Credit card charge

[pugdad1]

We returned from an 8 day cruise on the Equinox on the 24th of November. I was checking my CC and found a charge laid on disembarkation day at 12am for 268.50 CAD labelled "cel equinox non dcc". The cruise was paid in full, we had 450 OBC which we didn't even use all of, as well as the GO BEST promotion so no drink charges or gratuities should be outstanding.

Has anyone else come across this? Should I call Captains Club?

[cruisestitch]

Yes call them.  Mistakes happen, and they can rectify it for you.

[Lady Arwen]

Celebrity Equinox Non Dynamic Currency Conversion.  You would need to speak directly to Celebrity to see why you were charged.  

Edited December 6, 2018 by Lady Arwen

[RickT]

As others have said, probably a mistake.  That said, as a Canadian did you book through a US TA?  I've done that a few times with no issues but perhaps they are cracking down on it?  Please let us know what you find out.

[gerelmx]

Ask for the invoice of your consumption / purchases on board and check your account, if you find an error, put a claim.

[Paulras]

Is it a charge that posted or just a hold? 

[ozark74]

We got off the Eclipse on November 23. I checked my card when we got home and there was a pending charge of $280. I called and they said it was a hold like hotels do when they your swipe card. She said if it was an actual charge it would not be pending it would be processed. It should just fall off but if it doesn't call they will take care of it. We have done 38 cruises and this is the first time that they have done that.

Edited December 6, 2018 by ozark74

[pugdad1]

Looks like it was a mistake on their end. I called and they said it charged when it should have been taken off our OBC. She was very pleasant and apologetic. Refunded without delay.

Thanks for the responses everyone.

[ACJV]

 

We just received our AMX statement from November, and there was a charge from our Silhouette cruise.  We had non-refundable onboard credit that was assigned to our onboard account.  We did notice that while on the ship, when we checked our account, that the on-board credit was divided between the two of us.  At the end of the trip, we had  not used all of the non-refundable credit, so I made a purchase in the gift shop.  The ship proceeded to charge the difference to my account, and did not deduct from my husbands account, which we did not know about at the time.  In other words, the ship did not use our non-refundable credit, and charged the difference to our AMX.  When I called Celebrity, I was out on hold numerous times.  Finally the person I was speaking to  informed me that since the credit was divided between us, that they would not credit my AMX, and that we owed the  $188.00.. at this point, I responded that this was not acceptable.  That was our credit together, and we did not make a mistake, they did.  After being put on hold numerous other times, finally, a supervisor informed me that we would receive a credit to our AMX account.  I requested an email outlining the problem and solution to be sent to me, and was assured that it would be sent.  Two days later, no email, and now will see if the credit appears on my AMX account.  The thoughts of calling them again, and going thru this whole procedure, is appalling.  If the credit does not appear, then I will have to repeat this process.  We have been sailing on Celebrity for 20 years, and this is the only time we have experienced something like this.  Anyone else have a similar problem?

Vicki

[Knighton]

The daily hold messed my credit card up to the point that the holds added up until I had no credit left!  Which I didn't know until I was trying to disembark and it wouldn't let me.  Celebrity doesn't even get rid of the daily holds once you're paid up and disembark!  (I used a different card, not happy about that either!)  I called my credit card company when I tried to use the original card for something else and they informed me that I didn't have any credit left, and that Celebrity was who was taking it up with their holds.  Called Celebrity and the lady said unfortunately it takes at least 2 weeks for the holds to come off.  I would have had plenty of credit to pay the bill, but when they put a new hold for the total amount I owe every night and don't bother to rescind the previous one, it added up so much that screwed up my cards credit availability.  Others have mentioned using AMEX, but believe it or not, this was amex.

Edited December 6, 2018 by Knighton

[jagoffee]

3 hours ago, ACJV said:

 

We just received our AMX statement from November, and there was a charge from our Silhouette cruise.  We had non-refundable onboard credit that was assigned to our onboard account.  We did notice that while on the ship, when we checked our account, that the on-board credit was divided between the two of us.  At the end of the trip, we had  not used all of the non-refundable credit, so I made a purchase in the gift shop.  The ship proceeded to charge the difference to my account, and did not deduct from my husbands account, which we did not know about at the time.  In other words, the ship did not use our non-refundable credit, and charged the difference to our AMX.  When I called Celebrity, I was out on hold numerous times.  Finally the person I was speaking to  informed me that since the credit was divided between us, that they would not credit my AMX, and that we owed the  $188.00.. at this point, I responded that this was not acceptable.  That was our credit together, and we did not make a mistake, they did.  After being put on hold numerous other times, finally, a supervisor informed me that we would receive a credit to our AMX account.  I requested an email outlining the problem and solution to be sent to me, and was assured that it would be sent.  Two days later, no email, and now will see if the credit appears on my AMX account.  The thoughts of calling them again, and going thru this whole procedure, is appalling.  If the credit does not appear, then I will have to repeat this process.  We have been sailing on Celebrity for 20 years, and this is the only time we have experienced something like this.  Anyone else have a similar problem?

Vicki

No, it has never happened to us.  I am not sure if the process is affected by how it is set up when I “check in on line”.  My OBC is usually not split between the two accounts (although it might be in some cases).  Charges for both of us are deducted  from a single OBC amount under my wife’s name.  

 

By the way it is under my wife’s name because I am a Jr. and I have not been able make me the owner of the reservation.  This was due to a mismatch between how the Celebrity account and the Captain Club handle the Jr. suffix.

 

The bottom line is that Celebrity merges our charges.  I am sure you will get this corrected at some point.  Good luck.

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, Knighton said:

The daily hold messed my credit card up to the point that the holds added up until I had no credit left!  Which I didn't know until I was trying to disembark and it wouldn't let me.  Celebrity doesn't even get rid of the daily holds once you're paid up and disembark!  (I used a different card, not happy about that either!)  I called my credit card company when I tried to use the original card for something else and they informed me that I didn't have any credit left, and that Celebrity was who was taking it up with their holds.  Called Celebrity and the lady said unfortunately it takes at least 2 weeks for the holds to come off.  I would have had plenty of credit to pay the bill, but when they put a new hold for the total amount I owe every night and don't bother to rescind the previous one, it added up so much that screwed up my cards credit availability.  Others have mentioned using AMEX, but believe it or not, this was amex.

So the credit card companies denies that they have any responsibility or control over the pending charges on your account?

[Knighton]

39 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

So the credit card companies denies that they have any responsibility or control over the pending charges on your account?

Yeah.  When I called amex they claimed they were unable to get rid of them and I should call celebrity.  But they were more than happy to raise my credit limit....🙄

[gimletgal]

When you noticed that the OBC was split between the two of you, that was the time to go to Guest Relations and have them assign it to just one Sea Pass card. I'm glad you were able to have it rectified.

 

In the past, we had to do the reverse. Go to Guest Relations to have them split the OBC between the two occupants of the cabin since they always assigned the entire amount to the person who made the booking.

 

I was not aware that Celebrity now automatically "splits" OBC between occupants of a cabin! If that is the case, they should definitely let people know that this is now their "policy".

[ACJV]

We are a married couple in the same cabin with one account on board.  This has never happened before, and we had no idea that this would be a problem.  How can they decide how to distribute the credit?

Vicki

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, Knighton said:

Yeah.  When I called amex they claimed they were unable to get rid of them and I should call celebrity.  But they were more than happy to raise my credit limit....🙄

Interesting, I guess I will never really understand how it works.  Lucky for me that my limit is high enough that it is never an issue.  I always thought my pending charges turned into real charges or just went away.

Good luck.

[gimletgal]

1 hour ago, ACJV said:

We are a married couple in the same cabin with one account on board.  This has never happened before, and we had no idea that this would be a problem.  How can they decide how to distribute the credit?

Vicki

I totally agree!! I'm just wondering when they started doing this? Shame on Celebrity - at least they could tell people that this is now their way of handling OBC. Ridiculous!

[If only]

1 hour ago, ACJV said:

We are a married couple in the same cabin with one account on board.  This has never happened before, and we had no idea that this would be a problem.  How can they decide how to distribute the credit?

Vicki

 

You have to make sure that they join the accounts right from the get go, we go to Guest relations on every cruise to double check.     I think this new way of getting the Express Pass makes that impossible as you both have to have an Express Pass..  There is no way to join them in the new way, it only asks who is paying but still leaves separate accounts.  We have had many problems with their new system in many ways.

 

Edited December 7, 2018 by If only

[jagoffee]

3 hours ago, If only said:

 

You have to make sure that they join the accounts right from the get go, we go to Guest relations on every cruise to double check.     I think this new way of getting the Express Pass makes that impossible as you both have to have an Express Pass..  There is no way to join them in the new way, it only asks who is paying but still leaves separate accounts.  We have had many problems with their new system in many ways.

 

We did not have any issue in October, so it must be a very recent change.  

[ACJV]

Our cruise was in November.  Who has ever heard of something like this?  It seems to be deceptive.

Vicki

[Beach710]

24 minutes ago, ACJV said:

Our cruise was in November.  Who has ever heard of something like this?  It seems to be deceptive.

Vicki

Vicki I want to thank you for sharing your experience to help the rest of us avoid it. This is the type of information that makes cruise critic valuable.

 

Donna

[Ereggae]

Celebrity has become very shady lately.  I save all my receipts and check the account every day via the television to make sure there are no strange charges on there.  I also request a final bill before disembarking.

[txflood33]

Hard to tell if it's shady just based on the info here...I haven't been on an X cruise for about 5 years and don't remember this.

 

It actually sounds like they are not processing the holds correctly. If they put a hold for $200(just using a simple number) on a 7 day cruise, there would be $1400 in holds.... If the final bill is $1000, they should be submitting $1000 of the hold(s) and release $400 back to the card holder.

 

In the above scenario, a 14 day cruise would have $2800 in holds. If my card has $5000 available, and my bill is $2500...and they leave all of the holds and then try to charge $2500, it's going to get declined...or cost me over the limit fees at no fault of my own. 

 

You credit card won't drop the holds because they don't know if they are legit or not. Celebrity does have the ability to call and have them dropped. If this were to happen to me, I would call and complain and let them know they are processing the holds wrong. They are following the Hotel model, but executing it way differently. If more call and complain about these issues, one would think they would look into their procedures. It will certainly change when they have passengers all over that can't settle their bills due to internal policies.

[jagoffee]

2 hours ago, ACJV said:

Our cruise was in November.  Who has ever heard of something like this?  It seems to be deceptive.

Vicki

Never heard of such a thing.  I suspect it was just a one off error some where.

I will pay close attention when I check in for our cruise for January and when on the cruise.  Thanks for the “heads up”.

i will report back.

 

 

[jagoffee]

4 minutes ago, txflood33 said:

Hard to tell if it's shady just based on the info here...I haven't been on an X cruise for about 5 years and don't remember this.

 

It actually sounds like they are not processing the holds correctly. If they put a hold for $200(just using a simple number) on a 7 day cruise, there would be $1400 in holds.... If the final bill is $1000, they should be submitting $1000 of the hold(s) and release $400 back to the card holder.

 

In the above scenario, a 14 day cruise would have $2800 in holds. If my card has $5000 available, and my bill is $2500...and they leave all of the holds and then try to charge $2500, it's going to get declined...or cost me over the limit fees at no fault of my own. 

 

You credit card won't drop the holds because they don't know if they are legit or not. Celebrity does have the ability to call and have them dropped. If this were to happen to me, I would call and complain and let them know they are processing the holds wrong. They are following the Hotel model, but executing it way differently. If more call and complain about these issues, one would think they would look into their procedures. It will certainly change when they have passengers all over that can't settle their bills due to internal policies.

Now, I am even more confused.  Does a hold show up on your CC as a pending charge?  Or something else?

Thanks