Alaska Flash "Sale" - 2nd Guest Sails Free?

[BeachTunes]

Hello! 

 

I just received an email from Celebrity advertising a weekend flash sale on select Alaska sailings. Supposedly the 2nd Guest Sails Free! But, when I do mock bookings on the advertised dates, it's not a deal at all. I've put a call into my travel agent to see if she can access a special booking code. 

 

My husband and I have been eager to sail to Alaska but our summer work schedules have made it challenging to lock down a date. If this sale was a true blue "BOGO" then I might be able to more easily convince him to throw caution to the wind and book it! LOL! (Thanks again for everyone's previous answers to my many Alaska cruising questions!)

 

I'm thinking this promo is just another bait and switch type thing where prices are jacked up on the 1st cruiser to appear like the 2nd cruiser sails free when (aside from some extra OBC with the promo) it's not a special rate after all. 

 

If anyone has insight on these kinds of deals, especially if you've had success booking one, please share! Thanks so much! 

[didicruiser]

You are correct. Not anything special. 

[BeachTunes]

5 minutes ago, didicruiser said:

You are correct. Not anything special. 

Ah, just what I thought. As they say, nobody rides (or sails) for free! 😉 

[Fly and Sail]

Second Guest Sails Free would otherwise mean no single supplement either. I can't fully believe it (yet).

[BeachTunes]

21 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

Second Guest Sails Free would otherwise mean no single supplement either. I can't fully believe it (yet).

 

Seems like smoke and mirrors at the moment. For example, there's a Sunset Veranda available for a July Southbound cruise showing a price of $2865 Canadian plus fees/taxes of $370 (Not All-Inclusive). So, in theory the BOGO price *should* equate to $3605, assuming the the 2nd guest still has to pay the taxes and port fees. 

 

But, when I click though to book, the final amount is $6470 Canadian. (Still have to pay for gratuities and optional wifi and drinks.) Meanwhile I had a concierge stateroom on hold for a similar itinerary a few days ago AND All-Inclusive that was less than $5500. So BOGO appears to be BOGUS! LOL! 

 

Should my TA come up with anything more impressive, I'll be sure to share the success story here. 🙂

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

As always, the deals are limited to specific sailings, ships, and stateroom types. This one is for Millenium sailings and at best would provide an additional 25% off the second guest's fare since the current promotion on all sailings is 75% off the second guest. This translates to only 12.5% off the total room fare, whether sailing solo or 2 people. After looking at a few sailings, it would appear they are only offering this BOGO 100% on non-gaurantee insides and oceanviews which makes no sense because they already are offering guarantees for these rooms at half the price of the through their exciting deals promo. SMH

 

Offer terms for reference:

_{Terms & Conditions:}

_{*Cruise must be booked May 05 through May 07, 2023 (the “Offer Period”) and applies to Alaska Open Jaw sailings on Celebrity Millennium departing May 12 - July 28, 2023, excluding Galapagos (the “Offer Cruise”). Promo code not required.}

_{Full deposit must be paid by deposit payment required due date. Standard full deposit penalty is applied if booking is cancelled within final payment period; see CEL’s cancellation policy for details. Non-Refundable Deposit Bookings (“NRDB”): To qualify for the lowest available cruise fare, guest must choose a non-refundable deposit. All deposit payments for NRDB made after 03/02/23 are non-refundable from the time of booking. NRDB are applicable to groups at prevailing rates. Not applicable to incentive, contract, or charter groups. Nonrefundable deposit offers are applicable to sailings within final payment, however full deposit is due at time of booking.}

_{BOGO FREE Off 2nd Guest Offer for Non-Refundable fares only.  Applies to new, individual bookings during the Offer Period and provides guest free cruise fare on the 2nd guest only in the same stateroom as the first full fare guest sailing at standard rates on an Offer Cruise. BOGO FREE off 2nd  Guest Offer is combinable with Savings and OBC Offer and will be automatically applied at checkout. All other charges, including but not limited to, cruise taxes, fees and port expenses are additional and apply to all guests. BOGO offer is not applicable to Groups. Offer is applicable to individual bookings only.  FIT to Group transfers are not allowed.}

_{Savings Offer: Cruise Savings for 7 Nights $200 savings per stateroom. Savings Offer is combinable with BOGO Off 2nd Guest Free Offer Rate or All Included and Cruisetours.}

_{Onboard Credit (OBC)Offer: OBC offer for 7 Nights $200 per stateroom. OBC amount will be credited to guests’ stateroom folios. OBC has no cash value, is applicable to cruise only, non-transferable, not redeemable for cash, and will expire if not used by 10:00 PM on the final night of the cruise.}

_{Combinability: BOGO Free Guest Offer, OBC Offer, and Savings Offer are combinable with each other. Offers are not combinable with All Included, Groups,  Travel Agent, Interline, Net, Exciting Deals, Employee Cruise Rates, or worker cabins. Offer is not applicable to Cruisetours, not applicable to Groups. FIT to Group transfers are not allowed. Offer will be removed from the booking if the guest cancels and reinstates the booking, applies a fare change, or changes the ship or sail date of the booking; certain other changes to the booking may also result in removal of the Offer. Offer is not applicable to Single occupancy guests.}

_{Offer is capacity controlled; availability varies by sailing, and eligible staterooms may sell out. All offers are non-transferable and applicable only to the Offer Cruise. Changes to booking may result in removal of Offer. Prices and Offers are subject to availability and change without notice, capacity controlled, may be withdrawn at any time, and not applicable to charters or contracted groups. Refer to Cruise Ticket Contract for additional terms and conditions. Celebrity reserves the right to cancel the Offer at any time, correct any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions, and change or update fares, fees and surcharges at any time without prior notice. ©2023 Celebrity Cruises Inc. Ships’ registry: Malta and Ecuador.}

[BeachTunes]

Thank you @NorthStarStateCruiser! They sure don't make it easy to figure out which rooms on which dates apply! Tooling around the website, I managed to find a true BOGO deal on an inside stateroom on Millie in July. Too bad the deal isn't valid for balconies and above! 🙂

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

5 minutes ago, BeachTunes said:

Thank you @NorthStarStateCruiser! They sure don't make it easy to figure out which rooms on which dates apply! Tooling around the website, I managed to find a true BOGO deal on an inside stateroom on Millie in July. Too bad the deal isn't valid for balconies and above! 🙂

No problem. I'm not 100% sure that the deal applies to only insides and oceanviews, but that's how it appeared on the couple that I spot checked.

[BeachTunes]

14 minutes ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

No problem. I'm not 100% sure that the deal applies to only insides and oceanviews, but that's how it appeared on the couple that I spot checked.

 

I believe you are correct as that is what I'm seeing. I've scanned through several dates and plugged in verandas of all types and no dice. Also, BOGO won't apply if one tries to select the All-Inclusive option. But yes, the promo does work for select inside and oceanview staterooms on certain June and July dates.

 

So, not 100% bogus after all! That said, we prefer all-inclusive and balcony staterooms. I suppose we could book an oceanview and press our luck on a Move Up bid, but I doubt we be saving much in the end after the upgrade fees, paying for drinks, wifi and gratuities. 

 

Sorry to dis Celebrity. I just wish hotels, cruise lines, etc would be more transparent about these kinds of promotions. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Sandals is the worst for this having had their 65% off sale running for the past decade and a half! LOL! (And we have enjoyed several lovely Sandals vacations!) 

 

Happy cruising, everyone! 

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by BeachTunes

[mahdnc]

This is my mock booking for May 26 Millennium.  Concierge Class, cruise only, nonrefundable deposit.  It appears the 2nd guest fare is virtually zeroed out by the discount (-$3,908) even though the discount description says 75%.

Edited May 5, 2023 by mahdnc

[rmalbers]

I can see X doing a sale like this, May is real hit or miss for Alaska, lol!  (and most cruisers know that)

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

9 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

This is my mock booking for May 26 Millennium.  Concierge Class, cruise only, nonrefundable deposit.  It appears the 2nd guest fare is zeroed out by the discount (-$3,908).

 

You are correct that the full amount for the second guest, but the discount code for the room you have shown there is actually NOPERKBO75 NRD instead of NOPRKBOGOFR NRD.  The price you have shown there is the same price that was offered yesterday for that stateroom.  They must have adjusted the base fare or discount calculations for these sailings to accommodate the BOGO full rate deal for the inside and oceanviews.  

 

It's funny because for the rooms that the BOGO full rate applies for actually shows a larger discount than the rate for that person.  Here's a snip for an oceanview on that same May 26th sailing with the full BOGO offer.  I wonder what the guest invoice would look like for the second passenger.  It would be funny to see that this person is actually getting paid to go on the cruise 😆

[BeachTunes]

Thanks again to all for your input here. 

 

I received a second email about the offer from Celebrity that is much clearer. The first one didn't mention dates or cabin category which was frustrating. The second email specifically states the qualified stateroom categories (inside and oceanview) which is much more helpful to those of us perusing the website for options! 🙂

[BeachTunes]

@mahdnc That's a decent rate for sure! If only we could cruise on May 26th! The later season dates are in some cases double, for understandable reasons (high demand).

 

I will get to Alaska some day whether it's this year or next! 🙂

[Fly and Sail]

2 hours ago, mahdnc said:

This is my mock booking for May 26 Millennium.  Concierge Class, cruise only, nonrefundable deposit.  It appears the 2nd guest fare is virtually zeroed out by the discount (-$3,908) even though the discount description says 75%.

 

That doesn't make sense though. A one-week Alaska cruise in CC doesn't cost $8000.

[BeachTunes]

1 hour ago, BeachTunes said:

@mahdnc That's a decent rate for sure! If only we could cruise on May 26th! The later season dates are in some cases double, for understandable reasons (high demand).

 

I will get to Alaska some day whether it's this year or next! 🙂

 

Actually, now that I look at your rate I see that it is in USD which translates to over $5600 CAD with no Wifi or Drinks. I had a hold on a Concierge room for that price in August WITH All-Inclusive. Sadly, we were uncertain if we could sail in August so we let that deal go. 

 

Our lousy Canadian dollar isn't making this process (and convincing my husband to book) any easier! LOL! 

 

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by BeachTunes

[BeachTunes]

7 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

That doesn't make sense though. A one-week Alaska cruise in CC doesn't cost $8000.

 

I agree. That converts to $10,700 Canadian! 🥴 I'm getting frustrated with "Price-Flation" to make sales look better. 

 

Edited May 5, 2023 by BeachTunes

[phoenix_dream]

The notice we got very clearly states inside and ocean view only.  I suspect with everyone splurging on their vacation plans lately they are possibly having a hard time booking those cabins.  If anyone takes advantage of this on an M class ship, the ocean view cabins I recommend are the ones on deck three aft of center.  These were added several years after deployment and they have nice big windows.  

[rmalbers]

On 5/6/2023 at 7:47 AM, phoenix_dream said:

The notice we got very clearly states inside and ocean view only.  I suspect with everyone splurging on their vacation plans lately they are possibly having a hard time booking those cabins.  If anyone takes advantage of this on an M class ship, the ocean view cabins I recommend are the ones on deck three aft of center.  These were added several years after deployment and they have nice big windows.  

Sounds like the cabins they added where 1/2 of the Tunscan Grill was. 

[alfiemom]

If I remember correctly, those cabin replaced meeting room.  We were in one just after they were added.  Room was nice, but there was a water leak and the carpet was soaked.  Maintenance kept telling us that there were no water lines next to the bed.  Finally, they moved us.

[D C]

On 5/5/2023 at 1:37 PM, BeachTunes said:

Hello! 

 

I just received an email from Celebrity advertising a weekend flash sale on select Alaska sailings. Supposedly the 2nd Guest Sails Free! But, when I do mock bookings on the advertised dates, it's not a deal at all. I've put a call into my travel agent to see if she can access a special booking code. 

 

 

 

Do you expect a better deal at the furniture store when they say "get a free loveseat when you buy a sofa" than when they say the sofa/love-seat combo is on sale for 45% off?  

 

There are no deals. Only the name of the sale changes. 

[BeachTunes]

25 minutes ago, D C said:

 

Do you expect a better deal at the furniture store when they say "get a free loveseat when you buy a sofa" than when they say the sofa/love-seat combo is on sale for 45% off?  

 

No, because I don't buy furniture at those types of places. 😜

 

26 minutes ago, D C said:

There are no deals. Only the name of the sale changes. 

 

This is what I have learned! 👆

[mahdnc]

On 5/5/2023 at 12:37 PM, BeachTunes said:

Hello! 

 

I just received an email from Celebrity advertising a weekend flash sale on select Alaska sailings. Supposedly the 2nd Guest Sails Free! But, when I do mock bookings on the advertised dates, it's not a deal at all. I've put a call into my travel agent to see if she can access a special booking code. 

 

My husband and I have been eager to sail to Alaska but our summer work schedules have made it challenging to lock down a date. If this sale was a true blue "BOGO" then I might be able to more easily convince him to throw caution to the wind and book it! LOL! (Thanks again for everyone's previous answers to my many Alaska cruising questions!)

 

I'm thinking this promo is just another bait and switch type thing where prices are jacked up on the 1st cruiser to appear like the 2nd cruiser sails free when (aside from some extra OBC with the promo) it's not a special rate after all. 

 

If anyone has insight on these kinds of deals, especially if you've had success booking one, please share! Thanks so much! 

 

Yes, I also found it to be a "1st Guest Sails for Double Fare" promotion.