Why?! How?! How can their website still be this dreadful?!

[St@rG@zer]

No surprise I know. Nothing new here but how in 2016 can the face of "modern luxury" still not even manage to have a website that works properly?

 

I'm unable to check in for our cruise at the end of this month as the website tells me (rightly) that I have minors. If I go into that booking I can put their details in but can't check them in because they're under 21. In my booking, it won't let me do anything until I link to the reservation number with minors on it. Only when I do that it tells me there aren't any minors...

 

Stuck in a continuous loop for over 2 days now, in the end I've resorted to hanging on the phone for ever (listening to their recorded message tell me about modern luxury & how I can "just check in online"), then reading my passport number out to someone who chuckled at my irritation. No idea if I'm checked in correctly, no emergency contact details taken or any of the other things you're normally asked during online check in...

 

 

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[jbuch02]

I too have found a lot of glitches in the program that Celebrity uses to run/display their web site. My Grandson writes programs that companies use too run their web sites.

 

He reports that the cost of web development can be staggering and he is well paid to do it. He also reports that few programs running these web sites are very good and suffer from what is called patching - something doesn't work quite right and a programmer writes a short string of commands to fix it but neglects to make sure those commands integrate properly with the hundreds, sometimes thousands of lines of code in the overall program.

 

It's an industry wide problem and requires talent and resources to produce good web sites. The problem you've encountered involves what is called drilling down information. It involves integrating several levels of code. You can imagine what happens when a programmer, trying to fix something at one level, fixes it, but neglects to integrate it with the code for other levels.

 

Sorry for your frustration and while this explanation doesn't excuse Celebrity's management of their web site maybe it helps for people to understand why things sometimes don't work. I would also recommend that if you have a problem on the web site that you try to contact technical support for the web site. I've never looked to see if Celebrity has such a number but contacting a CSR is generally a waste of time as they are just not able to sort out the kind of complex thing you are trying to do. Sometimes a tech support guy can and will be able to identify a problem and put in a work order to fix it.

Edited July 3, 2016 by jbuch02

[cruisestitch]

I understand about the difficulties of fixing bad command, bad links, and so forth.

 

I cannot understand why they have incorrect factual information -- such things as having a photo of the Lawn Club Grill on the Eclipse page. Eclipse does not have a Lawn Club Grill. Now that's a pretty easy fix. It doesn't require much to substitute one photo for another. But they don't fix it.

 

Under Cellar Masters information again on the Eclipse page as well as the Solstice it says " To help you explore, we feature the state-of-the-art Enomatic® wine-by-the-glass dispensing system. It will pour your choice directly from the bottle in a 1-ounce, 2.5-ounce or 5-ounce portion as you swipe you SeaPass® card." Neither sip has had these machines for well over a year now. Again, it shouldn't take much to edit an entry like that.

 

Michael's Club on Reflection and Constealltion have copy that reads "A premium, private lounge for those in Reflection, Penthouse, Signature, Royal, and Celebrity Suites, as well as for Captain’s Club Zenith members" when in fact all Suites have access.

 

The list of content errors goes on and on. I see no excuse for this.

[lienf]

I'm not sure where you are located, or if you are a Captain's Club member, but I use them regularly for problems. I have found them to be helpful and have not had to wait long on the phone for an answer. Even with all the site problems, we still seem to be booking our Celebrity cruises, because prices look to be high compared to previous years.

[ChucktownSteve]

Maybe they should raise their programmer's pay to $15/hr. :rolleyes:

[St@rG@zer]

I too have found a lot of glitches in the program that Celebrity uses to run/display their web site. My Grandson writes programs that companies use too run their websites.

 

 

Thanks for your reply which I know was well intentioned. The thing is: I've worked in the industry too & have a husband who is a programmer including web development so I also know that it is fixable & for a company like celebrity who charges this much for a product it is unacceptable for customers to have so many problems with basic routine things.

 

 

 

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[Higgy64]

I, too, work for a Global IT company. If we delivered a website like that to a client we would be out of business very quickly. It's shoddy management and programming and a lack of proper testing that is at the heart of the issue. There are no excuses, if the patch doesn't work properly it shouldn't be released. I know of very few other websites that I use personally that are as poor as Celebrities...

[ECCruise]

Honestly, after 4+ years of their awful, pitiful web presence, there simply are no excuses. I have been in the business for nearly 20 years and the lame reasons for this abomination (both by the company and users) are laughable.

 

The problem is the same as the water in the AQ cabins, the slashing of the cruise staff, the lousy music in many cases and on and on. It is bean counting pure and simple, and as long as it is accepted without a whimper, they will continue on the same course.

[Brooklyn Boy]

I know, I know. It is amazing that the X web site has been so bad for so long. When one sees how easy it is to use the NCL or Carnival sites, you just have to shake your head. I find it best to avoid the site as much as possible and use the Captains Club desk whenever I can. These people really know their business!

 

I don't know if you have sailed celebrity before. If not, please do not judge the line by their keystone kops site. As bad as their web is, that is how good the onboard service is. IMHO X is the best of the mass market lines.

[Charles4515]

Honestly, after 4+ years of their awful, pitiful web presence, there simply are no excuses. I have been in the business for nearly 20 years and the lame reasons for this abomination (both by the company and users) are laughable.

 

 

 

The problem is the same as the water in the AQ cabins, the slashing of the cruise staff, the lousy music in many cases and on and on. It is bean counting pure and simple, and as long as it is accepted without a whimper, they will continue on the same course.

 

 

Their backend probably requires a complete replacement and they don't want to spend the millions that would cost.

 

Been doing three of four Celebrity cruises a year and almost always have to call Captains Club. That must cost them something.

Edited July 3, 2016 by Charles4515

[El Crucero]

Stuck in a continuous loop for over 2 days now, in the end I've resorted to hanging on the phone for ever (listening to their recorded message tell me about modern luxury & how I can "just check in online"), then reading my passport number out to someone who chuckled at my irritation. No idea if I'm checked in correctly, no emergency contact details taken or any of the other things you're normally asked during online check in...

 

This is the very reason I use a travel agent, and I have a good one. We never have a reservation problem, our agent always takes care of everything.

 

Regarding Celebrity's website, I find it much easier to use than other cruise line sites. The only time I have had a problem was on our last cruise when I tried to sign up for the Cruise Critic M&M. Couldn't do it. Anyway, we didn't miss much because it was reported later that it was not well organized.

[cruzsnooze]

My problem with the web site is that they show you 6 cabins to book. I want to see all available cabins before I make a decision. It caused me recently to leave their site in frustration and book a competitor for an cruise. I have a cruise booked next year on the Millennium and call X every day to see if a cabin more mid ship opened up because i can't check online. And you wonder why it takes so long on hold to get through?

[insidecabin]

UK web shows upto 50 cabins in a grade.

 

All the cruise lines IT is just as bad.

[ORV]

I'm not sure where you are located, or if you are a Captain's Club member, but I use them regularly for problems. I have found them to be helpful and have not had to wait long on the phone for an answer. Even with all the site problems, we still seem to be booking our Celebrity cruises, because prices look to be high compared to previous years.

 

The point though is that we shouldn't have to call Captain's Club to take care of simple things that the website should do.

[footer6]

Given the constant complaining about website problems for so many years, you'd think there would be some improvement. Even when you get into your reservation, you have to navigate a needlessly complicated process. It just took me 45 minutes to reserve Select Dining times for 5 different nights.

[Artie212]

The website is awful. They are okay when they take your payments, that aspect works properly. I have "add a reservation" 5 times. It shows up and when you exit the site.....poof..there she goes........oh well...Modern Luxury..Ancient Website

[St@rG@zer]

The website is awful. They are okay when they take your payments, that aspect works properly. I have "add a reservation" 5 times. It shows up and when you exit the site.....poof..there she goes........oh well...Modern Luxury..Ancient Website

 

 

 

Actually, thinking about it, they struggled to take our final payment too. I think that was some excuse about having minors travelling with us too (to clarify we have a 14 yr old & an 18 yr old in a cabin). We had to do that on the phone too!

 

 

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Edited July 4, 2016 by St@rG@zer

[deliver42]

I don't know how many cruise company sites you have used, but I haven't found one good one yet. They all have some problems and nobody seems to care.

[Jim_Iain]

Celebrity announced in January that they had hired Accenture to totally rewrite their complete website. Nothing has been delivered but keeping fingers crossed that we some day see the results -

 

 

Press Release -

 

 

NEW YORK; January 5, 2016 – Seeking new and innovative ways to engage digitally with consumers, premium vacation brand Celebrity Cruises has selected Accenture (NYSE: ACN) to provide digital agency and web technology services. As Celebrity’s digital agency of record, Accenture will craft a digital customer experience designed to differentiate Celebrity Cruises as a global luxury cruise brand.

 

Celebrity selected Accenture for its expertise in digital strategy, service and experience design, and interactive technology services including personalization, digital marketing, content management system implementation, integration and mobile applications.

 

“Celebrity Cruises is known for delivering highly intuitive service in a modern luxury environment on our ships, and we want all of our digital properties to do the same,” said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO of Celebrity Cruises. “We are highly focused on how we tell our brand story, and we are excited to have selected Accenture for its ability to bring that story to life through deep, market-leading capability across design and innovation, digital marketing, content and web platforms.”

 

As the digital agency of record for Celebrity Cruises, Accenture brings digital experience that spans across multiple industries with specific knowledge in the travel industry.

 

“Accenture is excited to have been selected to help Celebrity Cruises completely redesign the digital customer journey by finding new and innovative ways to engage with its target audience in order to reinforce its modern luxury brand positioning, drive business performance and increase market share,” said Glen Hartman, senior managing director for Accenture Interactive, North America. “We look forward to helping Celebrity increase consumer satisfaction and retention through an integrated, user-friendly and seamless experience.”

[GORDONCHICK]

Ah, so I see I'm not the only one frustrated by the site! Good to know, but bad for business, IMO. I do not have problems on the NCL site at all. Granted, I don't book direct, but I like to get as much info as I can.

[Turtles06]

The other evening, we decided to book a cruise on the Silhouette next year (our favorite ship! :) ). Celebrity's web site showed me only 8 cabins available in the category we were booking, but a site that I can't name on here showed a handful of others, including the specific cabin we wanted. On Celebrity's web site, I filled in that cabin number in the space where you can do that to select a specific cabin, but nothing happened.

 

After trying several times, I had to call X to take care of the reservation. (And yes, the cabin we wanted was in fact available.) So the time of a phone rep was taken up because Celebrity's web site was not working as it should, and would not allow me to select a specific cabin that I knew was available.

[north29]

The keep the web masters busy, finding new ways to show how the price in now lower but the same.

[Mr. Click]

I am beginning to believe that Modern Technology will never meet Modern Luxury... it is that simple. If they really cared, if it really mattered to them, they would have done something real about in 4 years...I am not an IT person but I am a small business person and if I continually failed to deliver to my customers they would quickly be someone else's customers. The ship board product is pretty nice for the price, especially compared to some others but.....there comes a time you need to wake up