Celebrity has likely lost 2 previously loyal guests

[npb]

Anybody with an ounce of business intellect knows you have to grow the business just not change demographics of the customer. Getting new customers is great but the trick is to make them regular ones. One and done is only a temporary gain, your main lifeline is your repeat customers, that's why you see all the loyalty programs.

Over the last five years, we've averaged over 40 days, a year, at sea. Now we are down to 0, waiting to see how things shake out. If it doesn't work out, no big deal. We refuse to let drinks change our view of the current product offered, we worked too hard for our money to throw it away.

 

Ditto. We have gone from 60 days a year at sea to 0. It will be interesting to see how many of the newbies become loyal.

Edited January 11, 2016 by npb

[ORV]

Anybody with an ounce of business intellect knows you have to grow the business just not change demographics of the customer. Getting new customers is great but the trick is to make them regular ones. One and done is only a temporary gain, your main lifeline is your repeat customers, that's why you see all the loyalty programs.

Over the last five years, we've averaged over 40 days, a year, at sea. Now we are down to 0, waiting to see how things shake out. If it doesn't work out, no big deal. We refuse to let drinks change our view of the current product offered, we worked too hard for our money to throw it away.

 

It does seem to make sense, but it seems the current management does have a goal of culling all the older cruisers that they think aren't spending, and are a liability, instead of a valued customer. In some respects they have a point.

 

Ditto. We have gone from 60 days a year at sea to 0. It will be interesting to see how many of the newbies become loyal.

[doublemm16]

This is being written with sadness. My husband and I have enjoyed sailing with Celebrity for more than 10 years. We enjoy the concierge class amenities and have identified the Millennium class ships as our preferred class for sailing. Sadly, a recent issue may result in us never sailing on Celebrity again.

 

In April 2015 we were on the Summit and decided to book our next cruise in order to secure the "All In" perks ($300 OBC, pd gratuities and Classic Bev. Pkg.). We (and our travel companions, friends we had introduced to Celebrity) noted that as we wanted to plan out a bit, the cruise we were interested in (specifically Alaska 2017) had not yet been announced and as such we questioned whether we could book on-board. We were assured by both the sales manager and a sales associate that we could book any random cruise in the cabin class we would want and when the 2017 Alaska cruise dates were released we could simply change the reservation retaining all the perks.

 

On two separate phone calls with Celebrity cruise vacation specialists first in October 2015 with Marianne, and then in November 2015 with Tyson, we were assured that when the Alaska 2017 dates were released we would be able to simply change our reservations and transfer the perks offered on board with the reservation.

 

On January 3rd I called to change our June, 2016 cruise reservation to the Celebrity Infinity Hubbard Glacier July 23, 2017 sailing. I wanted to book a concierge class (C2) cabin and expected to be paying the flat C3 rate due to the one level upgrade my captain's club status affords me and I also expected that I would carry over the perks secured on board the Summit in April 2015. After putting me on hold twice for a total of almost 30 minutes, Jeffrey came back on and shared that the "all in" promotion expired April 2017 and that the sales people who had indicated otherwise "should not have done that". He suggested that I write to the corporate office to express my concerns. I immediately did, though I do NOT believe that I should have to help Celebrity correct their inconsistent application of policy and protocol. At the time of writing this, we have received no response.

 

My issue is not the amount of money (the "good, better, best" promotion is not bad). My issue is that this has become a pattern of declining customer service from Celebrity corporate office. We have, over the last four years, had to correct errors made to dining reservations, billing, and excursions. The website has been erratic and the customer service on the phone has been almost infuriatingly inefficient and ineffective. We have nothing bad to say about the crew of any Celebrity ship we have been on but I don't want to feel devalued by the parent company. I simply cannot abide the apathy being evidenced by corporate management towards loyal customers.

 

Maybe it's time to look at Oceania.

 

This happened to me as well. I had a deposit on a Mediterranean cruise on the Connie for April 2016 with all of the perks. I was told by my TA that if I had to change my cruise, the perks would come with me. I had to change the cruise to a May 2016 Bermuda cruise on the Summit. I lost all of my perks except 1 and the OBC the TA was giving me. Was this fair? No, but Celebrity told my TA that the promotion had expired. I have since been able to add additional OBC, but my fare also went up.

 

I will still sail Celebrity because I like their product. Actually I enjoy all of my cruises. It is vacation after all. I was disappointed, but it will not keep me from cruising. :D

[teecee60]

 

Over the last five years, we've averaged over 40 days a year at sea. Now we are down to 0.

 

 

We have gone from 60 days a year at sea to 0.

 

It is absolutely AMAZING how different people can see the exact same data/environment SO differently... :confused:

 

In the last 10 years I have gone from 0 days at sea to 5, then 7, then 12, then 30, and recently 53. :)

 

ALL of those days, for an average price of LESS THAN $50pp per day. :eek: :D :cool:

Edited January 11, 2016 by teecee60

[Hlitner]

Unfortunately, the OP has expressed the very type of issue which leads us to seldom to never book directly with a cruise line. Instead, we utilize several major reputable high volume cruise agencies where everything can be done with a few clicks of the mouse or we can call and speak to one of their agents. Not only do we significantly better deals then by booking direct (our norm is to save 7-10% overall) but if there is an issue we have a large influential agency that can use their leverage with the cruise line.

 

In recent years we have only booked directly with a Celebrity rep on one occasion (an onboard rep) but immediately had the booking transferred to one of our favored agencies (who immediately added several hundred more dollars in OBCs).

 

Hank

[Jade13]

It is absolutely AMAZING how different people can see the exact same data/environment SO differently... :confused:

 

 

 

In the last 10 years I have gone from 0 days at sea to 5, then 7, then 12, then 30, and recently 53. :)

 

 

 

ALL of those days, for an average price of LESS THAN $50pp per day. :eek: :D :cool:

 

 

I enjoy following your posts. You win for the best deals at sea. I am not clear if the $50pp per day is with or without taxes, port fees and gratuity. But, I am sure you are happy with the product based on what you have paid. I think when one pays a lot more, such as those paying Suite prices, the expectations increase.

Edited January 11, 2016 by Jade13

[DrivesLikeMario]

OP, I appreciate your well written post and I'm sure your letter to the corporate office was just as well written. Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens all the time with most of the cruise lines. The phone reps at almost all the cruise lines are some of the most misinformed people around.

[bEwAbG]

This is not the first post where someone believed they could move a cruise date and the rate of the cabin with the same number of perks would remain the same.

 

And you don't think it's because these future cruise sales reps aren't saying this? I was told the exact same thing when I booked my last cruise. My traveling companion even asked what would happen if the promotion changed and the manager chimed in to assure us that we would keep everything as booked with no price changes. We were being overly cautious because we were booking a week for the following year but weren't quite sure if we could take the trip for that exact week. So having experienced exactly what the OP was told, I'm not sure why it's hard to fathom that there are lots of sales reps who use this tactic (whether on purpose or because they don't know better is up for debate).

[4774Papa]

Unfortunately, celebrity could care less if you or anyone else has a problem....loyalty means nothing these days. Sorry about the way they treated you, but that won't help....

 

I have not found your statement to be correct. We have had 9 cruises and issues have come up, but I always felt X was never inconsiderate.

[Cruise Raider]

This is exactly our understanding. When switching a cruise booked onboard to another sailing, you only get to keep the low book on board deposit and OBC for booking onboard. The price and perks associated with changing a booking are dependent on the current pricing and promos. Alina the FCC onboard Millennium certainly never told us the perks and pricing would remain the same if we moved a booking and neither has any other future cruise consultant.

 

If I understand correctly the OP wants to move to a booking past April 2017 and now the lowest pricing comes with one perk and not three perks. They are not only changing the sailing date but pushing it out to another year. Both of our bookings after April 2017 only include one perk (you pay additional for Better and Best). No onboard future cruise consultant is going to guarantee the same rate for a cruise booked in the future because they do not know the rates.

 

This is not the first post where someone believed they could move a cruise date and the rate of the cabin with the same number of perks would remain the same.

 

When we booked a cruise while onboard, we asked this very question and were assured that we would keep all of our onboard booking perks even if we moved it to another cruise and no expiration date was mentioned. When I pressed the issue to get that in writing, the story changed -- what the tell you onboard can be very deceptive! If I was a newbie, I may have fallen for it but had to press and press to get my bottom line in writing. One of the onboard future cruise consultants even complained that he had to print out a fifth confirmation because, as I mentioned, I wanted everything in writing. I know I was irritating him but every time I reviewed the invoice, it wasn't what we were promised. So, I don't doubt the OP when she was assured she would keep her perks when transferring her reservation to another itinerary.

:(

[xmarksx]

It is absolutely AMAZING how different people can see the exact same data/environment SO differently... :confused:

 

In the last 10 years I have gone from 0 days at sea to 5, then 7, then 12, then 30, and recently 53. :)

 

ALL of those days, for an average price of LESS THAN $50pp per day. :eek: :D :cool:

 

Thank you teecee! When I read the initial post I thought, here we go, let the echo-chamber commenters fire up the complaint machine. I am waiting for aboatnerd, who has not sailed X for three years, to also weigh in with identical concerns.

[LabGuy64]

Really,

 

After sailing with Celebrity for 10 years you would quit over a booking snafu?

and one you have spent little time to try and fix.....well......enjoy Oceania

 

 

 

 

 

This is being written with sadness. My husband and I have enjoyed sailing with Celebrity for more than 10 years. We enjoy the concierge class amenities and have identified the Millennium class ships as our preferred class for sailing. Sadly, a recent issue may result in us never sailing on Celebrity again.

 

In April 2015 we were on the Summit and decided to book our next cruise in order to secure the "All In" perks ($300 OBC, pd gratuities and Classic Bev. Pkg.). We (and our travel companions, friends we had introduced to Celebrity) noted that as we wanted to plan out a bit, the cruise we were interested in (specifically Alaska 2017) had not yet been announced and as such we questioned whether we could book on-board. We were assured by both the sales manager and a sales associate that we could book any random cruise in the cabin class we would want and when the 2017 Alaska cruise dates were released we could simply change the reservation retaining all the perks.

 

On two separate phone calls with Celebrity cruise vacation specialists first in October 2015 with Marianne, and then in November 2015 with Tyson, we were assured that when the Alaska 2017 dates were released we would be able to simply change our reservations and transfer the perks offered on board with the reservation.

 

On January 3rd I called to change our June, 2016 cruise reservation to the Celebrity Infinity Hubbard Glacier July 23, 2017 sailing. I wanted to book a concierge class (C2) cabin and expected to be paying the flat C3 rate due to the one level upgrade my captain's club status affords me and I also expected that I would carry over the perks secured on board the Summit in April 2015. After putting me on hold twice for a total of almost 30 minutes, Jeffrey came back on and shared that the "all in" promotion expired April 2017 and that the sales people who had indicated otherwise "should not have done that". He suggested that I write to the corporate office to express my concerns. I immediately did, though I do NOT believe that I should have to help Celebrity correct their inconsistent application of policy and protocol. At the time of writing this, we have received no response.

 

My issue is not the amount of money (the "good, better, best" promotion is not bad). My issue is that this has become a pattern of declining customer service from Celebrity corporate office. We have, over the last four years, had to correct errors made to dining reservations, billing, and excursions. The website has been erratic and the customer service on the phone has been almost infuriatingly inefficient and ineffective. We have nothing bad to say about the crew of any Celebrity ship we have been on but I don't want to feel devalued by the parent company. I simply cannot abide the apathy being evidenced by corporate management towards loyal customers.

 

Maybe it's time to look at Oceania.

[keesar]

Really,

 

After sailing with Celebrity for 10 years you would quit over a booking snafu?

and one you have spent little time to try and fix.....well......enjoy Oceania

 

I have booked several cruises on board. It was made clear to me that if you changed your initial reservation to another cruise, your deposit and booking on board OBC would go with you. However, the other perks would be dependent on what the current promotion was. That policy was made clear by the agent and it was in writing as well. You have to read your paperwork.

[K.T.B.]

That is correct.

 

As long as the ship if full, X doesn't care. In fact, X would rather have a ship full of 1st timers rather than a ship full of experienced cruisers.

 

Of course that's what they want! A ship full of first timers would not know what to avoid in terms of upcharges. They'd be buying all the pictures, going to the "approved stores" on shore, etc. They'd make a killin'!

[OzKiwiJJ]

Their phone reps are hopeless.

 

But the same is true for most lines.

 

Not always true, Gut. I had great service from both Celebrity and Princess (Australian offices) when I phoned about buying OBC for a couple of cruises. Perhaps they are only hopeless when the issue is not straightforward.

[wales4ever]

They have lost two more as we will not be sailing with Celebrity any more after the poor cruise on Summit in December.

 

They are obviously trying to do everything as cheaply as possible now to cater for the younger crowd, who like loud music everywhere and who care little about quality.

[odysee]

We had a similar negative experience. We booked on board the 1-2-3 go program and were clearly told that we could rebook to a different cruise anytime, anywhere and take all perks along. In fact we were just going to buy future cruise certificates as I mentioned that I wasn't certain of a date yet and we were then talked into booking a "placeholder" cruise as the "benefits" were much greater and we could change anytime and keep the same benefits.

 

When trying to rebook months later, we were told - no sorry, those perks are not in force anymore.

 

Now on our booking confirmation nothing is stated about rebooking and keeping/not keeping those perks, so even being a good and careful reader did not help here.

[hypercafe]

No matter what line you look at at any price range someone is saying they will never sail that line again.

[BEAV]

When we booked a cruise while onboard, we asked this very question and were assured that we would keep all of our onboard booking perks even if we moved it to another cruise and no expiration date was mentioned. When I pressed the issue to get that in writing, the story changed -- what the tell you onboard can be very deceptive! If I was a newbie, I may have fallen for it but had to press and press to get my bottom line in writing. One of the onboard future cruise consultants even complained that he had to print out a fifth confirmation because, as I mentioned, I wanted everything in writing. I know I was irritating him but every time I reviewed the invoice, it wasn't what we were promised. So, I don't doubt the OP when she was assured she would keep her perks when transferring her reservation to another itinerary.

:(

 

We encountered a similar situation on Infinity last May when the Future Cruise Consultants insisted it was mandatory to take the on board booking credit on our current voyage instead of the future cruise. We wanted it applied to the future cruise, but they would not budge. We had no need for any more OBC on the current cruise, so they lost a future booking sale. It wasn't until we returned home that we learned the consultants on board were mistaken and that we could have had on board booking OBC applied to the future cruise. But by that point it was too late...... That experience, along with the OP's, leads me to believe it's the on board consultants that have it wrong, yet the blame is getting passed to the call center employees.

[jagoffee]

Here is my experience and opinion:

The OP either misunderstood or was told something that was incorrect and I would not be surprised if it was it the later.

 

The 123 AI was never an on board booking promotion it was an across the board booking promotion. In order to receive the great 123 AI the cruise had to eligible. I know I booked two of them and miss it already.

 

There was an on board only special that included one perk call "evergreen" I believe that was suppose to be transferable to a cruise even it it was not a current promotion. I never did it so I am not 100% certain. It also included an OBC.

 

I would be curious if anyone reading this tread has been able at anytime to transfer a 123 AI promotion booked on board to a cruise not currently offering this promotion.

 

I am not even sure that a non Big price would be available to use as a base price.

 

IMO the bottom line is that they 123 AI was never intended to be an on board benefit such as the current BBB when booking on board.

[wallie5446]

 

On January 3rd I called to change our June, 2016 cruise reservation to the Celebrity Infinity Hubbard Glacier July 23, 2017 the "all in" promotion expired April 2017

 

Here is the issue I see from the bleachers,

 

The perks booked in 2015, for a cruise in 2016 expire in April of 2017. There fore they are not available for the sailing in July of 2017 which is after the expiration date. They could be used if you change to a sailing before that date.

[thebutlerdidit]

Here is the issue I see from the bleachers,

 

The perks booked in 2015, for a cruise in 2016 expire in April of 2017. There fore they are not available for the sailing in July of 2017 which is after the expiration date. They could be used if you change to a sailing before that date.

 

I agree, Wallie. I think this expiration date that was in the fine print is the issue.

[RNCheryl]

Example of customer service: I had booked a Summit Southern Caribbean cruise for 2016. Never one word from Celebrity that the cruise had been cancelled (private booking?)

 

If it were not for Cruise Critic/Facebook group, I still wouldn't know.

 

Celebrity had my money and didn't tell me that they would not provide the service.

[Nashna]

Why are you dealing with cruise line booking agents? I am a retired Virtuoso travel consultant. Too many times, I was provided information from a cruise line booking agent that I knew was false. When I asked that the information be provided to me in writing, my request was always met with a "let me double check". You can guess the response. Unless you see the offer in writing, don't expect it to be honored. Next time you go to make a cruise booking, call your local cruise consultant. Even your onboard bookings can be transferred to a cruise consultant. Now that I am no longer in the travel business, I still place my cruise bookings in the hands of professional cruise consultants. Knowing that I have someone looking out for my interests, who has more clout that I do with the cruise lines, gives me a great sense of relief and saves me money. My travel consultant called me four months after I booked my March cruise to let me know my fare went down by $400.00. I know Celebrity would not alert me to a fare reduction.

[RosieCanberra]

Here is the issue I see from the bleachers,

 

The perks booked in 2015, for a cruise in 2016 expire in April of 2017. There fore they are not available for the sailing in July of 2017 which is after the expiration date. They could be used if you change to a sailing before that date.

 

I agree. Simple really.