Lift and Shift Change Ships

[Notaworryintheworld]

Hoping for some insight that I’m not getting from Celebrity with this issue. 
 

Booked on Connie 1/4/21 to ABC Islands plus grand cayman and Puerto Rico (originally was labadee when we booked), 11 nights. Trying to switch to Edge which is also 11 nights to ABC islands and grand cayman but does Columbia instead of Puerto Rico. Based on my reading of the terms and conditions—including the fine print on their website, that should qualify. We were looking at the 12/13/21 or 1/23/22 sailings since those are both a year later +\- 4 weeks. 
 

Initially they said it qualified but we got disconnected and when we got back on the phone the new person said we can’t do it. Now in the meantime, they’ve actually switched us to the new sailing but at the new, more expensive price. She kept saying the only two sailings that qualify are the two Connie sailings in January 2022 and said the edge ones weren’t in the time frame—when I explained they were, she just kept repeating that her chart said I was wrong. 
 

Am I missing something? The itineraries are virtually the same and it’s the same number of nights. Nothing in the terms say it has to be the same ship and at least on the RCCL boards, people were able to do it. 
 

Currently on hold waiting for a supervisor but thought I’d check here for others experiences. I tried searching but nothing was coming up that I could find. 

[jelayne]

Unless they have changed since we tried to move this wouldn’t qualify.  The offer allows for changing between S & M class ships but not from a S or M class to a E class ( Edge & Apex).  We just had our deposit moved from our Connie booking to a Edge booking- no price protection. 

[Notaworryintheworld]

2 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Unless they have changed since we tried to move this wouldn’t qualify.  The offer allows for changing between S & M class ships but not from a S or M class to a E class ( Edge & Apex).  We just had our deposit moved from our Connie booking to a Edge booking- no price protection. 

Where is that info located? Their terms don’t say that anywhere...I’ve reread them over and over lol they specify other things about the similar itinerary so I don’t know why it wouldn’t specify that. Extra frustrating since Connie is likely not going to be updated now. Thanks for your experience info though! 

[jelayne]

Here is info from X website.  7th line down “The ship series.....

[yorky]

6 minutes ago, Notaworryintheworld said:

Where is that info located? Their terms don’t say that anywhere...I’ve reread them over and over lol they specify other things about the similar itinerary so I don’t know why it wouldn’t specify that. Extra frustrating since Connie is likely not going to be updated now. Thanks for your experience info though! 

It’s been a no go to change from S or M class to E class for weeks. You can move from M to S class. I’m really surprised they stated you qualified in the first place.

Edited May 30, 2020 by yorky

[Notaworryintheworld]

It’s weird that it’s there because under the actual terms and conditions it doesn’t reference that at all 

[C-Dragons]

3 minutes ago, Notaworryintheworld said:

It’s weird that it’s there because under the actual terms and conditions it doesn’t reference that at all 

Those are the T&C's for Cruise with Confidence, not Lift & Shift. They are different programs.

Edited May 30, 2020 by C-Dragons

[Notaworryintheworld]

25 minutes ago, C-Dragons said:

Those are the T&C's for Cruise with Confidence, not Lift & Shift. They are different programs.

It actually describes both in those terms, if you read them.  
 

I mean it is what is—I booked what i did. I’m only annoyed that they are adding terms and conditions to what’s clearly on their site. If it had said ship class on there, I never would’ve even tried or thought I could. Now just trying to get us switched back to what we had before! 

[Fouremco]

3 minutes ago, Notaworryintheworld said:

It actually describes both in those terms, if you read them.  
 

I mean it is what is—I booked what i did. I’m only annoyed that they are adding terms and conditions to what’s clearly on their site. If it had said ship class on there, I never would’ve even tried or thought I could. Now just trying to get us switched back to what we had before! 

Unfortunately, because there are so many elements to these programs, Celebrity has had to rely on an extensive and growing FAQ section to address all of the details. The Terms and Conditions cover off the major points and the FAQ sections adds some meat to the bones. As the T&C are quite stable while the details in the FAQ continue to evolve, I guess it makes some sense to do it this way. IIRC, in the initial iteration of the L&S guidelines, you couldn't even switch between S- and M-class ships, but that prohibition was dropped fairly quickly.

[Notaworryintheworld]

18 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Unfortunately, because there are so many elements to these programs, Celebrity has had to rely on an extensive and growing FAQ section to address all of the details. The Terms and Conditions cover off the major points and the FAQ sections adds some meat to the bones. As the T&C are quite stable while the details in the FAQ continue to evolve, I guess it makes some sense to do it this way. IIRC, in the initial iteration of the L&S guidelines, you couldn't even switch between S- and M-class ships, but that prohibition was dropped fairly quickly.

The supervisor i spoke with insisted that we had to stay in m class and couldn’t switch to s class either. We weren’t interested in that right now anyway but that’s what she swore was the policy. I don’t think she knew what she was talking about though because for the first 5 minutes she said it had to be the same exact ship then expanded to class but wouldn’t go past that. 
 

She didn’t bring up the FAQs, just said I was misinterpreting the terms and conditions and insisted that itinerary included the specific ship.  They probably just need to add in there a couple terms but I’m not their lawyer. 
 

Oh well...will probably end up cancelling altogether but going to wait at least closer to final payment to see what happens. 

[Fouremco]

1 minute ago, Notaworryintheworld said:

The supervisor i spoke with insisted that we had to stay in m class and couldn’t switch to s class either. We weren’t interested in that right now anyway but that’s what she swore was the policy. I don’t think she knew what she was talking about though because for the first 5 minutes she said it had to be the same exact ship then expanded to class but wouldn’t go past that. 
 

She didn’t bring up the FAQs, just said I was misinterpreting the terms and conditions and insisted that itinerary included the specific ship.  They probably just need to add in there a couple terms but I’m not their lawyer. 
 

Oh well...will probably end up cancelling altogether but going to wait at least closer to final payment to see what happens. 

I find it so unfortunate that Celebrity has developed a reputation for inconsistent answers and front-line staff who simply don't have the necessary information (training?) to deal with the public. You should never have run into this problem, particularly when dealing with a supervisor.

[Notaworryintheworld]

6 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

I find it so unfortunate that Celebrity has developed a reputation for inconsistent answers and front-line staff who simply don't have the necessary information (training?) to deal with the public. You should never have run into this problem, particularly when dealing with a supervisor.

Right! That’s the most frustrating part. If they had told me at the beginning that it wouldn’t work and why, I wouldn’t have been so frustrated. And then to get so many different answers just gets so annoying.
 

They are still working on getting my original reservation back. 

[Bruin Steve]

They make the rules...so they can pretty much do whatever they want...AND the rules for what happens has changed over time.  There are different "options" and different time limits based on a lot of odd factors...

 

We had been told by my TA that our back-to-back cruises on Infinity in July could ONLY be lifted and shifted to a very limited number of sailings--ALL on Infinity.  Why? First, there are no other M-Class ships cruising next summer in the Med which do 7-night cruises...And, even the Infinity mixes in some 8, 9 and 10 night cruises--including the sailing that is, basically, on the same nights we were originally booked--In 2021, that week will be an 8-night sailing--so, NOT eligible.  The Connie's in the Med, but no 7 night sailings.  So is the Apex--and doing 7 nighters, but not eligible as a different class ship.  So, it's an extremely limited option...

 

To make things worse, the Infinity itineraries are NOT the same in 2021 as in 2020.  We booked back-to-backs as the itineraries alternated with different ports.  Any "eligible" 2021 back-to-backs repeat 3 ports.

 

On the alternative, we were told we could take the 125% FCC option, then re-book any ship, any sailing.  But prices are way up and we'd lose all of our perks (Of course, we would get whatever perks are currently offered).  So, for example, we could ALMOST shoehorn some Apex sailings into the 125% FCC--if we had some additional $$$--probably what they'd like us to do...

 

We are actually in the process of working something out right now--we think...But, here's another big problem--you have limited time to elect the lift and shift option...BUT, the Celebrity phone lines are so overloaded at present, that it's hard to get through to someone to speak with.  Even our travel agent is complaining that THEY wait on hold for hours...And, today, my travel agent, after over three hours on hold had the call get disconnected in the middle of the call.  So, we have to pick it up again tomorrow!

 

BTW, the reason they've allowed that Millennium/Eclipse thing is that after next Spring, the Millie is being pulled from those Japan and Transpacific routes...so, they've relented on that specific replacement...

 

But, anything that doesn't follow their strict interpretation is deemed ineligible.  IF you can get through to them, try hammering home the idea that there is no replacement for your current booking and that what you want is NOT a major change, especially in terms of price.

 

Really, if they were smart, they would WANT people to lift and shift--keeps them cruising with Celebrity, keeps the money in Celebrity's pocket...AND they really don't know if, when cruising resumes, they will be able to fill the ships.  It would suck for them if they drive people away, then, a year from now, they can't fill the ships...

[jelayne]

They are allowing moves between M & S Class as long as the other parameters are met and when the #of nights is different, eg itinerary was  9 nights this year and is 10 nights next year folks are being allowed to shift and pay for the additional night. 

 

From our experience & that reported by others no moving from M or S Class to Edge/Apex, no moving from repo to r/t, no moving outside of the 4 week window.