Celebrity Customer Service

[Feggers]

Hi everyone. This is my first post and unfortunately it relates to a negative experience I had today. I am taking my mum and dad (both 75) on our first Celebrity cruise in April. We have previously cruised with RCI but want a more peaceful relaxing experience this time around. As with most people travelling back to the UK we have a late afternoon flight from Miami and thought a day room at an airport hotel would be useful given my parents age and the length of time between disembarkation and the flight. I booked through a TA who rang Celebrity today on my behalf only to be told that rooms were only available for those with flights after 6pm - our flight is 5.25 pm. Apparently there is no exception to this rule despite the five figure sum I paid for the cruise and an offer to pay extra for a room. While I understand we may only use the room for about four to five hours I would have thought an exception could be made. Having not experienced Celebrity before I wondered if this is the type of inflexible customer service I should expect??

[Gonzo70]

Welcome to Cruise Critic,

 

Celebrity's pre-cruise customer service can be pretty hit or miss, but fortunately the on board experience is generally consistently good to excellent. The telephone service reps are often low paid and not terribly knowledgeable at handling anything that is outside the box or requires rules/policies to be bent.

 

To be honest they probably did you a favor though (unintentionally). Celebrity charges a ridiculous surcharge on hotel reservations, so you probably with little effort can book something on your own for well less than half what they would charge you. Try posting on the Ports of Call section here (http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495) about hotels people recommend for day rooms and take it from there.

 

Good luck and happy cruising. :)

[Feggers]

Thanks for the quick reply and the tip. I will definitely take the advice and ask for suggestions to book something myself. I'm also pleased to hear the onboard experience should be better than today's.

[ForeverAtSea]

Hi everyone. This is my first post and unfortunately it relates to a negative experience I had today. I am taking my mum and dad (both 75) on our first Celebrity cruise in April. We have previously cruised with RCI but want a more peaceful relaxing experience this time around. As with most people travelling back to the UK we have a late afternoon flight from Miami and thought a day room at an airport hotel would be useful given my parents age and the length of time between disembarkation and the flight. I booked through a TA who rang Celebrity today on my behalf only to be told that rooms were only available for those with flights after 6pm - our flight is 5.25 pm. Apparently there is no exception to this rule despite the five figure sum I paid for the cruise and an offer to pay extra for a room. While I understand we may only use the room for about four to five hours I would have thought an exception could be made. Having not experienced Celebrity before I wondered if this is the type of inflexible customer service I should expect??

 

What ship are you sailing on? This summer, some Solstice-class ships offered late departure from the ship for a nominal fee, and that might be a possibility for you.

 

I don't know which ships offer late departure, and on which itineraries, but perhaps someone on these boards has more information that they can post.

[Feggers]

We are on Infinity. If available this could be an option to consider although I think Mum and Dad will feel better about being closer to the airport since the ship docks in FLL but we fly from Miami

[bhughey]

Try the Sheraton Miami airport. We stayed there recently before a very early morning flight and it was more than adequate. There is also a complimentary shuttle to the airport. You can probably email regarding day rooms/prices. Also, if memory serves, there is actually a hotel attached to the airport.

[Lsimon]

If you're willing to pay extra for a day room there is nothing stopping you from contacting a hotel near the airport and arraigning this directly.

 

There will also be one or more excursions offered by Celebrity which leave from the ship and take you, and your luggage, on a tour and then drop you off at the airport. You can probably check out the excursion brochure for your cruise now (depending on when it is) to see your options.

 

You might also check and see if your airline has a club lounge at the airport. These lounges are much nicer than just hanging around the airport terminal and while day passes are often expensive they might be an alternative for you. I know that there is a "Premium Lounge" at Miami for BA,AA and Iberia customers that is open to those in first/business class as well as club members. Most AA admiral clubs offer day passes for sale but I don't know if this club is included or not but it might be worth checking out if you're on one of those airlines. And if you are on a different airline then check with them.

[k9x8]

That's exactly what I was going to suggest, an airline lounge.

You can buy a day pass to any of the Star Alliance clubs if you're on one of their flights.

[ILikeShips]

We are sailing on the Constellation in March. Which airlines are within the Star Alliance Group? Thanks in advance!

[k9x8]

We are sailing on the Constellation in March. Which airlines are within the Star Alliance Group? Thanks in advance!

 

There's a list and map at

http://www.staralliance.com/en/about/member_airlines/

[Emperor Norton]

Current Star Alliance members.

 

Adria

Aegean

Air Canada

Air China

Air New Zeland

ANA

Asiana Airlines

Austrian

Blue1

BMI

brussels airlines

Croatia Airlines

Egyptair

Ethiopian

LOT Polish Airlines

Lufthansa

Scandinavian Airlines

Singapore Airlines

South African Airways

Spanair

Swiss

TAM

TAP Portugal

Thai

Turkish Airlines

United/Continental

US Airways

[Lotus Girl]

Thanks for the quick reply and the tip. I will definitely take the advice and ask for suggestions to book something myself. I'm also pleased to hear the onboard experience should be better than today's.

 

 

I am doing the same flights but on a different cruise! We are departing the ship on the Sunday and then have a room booked at the Sofitel Miami Airport for use between 9.00 am - 5.00 pm and has cost just under £70. I booked it through a website called www.between9and5.com

 

Hope this helps.

 

Karen

[ILikeShips]

Thanks for the Star Alliance info; now I have a good idea of the participants.

[jacketwatch]

Hi everyone. This is my first post and unfortunately it relates to a negative experience I had today. I am taking my mum and dad (both 75) on our first Celebrity cruise in April. We have previously cruised with RCI but want a more peaceful relaxing experience this time around. As with most people travelling back to the UK we have a late afternoon flight from Miami and thought a day room at an airport hotel would be useful given my parents age and the length of time between disembarkation and the flight. I booked through a TA who rang Celebrity today on my behalf only to be told that rooms were only available for those with flights after 6pm - our flight is 5.25 pm. Apparently there is no exception to this rule despite the five figure sum I paid for the cruise and an offer to pay extra for a room. While I understand we may only use the room for about four to five hours I would have thought an exception could be made. Having not experienced Celebrity before I wondered if this is the type of inflexible customer service I should expect??

Hmmm. I recently had some discussions with X CS inre to an issue I had on our Oct. cruise. The 1st person I spoke with was a bit of a stiff. I had sent a letter which went unanswered after about 3 weeks so I called. Eventually I spoke to someone else as a f/u to my CS experience and this person was great. Lets just say she should be in CS whereas the 1st guys, well I think he needs a refresher course. So for me it depended on whom I spoke with.

 

I do agree that who are way better off getting a hotel near the airport on your own. I have found that hotels arranged through cruise lines are way more than what you can get on your own.

 

Good luck. Larry :)

[Project_gal]

Hi everyone. This is my first post and unfortunately it relates to a negative experience I had today. I am taking my mum and dad (both 75) on our first Celebrity cruise in April. We have previously cruised with RCI but want a more peaceful relaxing experience this time around. As with most people travelling back to the UK we have a late afternoon flight from Miami and thought a day room at an airport hotel would be useful given my parents age and the length of time between disembarkation and the flight. I booked through a TA who rang Celebrity today on my behalf only to be told that rooms were only available for those with flights after 6pm - our flight is 5.25 pm. Apparently there is no exception to this rule despite the five figure sum I paid for the cruise and an offer to pay extra for a room. While I understand we may only use the room for about four to five hours I would have thought an exception could be made. Having not experienced Celebrity before I wondered if this is the type of inflexible customer service I should expect??

 

I assume that you are dealing with Celebrity in the UK. If so, my understanding is that the information you have been given about the day room is correct. To be fair to Celebrity, they have to have some cut-off time for offering day rooms. You will find that, if you wish to "waste" some time before you fly, there will be various excursions offered which will mean that you do not have to wait around at the airport [a pretty dire place not at all comparable to Heathrow!] for too long.

 

If you do not want to do this, a number of Miami airport hotels offer day rooms you can book yourself but it is difficult to find out about these on the Internet. There is a hotel actually in the airport building but this does not get very good reviews. We look at most of the [on TripAdvisor and the hotels own website] and decided to book the Sofitel. It has a nice pool area and a free shuttle to and from the airport. We have managed to book this by emailing the hotel direct. Their email address is easily found on their website.

 

Incidentally, the Customer Service people for RCI and Celebrity [and Azamara] are exactly the same people! We always deal direct with Celebrity rather than through a TA. That way we get our own dedicated Personal Cruise Consultant and find the service to be great.

 

Sue

[Feggers]

Thanks all. I have decided to book a day room at the Sofitel. If it were just me I would definitely have done an excursion but I have my parents to consider and they both feel by the time we have got off the ship and travelled to Miami they will be in need of rest and a freshen up before the flight. I have to confess I was surprised at the lack of flexibility shown by Celebrity but guess this should be expected from such large companies who deal with so many pax.

[uktraveller]

Thanks all. I have decided to book a day room at the Sofitel. If it were just me I would definitely have done an excursion but I have my parents to consider and they both feel by the time we have got off the ship and travelled to Miami they will be in need of rest and a freshen up before the flight. I have to confess I was surprised at the lack of flexibility shown by Celebrity but guess this should be expected from such large companies who deal with so many pax.

 

 

Keep an eye on your flight times....we were originally just on the wrong side of the "6pm cutoff" but then the times changed a little putting us just on the right side! Celebrity automatically added a free dayroom to our booking at that point and sent us an updated invoice without us having to ask. You never know :)

[phoenix_dream]

Can someone give me an idea of what one might expect to pay for a day room in FLL or MIA? Truthfully I have never thought of using one, but now and then we also have a later flight and wondering if it would be worth it. We usually just try to leave the ship as late as possible, and then hang around the airport spending at least an hour or more in one of the nicer restaurants to help pass the time.

[Project_gal]

Can someone give me an idea of what one might expect to pay for a day room in FLL or MIA? Truthfully I have never thought of using one, but now and then we also have a later flight and wondering if it would be worth it. We usually just try to leave the ship as late as possible, and then hang around the airport spending at least an hour or more in one of the nicer restaurants to help pass the time.

 

We have just booked the Sofitel Miami Airport for US$109 + 13% tax.

 

Sue