Waitlisted price increases from website pricing?

[travelberlin]

12 hours ago, History&Wine said:

How much does Crystal charge to be placed on a wait list?  
And is that refundable?

 

I am interested on the answer to this question also. 
Ivi

[Mr Luxury]

1 hour ago, seasack said:

Has anyone recently booked it as a 20 day by itself and got the 5% discount. In other words you booked it and it was priced out at $9600.00 pp vs the listed $9100.00 pp and then got the 5%.

 

Just trying to make sense of this situation which Crystal is not making crystal clear!

Thankfully there are many other choices for cruise lines if this situation is not comfortable for you.

[seasack]

In my case I did not pay anything to be on a waitlist. My TA knew I wanted this specific room and situation and it finally became available and I was presented with being able to book it. 
 

YMMV depending on who you deal with or talk to at this point.
 

Unfortunately for me up to this point Crystal has been all over the place with different explanations with certain issues depending on who you talk too that are important to me and I really do hope they become more cohesive in explaining there own rules going forward!

[Keith1010]

56 minutes ago, seasack said:

In my case I did not pay anything to be on a waitlist. My TA knew I wanted this specific room and situation and it finally became available and I was presented with being able to book it. 
 

YMMV depending on who you deal with or talk to at this point.
 

Unfortunately for me up to this point Crystal has been all over the place with different explanations with certain issues depending on who you talk too that are important to me and I really do hope they become more cohesive in explaining there own rules going forward!

I hadn't realized you didn't put money down.

 

If someone doesn't have a deposit I can easily see why the price could change.

 

Other than the price may I ask where they have not been more cohesive with the rules. Just curious. 

 

Good luck with all of this on Monday.

 

Holiday cruises with Crystal are terrific.

 

Keith 

[seasack]

4 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

I hadn't realized you didn't put money down.

 

If someone doesn't have a deposit I can easily see why the price could change.

 

Other than the price may I ask where they have not been more cohesive with the rules. Just curious. 

 

Good luck with all of this on Monday.

 

Holiday cruises with Crystal are terrific.

 

Keith 

Ok I agree the price could and can change and that should be up to date on there website don’t you think I mean I brought this to everyone’s attention I could at Crystal up to this point and the website, I just checked still says $9100.00 pp. 

 

I’ll mention a couple of non cohesive issues that are easy to check if you have a copy of the Before You Sail Guide. 
 

You can look at the FAQs section on the website which is what Crystal management like to quote me at the beginning when I was asking questions as far as their policies were concerned. These issues as well as others where brought to Crystal’s attention when I got a copy when someone posted the BYSG on cruise critic and when it first came out I think now a couple of months ago now, and guess what, there are differences, like the smoking policy for cigars, the storage of luggage and don’t get me going on the formal nights dress code which happens to be the same for both yet I have a documented emails from management at this point which conflict with each other on what and how it should be interpreted and my guess is before I sail in December I’m guessing it might change again. Those are a few. Btw I was told by Crystal the BYSG trumps the FAQ’s.

 

YMMV!!

[BWIVince]

3 hours ago, seasack said:

I never originally booked it I just booked it now and there is the 20 day on the website with $9100.00 price that I wanted to book I wasn’t looking to book it as a btb.
 

That’s a misleading way to price it you are correct and it certainly wasn’t explained that way to me by Crystal!

Im not sure I’d call it misleading — the 20 day cruise is itself a combo cruise and is advertised at the net fare including the discount.  Unfortunately, discounts like that don’t change the taxes and fees, so at some point on an invoice they will have to show you the original fare, the taxes, and the discounts applied for transparency on how it was constructed.  (They have to do the same for commission purposes as well.). What’s missing here though is a clear explanation, which I’m at a loss as to why neither Crystal nor your travel agent was able to provide.  I’m especially confused as to why the travel agent, when they couldn’t figure it out, had you call Crystal.  Crystal should have been able to explain it better to them, but your agent should have been able to go back to Crystal to clear that up if they didn’t understand it, without making that your problem, IMHO.

 

Vince

[Keith1010]

5 minutes ago, seasack said:

Ok I agree the price could and can change and that should be up to date on there website don’t you think I mean I brought this to everyone’s attention I could at Crystal up to this point and the website, I just checked still says $9100.00 pp. 

 

I’ll mention a couple of non cohesive issues that are easy to check if you have a copy of the Before You Sail Guide. 
 

You can look at the FAQs section on the website which is what Crystal management like to quote me at the beginning when I was asking questions as far as their policies were concerned. These issues as well as others where brought to Crystal’s attention when I got a copy when someone posted the BYSG on cruise critic and when it first came out I think now a couple of months ago now, and guess what, there are differences, like the smoking policy for cigars, the storage of luggage and don’t get me going on the formal nights dress code which happens to be the same for both yet I have a documented emails from management at this point which conflict with each other on what and how it should be interpreted and my guess is before I sail in December I’m guessing it might change again. Those are a few. Btw I was told by Crystal the BYSG trumps the FAQ’s.

 

YMMV!!

I don't disagree. Some of the Q&A's on the website do need to be updated and I do think the write-up on evening formal attire needs to be clearer. I don't see big changes on it but again the needed to make the verbiage clearer.

 

Keith

 

 

[seasack]

4 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

Im not sure I’d call it misleading — the 20 day cruise is itself a combo cruise and is advertised at the net fare including the discount.  Unfortunately, discounts like that don’t change the taxes and fees, so at some point on an invoice they will have to show you the original fare, the taxes, and the discounts applied for transparency on how it was constructed.  (They have to do the same for commission purposes as well.). What’s missing here though is a clear explanation, which I’m at a loss as to why neither Crystal nor your travel agent was able to provide.  I’m especially confused as to why the travel agent, when they couldn’t figure it out, had you call Crystal.  Crystal should have been able to explain it better to them, but your agent should have been able to go back to Crystal to clear that up if they didn’t understand it, without making that your problem, IMHO.

 

Vince

Thanks for the reply and info. 
 

Hopefully you can expand on or show me where on the website it states that the 20 day cruise is advertised at the net fare including the discount. That will go a long way in me trying to understand this situation better.

 

It’s been quite frustrating to say the least. 

[BWIVince]

5 minutes ago, seasack said:

Thanks for the reply and info. 
 

Hopefully you can expand on or show me where on the website it states that the 20 day cruise is advertised at the net fare including the discount. That will go a long way in me trying to understand this situation better.

 

It’s been quite frustrating to say the least. 

I don’t think they've done a good job of that, BUT there is more context on how we got to this point that isn’t specific to Crystal.  In the old days cruise lines advertised gross fares and then listed all of the additional fees and discounts needed to construct the final cost.  Over the years regulators have given different guidance on changes, but the most recent pressure on cruise lines is to streamline things and display net final fares with as few numbers in the advertised price block as possible, and display the breakout on an invoice or later step in the sales process.  (The same pressure was applied to airlines, that now generally use the same flow.)  The thought is the customer can compare the bottom line fares without extra noise, but still have the transparency of the backup fare construction before purchase.  Crystal is providing both here, per industry best practice a la 2023.

 

That said, any agent at Crystal should be able to walk your travel agent through that fare construction.  That’s a core part of their job as reservationists.  That’s the part that baffles and disappoints me.  There is no reason anyone should feel frustrated or confused by this. 

 

Vince

[seasack]

@BWIVince Thanks for taking the time and effort to help me in this situation. I’m still confused in this particular case because I have 3 paid for and 1 deposit down on other Crystal trips and from the information on Crystal’s website I can cross check and was able to understand and confirm my invoices with all those bookings but not this one which is adding to and bothering me as I like to be able to understand everything on my invoices.

 

Thanks again for your time and help. Cruise critic has helped me more in figuring things out than a cruise lines customer service at this point and that certainly includes other lines other than just Crystal. 

Hopefully on Monday, with my TA, I can get this resolved in a way that I can move on with this situation.

 

[Mr Luxury]

14 minutes ago, seasack said:

@BWIVince Thanks for taking the time and effort to help me in this situation. I’m still confused in this particular case because I have 3 paid for and 1 deposit down on other Crystal trips and from the information on Crystal’s website I can cross check and was able to understand and confirm my invoices with all those bookings but not this one which is adding to and bothering me as I like to be able to understand everything on my invoices.

 

Thanks again for your time and help. Cruise critic has helped me more in figuring things out than a cruise lines customer service at this point and that certainly includes other lines other than just Crystal. 

Hopefully on Monday, with my TA, I can get this resolved in a way that I can move on with this situation.

 

I feel your pain but I am at a loss to see why you have this aggregation when you have a TA.

What are they doing for their commission?

[seasack]

4 minutes ago, Mr Luxury said:

I feel your pain but I am at a loss to see why you have this aggregation when you have a TA.

What are they doing for their commission?

I can understand why would say that and I would agree based on the limited information I presented in this thread but there has been extreme frustration on both myself and my TA over many issues with the start up of new Crystal in the bookings I have made. Like many other businesses I’m guessing with the frustrations my TA has had, hearing directly from the client adds some backup to the issues we are trying to get Crystal to consider. As they say the more you hear from different people the more a situation gets attention. 
 

I have had very great experiences with old Crystal and I’m hoping new Crystal will be at least the same or better and in going through these hopefully growing pains with new Crystal I’m hoping to help them and help me have the best experience possible. 

[avalon244]

4 hours ago, seasack said:

Has anyone recently booked it as a 20 day by itself and got the 5% discount. In other words you booked it and it was priced out at $9600.00 pp vs the listed $9100.00 pp and then got the 5%.

 

Just trying to make sense of this situation which Crystal is not making crystal clear!

I agree that Crystal should be explaining the situation better, but I'm fairly certain that the $9100 price you're seeing includes the 5% discount from the actual $9600 price. Now if you have another cruise booked directly after the 20-day cruise, you should get a 5% discount on that segment. 

[avalon244]

5 hours ago, seasack said:

In my case I did not pay anything to be on a waitlist. My TA knew I wanted this specific room and situation and it finally became available and I was presented with being able to book it. 
 

YMMV depending on who you deal with or talk to at this point.
 

Unfortunately for me up to this point Crystal has been all over the place with different explanations with certain issues depending on who you talk too that are important to me and I really do hope they become more cohesive in explaining there own rules going forward!

 

[avalon244]

Let me add a couple of points that may lessen your angst. I've been sailing on Crystal since 1998 and pricing can be very tricky. For example, various discounts only come off the cruise portion of the fare, not the port charges and fees. I don’t believe Crystal is charging you a fee for being on a waitlist or has raised the price for the 2 segments. They are simply presenting the cruise in 2 different ways ($9600 with discount and $9100 without discount). In the end, the final price is pretty much the same. Now a savvy TA should understand this. But in my experience, that is often not the case.

[AtA]

7 hours ago, Keith1010 said:

I hadn't realized you didn't put money down.

 

If someone doesn't have a deposit I can easily see why the price could change.

 

Other than the price may I ask where they have not been more cohesive with the rules. Just curious. 

 

Good luck with all of this on Monday.

 

Holiday cruises with Crystal are terrific.

 

Keith 

Why would the price wind up being more than what's shown on the website for the same room? That makes no sense.

[AtA]

6 hours ago, seasack said:

Ok I agree the price could and can change and that should be up to date on there website don’t you think I mean I brought this to everyone’s attention I could at Crystal up to this point and the website, I just checked still says $9100.00 pp. 

 

 

Make sure to take a screen shot before it possibly changes.

[seasack]

Just now, AtA said:

Make sure to take a screen shot before it possibly changes.

I did thanks!

[Keith1010]

13 minutes ago, AtA said:

Why would the price wind up being more than what's shown on the website for the same room? That makes no sense.

I thought the poster said that the price was higher than when they did the waitlist.  This has not  been the easiest thread to follow. 

 

 

 

[Keith1010]

11 minutes ago, AtA said:

 

[AtA]

14 minutes ago, Keith1010 said:

I thought the poster said that the price was higher than when they did the waitlist.  This has nit been the easiest thread to follow.

 

 

 

 

The price listed on the website for the 20 day cruise is $9100. That is the higher price versus the forward cabins which are listed at $8,500. That is what I was responding about. 🙂

Edited September 9, 2023 by AtA

[BWIVince]

16 minutes ago, AtA said:

 

The price listed on the website for the 20 day cruise is $9100. That is the higher price versus the forward cabins which are listed at $8,500. That is what I was responding about. 🙂

The price on the website is the final price after the B2B discount, taxes, etc., which is the price Crystal is supposed to advertise.  The invoice breaks out the discounts, including the 5%, but prices the two segments that make up the 20 day B2B as the total gross fare, as it’s supposed to because that number is equally important in the breakout.

 

I think the confusion was the OP wasn’t thinking of the 20 days as a B2B in itself, and that the total price already included the 5% off.  It’s still off by $30-something, but as mentioned upthread that can probably be explained in the way the discounts and fees are calculated, that’s how those differences normally happen.  That’s a whole different story than the base fares though.

 

Vince

[May B]

Instead of accepting the wait list, can you start with a new reservation? 
 

Or were you actually wait-listed for one specific stateroom (presumably the one you’re booked in for the WC)?

 

 

[seasack]

I apologize if I made this confusing I’m new to this situation and maybe I didn’t explain it in the right way. In hindsight maybe the title of the thread should have been different?

 

I wanted a specific room in a waitlisted category for the holiday cruise. Based on what I’m reading I guess I wasn’t on an official Crystal waitlist that you put money down for because I only wanted a specific room and I guess the official waitlist program doesn’t work that way?

 

My TA had my request for the room I wanted and was watching out for it, if and when it might become available. A few days ago it became available. She sent me the invoice and I checked the website and as I said the invoice says $9600.00 pp and the website says $9100.00 pp. I questioned this discrepancy. To make it short she said she couldn’t get a clear explanation from Crystal and that that was what the price was going to be. As I mentioned earlier she suggested I call if I was not happy with expectation to hear it myself. My wife called and they basically told her because the category the room is in that we want is waitlisted they can charge more. Based on what I’m reading from everyone’s  responses Crystal was wrong both times is explaining the situation to us that being my TA and to my wife. 

 

I have since gotten an email from my TA stating what has be said by others that the $9100.00 includes the btb discount. I still have an issue as to why this is not clearly stated on the Crystal website. 

 

I hoping Monday I can sort this out with the new information I was presented on this thread to hopefully get Crystal to add something to there website in a situation where they combine multiple segments into a new separate segment. 

 

I apologize again if I made this a confusing situation for anyone. It still is to me, but based on the help from others on this tread I pretty much think I understand what happened. I’m still not happy with they way it’s been going down and Crystal needs to do some work on there end to end confusion in what is happening in this type of situation. 

[Keith1010]

Thanks for the added detail.

 

There are some issues that are not always easy to write about. I am sure if we all were in a room together it would have been easier to explain. 

 

May I ask who are you planning to call at Crystal?  I only ask if your purpose is to recommend that Crystal make it easier for people to understand on their website you might consider writing something up and have your TA send it to someone at Crystal who could actually do something about this if they thought your recommendation was valid? I am not being argumentative just trying to be helpful.

 

I am a visual person and would recommend you give specific examples if you do a write-up.

 

The official waitlist program is really designed for a specific category rather than a specific room which I believe from your post you now understand.  I've only been waitlisted when I have a booking but had them waitlist me for another category.  One time we were trying to get a specific room to avoid moving before the start of a World Cruise but that had to be checked manually by our TA every so often.

 

I am glad you go the room that you desire. 

 

Keith