"Always included" - false advertising?

[ak1004]

Celebrity new slogan is "Always included - drinks, Wi-Fi, tips. But this is not really correct, is it? For many cabin categories, the advertised fare is for cruise only.

[TeeRick]

Many many threads on this.

[m8zenblue]

1 minute ago, ak1004 said:

Celebrity new slogan is "Always included - drinks, Wi-Fi, tips. But this is not really correct, is it? For many cabin categories, the advertised fare is for cruise only.

I think they tell you that in the fine print !

[canderson]

There are many cruises for which there are no Simply Sail fares being offered, if that's what you mean.  Most of them, in fact.

[Bo1953]

You are right, like many other marketing schemes from other cruise lines and products, one must become familiar with the exclusions and exceptions to the 'slogan'...

 

The extra fine print or just plain ole fine print.

 

Next!

 

bon voyage

Edited October 1, 2021 by Bo1953

[ak1004]

1 minute ago, canderson said:

There are many cruises for which there are no Simply Sail fares being offered, if that's what you mean.  Most of them, in fact.

 

I don't have a problem with a line that offers several levels of fares, some more inclusive, some less. But why to advertise "ALWAYS" included when in fact, those things are NEVER included in the basic fares, and you have to add a significant amount to get them included. To me, this is false advertising, plain and simple.

[canderson]

Just now, ak1004 said:

 

I don't have a problem with a line that offers several levels of fares, some more inclusive, some less. But why to advertise "ALWAYS" included when in fact, those things are NEVER included in the basic fares, and you have to add a significant amount to get them included. To me, this is false advertising, plain and simple.

As some have already noted, there are other threads on this, and you'll find company with a couple of folks with bees in their bonnets over this wording.  A quick search should find them.  AI has become the "basic fare" for most itineraries.

[CroozFanatic]

Well...at least they don't charge a "Resort" fee.

[graphicguy]

I thought "Always Included" fares and "Simply Sail" fares were pretty self explanatory.  One includes all the "goodies" and the other is simply a "sail only" fare.

 

I guess they could do away with the "Simply Sail" fare.  But, then someone would complain they don't drink, they don't eat at specialty restaurants, they don't want internet, etc, etc, etc.  So, they don't want to pay for it.

 

Celebrity's ind of in a "danged if you do, and danged if you don't" scenario. 

 

Just curious...what do you think "simply sail" fares mean?

[DCPIV]

6 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I guess they could do away with the "Simply Sail" fare.  But, then someone would complain they don't drink, they don't eat at specialty restaurants, they don't want internet, etc, etc, etc.  So, they don't want to pay for it.

 

Believe you me, there are those who are complaining.  Deja vu all over again.

[Jeremiah1212]

[ak1004]

3 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I thought "Always Included" fares and "Simply Sail" fares were pretty self explanatory.  One includes all the "goodies" and the other is simply a "sail only" fare.

 

I guess they could do away with the "Simply Sail" fare.  But, then someone would complain they don't drink, they don't eat at specialty restaurants, they don't want internet, etc, etc, etc.  So, they don't want to pay for it.

 

Celebrity's ind of in a "danged if you do, and danged if you don't" scenario. 

 

Just curious...what do you think "simply sail" fares mean?

 

When I go to Celebrity home page, this is what I see:

 

 

This implies that drinks, wi-fi and tips are included in the fares. This is the meaning of ALWAYS in the English language. I don't want to read the fine print or go through the whole booking process just to find out that the advertised fare is for "simply sail" only (which I assume is how thing were before - $300+ for the internet that hardly works, $4 for a small bottle of water etc) Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Just for comparison - this what Oceania shows: 

 

Separate fares for cruise only and for Olife. Clear and simple.

[Jeremiah1212]

44 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

Celebrity new slogan is "Always included - drinks, Wi-Fi, tips. But this is not really correct, is it? For many cabin categories, the advertised fare is for cruise only.

 

Where are you seeing specific categories that only have GTY fares available? 

[canderson]

1 minute ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Where are you seeing specific categories that only have GTY fares available? 

+1.  I'm hardly ever seeing cruises with Simply Sail, much less all Guarantee cabins.  Nearly everything out there that I've looked at is AI.

 

@ak1004

What ship/date are you looking at ?!?

[ak1004]

2 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Where are you seeing specific categories that only have GTY fares available? 

 

I found many cruises where only GTY is available. Just one example - https://www.celebritycruises.com/booking-cruise/selectRoom/stateroomQuantity?pID=IN10M289&sDT=2022-11-18&sCD=IN&sCT=CO

 

But this is not the point. I have no problem with two fares - as long as it's clearly advertised. 

[Bo1953]

6 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

When I go to Celebrity home page, this is what I see:

 

 

This implies that drinks, wi-fi and tips are included in the fares. This is the meaning of ALWAYS in the English language. I don't want to read the fine print or go through the whole booking process just to find out that the advertised fare is for "simply sail" only (which I assume is how thing were before - $300+ for the internet that hardly works, $4 for a small bottle of water etc) Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Just for comparison - this what Oceania shows: 

 

Separate fares for cruise only and for Olife. Clear and simple.

Looks like you are going with the big O...

 

bon voyage

[MarkWiltonM]

Maybe they should change it to "Always Expensive."

[emmas gran]

This isn’t Oceania it’s Celebrity, it’s how they do things!!!

[Jeremiah1212]

2 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

I found many cruises where only GTY is available. Just one example - https://www.celebritycruises.com/booking-cruise/selectRoom/stateroomQuantity?pID=IN10M289&sDT=2022-11-18&sCD=IN&sCT=CO

 

But this is not the point. I have no problem with two fares - as long as it's clearly advertised. 

 

I don't see any GTY fares on that cruise???

 

[ak1004]

Just to clarify: unlike many, I'm not a fanboy of any specific line. I would sail with Celebrity, Princess, Oceania, Crystal, Azamara, Cunard etc. We choose our sailings based on itinerary and pricing.

 

Of course with current Celebrity prices, especially for higher categories, there is zero reason to sail on Celebrity - in most cases you can book Oceania at lower prices.  

[LGW59]

1 minute ago, ak1004 said:

Just to clarify: unlike many, I'm not a fanboy of any specific line. I would sail with Celebrity, Princess, Oceania, Crystal, Azamara, Cunard etc. We choose our sailings based on itinerary and pricing.

 

Of course with current Celebrity prices, especially for higher categories, there is zero reason to sail on Celebrity - in most cases you can book Oceania at lower prices.  

We recently did exactly that, the $ diff on O was amazing and for a longer cruise

[graphicguy]

25 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

When I go to Celebrity home page, this is what I see:

 

 

This implies that drinks, wi-fi and tips are included in the fares. This is the meaning of ALWAYS in the English language. I don't want to read the fine print or go through the whole booking process just to find out that the advertised fare is for "simply sail" only (which I assume is how thing were before - $300+ for the internet that hardly works, $4 for a small bottle of water etc) Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Just for comparison - this what Oceania shows: 

 

Separate fares for cruise only and for Olife. Clear and simple.

OK...so, for Celebrity, there are "Always Included", which Oceania calls "OLIFE" (but they also include airfare) and "Cruise Only".

 

It sounds like you're confused about the nomenclature.

 

Celebrity's version of "OLIFE" (with airfare) is "Always Included" (without airfare).  Celebrity's version of "Cruise Only" is called "Simply Sail".  Similar marketing, just different names.  

 

Hopefully, that clears it up for you.

Edited October 1, 2021 by graphicguy

[davekathy]

I love a good whine first thing in the morning. 

[ak1004]

1 minute ago, graphicguy said:

OK...so, for Celebrity, there are "Always Included", which Oceania calls "OLIFE" (but they also include airfare) and "Cruise Only".

 

It sounds like you're confused about the nomenclature.

 

Celebrity's version of "OLIFE" (with airfare) is "Always Included" (without airfare).  Celebrity's version of "Cruise Only" is called "Simply Sail".  Similar marketing, just different names.  

 

You are missing my point.

 

With Oceania, you clearly see both fares when you go to the cruise summary.

 

With Celebrity, they show you one price for each category, and a big slogan "Always included" - which implied that all prices are all inclusive. This is the meaning of ALWAYS. Only when you go to the actual booking, you see that for some categories, those prices are for "Simply Sail".

 

This also makes the comparison very difficult because some categories indicate prices for "Simply Sail" and others for "Always included".

 

Yes, it's a very smart marketing because many people now consider Celebrity an all inclusive line, while in fact it is not.

[canderson]

9 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

 

You are missing my point.

 

With Oceania, you clearly see both fares when you go to the cruise summary.

 

With Celebrity, there most often aren't two fares available on the site, so that sort of spreadsheet doesn't really serve any purpose most of the time, either.