UK Brochure Cost

[Sibelius]

Having last year undertaken a Norwegian Fjord cruise , I have looked at sailing in Alaskan waters. However the UK brochure cost is £1469.00-£ 3189.00 for a category 12 room or cruise only the cost is £749.00. It is a lot dearer than the US website prices advertised from $799.00, when UK flights to Seattle are from £350.00, this is nearly 50% off the cheapest category 12 price! In the UK Princess advertise from £1269 (45% off early booking) and HAL are from £1799.00 for fly cruises.

 

Are all US prices at this level, as I have seen NCL/RCL cruises at $299, $399, and $479 for 3-7 day cruises - we do not get prices like this even with Island Cruises. I shall definately try and book this without a US address and see what happens!

[Addict]

Having last year undertaken a Norwegian Fjord cruise , I have looked at sailing in Alaskan waters. However the UK brochure cost is £1469.00-£ 3189.00 for a category 12 room or cruise only the cost is £749.00. It is a lot dearer than the US website prices advertised from $799.00, when UK flights to Seattle are from £350.00, this is nearly 50% off the cheapest category 12 price! In the UK Princess advertise from £1269 (45% off early booking) and HAL are from £1799.00 for fly cruises.

 

Are all US prices at this level, as I have seen NCL/RCL cruises at $299, $399, and $479 for 3-7 day cruises - we do not get prices like this even with Island Cruises. I shall definately try and book this without a US address and see what happens!

 

Sibelius, it's worth getting a quote from a UK Travel Agent - very rarely will you pay brochure price - more likely nearer 60% of that price. There are some U.S. Travel Agents that you can use (but you need to read their T & Cs to check that out). Hope you find something at a better price.

 

Sue

[excitedofharpenden]

I've always found that using the current exchange rate the prices on the Celebrity website are pretty much the same in USD as they are in GBP give or take. Are you sure you are comparing like with like? I booked an Alaska cruise for June this year through a UK travel agent and at the time I was doing it in January the cheapest BA airfare I could find was just over £600 to Seattle. I think Celebrity's airfare/transfers/hotel the night before package worked out to be about £830, but the cruise price was just a little cheaper than the US travel agency I also used (balanced out by the on board credit I received from the US agent).

 

Phil

[Sibelius]

As a Southerner living in the North of England, I looked up prices from Leeds Bradford, and KLM are available at £300-£500, I didn't check the routes or changes required, maybe it required a trip to Schiphol and a transfer at some point with KLM's partner North West in the states.

I do not have the patience to fly from London anymore, or the trust that BA will get my bags there (issues for other travel forums lol). However I have compared the cruise only fare in dollars and sterling for a North Cape cruise from Amsterdam, and the dollar price is still a lot less, which is surprising to me.

[excitedofharpenden]

Sibelius, what is the exact cruise you are looking at?

 

Phil

[Sibelius]

The Alaskan Trip is the Hubbard Glacier on Infinity, the European price comparison was the 12 night Arctic Circle & North Cape - the US cruise only fare is $1499.00 (or around £765.00) and the UK cruise only fare is £1359.00 or fly cruise £1459.00 to £4109.00 all for category 12 on these trips (4 & 28 July 08)

 

A flight to Amsterdam would only cost me around £80.00 return if not less.

 

 

The US details are below:

http://www.celebritycruises.com/search/vacationItinerary.do;jsessionid=0000mfX56CU_gCxDJ7oWWsYYI0C:12hdebebp?packageCode=CN12U014&backPageName=Itinerary+Search+Results

[Sparkle 123]

Its coming up at base price of £765 cruise only for an inside cabin guarnatee. Dont forget a UK cruise agent will also discount this price. Looks like a good deal to me.

[Suziefloozie]

We have always booked using a US travel agent.

 

I think it depends on what deals you can get on whichever level of cabin you want.

 

Last year we booked a suite on a HAL ship with an American TA whilst our friends booked a different cabin with their English TA. My US TA couldn't compete with my friends price but neither could the English TA compete with the price I got.

 

If you book with an American TA you have to book your own flights but we've never found this a problem.

 

When looking at a cruise for this summer I was better off booking with Celebrity direct with airfares included than using my American TA. We decided not to go anyway as it happens.

 

When it comes down to it you just need to shop around. Book with whoever you feel comfortable with. Hope this helps.

[cinnamon]

We also book with a US Agent if the price is right or a Brit one if that is more favourable. It is dependant on many factors such as time of year, school holidays and who has offers at the time.

[jaz33]

Interesting thread. I always wondered whether it would be possible to book through a US agent. Any recommendations?

[Sibelius]

Ho much does a UK TA discount Celebrity to? Most UK brochures such as Princess/P&O etc offer brochure discounts of up to 45% in their brochures, so a cruise I would be interested in is discounted from say £2089 to £1149.00 in the Princess brochure for a North Cape cruise, just £300 below the Celebrity starting figure of £1459.00 - I assumed the difference was that cost of using a premium operator over a standard cruise ship operator (according to Berlitz). I usually book most things direct nowadays using the web, Perhaps I should call Thomas Cook to see if they do indeed discount.

[Canuker]

It's long been my belief that cruises out of Europe are much more expensive than out of North America.

Also, as the originator suggests, the same cruise booked through a European agent can cost significantly more than if booked in NAm.

 

It seems to me that (and this is by no means limited to cruise vacations) that Europe (western Europe, at least) is, generally, materially more expensive.

 

There is a rule of thumb that whatever you pay for in dollars in NAm you can expect to pay in pounds in the UK. Consumer goods, accommodation, whatever.

 

Why Europe is so much dearer I couldn't say.

[Addict]

Ho much does a UK TA discount Celebrity to? Most UK brochures such as Princess/P&O etc offer brochure discounts of up to 45% in their brochures, so a cruise I would be interested in is discounted from say £2089 to £1149.00 in the Princess brochure for a North Cape cruise, just £300 below the Celebrity starting figure of £1459.00 - I assumed the difference was that cost of using a premium operator over a standard cruise ship operator (according to Berlitz). I usually book most things direct nowadays using the web, Perhaps I should call Thomas Cook to see if they do indeed discount.

 

Hi our TA in the UK will normally discount whatever prices the cruise line is offering by around 8%. I know I shouldn't name them but hopefully you will recognise F**** C*****. It's worth asking them for a quote, once you have the cruiseline fare to see how much they can beat it by.

[excitedofharpenden]

My cruise price when booked through the UK has always been about the same percentage. 8% or so. I don't go chasing the highest discount, but have stuck with a travel agent that I have heard of and worked well with and who offers a decent level of service.

 

Recently I have started using a TA in the States and it has worked out fine. I'm very fortunate to have friends in the States who use the same agency and can help me with speaking to them directly when needed (obtaining cabins etc). The only issue is that I book quite far in advance and have an exchange risk for the balance, but so far the rate of exchange between the GBP and USD has been favourable and if I'm of the opinion that the rate at a particular time is a good one I will go ahead and pay some more of the balance off before final payment.

 

Phil

[Sparkle 123]

The cruise specialist I use here in the UK generally discounts by 10% and they do not charge credit card fees. Cant say their name on here but they are finders of cruises.

I also book with US travel agents if the prices are better or for the fact that the deposits are refundable until final payment is due. Have to say however that usually our UK TA has the best prices for cruise only with their discounts. US agents are not allowed to discount the cruise fare but they often get around this by giving on board credits.

[insidecabin]

Ho much does a UK TA discount Celebrity to? Most UK brochures such as Princess/P&O etc offer brochure discounts of up to 45% in their brochures, so a cruise I would be interested in is discounted from say £2089 to £1149.00 in the Princess brochure for a North Cape cruise, just £300 below the Celebrity starting figure of £1459.00 - I assumed the difference was that cost of using a premium operator over a standard cruise ship operator (according to Berlitz). I usually book most things direct nowadays using the web, Perhaps I should call Thomas Cook to see if they do indeed discount.

 

 

IGNORE THE BROCURE the prices are fantasy most of the time

 

Check with http://www.celebritycruises.co.uk for the official current UK prices.

 

A UK TA should be able to do 10% off those price or more if they have a block/group booking.

[insidecabin]

The Alaskan Trip is the Hubbard Glacier on Infinity, the European price comparison was the 12 night Arctic Circle & North Cape - the US cruise only fare is $1499.00 (or around £765.00) and the UK cruise only fare is £1359.00 or fly cruise £1459.00 to £4109.00 all for category 12 on these trips (4 & 28 July 08)

 

A flight to Amsterdam would only cost me around £80.00 return if not less.

 

 

The US details are below:

http://www.celebritycruises.com/search/vacationItinerary.do;jsessionid=0000mfX56CU_gCxDJ7oWWsYYI0C:12hdebebp?packageCode=CN12U014&backPageName=Itinerary+Search+Results

 

 

 

North cape 28 july cat12 is £883.00pp including tax(£42) and fuel(£30).