What happened to the Celebrity website?

[Luvcrusn]

Here today's appears the new web site, it shows my reservation several problems rise with this

 

1) The cruise planner is NOT showing my shore excursions and Internet package that I purchase and paid in full, history of purchases does not show anything, I have the email confirmations of this bookings.

 

2) I can not add my travel insurance policy it only permit numbers and my is with letters and numbers

 

3) I can not add special occasions (anniversary) it says that passenger info is incomplete, in my profile the info is complete but in the reservation it only present my name I can not edit it to add address, telephone, email etc.

 

I call Celebrity and the lady in the phone simply says call your TA.

Here's a link to the old X site which will allow you to do all of the above. http://www.celebritycruises.com/?celebrityWR=oldsite It was given to me by a sympathetic Captains Club rep. I had all of the above issues (including the insurance one) and was able to correct and edit. After I did, the changes showed up on the new site. I would advise you to clear your cookies and cache from your browser before trying it. Also I would then use a different browser to go to the new site. I use IE for the old site and Chrome or Edge for the new.

[Luvcrusn]

What happened to the Celebrity website? Hmmm....

1. They took a mediocre site and made a MESS!

2. They made everything pretty

3. They made everything way more difficult or impossible to accomplish.

 

That's a quick summary.:eek::mad:

[gerelmx]

Here's a link to the old X site which will allow you to do all of the above. http://www.celebritycruises.com/?celebrityWR=oldsite It was given to me by a sympathetic Captains Club rep. I had all of the above issues (including the insurance one) and was able to correct and edit. After I did, the changes showed up on the new site. I would advise you to clear your cookies and cache from your browser before trying it. Also I would then use a different browser to go to the new site. I use IE for the old site and Chrome or Edge for the new.

 

Thank you

 

I add my travel insurance policy and review the purchases, the only thing I can not see in the old site is the

addons to add the date of my anniversary.

[Luvcrusn]

Thank you

 

I add my travel insurance policy and review the purchases, the only thing I can not see in the old site is the

addons to add the date of my anniversary.

You're welcome! Call Captain's Club to add your anniversary, or your TA can do it.

[hcat]

What happened to the Celebrity website? Hmmm....

1. They took a mediocre site and made a MESS!

2. They made everything pretty

3. They made everything way more difficult or impossible to accomplish.

 

That's a quick summary.:eek::mad:

 

That sums it up perfectly!

We wanted to book a cruise yesterday but had to do all the searching on third party sites..not fair to them because we usually book directly with X but maybe not such a good idea anymore. Tired us out so we did not book.

 

Number one issue is a horizontal itinerary bar.,.how useless & stupid!

[leaveitallbehind]

Well not that this helps with everyone's frustration but IMO, at least it isn't as bad as the "new" RCI website! I never understand why corporate executives feel they need to always need to be "improving" things - perhaps other than to put their own stamp on it! RCI has updated theirs several times in the recent few years going from functional to annoying in terms of using it.

[kimlovesfl]

I kept getting booted out last week while browsing shore excursions; I can't figure out how to look at my air purchased through Choice Air; and I can't complete my husband's check in. No problem with mine, did it 2 weeks ago. Kept booting out for the DH, and now, 3 times in a row, after I enter our departing info, clicking continue, it goes back to the home page. His reservation is showing 90% complete, so I got more done than last time, but it should not be this hard to do a simple freaking online check in.

[jcerst]

Cleared my cookies and now can look at shore excursions.

[The Wilkies]

Is it me, or is it getting even worse. Just bought up my forthcoming cruise, gives me check in as PST and suggestions for excursions in Malibu, San Diego, etc. Then drop off at airport.

 

Only problem, my cruise is in Europe, Portugal and the Azores!!!!

[Luvcrusn]

I went on the site this morning. It told me there were 42 days until On Line Check In opens, but I had to get out the trusty old calendar to count the days in order to find out it was August 29th. Gee that's much better than telling me that in plain English. I checked the itinerary of my Ultimate Caribbean Cruise to find it said Grand Cayman is docked. It isn't, it's always tendered said the Captains Club rep with whom I checked. The site told me the cruise check in time from Ft. Lauderdale's Port Everglades is 8:30 AM. That was surprising, since I know the folks disembarking will still be on board at that hour. Then I noticed it said 8:30 AM PST! Why I need to know the time in California to board a cruise departing from Ft. Lauderdale to the Caribbean I have no idea. I scrolled down the page to a section that said Shore Excursions I might like. There were 3 prominently listed along with lovely pictures. 1. Beachfront Santa Monica, Malibu and Beverly Hills with airport drop-off. 2.San Diego and La Jolla Highlights with airport drop-off. 3. Panoramic Astoria. Really?!!! I'm going to the Caribbean from Ft. Lauderdale people!!!!! I think the IT department must be one of three choices. 1. Incompetent 2.Drunk 3.Drugged!

[laslomas]

Is it me, or is it getting even worse. Just bought up my forthcoming cruise, gives me check in as PST and suggestions for excursions in Malibu, San Diego, etc. Then drop off at airport.

 

Only problem, my cruise is in Europe, Portugal and the Azores!!!!

 

I was also shocked to find that my boarding time in Southampton was to be 8:30. Yes same thing, PST time zone!! What the heck is that all about, plus 5 hours, plus 6, or something else? :confused::confused:

[varoo]

What happened to the Celebrity website? Hmmm....

1. They took a mediocre site and made a MESS!

2. They made everything pretty

3. They made everything way more difficult or impossible to accomplish.

 

That's a quick summary.:eek::mad:

 

That is certainly an accurate assessment, except that you omitted the reasoning behind it.

Everyone complained so much about the dreadful Celebrity website that lacking a competent IT staff, they realized their only solution was to make their website even worse.

They did not want to spend the money to hire competent systems design and development personnel.

So the staff psychologist told them that all they need to do is to screw it up even more, and wait a while for the increasing complaints of frustration to pour in.

Then they can just re-install the old website again and have everyone commenting about how much it has improved. :halo:

 

 

Well, that is one way of explaining why they did what they did.

Nothing else seems to make any sense as the reason for replacing a bad system with one that is even worse. :evilsmile:

[fshagan]

I think a some of you need to re-learn how to use the website. Like a lot of "modern" sites, it doesn't give a lot of feedback that you are logged in. And they have a very non-accessible design that will not win any awards from people with visual handicaps (light grey text on white, etc.) I suspect Celebrity is paying a huge amount of money to an outside firm to produce this site and get all the various pieces under one umbrella.

 

To see the excursions for YOUR cruise you have to log into your "manage reservation" section. When you first pull up the reservation they have useless, needless, but very pretty marketing material below your reservation that is not for your cruise. That's where you are seeing excursions in Aruba for your Alaskan cruise. That content should NOT be there, but the right excursions are on the site inside the "Manage Your Reservation" area.

 

Once you enter your reservation you can get to the specific things, day by day, that are offered for your cruise. The itinerary, excursions for each port day, etc.

 

It's not intuitive, and it's not friendly. But every thing I have tried to do I was able to do, including check in, input my and my spouses passport numbers, etc.

 

Here's a video walk through of finding excursions for your cruise: https://youtu.be/fOOOgHsaK1Q

[icsys]

I think a some of you need to re-learn how to use the website.

Ouch...!! That's a little strong.

 

The 'new' website is broken. The only ones who need to re-learn how to use the website are the IT department.

Maybe they should have proof-tested the new site and ensured it was working correctly BEFORE going live.

Actually trying to log in to "manage reservation" is an issue in itself.

 

Thank you to the person who posted the link to the old website. http://www.celebritycruises.com/?celebrityWR=oldsite

I was able to successfully log in and start the online check-in process. However, that wasn't without issues....

 

Unfortunately when starting the check-in for the 2nd guest, I hit a glitch when I clicked save and continue. A dialogue box told me 'The current transaction is unavailable due to a technical issue. please try again later.'

 

So I tried again later.... Returned to find that the 1st guest check-in was at the 90% point even though it had been completed. So I complete it again and then after clicking save and continue I am thrown out onto what appears to be the new website, this time with the message 'To protect your privacy the booking has been locked, please wait 20 minutes and try again '

 

If the 'new' website has been outsourced, I'd be holding back on that pay check.

Edited July 19, 2017 by icsys

[Luvcrusn]

I think a some of you need to re-learn how to use the website. Like a lot of "modern" sites, it doesn't give a lot of feedback that you are logged in. And they have a very non-accessible design that will not win any awards from people with visual handicaps (light grey text on white, etc.) I suspect Celebrity is paying a huge amount of money to an outside firm to produce this site and get all the various pieces under one umbrella.

 

To see the excursions for YOUR cruise you have to log into your "manage reservation" section. When you first pull up the reservation they have useless, needless, but very pretty marketing material below your reservation that is not for your cruise. That's where you are seeing excursions in Aruba for your Alaskan cruise. That content should NOT be there, but the right excursions are on the site inside the "Manage Your Reservation" area.

 

Once you enter your reservation you can get to the specific things, day by day, that are offered for your cruise. The itinerary, excursions for each port day, etc.

 

It's not intuitive, and it's not friendly. But every thing I have tried to do I was able to do, including check in, input my and my spouses passport numbers, etc.

 

Here's a video walk through of finding excursions for your cruise: https://youtu.be/fOOOgHsaK1Q

How then do you manage to make inaccurate information go away? I logged in. I clicked manage my reservation, I clicked on itinerary. It told me that on my visit to Grand Cayman would be docked. Grand Cayman is always tendered. That is what they confirmed when called to check. They didn'the know why that would show incorrectly. That information is important to know if I am planning a private excursion because it makes a big difference on when I can leave the ship to begin my day in port. It also will not allow me to enter my insurance policy number even though the policy for my next cruise is formatted exactly like the one for my last. It tells me that my cruise check in time is 8:30 AM PST even though I'm leaving from Ft. Lauderdale for a Çaribbean cruise. Maybe you did not try do do these things, but others have and are not incompetent.

[icsys]

So I waited one hour (rather than the 20 minutes suggested).

I used google Chrome this time, rather than IE.

 

Successfully logged in using the old site link: http://www.celebritycruises.com/?celebrityWR=oldsite

Successfully completed all online check-in details... yay!

Logged out.

 

Decided to view the new look website in Chrome.

Logged in successfully... but there are issues...

Online check-in button is greyed out, it tells me 'You must complete pending items before checking in'

Unfortunately it does not tell me what the 'pending items' are. Bearing in mind I have successfully completed all the check-in details on the old site link!

 

Yes, I too see excursions I might like on my Alaska cruise overview... Beach front Santa Monica, San Diego with airport drop-off and Panoramic Astoria.

Clicking on ' See all Alaska Hubbard Glacier cruise excursions' I get the correct ones.

 

Then I get thrown out again with '

To protect your privacy the booking has been locked. Please wait 20 minutes and try again.'

 

This isn't a 'customer needs to re-learn how to use the website' issue. The website is broken.

[saphir]

I can't reach my reservation

[jcerst]

I can't reach my reservation ������

Clear all your cookies for the web page, worked for me.

 

Joe:cool:

[iluvspb]

We have 2 cruises booked. Both booked while on-board. The January cruise allows me to make a payment, look at excursions, etc. and has the cost of the cruise. The November 2017 cruise did not show up so I added it manually. We booked a guarantee and it shows me the cabin number but thats it. Does not show total dollars, make a payment button, or let me view excursions, etc. Final payment I think is 8/21 but guess I will have to call them to do so since the website does not allow me to do anything. What the heck!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[fshagan]

Ouch...!! That's a little strong.

 

I didn't mean it to be strong, or insulting. It's too easy to "blame the site" even after things have been fixed, and give up. Things have been corrected, but you do have to "re-learn" things if you're used to doing things a certain way.

 

I can log in and see the proper excursions for all of my port days. I also see excursions that are inappropriate, but only before I click "Manage your reservation". Afterwards, it's working fine. I do get locked out if I close the window without logging out, but that's a security thing; they don't want someone else "stealing" your session. Log out by using the "log out" link.

 

I'm not saying it's perfect, but many of the issues here are not being seen by everyone on this thread, where the default opinion is that the site is horrible. I suspect that while Celebrity is getting plenty of complaints from us, they are also getting plenty of bookings by people who are navigating the site just fine.

[fshagan]

How then do you manage to make inaccurate information go away? I logged in. I clicked manage my reservation, I clicked on itinerary. It told me that on my visit to Grand Cayman would be docked. Grand Cayman is always tendered.

 

That's a serious enough error, but is unrelated to the website design, right?

[Luvcrusn]

That's a serious enough error, but is unrelated to the website design, right?

Not really. They do need to build a website that provides accurate info to its passengers, don't you think?

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

[ecslady]

I didn't mean it to be strong, or insulting. It's too easy to "blame the site" even after things have been fixed, and give up. Things have been corrected, but you do have to "re-learn" things if you're used to doing things a certain way.

I can log in and see the proper excursions for all of my port days. I also see excursions that are inappropriate, but only before I click "Manage your reservation". Afterwards, it's working fine. I do get locked out if I close the window without logging out, but that's a security thing; they don't want someone else "stealing" your session. Log out by using the "log out" link.

I'm not saying it's perfect, but many of the issues here are not being seen by everyone on this thread, where the default opinion is that the site is horrible. I suspect that while Celebrity is getting plenty of complaints from us, they are also getting plenty of bookings by people who are navigating the site just fine.

Sorry, but I disagree. It is just not a "re-learning " thing IMO. I was not able to use my OBC to book an excursion on an upcoming cruise. The website still wanted my credit card info to charge it. I had to call Captain's Club to get it done. They admitted the "glitch".

 

And, when you hit a back button it often brings you back to the home page, not the last screen you visited as it should. Excursions do not return you to the page you really want. I am logged into my account when all this happens. These are just a few of the issues I have experienced, and believe me, I am good at navigating new websites! I've spent lots of time trying to navigate the new Celebrity website giving it the benefit of the doubt.

 

Celebrity really does need to hire people who know what they doing on "all platforms". Perhaps, they are concentrating too much on making it look good on a phone and not checking how it actually behaves on a computer.

 

I now look at possible future itineraries on other websites, as Celebrity's website just doesn't deliver.

[fshagan]

Not really. They do need to build a website that provides accurate info to its passengers, don't you think?

 

Absolutely, but the way web design works is that a UI designer is responsible for all the problems we are experiencing ... the lock outs, the difficulty telling that you have logged in because there's no visual feedback, the advertising of cool excursions from around the world that confuse us and make us think they are somehow related to our cruise that we haven't actually logged into yet. The content writers are the ones who have to make sure the facts are correct.

 

You're right that it all adds up to a lousy experience, but it isn't the design that makes copy errors.

[fshagan]

Celebrity really does need to hire people who know what they doing on "all platforms". Perhaps, they are concentrating too much on making it look good on a phone and not checking how it actually behaves on a computer.

 

Two things are driving the "modern" design movement in web design: mobile devices and security concerns.

 

Later this year, you'll see a lot of sites with warnings in your browser as the security requirements for any site that has a log in that isn't up to the standards gets a red X across the URL. Forums like this one will have it because of "mixed content" (all those images we have been linking to that are NOT on https sites will count against forums). It's one reason CC updated it's software, and the reason I updated two forums I run. Celebrity had several security violations - sending information from one URL to the next for your reservation, ChoiceAir selections, etc. To have a "single sign on" experience you will need to be on the same URL, secured by the HTTPS protocol. So there's that.

 

There's also mobile, with ever increasing visits by tablets and phones on sites. It takes a radical rethinking of the UI design to make it work well on mobile, and the desktop experience suffers. Mobile access overtook desktop access in late 2016, and the margin keeps increasing. Desktop browsers are only 45% of web traffic now. It will be about 20% by 2020.

 

Celebrity is spending a lot on this digital initiative, My guess is it's around $1 million; it could easily be more with all the database activity taking place. They hired Accenture, the company that fixed the Affordable Care Act's marketplace website after it's disaster of a roll-out. Accenture specializes in very complex digital solutions, and as someone here pointed out in another thread, they are probably not creating the website. But my guess is they wrote the spec for the website, and recommended the web design company, and it is not Celebrity's in-house team creating the website (unless they hired a team of people to do it).