New pricing changes next week?

[coaster]

1 hour ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I'm just curious, which site?

Call reps with Celebrity were telling people on the phone it was an IT price glitch earlier today. Price would be corrected later. So far, no correction.

[BlackLion 213]

8 hours ago, lostchild said:

 

That's $2503 for a 7 days cruise for 2 people with 20% tip just for drinks. 😁

 

We have an upcoming Alaska cruise where the pricing was $109pp/day. It is now the mentioned $149 in our planner. So, the price has jumped $672 for that 7 day cruise for 2 people with the 20% tip.

 

I remember trying to explain to newbies coming with us that it was best to order and pay as you go. I think drinking some $900+ per person for the week might have some consequences.

 

This just seems outrageous, no? I mean, it's gotta be a mistake...

 

 

[NMTraveller]

I think that they made a mistake which they are famous for and tried to recover and goofed it up even more.  

 

I got an e-mail which alerted me to the flash sale and said that I had a large amount of OBC.  I did not have that amount of OBC available but had spent it on excursions.

 

I then went online, cancelled 7 out of 9 excursions online at a 35% or 70% discount and rebooked.  I would have booked all 9 excursions at a discount, but 2 out of the 9 are priced at 10 x the original price.  As always Celebrity and Celebrity IT is a hot mess...

 

I suspect that when Celebrity figured out their large mistake they tried to correct it in an even less palatable manner.

 

I suspect that their goal was to get more people to book excursions and packages,  but they ended up having more people  REPRICING packages.

Edited May 26, 2023 by NMTraveller

[Tillylooloo]

13 hours ago, neverlaysup said:

My feelings are that Celebrity just jacked up the prices so they could advertise 50% off. I would imagine that the executives that approve this sort of tactic feel that the customers are primarily ignorant about pricing and will just be happy to get 50% off. This is a standard tactic of almost everyone in the retail sales industry. The reality is....that most knowledgeable Celebrity customers already knew the original pricing and this increase is just an absolute insult to our intelligence and our loyalty to Celebrity. If they leave the pricing at $149.00 after the sale...then I AM WRONG and will apologize to every executive at Celebrity that I emailed about this. I however feel that the pricing will come back down after this "sale". Only time will tell!

Could you please share the email addresses you have used to complain. I tried to book the classic package when it was truly half price. Their site failed, many times and didn't process my order. Then they increased the base price of classic by 45% in the same sale. I called with my many screenshots, including where I was trying to complete the transaction but was basically told hard luck, you lost the offer. I asked for a complaint email and was REDUSED. Guy on the phone said point blank I'm not giving you an email address and complaining won't make any difference.

 

So now I'm doubly fed up with Celebrity. 

[Tillylooloo]

8 hours ago, jelayne said:

I am pretty sure that when the sale was released the price for the Classic package with the 50% off was around $50 now it is $64.  
 

Anyone buy it when sale was first released that can confirm the price then.

I can confirm in GBP .

 

When I tried to book at the lower sale price I just tried getting an error message so I missed out.

[kiwichick62]

I got the email for my May 2024 cruise but when I click on the link the advertised discounts are not shown at all. I do note that there are a couple of shore excursions that seem very low and the pricing looks to be in error.  If I book and pay for them what are the chances that the price would be honoured?

[poffles]

12 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

I'm officially getting old..."Back in the good old days", going through my notes, my very first X cruise, an Alaska 7 night sailing, was booked last minute over memorial day 2019 as there was a sale.  The delta between no perks to the four perks of $150 OBC, tips (at the time $101), wifi and the PREMIUM drink package was $621/person all in, or an effective price of $370/person since you would need to pay service tips anyways and by deducting the OBC

 

... and I must be getting even older because the only reason I first tried a Celebrity cruise was because of the 1-2-3 Go promotion which was free drinks, grats and OBC.  I had been watching and pondering a specific cruise and had been reading the promo was about to start (again) so I waited before booking.  When the promotion finally started, to my surprise the price of my cruise did not go up a single cent ... it was totally complimentary (their words) and boy did that I snatch that up.  Fast forward a few months and this did not seem to be the case as the prices shot up but boy was I a happy camper.  I had never had a drinks package before and it was like having a balcony, hard to go back to not having it but I certainly will at these prices!

 

The irony in all this, I got hooked on Celebrity and only sailed them since so really they gained, sometimes the win is not so directly in your face.  Boy have times changed LOL

[Sigyn]

It makes booking a suite in The Retreat more palatable. 

[poffles]

4 hours ago, njsmom said:

It makes booking a suite in The Retreat more palatable. 

 

Maybe this is more strategic than we think.   🤔  Nah ... likley not.

[intr3pid]

This is great!  Let the gullible keep splurging on these drinks packages and AI rates - and subsidize the cruise for the rest of us. 😁

[NutsAboutGolf]

10 minutes ago, intr3pid said:

This is great!  Let the gullible keep splurging on these drinks packages and AI rates - and subsidize the cruise for the rest of us. 😁

 

That's all pennies for X compared to those who book suites

[basenji56]

It's like the casino--they wouldn't offer one if the House lost.

[neverlaysup]

16 hours ago, BlackLion 213 said:

 

We have an upcoming Alaska cruise where the pricing was $109pp/day. It is now the mentioned $149 in our planner. So, the price has jumped $672 for that 7 day cruise for 2 people with the 20% tip.

 

I remember trying to explain to newbies coming with us that it was best to order and pay as you go. I think drinking some $900+ per person for the week might have some consequences.

 

This just seems outrageous, no? I mean, it's gotta be a mistake...

 

 

We just booked a B2B Alaska on Millie and the All Included add on was only $48 a day per person. Once you subtract gratuities from that, classic drinks and basic WIFI is only $30.50 a day.

[neverlaysup]

20 minutes ago, intr3pid said:

This is great!  Let the gullible keep splurging on these drinks packages and AI rates - and subsidize the cruise for the rest of us. 😁

The AI rates can be an incredible value on some cruises. The AI pricing is all over the place as we have seen it at over $120 a day to less than $40 a day on some cruises. Our Alaska cruise had AI for $48 a day per person. That is a killer deal!

[intr3pid]

11 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

The AI rates can be an incredible value on some cruises. The AI pricing is all over the place as we have seen it at over $120 a day to less than $40 a day on some cruises. Our Alaska cruise had AI for $48 a day per person. That is a killer deal!

At $100 per day for a cabin of two, this would probably double the cruise fare for some cabins.

[neverlaysup]

Just now, intr3pid said:

At $100 per day for a cabin of two, this would probably double the cruise fare for some cabins.

It could but if you did want a few drinks it is still a pretty good deal since both passengers are already on the hook for daily gratuities of $17.50 each. Once you subtract that mandatory cost (yes I know some cheapskates will go to customer service and remove them), the net cost of drinks and WIFI is only $30 a day. For US, that is a great deal and only amounts to a coffee or two, some water and a glass of wine or two at dinner. For those that do not drink and are happy with Oceanview drip coffee, it may not be the deal we find it to be. We have cruised with and without drink packages and in the end, it all comes down to math for me. There is a price point where I find AI to be the better value than a cruise only rate.

[intr3pid]

11 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

It could but if you did want a few drinks it is still a pretty good deal since both passengers are already on the hook for daily gratuities of $17.50 each. Once you subtract that mandatory cost (yes I know some cheapskates will go to customer service and remove them), the net cost of drinks and WIFI is only $30 a day. For US, that is a great deal and only amounts to a coffee or two, some water and a glass of wine or two at dinner. For those that do not drink and are happy with Oceanview drip coffee, it may not be the deal we find it to be. We have cruised with and without drink packages and in the end, it all comes down to math for me. There is a price point where I find AI to be the better value than a cruise only rate.

For us, drink packages = slow death sentence, and the included Wifi mostly unusable for anything beyond basic messaging.

 

But, we love these packages for the reason I stated above.

[prmssk]

14 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

It could but if you did want a few drinks it is still a pretty good deal since both passengers are already on the hook for daily gratuities of $17.50 each. Once you subtract that mandatory cost (yes I know some cheapskates will go to customer service and remove them), the net cost of drinks and WIFI is only $30 a day. For US, that is a great deal and only amounts to a coffee or two, some water and a glass of wine or two at dinner. For those that do not drink and are happy with Oceanview drip coffee, it may not be the deal we find it to be. We have cruised with and without drink packages and in the end, it all comes down to math for me. There is a price point where I find AI to be the better value than a cruise only rate.

I agree.  If I found a deal where AI was only $48 per person per day, it would definitely be a value for us even with my husband not drinking because we get wifi anyway and I spend some money on drinks anyway.  The cruises I have looked at lately though have had the price at around $80 per person per day.  I've done the math and know it is cheaper for me to just buy drinks and wifi a la carte at that price.  

[neverlaysup]

1 minute ago, intr3pid said:

For us, drink packages = slow death sentence, and the included Wifi mostly unusable for anything beyond basic messaging.

 

But, we love these packages for the reason I stated above.

I don't really even factor the WIFI into that AI cost. I just ask myself if I am going to spend XXX a day on coffee, water and cocktails and does the AI make sense. For me, anything over about $50 for drinks is a no go because I don't really drink that much anymore and I can bring nice wine with me and use the Elite happy hour as well. Once we make Elite+ after our next cruise, I will have to re-adjust my calculations since Al Bacio will now be free.

[Sigyn]

52 minutes ago, intr3pid said:

For us, drink packages = slow death sentence

 

How is a drink package a slow death sentence?

[basenji56]

9 minutes ago, njsmom said:

How is a drink package a slow death sentence?

[MandL]

53 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

I don't really even factor the WIFI into that AI cost. I just ask myself if I am going to spend XXX a day on coffee, water and cocktails and does the AI make sense. For me, anything over about $50 for drinks is a no go because I don't really drink that much anymore and I can bring nice wine with me and use the Elite happy hour as well. Once we make Elite+ after our next cruise, I will have to re-adjust my calculations since Al Bacio will now be free.

 

That will be the day Celebrity gives away Al Bacio for free to Elite Plus. You must be talking making Zenith after your next cruise?  

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/new-images/Captain-Clubs-Benefits-Brochure_3.24.23_V7.pdf

[neverlaysup]

1 minute ago, MandL said:

 

That will be the day Celebrity gives away Al Bacio for free to Elite Plus. You must be talking making Zenith after your next cruise?  

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/new-images/Captain-Clubs-Benefits-Brochure_3.24.23_V7.pdf

You clearly can't read the chart very well. Open it back up, go to the Drinks and Dining section and read line 3....I will wait!

[cruiserchuck]

2 hours ago, neverlaysup said:

You clearly can't read the chart very well. Open it back up, go to the Drinks and Dining section and read line 3....I will wait!

 

We finally made Elite Plus, and really enjoy the free specialty coffee and tea at Al Bacio.  We got by fine without a drink package on our recent cruise.  I was able to drink all I wanted/needed at the Elite happy hour, as well as collect enough bottled water for drinking in the cabin.   

[Sigyn]

3 hours ago, basenji56 said:

You're making the assumption that everyone with a drink package is drinking too much in their lives. A drink package does not give you cirrhosis of the liver.