Celebrity issues with website, long hold times on the phone, issues with invoices

I cruised on Celebrity for the first time last December and it was absolutely impeccable. That said, I can't believe how troublesome booking my second cruise has been.

Twice I have had to call and ask them to put the $250 credit back on my invoice because it keeps magically disappearing.

The wait time on the phone has been 80 minutes or more on at least half a dozen occasions.

When I try to submit a payment on the website (I’ve tried three browsers on two computers over six months) I get an error or ‘website not found’. I called and asked what the issue was, and the support person said that it happens with some of the customers and he doesn’t know why, but I’d have to submit all payments by phone. It was clear they were aware of the issue and it isn’t being fixed.

I'm paying 6k for two suites, is this really the level of service I can expect from an upscale cruise brand?

None of us is happy with the mess that is the Celebrity website. We feel your pain!

I have called Captains Club 3 times since monday and it has been answered on the first ring. I never call the general customer service number. Use 800-760-0654

I cruised on Celebrity for the first time last December and it was absolutely impeccable. That said, I can't believe how troublesome booking my second cruise has been.

 

Twice I have had to call and ask them to put the $250 credit back on my invoice because it keeps magically disappearing.

The wait time on the phone has been 80 minutes or more on at least half a dozen occasions.

 

When I try to submit a payment on the website (I’ve tried three browsers on two computers over six months) I get an error or ‘website not found’. I called and asked what the issue was, and the support person said that it happens with some of the customers and he doesn’t know why, but I’d have to submit all payments by phone. It was clear they were aware of the issue and it isn’t being fixed.

 

I'm paying 6k for two suites, is this really the level of service I can expect from an upscale cruise brand?

If you are using IE switch to Chrome. Works great for me.

I had the same problem with the OBC disappearing from our invoice more than once. Each time I rang I was told that it had 'dropped off' and would be put back straight away. Good job I rang but we shouldn't have to do that. I had to double check everything after that as I didn't trust them to get it right.

I've also lost count of the number of times I've had to re-enter my address details into different sections of the website, surely once should be enough.

Julie

Have been dismayed to receive an e-statement, yesterday,

6-3-14 re: the Constellation cruise starting on 8/25/14.

Bottom line ~~ is ~~~ the charge is 144 $ more for each of us,

and one of us had a 300 $ OBC which has disappeared.

No idea why the change(s) have occured, and why the

"new" statement is different from the one dated 5-8-14.

Any Clues From Anyone Out There ??

:(:eek::mad:

Called today and had an 11 minute wait, I do not consider that long. Rep was great and changed a room for me. Total of 3 minutes on phone and got my correction in my email in 3 minutes!

Sorry you had such a bad time.

Heard from a celebrity rep that the new website rollout is 6/10. Hopefully issues will be resolved.

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app - My next cruise - Equinox - B2B 6/2014

I've used Chrome, Firefox, and two versions of Internet Explorer on at least two computers and probably more like four. They've confirmed it is an issue for 'some customers' and don't know how to overcome it, but I was told today it might be fixed later this summer.

Of all the things to break you'd think the payment system would be QUICKLY fixed. :D

I have called Captains Club 3 times since monday and it has been answered on the first ring. I never call the general customer service number. Use 800-760-0654

Must be the luck of the Irish! I attempted to call several times last week and each time the wait was 45-60 minutes. Hung up after that and called them the first thing they opened one morning and wait time was 15 minutes. Difficult getting anything done with Celebrity and no company should have customer service, booking etc with waits this lengthy. Poor business.

Must be the luck of the Irish! I attempted to call several times last week and each time the wait was 45-60 minutes. Hung up after that and called them the first thing they opened one morning and wait time was 15 minutes. Difficult getting anything done with Celebrity and no company should have customer service, booking etc with waits this lengthy. Poor business.

I couldn't agree more, and what shocks me is that I'm so in love with the brand after my last cruise on Reflection that I'm actually willing to put up with it! I obviously had a pretty great experience, but it has nearly been outweighed by the ridiculous second booking experience. It's like they are doing everything in their power to deter me from a second cruise.

One of the advantages of using a TA is not having to deal with long hold times & some of the website issues. My TA got through on Monday with a 4 minute hold time which surprised her since 123 started again on Monday.

I've given up reporting website issues to the email address poster "Celebrity Cruises" provided a month or two ago (no personal offense to the poster). I've yet to ever receive a reply.

Most recently was Monday when I tried to apply a 50% reduced deposit for Captain's Club members to a booking I made on the website. The small print in the terms and conditions said to enter the 50% reduced amount ($450 in this case) in the "other payment" box provided when completing an on-line deposit. When I followed the instructions, the response back was "Please enter an amount of $900 or above". I tried several times, but received the same response. So I had to call their number for website issues. The rep taking the call simply said "oh, there must be a programming error". Well, DUH!

Earlier this year, we sailed a marvelous 18-night cruise from Auckland to Perth aboard Solstice. Although we are 14-year past passengers who love the on-board product, friends sailing with us were on their first =X= cruise. He is mid 50's and recently retired from a senior executive position in a very high-tech company (Celebrity's target audience with their new 2015 suite program?). Although they, too, loved the cruise, he was totally turned off by all the problems he encountered with the website prior to sailing, and couldn't stop talking about it! Something as simple as pre-booking a shore excursion was a task the website couldn't handle after several attempts on his part.

In this day and age where Internet-based commerce is becoming the norm rather than the exception, I'm continually amazed how nonchalant of an attitude Celebrity projects when it comes to their website.

We love to sail their ships, but, oh, man, that website.....:eek:

P.S. For the past two weeks, I've experimented numerous times making a booking on a specific August 2014 sailing aboard Century. Depending on the category booked, I've received responses that my dining selection is unavailable and I'm unable to complete the booking. I get the same response even if I go back and select a different dining time. No matter if I select Traditional main, late or Select dining, the website responds not available and won't complete the booking. If I book a slightly different cabin category, then, magically, everything works like a charm.

I have previously sailed with HAL using their web site. Flawless, easy to use, informative, etc etc. Really made it easy for me to book both the cruises and all my other goodies for on board.

I then used a TA to book my two upcoming Celebrity cruises, wanted to try a different line, not get too comfortable and set in my ways. The reason I used a TA this time was I had trouble with the initial bookings using the website (and I am very computer literate), thought it was just me. Well since then it has been a nightmare, for both my TA and myself when either of us access the Celebrity website.

Now I am considering for 2016 a Sydney to Hawaii cruise and am not doing HAL because they don't go through Tahiti. Do you think I can even check out a dummy booking on Celebrity - no way have been trying for 3 days now on different browsers, computers etc. Princess is looking good at this time.

As for the wait on the phone, in excess of 30 minutes every time - on HAL lucky if it is 6 rings of the phone and through to a person to help you.

Now I am not saying HAL is any better in the cruise department than Celebrity as I haven't tried the latter yet - but for pre cruise they leave them dead in the water.

I have called on Tuesday afternoon and on Wednesday afternoon and both time the wait to speak with someone was LESS than two minutes. Both times the rep was very friendly and helpful. Try calling during the week in the middle of the day. They don't seem to be as busy and very willing to be helpful! Good luck! :)

One of the advantages of using a TA is not having to deal with long hold times & some of the website issues. My TA got through on Monday with a 4 minute hold time which surprised her since 123 started again on Monday.

I agee 100% I have never had to wait. I just call my T.A and it is all taken care of no problems.:)

Trying to call Celebrity direct can be a problem. Long wait times can be frustrating. Some agents are good. Many agents are bad. Some seem to make up answers randomly. Some cruise lines are using off shore call centers. I have spoken to Celebrity reps in Witchita and Miami. Find a Travel Agent. They can match any cruise fare offered and often extend other perks. Then when you have a concern, call the travel agent. They will answer the phone. If they value your booking, they will get through to Celebrity. Good travel agents want repeat business. Fortunately, the experience on the ship is good. I wonder how many people are so frustrated by the call center that they go away.

Trying to call Celebrity direct can be a problem. Long wait times can be frustrating. Some agents are good. Many agents are bad. Some seem to make up answers randomly. Some cruise lines are using off shore call centers. I have spoken to Celebrity reps in Witchita and Miami. Find a Travel Agent. They can match any cruise fare offered and often extend other perks. Then when you have a concern, call the travel agent. They will answer the phone. If they value your booking, they will get through to Celebrity. Good travel agents want repeat business. Fortunately, the experience on the ship is good. I wonder how many people are so frustrated by the call center that they go away.

I don't know how many have gone away, but I can tell you I have gone away. I had a cruise on the Eclipse booked for March 29, 2015, but kept running into problems and long waits. Maybe the onboard experience is great but I don't really know that. Without a good onboard experience I had no incentive to stick it out and decided to cancel the cruise.

I keep checking back here to see if things have changed. But apparently it has not. This had been going on since January of this year, which is when I booked. When they get things straighten out, I will consider booking a cruise.

Sharon

I have called Captains Club 3 times since monday and it has been answered on the first ring. I never call the general customer service number. Use 800-760-0654

disconnected three times just now using this number and cannot access website for over 24 hours " under maintenance "

No way to run a railroad....

With regard to the number of suggestions on this thread to utilize a TA as a substitution to the problematic website, I'm one of those who chooses to book direct with the cruise line first, and then transfer to a TA. It shouldn't be assumed that everyone who books on the =X= website isn't also using the services of a TA. We work with 2 or 3 different agents (which one usually depends on which cruise line we're sailing) and always eventually transfer our direct booking to one of them.

Any company in the travel industry these days should have a reputable, working website. Period. Regardless of the existence of the Travel Agent community.

I've been trying to book an excursion for 4 days via web site, for 2 days it said under maintenance and now it will not let you log in to my celebrity, it just bumps you to the offers page.

Finally lost my patience and called captains club, then e-mailed Michael Bailey for all the good that will do.

I have decided to try another line for our next cruise.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

I wonder if this resolved anything for anyone? I still can't make any payments online, it just gives me an error every time. Really disappointing.

Cap Club rep said she'd look into our excursion questions but never got back to me...

It would be helpful if Celebrity Official could give an update on what is being done to fix the website and manage res issues and time frame.

No reps seem to know anything about what is going on...or if they do know they are not sharing.

I wish they would speak up too. It has been like this for eight months now, I simply can't make a payment online no matter what I do. Why do I have to call and be subjected to 90 minute waits to give them my money? The frustrating thing is that my debit card has a $500 daily limit to minimize fraud/stolen charges, so I either have to call the bank and have them raise the limit for a day, and then call celebrity and pay the entire balance at once, or call Celebrity 5 times for each cabin that I need to pay for, in order to pay $2500 in $500 increments.

If the website actually worked I could just log in five days in a row and be done with this in a total of ten minutes.

Does Celebrity read these boards? They should chime in so we at least know they are doing something. It's comedic how bad their website is.