Happy Hour cruise special horrifying those already booked

[Patrick Regan]

I'm an experienced cruiser who purchased the upcoming May 7 LA to Vancouver via Alaska for $1800. for a Cat 2C Balcony through Crucon. I was crestfallen to receive an email last Sunday from Crucon announcing a happy hour sale of the same cruise for approx. $1300. with a free upgrade to Cat 2A balcony. (better than my 2C. That's a one thousand dollar difference for 2 cruisers with a better cabin. When I booked and asked about price protection Crucon said that they couldn't match anybody elses offer but I would have protection if they did it. I knew what the Cru meant and now I know what the Con means.


I've been burning up the wire to Celebrity and to Crucon but to no avail. I was hoping to reach some kind of compromise but they don't care. You're already booked. I tried to upgrade to a skysuite at the happy hour price which would have cost me more than I had paid but no dice.

This happened to me before with Vacations to Go and Princess and they lowered my pre booked cruise price a certain amount when I complained to near the last minute price. A thousand bucks is a lot of money to retired folks (us) and it's not right to give the discount to late bookers plus a higher balcony category.

There are more and more last minute deals last minute deals now. Retired cruisers are better off waiting for these than booking early. A last minute $100. per person per day M class balcony is a sign of a cruise lines in trouble.

The worst part beyond the money difference is that Cru Con dumbly sent me this email after I was already booked.

I would like to hear from those with simiiar horror stories.

 

[Mbandy]

Hello Patrick,

Sorry about your problem. Celebrity and Royal Caribbean do have "Happy Hour" specials on a regular basis. Usually the promotions are available on Wednesdays only (some larger agencies can get the rates on Tuesdays as well) We (travel agents) never know until a few days ahead of time what ships and sailing dates will be featured in the happy hour specials. One of the restrictions to Happy Hour rates are that they are open to new bookings only so unfortunately your travel agency's hands are tied. I will admit it wasn't a brilliant idea for cru con to send you the e-mail :dizzy but it probably came out of an automated system that just sent it automatically. If they said you would be protected if the rate dropped that is unusual but if they put it in writing you might have a leg to stand on.

Travel agencies can pretty much make that promise if the fare drops before you get in to cancellation penalties. We can make that promise because if the rate does drop and the cruise line won't adjust the rate we can just cancel and rebook at the lower rate. After penalties begin the cruise line has the advantage because the penalty to cancel is usually greater than the amount you would save on the lower fare.

Fortunately it is my experience that your experience is the exception rather than the rule. I usually see prices increasing closer to the sailing date. The happy hour and other "last minute deals" Are mainly for sailings that have not booked as well as the cruise line had hoped but they are fewer and further between than most people think.

Regardless of your bad experience I hope you do have a wonderful cruise.

 

[Cruizer]

I have questioned a decisions I made in the past. I have always come to the same conclusion. Based on the information available to me at that time, I made the correct decision. In one case I decided I made the right decision. Then something changed and I thought I would have been better off with a different decision. Then things changed again and I realized I am better off now than I thought I would be when I made the original decision.

What I am trying to say is, don't beat yourself up because you thought you made a good deal, and now you found out that a better deal came along. I wanted to go on a Celebrity cruise in October 2005. I knew about this cruise in October 2004 and there were plenty of cabins available then. However, I wanted to wait until January so that I could coordinate my travel with someone else. Not only did that fall through, but when I wanted to book the cruise in January, it was sold out. I even sent an e-mail to Celebrity to see if they could tell me about any other similar cruises. The reply was basically sorry, but you are out of luck. So I booked a different cruise.

Then, not only did the cruise I wanted to go on open up again (and I could have cancelled my booked cruise because final payment had not been made yet) but I found out about a different cruise on Celebrity that was even more interesting. However, I had my booked cruise and decided not to switch. I figured the same cruises would be offered next year. Well, now it is next year and I don't see the cruises I wanted being offered. On top of all of that, I had a great time on the cruise that I did go on.

So, should I have booked the Celebrity cruise I wanted when it first became available? Should I have switched when it did become available? Was waiting for the same cruise next year a mistake? Why did Celebrity tell me there was no similar cruise, when in fact there was? And why didn't Celebrity tell me the cruise was in fact not sold out? Had I gone on the Celebrity cruise, I would have missed out on the great cruise I did go on. Which was the best course of action?

I went with the best course of action based on the information available to me at the time. I am not going to worry about what could have been, because what was was great, and there is no guarantee that what could have been would have been any better.

So go, enjoy your cruise, and don't worry that a better price became available later. For all you know, you could have waited, the ship could have sold out, and you would have missed out. Besides, is the 2A really better, or the same thing two deck higher? I don't agree that the higher decks are better. I perfer something a little lower.

 

[viet630]

I know in the past Celebrity had a policy that if you booked a cruise and the price came down they would match the lower price.I don't know if they still have that policy or not, but if they do you are all set.I used that to my advantage several times.Viet

 

[BSeabob]

Bummer..
but Mbandy and Cruizer got you covered...you were happy once with the deal so have afew tall ones or quick short ones and try to get back into that frame of mind.

 

[Patrick Regan]

Here's an update on this post. Royal at Crucon cruise agency called and provided us with $300. in cash and credits to try and offset the one thousand dollar loss (five hundred per person) we sustained when Celebrity offered balcony cabins on the M Class "Summit" for a little under one hundred dollars a day on the up coming 13 day LA to Vancouver via Alaska on the "Summit" in a happy hour e-mail. We appreciate his effort.

Retired cruisers like us who can be flexible with their cruising dates and not constrained by a work schedule would be wise to wait untl 3 to 4 weeks prior to the cruise date to book. This of course does not apply to cruises during the busiest seasons and holiday times. Cutting booking time this close might also affect the cost of flights, especially to foreign destinations. Cruise lines used to hold or slightly raise their prices close to the sailing date. It's a whole new ballgame.

We have been receiving more and more e-mail offers from Captains Club, Crown and Anchor etc. recently offering huge discounts. We still can' t believe Celebrity offering M Class , Category 2A balconies for $1289. for a 13 day cruise to start the Alaska cruising season 3 weeks prior to sailing. We'll be watching carefully from now on.

 

[viet630]

Patrick
Did you contact Celebrity directly? They have always had a policy where if the price came down after you booked they would match it. This is one of the reason's that we used to sail with them. Maybe they do not have this policy in place any longer, but it would be worth a phone call if you want to save a buck.I have not sailed with them in 2 years so it may have changed in that time. If so that is 1 more reason for me not to sail with them again.Viet

 

[daysatsea]

[quote viet630]Patrick
Did you contact Celebrity directly? They have always had a policy where if the price came down after you booked they would match it. This is one of the reason's that we used to sail with them. Maybe they do not have this policy in place any longer, but it would be worth a phone call if you want to save a buck.I have not sailed with them in 2 years so it may have changed in that time. If so that is 1 more reason for me not to sail with them again.Viet[/quote]
We find that Celebrity will still match the lower price unless it is a happy hour special.
The original poster was talking about a happy hour special. The happy hour specials are for new bookings only and are clearly stated as such. There is a time limit on when the cruise must be booked - Tuesdays between certain hours. An agency should let you know that they cannot rebook a cruise for the happy hour special. The happy hour notices that I have received from several agencies state that fact right at the top of the notice in bold print.
The disadvantage of a happy hour special is that your cabin choice is limited - you are getting the cabins that the cruiseline is unable to book.