How do you read this message I received from Celebrity?

[hues of blue]

Ok, I will ask, If I pick a totally different cruise, will I get the same promotion as was being offered when I booked (ie $300 obc, and free internet) or just totally out of luck.

 

We were booked on the Summit for next February and it was cancelled because of going into dry dock. We kept all the perks when we booked on the Equinox that we had from the original booking plus the added extra OBC.

 

 

Sherri

[bebe08]

I can read the attachment no problem, regardless the letter is clear as mud. Very confusing. I've never had a cruise cancelled (fingers crossed it never happens). If it did happen the least I would expect is a letter written in plain English that clearly outlines the options. I sympathize with anyone who has to go through this.

[caymancouple]

Well, I have word from my TA that well too bad for me and my two week vacation. I have suggested a different cruise but they are refusing to do anything for me as it is not one of the offers they want to give me. Does anyone have contact information with a higher up with Celebrity

[davekathy]

Well, I have word from my TA that well too bad for me and my two week vacation. I have suggested a different cruise but they are refusing to do anything for me as it is not one of the offers they want to give me. Does anyone have contact information with a higher up with Celebrity

Lisa Lutoff-Perlo is the President and CEO and can be reached at:

lLutoff-Perlo@celebritycruises.com

[grampasgrumpy]

That is how I read it. But no, they are saying it is only for the cruises listed at the top. I am not happy at all. I am trying to make sure it is just not me who reads it that way.

Your interpretation is correct. There is no qualifier for that last paragraph you have bracketed. That line does not say it applies only to the sailings listed above and nothing else modifies that line. They may not have intended for it to read like it does but that's what it says.

[ken_ll]

Well, I have word from my TA that well too bad for me and my two week vacation. I have suggested a different cruise but they are refusing to do anything for me as it is not one of the offers they want to give me. Does anyone have contact information with a higher up with Celebrity

I feel your new problem is your large NH travel agency. Try to get a someone at Celebrity who will listen, but as there is a TA involved, you may get dumped back to NH. At some point, you may have to chalk it up and ask for a full refund.

 

As many others have indicated, you have price/offer protection on the 5 cruises listed. Additionally, you have either a $100 or $200 OBC on the 5 cruises or other cruise you want. If you select any cruise other than the 5 listed, you only get OBC.

 

I was in a similar situation last year with an April 1/18 Summit re-positioning that was chartered, except there was no letter, only a phone call from Celebrity with scant details. In the end, we took one of two cruises offered with price protection. In our situation we benefited from the change. The alternative was to use the OBC on any other cruise but no price protection. Also, we did not have any offers/incentives that needed protection as it was a re-positioning.

[Suzi66]

We had a cruise on the Millie recently cancelled. We had $300 OBC on that cruise already. They offered us $200 OBC for a moveover option which we did. We couldn't do any of the cruises that they listed so we picked something else. When we booked the new cruise we selected OBC as one of our perks. When we got our booking confirmation it told us it said that we had $700 OBC in total as well as our drinks packages. Very happy with that.

[Suzi66]

Well, I have word from my TA that well too bad for me and my two week vacation. I have suggested a different cruise but they are refusing to do anything for me as it is not one of the offers they want to give me. Does anyone have contact information with a higher up with Celebrity

 

 

I don't think your TA understands the letter at all. You can choose any Celebrity cruise at any time but have to do it before the date on the letter to get the compensation.

[harz99]

Well, I have word from my TA that well too bad for me and my two week vacation. I have suggested a different cruise but they are refusing to do anything for me as it is not one of the offers they want to give me. Does anyone have contact information with a higher up with Celebrity

Have a look at your confirmation. I suspect it will have something in the small print referring to another point of contact to use if your consultant is unavailable. Escalate to that dept/person to deal with.

 

I have been unfortunate enough to be bumped off 3 cruises now, all have resulted in me choosing a different cruise from those offered and the same outcome as I stated above.

 

Time to go to another vacation TA in the future.

 

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[Jade13]

Well, I have word from my TA that well too bad for me and my two week vacation. I have suggested a different cruise but they are refusing to do anything for me as it is not one of the offers they want to give me. Does anyone have contact information with a higher up with Celebrity

 

 

 

What is it they are not agreeing to do? Can you explain what you want to book? Are you trying to exchange a 4 night cruise, for example, to a 7 night cruise, at the same price? Are they refusing to give you any OBC?

 

Some cruise lines will protect the per diem (price per day). But it’s not realistic to expect the same price for a longer cruise (I am not saying that is what you want to do) if the cruise is a year away.

 

 

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[caymancouple]

What is it they are not agreeing to do? Can you explain what you want to book? Are you trying to exchange a 4 night cruise, for example, to a 7 night cruise, at the same price? Are they refusing to give you any OBC?

 

Some cruise lines will protect the per diem (price per day). But it’s not realistic to expect the same price for a longer cruise (I am not saying that is what you want to do) if the cruise is a year away.

 

 

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I am looking to book a longer cruise. I am not asking for price protection. I will pay the going rate for the cruise. I was expecting, based on reading the letter that my OBC incentive would go with me to the new cruise.

[ScubesDad]

I am looking to book a longer cruise. I am not asking for price protection. I will pay the going rate for the cruise. I was expecting, based on reading the letter that my OBC incentive would go with me to the new cruise.

 

 

I understand your frustration; in the past six months we have had two cruises cancelled by X - one was a charter and the second was for dry dock, the process of dealing with X can be a bit challenging. Both cruises were booked through a TA.

 

The first was last Sept. we received notice while we were on the Reflection that our Aug 2018 cruise was chartered, we received an email from our TA with the X letter and offer - the problem was the deadline for making the changes was so short that we wouldn't be home in time to deal with the issue. We were on a port intensive cruise and with the time change it would not have been convenient to telephone our TA to resolve the issue. I discussed it with the MCC who advised me to go enjoy my day and she would look after it. When we returned that evening, a message was waiting to meet her. She had made the changes we wanted by putting the new reservation on hold and when we met with her she called our TA from the ship and processed all the changes. The change over was seamless, all benefits of the original cruise were retained, the price was protected, and we received additional OBC for the inconvenience.

 

The second was this past Feb when we received notice that our Feb 2019 was cancelled due to dry dock. The options given were entirely unsatisfactory. One cruise had no available cabins in the category we were booked in. The second cruise was too late in the season and we were unable to travel at that time, and the third was an entirely unsatisfactory itinerary as it retained only a few of the original ports of call. I did my research, and found two substitute cruises that were acceptable to us and called our TA. I explained in detail why the options presented were not acceptable, and what I was proposing. I talked with my TA for about 15 minutes and explained what I would give up and what I wouldn't. The main point was that I wanted to be price protected as the original cruise was booked a long time ago and the rate was significantly lower than what the current rates were. All my solutions were for the same duration, 14 days. My TA was on with X for a total of about an hour. She kept coming back to me every 10 minutes of so with an update/progress report. It finally ended up with the "resolution group" (whoever they are). My arguments were respectful of X's offer, but realistic, and I was conferenced in for the last 10 minutes of the call where we finalized the details. I was price protected on the new cruise, all existing perks were retained; however, I did have to give up the additional OBC due to the extent of the concession X was giving me.

 

The point of this story:

- your TA should be fighting for your best interests,

- it is possible to deal directly with X to resolve the issue and then give it to your TA for processing,

- present reasonable and sound arguments,

- don't ask for too much (become greedy), and

- be willing to negotiate.

 

In your situation with a B2B2B and the middle section disappearing, a reasonable approach would be to substitute a longer duration that totals as close to your original plans as possible and then find one or two replacements that come close to what you originally had, and are satisfied with.

 

Good luck.

[caymancouple]

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. I sent an email this morning to Lisa Lutoff-Perlo. I explained the situation calmly, no threats, in fact said Royal/Celebrity would continue to be our cruise lines of choice, but that I felt the ball was dropped on this one, that we were losing a 14 day vacation, not a 4 day. I asked to book a 13 day trip, paying the going rate for the room of our choice, and that I get to retain the promotion I originally booked, free tips, free internet, and $300 obc. Will let you know.

[Orator]

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions. I sent an email this morning to Lisa Lutoff-Perlo. I explained the situation calmly, no threats, in fact said Royal/Celebrity would continue to be our cruise lines of choice, but that I felt the ball was dropped on this one, that we were losing a 14 day vacation, not a 4 day. I asked to book a 13 day trip, paying the going rate for the room of our choice, and that I get to retain the promotion I originally booked, free tips, free internet, and $300 obc. Will let you know.

I've had the same situation and with the NH agency as Agent. They have waved cancellation charges if I turned the cruises into another cruise. When booked cruises have been cancelled Celebrity carried all perks to the new cruise. I know it can be very frustrating , but usually works out in the end. I've been more than satisfied. Good luck!

[Cruise Raider]

So Celebrity cancelled a cruise I had booked. I got the attached letter. What do you think they are saying in the bracketed part? I can not even consider flying to Florida for a 4 day cruise like the choices they have listed. While it is a 4 day they cancelled, it was part of a larger vacation plan that is now in the toilet. I am just curious how others read the bracketed part. I am not going to say how I read it as I don't want to influence your thoughts. Thanks

 

I believe I can speak to this as it has happened to me in the past.

If you are booked on a cruise with perks included and then that sailing for which you are fully deposited is canceled, your perks will follow you to your new cruise if you choose one of the cruises listed in the letter they sent out. Your pricing will also be guaranteed to be the same as the category you originally booked on the now canceled sailing. Plus, if you choose one of the listed sailings and you transfer your deposit over to that cruise (booking number should remain the same), you will also receive the $100-$200 obc in addition to those perks, provided they were offered to you by Celebrity in the original booking (but not any extra perks that were thrown in by a travel agency ... thus, the term, Brand Perks is used).

If you choose a cruise that is not on the list, you may or may not get all those perks that you had on your original booking, depending on what Celebrity is currently offering, but you will still receive the onboard credit of $100-$200 per your cabin type. Not sure if you booked directly through Celebrity or not, but at that time, they were willing to work with us on the perks that we were able to keep. Luckily, our sailing didn't require any air travel even though we had booked a B2B ... and we ended up canceling the second half of our cruise as they wouldn't allow us to add the obc to the second portion of the B2B. We just couldn't see embarking, getting off for 5 nights and then re-embarking that many days later. That rescheduled cruise, though, ended up being one of my all time favorites.

[Jade13]

I am looking to book a longer cruise. I am not asking for price protection. I will pay the going rate for the cruise. I was expecting, based on reading the letter that my OBC incentive would go with me to the new cruise.

 

 

 

This seems like a reasonable request that you get the OBC incentive for having to move your cruise. Note that I could not read your letter ( I am on an iPhone).

 

I agree with others that at least part of the problem is your TA who is not getting this resolved.

 

 

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[pattycakes]

Brand promotions will be protected for named and deposited bookings only.

 

Since that portion is written under the option to rebook a cruise not on their list, the argument is strong that any promo you received will remain protected -- provided you rebook by the 3/15 deadline.

[bEwAbG]

What OBC incentive, though? The one given as a perk with an initial booking (like with 1-2-3 Go)? Or the one being offered for the cancelled cruise?

 

If it was a perk with the initial booking, you get whatever promotion is currently being offered if you book a cruise not on the list. You do get the OBC being offered for the cancelled cruise if you book any other cruise.

 

I agree that their letter should be worded differently because I had the same reading as the OP when I first got mine (for a different cruise). In my case, the replacement cruises were not feasible for me. Luckily, we book suites, and they're still offering every perk they were offering under the original booking, though I did have to pay more for the new sailing. I also booked that original trip on a ship, so I had an onboard booking OBC to move as well. You do keep that OBC incentive as long as you "transfer" the booking (keep the same booking number) rather than "cancel" the booking and start from scratch.

 

I really don't understand why they won't just give you OBC + price protection for any similar cruise rather than specific ones from a list. Or at least offer that as a step 2 if you cannot take the ones being offered initially.

[Cruise Raider]

 

I really don't understand why they won't just give you OBC + price protection for any similar cruise rather than specific ones from a list. Or at least offer that as a step 2 if you cannot take the ones being offered initially.

 

I think you might be able to work with them. I know I was able to do so on my cruise that was canceled. I did book directly through Celebrity, though and when it was canceled, was able to speak with the Captain's Circle rep to transfer my deposit over to a different cruise. It wasn't close to being fully booked, otherwise, there may have been an issue with doing so.

And yes, the obc incentive is the money they give you for them canceling your itinerary.

 

Of note, I had booked a sailing on Norwegian that was later canceled and they offered me on $25 to rebook another sailing ... none of which were even near where I wanted to go.

I declined that offer in a heartbeat!