Summit in for Alaska, Solstice toast?

[cruisestitch]

New itinerary? Not so much

[Bruin Steve]

12 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

New itinerary? Not so much

It IS a new itinerary inasmuch as it does not visit the mandatory Canadian port...Of course, it is still going to look a lot like most past Celebrity Alaska cruises inasmuch as they aren't going to come up with any new ports they haven't seen before...There are only so many permutations of visiting Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau that you can do...and with a return all the way to Seattle, you can't fit in Icy Strait Point or Hubbard Glacier...Plus, they already had all of the port reservations in place on those dates...and they already have the timing and distances all worked out...

OTOH, it's a different ship, it doesn't make that mandatory stop in Victoria to comply with the PVSA and they've extended the port time in Skagway...It is NOT the same exact itinerary they had earlier established for the Solstice.  So, YES, it is a NEW itinerary...it just happens to be very similar to an old one... 

[iamaqt2]

1 hour ago, Bruin Steve said:

I think a lot of people are reading way too much into the ship announcement...They are NOT replacing Solstice with Summit way into the future...And it is NOT the same itinerary, even though it's similar.  

What happened here is that these are NEW cruises.

None of the original itineraries are possible.  In a typical non-pandemic season, Celebrity runs three ships with three different itineraries:  1) Seward to Vancouver and its reverse, 2)  Round trip Vancouver and 3) Round trip Seattle.  Every one of those three required at least one stop in a Canadian port to get around the PVSA.

They just got a waiver through a bill through congress that, temporarily, with Canadian ports closed, allows a NEW ITINERARY that visits ONLY US ports--hence, Seattle to Seattle, visiting Alaskan ports with no Victoria, Vancouver or Prince Rupert.   Again, a NEW itinerary.

They also know that this season, with fewer potential fully vaccinated passengers, a lot of people still hesitant to cruise and only a VERY SHORT time to market, they feel they are safe using a SMALLER ship.  They probably couldn't fill enough of Solstice anyway.

Also, if they thought the demand was that great, they could always add a second itinerary under the waiver--Seward to Seattle one way and vice versa.  But the guess is they don't foresee enough demand to fill TWO ships.

 

So, for now, this is the only Alaska cruise they are doing...and they are hoping that enough former Solstice 2021 bookings elect to do this one...probably trying to get those booked on other 2021 Alaska cruises to do the same.  Next year they'll likely be back to normal.

 

AS to cabin assignment with change of ships, unfortunately, they only look at categories and switch you straight across--even if the cabin isn't quite the same.  And they are pretty obstinate about the issue.  Of course, we experienced cruisers book specific cabins because we know something...but they think all cabins in a certain category are equal.  When we had to lift-and-shift our April 10, 2021 Japan cruise on Millennium to March 2022 on Solstice, we got caught in this exact issue.  We had chosen a specific cabin because it was one of those with a bigger balcony...which on Millie was a "2A"...and 2A happens to be the highest balcony category on Millennium.   But, on Solstice, all of the extended balcony cabins are categorized as "1A", a category which doesn't exist on Millie.  2A on Solstice is one of the lower balcony categories.  So, we got stuck with a poorly located cabin with a standard sized balcony...and Celebrity wouldn't change it no matter how hard I argued the point.  They said I could upgrade by "paying the difference"...but at current prices...which would require me to pay several thousand more!  Oh, well, at least we're taking the cruise...

I called Celebrity today to specifically ask about the ship change.  It ONLY applies to Solstice bookings, not Millennium or Eclipse.  Those folks are being left high and dry.  So they are left with the option to cancel and wait for their refunds while also trying to rush to secure a cabin on Summit when the new bookings opens on May 25th.  And they're only getting a chance at whatever inventory is left over from the Solstice rebookings.  I don't think Celebrity is going to have a problem filling these berths.  Demand for travel has been pent up, and with these Alaska cruises being the only US cruises allowed at the moment, they're not going to have a problem booking to capacity.

[Alakegirl]

I don’t know at what point a small change becomes a new itinerary. I suppose it’s a matter of semantics.  I have had many cruises where one port was substituted for another, or where a port was missed.  I never thought of that is becoming a new itinerary, simply an alteration of the existing one.

[tmk1941]

Happy those going to Alaska. We were(are) booked on Summit to Bermuda in July 2121. Obviously that is canceled. Methinks there was great “political” pressure to cruse to Alaska after they repealed the need to stop in Canada. Perhaps from CLIA!?

[Cruise Raider]

On 5/21/2021 at 3:40 PM, iamaqt2 said:

I'm hoping that the Summit was just a preliminary announcement and they add the Solstice.  Logistics wise it's going to be difficult to vaccinate and crew-up the ships in that short time frame.

I'm booked for July 30th and didn't cancel.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

This is just my guess from looking at the itineraries for Alaska out of Seattle ... 

each cruiseline is taking a different day for embarkation, debarkation and it looks like only one ship from each line will be sailing up in Alaska for the remainder of the season.  This way, they will probably only have one or two ships in port at one time.   Seattle does have two distinct cruise ship port areas, though, so they could handle two ships.   

From what I've seen for embarkation / debarkation, it looks like one HAL has Saturdays, Princess has Sundays, NCL has Mondays, Carnival has Tuesdays, looks like Celebrity has Fridays along with RCCL, etc.  I guess time will tell how it all washes out.  

[sherylc]

Has anyone heard from Celebrity whether people booked on the Solstice will be given priority or automatic transfer of their reservation vs having all of the Solstice reservations cancelled and everyone having to start from scratch on the Summit sailings?

[HskrCrsr]

8 minutes ago, sherylc said:

Has anyone heard from Celebrity whether people booked on the Solstice will be given priority or automatic transfer of their reservation vs having all of the Solstice reservations cancelled and everyone having to start from scratch on the Summit sailings?

 

Yes, this link was posted by Ken the Cruiser, I believe:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/cel_2021_sl_to_sm_alaska_redeployment_guest_letter_(public_5-21-21).pdf

 

It indicates "Specific to your future Celebrity Solstice® sailing in Alaska, recently passed US Government Legislation will now permit us to cruise in Alaska without the necessity of calling on a port in Canada, which remains closed to cruise ships. However, our new plans will require a change of ship to the recently refreshed and revolutionized Celebrity Summit® with a few adjustments to our itinerary including an extended visit in Skagway and a relaxing day at sea in place of our originally scheduled call to the port of Victoria, BC. For your convenience our new itinerary has been included below. Your departure date from Seattle and stateroom category will remain the same. No further action needs to be taken on your part as our Customer Service Teams are working to automatically move your reservation to the Celebrity Summit."

[iamaqt2]

23 minutes ago, HskrCrsr said:

 

Yes, this link was posted by Ken the Cruiser, I believe:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/cel_2021_sl_to_sm_alaska_redeployment_guest_letter_(public_5-21-21).pdf

 

It indicates "Specific to your future Celebrity Solstice® sailing in Alaska, recently passed US Government Legislation will now permit us to cruise in Alaska without the necessity of calling on a port in Canada, which remains closed to cruise ships. However, our new plans will require a change of ship to the recently refreshed and revolutionized Celebrity Summit® with a few adjustments to our itinerary including an extended visit in Skagway and a relaxing day at sea in place of our originally scheduled call to the port of Victoria, BC. For your convenience our new itinerary has been included below. Your departure date from Seattle and stateroom category will remain the same. No further action needs to be taken on your part as our Customer Service Teams are working to automatically move your reservation to the Celebrity Summit."

There's some ambiguity in the statement that our stateroom catergory will remain the same.  I'm booked in a 1A hump balcony on Solstice, and Summit only has highest class of Deluxe Balcony Verandah as a 2A.  They're also 24 Sq ft smaller cabins.  And the majority of those staterooms have tiny balconies.  There are a few towards the aft of the ship with larger balconies, but very few.  I'm willing to take the "downgrade" to make my cruise happen, but the Summit and Solstice are not equal ships IMO.

Edited May 23, 2021 by iamaqt2

[HskrCrsr]

3 minutes ago, iamaqt2 said:

There's some ambiguity in the statement that our stateroom catergory will remain the same.  I'm booked in a 1A hump balcony on Solstice, and Summit only has highest class of Deluxe Balcony Verandah as a 2A.  They're also 24 Sq ft smaller cabins.  And the majority of those staterooms have tiny balconies.  Their are a few towards the aft of the ship with larger balconies, but very few.  I'm willing to take the "downgrade" to make my cruise happen, but the Summit and Solstice are not equal ships IMO.

Agreed! Those are not equal ships. I hope this swap works for all, but I think they are offering 125% FCC for those that don't like the swap. Good luck!

[iamaqt2]

30 minutes ago, HskrCrsr said:

Agreed! Those are not equal ships. I hope this swap works for all, but I think they are offering 125% FCC for those that don't like the swap. Good luck!

I'm still going, not crazy about the swap.. but I need a vacation so badly at this point that I'd gladly sail a garbage scow!

[Locobill49]

1 hour ago, HskrCrsr said:

 

Yes, this link was posted by Ken the Cruiser, I believe:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/cel_2021_sl_to_sm_alaska_redeployment_guest_letter_(public_5-21-21).pdf

How come I didn’t receive this notice? Was it because I am going through a travel agent?

 

 

 

[iamaqt2]

14 minutes ago, Locobill49 said:

 

I didn't receive the letter either.  Learned about it here.  Then called Celebrity to confirm.  Agent on phone said it should have gone out to everyone, and would notify her superiors that people were reporting not having received it.

[wrk2cruise]

Are you sure your proper email was on the reservation?   I don't believe just having a captains club number and them having your email for marketing purposes would get you these emails.   Would probably go to TA if you booked via them.

[iamaqt2]

2 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Are you sure your proper email was on the reservation?   I don't believe just having a captains club number and them having your email for marketing purposes would get you these emails.   Would probably go to TA if you booked via them.

Yes, she verified it with me.  Seemed surprised I hadn't received it. I checked every folder just to be sure.

Edit... I am booked through the Blue Chip Club,  but when I called the Blue Chip direct line it forwarded me to a Celebrity agent.

Edited May 23, 2021 by iamaqt2

[abbydancer2003]

Rather than starting a new thread, I think this might be an appropriate place.

 

There's a thread in one of the X group on Facebook, where the OP is insisting that the Millennium and Summit will switch, as the bill sent to the President lists specific ships that can go, and the Millie is there but the Summit isn't.    Does anyone here know anything about that?  I'm on the Millie at the end of July,   so it is of interest to me.  

 

Whenever I say that I'm pretty sure that X wouldn't say they were deploying the Summit without agreement from the government, he just pastes the bill back in.  Interestingly, the list also includes the Discovery Princess, which is currently under construction and not being delivered until 2022.

 

 

[iamaqt2]

38 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

Rather than starting a new thread, I think this might be an appropriate place.

 

There's a thread in one of the X group on Facebook, where the OP is insisting that the Millennium and Summit will switch, as the bill sent to the President lists specific ships that can go, and the Millie is there but the Summit isn't.    Does anyone here know anything about that?  I'm on the Millie at the end of July,   so it is of interest to me.  

 

Whenever I say that I'm pretty sure that X wouldn't say they were deploying the Summit without agreement from the government, he just pastes the bill back in.  Interestingly, the list also includes the Discovery Princess, which is currently under construction and not being delivered until 2022.

 

 

I'm not going to touch anything in that post.  I will post factually that I called Celebrity when I found out about the ship change.  I specifically asked if Millenium and Eclipse were also going to be accomodated on the ship change, and the answer was no.  It's very specific to only moving Solstice bookings to the Summit.
 

[K12Guy]

1 hour ago, abbydancer said:

Whenever I say that I'm pretty sure that X wouldn't say they were deploying the Summit without agreement from the government, he just pastes the bill back in. 

 I think I'm aware of the thread you're talking about. Here are two screen shots that might explain a bit about what is happening as of 21 May. The bill the guy is posting is from the first session reading on 3 January, which has changed quite a lot. He is insistent that Millenium will take the Alaska cruises. I don't think he is right. Summit is the ship of choice and will remain as such.

 

[abbydancer2003]

15 minutes ago, K12Guy said:

 I think I'm aware of the thread you're talking about. Here are two screen shots that might explain a bit about what is happening as of 21 May. The bill the guy is posting is from the first session reading on 3 January, which has changed quite a lot. He is insistent that Millenium will take the Alaska cruises. I don't think he is right. Summit is the ship of choice and will remain as such.


 

 

Thanks much.  This makes way more sense than that thread.  They really think that X would make a big announcement with much fanfare without clearing it first?

 

Over 2020, I learned to not argue too much on Facebook.  Nobody wins.

 

I very much appreciate your post here.

[K12Guy]

14 hours ago, abbydancer said:

Thanks much.  This makes way more sense than that thread.  They really think that X would make a big announcement with much fanfare without clearing it first?

 

Over 2020, I learned to not argue too much on Facebook.  Nobody wins.

 

I very much appreciate your post here.

My pleasure, Dancer. Not everyone on these pages makes the effort and time to really understand, as you know. And A LOT of folks just repeat what they've read or heard without verifying sources. It's my opinion that SUMMIT will sail to Alaska and I think that decision wasn't made overnight, rather over a period of time when management was playing out all possible scenarios and getting information back from lobbyists regarding the passage of the ATRA law, thus needing to pull Solstice and send SUMMIT. I doubt there was ever any consideration that Millennium would be used for Alaska trips (my opinion, for what it's worth). That other guy just seems to be dead set that he is right, regardless of consideration for all the variables. Time will tell, right?

[abbydancer2003]

20 minutes ago, K12Guy said:

My pleasure, Dancer. Not everyone on these pages makes the effort and time to really understand, as you know. And A LOT of folks just repeat what they've read or heard without verifying sources. It's my opinion that SUMMIT will sail to Alaska and I think that decision wasn't made overnight, rather over a period of time when management was playing out all possible scenarios and getting information back from lobbyists regarding the passage of the ATRA law, thus needing to pull Solstice and send SUMMIT. I doubt there was ever any consideration that Millennium would be used for Alaska trips (my opinion, for what it's worth). That other guy just seems to be dead set that he is right, regardless of consideration for all the variables. Time will tell, right?

Yup.  I guess we'll know tomorrow, when the Summit opens for booking.  Or a week from Saturday when the Millennium does it's first sailing.

[radarcruiser]

I got my email today from Celebrity.  Apparently it had to filter through my travel agent.  August 27 sailing will be on Summit now instead of Solstice.  Curious as it says if we want to be shifted to Summit we don't have to do anything, yet when will they assign our cabin?  I'm going to be peeved if they start selling all the good cabins tomorrow to new bookings and then give us the dregs.

[wrk2cruise]

Have you checked your Celebrity account to see if you have been moved already?

[HskrCrsr]

31 minutes ago, radarcruiser said:

I got my email today from Celebrity.  Apparently it had to filter through my travel agent.  August 27 sailing will be on Summit now instead of Solstice.  Curious as it says if we want to be shifted to Summit we don't have to do anything, yet when will they assign our cabin?  I'm going to be peeved if they start selling all the good cabins tomorrow to new bookings and then give us the dregs.

The letter says "Your departure date from Seattle and stateroom category will remain the same. No further action needs to be taken on your part as our Customer Service Teams are working to automatically move your reservation to the Celebrity Summit. Once the process is complete you will receive a refreshed booking invoice via email with your new stateroom number. We anticipate it will take us approximately 10 business days to complete all transactions. Feel free to log-in to your My Celebrity account within the coming weeks and check out everything the Celebrity Summit has to offer as well as your new stateroom number." They say all the right things but your concern is valid.

[upwarduk]

12 hours ago, K12Guy said:

It's my opinion that SUMMIT will sail to Alaska

Well, CD Sue Denning announced on her Instagram account, that she will be flying out soon to Alaska to join Summit.