Celebrity Base Rate for a Cabin?

[Lane412000]

I received my Celebrity FCC certificate for $12,764 per person. I paid $14,506 per person for a PH Suite.  I called Celebrity and was transferred to a Concierge member who explained the FCC is 125% of the base rate for the cabin. There is no way a PH Suite was ever listed for $11,168 per person for a 14 day Baltic cruise.According to Celebrity, I paid $3,338 per person more than the base rate for the cabin or $6,700 total.  Obviously, I am somehow misunderstanding the calculations of what has happened

 

My question is what is considered the base rate for a cabin?  I thought the fare found on the Celebrity website was a base rate.

[jelayne]

Did you book direct with Celebrity?  If so, do you have your Celebrity Booking Confirmation?  That should have a line item “Cruise Fare”. That is the amount the FCC is based on.  Taxes, fees And port expenses are refunded and not included in the FCC.  Although port fees can be high in the Baltic I doubt they would account for the all of the difference.  
if you have the confirmation then you can review that with the person at Celebrity and resolve the difference.

Edited July 15, 2020 by jelayne

[Lane412000]

I booked with a TA, unfortunately have not been able to get in contact with the individual. I have a Celebrity booking confirmation number, but the Celebrity concierge person had no interest in the confirmation number nor the "Cruise Fare" as indicated on the invoice.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I'm not certain but the base fare might be the base used as the commission to the TA. 

[Lane412000]

9 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

I'm not certain but the base fare might be the base used as the commission to the TA. 

So, there is no way to dispute the amount that the FCC is based upon.  The Celebrity concierge individual should have been willing to tell me this yesterday.  Thanks for the response

[Cruise Raider]

The base rate should be what is listed on the site when you go to book the cruise ... before the taxes and fees (and insurance, if you purchased it through the cruiseline) are added on.  

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Did you purchase cruise insurance, hotel, air as part of the booking? That along with taxes and fees will be refunded, not included in the FCC.

[Lane412000]

36 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Did you purchase cruise insurance, hotel, air as part of the booking? That along with taxes and fees will be refunded, not included in the FCC.

No, we did not purchase these as part of the booking. This is how the cruise invoice looked:

 

Description 1 2 Cruise $ 13,949.00 $ 13,949.00 Airfare $ 0.00 $ 0.00 Insurance $ 0.00 $ 0.00 Tax / Fees $ 557.25 $ 557.25 PASSENGER TOTAL $ 14,506.25 $ 14,506.25

[jelayne]

The above detail is from your TA's invoice, but  there have been instances reported on Cruise Critic where the amount the TA charged was different ( sometimes more, sometimes less) than what was on the Celebrity website site.  The Booking # is not the same as a Celebrity Booking confirmation which is a detailed invoice from Celebrity which is created when a booking is made.  If you book direct with Celebrity it is sent to you.  If you book with a TA they have access to that information.  Normally when you book with a TA Celebrity does not discuss fares with the passenger as they pay a commission to the TA to address problems.  

Two suggestions :  keep trying to reach your TA or someone higher up at the Travel agency as it this their job to determine the difference in the fare they charged and your FCC.

Secondly call Celebrity again and see if they will send you a copy of your booking info or at lease confirm that the invoice you have received from your TA does not match what their records show.  That is a long shot but worse case they say they can't send it to you. 

BTW when you paid was your deposit and cruise fare charge on your credit card paid directly to Celebrity or was it paid to the TA who then paid Celebrity.

[wrk2cruise]

I had this issue with an FCC issued for a cancelled cruise way before Covid-19.  I got the same response about base fare.  In my case I had booked the cruise direct and then moved it to a TA so I had my original Celebrity guest invoice.  The agent kept referring to base fare.  I kept asking where that was listed on the invoice as all I could see was "Cruise Fare" and "Taxes/Fees".   I did know from my TA's invoice that there's something called NCCF (Non-Commissionable-Cruise-Fare) and is generally in the $200-$350 pp amount and I think always divisible by $25.   I believe when Celebrity is talking about "Base Fare" it's "Cruise Fare" minus "NCCF".   In my case when I got the agent to admit there was nothing on my Celebrity invoice which said "Base Fare" he put me on hold and came back a short time later telling me that both of my FCC's had been adjusted.   No explanation.

 

Although I just went back and saw that your difference is way more than could be explained by NCCF.

 

I think you need to get your TA involved.  When it comes to finances they are responsible for explaining it to you and/or working it out with Celebrity.

Edited July 15, 2020 by wrk2cruise

[Covepointcruiser]

Just ask for a refund instead, they should refund what you paid.    Your travel agent should be handling this, what are they doing?

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, wrk2cruise said:

I had this issue with an FCC issued for a cancelled cruise way before Covid-19.  I got the same response about base fare.  In my case I had booked the cruise direct and then moved it to a TA so I had my original Celebrity guest invoice.  The agent kept referring to base fare.  I kept asking where that was listed on the invoice as all I could see was "Cruise Fare" and "Taxes/Fees".   I did know from my TA's invoice that there's something called NCCF (Non-Commissionable-Cruise-Fare) and is generally in the $200-$350 pp amount and I think always divisible by $25.   I believe when Celebrity is talking about "Base Fare" it's "Cruise Fare" minus "NCCF".   In my case when I got the agent to admit there was nothing on my Celebrity invoice which said "Base Fare" he put me on hold and came back a short time later telling me that both of my FCC's had been adjusted.   No explanation.

 

Although I just went back and saw that your difference is way more than could be explained by NCCF.

 

I think you need to get your TA involved.  When it comes to finances they are responsible for explaining it to you and/or working it out with Celebrity.

We recently had a cruise we booked with X and transferred to a TA.  When it was cancelled we got our FCCs for the amount shown as Cruise Fare which was the same On both X’s Booking Confirmation and the TA invoice,  no difference for any NCCF.

[Ken the cruiser]

This is just a guess, but maybe the base fare excludes the 4 perks you usually get when you book a suite (free gratuities, free drinks, free internet and $150 pp in OBC). I know when we get our confirmation from Celebrity when we book a suite, it always shows each of those with a debit and corresponding credit which in effect zeros out the bottom line cost. Maybe that's the difference between what you oaid and tge base fare theyre referring to?

[hcat]

Suggest you insist TA  get involved and  request a refund of the fare rather than a FCC, if  it is not too late.  

 

You could also possibly initiate a Credit card dispute against whoever you paid.

I recently saw posts where X is challenging disputes......getting"aggressive "  in trying  to keep  money paid!

Edited July 15, 2020 by hcat