Recent increases/changes to shore excursion pricing and Elite/Elite Plus beverage package discount

[webecruzin2]

Last week there was only 1 spot left for the De Palm Island shore excursion at 96.00 so I booked 1 for DH in hopes I could book another for myself when on board.
Yesterday more spots opened up so I booked 1 for myself at the new price of 116.00 (up to 139.99 onboard price).
 I won't even bother calling X about the price difference, the hassle is not worth $20.00.
So we were doing the math on drink packages and last week the Elite discount was 15%, not sure about Elite Plus at the time but today the discount is now 10% for Elite/Elite plus.
We hadn't planned on getting a package anyway but now any kind of incentive is gone. 
We've done suites before as a splurge yet they were still affordable. Not any more. At least on the sailings we will consider.  
Won't bother bidding for move up as Suites show full and the move up minimum is not worth it. Concierge is fine for us.
I'm sure we'll have a lovely cruise, we always do, but our decades of loyalty to X has disappeared at this point with their cost cutting and nickel and diming.
We've  recently heard good things about MSC suites and their pricing blows X out of the water.  I know in the past they haven't had a great rep but right now neither does X so what can we lose?  A cruise is a cruise.  Eat, drink, dance, see shows, visit ports, sit by the pool.  If I can save thousands doing it all the better.  
Would love to hear opinions from any X cruisers that also have sailed with MSC.  
 
 

[islabahia]

We are also eyeing Yacht Club.  X and NCL suite prices are nuts and after our upcoming 2 cruises in Retreat, we will likely move on.  We left NCL when the suite experience began to slide downwards. Unless LLP and the Board adjust pricing downward we will leave X.  Greed is NOT loyalty inducing!

[njguy_south]

Drink package is showing 15% for purchase and 15% upgrade for Elite: https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/captains-club-tiers-and-benefits-chart.pdf 

[webecruzin2]

I knew I should have saved it.  Unless I'm reading this wrong.  That's entirely possible.

 

Edited February 11, 2023 by webecruzin2

[webecruzin2]

I'm not very proficient at this obviously. 😆

The screen shot also shows too much. 
Sign into your account and click on your  CC # and click view benefits.
It does not say 15% off drink package or upgrade to premium.
It just says 10% upgrade to premium
 

Edited February 11, 2023 by webecruzin2

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, webecruzin2 said:

Yesterday more spots opened up so I booked 1 for myself at the new price of 116.00 (up to 139.99 onboard price).
 I won't even bother calling X about the price difference, the hassle is not worth $20.00.

Excursion prices change all the time, some times up, sometimes down, there would be nothing to gain by calling.

 

On our Australian cruise in January the price of some excursions more than doubled over the 7 months from when we made our reservations...

 

Just watch for price changes or offers and cancel/rebook if there is still availability.

[gerelmx]

45 minutes ago, webecruzin2 said:

I'm not very proficient at this obviously. 😆

The screen shot also shows too much. 
Sign into your account and click on your  CC # and click view benefits.
It does not say 15% off drink package or upgrade to premium.
It just says 10% upgrade to premium
 

 

that is the discount for pre purchase on your cruise planner, to obtain the CC elite discount you need to call to CC

[webecruzin2]

1 hour ago, gerelmx said:

 

that is the discount for pre purchase on your cruise planner, to obtain the CC elite discount you need to call to CC

Okay, thank you for clarifying that but someone else might not already know that nor be aware of the benefit if this was the only place they looked..
I see it under the general tier benefits, but with it missing here under my account it could cause confusion.
Which it  has.🤪   
 

[Buckeye94]

3 hours ago, webecruzin2 said:

 Would love to hear opinions from any X cruisers that also have sailed with MSC.  
 
 

I'm considering MSC, too. I'd always thought suites were out of range for me as a solo traveler, but it looks possible there. I've almost exclusively sailed Celebrity (one RC), but the experience and cost is changing.

 

Check out a January review by GenerationX. She did a B2B with the first leg on Celebrity and the second on MSC. All in one one review on the Celebrity forum.

[Jim_Iain]

Not sure when your cruise is but I would check on a regular basis.   If you find a better price you can call in for the reduction or simply on line cancel and rebook.

 

Good chance there was a better sail last week. 

[Chot50s]

3 hours ago, njguy_south said:

Drink package is showing 15% for purchase and 15% upgrade for Elite: https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/captains-club-tiers-and-benefits-chart.pdf 

Celebrity’s website content is inconsistent. The.PDF referenced above shows a 15% discount for upgrading to the premium beverage package for Elite members. On a different webpage, the discount is listed as 10%. (See screenshot from webecruizin2 above.) There is the same discrepancy for the spa discount (15%/10%) between these two sources.

 

It might be useful to print out the.PDF for reference and take it with you on your next cruise (if they don’t update it in the meantime).

[SSAtlantic]

I upgraded my package for an April cruise this past week. I was able to upgrade just myself and definitely got the 15% Elite discount. I was quoted $16.50 per day with gratuity. I think I paid $16.80 in November for a January cruise so I was satisfied. 

[C4HCG]

8 hours ago, islabahia said:

We are also eyeing Yacht Club.  X and NCL suite prices are nuts and after our upcoming 2 cruises in Retreat, we will likely move on.  We left NCL when the suite experience began to slide downwards. Unless LLP and the Board adjust pricing downward we will leave X.  Greed is NOT loyalty inducing!

Is trying to reduce a company’s debt greed? The amount they are in debt is well known, how else can they deal with that?

Edited February 11, 2023 by C4HCG

[C4HCG]

8 hours ago, webecruzin2 said:

Last week there was only 1 spot left for the De Palm Island shore excursion at 96.00 so I booked 1 for DH in hopes I could book another for myself when on board.
Yesterday more spots opened up so I booked 1 for myself at the new price of 116.00 (up to 139.99 onboard price).
 I won't even bother calling X about the price difference, the hassle is not worth $20.00.
So we were doing the math on drink packages and last week the Elite discount was 15%, not sure about Elite Plus at the time but today the discount is now 10% for Elite/Elite plus.
We hadn't planned on getting a package anyway but now any kind of incentive is gone. 
We've done suites before as a splurge yet they were still affordable. Not any more. At least on the sailings we will consider.  
Won't bother bidding for move up as Suites show full and the move up minimum is not worth it. Concierge is fine for us.
I'm sure we'll have a lovely cruise, we always do, but our decades of loyalty to X has disappeared at this point with their cost cutting and nickel and diming.
We've  recently heard good things about MSC suites and their pricing blows X out of the water.  I know in the past they haven't had a great rep but right now neither does X so what can we lose?  A cruise is a cruise.  Eat, drink, dance, see shows, visit ports, sit by the pool.  If I can save thousands doing it all the better.  
Would love to hear opinions from any X cruisers that also have sailed with MSC.  
 
 

One of the reasons we love Celebrity is very few children. We looked at MSC as they had an itinerary we liked, asked about the age demographic on the MSC board, consistent response was far more children on there and advised to stick with Celebrity if that bothered us. Which is what we will do.

[wrk2cruise]

27 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Is trying to reduce a company’s debt greed? The amount they are in debt is well known, how else can they deal with that?

 

If the price doesn't match the product then the value isn't there.   Their debt is not my problem.

[C4HCG]

2 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

If the price doesn't match the product then the value isn't there.   Their debt is not my problem.

In the cold light of day that’s true. But for me, their debt is my problem as I want to see them survive, and am prepared to accept changes I might not particularly like as I understand their reasons. However, if the day arrives when I don’t think they provide value then I’m out, from cruising with them and from here. I won’t hang around here as Celebrity will no longer be a product I buy. 

[wdr59911]

In regards to MSC Yacht Club....it is an incredible experience.  It has been several years  since we sailed in YCand before the newer ships totally integrated the Yacht Club.  At the time the YC Dining Room was out of the YC and your butler (in coat and tails) insisted on walking you between the two.  On the newer ships it is now a totally insulated "ship within a ship".  The only exception is if you want to attend the shows.  I would highly recommend it to anyone.