New Suite Deposit Calculation Policy

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, DaKahuna said:

 

Ah - oh well, guess my DW will have to live without Luminae or let me spend more of our children's inheritance  🙂 

Dad - Please feel free to spend more of my inheritance, just as long as you leave enough for one (1) B2B in a RS... LOL 🤣

 

bon voyage

[ldubs]

3 hours ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

 

I scratch my head wondering if ten percent is a problem, how is the other 90 percent not a problem? It's all the same price to board the ship.

 

That was my first thought too.  While I like rock bottom deposits, it is the total fare is that is ultimately important.  I don't stay in suites, but if I did, this new policy wouldn't change things.   We also don't make bookings we don't intend to use.   

[ldubs]

5 hours ago, RD64 said:

In Celebrity’s defence ( and no doubt others will follow) I am sure it has to do with people booking multiple cruises which they may (may not) have any intention of actually taking, but are playing the waiting game - hoping that the price will decrease prior to final payment.

 

I wonder how many bookings are dropped just prior to final payment.  

[Mark_T]

6 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I wonder how many bookings are dropped just prior to final payment.  

Indeed, it feels like they have finally woken up to the degree to which people make refundable bookings for multiple cruises with the intent to pick just one of them.

 

Anything which reduces this behavior is a good thing I think.

[bikerunner]

No issue with this policy, still paying the same overall price at the end, if you didnt intend to book it and hoping for a sharp drop at some point Celebrity is taking away that option for some.  I book a cruise and always intend to take it, I think only one was cxled overall before final as it was a b2b and work commitments made me cxl one leg overall.  I agree with the larger deposits for suites, as they are higher costs for the room.  

[jelayne]

11 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

That was my first thought too.  While I like rock bottom deposits, it is the total fare is that is ultimately important.  I don't stay in suites, but if I did, this new policy wouldn't change things.   We also don't make bookings we don't intend to use.   

We don’t make  bookings we don’t intent to take either.  We do frequently book suites and we book 18 months or more out.  A lot can change is that time which could make the trip not possible   We recently booked a cruise in a SS with a NRD the price difference to book a refundable deposit was an additional $4,100 more (25%) 

Not a premium I’m willing to pay. 

 

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 I am puzzled by it all.  We paid a $900 deposit each onboard for our next Sky Suite cruise.  I just did a dummy booking on the same ship for a Royal Suite and it still shows a $900 per person deposit. 

 

I think the norm for the OnBoard booking of a suite is $900 pp.    It might be cheaper to get a OnBoard Certificate and then have it applied once home if you would prefer to limit deposit.   Not sure how that works.

[Jim_Iain]

I mentioned elsewhere that we are trying Ponant in July -- they charge a 25% non-refundable deposit on all bookings.

[ldubs]

36 minutes ago, jelayne said:

We don’t make  bookings we don’t intent to take either.  We do frequently book suites and we book 18 months or more out.  A lot can change is that time which could make the trip not possible   We recently booked a cruise in a SS with a NRD the price difference to book a refundable deposit was an additional $4,100 more (25%) 

Not a premium I’m willing to pay. 

 

 

I would do exactly the same for that fare difference.   We try to book balcony cabins if we can.  I'm guessing we are still booking refundable fares.  I strongly suspect that will change if the pricing difference becomes extreme.  I need to ask my CFO Mrs Ldubs.  We may already be there.  

[Cruising89143]

1 hour ago, jelayne said:

We don’t make  bookings we don’t intent to take either.  We do frequently book suites and we book 18 months or more out.  A lot can change is that time which could make the trip not possible   We recently booked a cruise in a SS with a NRD the price difference to book a refundable deposit was an additional $4,100 more (25%) 

Not a premium I’m willing to pay. 

 

Agree. When we book a cruise we book with the full intention of going but “life”happens. Things can change which can require a person(s) to change their plans. Not a chance that I’m willing to take. Someone also posted above asking if you lose your full deposit if you cancel. With their new policy RCI is taking your full deposit for canceling a suite booking even if you want to just change sail dates. You can bet X will follow with the same policy. 

[prmssk]

12 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I wonder how many bookings are dropped just prior to final payment.  

My gut says it has been a fair amount in the recent past although that is likely changing with the changes they have been making in their deposit/refund policy.

 

On my recent Eclipse sailing, the ship was just about booked in the weeks leading up to final payment time.  After final payment, there were so many suites of all kinds suddenly available.  Quite a few of them stayed available until a lot closer to sail date.  

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

36 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

Someone also posted above asking if you lose your full deposit if you cancel. With their new policy RCI is taking your full deposit for canceling a suite booking even if you want to just change sail dates.

This is very important aspect of this new suite deposit policy. I'm sure we'll see post after post on this forum with people complaining they are not allowing changes to the booking for the $100pp fee.

[bigbenboys]

I'm not sure how this will change my bookings. Yes, things do happen in life. In Jan X made drastic changed to the food and seems like quality of food also. So I canceled 3 cruises booked in suites for this year. I normally book early to get the suite I want. Because of the changes I'm hoping more suites will be available closer to sailing. 

Our next cruise is in Sept. The total cost for a CS is $6895. Guest #1 cost is $5368, Guest #2 cost is $1526. So the deposit would be G#1 $536.80 and G#2 $250 = $786.80.

While we like cruising, if the suites are not available we will just spend the money allotted on land vacations. Might look at European river cruise for 2025.

Other thought is to book Aqua with cruise later deposit and move to a suite closer to sailing. Then pay the added deposit.

[ldubs]

57 minutes ago, prmssk said:

My gut says it has been a fair amount in the recent past although that is likely changing with the changes they have been making in their deposit/refund policy.

 

On my recent Eclipse sailing, the ship was just about booked in the weeks leading up to final payment time.  After final payment, there were so many suites of all kinds suddenly available.  Quite a few of them stayed available until a lot closer to sail date.  

 

During the covid years we were spending a lot of time at campgrounds with our RV.  Same problem. People would grab available spaces at several campgrounds the minute the booking opened.  Then cancel all but the one they finally used.   Since there was no real penalty for cancellations, it was pretty prevalent.  We would show up to a "fully booked" state campground and there would be all kinds of empty spaces.  Those spaces could have been enjoyed by families.  Instead they sit empty.  

[jelayne]

45 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

I'm not sure how this will change my bookings. Yes, things do happen in life. In Jan X made drastic changed to the food and seems like quality of food also. So I canceled 3 cruises booked in suites for this year. I normally book early to get the suite I want. Because of the changes I'm hoping more suites will be available closer to sailing. 

Our next cruise is in Sept. The total cost for a CS is $6895. Guest #1 cost is $5368, Guest #2 cost is $1526. So the deposit would be G#1 $536.80 and G#2 $250 = $786.80.

While we like cruising, if the suites are not available we will just spend the money allotted on land vacations. Might look at European river cruise for 2025.

Other thought is to book Aqua with cruise later deposit and move to a suite closer to sailing. Then pay the added deposit.

According to the FAQ if the 10%  deposit is less than the standard deposit the standard deposit applies.  So your deposit would be $900 NRD

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I think Celebrity would apply the deposit to the total cruise cost for each guest combined, not break it down to guest 1 and guest 2.

 

[phoenix_dream]

21 hours ago, RD64 said:

In Celebrity’s defence ( and no doubt others will follow) I am sure it has to do with people booking multiple cruises which they may (may not) have any intention of actually taking, but are playing the waiting game - hoping that the price will decrease prior to final payment.

But that would mean they would be losing $100 pp if they canceled,  per cruise, prior to this change. Do you really think people were willing to throw that much money away?  I highly doubt it. In the days of fully refundable deposits probably.  But after the cancellation cost was put in place? I find that unlikely. 

[phoenix_dream]

22 hours ago, jelayne said:

That pretty much nixed any further suite bookings for us. The very high suite prices and the high cost of a refundable deposit combined with a 10% deposit, just priced suutes out of our comfort zone.

Unfortunately for us too. Already booking a lot fewer suites and this just tops off things.  In fact we likely will go down to Concierge or regular balcony as our next preference,  AQ, comes only all included so as Zenith we are again paying for Perks we already get. I love Celebrity but very frustrated with her right now.

[Redking]

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

I think the norm for the OnBoard booking of a suite is $900 pp.    It might be cheaper to get a OnBoard Certificate and then have it applied once home if you would prefer to limit deposit.   Not sure how that works.

You're correct Jim. We paid $100pp for the certificate. You have to pay the additional suite deposit when you lock in your cruise.

[mac_tlc]

6 minutes ago, Redking said:

You're correct Jim. We paid $100pp for the certificate. You have to pay the additional suite deposit when you lock in your cruise.

But for Sky Suites, the deposit using an onboard purchased next cruise certificate, until 5/31/23, is $100pp. For anything above an SS it is more. 
 

mac_tlc

[abbydancer2003]

56 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

But for Sky Suites, the deposit using an onboard purchased next cruise certificate, until 5/31/23, is $100pp. For anything above an SS it is more. 
 

mac_tlc

I booked a sky suite using an onboard certificate, and I had to pay additional deposit.  I also just moved two cruises booked on board, and was told that I have to now pay the full suite deposit when moving.

[mac_tlc]

5 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

I booked a sky suite using an onboard certificate, and I had to pay additional deposit.  I also just moved two cruises booked on board, and was told that I have to now pay the full suite deposit when moving.

Wow. We purchased a certificate on board the Beyond in February. In March, we booked a SS on Beyond for Nov. 2024. Did not pay any additional deposit. 
 

We also have a Sailing in Feb. 2024 in a SS that was booked onboard in March 2022. Only paid a $100 pp deposit. 
 

Consistently inconsistent.

 

mac_tlc

[Silkroad]

2 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

We also have a Sailing in Feb. 2024 in a SS that was booked onboard in March 2022. Only paid a $100 pp deposit. 
 

Consistently inconsistent.

 

mac_tlc

I agree. We booked two cruises while onboard in April 2023. Both are in SS and depart in 2024. We paid deposits of $100 pp for each cruise. Total deposit paid for two cruises was $400. We paid exactly the same deposits for two SS booked onboard in October 2021, departing in July/August of this year. We have never paid a double/additional deposit for our SS bookings. We’ve paid $900 ($450 pp) on the ones that were neither booked on board nor booked after final payment. Granted, we’ve booked more Veranda cabins than SS, so we may have missed any “double deposit for Suites” periods.

[Silkroad]

Double post 

Edited May 23, 2023 by Silkroad

[SusieAV8R]

23 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 I am puzzled by it all.  We paid a $900 deposit each onboard for our next Sky Suite cruise.  I just did a dummy booking on the same ship for a Royal Suite and it still shows a $900 per person deposit. 

 

 

22 hours ago, Redking said:

Agree! And several other variations on that theme. 

New policy is effective June 1st.