Urgent Help to Avoid Cruise Cancellation

[Kiranus]

We are sailing on the Solstice in January with my parents, and the final date for payment is this Sunday, 26 October. Both bookings were made together. On 13 October (9 working days ago) my father (who does not do internet banking) went personally into his bank and arranged a direct deposit for his final payment. I subsequently emailed RCL on his behalf with a scanned copy of the receipt. On 17 October I paid my final account through internet banking, with an accompanying email which also mentioned that my father had paid, but that it was not yet showing off his My Cruise account on the X website.

My account balance was cleared to $0 on 19 October (2 working days after paid). My father has rung Celebrity three times now, to be told on each occasion that they have a record of his payment it just "hasn't gone through yet". They even sent an email to me 2 days ago asking for his payment! Naturally, my father is beginning to panic, thinking a computer might automatically cancel his cruise on 26 October.

 

Now to my question - When we ring Celebrity today, what is the best action we can request in order to avoid such a calamity? Any advice much appreciated.

[Beanb41]

Get them to send you an email confirmation whilst you are still on line talking to the guy in Guatemala or wherever you get patched through. You will need to be close to your computer so you can check you have received confirmation. It isn't a perfect solution but you would have some written confirmation of payment in event of a cancellation. One question has your Dad's payment been cleared by his bank. That is another indication of proof of payment.

[Kiranus]

Just spoke to the call centre again. The operator assured me that there is no need for concern as his booking is active, the payment has been received, there is zero chance of cancellation and that the payment department (with whom she spoke while I was on hold) will process it to his My Cruise account in 2 more days (why mine was so much quicker she could not explain). I requested a confirmation email, which she said could not be done, but not to worry as all phone calls are recorded!

 

Not sure whether I should feel better or not :confused:

 

Moral of the tale - if you are making a payment via direct bank transfer, do it 3 weeks prior to the deadline so you don't have to stress!

[Kiranus]

Sorry, forgot to say my dad's bank can only check if they receive an error message from the receiving bank, which they had not - so have to assume the money has gone into RCL account.

[goodycruising]

Not real keen on how they handle the direct deposit method. It should be much less stressful. It has to be a good method of them receiving payment as far as fees for the receiver of a payment.

 

I personally would like to see them just send a quick email to confirm the receipt of payment. Shouldn't cost too much for them to do that, and it would give a lot of peace of mind.

[Tara Jane]

Same thing happened to me, paid by internet transfer a good 10 or more business days before final payment. I was getting anxious. phoned and was assured all was well, they had received payment, I wouldn't be cancelled and that it just takes time to be processed. I think it was 5 or so days after final payment due date that it showed up on my celebrity as a payment. Interesting I have a balance outstanding of $584 no idea what for and they haven't replied to my email requesting an explanation. in a different section of my celebrity it shows I have paid what was due to be paid so I am not worrying. And no I haven't booked any shore excursion, drink packages, transfer etc so that isn't the reason for a balance outstanding. Just one of their many many many problems with the website. I know it is easy to say but try not to worry. I assume you took the name of each person and noted the time and date in case of any need for follow-up.

[kjets]

My girlfriend rang Princess, re being told something in a previous telephone call that had not happened. After being on hold for over 10 mins, they came back on the line to say that they had listened to the recording of her phone call and reimbursed her as stated. So they do record every telephone call which is really good to know!

[dancinman66]

Get them to send you an email confirmation whilst you are still on line talking to the guy in Guatemala or wherever you get patched through. You will need to be close to your computer so you can check you have received confirmation. It isn't a perfect solution but you would have some written confirmation of payment in event of a cancellation. One question has your Dad's payment been cleared by his bank. That is another indication of proof of payment.

 

 

Yes I agree with the others

While in the phone get an email confirmation sent

 

 

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