Best Price Guarantee - After Final Payment

[Jim_Iain]

I'm confused about the best price guarantee.    I have a booking that was made back in 2020 for an April 2022 cruise.    I just noticed the price for our suite has dropped by a $1,000.    Since Final Payment has been made is it exempt from price reductions.? 

 

Any information or experience would be appreciated.

 

 

[wrk2cruise]

You can get the reduction but it will be applied as non refundable OBC.

 

If the fare on your sailing is reduced or the promotion gets better, give us a call and we’ll honor your choice right up to 48 hours before you sail. This applies to bookings made before March 31, 2022 for sailings up to September 30, 2022.

• You may change your offer as many times as desired up to 48 hours before sailing.
• For bookings within final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded in the form of nonrefundable Onboard Credit. For bookings outside of final payment, any amounts owed will be refunded to the original form of cruise fare payment.

[ciera123]

I believe you should get OBC since it’s past you final payment date. My cruise dropped last night and today is my  final payment due date. Even though I paid the cruise off  last week, I was given a credit to my Visa since. The person I spoke with said after final payment you get OBC. 

[CyberTag]

32 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'm confused about the best price guarantee.    I have a booking that was made back in 2020 for an April 2022 cruise.    I just noticed the price for our suite has dropped by a $1,000.    Since Final Payment has been made is it exempt from price reductions.? 

 

Any information or experience would be appreciated.

 

 

You should receive non-refundable OBC for the price difference since you are after final payment.  Have you tried calling? 

[Jim_Iain]

I'll find out more tomorrow.   I contacted my agent back in Florida and even though it was 10PM back there she tried submitting it and it was rejected.    Reason - Reservation with Choice Air attached to booking.   hmmm.   Strange as the Air Fare wasn't discounted.     She said she will follow up with Celebrity tomorrow when her Celebrity Agent is in the office.

[Princess Fi]

I have noticed a price drop for our May 3 sailing plus better promotion. I have paid in full and final payment was yesterday. I called Celebrity and they confirmed I was eligible but since I booked with large online agent they need to request. Of course the online agent has not responded and historically take around 5 days. This is the last cruise I have booked with them. I have two other cruises booked and I reserved directly with Celebrity. If I booked directly I can look after this myself. 

[Panzano]

Our late March cruise price went down $1100 a couple weeks ago.  Since it was after final payment, we got that amount in OBC.   Our TA worked with Celebrity to process the OBC.

[Salt Lifer]

11 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I'll find out more tomorrow.   I contacted my agent back in Florida and even though it was 10PM back there she tried submitting it and it was rejected.    Reason - Reservation with Choice Air attached to booking.   hmmm.   Strange as the Air Fare wasn't discounted.     She said she will follow up with Celebrity tomorrow when her Celebrity Agent is in the office.

 

My agent got the same message when she tried submitting it for us, except our just says we have Air (not Choice Air).  I am still waiting for a response as she was going to call Celebrity.  

 

Why should booking a method to get from home to a port exclude us from best price guarantee?  If that is the case, we would all be better off booking air on our own in the future.

 

[chrismo]

My late June sailing dropped in price on Friday -  and Celebrity rejected the price drop - my TA was on the phone for a couple of hours trying to resolve and it is now with Resolution / Accounting supervisor.  Celebrity advised my TA  -  that it may take into next week to resolve.  

 

Perhaps its because, like Jim - there is air attached to the reservation - but very odd as we had an earlier drop with no issue.

[Jeremiah1212]

Good luck. Between FBC and Best Price Guarantee, they don't know up from down. I have 4 reservations that meet the same criteria as far as final payments and they have all been handled differently.

 

If you have to push the issue make sure you are mentioning Best Offer Guarantee not Best Price Guarantee as they are two different programs. Once has been around for years. The other is part of Cruise with Confidence although now they refer to everything as one program. There is supposedly a list of exclusions but you won't see it anywhere. 

[upwarduk]

5 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

Good luck. Between FBC and Best Price Guarantee, they don't know up from down. I have 4 reservations that meet the same criteria as far as final payments and they have all been handled differently.

 

If you have to push the issue make sure you are mentioning Best Offer Guarantee not Best Price Guarantee as they are two different programs. Once has been around for years. The other is part of Cruise with Confidence although now they refer to everything as one program. There is supposedly a list of exclusions but you won't see it anywhere. 

Are these the terms that you are alluding to:

 

In order for a price match to be applied the following requirements must be met:

• The cruise only or fly cruise package must be identical (Same Ship, Sail date, duration, stateroom category, Airport, Currency, pre and post stays etc.) and based on gross retail pricing only.
• Proof of the price must be submitted to Celebrity Cruises and must be available for booking at the time of the request.
• The price must be on publicly advertised fares available to the general public and excludes group rates, seniors discounts, membership programs, charters or other Travel Agent promotions not offered by Celebrity Cruises to the general public.
• The price will be matched in the form of a saving applied which can have a value of maximum of 15% of the cruise fare for Celebrity Apex and Celebrity Edge Cruises and 10% for all other cruises. The value offered will be determined by Celebrity Cruises.
• The price match savings is non-refundable, non-transferable, any significant changes to the booking will mean the price match saving will be removed which is at the discretion of Celebrity Cruises.
• This policy only applies to new bookings and the lower fare must be bookable in the UK & IRL only.
• Pricing claims that cannot be independently verified by Celebrity Cruises shall not be accepted.

[Jim_Iain]

@upwarduk    A similar wording on the US site is the same for Price Match and what is confusing is the wording that it is only available for new bookings.   In addition to this they have a Best Price Guarantee that what everyone is telling me applies to existing bookings up until sail date.

 

 

[Jeremiah1212]

8 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

Are these the terms that you are alluding to:

 

Those bullets are specific to UK and Ireland bookings. There is no comprehensive list of exclusions for US bookings. 

[Bodie1]

I have a cruise booked after final payment and with a Refundable Deposit. Celebrity told my TA that they would provide OBC based on the current Refundable Price and would not match the NRD price. I've read all the small print I can find, but do not see any language pertaining to RD or NRD.

Does anyone have the small print that shows RD cannot get NRD rate after final payment?

[Jim_Iain]

I just checked my other 2 cruises on my B3B.    #2 went up quite a bit but #3 has also dropped by about $1,000.    I just sent it to my agent.    They are all NRD so will let you know my experience as she works with Celebrity.

 

[bjahil47]

1 hour ago, Bodie1 said:

I have a cruise booked after final payment and with a Refundable Deposit. Celebrity told my TA that they would provide OBC based on the current Refundable Price and would not match the NRD price. I've read all the small print I can find, but do not see any language pertaining to RD or NRD.

Does anyone have the small print that shows RD cannot get NRD rate after final payment?

Celebrity matched current prices twice for my sailing in a few weeks.  I had a NRD.  

[Bodie1]

1 hour ago, bjahil47 said:

Celebrity matched current prices twice for my sailing in a few weeks.  I had a NRD.  

Celebrity said if it was a NRD, then I could of matched the current NRD. The problem is that it's a TA group booking which are typically RD, which surprised me since I typically book NRD for the best price.

[TMLAalum]

Geez, I would have hoped that Celebrity would have gotten their act together in the 6 months since we ran into this issue of obtaining OBC after final payment for a price reduction on our September Millennium Alaska cruise! I think it took several calls to the warehouse rep who got rejection from the Celeb rep until I finally got ahold of a Captain Club rep who notated our eligibility on our invoice. I still had to call the warehouse to finally be granted the OBC!

[SSAtlantic]

I checked the fare with the current weekend sale for a cruise that is past final payment. I booked with a refundable fare and the current price is $1500 cheaper. Problem is I booked thru an online agency that no

longer has weekend hours since Covid. I will try on Monday but assume I am out of luck. 

[Princess Fi]

16 minutes ago, SSAtlantic said:

I checked the fare with the current weekend sale for a cruise that is past final payment. I booked with a refundable fare and the current price is $1500 cheaper. Problem is I booked thru an online agency that no

longer has weekend hours since Covid. I will try on Monday but assume I am out of luck. 

I think we have booked with same. I sent an email with screen shots on Friday afternoon but no response and they are closed on weekends. No longer booking with them. 

[phoenix_dream]

6 hours ago, Princess Fi said:

I have noticed a price drop for our May 3 sailing plus better promotion. I have paid in full and final payment was yesterday. I called Celebrity and they confirmed I was eligible but since I booked with large online agent they need to request. Of course the online agent has not responded and historically take around 5 days. This is the last cruise I have booked with them. I have two other cruises booked and I reserved directly with Celebrity. If I booked directly I can look after this myself. 

We are having the same issues with the online agency we have used for years. We are so, so done with them. Four lifted and shifted cruises to go and then never ever again. 

[wrk2cruise]

Rather than a screen shot it is better if you place the reservation on 24hr hold, then call Captains Club and get them to send you the guest invoice and ask if they can extend the hold until you get hold of your TA. 

 

Even if the hold expires since you have a copy of the invoice they can't claim it was just a website issue.  The invoice has all the details of the pricing.

[HS2BS]

Then I must be using the right ta - we made final payment on Thursday for our 5/3 Millennium cruise and then she notified us that there was a price drop - Friday when the new sale started another price change(after final payment within 24 hours) ta called Celebrity and difference of $900 back to cc.

Our Summit cruise on 6/2 also had final payment yesterday, 3/4, and a price reduction - today, Saturday, there is another price reduction. I contacted our ta and within an hour a new confirmation was done. That’s the difference a small independent agent makes - always available.

 

Hal

[CyberTag]

On 3/4/2022 at 7:27 PM, Jim_Iain said:

I'll find out more tomorrow.   I contacted my agent back in Florida and even though it was 10PM back there she tried submitting it and it was rejected.    Reason - Reservation with Choice Air attached to booking.   hmmm.   Strange as the Air Fare wasn't discounted.     She said she will follow up with Celebrity tomorrow when her Celebrity Agent is in the office.

One thing should have nothing to do with the other since they are separate.  Keep us posted and let us know the outcome.  We booked our air with Choice Air and have nothing but issues. 

[crusinthrough]

13 hours ago, Bodie1 said:

I have a cruise booked after final payment and with a Refundable Deposit. Celebrity told my TA that they would provide OBC based on the current Refundable Price and would not match the NRD price. I've read all the small print I can find, but do not see any language pertaining to RD or NRD.

Does anyone have the small print that shows RD cannot get NRD rate after final payment?

If you booked a refundable fare then it makes sense the price match would be on the same rate and room category.