Celebrity Summit Cancels April 8, April 15 only 4 days.

[ogie58]

We were scheduled for the April 15th cruise that was shortened. We live on the west coast so traveling to San Juan for a 4 day cruise was not a viable option so we cancelled and requested our money back. As of now, we have received all our cruise fare, port charges and taxes, and $200 per person for airline change fees returned to our credit card. Since we traveled on different airlines to and from the cruise we are out a total of $400 in airline change fees. Our situation is not as bad as many I have read about, but for Celebrity to cancel a cruise with two weeks notice and then not reimburse us completely for the cost of their decision, is very poor business and public relations. We still have never received any written notice of the cancellation and no written apology from the CEO or any offer for a discount on future cruises. Considering we have at least 25 cruises on the RCCL brand they do not put much emphasis on loyalty to their customers

[GINNY L]

It looks like several that used NCL Escape as their alternative cruise after the Summit cancellations really enjoyed their experience on the Escape.

 

Not quite on subject, but I talked to someone recently who was on the Liberty of the Seas a few months ago and vowed to NEVER set foot on an RCCI owned ship again because of the constant pushing of drink and dining packages, etc. Said it has just become too much. And they're invited on the Liberty again later this year for a reunion!

 

I've never been on an NCL cruise, so may just have to try it. Ginny or others, how would you rate/compare your replacement cruise on the Escape with any recent experiences on Royal/Celebrity (particularly in the upselling)?

 

TIA

 

 

Norwegian of course had more kids on it since it caters a lot more to kids compared to Celebrity. No we did not have a glass of champagne to welcome us onboard. However, after the ports they also hand out cold towels and had drinks available before boarding back on.

 

The specialty dining was really good in almost all of the restaurants. The service was exceptional and better than Royal. Really liked the adults only area and the vibe. The adults only area was closed off by doors which was great. I did not feel that they pushed all the bingo, slot tournaments and other things like Royal. I did not think the entertainment was as good as Royal and Celebrity though.

 

I will definitely choose Norwegian again, and probably always over Royal. But this is my opnion.

[AlbertaCruisers]

We were on the NCL Escape for April 8 and 15 after the Summit was cancelled and shortened. It was a great cruise (all cruises are) but it confirmed to us that we love Celebrity and will not be going on NCL again any time soon (unless something like this happens and we have no other choice - this was the only option for April 8 on the short notice, except for paying way more on a Royal ship or Disney). I found there to be way too much smoking around the ship, the food in the main dinning room was terrible (we love the main dinning room on Celebrity and never pay for specialty dining, but found we went to specialty almost every night on NCL). I don't like how NCL only has one server for you at dinner. If your server is busy I found that sometimes we didn't get our wine until they were already serving our food. We liked Vibe, but you have to pay more for it, and I find we get just as good service at the main pool on Celebrity. Vibe was essential for me on this ship though, I wouldn't sail it again without being guaranteed Vibe (which you can't be guaranteed unless maybe if you are in a suite). The main pool deck on the Escape was really cramped and there were a ton of kids. The best pat of the Escape in my opinion was the waterfront, that was an amazing area. Also, the inside of the ship and dinning rooms never felt crowded, which was nice for a ship that size. If you have kids, there seemed to be tons for them to do, but I don't need water slides, ropes courses, golf courses and bowling lanes on a cruise.

 

I should add, on Celebrity with the premium package we have always found a lot of different red wine options we like. There were very few options of red wine by the glass included in the NCL beverage package. The good thing was we both found one we could live with, but it was disappointing.

 

All in all, we really like the overall Celebrity experience better and we will continue to pick Celebrity as our first option.

[Beachside395]

STILL waiting for a full refund!

I spoke to a person at Celebrity yesterday and she told me my refund had been processed that very day and I would be seeing it at any time on my credit card. I got so excited, that I neglected to ask her the amount of the refund. Silly me.

Today I saw on my credit card that I was refunded $163.00. I finally called my credit card company and let them know what was going on and they opened a case.

I agree that Celebrity is still my favorite cruise line to sail but the business side of the company really sucks.

[disneydave]

Anyone notice that the refund wasn't your total fare divided by 7 then multiplied by the 3 credit days. Oh and if you paid for a beverage package for 7 days well your out of luck there too.

[likes2cruz]

Celebrity must not have been proud of the shortened Summit cruise. Usually Celebrity hounds you for feedback with your overall experience, yet allmost two weeks have gone by and not a mention about feedback. My guess is that the company would not like the poor reviews to impact the yearly score. Celibrity certainly has slipped in my humble opinion as just a step above the other cruise line starting with a "C"

[RDC1]

STILL waiting for a full refund!

I spoke to a person at Celebrity yesterday and she told me my refund had been processed that very day and I would be seeing it at any time on my credit card. I got so excited, that I neglected to ask her the amount of the refund. Silly me.

Today I saw on my credit card that I was refunded $163.00. I finally called my credit card company and let them know what was going on and they opened a case.

I agree that Celebrity is still my favorite cruise line to sail but the business side of the company really sucks.

 

If I recall correctly posts from people involved in a previous Celebrity cancellation indicated that the refunds came in multiple payments. For example one payment was the taxes, one was the fare, another was the prepaid options like excursions, etc. You might do a search for the canceled cruise in Alaska a few years back and see how payments were handled then.

[cmoore5524]

Celebrity must not have been proud of the shortened Summit cruise. Usually Celebrity hounds you for feedback with your overall experience, yet allmost two weeks have gone by and not a mention about feedback. My guess is that the company would not like the poor reviews to impact the yearly score. Celibrity certainly has slipped in my humble opinion as just a step above the other cruise line starting with a "C"

 

Both my husband and I had emails with the electronic survey for the April 15th shortened cruise in our email inboxes while we were still at the airport in San Juan waiting to board our flight home.

[Flowrgirl7]

Yes, I received my electronic questionnaire at San Juan Airport also.

I was so annoyed by this whole situation, i.e., finding about the shortened cruise 2 weeks before sailing, finding out Celebrity lost all our onboard perks upon boarding and spending hours at guest services trying to get the OBC ( refundable and non refundable) to show, waking up to Captain Kate inform us if the " man overboard " situation and losing Antigua, the only Island I had never visited, that I rated them quite poorly. I did feel bad for the crew and gave them a "10". They were working so hard to give us a good experience. But it just didn't matter. And the worst part, was that we were NEVER we're notified that we could cancel. Our agent specifically told us we could NOT cancel when we asked.

I don't think the questionnaire carries any weight anyway in regard to the Company. They just want the ratings on the crew performance.

[cruisehappygal]

Back in 2001, we were scheduled to sail on the Summit for 11 days. About a month before, we were notified (byCruiseCritic,not our TA) that the cruise before us was cancelled. Our cruise lost the first 4 days. Luckily, we were sailing out of Fort Lauderdale. We flew in as scheduled and cruised on land with members of our roll call before we got on the ship. We got half our money back. I wish you good luck on whatever you decide to do.

 

Hi Friend...... I was just thinking of that cruise... remember it well.. We had rooms next to you.. It was a cruise we look back on with fond memories of making many friends at the Embassy hotel before the cruise... Hope you are still cruising the high sea's.. our next Celebrity is April 2, 2018.. can't wait....:D