Be careful who you book with !

[JBare]

13 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

Celebrity has never sent me a reminder for my final payment. 

 

Celebrity have always sent me a reminder for every cruise, in fact got the latest one just today.

 

Dear J

We hope you’re looking forward to your Celebrity Eclipse cruise with us.

So there’s no delay in getting your cruise documents to you, we would like to remind you that payment for your reservation(s) is due on the date shown below:

 

Balance due no later than: 12 January 2023

Currency Code: GBP

 

To make a payment, simply log in to your Guest Account on https://www.celebritycruises.co.uk Please go to ‘manage booking’ and click on the ‘your account’ link or contact one of the team on 01932 834300. We do not charge for credit or debit card transactions but your card issuer may charge you an international fee if your booking is in a different currency to your card.

 

If you have already made full payment, please ignore this reminder and accept our apologies for any inconvenience.

 

Thank you for choosing Celebrity Cruises we look forward to welcoming you onboard Celebrity Eclipse.

 

Kind Regards
Celebrity Cruises

[phoenix_dream]

Two important points to remember for future:

1) online booking agencies are just that - they are not TA's and you do not get the same level of service you would get from a TA

2) it is your responsibility to remember when payments are due 

[Charles4515]

14 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

1) online booking agencies are just that - they are not TA's and you do not get the same level of service you would get from a TA

You are making an important point. Those big box stores and other online agencies that can't be named are call centers. The people answering the phone and taking bookings are not travel agents. 

[jagoffee]

I should add.  I have been on many cruises with different cruise lines.  I booked a few direct, but most with a TA.  I have always received a reminder when a final payment is due.  

[mayleeman]

If only people had some easily available electronic calendar thst would generate repeated payment reminders in whatever interval they desired... Or managed to look at their documents, say, oh, yearly to figure out whether they actually have to pay for their future plans.

 

I do, however, understand being disappointed with the online agency for not sending a reminder...if they promised you they would. In writing, in which case make them eat it.

[Charles4515]

11 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

If only people had some easily available electronic calendar thst would generate repeated payment reminders in whatever interval they desired... Or managed to look at their documents, say, oh, yearly to figure out whether they actually have to pay for their future plans.

 

I do, however, understand being disappointed with the online agency for not sending a reminder...if they promised you they would. In writing, in which case make them eat it.

 

Yes, while it is our responsibility it is disappointing that the online agency did not send out reminders. It is not hard. I get some kind of reminder from all my medical providers of appointments. Email and text. 

 

I use the calendar and reminders app on my iPhone and they work quite well. Like for my estimated tax payments. The IRS does not send out reminders so when I get the dates after I do my taxes I set up reminders for all four quarters a week in advance of the due date. Then I get  a  notification on my iPhone. 

[bEwAbG]

This was a nonrefundable deposit situation, I take it?  If you don't make a final payment but you have a refundable deposit, wouldn't your cruise be canceled but you get the money back?  Or do you have to specifically notify them of the cancellation before it takes effect?  Meaning, if you miss final payment, they don't automatically take that as the cancellation notice.  I've never been in this situation (and hope to never be) but curious how it works from a process standpoint.

[TCBFlash]

On 12/28/2022 at 9:33 AM, rucruisn2 said:

We booked with this company pre- Covid.  Cancelled when Covid was really rearing it's ugly head.  Then the next day all cruises were cancelled.  The agency refused to refund the deposit penalty they bury in their fine print.  Still don't have my money but you can bet I'll never book with them again. 

Same thing happened to us.  Celebrity cancelled our cruise and refunded our full cruise price.  The TA proceeded to bill our credit card their $100 cancellation fee.  Excuse me, we didn't cancel, Celebrity did.  I contacted them and they said they would waive it if we rebooked with them.  So we did hoping that things would be better in 2021.  Celebrity cancelled again and the TA tried to charge us again.  I contacted the credit card company this time and they took care of it.  I won't deal with them again. 

[ChucktownSteve]

My TA always sets the final payment two weeks before the cruise line requires it so if there is a problem, they have time to deal with it.  Two weeks doesn't make much difference to me since it's paid by credit card anyway.  I always get a reminder email from them one week before their deadline.

 

Once my credit card had to be changed due to fraud.  It gave us enough time to change payment.

 

I've dealt with the TA in New England that I will never do business with.  American cancelled my flight so I was a "no show" for the cruise because they rebooked me to arrive after the ship sailed.  I had already received my insurance claim payment several months later before the TA tagged my credit card for a cancellation fee which I had to eat.  My current TA of over a decade has never charged me to change or cancel a cruise.

 

It's tough to find a good TA.  Good luck.

Edited December 31, 2022 by ChucktownSteve

[cdn_tbird]

On 12/28/2022 at 2:02 PM, Charles4515 said:

You are making an important point. Those big box stores and other online agencies that can't be named are call centers. The people answering the phone and taking bookings are not travel agents. 

I'll be a cheerleader for the big box store TA that starts with a C (at least their Canadian operations). Everyone's needs and experiences are difference. What I need is nothing more than an agent that will give me a benefit for my business and simply executes my instructions. We do our own research so rarely have a question that I can't find the answer online. I always get emails from them about upcoming payments even though I have the payments recorded in my calendar.

 

The only time I've needed more than that from them was when X cancelled a cruise on us due to a full ship charter. None of the alternative cruises they offered as a lift & shift worked for us, but there was a longer cruise we wanted understanding we'd have to pay more for. They went to bat for us with X and got us a cruise we wanted for significantly less than what we were willing to pay. 

 

Add to that, great group rates and a gift card worth at least 8% of the base fare plus 2% more at the end of the year, and they have our business for the foreseeable future. Most of the B&M agents that remain in Canada are chains, and the last one we used didn't come close to giving us the service of the big box TA. 

[whitshel]

There is one brick and mortar travel agency out there that is nation wide.  Thousands of branches that you can actually walk into and talk to an actual person.  They give benefits and they do all the work.  Heck, most of you probably have one of their cards in your wallet or purse right now.  If you want service, don't expect that from an online agency (Call Center). 🙂 

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, whitshel said:

There is one brick and mortar travel agency out there that is nation wide.  Thousands of branches that you can actually walk into and talk to an actual person.  They give benefits and they do all the work.  Heck, most of you probably have one of their cards in your wallet or purse right now.  If you want service, don't expect that from an online agency (Call Center). 🙂 

I can't speak personally about the brick and mortar agency, I can speak about an on-line one I discovered during pandemic via YouTube channel, two words NEVER AGAIN.  I took the advice of many on here and asked around and met someone on my TA this fall, did my research, talk to a lot of long time cruisers and am pleased with who I met on the ship

[neverlaysup]

That sucks for sure. I normally just let my TA bill the original card on the due date and that means I don’t  have to remember much. These days, we tend to book most of our cruises with 60 days of departure so I normally just pay on full when I book. 

[tonit964]

On 12/29/2022 at 7:36 AM, bEwAbG said:

This was a nonrefundable deposit situation, I take it?  If you don't make a final payment but you have a refundable deposit, wouldn't your cruise be canceled but you get the money back?  Or do you have to specifically notify them of the cancellation before it takes effect?  Meaning, if you miss final payment, they don't automatically take that as the cancellation notice.  I've never been in this situation (and hope to never be) but curious how it works from a process standpoint.

Even with a refundable deposit, you have to cancel in order to get your deposit back. It's not as simple as not making final payment, then they refund you. If you don't make final payment, they cancel the cruise and keep your deposit.

It happened to me on a Princess cruise, I knew better but I had a brain lapse and thought I'd get my $200 bucks back, nope. Lessen learned.