Celebrity Cruises For Canadians

[lx200gps]

We're looking to move away from our long time cruise line Princess and move over to Celebrity for most of our upcoming trips going forward. We've sailed X once, the Silhouette around the Med a few years ago, and consider X as a great fit for our needs. We're also very impressed with how X is handling COVID, FAR better than a very problematic Princess.

 

For Canadian travellers, are there any times of the year when X has any sales or better deals than usual? Annual or seasonal sales etc? We usually "stock up" on trips once a year with Princess when they have their annual sale, usually booking four or five trips for the next 16 months or so, and are wondering whether X does the same. If they do, what sort of "deals" would they usually offer. I see they have now gone to the all-inclusive model, which is great as we always book that with Princess anyway, but what about extras like no-charge non-refundable deposits, OBC offerings etc.  Also, does X have a shareholders OBC like Carnival Corp?  Thanks in advance for the Canadian viewpoint.

[If only]

We are long time Celebrity cruisers, it’s hard to know what is the best time to book since the Pandemic.  On saying that right now until Dec 13 they do have 50% off 2nd person.  They usually had a Black Friday sale but who knows this year.  We usually book far in advance &  when we are onboard as its only $100.each, deposit & you can change to whatever cruise you want.  We always do Refundable but that is a personal choice but it always gives us more flexibility if we need to cancel.

hope this helps with your decision.  We really enjoy  Celebrity ships but their website not so much.  I think they have a shareholders credit if you have I believe 100 shares.

Edited November 3, 2021 by If only

[Fouremco]

I'd echo @If only's comments. I think that sales are unpredictable right now, as the pandemic and the introduction of the controversial Always Included program have had an impact on marketing. I'd also note that prices on Celebrity have increased significantly, perhaps not unexpectedly, but perhaps more than on many other lines. We have one remaining cruise booked with Celebrity, but are considering our options beyond then.

[lx200gps]

Thanks all for the comments. We have 5 trips currently booked with P but will probably cancel most  of them once we've used up the boatload of FCCs we all accumulated from our cancelled trips. I've done some apples to apples comparisons between P and X and surprisingly, the prices aren't THAT much different. Our Feb 2022 trip would actually be about $C400 cheaper on X for the similar itinerary, even factoring in the extra cost to purchase a non-refundable deposit though we have $US400 in OBC with P for that trip. For our Feb 2023 trip, it's only about $C400 more. The major factor in X's favour are the superior "standard" rooms. A "standard" balcony cabin on P has no sofa and a postage stamp sized, virtually unusable balcony on the larger ships. We have to upgrade two categories and pay quite a premium to get a sofa and such a balcony on P.

 

As to timing, we would probably only look to start booking them early next year anyway. Great to hear about the shareholder credit, I'll have to look into it. Also good to hear about the onboard $100 Future Cruise Deposit program, we've done the same on P in the past. What about OBC offerings during sales? Between Princess and our big, Canada-wide cruise TA, we usually have between $200 and $400 OBC for every cruise which makes a difference. Does X have any such deals, either on their own or through TAs?

[Fouremco]

X does offer non-refundable OBC from time to time, including during their current sale:

 

 

Our big box TA doesn't offer OBC for Celebrity, but between a gift card and annual rebate, you receive approximately 10% of the booking price.

 

 

 

 

[lx200gps]

57 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

X does offer non-refundable OBC from time to time, including during their current sale:

 

 

Our big box TA doesn't offer OBC for Celebrity, but between a gift card and annual rebate, you receive approximately 10% of the booking price.

 

 

 

 

Looks like X has hired the same website team as Princess ;o)  I found that link on their Canadian home page but when I click on it, it takes me to a page that no longer exists ;o)  Point taken though.

 

I also notice that Celebrity is much better than Princess in offerings from the US northeast, within easy driving distance of Montreal. We will certainly be doing Bermuda trips with them in the future as well, and they even do a southern Caribbean itinerary out of New Jersey which looks very appealing

 

It seems that the various discount "modes" may differ between the two lines, but the savings over the rack rate seem comparable between the two lines, whether it be via sales, OBCs, perqs, etc. Thanks a bunch for the advice.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I would wait until Black Friday sales , we got a great deal in 2019 on a Reflection TA , now the Apex TA 😁, and it was only $25 deposit

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Dates for upcoming sales 

https://www.celebritysalescom.com/1080/

[Bearsthatsail]

Just got off Celebrity Equinox last weekend.  Great cruise, 1/3 passengers, cabin upgraded because they were using Deck 6 for crew and entertainers, 3 sick people were sent home in private planes, very friendly crew, and Celebrity did our PCR test free.  Help was available for airplane confirmations, and our Canadian apps info.  We also let Celebrity do our airplane reservations and had great service.  Wheelchair assistance through airports, and on/off the ship were very appreciated.  Printed menus and daily event sheets were always available, and chocolate on the pillow.  

[cdn_tbird]

The thing I love the most about X is being able to reprice any booking including NRD bookings without penalty. This way it really doesn't matter what when you book, as long as you keep an eye on pricing, you'll do well. 

 

Before your cruise, do your research on the next cruise(s) you want to take and visit the the Future Cruise sales office onboard. While the pricing is whatever the current rate is, the deposit is $100pp and you get extra OBC depending on length/cabin category.

 

We always transfer our onboard bookings to the "big box warehouse" TA. You get a cash card back worth about 8% of the cruise fare plus if you have their exec membership the cost counts toward the 2% annual reward. I know that there are a lot of members on CC that say they get a similar amount in refundable OBC from their US based TA.

[Yukonbear]

@cdn_third.   I have not seen that large of a rebate from the large warehouse TA in Canada.  We are on the Apex Jan 13-29 2022 and we booked this back in 2019 Black Friday.    I was pretty pleased with our rate - $2000 taxes in for two including all the usual perks plus $600 OBC.  Each week is that amount.   Granted it’s for an inside but I’m one of the few that doesn’t mind insides.   I’m never in our room except to sleep and I like the dark.  We booked this cruise thru a large US cruise specialist.  

[Fouremco]

On 11/7/2021 at 11:00 PM, cdn_tbird said:

We always transfer our onboard bookings to the "big box warehouse" TA. You get a cash card back worth about 8% of the cruise fare plus if you have their exec membership the cost counts toward the 2% annual reward.

 

2 hours ago, Yukonbear said:

I have not seen that large of a rebate from the large warehouse TA in Canada.

 

I've been using them ever since they opened the travel department in Canada, and have consistently received either a cash card or refundable OBC in the 8% range, depending on the cruise line. Plus the 2% annual reward.

[Kamloops50]

The only issue we have with Celebrity is getting reasonable cost insurance .  I'm over 70 and DW over 65. Celebrity or third party insurance is too pricey for us plus the coverage isn't as good .

[GeriatricNurse]

8 hours ago, Kamloops50 said:

The only issue we have with Celebrity is getting reasonable cost insurance .  I'm over 70 and DW over 65. Celebrity or third party insurance is too pricey for us plus the coverage isn't as good .

It's unfortunate that you do not live in Ontario as BLUE CROSS is quite reasonably priced, in my view!

[Kamloops50]

3 hours ago, GeriatricNurse said:

It's unfortunate that you do not live in Ontario as BLUE CROSS is quite reasonably priced, in my view!

In BC unless .Blue Cross is your extended Ed health carrier. Their rates aren’t any cheaper . What is reasonable in price?