Hawaii to Vancouver Cancelled by Celebrity due to Inept Planning

[alwaysonaship]

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

[nfsalmo]

15 hours ago, K12Guy said:

I'm just curious what would have been good enough that you would not have posted?

How about if Celebrity really tried to accommodate. 

 

Our original booking had 4 perks included in the fare. This was now cut back to 2. They could of maintained this original benefit but wouldn't. The $100 credit doesn't even cover this. We asked to be wait listed for a period of time to see if something similar to our original fare became available on the Solstice. Originally, we had a balcony on the stern of the ship which my wife and I love, especially on cruises with many sea days. On the Solstice we were downgraded. No, no wait-listing. We even asked to be notified when a future cruise, similar to this, would be available for 2022 and they could keep the deposit. This was also denied.

 

Basically, in the end, Celebrity said our only option, if we wished to keep our $100, was to maintain our deposit with the new booking that was created and if there was some other cruise that was of interest, to transfer our booking to the new cruise. 

 

Any of the above would have been very helpful.

 

However, this whole experience does provide some insight into Celebrity's overall customer service culture when things go wrong. 

 

 

[billslowsky]

1 hour ago, alwaysonaship said:

 

It sure is not helpful when someone is disappointed and the world chimes in with mostly criticism. 

 

It would sure be better if people had something nice to say. 

 

 

 

LOL

[yorky]

1 hour ago, alwaysonaship said:

First of all we don’t agree on much.

 

The OP is from Newfoundland and that is a very long way from somewhere that they can just jump on another ship. We are just returning from there on Seabourn.

 

This board seems to be one where instead of being helpful, it continues to be critical of anything someone says.

 

It sure is not helpful when someone is disappointed and the world chimes in with mostly criticism. 

 

It would sure be better if people had something nice to say. 

 

 

It’s becoming more and more difficult to put forward any thoughts and  issues on the board because you know what some of the responses are going to be like, sadly that’s the nature of the internet these days where some people are happier posting nasty remarks rather than being helpful and kind. We are still having a wonderful cruise but I would not post anything on here that was not positive and ask for advice because I know what some of the replies would turn into. I’m not interested in being on holiday and coming off the board actually feeling bad about myself. Someone the other day has a problem with a large group making a lot of noise in their dining room and instead of advice some start attacking the op, how is that positive and helpful in any way, i’m pretty sure they probably wish they had never posted in the first place. But  as I say that’s sadly the nature of the internet these days. I’m pretty tough skinned but should you really need to be to post on here ?

[lienf]

57 minutes ago, nfsalmo said:

How about if Celebrity really tried to accommodate. 

 

Our original booking had 4 perks included in the fare. This was now cut back to 2. They could of maintained this original benefit but wouldn't. The $100 credit doesn't even cover this. We asked to be wait listed for a period of time to see if something similar to our original fare became available on the Solstice. Originally, we had a balcony on the stern of the ship which my wife and I love, especially on cruises with many sea days. On the Solstice we were downgraded. No, no wait-listing. We even asked to be notified when a future cruise, similar to this, would be available for 2022 and they could keep the deposit. This was also denied.

 

Basically, in the end, Celebrity said our only option, if we wished to keep our $100, was to maintain our deposit with the new booking that was created and if there was some other cruise that was of interest, to transfer our booking to the new cruise. 

 

Any of the above would have been very helpful.

 

However, this whole experience does provide some insight into Celebrity's overall customer service culture when things go wrong. 

 

 

 

Interesting response by Celebrity to your problem. We had booked the Eclipse TP in April/21 which was also canceled. We transferred to the Solstice TP and had our price protected, our perks (3) transferred, and our $100 deposit remained to same. I know others from the April 15th thread got the same protection. If you were interested in the later cruise from Hawaii on the Solstice I would think they would transfer everything for you. 

[nfsalmo]

14 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Of course.

 

lLutoff-Perlo@celebritycruises.com <lLutoff-Perlo@celebritycruises.com>

 

I had to contact her for a debacle on my last Edge sailing.

Thanks a bunch. I'll give it a try.

 

[NMTraveller]

15 minutes ago, nfsalmo said:

Thanks a bunch. I'll give it a try.

 

You can also try:

 

mmccarthy@rccl.com

 

This is the guy that I ended up talking with.  You probably won't get to talk to the CEO, she will assign someone to look into it.

 

[dkjretired]

2 hours ago, yorky said:

It’s becoming more and more difficult to put forward any thoughts and  issues on the board because you know what some of the responses are going to be like, sadly that’s the nature of the internet these days where some people are happier posting nasty remarks rather than being helpful and kind. We are still having a wonderful cruise but I would not post anything on here that was not positive and ask for advice because I know what some of the replies would turn into. I’m not interested in being on holiday and coming off the board actually feeling bad about myself. Someone the other day has a problem with a large group making a lot of noise in their dining room and instead of advice some start attacking the op, how is that positive and helpful in any way, i’m pretty sure they probably wish they had never posted in the first place. But  as I say that’s sadly the nature of the internet these days. I’m pretty tough skinned but should you really need to be to post on here ?

 

I rarely comment on threads like this because we do not know the other side of the story.

[billslowsky]

19 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

 

I rarely comment on threads like this because we do not know the other side of the story.

 

The nature of social media.  The cruise was cancelled because of inept planning...  I demand to speak directly to the CEO of the cruise line because people were too noisy in the dining room...  I'm going to another cruise line because they got rid of footstools...

[yorky]

31 minutes ago, billslowsky said:

 

The nature of social media.  The cruise was cancelled because of inept planning...  I demand to speak directly to the CEO of the cruise line because people were too noisy in the dining room...  I'm going to another cruise line because they got rid of footstools...

And of course those that seem to enjoy putting others down on social media as it gives them a level of satisfaction.

[nfsalmo]

1 hour ago, lienf said:

 

Interesting response by Celebrity to your problem. We had booked the Eclipse TP in April/21 which was also canceled. We transferred to the Solstice TP and had our price protected, our perks (3) transferred, and our $100 deposit remained to same. I know others from the April 15th thread got the same protection. If you were interested in the later cruise from Hawaii on the Solstice I would think they would transfer everything for you. 

One more item. My deposit was approx $1,000

[MamaFej]

I absolutely empathize with the OP. We were booked on the two cruises previous which would have gotten us most of the way home from Australia at the tail end of a very carefully planned 11 week trip in 2021. We were, of course, quite disappointed. 

 

We were not able to switch to the Solstice itinerary, as it would get us home too late (our daughter will be graduating from college at the end of April). I started looking for alternatives. Thankfully, another person who had been booked on the same cruises posted in the CC Roll Call that she'd found an alternative I had not yet seen. We are now booked on two different cruises on a new line for us. Bonus: we will fly home from San Francisco, rather than Honolulu, which will be a very short, inexpensive flight. 

 

We took some lemons and made some expensive lemonade. I figure I'm a darn fortunate person to have these sorts of problems.

 

We did transfer one of the Celebrity booking numbers to a cruise we intend to take, using the price and perk protection, and adding the $100 OBC. We transferred the other to a cruise we will not likely take, but it keeps the booking number and the $100 OBC active so it will be there when we do find another cruise we want. 

[sanger727]

7 hours ago, alwaysonaship said:

It is unfortunate that the OP gets bashed for saying how they feel. Some people book far in advance. I know we do. Regardless of the timeframe of course they should get a full refund and a $100 is almost insulting. 

 

Really sorry about bout your trip. 

 

 I like to book far in advance too and understand being disappointed. But 18 month notice is far from inept. That's good planning and customer service. 10-12 months is starting to border on too soon but usually you can't even book flights until 9 months out usually. We shopped for and did this itinerary last year. Carnival, Royal, and Celebrity all offer ships that run this basic route in the same time frame. There are still plenty of options for OP to change, whether or not they choose to stay with Celebrity. Their trips is far from ruined unless they choose to make it ruined.

[Mike981]

It's been a several years but we booked a January cruise with our friends from Canada on (if memory serves) Carnival Splendor out of LA. All four had air to deal with and found out in November that the ship was out of commission due to a fire. We searched quickly for availability on any ships at or near LA for our dates. We found some on Princess, so we bit the bullet and paid more for our rooms than we had planned on Carnival.

What did Carnival do? All money was returned and we were given 50% off a future cruise that we used to take our kids on a very fun trip. I understand this was a couple of months vs 18, I'm just sharing our experience.

I'm not sure if it's "that was then and this is now" in the cruise industry, or the short notice, but it worked out in the end for us.

I wish the OP all the best.

[deliver42]

Nobody is bashing the OB for early booking, just the fact he's making such a big deal of it 18 months out.

[john_galt]

X cancelled sailings on me in 2014 and 2016. Both scenarios were identical. I had booked as soon as the bookings for the dates became available, both were 5-day cruises, and I'd booked the very last sailing before the Constellation was leaving FLL for the east-bound TA. They called me in 2014 and advised me I could have the same room (port side PH) if I could change to the cruise five days earlier. That worked for me and I agreed. The exact same thing happened in 2016. I was even booked in the same room. I complained this time and ended up with $200pp OBC. I wasn't overjoyed either time but I didn't have any trouble spending their money. 

[mayleeman]

Apparently, if you "feel" aggrieved and riddle your post with wild accusations and insinuations, it is horrific "bashing" for people to respond by providing a different perspective, or to call out a clear overreaction.

 

Maybe for some of us, our perspective on what is actually a horrible disappointment has been colored by the thousands of cruisers who had weeklong cruised reduced to 2 or 3 days, or were cancelled, because of hurricanes. And our sympathy is likely stronger for people whose disappointments occurred with few or no options after spending money on airfare or who lost vacation days.

 

My admiration is huge for people who face adversity with grace and dignity. My sense of tragedy is reserved for people who lost loved ones, homes, jobs, and communities in storms, riots, crimes, and accidents.

 

Having a cruise cancelled 18 months out leaves so many options open it is insane.  Especially since a cancelled cruise ALWAYS results in a full refund. This is disappointing, but it is no tragedy and should not create the amount of anger found in the OP.

 

One question for anyone thinking reactions like mine are unfair. Since the OP accused Celebrity of ineptitude by accepting booking on that cruise, why should the OP be so mad about being in the precisely same position s/he would have been in if no bookings ever were accepted in the first place?

[yorky]

48 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

Apparently, if you "feel" aggrieved and riddle your post with wild accusations and insinuations, it is horrific "bashing" for people to respond by providing a different perspective, or to call out a clear overreaction.

 

Maybe for some of us, our perspective on what is actually a horrible disappointment has been colored by the thousands of cruisers who had weeklong cruised reduced to 2 or 3 days, or were cancelled, because of hurricanes. And our sympathy is likely stronger for people whose disappointments occurred with few or no options after spending money on airfare or who lost vacation days.

 

My admiration is huge for people who face adversity with grace and dignity. My sense of tragedy is reserved for people who lost loved ones, homes, jobs, and communities in storms, riots, crimes, and accidents.

 

Having a cruise cancelled 18 months out leaves so many options open it is insane.  Especially since a cancelled cruise ALWAYS results in a full refund. This is disappointing, but it is no tragedy and should not create the amount of anger found in the OP.

 

One question for anyone thinking reactions like mine are unfair. Since the OP accused Celebrity of ineptitude by accepting booking on that cruise, why should the OP be so mad about being in the precisely same position s/he would have been in if no bookings ever were accepted in the first place?

 

In my experience everyone reacts in different ways to adversity ( if I can put it that way), and the way they feel is real to them. I see many over the top  reactions on both sides on here and indeed many other sites. I think what’s been lost at times online is sympathy and an understanding of the views and feelings of others. No one can convince me that is the way people converse when interacting on a face to face level. We have interacted with many individuals on this cruise and our opinions have differed at times but those differences are respected without resorting to abuse. In my opinion all the internet has done is allowed safe abuse.