Celebrity gave away my cabin. Has this ever happened to you?

[villauk]

Not heard of this one previously, but it’s very similar to the airlines when they alter the plane type and just put you anywhere, even though you may have purchased specific seats on the original metal. I do remember posts where X have oversold cabins on cruises before though.  

[akcruz]

Maybe not the preferred option but better than switching cabins, is it possible to have cabins switched on the 4/3 sailing?  If your cabin is a desirable one maybe that would work?  Also make sure to ask for some OBC for the inconvenience thus has cost you.  I do hope this all works out for you.

[jkgourmet]

1 hour ago, Bo1953 said:

Not sure if you can or are willing to do this, yet offer to give the current passenger(s) in the cabin you desire $100 in OBC, maybe that will entice them to move, too.

 

Just a thought.

 

bon voyage

 

Good idea, but I kinda doubt if X is going to deal with a financial negotiation between passengers.   Regardless, The TA ought to be paying that hundred bucks.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2019 by jkgourmet

[woodinville cruisers]

I looked and the 4/3 sailing is pretty booked up.  That's what's making the solution so difficult.   We do tend to book our cruises pretty far out in order to get the cabins that we want.  Usually they have a little different configuration than the standard cabin to make it at least feel more spacious.   This just looked like such an amazing itinerary and we're excited to visit several new places.

Mary

[CGTNORMANDIE]

6 hours ago, woodinville cruisers said:

I just heard back from Jason (Captain's Club) and they (Celebrity) are trying to see if the people in cabin #7003 will move.  I'm supposed to hear back Monday.  I sure hope I can get my original cabin back.

Mary

 

Your situation needs clarification.  Have you seen the emails that were sent to your TA?  You need to know the content and go from there.  Both Celebrity and your TA are on the hook here.  Unfortunately you might be stuck with two cabins.  

[Iamthesea]

Sorry this happened to you.

 

If it makes you feel any better, we had a B2B a couple of years ago and could not work out to be in the same AQ stateroom for both cruises.  Our old and new staterooms were on opposite hallways.  One midship, and the other forward.  On the morning of the switch, our steward came to get our hangings clothes.  He also had us take the drawer clothes out and stacked them in a bin.  All we had to pack up was our toiletries in the bathroom.  I basically threw everything in my roll-on.  Once in the new stateroom, I knew exactly where to put everything. 

 

The switch from stateroom to stateroom took less than 15 minutes out of our day.  The worse part of the B2B change over was having to attend the meeting for B2B's and going off ship only to check back in and get new cards. 😃

[justcrusn]

You aren’t going to like this but...

The terms of the cruise contract allow them to change your cabin.

In your case, special circumstances dictate they should not. Most of us would be very upset, cabin choice is a big deal!

I hope you get a favorable result.

To answer your original question, NO, it does not happen often, but it can.

[Tucker in Texas]

When we have had to change cabins on B2B, we have asked our new room steward if we could have access to the new cabin''s safe as soon as the cabin was vacated even though it had not been cleaned so we didn't have to carry our valuables around and we could leave the ship.  We, also, left everything in our drawers and they just switched the drawers with the new cabin.  

[the_dylaness]

Not exactly the same, but something similar happened to us last year.

 

Short version:

 

We booked 2 connecting Concierge cabins about a year or maybe more in advance. (Travelling with our young kids + nanny.)

Just a few days (4?) prior to sailing my TA called me to say that they were unable to accommodate us as both of the rooms we booked were only rated for 2 pax.  (Our 2nd room had 3 pax.)  They assured us they were "looking hard" to find another room that would hold 3.

 

I did not want "another room" that held 3. I wanted two, connecting concierge cabins, one of which could hold 3.

 

They offered a few permutations including moving nanny + kids to a sky suite (not connecting, not even on the same deck, and really they are going to eat in Luminae while I am in MDR?! no way.)

 

I told them I would consider a category switch (with appropriate refunds) to balcony if required but that we absolutely must have the connecting cabins.  Eventually they came through for us (strangely enough the two connecting "hump" cabins I had actually wanted to book in the very first place but they were booked!)

 

It was a really stressful experience as for a while it really seemed they would have no space to suit us.  (Apparently some rooms had been recategorized in terms of capacity since we had booked and no one caught it.)  Many phone calls, emails, time spent.  Eventually they offered (after I inquired how they would make the situation right) a moderate OBC to compensate for the time, trouble, worry, inconvenience, etc.

 

The OBC never appeared while we were sailing and no one onboard could answer us about it.

Had to reconnect with TA again about OBC... multiple more calls/emails later it was finally given as a refund to our CC.

 

I know some think we should just be "happy to have gotten rooms!" but I did not like heading into my vacation really worried if we had a place for everyone to sleep and I think a modest OBC for the time and anxiety was not inappropriate.  Having to chase it down was just silly and the whole scenario reflects poorly on X.

 

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I can relate to the no updates part of this.  Our transpacific cruise went into limbo for 5 or 6 weeks, along with several sailing both before and after.  Dates and itineraries changed to make room for a charter, but cabins #s seemingly remained.

 

Everyone who booked direct with X was told about the change, and given 2 weeks to confirm the new itinerary, or change ship and sail date, for $200 OBC.  All of us who booked with a TA, we're told nothing.  Luckily I was on the CC roll call to compare notes, or I would have been completely in the dark.

[Merly]

Yes, this happened to us a couple of years ago.  We had chosen our balcony cabin well in advance, then just happened to notice a couple of weeks before sailing that we had been moved. Called Celebrity and complained. They said they would move us back to our original one. But in the time they took us out of our ‘new’ cabin they discovered they couldn’t contact the people in our ‘old’ cabin so went to put us back in the ‘ new’ cabin only to find it had been booked again by some one else. Moved us into yet another cabin. So 3 up to now.  We continued to express how unhappy we were and they gave us on board credit and a future cruise credit.

When we got to the pier we explained the paperwork wasn’t correct only to be told we had been moved again.  This time we had been upgraded to the Royal Family Suite. ( only 2 of us). 

So turned out to be a winner for us. Hope they work something out for you. 

[godfreyb]

Similar sort of thing happened to us a few years ago. TA booked a Sky Suite and deposit paid and then within 24 hours booking had been pulled, Sky Suite no longer available.  I have a very good TA who found out that an internal person had swiped it for a 'group booking'.  She had to go a long way up the chain to get to a senior person whom she had met and the problem was resolved and the booking restored.  But she said 'I have NEVER had this happen before'.

[Bo1953]

6 hours ago, Merly said:

Yes, this happened to us a couple of years ago.  We had chosen our balcony cabin well in advance, then just happened to notice a couple of weeks before sailing that we had been moved. Called Celebrity and complained. They said they would move us back to our original one. But in the time they took us out of our ‘new’ cabin they discovered they couldn’t contact the people in our ‘old’ cabin so went to put us back in the ‘ new’ cabin only to find it had been booked again by some one else. Moved us into yet another cabin. So 3 up to now.  We continued to express how unhappy we were and they gave us on board credit and a future cruise credit.

When we got to the pier we explained the paperwork wasn’t correct only to be told we had been moved again.  This time we had been upgraded to the Royal Family Suite. ( only 2 of us). 

So turned out to be a winner for us. Hope they work something out for you. 

Yes, that is great, for sure... Yet, if X does not keep them in the suite for both sailings what a downer it would be on the second leg... IMO

 

bon voyage

[phabric]

Waiting to hear if you get your cabin back.

[myjillian]

Am I missing something...did you say the cruise date also changed to a day earlier??? To me, not being notified of that would cause an anxiety ....little things like TRAVEL PLANS !🙄

[Fogfog]

When Celebrity changed a port--we got a notice from Celebrity and a notice from the TA.

Am shocked with the extension of one day of the cruise (which can impact flights etc) that Celebrity didn't email the OP ...

This is unfortunate

Edited April 14, 2019 by Fogfog

[Marelaine]

22 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

Not sure if you can or are willing to do this, yet offer to give the current passenger(s) in the cabin you desire $100 in OBC, maybe that will entice them to move, too.

 

Just a thought.

 

bon voyage

 

That may prompt Celebrity to sweeten the pot for the other passengers, until they are happy to move. And wouldn't it be grand if the TA offered to reimburse OP. Goodwill all around.

 

[woodinville cruisers]

I sent an email to my TA over the weekend so he'd have it this morning.  I haven't heard a peep.  I'll call him if there is nothing by Wednesday afternoon.  I find the lack of communication to be very frustrating.  We've used this TA for years and have always been happy although I do a lot of the legwork myself. 

Mary

[Redtravel]

I had the same thing happen to me many years ago.  Booked way in advance. Selected cabin, paid deposit by check to my local TA, and was shocked when I got a reminder from the TA to pay the final payment.  The reminder had all the info, names, booking #, sailing dayes, ship, etc.. It had a different cabin #.  Called TA who said the cabin was changed by Celebrity.  Called Celebrity and was told that the TA didn't send them my deposit until after the hold date had expired. By then the cabin that I selected had been given to somebody else. Without my knowing, the TA selected another cabin in the same category. The cabin that I had chosen was midship. TA chose a cabin in the bow. Not acceptable to me. The TA blamed Celebrity and Celebrity blamed the TA.  The TA was dishonest. TA responded that I shouldn't care since it was same category...and that the ship was sold out. It was a Christmas cruise.  TA said if I canceled, there were no other available cabins. It was 6 months before the sailing. I canceled.  Went to a different TA that got us a booking on a Royal Caribbean ship, same week.  There is always something. Never panic.  The outcome as I was told by Celebrity was many travel agencies hold deposits a long time before sending them to the cruise co.  Never write a check for a deposit. Always pay by credit card.  Call cruise line or now check online that the deposit was applied to your booking. Read all info completely for accuracy.  Be careful if any agent asked for a check rather than credit card. Many will offer an extra savings if you don't use a credit card. Using a credit card provides some valuable protection and insurance. A friend paid a cruise line( not Celebrity) by debit to save 3%.  She later regretted it when she had a problem on the cruise. 

[PhoenixCruiser]

Any updates woodinville cruisers

[bigbadandugly]

On 4/14/2019 at 1:07 PM, Fogfog said:

which can impact flights etc

 

I believe most airlines typically only allow flights to be booked up to a year in advance, the OP's departure date was beyond one year. But point taken.

[sailco]

5 hours ago, Redtravel said:

I had the same thing happen to me many years ago.  Booked way in advance. Selected cabin, paid deposit by check to my local TA, and was shocked when I got a reminder from the TA to pay the final payment.  The reminder had all the info, names, booking #, sailing dayes, ship, etc.. It had a different cabin #.  Called TA who said the cabin was changed by Celebrity.  Called Celebrity and was told that the TA didn't send them my deposit until after the hold date had expired. By then the cabin that I selected had been given to somebody else. Without my knowing, the TA selected another cabin in the same category. The cabin that I had chosen was midship. TA chose a cabin in the bow. Not acceptable to me. The TA blamed Celebrity and Celebrity blamed the TA.  The TA was dishonest. TA responded that I shouldn't care since it was same category...and that the ship was sold out. It was a Christmas cruise.  TA said if I canceled, there were no other available cabins. It was 6 months before the sailing. I canceled.  Went to a different TA that got us a booking on a Royal Caribbean ship, same week.  There is always something. Never panic.  The outcome as I was told by Celebrity was many travel agencies hold deposits a long time before sending them to the cruise co.  Never write a check for a deposit. Always pay by credit card.  Call cruise line or now check online that the deposit was applied to your booking. Read all info completely for accuracy.  Be careful if any agent asked for a check rather than credit card. Many will offer an extra savings if you don't use a credit card. Using a credit card provides some valuable protection and insurance. A friend paid a cruise line( not Celebrity) by debit to save 3%.  She later regretted it when she had a problem on the cruise. 

We had the same thing happen a couple of years ago on a Singapore to Rome B2B NCL cruise. We always book midship balconies on the appropriate side for the cruise. In this case Starboard the whole way. Our trusted TA blamed NCL. By the time we noticed the changed cabin numbers, on both legs, they had been onsold and we had two different very forward port side cabins. NCL eventually agreed to refund our deposit but we knew our TA had messed up a long planned of cruise.

[sginva]

On 4/13/2019 at 10:00 PM, Iamthesea said:

Sorry this happened to you.

 

If it makes you feel any better, we had a B2B a couple of years ago and could not work out to be in the same AQ stateroom for both cruises.  Our old and new staterooms were on opposite hallways.  One midship, and the other forward.  On the morning of the switch, our steward came to get our hangings clothes.  He also had us take the drawer clothes out and stacked them in a bin.  All we had to pack up was our toiletries in the bathroom.  I basically threw everything in my roll-on.  Once in the new stateroom, I knew exactly where to put everything. 

 

The switch from stateroom to stateroom took less than 15 minutes out of our day.  The worse part of the B2B change over was having to attend the meeting for B2B's and going off ship only to check back in and get new cards. 😃

Unfortunately this is not always the case. We had to move staterooms on the Silhouette on Sunday. We were ready to move at 8AM as instructed. We were told to pack everything except hanging cloths (no bins). The occupants of the stateroom we were moving to did not vacate on time. We had to leave the ship for customs and when we returned we found our new stateroom was open, we finally picked up our clothes and moved. In these situations the problem is your valuables and meds. We locked them in the safe. It was quite stressful for a time. The stateroom attendants are very busy, hard to find and often the person cleaning the rooms is not the attendant as in our case. We spoke to another couple experiencing the same problems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[davekathy]

On 4/13/2019 at 1:17 PM, woodinville cruisers said:

I just heard back from Jason (Captain's Club) and they (Celebrity) are trying to see if the people in cabin #7003 will move.  I'm supposed to hear back Monday.  I sure hope I can get my original cabin back.

Mary

So were you able to get stateroom 7003 back? 

[Turtles06]

12 hours ago, woodinville cruisers said:

I sent an email to my TA over the weekend so he'd have it this morning.  I haven't heard a peep.  I'll call him if there is nothing by Wednesday afternoon.  I find the lack of communication to be very frustrating.  We've used this TA for years and have always been happy although I do a lot of the legwork myself. 

Mary

 

Especially since your TA seems to have dropped the ball initially and created the problem, speaking only for myself I would not be waiting several more days to hear back from them.  They should have responded to you yesterday (Monday) when they got your email.  I would be all over them right now.   But that's me. 

 

Good luck!