Group booking on Celestyal

Hello, I am researching Celestyal for a friend. They have booked a cruise to Cuba with their extended family. Their TA tells them that they are in a group booking and it is still "open". They have made a deposit for a March cruise to Cuba. They have not received an invoice from anyone. They are being told if their extended family all make the final payment (almost 9 months early) some of them should be able to get an upgrade.

None of this seem right to me based on my experience. (None with this cruise line however)

I have told my friends that they should get their booking number, so they can log into the website. I also told them the charge for the deposit should be from the cruise line and not the travel agent.

Am I giving them good advice. Does anyone have experience with a "group booking" on this cruise line?

Thank you in advance for your input.

We booked through Legendary Journeys, and our reciepts have all been through that agency, not from Celestyal. If they put down a deposit, they should have been given a booking number. They should request one from their agent. The Celestyal website is pretty primitive compared to the major cruise lines, so I'm not sure how much of anything they'll be able to do online. Hope this helps.

We booked through Legendary Journeys, and our reciepts have all been through that agency, not from Celestyal. If they put down a deposit, they should have been given a booking number. They should request one from their agent. The Celestyal website is pretty primitive compared to the major cruise lines, so I'm not sure how much of anything they'll be able to do online. Hope this helps.

Thank you.

I booked directly with Celestyal online. I originally booked for March but changed to the June 9 sailing. I received a confirmation right away.

Holly, Tour Director and Special Accounts manager is very helpful and responds quickly.