STARTING TO PANIC- no confirmation of payment from celebrity!

[SandyDix]

Hi all,  we are first time cruisers and I've just paid the outstanding balance online of nearly £4000 for our cruise in August on Celebrity Silhouette. Payment went through fine and I had a message saying that a confirmation email had been sent to me. However, we are starting to panic as no confirmation has been received, and I've checked my junk box too. I phoned my bank who confirm the payment has gone through. It was only about an hour ago that I paid, but they said the email "had been sent" not that it was "to follow". Can anybody else advise how long it normally takes them to send a confirmation email? I think it's a disgrace that a large and supposedly reputable  company like Celebrity are so keen to take your money, yet cannot be bothered to acknowledge receipt of such. £4000 is hardly an insignificant sum. I have emailed customer services but last time I emailed them they took over a month to respond to my query, so I won't hold my breath. I hope that this inefficiency and cavalier attitude is not a harbinger of things to come on our cruise!

Any advice greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I have been told some automated emails from Celebrity go out in batches, it has taken us a few hours to get the confirmation e-mail when a payment is made.  Instead of panicking, log into your account and check to make sure the balance due is zero.

[DYKWIA]

Have you checked your on line account - it should show it there.  Also once in your account if it allows you to check in for your cruise that will be a pretty solid indication that they have your money.

[Toftwood]

I wouldn’t personally be worrying if I had paid today and not received a confirmation whether a cruise line, airline, holiday company etc.  However, I fully accept that everyone’s expectations are different.

 

My guess is that the email will be automated, i.e. not dependent upon a person actually sending you an email. I don’t know how their ledger systems work in the UK but maybe there is an overnight reconciliation and all confirmatory emails go out the next day.

 

Admittedly we were using a TA, but having looked back through my records I can see we didn’t get an email confirmation for our final balance payment on our last cruise for over 24 hours.  Have you  looked in your online Celebrity account to see what the status is?

 

If your bank has confirmed the payment went through then I am sure you will have nothing to worry about.

[DYKWIA]

We usually book and pay direct over the phone.  When we paid over the phone a few weeks ago our email arrived within minutes

[tarps14]

Had to change my password to login to Celebrity's site.  They had to send me a link to verify the email address.  I received the SECOND requested email (which was supposed to take 15 min) almost 24 hours later.  The first requested one finally showed up at about the 30 hour mark.  No need to panic yet.

[bikerunner]

Like many said, The confirmation email can be sent out in a batch job when processing happens overnight etc.  All systems are set up differently.  I just look at my online acct to make sure it shows and Im good.  If I don't get an email just call,  unfortunately technology is still not fool proof, and Celebrity's sight is also not one of the best to work with.  

[Denny01]

If your bank shows it’s been processed and Celebrity sent you an message they received it and  an email confirmation has been sent, but you haven’t got it yet, and it’s been a few hrs then I’d not worry at all. I’d not even call or start checking other ways. Just wait for the email confirmation. You have multiple indications your final payment was made. 

 

Den

[wrk2cruise]

In the US there is a phone number for existing reservations where there is an automated system and one of the options is to send the invoice on demand.  email shows up before I hang up.  Check your local Celebrity site for a similar option.

[HelenREMfan]

2 hours ago, SandyDix said:

Hi all,  we are first time cruisers and I've just paid the outstanding balance online of nearly £4000 for our cruise in August on Celebrity Silhouette. Payment went through fine and I had a message saying that a confirmation email had been sent to me. However, we are starting to panic as no confirmation has been received, and I've checked my junk box too. I phoned my bank who confirm the payment has gone through. It was only about an hour ago that I paid, but they said the email "had been sent" not that it was "to follow". Can anybody else advise how long it normally takes them to send a confirmation email? I think it's a disgrace that a large and supposedly reputable  company like Celebrity are so keen to take your money, yet cannot be bothered to acknowledge receipt of such. £4000 is hardly an insignificant sum. I have emailed customer services but last time I emailed them they took over a month to respond to my query, so I won't hold my breath. I hope that this inefficiency and cavalier attitude is not a harbinger of things to come on our cruise!

Any advice greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!

 

Don't panic..... Celebrity might be waiting for the £ to clear at their end - not everything is instantaneous for everyone 🙂  Am sure you will have a lovely cruise with Celebrity - in fact you are going just ahead of us as I have to wait til September. The Eclipse is a lovely ship with great staff who work hard to make sure your holiday is just fab. Have you joined the roll call for your cruise ? You can ask for help/suggestions on there re Celeb cruising and you might find people trying to arrange private trips/sail aways etc. This site has a wealth of information which I have found extremely useful 🙂

Have a really great cruise. 

[hcat]

OP

Isn't there a toll free  way for you to call Celebrity?

We ( live in the US)  call  in to make final payment on our cred card ...the rep then e mails us a zero bal  due invoice right away.

 

Seems odd to wait so long once the charge has already been put on your bank card...

 

Do you have access to your online Cruise Planner...That should also show final payment was  made.

[FLbeachbaby]

Wondering if you made final payment on time since it was probably due before now unless you just booked. Could be the reason you have not heard anything or cannot check online .

[Highpeaklad]

I just paid yesterday and had the same thing. I’ve checked on my cruise planner and it shows a zero balance. Whenever I’ve made alterations on the phone they’ve always said it would be 24-48 hours before I receive the updated email. 

I’m more worried about my transfers which disappeared after I changed my flights. I’ve been told over the phone they’re still there but have nothing in writing. 

[Shadow9612]

In my experience, the Celebrity onboard experience far exceeds their IT/website experience.  

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

[bengaltiger1]

If you want to contact Celebrity UK, there are two freephone numbers below. We sometimes get a delay on all our emails regardless of the sender.  Virgin Media. Then they turn up in a batch. 

[GastroGnome]

If you paid through a  UK TA that can cause delays too.  I didn't realize until it happened to us but we paid the TA who simply placed the funds into a holding account where is sat (earning interest for the TA) until X called for it.  The payment wasn't late in celebrity terms but it wasn't actually paid to them until 3 weeks after I had paid it to the TA.  Caused a bit of a panic at the time.  (And we now pay direct)

[karli_ratte]

Same situation here on Wednesday. Yesterday, 24h later, I called them and they sent the mail within a minute. I was rather nervous too because in the past I, when making payments, I got updated payment confirmations immediately. 

 

So just call them and it will be fine! 

[SandyDix]

Thanks all you seasoned cruisers for taking the time to deliver such prompt and informative replies - you really put my mind at rest! Just to clarify, I was paying 2 days before the due date and we did not use a travel agent. I did check the online balance and it was zero, and I've just had confirmation today from customer services. A shout out to benaltiger1 for providing those 0800 freephone numbers, I wasn't aware of them - and I do object to paying 7p a minute to phone a firm about queries caused by their own inefficiency, when you've spent a few thousand quid with them! After one pays the balance, their message should read "Thank you. A confirmation email will be sent within 24-48 hours" and NOT "Thank you. A confirmation email has been sent to you." It ain't rocket science! Glad to hear from some of you that their  cruises are better than their website experience!  I'm now going to post another question to you lovely people about Norweigan shore excursions . Many thanks again folks! x

[downsmead]

To avoid premium rate phone calls, Google 'say no to 0870' and then enter the company you are trying to call. You will get a list of landline / free numbers (0800 / 01,2,3) that you can use instead.