Chartered Cruise? Millennium 2016

[YESME]

Celebrity, you are disappointing us!

 

I know that this is repeating an earlier question, but has anyone heard whether the Millennium sailing on 31st Jan 2016 has been chartered.

 

We booked this trip back in June for our 25th Wedding Anniversary on 2nd Feb 2016.

 

With only just over 12 months left until sailing we are still unsure what is happening. We want to book nice flights for the long flight and arrange nice hotels for 4 nights prior in Singapore.

 

Our TA is saying that they cant get an answer from Celebrity and nor can we as we have booked through a TA.

 

We were hoping that our friends across the pond may have more of an idea on how and who we can contact.

 

Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

[bigbenboys]

There has been some talk over on the Roll Call board as you know. The story I have gotten is "The sailing is be redeployed. They are shortening the sailing." This Jan 31, 2016 cruise is all about being in the Kong Hong harbor for Chinese New Year. People have been booking this cruise as far back as June 2014. I'm now looking at a cruise for Jan 2017 to book while on my next cruise.

 

All this tells me is 2 things. Better for Celebrity to make changes over a year in advance. Don't book airfare until after final payment.

[YESME]

Hi Bigbenboys

 

I agree, change if they must, but in a few weeks it will be less than 12 months notice, and we would never be able to leave flights until after final payment. This would be 12 weeks before departure!

 

This is why we are in a quandary and seeing if anyone had inside information on a company that was USA based, as almost everyone on here always come up with ideas not thought of by us before.

 

We booked in June having checked out the Brazilian itinerary and persuaded to take this one instead!

 

But thank you anyway.

[gosport11]

I spoke with celeb(uk) on Wednesday last week,according to them nothing has changed or they havnt been told,have been trying to package air fares so if they do cancel its their problem

I received the latest brochure by post and its no longer listed as a signature cruise so the plot has thickened.Will keep on trying to find out, but keeping people in the dark is not the best way to keep customers happy or rebooking :)

[hcat]

If you can, why not switch booking to something you are more certain of?

...if you hang in there, you are subject to someone else's timetable for your big celebration.,,,Congratulations!

 

or book cruise line air, get flight and trip ins from outside company (cancel any reason) and hold off on hotel for as long as you can...

[Project_gal]

I spoke with celeb(uk) on Wednesday last week,according to them nothing has changed or they havnt been told,have been trying to package air fares so if they do cancel its their problem

I received the latest brochure by post and its no longer listed as a signature cruise so the plot has thickened.Will keep on trying to find out, but keeping people in the dark is not the best way to keep customers happy or rebooking :)

 

When Celebrity chartered the 2014 transpacific on Millennium, the UK office were not informed until long after the US office had informed US-based guests. The fact that the UK office knows nothing is not indication of what is happening.

[lovescarborough]

We booked this cruise several weeks ago and it appeared as usual on the 'my celebrity' page showing all our future booked cruises. I just checked the page and it has disappeared from the list. I tried to input it as a missing reservation but a ' this page does not exist ' message comes up. Have emailed Celebrity for an answer. I agree with others this is not a good way to treat regular (as well as Elite status ) customers. Anyone else checked their page?

[bigbenboys]

I did some looking today. Celebrity Millennium is still scheduled at Kai Tak Cruise Terminal Kowloon Bay Hong Kong Feb 8,9 2016.

[nijh]

If you can, why not switch booking to something you are more certain of?

 

 

If it were a 'regular' cruise then we could consider doing that, but this was billed as a special Signature Event cruise with special events and the chance to be in Hong Kong Harbour for Chinese New Year. When you book it because it's a special event cruise then any other just won't do.

 

We've got 5 cabins booked and are taking friends along who have never cruised before, unless there is another Celebrity cruise that has us in HK over New Year in 2016 then no other cruise can be a replacement.

 

If there is even a remote possibility of Celebrity choosing to charter the whole ship and boot everyone else off after booking then they really shouldn't have started promoting these special cruises, and the promotional phrase about Celebrity going "that extra mile to ensure your holiday is a once in a lifetime experience" is beginning to stink somewhat at this moment.

 

Hopefully they will do the right thing and keep this as the Signature Event they promised when we all booked.

[Christine Frances]

I would totally bet that your cruise is sold out. As it has a one off itinerary it usually fills up fast. Our Oct/15 Japan cruise was sold out 4-5 months ago (over a year out as well) It sure would prevent angst if Celebrity would not pull the itinerary off the website but keep it on just showing all categories "sold out". We went through the same uncertainty on our Roll Call as well.

 

I checked a bunch of TA websites and there is still one that has cabins available. I dummy booked, picked a specific cabin and went right up to entering my credit card. I don't think you should worry:) Looks like a wonderful cruise/itinerary:D

[Aloha 1]

I would be VERY concerned that the ship has been chartered. Celebrity did this to us on not one, but two Japan cruises in 2016. They claimed for weeks that all was well and not to worry then, BAMM, they informed everyone that the two cruises had been chartered. Just because the ship is still scheduled to be at Kai Tek does not mean it hasn't been chartered. Keep the heat on and call frequently until you get a straight answer.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Aloha 1

[nijh]

Keep the heat on and call frequently until you get a straight answer.

 

 

From experience of other posts it appears the only truly reliable and accurate information comes from the Celebrity person who posts on here, the customer service staff don't always have the correct answer. Hence the post - we just hope Celebrity replies...........

Edited December 29, 2014 by nijh

[YESME]

So today my mother has managed to get the updated version from the UK celebrity call centre, which should clear up any concerns.........NOT!

 

The UK celebrity call centre representative relayed to us that the cruise has not necessarily been chartered or even cancelled but referred to the revenue department so they can evaluate whether the cruise is likely to be oversold.

 

Also It is no longer on their system as a valid cruise but this could be because it may be going into dry dock or even broken up into a 5 night and 9 night but at the moment that is all they can tell us.

 

The above information is actually what was said today at 3.30pm British Time.

 

I am appalled that this information is not actual information but covers all bases, we may still have to wait 2-3 weeks for more information to be available.

 

Celebrity obviously do know now but are maybe not telling their representatives nor their customers who have paid in advance at least deposists.

 

Clear as mud!!!!!

[hcat]

Sorry to hear there is no resolution of your inquiry, esp as you have explained how special this cruise is for you and your friends..

 

hope you get some definitive info soon so you can have some peace of mind...

Part of the fun in cruising is in planning and anticipation....not fully possible yet!

 

good luck

[Wastegirl]

With the Top End cruise in Australia by the Solstice, it is only done once a year and is very popular, consequently sells out early. For the last 12 months it has regularly disappeared from the Celebrity Web site, turning up now and again when a few cabins become available at a very high cost. Now final payment has been made it has reappeared again with some pretty good rates for Concierge and Aqua Class, so I suspect their has been a rash of cancellations with people deciding not to go before they made final payment.

 

It worried me at first until I realised that Celebrity have this weird thing of taking a cruise off their web site when it is heavily booked. While I cannot guarantee this is what is happening to your cruise it is a good possibility as I imagine a Hong King New Year's Eve destination would be a very popular cruise.

[nijh]

So today my mother has managed to get the updated version from the UK celebrity call centre, which should clear up any concerns.........NOT!

 

The UK celebrity call centre representative relayed to us that the cruise has not necessarily been chartered or even cancelled but referred to the revenue department so they can evaluate whether the cruise is likely to be oversold.

 

Also It is no longer on their system as a valid cruise but this could be because it may be going into dry dock or even broken up into a 5 night and 9 night but at the moment that is all they can tell us.

 

 

Actually that is quite an interesting explanation (ignoring the dry dock scenario). It would make it an SG to HK and an HK to SG cruise that may be a revenue booster for X - and it should make little difference to those who have booked the resultant B2B.

 

An official response would still be good........

[DFWJenny]

With all the rumors about the cruise being chartered, I couldn't stand waiting any longer waiting for someone from Celebrity to call me, so I called the corporate office and insisted that the receptionist provide me with phone numbers for people that would know the answer. I was determined to actually talk to someone. I called all of the 4 numbers she provided and lucky for me, I reached the 4th person on the list. I talked to a very kind person in the deployment department (on the financial side) that confirmed that the cruise was officially chartered in November and will be divided into 3 separate cruises... 5day/5day/4 day. She was shocked that no one from the charter team has contacted me or anyone else on this board. I voiced my opinions of selling a highly publicized cruise to a charter. She seemed to understand my frustration, but could not provide a resolution. She only said that the past president of Celebrity was a huge advocate of chartering cruises, and she is hoping that with the new president, this will change. Unfortunately, now he is the president of RCCL. So I guess we should look forward to this type of thing happening on that side of the company.

Edited December 30, 2014 by DFWJenny

[YESME]

Hi am appalled at Celebrity lack of customer care. We have called on several occasions and been fobbed off. Both UK and USA offices.

 

We have insisted that our Cruise specialist!!!! TA call Celebrity and get a definitive answer as to whether its chartered or not. They have not had a proper answer either. The reason for using a TA agent to to obtain best deals with a personalised service who can answer and rectify any issues.

 

I have not ever experienced such shoddy customer liaison with any purchase before. Most off us are investing the same amount of money on this cruise for 2 weeks as we would on a decent 2nd hand car.

 

If they officially have chartered it in November then it is even more disgraceful that over a month later they are depriving folks of seeking an alternative cruise for those that either have special dates or have to put in for holiday/vacation time 12 months in advance. We do not want to just book something for the sake of it, we looked, checked out and decided to settle on this cruise, they took our deposit quickly enough 7 months ago.

 

Surely they know more than 12 months in advance if a ship is to be chartered, dry docked, broken down into 3 separate cruises and in the interest of their customers (previous, current and potentially new) they have to re advertise, offer to current customers, book ports etc.

 

I know that I am coming across as hard done by, but there is/was? an awful lot being invested on this special cruise and i am very disappointed in Celebrity and ashamed that after singing their praises for the last cruise experiences with them, I have to admit that they are not trustworthy in what they don't tell their customers and that they can let them down at relatively short notice. (Mechanical failures aside!)

 

Being a UK resident we cannot receive a refund on deposit until it is cancelled or adjusted beyond recognition etc and I bet it takes a while for Celebrity to refund that. Also we cannot transfer until announcements are made.

 

We know that Celebrity do read these sites sometimes, lets hope they they take their heads out of the sand and start to rebuild some kind of relationship with customers. If the cruise is sold out then there is a large audience that need to be appeased.

 

I will add that if I ever receive great service I relay that too!

[Harvey717]

I too rang our auckland representative, and after some waiting on line she advised that it was not cancelled, and that my reservation does not show up online due to site maintenance and to check gain in two days. I must say I was not convinced or reassured. I too have had this booked since july and this being my first cruise had invested a lot of time into planning it. i have struggled with 'Calamity cruises' since day one, no customer support, shoddy amateur website, and frankly not great reviews of this ship. I am inclined to jump ship and not bother with cruises after this experience. I was recommended this cruise line by friends, and if this is one of the better ones then forget the rest. If it is true then their treatment if passengers is appalling, i would expect better from a budget sunshine holiday. It might be time for some tv exposure.

[DFWJenny]

I too rang our auckland representative, and after some waiting on line she advised that it was not cancelled, and that my reservation does not show up online due to site maintenance and to check gain in two days. I must say I was not convinced or reassured. I too have had this booked since july and this being my first cruise had invested a lot of time into planning it. i have struggled with 'Calamity cruises' since day one, no customer support, shoddy amateur website, and frankly not great reviews of this ship. I am inclined to jump ship and not bother with cruises after this experience. I was recommended this cruise line by friends, and if this is one of the better ones then forget the rest. If it is true then their treatment if passengers is appalling, i would expect better from a budget sunshine holiday. It might be time for some tv exposure.

 

I received 2 emails from the person I spoke to at Celebrity confirming the Charter of our booked cruise. No one seems to know what they are doing as the 2nd email was from her boss asking that this be looked into and people called ASAP. How can you not contact those that have made an investment in a cruise to let them know that they won't be going? I'm beyond disappointed.

[Harvey717]

Disappointment is an understatement, I am livid, and also very upset. I hate being treated like something to be trod on, I would never do that to anyone in my profession. i just want to know one way or the other. i booked the itinerary after some considerable consideration, and a 9 day tour isn't what I wanted.

[Christine Frances]

Disappointment is an understatement, I am livid, and also very upset. I hate being treated like something to be trod on, I would never do that to anyone in my profession. i just want to know one way or the other. i booked the itinerary after some considerable consideration, and a 9 day tour isn't what I wanted.

 

Charters happen frequently and on every/all cruise lines. Our "around Japan" cruise in Oct was chartered so we moved to the next sailing. Celebrity gave us $300 OBC and protected our pricing for the next cruise. We lost a few ports in Japan but picked up Okinawa, Taiwan, Shanghai and Hong Kong. We are happy and richer. It was too far out for airfares to be impacted. This new cruise has been sold out for a year.

Edited December 31, 2014 by Christine Frances

[beentothere]

If it were a 'regular' cruise then we could consider doing that, but this was billed as a special Signature Event cruise with special events and the chance to be in Hong Kong Harbour for Chinese New Year. When you book it because it's a special event cruise then any other just won't do.

 

We've got 5 cabins booked and are taking friends along who have never cruised before, unless there is another Celebrity cruise that has us in HK over New Year in 2016 then no other cruise can be a replacement.

 

If there is even a remote possibility of Celebrity choosing to charter the whole ship and boot everyone else off after booking then they really shouldn't have started promoting these special cruises, and the promotional phrase about Celebrity going "that extra mile to ensure your holiday is a once in a lifetime experience" is beginning to stink somewhat at this moment.

 

Hopefully they will do the right thing and keep this as the Signature Event they promised when we all booked.

 

just another example of modern luxury................................

 

fight for our rights.........................

[gosport11]

The only reason we booked this cruise was for the new year bit,so a change in that will result in us cancelling,as a another cruise would not be the same.As for with holding deposits im sure trading standards could get in volved or even watchdog :mad::mad:

[jveevers]

There are a lot more posts on this Calamity on the "Celebrity Connections Roll Call" section of CruiseCritic.

To the poster who said "too far out for Air to be impacted", not so, Air from Australia to Singapore in January 2016 are now being sold by at least 6 carriers. This is peak time here due to School Terms and we book ASAP to get dates at a reasonable cost. Same with Singapore Hotels for pre/post-cruise. Celebrity are going to have a lot of unhappy people if this cruise is cancelled. In my case I have paid out over $6000 already to secure a cabin on this cruise. I know this will be refunded but that is not the point.

Christine Frances.. Which cruise are you are referring to that has been sold out for a year ?

Edited December 31, 2014 by jveevers