The Special Special .. that's never really a special .....Venting!

[TheShoot]

So here I am sitting in South Africa (Our currency is worthless = cruising is very very expensive) checking fares week in week out for one of two specific European itinerary's in Oct 2023 on Infinity we really want to book. I had them booked last year and the the cruise was cancelled.

 

Thing is ... 75% off this guest, always included, 30% off both guests, BOGOF ... blah blah blah ! ... and the emails mails .. Last chance ! Only 2 days left !

 But, when you go into the booking riiiggggghhhht up to the end there ... guess what .. the price remains the same ....

 

I am not naive, I know how the world turns and the way marketing works ... still ... never cruise Celebrity and really really want to.

I will lie if I say this is not getting to me a little.... 

 

As I said ...venting ... lol

[Homestyle]

Price up same trip for 2022, Infinity is an old ship, there should be plenty of availability nearer to the time, they'll be giving cabins away, we'll hopefully:)

[Mark_K]

You’re not going to sail on any major cruise line if sales being extended, reworded to the same net effect, etc. is enough to put you off.  
 

Anyway, in my experience the best sales occur when there’s excess inventory after final payment date.  The problem is you’re taking a big chance if you want a specific ship, cabin type, date.  

[Denny01]

Not sure what the issue is. If someone believes cruising is ‘very very expensive’ then Id think they’d like the various discounted options. And Ive had no issues seeing the discounts. And if there are ‘issues’ then use a TA who may very well have even better access to discounts, and can provide clearer info if confused by it all. 

 

And unless I’m looking for a cruise with some specific Line, I usually delete any emails of things Im not specifically interested in; I dont see a ‘good deal’ and then decide to cruise, I pick my timeframe then search the Itinerary/Line then look for the discounts. OK, sometimes I pick an itinerary and go from there…..

 

But in my current status, I dont see cruising as ‘very very expensive’. I find it more competitive than pretty much any other option…..and is what Im looking for now. 

 

Den

[Jeremiah1212]

If demand picks up like are indicating from recently eliminating testing and vaccination  rules, I would definitely not expect to see dramatically lower prices any time soon. High demand and high costs from inflation will not bring prices down. 

[jelayne]

The fare that you see when you start the booking process is the fare with what ever discount is being advertised. So if the normal fare is $1,000. And they advertise 30% off the price you see when selecting a cabin would be $700.  You don’t see the $1000 until the very end and they show the fare and the discount/promotion that  reduced the price 

[tartana]

It's true - further out prices are quite high currently; but keep at it - eventually, you may see some better pricing.  I find the big "sales" tend to see higher pricing with perks, but if you keep watching when the sales aren't so prevalent, sometimes, there are some great buys. Also, it's often a much better deal, booking with a TA; more perks are often offered, even if the price is near the same. I've got some great deals in October/early Nov and late April/May in the past - when there weren't any big sales on. 

[DCPIV]

It's pretty much that way all around the industry.  There are lots of dials and levers to play with when it comes to pricing.  The only true widespread price reduction I've seen in a very long time was last year when prices plummeted for a short time.

[PTC DAWG]

20 hours ago, TheShoot said:

So here I am sitting in South Africa (Our currency is worthless = cruising is very very expensive) checking fares week in week out for one of two specific European itinerary's in Oct 2023 on Infinity we really want to book. I had them booked last year and the the cruise was cancelled.

 

Thing is ... 75% off this guest, always included, 30% off both guests, BOGOF ... blah blah blah ! ... and the emails mails .. Last chance ! Only 2 days left !

 But, when you go into the booking riiiggggghhhht up to the end there ... guess what .. the price remains the same ....

 

I am not naive, I know how the world turns and the way marketing works ... still ... never cruise Celebrity and really really want to.

I will lie if I say this is not getting to me a little.... 

 

As I said ...venting ... lol

This is small stuff..don’t sweat the small stuff. 

[mahdnc]

20 hours ago, TheShoot said:

So here I am sitting in South Africa (Our currency is worthless = cruising is very very expensive) checking fares week in week out for one of two specific European itinerary's in Oct 2023 on Infinity we really want to book. I had them booked last year and the the cruise was cancelled.

 

Thing is ... 75% off this guest, always included, 30% off both guests, BOGOF ... blah blah blah ! ... and the emails mails .. Last chance ! Only 2 days left !

 But, when you go into the booking riiiggggghhhht up to the end there ... guess what .. the price remains the same ....

 

I am not naive, I know how the world turns and the way marketing works ... still ... never cruise Celebrity and really really want to.

I will lie if I say this is not getting to me a little.... 

 

As I said ...venting ... lol

 

Yes, Celebrity employs a revolving door of promotions that usually don't significantly change the bottom line price. But in doing so, it allows them to reset the FOMO sale expiration timer on their main webpage. Speaking of which, you have less than 38 hours to take advantage of the current promotion. Hurry!

 

[mahdnc]

On the other hand, this seems genuine:

 

[MarkWiltonM]

The marketing BS does get tiresome, but as has been noted it's not just Celebrity. I would say you have to look often and perhaps be flexible. A couple of weeks ago we were looking at Edge-class Sunset Veranda staterooms for Caribbean sailings in 2024 and we were able to book on the Apex for about 60 percent of the price of Beyond for similar itineraries. The Apex is fairly new, the Beyond is even newer, but they are largely identical ships.

 

Once you book something, check back frequently and do mock bookings to see if the price has been lowered. I did a mock booking for the current promotion and found it was $200 more than the previous promotion for our particular cruise but in a few months it may be lower (who knows?). Sometimes the "wave season" (January to March) has good deals on cruises and/or on specialty dining, Wi-Fi, excursions. Bear in mind that with so much inflation, prices are more likely to go up than down.  

 

[tartana]

2 hours ago, mahdnc said:

On the other hand, this seems genuine:

 

this code makes a big difference on some of the cruises this fall....not sure about 2023 but worth checking it out...you put the code in on the page where you enter the number of guests in the cabin....

[mahdnc]

27 minutes ago, tartana said:

this code makes a big difference on some of the cruises this fall....not sure about 2023 but worth checking it out...you put the code in on the page where you enter the number of guests in the cabin....

 

Yes.  Besides the extra $100 OBC, there is an additional cruise fare discount added to the current promotion.  For our upcoming Constellation TA, it's another $1200 savings on an FV.  $800 additional discount on a SS for our Christmas 2023 Solstice cruise.  You have to have a non-refundable deposit booking for the promo code to work.

[Lastdance]

I am savoring the fact that I booked so many cruises on the first day they were released, as the prices have only gone up and up.  When a cruise is 2,000 - 6,000 more than what I paid, it just makes me feel like my decision-making skills were right on target.  The only downside might be that I have a lot off money with Celebrity as down payments.  However, that seems like a small price to pay when holding a great cabin/suite!

 

At present, a cruise that I am on has over 60+ suites available, after final payment.  I booked an SV thinking that a MoveUp offer might be a cheaper way to snag a suite if I am so inclined, but very happy with my Sunset Veranda.  The price for two in a suite is over 14,000!   However, for my TA, after this cruise(I booked an S1 corner aft)there are no suites available.  I just look at cruising/pricing as a game, sorta like the stock market, but doing the research beforehand.

Edited August 13, 2022 by Lastdance

[WonderMan3]

These sales are almost always a gimmick. I was monitoring prices in a sailing I have booked for next year and when I looked at the final pricing after one of their 50% off 2nd pax sales it wound up being several hundred dollars more in cost than it was prior to the sale. They increase the base prices prior to these sales to make it seem like customers are getting a discount when they may actually be paying more than earlier prices.