george_sf

On the Edge in December... Wine is hard as the menus and availability are two separate things. In general, all bars have wine including Cafe al Baccio and the Martini Bar. For best selections, the dining rooms are tops. And different restaurants have different selections. (If you are in a Suite, you can ask The Retreat to stock something you find by-the-glass at any restaurant.) The Casino Bar also had a good selection as did The Club.

OP here. (1) If anyone purchased a typical Suite Guarantee, they'd be THRILLED with a Celebrity Suite! (They typically get a Sky Suite). What happened was someone did not get a Suite Guarantee as can be purchased by common-folk. We were only told that after my husband made that comment. That info was not volunteered at first. (2) Somehow, folks didn't seem to look at the Terms and Conditions for the entire Move Up. It is quite clear later on, with language about cancelling AFTER the bid has been accepted. (Which was our case). The cruise was not canceled and we are on the ship. Celebrity should have no recourse to refund us in the Move Up T & Cs. " Refunds, credits, or changes may be issued only in the following circumstances: 1) Celebrity cancels the cruise, or 2) Celebrity cancels the cruise and re-books the guests onto another cruise in a stateroom class that is lower than the upgraded stateroom class." and " Modifying the Booking by Celebrity If Celebrity for whatever reason re-books the Guest or any person associated with the booking to another cruise departing on a date that is different from the original booking date, Celebrity, in its sole discretion, may transfer any Offer made in relation to the original booking to the new booking, subject to availability of the upgraded stateroom category."

Our TA works for a large agency. She brought it up to her counterpart. The company's direct sales manager also brought it up to Celebrity. Crickets.

We will do nothing of the sort! Maybe you haven't been in the Retreat Lounge, but you meet and talk with a lot of people. If we meet a film crew or exec (which we've experienced on our last cruise), we'll know what's up!

Correct. (OP here). The Terms and Conditions continue about what happens AFTER the offer is accepted. Celebrity charges our card on file. I, as a consumer, cannot change/cancel it. The money is Celebrity's. There is no cancellation even if the room is not as described. Or if I cancel the cruise. Nope - Celebrity keeps the money no matter what. Celebrity can cancel the Move Up only if the cruise is cancelled or if they need to move us to a different cruise. So in our minds, the Move Up should have stuck. As to "why" we bid, and our circumstances. We booked this cruise about 2 years ago and got a really good deal. (Ones you don't see any more!) As a comparison, the price for our original cabin was being sold at nearly 2x what we paid just a few months ago. So adding $5440 ($100 over the minimum) for a Penthouse suite still meant it was almost within our budget for a 10 night cruise. A splurge, but not a huge one. What we managed to snag was a Penthouse, as a bargain. It wasn't even close to retail: it was less than 1/2 of what Penthouses would be going for. Heck, as a total, much less than what 10 nights in Celebrity Suite is currently going for next month. Over the weekend, we saw our refund. An "enhanced" OBC offer was added to a "cruise of our choice." At least the person with the most consistent info (I'll call her "S") worked for us.

D***a. "Fish" if you get my drift 😉 Glad she was helpful to you. She gets a 50% rating then!

The refund posted on my credit card overnight. So it was 3 days after they said it was being processed. (10 days after they took it.) At least it was an AMEX so we don't have to front the money on March's statement.

That emails bounces. For the record, Laura's actual email is still: lhodges@rccl.com. She had someone from the CEC call us. The description in the call was in the report. The CEC Exec (I'll call her "D") was on the phone with us for like 3 minutes. She "hears us." And the "error wasn't intentional." Again, never an actual apology. Her goal was to say she called (and then we got a survey on how D did!) We've decided not to follow up until after the cruise. If we find out who is in the room, and we've been lied to by the manager who provided us the most details, we'll re-open the conversation. Otherwise, we fly out a week from today and will focus on having a good time.

Yup. And don't forget that Move Up is a chain of events. Someone was probably assigned our old room... The "disappointment" isn't just mine/husband's. And, why am I know entitled to know what happened? The Move Up Terms and Conditions are clear... Changes can't be undone. Celebrity doesn't have to honor it going forward ONLY if the cruise is cancelled or we move to another cruise. That's it. If they are going to disregard their own T&C, we should know why they feel it's appropriate.

Thanks. I just wanted to let folks hear about our experience. No violins. We have a great room and fabulous group going on the cruise. We'll make the best of it and have a good time. But folks should to hear that we experienced outright deceit. And Celebrity ignored their own Terms and Conditions for their own program. It was a $uck up. As a loyal cruiser, we expected actual apology and an explanation. Oh and an immediate refund. If I get attacked for that, it says more about the attackers than me.

VIP - Very Important Person. This is our definition: It is someone who was offered the best suite at below market rates. It was offered to this person but would not be offered to the average cruiser. It is offered via a channel that the average cruiser can't use. It is not an Exec with Celebrity. Whether true or not, this was what was confirmed by the STAR manager who eventually called us.

Yeah. We just make this ***** up. And we get Celebrity charges of $5440 on our AMEX for your kicks.

Yes. We are on the cruise in just over a week. The room is across from our pals' room. We'll try to figure out who has the room. (I'll report back if we find out). The VIP is an educated guess by us and our travel agent. The category isn't available to book via Celebrity or a travel agent. It is "offered" via the revenue department directly. Could be a casino big wig. Also, when we asserted this in our calls, no one denied it. And they told us it wasn't a normal booking through a normal channel (Celebrity sales or a Travel Agent).

Let's get this straight: 1. You booked a category cabin that, at the time, you were happen with. >> YES. And we are still happy with it and will have a good vacation. The folks on the ship are great and had nothing to do with this screw up. 2. You then put in a bid for an upgrade that was still probably a discounted price from the regular price or guarantee price category for the cabin. >> It was lower that regular price. I have no idea what a "guarantee penthouse" costs as it's not a published fare. 3. You were notified that your bid was accepted. >> It was accepted. They charged our card. They changed our room. We printed our boarding passes and luggage tags. And their own Terms and Conditions on MOVE UP say it can't be reversed. You get this room and that's it. 4. You then received a call from a employee who was doing their job (probably courteously and professionally), that due to an error or a mix up, you upgraded cabin was not available. >> We get a call from someone who is too green and immature to do this job. The call is about her. And she can't provide any answers nor can she provide a person that will. She was polite, but it's the wrong person to call about such a screw up. 5.Cruise line ticket contracts (Terms and Conditions) include the language that a cabin assignment can be changed at a the cruise line's discretion. >> The MOVE UP is very clear that this can't be modified unless Celebrity cancels the cruise or moves you to a different cruise. 6. For some reason, there is the perception that all the cruise line professionals that were in contact with you are "flunkies," a derogatory term for someone who performs menial tasks, usually obsequiously. You, of course should only be dealt with by the cruise line CEO's office and immediately receive your discounted cabin. >> Now this is derogatory. Such a screw up should come with an explanation and an actual apology. We got neither. So yeah, of course we escalated. Is that the gist?

Thanks for understanding. Yes, we got a lot of excitement and lots of disappointment within the span of a week. I used the word "flunky" as it was an appropriate description for the 1st person to call us. The woman who originally called was a young employee, who made the call about her. It was hard for her. She was't the "messenger"... She could provide no reason how or why it happened or why it was US that lost the room. When asked to speak with a manager who could provide answers, we're told "it's Spring Break" and of course managers are not available. She had no authority to compensate us more than $100 OBC each. It was insulting to leave this job to her. Our email to the President specifically asked to get contacted by "someone with knowledge (and actual influence to fix this)"