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Always Included Experiences (Round 2)


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I just looked up my May 2022 Silhouette Cruise (where we got a great "pre-AI" price).  There were no options for AI "upgrades", AND a choice for pre-paying gratuities was required.  I choose to not pre-pay gratuities and this was the summary I got:

image.png.9480939087e422cf2b17f45d61140019.png

I will not go on a rant about how AI puts Celebrity out of reach for me (virtual non-drinker, "always" wanting to disconnect and someone who enjoys paying gratuities with on board credit ... OK that was a small rant).

My question is ... "What is a credit of $368 for ALWAYS INC NRD?"

This is definitely new.

Curt from Canada

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That's the discount applicable to this cruise at the time of quote.

In your example the deposit is NRD or Non Refundable Deposit.

The name "ALAWAYS INC" is the name of the fare promo discount likely to differentiate from someone who booked the same cruise prior to AI.  This way anyone who gets involved to manage the reservation from this point forward knows the basis of the cruise fare.  They don't have to look at the date to determine if this was booked before or after AI was introduced.  Two things are immediately evident.  This is an AI booking and it has a non refundable deposit.  

When booking Royal we see similar notations.  Below is an example.

In my case I get Crown and Anchor balcony discount, this cruise had a reduced single supplement and the promo at the time of booking was BOGO60. 

My discounts for this particular cruise are:

Balc Suite

Single

BOGO60

2074289482_BOGO60NRD.jpg.12e035d24457d27f5bbe528e171042a1.jpg

They all get listed as NRD since I booked a non refundable deposit this time.

Had I booked fully refundable deposit the word NRD would be absent but all the same promo discounts would be listed, unless a better combination of promo discounts was applicable to refundable deposits.

 

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43 minutes ago, twangster said:

That's the discount applicable to this cruise at the time of quote.

In your example the deposit is NRD or Non Refundable Deposit.

The name "ALAWAYS INC" is the name of the fare promo discount likely to differentiate from someone who booked the same cruise prior to AI.  This way anyone who gets involved to manage the reservation from this point forward knows the basis of the cruise fare.  They don't have to look at the date to determine if this was booked before or after AI was introduced.  Two things are immediately evident.  This is an AI booking and it has a non refundable deposit.  

When booking Royal we see similar notations.  Below is an example.

In my case I get Crown and Anchor balcony discount, this cruise had a reduced single supplement and the promo at the time of booking was BOGO60. 

My discounts for this particular cruise are:

Balc Suite

Single

BOGO60

2074289482_BOGO60NRD.jpg.12e035d24457d27f5bbe528e171042a1.jpg

They all get listed as NRD since I booked a non refundable deposit this time.

Had I booked fully refundable deposit the word NRD would be absent but all the same promo discounts would be listed, unless a better combination of promo discounts was applicable to refundable deposits.

 

That makes a lot of sense.  One twist is the for an AI rate they asked to Pre-Pay Gratuities (or "Maybe Later":

image.thumb.png.834df74cc9c453a5537137774eb524e1.png

It also skips the Two Upgrade Option Page.

Website gremlins???

Curt from Canada

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Captain Obvious noted "If you want the refundable deposit then you just pay a higher rate."   Depending what you book, some of the deposits can be "throw away".  Under current conditions, I had a low deposit (NR) on a suite (had booked onboard), but Celebrity let me cancel the '21 booking move the entire deposit to another booking in '22 l (no penalty or processing fee).

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3 hours ago, cruisellama said:

Captain Obvious noted "If you want the refundable deposit then you just pay a higher rate."   Depending what you book, some of the deposits can be "throw away".  Under current conditions, I had a low deposit (NR) on a suite (had booked onboard), but Celebrity let me cancel the '21 booking move the entire deposit to another booking in '22 l (no penalty or processing fee).

Thanks to you and @twangster for trying to solve my "Cruising Mystery".   To be more direct with my questions:

1).  Celebrity ALWAYS INCLUDED [AI] has Drinks, WIFI and Gratuities included.  There is no option to book a Celebrity Cruise (unless the cruise is very, very close in) without Gratuities being included in the booking rate.  Why, then, does the website have the option to "pre-pay Gratuities"?  Why would anyone do that?

2).  I understand that all AI bookings are NRD.  It is nice that you have the option at the end to make them refundable.  My process is to "ALWAYS" book Refundable and then convert to Non-Refundable at final payment day.  Is this an option?

Thanks for the input ... I think Celebrity is in transition and there are a key issues that I find confusing.

 

Curt from Canada

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41 minutes ago, Curt From Canada said:

Thanks to you and @twangster for trying to solve my "Cruising Mystery".   To be more direct with my questions:

1).  Celebrity ALWAYS INCLUDED [AI] has Drinks, WIFI and Gratuities included.  There is no option to book a Celebrity Cruise (unless the cruise is very, very close in) without Gratuities being included in the booking rate.  Why, then, does the website have the option to "pre-pay Gratuities"?  Why would anyone do that?

2).  I understand that all AI bookings are NRD.  It is nice that you have the option at the end to make them refundable.  My process is to "ALWAYS" book Refundable and then convert to Non-Refundable at final payment day.  Is this an option?

Thanks for the input ... I think Celebrity is in transition and there are a key issues that I find confusing.

 

Curt from Canada

Royal does the same thing with gratuity for Star Class.  It's included with Star Class but you can add them and pay for them.  I don't think it's malicious, just the way the website was designed.

Maybe a travel agent can comment on converting to NRD with Celebrity but for Royal it is possible but not always desirable as you approach final payment.  The problem (on Royal anyways) is that converting refundable to non-refundable triggers a reprice at prevailing rates.  Over time cruises tend to increase in price so it's often the case that by the time you are nearing final payment the NRD rate costs more than the refundable rate you booked months prior.  At that point it doesn't make sense to convert, it would cost you more.  

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Sometimes I think I am on Candid Camera (young people ... look this up).  Two images from the identical cruise.  Same price ... but missing "Pre-Paid Gratuities" option.  Now I am certain it is IT gremlins or someone pressing the wrong button:

image.png.cf4306326fff163d4169aa020c10ae10.png

 

Always Included "Discount" shows on both.  However, "Always Included" is not indicated on first.  Not a big deal ... I am sure my TA would fix.

Below is the "new" options screen.  Darn, I can not longer pay "pre-paid Gratuities" that I "paid' in my AI rate:

image.png.4356414fc93744a5e69f93011760ab2b.png

As before I get NRD and Pre-Paid Gratuities.  But pre-paying for something that is included in my AI price is really odd.

 

Curt from Canada

 

 

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