Using "Celebrity Passages" for B2B Australia

[C 2 C]

Dumb and Dumber: I'm a Celebrity fan BUT some of their policies are weird. Yesterday I used three "Passages" purchased on board while cruising in April. These are Celebrity's coupons for future cruises, and I used them for three back to back cruises to/around Australia. There is a credit of $200 per sailing if you book a back to back cruise to and around Australia between July 29 and December 31. However since I purchased the certificate in April it is not applicable for a cruise booked in July!!! On Monday of course I will be cancelling my cruises to Australia.

 

 

By the way, I was told by (1-800-437-3111/ Daniel) that the B2B OBC is combinable with other OBC.

[gadaboutgal]

Can you tell what Back to Back obc is? We are booked b to b on Constellation in Nov and Dec. Should I be calling for additional obc beyond stockholder credit?

[hcat]

why isn't it good-- I thought they were open ended???

[C 2 C]

Can you tell what Back to Back obc is? We are booked b to b on Constellation in Nov and Dec. Should I be calling for additional obc beyond stockholder credit?

 

The back to back credit was only offered for the Australia bookings.

 

An additional OBC is an onboard credit available only for bookings between July 29 and the end of the year on Century Australia runs. Unfortunately they are not offered for other sailings.

[C 2 C]

why isn't it good-- I thought they were open ended???

 

That is what I thought.

But the good side of this policy is that I just "saved" $20,000 for other pursuits.

[biker1972]

Be wary of the combinability of OBC's offered by X, especially if one is a shareholder benefit. Sometimes it is better book a cruise while on board rather than get the certificate. Then, when you find the cruise you want, switch, keeping the same booking number. Most times the OBC is better, and you are not faced with the potential loss of money that you pay for the passages certificate

[Xcruiser]

Arno, This seems like another bad move on Celebrity's part. Century is a great ship for this itinerary and it's a shame that not only the pricing seems out of market but they seem to making it further discriminating to loyal customers. As we both know they monitor these boards and hopefully this will get resolved soon by someone that understands this much.

 

Joel

[C 2 C]

Be wary of the combinability of OBC's offered by X, especially if one is a shareholder benefit. Sometimes it is better book a cruise while on board rather than get the certificate. Then, when you find the cruise you want, switch, keeping the same booking number. Most times the OBC is better, and you are not faced with the potential loss of money that you pay for the passages certificate

 

Same problem. You can not transfer a booking dated prior to the special B2B rate initially offered on July 29.

Since the passages offers a $300 OBC it is a better deal than the stock credit. Neither allows double dipping.

However if I was onboard right now a passages or a booking to be switched could be used along as it was dated after July 29.

[Bobbie John]

Dumb and Dumber: I'm a Celebrity fan BUT some of their policies are weird. Yesterday I used three "Passages" purchased on board while cruising in April. These are Celebrity's coupons for future cruises, and I used them for three back to back cruises to/around Australia. There is a credit of $200 per sailing if you book a back to back cruise to and around Australia between July 29 and December 31. However since I purchased the certificate in April it is not applicable for a cruise booked in July!!! On Monday of course I will be cancelling my cruises to Australia.

 

 

By the way, I was told by (1-800-437-3111/ Daniel) that the B2B OBC is combinable with other OBC.

 

Arno, Are you going to lose your $100 per person deposit on each Passage certificate because you are cancelling? I thought Passages were good for any future cruise. Maybe you cannot get BOTH the Passages onboard credit AND the $200 per sailing B2B onboard credit? You would get one or the other.

[uktog]

You are lucky you can cancel without penalty - as its 3 cruises we would be £600 down if we cancelled even after 1 day! (But as we also cannot buy Passages we would not be facing the silly issue you are)

[kuldalai]

Be very wary of these wonderful marketing offers .

 

- If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is .

- These offers like Frequent Flyer Points come with so many "strings attached" that they look like poor old Pinnochio !

- Often these offers are harder to understand than car rental rates.

- Like others have always found the "on board" offers through the Future Cruise consultants offer the simplest and best discounts on advance bookings.

 

Cruising is booming as a business at the moment and many Cruise Lines are booking out departures 12 months and more in advance . So the Cruise Lines are getting very cocky with increased deposit requirements and refund of deposit conditions, as if one walks they will sell the berth within days. Will be interesting to see how they treat the punters when business gets tough in future .

[FinelyCruising]

Dumb and Dumber: I'm a Celebrity fan BUT some of their policies are weird. Yesterday I used three "Passages" purchased on board while cruising in April. These are Celebrity's coupons for future cruises, and I used them for three back to back cruises to/around Australia. There is a credit of $200 per sailing if you book a back to back cruise to and around Australia between July 29 and December 31. However since I purchased the certificate in April it is not applicable for a cruise booked in July!!! On Monday of course I will be cancelling my cruises to Australia.

 

 

By the way, I was told by (1-800-437-3111/ Daniel) that the B2B OBC is combinable with other OBC.

 

I am not following any of this. Passages are good for future cruises. You bought them in April. Now why can't they be used on the cruises booked between July and December?

[venicecruiser]

Well, I am really confused.

 

Yesterday I booked a btb, Sydney to Hawaii and Hawaii to Ensenada directly with X and then had the booking released to my TA. I used a Passages on the first sailing that we had purchased onboard Equinox in April. It was accepted without question.

 

However, the fellow at Celebrity who did the booking did not say a word about OBC for booking a btb. I will be asking my TA to look into this on Monday.

 

Claudia

[C 2 C]

I am not following any of this. Passages are good for future cruises. You bought them in April. Now why can't they be used on the cruises booked between July and December?

 

The "Passages", can be used for the booking, but according to Daniel, since it was purchased prior to the announcement of an OBC for a B2B on July 29, is not eligible for the credit.

 

It is similar to the coupon credit sometimes printed in the quarterly Captain's Club magazine.

 

If you are booked on a cruise and a savings coupon is printed for an OBC for that cruise you are not allowed to use that coupon because you booked prior to the dates specified on the coupon.

 

It is an extension of the policy "for new bookings only.":cool:

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

The "Passages", can be used for the booking, but according to Daniel, since it was purchased prior to the announcement of an OBC for a B2B on July 29, is not eligible for the credit.

 

It is similar to the coupon credit sometimes printed in the quarterly Captain's Club magazine.

 

If you are booked on a cruise and a savings coupon is printed for an OBC for that cruise you are not allowed to use that coupon because you booked prior to the dates specified on the coupon.

 

It is an extension of the policy "for new bookings only.":cool:

 

Sounds as if Celebrity is shooting itself in the foot. In my view, you're not "booked" when you purchase the passages deal. You've simply purchased some OBC for a cruise out in the future some day. For a reduced deposit.

 

You're not booked until you book a specific cruise to which you may or may not apply the passages coupon. If they can't figure out something this simple, then their problems are worse than we thought. It never ceases to amaze me how such an inept shoreshide operation can produce such generally good cruises.

 

I don't blame you for cancelling. Keep an eye out for HAL to repeat that itinerary they did (I think last year) RT out of LA. Polynesian islands, Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand and NO long plane rides, just have to fly to LAX. That's for me!

 

Sorry Celebrity dropped the ball on you--I know you were looking forward to this cruise.

[Bobbie John]

Arno, I sent you an email about Century Australia itineraries!