Unknown Cruise

I am considering the Pacific Coastal but currently, there is no reduction in pricing from what we have paid for the 14 night Alaska cruise. I just spoke with one of the reps that went the extra mile and told me that the adjusted pricing will probably be made available sometime in the next week or so.

14 nights reduced to 9 nights with a coastal instead of Alaska itinerary seems like there should be a decent price reduction. But, we'll see! Sure wish they would have planned the roll out a little better so we know what our options are.

We have not received any thing from Celebrity or our TA in writing .all we got was a phone call with really no specifics from Tangi at Celeberity Michael Bayley offices:o:eek:

Contacted our TA via phone .Waiting for information .;)

We've never even had the courtesy of a phone call.

I've rebooked and I suggest contacting your TA if you have not heard from them. According to Celebrity, most all of the TAs were notified by end of day this past Wednesday. Here is the email I received from my TA yesterday morning:

Dear Valued ###### Guests,

Please be advised the Celebrity Infinity hasbeen chartered. Due to this charter on September 13, 2015, the 14-Night Golden Gate Alaska Cruise sailing September 4, 2015 has been redeployed to a 9-Night Pacific Coastal Cruise. As a result of this redeployed sailing all guests who are currently booked on the sailing will need to be contacted. This memo addresses compensation for clients booked on the impacted sailing.

Guests booked with names and money in house on Celebrity Infinity 9/4/15 14-Night Golden Gate Alaska Cruise (SFO/SFO):

Re-book on select Celebritysailings, in like accommodations, at the protected/lowest available rate or any other Celebrity sailing at prevailing rate.

Select Celebrity Sailings – Pacific Coastal

Celebrity Infinity: September 4, 2015

Select Celebrity Sailings – Alaska

Celebrity Infinity: May 15, 2015, May 26, 2015, August 23, 2015

Celebrity Millennium: May 12, 2015

Celebrity Solstice: September 11, 2015

Select Celebrity Sailings – Canal

Celebrity Infinity: November 5, 2015, March 27, 2016, April 11, 2016

Select Celebrity Sailings – Caribbean

Celebrity Eclipse: November 16, 2015, March 6, 2016, March 20, 2016

Receive $200 onboard credit per standard stateroom, $400 onboard credit for suites when you re-book any Celebrity sailing.

Air change fee reimbursement is not being offered.

A full refund for amounts paid will be processed to the original form of payment if guests choose to cancel; however, they will not receive any of the above compensation.

Please contact us directly at 1-800-493-6609 prior to 4:30pm EST on Monday, October 28, 2014. All reservations that have not been updated by the specified closed date will be ineligible for the compensation offered.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Thank you again for using ###### for your travel needs.

Just got a call from our TA who gave us a week to reschedule or get a refund. She couldn't answer if we would get to keep our original gratuities from X for booking on board a previous cruise and the one from the TA agency. We had booked insurance in case of emergency, now we are trying to cx that and/or just apply those funds to the next cruise. I have never had this experience before, but will do what I can to book another Alaska cruise. I love the longer cruises, especially in Alaska.

I've rebooked and I suggest contacting your TA if you have not heard from them. According to Celebrity, most all of the TAs were notified by end of day this past Wednesday. Here is the email I received from my TA yesterday morning:

 

Dear Valued ###### Guests,

Please be advised the Celebrity Infinity hasbeen chartered. Due to this charter on September 13, 2015, the 14-Night Golden Gate Alaska Cruise sailing September 4, 2015 has been redeployed to a 9-Night Pacific Coastal Cruise. As a result of this redeployed sailing all guests who are currently booked on the sailing will need to be contacted. This memo addresses compensation for clients booked on the impacted sailing.

Guests booked with names and money in house on Celebrity Infinity 9/4/15 14-Night Golden Gate Alaska Cruise (SFO/SFO):

Re-book on select Celebritysailings, in like accommodations, at the protected/lowest available rate or any other Celebrity sailing at prevailing rate.

Select Celebrity Sailings – Pacific Coastal

Celebrity Infinity: September 4, 2015

Select Celebrity Sailings – Alaska

Celebrity Infinity: May 15, 2015, May 26, 2015, August 23, 2015

Celebrity Millennium: May 12, 2015

Celebrity Solstice: September 11, 2015

Select Celebrity Sailings – Canal

Celebrity Infinity: November 5, 2015, March 27, 2016, April 11, 2016

Select Celebrity Sailings – Caribbean

Celebrity Eclipse: November 16, 2015, March 6, 2016, March 20, 2016

Receive $200 onboard credit per standard stateroom, $400 onboard credit for suites when you re-book any Celebrity sailing.

Air change fee reimbursement is not being offered.

A full refund for amounts paid will be processed to the original form of payment if guests choose to cancel; however, they will not receive any of the above compensation.

Please contact us directly at 1-800-493-6609 prior to 4:30pm EST on Monday, October 28, 2014. All reservations that have not been updated by the specified closed date will be ineligible for the compensation offered.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

Thank you again for using ###### for your travel needs.

 

 

 

Thanks much for your posting here & on the cruise board;):) .We never received this information from Celebrity:o . Seems like hit & miss from X regardless of whether one has a high ranking in the loyalty program :o

We did use this information to book the April 2016 Panama Canal cruise. Thanks again

I called back yesterday and was given a lower fare quote than before on the 9 night coastal, although, they are still not able to do anything with it at this point. So, pricing came down approx. $100 per day pp. -- an ok price but not fabulous. I switched mine to the 12 night Alaska cruise for August instead and was on the phone for over an hour with all the questions asked / answered. While I am sure this whole situation was kind of new to the reps down at Celebrity, I did get one that did go the extra steps to find out the answers on what was transferrable and what was not....thus, the long call with very long hold times. I ended up getting a decent price, not fabulous, but all the perks did end up getting transferred over...so eased the pain a bit.

After all of that, she also assured me that I would be able to transfer this to the coastal cruise once pricing was set and they were able to get in and move things around if I liked that better....but I still have to do that before the 28th of this month. Hopefully, this week there will be more info available.

Important to remember, anyone who has booked thru a Travel Agent, and not direct with Celebrity, Celebrity will contact your AGENT who then has the responsibility to contact YOU.

Generally, Celebrity will not contact the passenger directly regarding reservation matters if a Travel Agent is involved.

Important to remember, anyone who has booked thru a Travel Agent, and not direct with Celebrity, Celebrity will contact your AGENT who then has the responsibility to contact YOU.

 

Generally, Celebrity will not contact the passenger directly regarding reservation matters if a Travel Agent is involved.

This is 100% correct. I highly doubt I would have been notified by Celebrity had I not voiced my concern to Michael Bayley's office through an email when the charter rumors started. Tanji was very professional and considerate to contact me personally by phone after reading my email. And she kept her promise to call me back with the list of replacement cruises once the deployment department had made their decision. The info would have come from my TA only. I honestly don't think it has anything to do with your loyalty level.

Thanks much for your posting here & on the cruise board;):) .We never received this information from Celebrity:o . Seems like hit & miss from X regardless of whether one has a high ranking in the loyalty program :o

 

We did use this information to book the April 2016 Panama Canal cruise. Thanks again

Neither we nor our TA have yet received an e-mail or phone call from X. :( Our TA wouldn't have known about the cancellation without my sending her the information from all you lovely people, which she confirmed by calling X herself. I hope we are the only ones who have "fallen through the cracks", but there may well be others who will be rather surprised to have their cruise cancelled in another week without being able to get the price guarantees or OBC for another cruise.

Neither we nor our TA have yet received an e-mail or phone call from X. :( Our TA wouldn't have known about the cancellation without my sending her the information from all you lovely people, which she confirmed by calling X herself. I hope we are the only ones who have "fallen through the cracks", but there may well be others who will be rather surprised to have their cruise cancelled in another week without being able to get the price guarantees or OBC for another cruise.

As I mentioned, I do love Celebrity but they definitely dropped the ball on this one. I am waiting to see if I can book the coastal that they included in the e-mail as a cruise we can switch to. While they did say they were making price adjustments as they are turning a 14 night into a 9 night cruise, they are still unable to book it for us. I am disappointed that they rolled this out without being ready for it. Only 5 days left, Celebrity! Can you please get on the ball?

As I mentioned, I do love Celebrity but they definitely dropped the ball on this one. I am waiting to see if I can book the coastal that they included in the e-mail as a cruise we can switch to. While they did say they were making price adjustments as they are turning a 14 night into a 9 night cruise, they are still unable to book it for us. I am disappointed that they rolled this out without being ready for it. Only 5 days left, Celebrity! Can you please get on the ball?

Now I went from disappointed to very annoyed. Nobody there knows what is going on....well, I have had a couple reps with knowledge of what is going on but then again, have had those that are not at all helpful. So, I switched it to a different sailing stating that I would still keep all my perks to transfer this back to the 9 night coastal. Well, here it is ...the deadline and I just need some assurance that I am still able to transfer it back to the coastal and keep my perks but NO GUARANTEE is all this guy could tell me today. At least the others were more hopeful and did state that Celebrity would extend the time frame on which to transfer back to the Pacific Coastal. I am so frustrated that I feel like canceling the one they had me switch it over to...and canceling the one that was to be a back to back through the canal. They weren't ready to make this announcement and really shouldn't have done it prematurely. OK...that's my rant...thanks for letting me vent.

You only get the same rates plus keep the free gratuities plus the $200 obc if you book one of their listed cruises. You are not guaranteed anything else other than the $200 obc if it's another cruise. The airfare alone will cost more than $200 for two people. ...

I'm sorry your cruise got canceled. :( But...do you still live in Yachats? Seattle is 500 miles closer than SF. Not sure why you'd drive >800 miles to SF, but not 300 to Seattle, despite the free parking at your step-daughter's house. Airport parking would cost far less than the additional mileage.

Now I went from disappointed to very annoyed. Nobody there knows what is going on....well, I have had a couple reps with knowledge of what is going on but then again, have had those that are not at all helpful. So, I switched it to a different sailing stating that I would still keep all my perks to transfer this back to the 9 night coastal. Well, here it is ...the deadline and I just need some assurance that I am still able to transfer it back to the coastal and keep my perks but NO GUARANTEE is all this guy could tell me today. At least the others were more hopeful and did state that Celebrity would extend the time frame on which to transfer back to the Pacific Coastal. I am so frustrated that I feel like canceling the one they had me switch it over to...and canceling the one that was to be a back to back through the canal. They weren't ready to make this announcement and really shouldn't have done it prematurely. OK...that's my rant...thanks for letting me vent.

I don't disagree with you, they should be handling it much better. Just remember all the previous posts on here begging Celebrity to just announce the cancellation already? If they hadn't cancelled and announced when they did, even more people would have book airfare. They shouldn't do stuff like this but whoever made the decision (obviously for busines reasons) put everything else impacted by the charter in a no win situation.

Happy sailing, if you get to sail,

Jenna

I don't disagree with you, they should be handling it much better. Just remember all the previous posts on here begging Celebrity to just announce the cancellation already? If they hadn't cancelled and announced when they did, even more people would have book airfare. They shouldn't do stuff like this but whoever made the decision (obviously for busines reasons) put everything else impacted by the charter in a no win situation.

 

Happy sailing, if you get to sail,

Jenna

I think the most recent rep I spoke with had Celebrity send out a survey about my experience with this latest phone call. While I usually won't state many negatives, I answered very honestly about my frustration with the whole situation, especially the ones that haven't been at all helpful. At this point, I cannot believe they wouldn't just allow me to apply the credit and deposit to the Panama Canal cruise that I also have booked.

At least I haven't booked any airfare -- we live just a few miles east of San Francisco. But, did make arrangements for being on a cruise for the month of Sept with limited flying. I was actually given the ultimatum -- choose something else from the list or probably lose the perks -- no assurance that I could transfer them to the coastal if it ever opens for booking. They are still doing something else with this cruise and frustrating they won't be honest about it.

I wasn't booked on this particular cruise, but it seems to me that Celebrity couldn't care less about loyalty or treating their customers right but the way they are handling this mess. Perhaps the only way they would get that they are screwing their customers to indulge some company who may or may not be loyal to them in the future, is if everybody who was on that cruise, took their money back and booked a cruise with Princess (I just use Princess because they also sail out of San Francisco). Money talks and clearly that is what drives Celebrity when they decided to displace all of their customers to take a private charter. Forget about your perks and hit Celebrity where it will give them the message that they can't treat their customers this way.

I wasn't booked on this particular cruise, but it seems to me that Celebrity couldn't care less about loyalty or treating their customers right but the way they are handling this mess. Perhaps the only way they would get that they are screwing their customers to indulge some company who may or may not be loyal to them in the future, is if everybody who was on that cruise, took their money back and booked a cruise with Princess (I just use Princess because they also sail out of San Francisco). Money talks and clearly that is what drives Celebrity when they decided to displace all of their customers to take a private charter. Forget about your perks and hit Celebrity where it will give them the message that they can't treat their customers this way.

You are right. Since this all broke loose, I have booked two cruises with Princess -- while I usually love Celebrity, may be a time for revisiting Princess. I got smoking deals on both Princess cruises booked, one of which is SF roundtrip. We usually cruise about 4 times a year - it is not like they irritated someone that might take two cruises in their lifetime....not that our business should be any more important to them. It was the flippant attitude in the remark "well, just tell me what other cruise you want to book" that sent me over the edge. I was specifically asking about a certain cruise ... none of the other cruises fit into the month of Sept without missing my canal cruise. When I asked him questions they could not answer, I really should have been transferred to someone that could. I am told I need to call back when guest services is in the office....but on the west coast, that is pretty much impossible as I work more than full time so that isn't an option. I have been promised return calls from a couple of agents, both of which were helpful, but no updates mean no calls back. I added that I did want a call back in the survey that was sent to me. Let's see if that happens...:mad:

The coastal cruise is finally available to be booked by the general public.

The coastal cruise is finally available to be booked by the general public.

And....as promised, because I was one of the ones originally booked on the Alaska cruise, I never received a call or e-mail from Celebrity regarding he coastal cruise. Wow....I know I have said it before but they so dropped the ball in every aspect of this cruise. I am usually a Celebrity cheerleader....right now, not at all.

I still have my booking for the 9 night Pacific Coastal Cruise is anyone still planning on sticking with the cruise?

I still have my booking for the 9 night Pacific Coastal Cruise is anyone still planning on sticking with the cruise?

I finally got someone extremely helpful on the phone down at Celebrity. They have a couple of real lulus down there but this one was so professional and went the extra 20 miles. So, we are back in and sailing on the Pacific Coastal. Sounds like we will have a great time.

Now excited again about this after hearing a few weeks of nothing but NO, NO, NO!! She was all YES, YES, YES .....:D

The coastal cruise is finally available to be booked by the general public.

Just out of curiosity, I looked at this one. Couldn't believe how high the prices were for a 9-nighter, with that itinerary! Ensenada -- really?? I know that Cabo got walloped by a hurricane recently, but I'd be willing to bet that they will be back up and running, in time for this cruise. If you're going to charge those prices, put in some ports worth going to! :rolleyes:

Just out of curiosity, I looked at this one. Couldn't believe how high the prices were for a 9-nighter, with that itinerary! Ensenada -- really?? I know that Cabo got walloped by a hurricane recently, but I'd be willing to bet that they will be back up and running, in time for this cruise. If you're going to charge those prices, put in some ports worth going to! :rolleyes:

I'm pretty sure they have no choice but to stop in Ensenada because of the Passenger Vessel Services Act.

Agree, though, it is fairly pricey for a coastal; I am keeping an eye on prices and hope they drop somewhat.

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I'm pretty sure they have no choice but to stop in Ensenada because of the Passenger Vessel Services Act.

 

Agree, though, it is fairly pricey for a coastal; I am keeping an eye on prices and hope they drop somewhat.

 

 

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That was my point about Cabo San Lucas. Being in Mexico, it would satisfy the requirements of the PVSA -- and is very much preferable to Ensenada, IMHO.