prices during Covid, the pricing trend caused me to get a full refund on one of my sailings because lift and shift wouldn't work. I could not have replaced my cruise even with the additional 25% in credit. 

 

I was able to lift and shift two others. 

 

I keep forgetting about those with FFC. Does anyone have any idea how much is out there?

 

Oh, and another thing that gets my goat? Non-refundable deposits! You don't get it back even if you cancel before final payment. NOT cool. I think that might kind of cut off their nose to spite their face. If I put deposits down, they still get to earn interest on the deposit. If I cancel, they loose nothing.

Edited June 29, 2021 by Keys Kathy
add

[PS0DSH]

I"m booked on a 12-night cruise out of FLL on the Equinox starting Nov. 28th.  We got a Balcony and about $512 of OBC.  All-in price was $3,198 for my wife and I.  I thought it was a great price ?

[Keys Kathy]

2 minutes ago, PS0DSH said:

I"m booked on a 12-night cruise out of FLL on the Equinox starting Nov. 28th.  We got a Balcony and about $512 of OBC.  All-in price was $3,198 for my wife and I.  I thought it was a great price ?

That sounds pretty good to me. Is it all in?

[PS0DSH]

10 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

That sounds pretty good to me. Is it all in?

It doesn't include airfare...flying there on points with Southwest.  But other than that...yes...all in.  Taxes, port charges, Drink package, tips, internet, etc.

[PTC DAWG]

17 minutes ago, PS0DSH said:

I"m booked on a 12-night cruise out of FLL on the Equinox starting Nov. 28th.  We got a Balcony and about $512 of OBC.  All-in price was $3,198 for my wife and I.  I thought it was a great price ?

I agree…sounds good to me..

[hasentreelake]

Celebrity has been our best 'investment' this year.
125% FCC + 125% FCC again + again.... we now are booked in two S1's for Sept and Nov this year.
This year is important - seems next year rates are high while this year rates are omg good.
That's our take on it.
 

[jelayne]

I’ve been pricing all inclusive resorts for next winter and am finding  the price is at least double what we paid this  April- 5 nights $1529 for 2 people in a  Oceanview Suite.

Same room April 2022 5 nights $3378.  

[Tee & Chilli]

I’m not monitoring prices closely however last Friday the 7/31 Edge had a huge price drop. IV balcony for 1 person was about $3300. It dropped $1k.

[ohiojohn]

Booked today June 29, 2021.  Check out the Eclipse Alaska June 22, 2022. S2 aft was $2899 pp all included.  OBC is $300 pp.  so you can find reasonable prices at times.

Edited June 30, 2021 by ohiojohn

[Denny01]

4 hours ago, Keys Kathy said:

We all know that the X prices are waayy out of line right now. Anyone who watches the pricing knows that inventory doesn't seem to be moving. As an example, I have been watching the S1 on the Apex on Jan 29th, they have sold 3 cabins in the last 6 months. 

 

Now we get to the "Always Included", which does not seem to MEAN always included. I get advertisements for a great price from several agencies. When I nibble at the price, I find out it is "sail only".

 

Personally, I think this extremely confusing to the public. X pushes the "AI" and I might be a bit daft so I looked it up and Always means "at all times; on all occasions." Ok, so perhaps I misunderstand the word "all". So I looked...."used to refer to the whole quantity or extent of a particular group or thing."

 

Is anyone else feel like we are being mislead? At least Big, better, best let us choose what level we wanted to pay for. 

 

Can we make a pact to let each other know about any price drops?

Personally, I don’t see ‘X prices are waayy out of line’ mainly since I’ve booked two cruises, I must think they were in line with what I’d pay for a cruise. And the SRs on my two X cruises are actually seem to be selling quite well.

 

Instead of various posters listing out prices for itineraries ranging from Europe to TA’s to Asian, Alaskan, Caribbean and so on, and dates throughout the year, I’d suggest the OP decide what itineraries and dates they are interested in, and watch the pricings of those, and wait for one to be what they find acceptable.  

 

An acceptable price is very subjective and very personal.

 

den

[ohiojohn]

2 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

Personally, I don’t see ‘X prices are waayy out of line’ mainly since I’ve booked two cruises, I must think they were in line with what I’d pay for a cruise. And the SRs on my two X cruises are actually seem to be selling quite well.

 

Instead of various posters listing out prices for itineraries ranging from Europe to TA’s to Asian, Alaskan, Caribbean and so on, and dates throughout the year, I’d suggest the OP decide what itineraries and dates they are interested in, and watch the pricings of those, and wait for one to be what they find acceptable.  

 

An acceptable price is very subjective and very personal.

 

den

Denny01, I agree with you.  I calculate the cruise cost per day and compare apples to apples.  My cost per day may be different then someone else’s.  For the same cruise I quoted the S2 at 2899 a A2 was only $1,899.  That is low.

[graphicguy]

4 hours ago, Tee & Chilli said:

I’m not monitoring prices closely however last Friday the 7/31 Edge had a huge price drop. IV balcony for 1 person was about $3300. It dropped $1k.

Saw the same thing….big price drop last week on the same cruise, especially for solos. My TA said Celebrity increased passenger cabins by about 15% over June sailing for July sailings.  Obviously, they’re making a play for solos, too.

 

 

[upwarduk]

8 hours ago, Keys Kathy said:

Oh, and another thing that gets my goat? Non-refundable deposits! You don't get it back even if you cancel before final payment. NOT cool.

Deposits have always been NRD in UK.

I think they’ve been introduced due to many passengers in USA booking multiple cruises and deciding at a later date which they will pay for, then cancelling the others.

At least with NRD, the cruise line have a better idea which cabins are actually sold.

[CroozFanatic]

12 hours ago, lostchild said:

There are a lot of FCC sitting out there waiting to be used.   Until they are all used up or expires on April 30, 2022, Celebrity could charge any price and people will still have to book.   Since they have to be used on sail by Sept 2022, prices should go back down a bit after that.

 

I have to use ours and still have not decided what to book yet.  The Alaska cruise we booked back in 2020 is now about 50% more with the same perks.

 

This sounds logical, but why wouldn't it show up in the prices? Why isn't there a price drop after the FCC's expire? I also follow several other cruise lines. They don't show any kind of dip in prices either after FCC's final expiration.

 

It also makes logical sense from a competitive standpoint, that if Celebrity were trying to gouge their customers, at least one of their competitors would advertise lower prices to pick off those cruisers that were shopping for 2022 and 2023 cruises. That's not happening from what I see. All the cruise lines are either colluding on prices (not impossible) or demand is there for these prices (more likely).

 

I think the most relevant post here is about all-inclusive resorts also showing similar price hikes.

 

On Virgin Voyages 2022 prices are 20-30% higher than 2021. And 2023 prices are exactly 15% higher than 2022. These are for the exact same itinerary on the exact same ship.

 

Inflation expected.

[Tapi]

13 hours ago, Keys Kathy said:

We all know that the X prices are waayy out of line right now. Anyone who watches the pricing knows that inventory doesn't seem to be moving. 

 

Now we get to the "Always Included", which does not seem to MEAN always included.

Just my personal experience, but we booked the Summit for September because it was cheaper than Carnival or Royal Caribbean for the same dates. We also received onboard credit as well as a complimentary specialty dining package. 
 

One thing that I did find interesting about Celebrity’s pricing for our sailing is that the 3rd/4th rate is considerably more expensive than the 1st/2nd guest rate (maybe a way to deter families with smaller children from sailing during these early sailings?) It was much cheaper for us to book two

connecting balconies than our usual one stateroom for 4. 
 

About the Always Included Promo: I agree with you. It’s misleading. Our sailing has the “Always Included” banner when you look it up on the Celebrity website. Yet I was able to secure a rate that’s $1,200 cheaper by going through a TA but it’s a sail only rate. The OBC that we’re getting will be enough to cover a drinks package though.

 

So I agree that this Always Included promotion isn’t as clear cut or straight forward as they advertise. 

[ItsADryHumor]

12 hours ago, jelayne said:

I’ve been pricing all inclusive resorts for next winter and am finding  the price is at least double what we paid this  April- 5 nights $1529 for 2 people in a  Oceanview Suite.

Same room April 2022 5 nights $3378.  

We looked at several Secrets resorts for this summer. For 7 nights non-preferred, it was $3k in some cases. Also, following the resort fan boards on FB, there were a lot more “hard partiers” than usual. 
 

Travel everywhere is costly right now. A family member with an RV can’t even book a spot as everywhere is full, but they said that it’s also double the cost.

 

Supply and demand drive the market. We just decided that for the money, we’d gamble on Celebrity.