Anyone else love Celebrity, but hate their website?

[CarolinaMamma]

I am getting so tired of not being able to get things done on Celebrity's website. So often it seems to be running really slowly or not at all, and I wonder how much business they are losing as a result.

 

The last time I tried to book a cruise, I could not do it online. I called and they could not do it either because the system was down. This was a Sunday evening around 8:30 p.m. Seriously? I am ready to pull the trigger on a cruise and you can't take my money?

 

I have tried online check in several times for our upcoming cruise and gotten partially done, then the system crashes. After wasting an hour trying and retrying, waiting for pages to load, I called them one night last week and they said they had been getting calls about it all night.

 

This morning around 7:30 s.m. I went to try to book a shore excursion and got the "loading..." message for several minutes. I called, was on hold for awhile, was transferred to shore excursion desk, was on hold some more, only to be told that the booking system is down and they can't help me either. I will probably book that excursion privately now, and Celebrity will lose the business.

 

Maybe it's because I make a lot of my arrangements outside of the normal 8-5 business hours that I'm having so much trouble. Why can I use Amazon 24/7 but Celebrity needs to take their system down for maintenance so often? And if it is down for maintenance, how about a message saying that so users won't keep waiting and waiting for pages to load? I love cruising with Celebrity, but am irritated that so much of my time has been wasted attempting to use a website that is not up to the standards of the Celebrity cruising experience. I really think th whole thing needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. The little enhancements they have made do not seem to have improved the overall reliability.

[tunaman2011]

Greetings

 

I think many here would agree with you on this one. The website leaves lots to be desired. If it wasn't for the search function, I don't think I would ever locate anything. Let's hope they are working on a totally new and fablulous site.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[ALBAR]

I tried to Check in online. After three days of trying, I gave up. I had to call to check in.

[MileHigh]

But I remember when the Website seemed to work well a few years ago.

Is it possible to return to an old system??? Whatever is done I really hope they get it fixed.

[Pip-Squeak]

I am so frustrated that when you come to chose a specific stateroom and tap a number in it doesn't respond at all .I like to see which cabins are available and always had no trouble in the past.I have phoned the website dept and complained twice and also sent a strong E-mail.It is about time they sorted this out !!

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I am getting so tired of not being able to get things done on Celebrity's website. So often it seems to be running really slowly or not at all, and I wonder how much business they are losing as a result.

 

The last time I tried to book a cruise, I could not do it online. I called and they could not do it either because the system was down. This was a Sunday evening around 8:30 p.m. Seriously? I am ready to pull the trigger on a cruise and you can't take my money?

 

I have tried online check in several times for our upcoming cruise and gotten partially done, then the system crashes. After wasting an hour trying and retrying, waiting for pages to load, I called them one night last week and they said they had been getting calls about it all night.

 

This morning around 7:30 s.m. I went to try to book a shore excursion and got the "loading..." message for several minutes. I called, was on hold for awhile, was transferred to shore excursion desk, was on hold some more, only to be told that the booking system is down and they can't help me either. I will probably book that excursion privately now, and Celebrity will lose the business.

 

Maybe it's because I make a lot of my arrangements outside of the normal 8-5 business hours that I'm having so much trouble. Why can I use Amazon 24/7 but Celebrity needs to take their system down for maintenance so often? And if it is down for maintenance, how about a message saying that so users won't keep waiting and waiting for pages to load? I love cruising with Celebrity, but am irritated that so much of my time has been wasted attempting to use a website that is not up to the standards of the Celebrity cruising experience. I really think th whole thing needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. The little enhancements they have made do not seem to have improved the overall reliability.

 

I think everyone hates the website but Celebrity.

 

Here's my suggestion to save your sanity and blood pressure--get a good travel agent and let him/her deal with them. That's what I do. Life is to short to wait for Celebrity to fix its website. On the rare occasion that I want to book a Celebrity shorex, I let my TA do that as well. Works for me!

[TeaBag]

I tried to make reservations for Select dining on our last cruise and it took me 35 minutes to do the first night. That was it! I don't have the patience or the time to deal with something that works so poorly. I wonder if Celebrity is losing business over this?

[Beach Nut]

I am getting so tired of not being able to get things done on Celebrity's website. So often it seems to be running really slowly or not at all, and I wonder how much business they are losing as a result.

 

The last time I tried to book a cruise, I could not do it online. I called and they could not do it either because the system was down. This was a Sunday evening around 8:30 p.m. Seriously? I am ready to pull the trigger on a cruise and you can't take my money?

 

I have tried online check in several times for our upcoming cruise and gotten partially done, then the system crashes. After wasting an hour trying and retrying, waiting for pages to load, I called them one night last week and they said they had been getting calls about it all night.

 

This morning around 7:30 s.m. I went to try to book a shore excursion and got the "loading..." message for several minutes. I called, was on hold for awhile, was transferred to shore excursion desk, was on hold some more, only to be told that the booking system is down and they can't help me either. I will probably book that excursion privately now, and Celebrity will lose the business.

 

Maybe it's because I make a lot of my arrangements outside of the normal 8-5 business hours that I'm having so much trouble. Why can I use Amazon 24/7 but Celebrity needs to take their system down for maintenance so often? And if it is down for maintenance, how about a message saying that so users won't keep waiting and waiting for pages to load? I love cruising with Celebrity, but am irritated that so much of my time has been wasted attempting to use a website that is not up to the standards of the Celebrity cruising experience. I really think th whole thing needs to be rebuilt from the ground up. The little enhancements they have made do not seem to have improved the overall reliability.

 

Welcome to Celebrity. You have entered the Twilight Zone... where a seemingly successful business model involves testing customers' fortitude, loyalty, and ability to solve apparently insolvable problems. Many who have been wandering these corridors for months have been trying in vain to figure out the purpose behind the difficulty of using the website. My current best guess is that this is the way the Celebrity computer decides who is worthy of a cabin upgrade. :rolleyes: So, keep your cookies enabled while you play the game, because, if you want to cruise Celebrity, there is apparently no way out of....The Twilight Zone. :eek:

 

P.S. DH adds, "You can check out anytime you like, but you can never check in" - sung to the Eagles' Hotel California

[bbappel]

I suspect someone has decided not to let us search for a specific cabin - and just didn't let the people who work there know. Maybe it was unreliable, so they pulled the plug on it, assuming that it would be less frustrating to have it not work than to have it work wrong. Of course, what would be least frustrating is to have it work right. I don't know if it used to work - I know it seemed to, but we never used it to book a cabin, so seeming to work and working aren't quite the same thing. For instance, I'm sitting here at work, looking like I'm really working hard, while - well you all know what I'm doing :D.

 

Beth

[Gem Lover]

Another problem is not listing the right date for a cruise. We are leaving on the Equinox on January 21. The website lists January 20th. I've called Celebrity and reported it. They agree with me that the cruise is 1/21/13, but it still hasn't been changed on the website.

Gail:)

[cruise47]

I am so frustrated that when you come to chose a specific stateroom and tap a number in it doesn't respond at all .I like to see which cabins are available and always had no trouble in the past.I have phoned the website dept and complained twice and also sent a strong E-mail.It is about time they sorted this out !!

 

I totally agree with your comments. The web site needs some serious updates and changes.

[jes28]

Lost business?

 

I gave up and started to look around at other lines, big surprise they work.

 

I am booked on a penthouse, like CS which was our last booking with CCL, with NCL.

 

I 'll take my chances. I really like CCL but working with them is a nightmare.

 

John

[sarafinadh]

...It would be easier to ask "who loves the website?"

 

The silence would be deafening ; -)

 

We had to check in 11 people, from 4 different local addresses, with two different parental units having to process the under 21's reservations.

 

Talk about giving the system a chance to shine in all it's glory...

 

The Daughter's documents never did arrive and the pre cruise tour reservation was all bolloxed up.

 

Invites to the Cruise Critic party only arrived for some of the party. Pre registration for onboard accounts were messed up and once aboard they took 2 days to figure out what was up and get everything running correctly. It was a mess.

[sabookkeeper]

I suspect someone has decided not to let us search for a specific cabin - and just didn't let the people who work there know. Maybe it was unreliable, so they pulled the plug on it, assuming that it would be less frustrating to have it not work than to have it work wrong. Of course, what would be least frustrating is to have it work right. I don't know if it used to work - I know it seemed to, but we never used it to book a cabin, so seeming to work and working aren't quite the same thing. For instance, I'm sitting here at work, looking like I'm really working hard, while - well you all know what I'm doing :D.

 

Beth

It shouldn't be that difficult to have this option work. We have cruised Princess previously and they have this same option to put in a cabin number to see if it is available. We used it all the time with no problems. I think Celebrity needs to replace its whole IT department and start from scratch.

[retafcruiser]

I suspect someone has decided not to let us search for a specific cabin - and just didn't let the people who work there know. Maybe it was unreliable, so they pulled the plug on it....

 

Heck, you can't search for ANY cabin on Azamara' site. Celebrity's sister cruise line doesn't show any prices, availability, or allow booking. They have turned it all over to a travel agency. A really horrible experience.

[ThursdaysChild]

I tried on Saturday to make final payment on my Summit 10/20/12 cruise. Couldn't even log-in to My Celebrity. Tried again Sunday, able to log-in, entered the CC info, clicked submit, page re-loaded and....came right back to the page asking for my Mastercard info before submitting. Did that AGAIN, clicked Submit, and the same loop back to the blank page.

 

I called Celebrity and raised holy h*ll, and the 3rd person I was transferred to said he'd take my card info and process the payment. When I asked if the prior two tries of complete card info being entered and the Submit Payment button being clicked meant I would be charged

3x, the CS rep said he didn't know but if I was I could straighten it out with Mastercard.:eek::confused::mad: (As it turns out, I was not triple-charged)

 

I told him in no uncertain terms that I and countless other very loyal Celebrity customers were having our patience sorely tested by the worsening website. He told me there was no one in IT til Monday, but he'd pass word to them there was a problem. Ya think??!!!

[fredflint]

web site is probably one of the worst I have seen I am sure it is farmed out and they are getting what they paid for!

[kkid]

I have cruised X enough to have "Elite" state, and have to agree the X web site is poor. I don't mind the organization so much as the pathetic performance. When it is working, it is slow.

[greeneg]

Hard to believe, but Azamara's ( a Sister Company to Celebrity) website is even worse. Try it and see.....

[theampres]

Hard to believe, but Azamara's ( a Sister Company to Celebrity) website is even worse. Try it and see.....

 

the 'sisters' are indeed related - gotta be same IT (dept) parent!

[jveevers]

Another problem is not listing the right date for a cruise. We are leaving on the Equinox on January 21. The website lists January 20th. I've called Celebrity and reported it. They agree with me that the cruise is 1/21/13, but it still hasn't been changed on the website.

Gail:)

 

Its the 21st on their Australian website , but then again, the 21st in Australia is the 20th in Florida, at least for half the day. :p

[Cruiser Bruiser]

I'm looking at booking Celebrity's British Isles cruise in the not-too-distant future, and I'm suffering mightily due to the website. I already have enough stress about sailing a new cruise line--I normally am partial to NCL, which has an excellent website--and the difficulty of getting anything done on Celebrity's site is only adding to the air of foreboding!;)

 

But I am very reassured to find that eveyone else hates it too! I'm hoping since NCL is adding two very large ships, they may start sailing to the British Isles. Then I won't have to deal with frozen pages and locked-up computers anymore!:p

[sarafinadh]

I gotta say, It's pretty much against my religion to do anything by phone if I can get online and take care of it, but in the case of a cruise with X?

 

Reach out... and pick up the phone ; -)

[twonpcb]

Horrible website! Just awful.

[terrierjohn]

Strangely enough in the UK it seems to function OK, and for My Celebrity it is the US .com site that we use. Maybe its the time difference and you're all at work while we are surfing the net. However I always book my cruises with a TA and let them sort out any communications with Celebrity.

Furthermore I do think that the US site contains a lot more info than some other cruise lines, we need an HC cabin and there is a lot of data about these cabins and about disability cruising in general; far more than on Princess or P&O.

So I am generally quite satisfied with the X site.