Best Price Guarantee - After Final Payment

[sanger727]

It sounds as though they are not price matching based just on cruise fare if you book cruise+air. Maybe they are basing it on the cost of but the cruise and air; and the air has gone up?

[southernbreezes]

17 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

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. 

I stopped using the big box online agency could never reach anyone took days to get back with me. They tried to tell me I could only use one FCC per sailing which is not true. Had to fight with them to get a price change always tried to tell me it was for new bookings, etc.  Booking direct with Celebrity was only a little better. So happy I found a great travel agent who handles everything and always call me back the same days if not with in minutes of my call. She has group rates and my savings are about the same with five star service. I even cancelled one cruise with Celebrity and two cruises with the big box company paid the cancelation penalty she rebooked the same trips and  gave me the money back in extra OBC.   No more stress!

[Pennstatedj]

Hi Jim, 

    I have many cruises with X like you. I will make a long story short. I used a big TA for many years off and on. My experience is the following when asking for a lower price even after final payment is that they rarely grant a price reduction or obc. The times that I used X agents I have always received a credit or OBC. What they told me is the difference is that TA companies have block rooms and manage those. X has no control over their decisions. It is a complex issue and frustrates us all on this subject. Good luck.

[Dar & Bob]

Since there is the 25% off weekend sale I did a chat online with a rep.  We are booked in an SV and purchased the Indulge package.  The person on the chat told me that our booking was eligible for the sale but since final payment he could only offer upgrades and offered us the Indulge package.  Told him we already paid for that and asked for OBC.  For that I had to fill out the best price guarantee from and email it in.  

Just wondering from the experienced Celebrity cruisers if they really do honor this.  Since they had already offered the Indulge package I requested the equivalent in OBC not a full 25% off.  I am keeping my fingers crossed. 

[Jim_Iain]

13 hours ago, CyberTag said:

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. 

I have to agree but recently I cancelled a flights by Celebrity and the agent said that it tripped a re-pricing of my cruise.    It took him about 20 minutes to get it corrected.   

[Salt Lifer]

I just got a call from my TA that they talked to Celebrity and that Celebrity will not go or the new rate for my Cruise because I have air.  I am sorry, but this is complete BS.  The air was an add-on and did not impact the original price of my cruise.  Looking at my invoice confirms this.

 

I hope Celebrity is happy to lose a customer over a small amount of OBC.  We will likely not book with them again. We don't support companies that don't honor their word.  

[LGW59]

1 minute ago, Salt Lifer said:

I just got a call from my TA that they talked to Celebrity and that Celebrity will not go or the new rate for my Cruise because I have air.  I am sorry, but this is complete BS.  The air was an add-on and did not impact the original price of my cruise.  Looking at my invoice confirms this.

 

I hope Celebrity is happy to lose a customer over a small amount of OBC.  We will likely not book with them again. We don't support companies that don't honor their word.  

Good luck with your next cruise line.  I will offer a suggestion, peruse, HAL, NCL, RCL, Carnimart et al, you will see many of the exact same comments.  Not being a wise guy, just trying to suggest these may give you some perspective.  

[Salt Lifer]

Update....  My TA just did a three way call with Celebrity and me.  Celebrity reiterated that because I bought airfare they could not honor the lower price and the best they could do was to offer me $$$ (the price difference) in OBC.  ???????  That was all I had asked for to begin with - that they honor what they promised and offer OBC.  (My TA seemed as baffled as I was at this point.). But regardless, for the record, Celebrity did honor their policy and give me OBC but the whole process was unecessarily frustrating.   I will give credit to Celebrity for making this right and hope this will be the low-point of an otherwise great trip. 

 

For anyone else experiencing this issue, I would definitely suggest calling Celebrity directly or asking your TA to do a three-way call with them. 

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2022 by Salt Lifer

[Salt Lifer]

31 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Good luck with your next cruise line.  I will offer a suggestion, peruse, HAL, NCL, RCL, Carnimart et al, you will see many of the exact same comments.  Not being a wise guy, just trying to suggest these may give you some perspective.  

 

You are 100% right.  Prior to this cruise (and a few years break in cruising in general) we sailed exclusively with Royal Caribbean.  We never had the kinds of issues that are being reported here with bookings, price matches, etc.  But it is also unfair to compare, as this was also a time when there was more human interaction and less reliance on web-based systems.  I believe a lot of Celebrity's issues are IT related.

 

I'll retract my last statement and give Celebrity another chance since they did honor their policy in the end.  But it is frustrating that it was such a hassle.  

[SSAtlantic]

6 hours ago, Dar & Bob said:

 

[SSAtlantic]

We spent over 2 hours on hold on and off trying to get the OBC difference in our final paid fare and the weekend sale.  It comes to around $1800. It was a no go because we booked with a travel agency not open on weekends. The resolutions manager quoted us the prevailing rate to try for tomorrow which could net us $1400 OBC. We are seriously thinking about just booking ourselves in the future. 

[Mcgeneseo]

Same thing happened to us with our cruise last November. It was a significant amount but the customer service representative said he could only give us OBC. We didn't have any flights booked with Celebrity. We spent many hours in the casino getting the OBC out as cash. Worked beautifully.

[Arizona Wildcat]

On 3/5/2022 at 10:04 AM, Jim_Iain said:

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.

 

Jim - only once have I been able to get a reduction.  We almost always book a group fare with our TA.  Since everything is compared the recent sale pricing on a veranda is still higher than we paid on the Iceland cruise by $100pp.

[Arizona Wildcat]

3 hours ago, Salt Lifer said:

 

You are 100% right.  Prior to this cruise (and a few years break in cruising in general) we sailed exclusively with Royal Caribbean.  We never had the kinds of issues that are being reported here with bookings, price matches, etc.  But it is also unfair to compare, as this was also a time when there was more human interaction and less reliance on web-based systems.  I believe a lot of Celebrity's issues are IT related.

 

I'll retract my last statement and give Celebrity another chance since they did honor their policy in the end.  But it is frustrating that it was such a hassle.  

I would give all the cuiselines a pass today.  Untrained staff and continued ever changing promotions make things nuts.

[Dar & Bob]

So this is not just Celebrity it's all of the cruise lines.  We have had luck in the past with Princess which has been our preferred cruise line (maybe for that reason)  Hopefully this will work out getting our OBC.  Time will tell. 

[luv2ndhalf]

To get Best Price Guarantee, I have seen that people suggest making a trial booking and see what the cost shows…… I have tried this, but our cabin is sold out so I can’t seem to get the price~ I do not use a TA

Is my only option to call Celebrity and wait on hold? Final payment is made… we sail in April

[Dar & Bob]

43 minutes ago, luv2ndhalf said:

To get Best Price Guarantee, I have seen that people suggest making a trial booking and see what the cost shows…… I have tried this, but our cabin is sold out so I can’t seem to get the price~ I do not use a TA

Is my only option to call Celebrity and wait on hold? Final payment is made… we sail in April

If you read the fine print, the very fine print the Best Price guarantee doesn't apply if your room class is not available 😞

 

[Cruiseincan]

On 3/4/2022 at 9:39 PM, 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.

 

 

saw your post and looked up my cruise… and hmmm… messaged my Rep and boom a short time later i get an updated receipt with 480 usd now in my obc. So thank you Jim! This all after my final payment for April cruise.

[Redokie]

I sent in the Best Price Guarantee form from the celebrity site, I got a response in 48 hours saying   

 

Good afternoon,

 

Thank you for contacting the Best Price Guarantee program. We are pleased to confirm the application of the requested Best Price Guarantee. We note the availability of a lower rate. The total price difference is $XXXX.

 

Unfortunately, your reservation is after final payment and not eligible for a refund. We have submitted your OBC request for review. Once confirmed an invoice will be generated reflecting the non-refundable OBC value. If for any reason, the booking does not qualify, notification will be emailed to the address on the booking.

 

Processing may take up to 14 business days.

 

Please be advised that this onboard credit amount is not refundable if unused. We hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

Kind regards,

 

Victoria

Best Price Guarantee Team

Royal Caribbean Group

 

My price difference was over 2000.  I would really rather have a refund!

[Jim_Iain]

23 minutes ago, Redokie said:

I sent in the Best Price Guarantee form from the celebrity site, I got a response in 48 hours saying   

 

Good afternoon,

 

Thank you for contacting the Best Price Guarantee program. We are pleased to confirm the application of the requested Best Price Guarantee. We note the availability of a lower rate. The total price difference is $XXXX.

 

Unfortunately, your reservation is after final payment and not eligible for a refund. We have submitted your OBC request for review. Once confirmed an invoice will be generated reflecting the non-refundable OBC value. If for any reason, the booking does not qualify, notification will be emailed to the address on the booking.

 

Processing may take up to 14 business days.

 

Please be advised that this onboard credit amount is not refundable if unused. We hope you have a wonderful cruise.

 

Kind regards,

 

Victoria

Best Price Guarantee Team

Royal Caribbean Group

 

My price difference was over 2000.  I would really rather have a refund!

Curious if your booking was with Celebrity Direct or with an Agent?

[CyberTag]

7 hours ago, Salt Lifer said:

Update....  My TA just did a three way call with Celebrity and me.  Celebrity reiterated that because I bought airfare they could not honor the lower price and the best they could do was to offer me $$$ (the price difference) in OBC.  ???????  That was all I had asked for to begin with - that they honor what they promised and offer OBC.  (My TA seemed as baffled as I was at this point.). But regardless, for the record, Celebrity did honor their policy and give me OBC but the whole process was unecessarily frustrating.   I will give credit to Celebrity for making this right and hope this will be the low-point of an otherwise great trip. 

 

For anyone else experiencing this issue, I would definitely suggest calling Celebrity directly or asking your TA to do a three-way call with them. 

 

 

 

So glad they made it right and you received the OBC.  

[Redokie]

11 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Curious if your booking was with Celebrity Direct or with an Agent?

Direct booking with celebrity

[Salt Lifer]

14 hours ago, CyberTag said:

So glad they made it right and you received the OBC.  

Me too, and I hope others here with larger price differences have similar luck!

 

It is unfortunate that Celebrity has made this process so frustrating for customers and TAs. 

[Jim_Iain]

Update -

 

On Sunday I applied for the Price Match via the downloaded form.    On Monday I got a response that it was denied = "Because your current fare is less than the Price you attached"  -  False - my reservation was 1,000 more than the current CS which is still available.  

 

I let my agent know again and she came through for me and Celebrity has applied the reduction as an OBC.     Persistence pays.  

 

Now what am I going to do with all this OBC.    I may just learn to be a Gambler.

[Desert Diamond]

Having the same issue as many of you. We made our final payment last week for our May 3rd cruise and then saw the weekend sale prices, which for us, are $800 less than what we paid. The sale was extended through today, Tuesday. Our travel agent talked with Celebrity this afternoon and two different agents told her we were not eligible. We do not have air attached to the reservation. 

I will say, it's important to note that the Best Offer Guarantee and the Price Promise (or Best Price Guarantee) are two separate things. According to what's stated on the Celebrity Home Page, we're definitely eligible. Hopefully she can straighten it out tomorrow.🤞

Best Offer Guarantee

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.
• Bookings made after March 31, 2022, will be covered with our existing Best Price Guarantee policy.
• Bookings made by UK & Ireland guests after March 31, 2022 will be covered by the existing Price Promise policy.