Celebrity ruined the surprise for my in laws

Yes, the MIL has a loyalty club membership and her info got added to the reservation, which is why she got an email. From the OP:

Celebrity says it's not their fault because when we gave them the Captain's Club numbers it opted them into emails. Well I didn't give them the CC numbers. The reservations agent pulled them on her own.

Lesson: don't believe what the reservation agent says because they don't necessarily know (or can guarantee) what the marketing team and IT system might do.

The other day I booked a sailing on the Summit for spring break for 2017. I was very specific with the agent in that this was a surprise for the in laws and all communication is to go through me. Mainly because I don't want to listen to them for the next year and a half telling us we should let them pay. Yesterday I got an email pimping out specialty dining and shore excursions. Turns out MIL got the same email because she texted DH asking why she has a cruise booked that she didn't know about. So now the surprise is ruined. Celebrity says it's not their fault because when we gave them the Captain's Club numbers it opted them into emails. Well I didn't give them the CC numbers. The reservations agent pulled them on her own. If they had told me there was a chance it would generate emails to the in laws I would have had them leave off the CC numbers until we had told them. I booked Royal Caribbean a couple of months ago for the same week and they managed to not spoil it and they linked their CAS numbers to the reservation. I'm so mad that I want to cancel both cruises and sail another line but DH wants to sail out of San Juan and no one else is in San Juan at that time.

You had me until "pimping out"! Really? Look this is small stuff and you know what you do with small stuff, you don't sweat it. Tell your in-laws you and your spouse are paying for it and you don't want to hear about it again. Period. Enjoy your cruise.

This once happened to us and we were on the receiving end of the 'surprise'. We kept the 'surprise' to ourselves and it was fun that way. We decided to keep it to ourselves as we knew it was a mix up. We did not want to ruin it for the generous people giving us so nice a gift. Actually, it gave us more time to prepare and do little things to show our appreciation!

 

Actually, it gave me time to get my Passport in order.

You've got the right attitude. I wouldn't mind being surprised but I would want the giver to let me know far enough in advance so I could do some planning. Clothes, excursions, info on the itinerary, etc. But then, I'm a planner by nature and look at the planning stage as part of the whole travel experience.

The OP is just expressing her anger and warning others if they happen to be in a similar situation. Everyone is different and I'm sure that they know their parents. They may be the type who don't travel on their own or don't care about knowing so far ahead of time and needing to make plans. I have done this for my parents and they were thrilled with the surprise!

Get a travel agent you don't have to worry about stuff like that

That's disappointing and frustrating for sure! On the flip side, you're awesome for taking your in-laws, and now you're all going to be able to share in the fun of the anticipation and planning! It didn't end up how you planned, but thank goodness you can all still go on the cruise! [emoji568]

Get a travel agent you don't have to worry about stuff like that

Lol. I love how travel agents on here plug travel agents at every turn.

Secrets out...now time to have fun planning. Enjoy your cruise

Lol. I love how travel agents on here plug travel agents at every turn.

I am not a travel agent just a retired guy but after being on cruise critic as long as I have and seeing the stupid things that people complain excessively about like x's website for instance i make one call then forget about it till packing time. AMAZING

Aw, I totally understand the disappointment. I gave my son and his wife a cruise as a gift this year and when I booked it, made sure the cruise line had none of their contact info so they wouldn't find out accidentally. This is their first cruise so their info wasn't already in the system in any way, so I felt pretty safe. I would have been bummed if they had found ahead of time, I made up a "gift certificate" with the picture of the ship and all the details, but I'm sure they would have been just as surprised and happy if they had found out another way.

Parents giving cruises to kids.....kids giving parents cruises.......

If there is someone out there who wants to give me a cruise? I would

be happy to accept it:D

I am not a travel agent just a retired guy but after being on cruise critic as long as I have and seeing the stupid things that people complain excessively about like x's website for instance i make one call then forget about it till packing time. AMAZING

100% agree!! :cool:

Parents giving cruises to kids.....kids giving parents cruises.......

 

If there is someone out there who wants to give me a cruise? I would

be happy to accept it:D

LOL!! Me too! And I dont care if I know straight away I will just do the happy dance for longer!

Parents giving cruises to kids.....kids giving parents cruises.......

 

If there is someone out there who wants to give me a cruise? I would

be happy to accept it:D

LOL Lois, you are spot on. I was thinking the same thing reading all this. If this is the worst thing in their lives they are very very lucky!:D

Talked to the in laws this weekend. MIL was really confused when she got the email. She thought it was for a cruise they had booked for next month. Then she saw it was for April 2017 and thought FIL booked something without telling her. When FIL was just as clueless as she was she pinned it on DH. Since we have 2 ships booked for the same week we decided to let them decide which cruise to keep. They were no help. The like the Royal Caribbean itinerary better but also agree that the food and service will be better on Celebrity. They also like that I booked the drink package on Celebrity. They are leaving the decision up to us. So we decided to leave the deposits on both cruises and make a decision sometime down the road. They are both very appreciative and aren't going to fight us on this. I'm leaning towards Celebrity because we all enjoy food very much and FIL is a big drinker so I like that we can cover his bar bill with the beverage package and he can use his obc to upgrade to premium.

My dads friend just blew my surprise cruise for my dad though dads going around like a kid at Christmas think he's happy

I am not a travel agent just a retired guy but after being on cruise critic as long as I have and seeing the stupid things that people complain excessively about like x's website for instance i make one call then forget about it till packing time. AMAZING

Well said, couldn't agree more.