What's With The Extended Wait Times For Captains Club Lately?

[TeaBag]

Celebrity is hiring new people to replace all the competent people who have left.  They are not trained properly.  I spent at least 6 hours on various calls lately to solve a problem that was not my fault.   The Captains Club # where they thank you for your loyalty over and over again is USELESS.

[davekathy]

3 hours ago, Luvcrusn said:

I always use  the number you do and haven't had long wait times until this week. Each time I have tried calling  (early mornings,  mid and late afternoon, early evening and late evening,  weekdays and weekend) I've been on hold for upward of an hour. In fact, their voice message has been edited to warn of wait times in excess of 30 minutes. I never heard that until this week. 

See post #20. My latest experience. 

[HskrCrsr]

12 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

I think that it’s just a combination of things including staff out sick and probably a staff that was already depleted. To me it’s no different than what is currently going on around the country. I have had to contact Disneyland a few times recently regarding reservations at one of their hotels and the wait times have been long. Very long. I just put my phone on speaker and go about my business until someone answers. It’s not fun but I see it here locally daily at restaurants, grocery store, pharmacy, etc. 

 

With X, I just email my CVP with anything that I need and she handles or calls me back. No waiting. 

I tried the CVP route. Sent email, waited a few days, sent follow-up email, got crickets. Called, waited on hold a bit, got the issue resolved, emailed CVP that it was done and to disregard, received email a few days later. It took her more than 2 weeks to get back to me. Very disappointing.

[uktog]

Emails all unanswered (waited ten days now) and that’s for someone who is Zenith.  Not impressed at all 

[Redtravel]

Captains Club loyalty?  Everyone after one cruise is in Captains Club.  You might get better response if you hit “ make a new booking.”  Cruising customer service and all customer services have been hit hard by Covid.  Between sickness, experienced workers quitting, and a lack of people wanting to work, trying to deal with customer service reps is often frustrating.  The new norm is expect delays, reps that don’t their business, and disconnects.  Nothing is more frustrating than waiting a long time on hold and getting disconnected. It has happened to me many times.  If you don’t get the results that you want, call again or send email.  If you get a human, ask their name and employee #.   No last name often means no experience.   
I have a good TA who answers messages timely.  Often, they may be on hold with cruise lines too. Be patient.  
 

[Rayhorn]

@HskrCrsr @uktog

 

Same here. I’ve sent a concise, bullet pointed email with a couple specific questions. Crickets. Followed up 7 days later to say I was still waiting on a response. Nothing. It’s now been almost three weeks since the original email was sent. I’ve followed up three times. It was finally handled after 3+ hours on various holds and being hung up on and transferred over a simple request. 

[uktog]

10 hours ago, davekathy said:

See post #20. My latest experience. 

Not sure why you find post 29 funny. I’m abroad just now so hanging on a call for some random unknown time is not an option. Answering emails even a simple acknowledgment is a basic courtesy. 
We’ve not sailed X for a few years but were reacting to written communication encouraging us back. Wonder why we are bothering 

[davekathy]

17 minutes ago, uktog said:

Not sure why you find post 29 funny. I’m abroad just now so hanging on a call for some random unknown time is not an option. Answering emails even a simple acknowledgment is a basic courtesy. 
We’ve not sailed X for a few years but were reacting to written communication encouraging us back. Wonder why we are bothering 

IMO, your tier level should have absolutely nothing to do with a timely response. I find your comment funny in a sad way. SMH. I absolutely agree all correspondents should be answered in a timely manner. If you are using celebrityengagementcenter@celebrity.com that is not a CC specific Email address. Since you are currently onboard why don't you go visit with the CC host and discuss your issue and if the CC host can't help you, request the CC host contact the main office in Miami. 

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by davekathy

[Bo1953]

3 minutes ago, davekathy said:

IMO, your tier level should have absolutely nothing to do with a timely response. I find your comment funny in sad way. I absolutely agree all correspondents should be answered in a timely manner. If you are using celebrityengagementcenter@celebrity.com that's is not a CC specific Email address. Since you are currently onboard why don't you go visit with the CC host and discuss your issue and if the CC host can't help you, request the CC host contact the main office in Miami. 

 

Also, I wonder how many individuals they have answering emails, researching the info required to respond vs number of emails they may get daily vs how many have 'simple' questions vs complex (however one defines either) vs emergencies vs if an automated response was returned 'your email was received' (which would be a nice touch regardless).

 

The next complaint would inevitably be 'I emailed them five (5) weeks ago and no response after I got confirmation they received it, what is going on???' etc...

 

bon voyage

 

[uktog]

18 minutes ago, davekathy said:

IMO, your tier level should have absolutely nothing to do with a timely response. I find your comment funny in a sad way. SMH. I absolutely agree all correspondents should be answered in a timely manner. If you are using celebrityengagementcenter@celebrity.com that is not a CC specific Email address. Since you are currently onboard why don't you go visit with the CC host and discuss your issue and if the CC host can't help you, request the CC host contact the main office in Miami. 

 

I’m not onboard but thanks for the suggestion. I’m using the Captain club address not the engagement one. 

Edited February 7, 2022 by uktog

[davekathy]

6 minutes ago, uktog said:

I’m not onboard but thanks for the suggestion. I’m using the Captain club address not the engagement one. 

Sounded like you were onboard to me in post #32. "...Not sure why you find post 29 funny. I’m abroad just now so hanging on a call for some random unknown time is not an option..."

 

What's the CC Email address? 

Edited February 7, 2022 by davekathy

[uktog]

You can be abroad without being on a ship!

[Luvcrusn]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

You can be abroad without being on a ship!

I think some readers read on board instead of abroad. The meanings are very different.

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, uktog said:

You can be abroad without being on a ship!

My fault. I did read aboard and not abraod. 😳 I also see you're in the UK.  Good luck. 

 

What's the CC Email address are you using? 

[blueboro]

I called at around 11:00 central today to redeem Celebrity Visa points for OBC and they answered within 5 seconds.  May be what number you press regarding what you need to do.

[Rayhorn]

In case this helps anyone:

 

My last email to Celebrity was on 1/25. I didn’t receive an auto reply or any other correspondence whatsoever. Today, 2/7, I received an auto reply referencing my email from 1/25. It said:

 

“

Thank you for contacting Celebrity Cruises, we look forward to assisting you as quickly as possible.

 

Please note, due to the global public health circumstances surrounding COVID-19 and the impact on our sailings, we apologize for the longer than usual response times. We are doing everything we can to expedite your inquiry, but due to high email volume, responses are delayed an approximate additional 7 days. 
 

We will be reaching out to you in 12-15 business days to address your request. If you have an urgent matter and need assistance right away, please don't hesitate to contact our Engagement Center at, U.S. and CAN: 844-418-6824 or outside of the U.S. and Canada: 1-316-554-5961.

 

We appreciate your patience and understanding and thank you for choosing Celebrity Cruises for your vacation.

”

 

I don’t know if that means 12-15 business days from my original email (1/25) or 12-15 business days from this email (2/7). In either case, I would recommend not using email at all unless your sailing dates are way in the future. 
 

I do feel for management because every sector in the US right now is having major problems hiring and retaining a competent workforce. Having said that, I do think there are some decisions that could be made that would ease the problem. For example, simply receiving that auto reply with the expected reply timeframe at the time I sent the email would have been nice and would have prevented me from sending a follow up email a week later to ask if my email had been received. Additionally, if they implemented a help desk system like Zendesk or similar where the guest has access, then the guest could update the request with additional information, questions, etc, without submitting an entirely new email that begins a new request and potentially goes to a different person. It would also allow people like me, who sent an email and now would rather cancel the request, the ability to do so and not take up a position in their email queue or require administrative action to close out the request. 

[Luvcrusn]

I'm currently on hold since 1:45 PM EST for the 800-760-0654 Captains Club number.  I didn't press any menu options. Any questions about the wine list, bio-dynamic wine selection, specialty dining packages, Daniel Baloud (sp?), Cornelius Gallagher, edge-class Infinite verandas, suites, retreats, how the ships were designed with "you in mind," ice topped martini bar, dreams about flying across the ocean on a magic carpet,  Edge, Apex, Solstice class ships, Celebrity Flora etc., etc., etc. ad nauseum? 🙄

Edited February 7, 2022 by Luvcrusn

[Luvcrusn]

Breaking news!!!! I got through at 3:10 PM EST. The transferred me to Reservations (not to make a new reservation, but to service existing reservations. No hold on the transfer. They seem to be able to answer my question....at least I think (hope) so.

Edited February 7, 2022 by Luvcrusn

[uktog]

On 2/7/2022 at 6:39 PM, davekathy said:

My fault. I did read aboard and not abraod. 😳 I also see you're in the UK.  Good luck. 

 

What's the CC Email address are you using? 

captains club.uk@celebritycruises.com - I now have a standard acknowledgement they will get back as soon as possible.  Unfortunately we do not return to phones that I can hang onto for another few weeks so unless they get a move on we will go elsewhere again.  We did try to come back!

[davekathy]

3 hours ago, uktog said:

captains club.uk@celebritycruises.com - I now have a standard acknowledgement they will get back as soon as possible.  Unfortunately we do not return to phones that I can hang onto for another few weeks so unless they get a move on we will go elsewhere again.  We did try to come back!

Try Emailing the following people and make them aware of the problems, concerns, issues you are having. 

 

Jennifer Morales
Senior Director of Celebrity Engagement
1050 Caribbean Way
Miami, FL 33132
jennifermorales@celebrity.com

 

Or...

 

Chief Executive
Lisa Lutoff-Perlo
President and Chief Executive Officer
1050 Caribbean Way
Miami, FL 33132
lLutoff-Perlo@celebritycruises.com