Has anyone received shipboard credits or other perks from a travel agent for a Celebrity cruise?

I am in the process of booking an Alaskan cruise on Celebrity for a group of 20. From my understanding, Celebrity does not allow agents to discount prices. It is standard to get one free cruise for every 8 cabins booked.

I posted a request on cruisecompete.com, and one agent offered the same prices as on Celebrity's website plus $125/$150/or $250 in shipboard credits depending on the class of cabin. When I mentioned this to a second agent, he said he would question that because Celebrity does not allow agents to offer shipboard credits.

Any experience with this?

We went on Celebrity cruise in Feb. I check all sorts of on-line sites including Celebrity site. The prices all looked a few hundred dollars different at first glance - but when I looked carefully some included tax, port, etc fees and some did not in quote - in the end, every place I looked had exactly the same price.

So it is possible the "shipboard credits" may actually be a way to hide these related fees.

Usually you get one free berth in double cabin for every 8 cabins, not a free cabin. And this berth is not completely free since you still need to pay port charges.
Celebrity doesn't allow travel agents to discount rheir prices. But agents still can give you perks from their commissions: free insurance, wine, shipboard credit. I do get it from my agent. The verdict: your seconf agent is wrong. Go with the first one if it's a reputable one.

dkaval,

I'm not sure if it is 100% kosher or permitted by cruise lines, but travel agents do provide shipboard credits as a way to discount the "official" prices. Is your agent's name Justin?

The cruise line does not offer a discount. The agent can offer free insurance or an on board credit. We have accepted that before.

The shipboard credit isn't limited to Celebrity. Travel agents will do this as a "thank you" for booking with them and encourage you to remain a client. Our travel agent did a shipboard credit for us when we booked our Oceania cruise with her. It was nice to see it deducted from our total bill at the end of our cruise. Every little bit helps!

Despite any "official" policies, Celebrity allows larger agencies to offer up to 10% of the gross commissionable amount of the cruise in onboard credit.

While the credit may be labeled "spa" credit or "excursion credit", it can actually be used for any onboard expenses or even be converted to cash in the casino.

We just booked Celebrity with an agent/friend. He informed us that RC owns Celebrity and they do not discount the cruise. They can get the on board credits that you can use for gratuity or anything. We got $50.00pp and that is the only perk he could get. He also said he will watch the rates, sometimes he can get us an upgrade because the cruiseline knows they can sell your less expensive cabin easier and will upgrade the alreay booked guest. We never mentioned the 8 bookings since this is our first.

Your second agent is wrong.