Travel Hunter

[/b]

 

I'm sure many became elite just on the fact that they took cheap deals. Especially, if you live close to port such as Florida residence, who are retired and can just pack a bag and go at the drop of a dime.

I live in NY sometimes in the winter, I vacation in Florida to get away from the cold.

Yes, I feel that they could do a better job at this. I mean I wasn't asking for money back but it's obvious they didn't want me to give up my inside cabin since they would have had a harder time getting rid of that than selling someone a guarantee veranda for $1,399.

I guess the surety of today's profit outweighs the promise of your continued loyalty

Well said and I hope you get a great table at the 6:00 seating

We didn't book our inside early either. It was after final payment - I think it was 7-8 weeks prior to sailing and then 4 weeks later the verandas dropped. Which was strange because they weren't showing much availability when I booked the inside.

The same happened to me but the Aqua class dropped $1000 less than I paid for a Veranda two weeks after I booked. I have heard of others being able to get some consideration from Celebrity

Or, you could have not booked your inside early, waited until they put the verandas on sale, and gotten one for the price you paid for your inside..........right ?

 

Of course the downside of that strategy is the only verandas left might well be the ones no one wants. Under a busy deck, next to a service area for instance. Also on last minute sales you sometimes have no choice on dining times.................Select may well be the only option.

 

Sometimes better the devil you know.

That is a consideration, at least you would have the choice of accepting a cabin with a less desirable location as opposed to being told too bad.

Same thing happened to me and it wasn't an exciting deal. They lowered the prices of guarantee verandas to what I had already paid for my inside stateroom. I just asked to be upgraded to the guarantee veranda since I paid the same amount. They said no. It was after final payment.

 

So some new person could come along and book, pay what I paid for an inside and get a veranda.

I see your Elite Plus, Celebrity should be willing to offer you a Veranda, based on all the cruises you have taken with them. Or at least provide you with some other consideration. Seems as though, inadvertently, their process rewards those that look for a cheap deal, as opposed to rewarding frequent loyal passengers

Yes and No. There is nothing in the laws that requires Celebrity to not allow cancellations, refunding of deposits, etc. So those practices are a business decision by Celebrity.

 

With that said some of the laws in Europe, such as the UK 1992 PTR do allow the consumer some protections that could be considered to raise the risk profile for a travel business selling in that market. A company would have to document consumer requested changes to a much higher degree then in the US. Easy way out, don't allow changes.

 

Add in currency risk and some other factors (such as relationships with travel agents) in doing business and you have a range of things that can drive the differences in business practices.

 

Bottom line is they could change the practices if they decided it was in their business interests to do so. Of course as long as their competition (land based travel packages as well as cruise lines) does the same thing they really don't need to,

Bottom line is they could change the practices if they decided it was in their business interests to do so. I couldn't agree more and we should let them know, as frequent passengers and stockholders, when their process's and practices should be reviewed.

So are you stating that Celebrity should provide a future cruise credit as you believe Southwest does

I was not expecting a full refund as my post should have clarified

Not for Tier 5 frequent travelers.

It's terrible that you have so much aggravation just to change a dining time. I'm out $1000 just because I booked two weeks early

Hotels honor sales for prebookings. Macy's provides refunds.

I agree that is not fair

Good idea. But we shouldn't have to do that.

I could have but the cabins were no longer available as Celebrity took a day to review and respond to the request

Doesn't seem reasonable for two weeks

I agree but they could upgrade me to the Aqua class cabin without a refund

Yes to cancel the cruise it will cost $900.

I am not sure if there is another thread to voice complaints but I thought I would start one now. The hope is that Celebrity Management will review these issues and respond and perhaps address.

My issue is I booked a cruise approximately two weeks ago for $3800 in a veranda cabin, yesterday I saw an Aqua class cabin listed in the exciting deals section for $2800. $1000 is a big difference, after being switched from one person to the next the resolutions desk decided what was fair. They did not offer me an Aqua class cabin upgrade, a refund, a partial refund, an On board credit or even condolences, rather I received a lecture about their "rule book"

I have traveled a lot with Celebrity such that I am classified as Elite and I am also a stockholder, I love the ships and the service on them, but the customer service for bookings and issues is terrible. not sure if anyone else has received any satisfaction under these circumstances

 

IMO. "We ask" does not mean the same as "you must". Nor does "may" mean "will".

Of course one can arrive whenever they wish realizing they may need to wait to board.

 

I agree with your quote, ask does not mean must. I also agree with one can arrive whenever they wish realizing they may have to wait.

In my case the potential wait was three hours and it was too late to change travel arrangements.

It seems as if they used the T Roosevelt strategy "walk softly and carry a big stick" As in "we ask" and you don't comply "you may" wait in the port for three hours. (LOL)

The point of the communication and the omission of "if possible" is to try to get as many of the passengers to arrive at the times specified, benefiting the boarding procedure for all.

 

If they said "if possible" passengers would be more apt to ignore the request.

 

I don't know how many of the passengers have flexible arrival times on a typical cruise, but they are targeting them. We usually fly in same day as departure, so not really flexible, but I'll bet a large number of passengers do have options on arrival times.

 

You said "If they said "if possible" passengers would be more apt to ignore the request." I agree that passengers would be more apt to ignore the request if the words if possible were added. Especially since the request is cryptic, ignores providing rational for the boarding request, is ill timed and leads to speculation as to what this is about. Accordingly, and arguably, the text and emails I received and discussion with the Captains club desk, were not requests but "orders"

Credibility is important in business and perhaps more so for a cruise line, it still bothers me that the cruise line issues repeated clear written instructions, bolstered by a discussion with a Captains club representative, only to later interpret written direction such that it provides different guidance to a select coterie via cruise critic.

A little more communication inside and outside the organization, with the rationale for this late decision and heaven forbid an apology for any inconvenience, might go a long way to achieve compliance and bolster credibility for this communication as well as future ones.

BTW

I called "Tammy of the Celebrity Captains Club" today who unequivocally stated that if you receive the message, "there were no exceptions as to the boarding by deck in accordance with the written instructions". "If you arrive at a different time than specified you may have to wait until your deck is called" The Celebrity representative herein equivocated his "clarification of the instructions" with "my understanding" Is this the representatives opinion or the organizations and has it been communicated to the "first line" customer service reps at the Captains club?

BTW (2)

Tammy explained the rational for the "boarding communication" It seems on this sailing day there were over five cruise ships due in port and scheduled to leave at approximately the same time, the concern is at this port there could be a "bottleneck" if too many arrived at the same time. All of the ships, at port that day, were requested to provide the text and emails, by other port or Gov't officials which may explain the short notice. This is not a new boarding policy by Celebrity rather something that happens from time to time

Hi all,

 

We believe this quote sums this up pretty accurately. From my understanding, we ask people to arrive at a specific time if possible. We understand this won't always be the case due to many reasons. No one should worry about this part of the trip!

Thank you for clarifying Celebrities position. Below is the "complete text" of the text messages, phone calls and emails I received. You can see from the communication that the words if possible were not included. In addition when I called the captains club desk I was told I would have to wait at the port for my assigned boarding time. Celebrity is my number one choice for cruise lines and I have found that there seems to be confusion at times in communication may I suggest that you bring this to management attention to clarify future messages and perhaps explain the reason for the request on short notice. Thanks I really appreciate the official response

"This is an important message regarding your upcoming cruise.

Hello, this is Celebrity Cruises. We would like to provide you with important information regarding your sailing on November 29, 2014, onboard Celebrity Reflection. To enhance your check-in and boarding experience, we ask that you arrive to the terminal based on your assigned decks. 12:00 to 12:30 PM = Deck 14, Deck 12, & Deck 11; 12:30 to 1:00 PM = Deck 10; 1:00 to 1:30 PM = Deck 9; 1:30 to 2:00 PM = Deck 8; 2:00 to 2:30 PM = Deck 7; 2:30 to 3:00 PM = Deck 6 & Deck 3. We invite our Suites and Zenith guests to arrive anytime between 11:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation, and look forward to welcoming you onboard the Celebrity Reflection.

LOL! Yup, well on my cruise, a couple was told the letters are actually sent by the port authority, not Celebrity.

 

The simple fact of the matter is Celebrity needs to get this figured out because forgetting everything important like travel arrangements, suddenly getting this text days before a cruise you have waited a minimum months for is stressful. They need to 1) Mention this when booking. 2) Get their service reps on the same page with the correct answer. 3) Put the proper time based on reservation on the boarding pass.

That's it I agree with all three. In addition Celebrity needs to understand when they send these communications and then ignore them, they are akin to the "boy who cried wolf" and as I read this thread it seems as if people have learned to disregard their communications. I think that could be a dangerous precedent.

As others have already said, just go when you want to go. I was on the Nov 8th sailing, same deal except I think we got the text 2 days before. I am not elite, wasn't in a suite etc and literally walked right on at 11:30. There were zero lines, no questions just smiles and welcome aboards. Also, one couple had a major issue trying to check in at 3. Also, while cruises themselves are great on Celebrity, their customer service training is not. All you have to do is call back once or twice and you'll get a totally different answer.

You said "Also, while cruises themselves are great on Celebrity, their customer service training is not. All you have to do is call back once or twice and you'll get a totally different answer"

I agree that you can get several different answers to the same question from Celebrity. Most likely the couple that had "a major issue trying to check in at three" attempted to comply with Celebrities request to board by time and deck. (LOL)

Suppose you have an 11:30am boarding time and your flight doesn't arrive until noon? Or you have a late morning tour already booked? Or you had prebooked transportation arrangements in the afternoon with other cruise passengers?

 

Would you be willing to cancel and rearrange your flights or all these plans with a few days notice just to accommodate this new policy? If the answer is no then I suggest you get off your soapbox.

Well said