Japan 2024 canceled…

[pukekolive]

6 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

It could be worse. When Celebrity Covid cancelled the 2021 Australia/New Zealand season (Eclipse) passengers were given only one week to make their Lift & Shift decisions. Depending on the sailing, it was only 3-5 months notice before the date of the cruise. 

 

Here is a link to the cancellation notification which also details the compensation. 

We got 125% of our March 2020  cancelled cruise payment back, 100% back as a refund and 25% as an FCC. It is this FCC, about NZD$1800 that we have used for our deposit. Trying our best not to lose the value of this.

[NMTraveller]

5 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

Wouldn't it be nice if Celebrity would just send the rest of us emails stating "Congratulations.  You have survived the purge.  Your booking is safe and confirmed.  You WILL be traveling with us to Asia in the cabin and on the dates you originally booked."???

I don't think that this is possible.  How would Celebrity know at this point.  I see 3 scenarios.

 

1.  Too many people cancel and don't move to different cabins and Celebrity needs to sell more.

2.  Too few people cancel and Celebrity needs to cancel more.

3.  Celebrity is counting on a certain number of cancellations closer to the cruise and they don't cancel and there is round 2.

[mahdnc]

5 hours ago, Bruin Steve said:

Wouldn't it be nice if Celebrity would just send the rest of us emails stating "Congratulations.  You have survived the purge.  Your booking is safe and confirmed.  You WILL be traveling with us to Asia in the cabin and on the dates you originally booked."???

 

For those that were cancelled, do not be surprised if you receive a computer generated email from Celebrity in the future telling you to get ready for your cruise (advertisement for buying shorex, etc) or a letter from the CEO wishing you a good cruise and thanking you for sailing with Celebrity.

[bEwAbG]

Cold comfort, but the way they're handling this is no better than they have handled cancellations in the past.  I lost a few sailings when they started doing the ship Revolution program and it was very similar.  Not a lot of time to make a decision, compensation not that great for the inconvenience, itineraries not like-for-like, etc.  I think I ended up taking refunds for several of them because it became a hassle.  I booked with another line to get one trip I wanted where I wanted it at the time I wanted to take it.  

[Belgian fry]

I have just posted this in my roll-call, where at least 4 bookings have been cancelled:

 

Here is a translation of the text I received in French today (25 April). This is from the official Celebrity agent in Belgium (original text below):

 

We have no indication that this departure, or other departures with Celebrity Cruises in Asia have any overbooking problems. For this reason, we cannot answer your question. It would be pure speculation.

 

In the very rare case that the fleet (I think they used the wrong word here in the French) is faced with an overbooking situation, initially volunteers are called upon to postpone their trip, in exchange for compensation. When, how and how much compensation is given is decided and proposed only at the time at which the problem presents itself.

 

I told them I was dumbstruck by their response, given the problems are common knowledge and have been reported in the press.

 

I am at the point where I want to cancel all future bookings with Celebrity (including my dream Galapagos trip) and never travel with them again 

 

Nous n’avons aucune indication que ce départ, ou d’autres départs avec Celebrity Cruises en Asie ont des problèmes d’overbooking.

Pour cette raison, nous ne pouvons pas répondre à votre question.  Ce serait de la pure spéculation.

 

Dans le cas très exceptionel que l’armement est confronté avec une situation d’overbooking, d’abord les volontaires sont demandés pour reporter leur voyage, moyennant un dédommagement.

Quand, comment et combien de dédommagement est décidé et proposé uniquement au moment que le problème se présenterais.

[villauk]

3 minutes ago, Belgian fry said:

I have just posted this in my roll-call, where at least 4 bookings have been cancelled:

 

Here is a translation of the text I received in French today (25 April). This is from the official Celebrity agent in Belgium (original text below):

 

We have no indication that this departure, or other departures with Celebrity Cruises in Asia have any overbooking problems. For this reason, we cannot answer your question. It would be pure speculation.

 

In the very rare case that the fleet (I think they used the wrong word here in the French) is faced with an overbooking situation, initially volunteers are called upon to postpone their trip, in exchange for compensation. When, how and how much compensation is given is decided and proposed only at the time at which the problem presents itself.

 

No words, just 😲 and 🤦‍♀️.

[Judy Arthur]

1 minute ago, villauk said:

No words, just 😲 and 🤦‍♀️.

 

Just when we thought Celebrity’s operating style couldn’t get any more incompetent.🫢

[clojacks]

19 minutes ago, Belgian fry said:

I have just posted this in my roll-call, where at least 4 bookings have been cancelled:

 

Here is a translation of the text I received in French today (25 April). This is from the official Celebrity agent in Belgium (original text below):

 

We have no indication that this departure, or other departures with Celebrity Cruises in Asia have any overbooking problems. For this reason, we cannot answer your question. It would be pure speculation.

 

In the very rare case that the fleet (I think they used the wrong word here in the French) is faced with an overbooking situation, initially volunteers are called upon to postpone their trip, in exchange for compensation. When, how and how much compensation is given is decided and proposed only at the time at which the problem presents itself.

 

I told them I was dumbstruck by their response, given the problems are common knowledge and have been reported in the press.

 

I am at the point where I want to cancel all future bookings with Celebrity (including my dream Galapagos trip) and never travel with them again 

 

Nous n’avons aucune indication que ce départ, ou d’autres départs avec Celebrity Cruises en Asie ont des problèmes d’overbooking.

Pour cette raison, nous ne pouvons pas répondre à votre question.  Ce serait de la pure spéculation.

 

Dans le cas très exceptionel que l’armement est confronté avec une situation d’overbooking, d’abord les volontaires sont demandés pour reporter leur voyage, moyennant un dédommagement.

Quand, comment et combien de dédommagement est décidé et proposé uniquement au moment que le problème se présenterais.

Here is an example of an email pertaining to one of the sailings being affected by overbooking. Maybe show this to your Belgian Celebrity agent, because it appears they are out of the loop.

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by clojacks

[wahwah1]

According to TA located in Canada, he said 80% of his clients are affected on celebrity millie for the affected duration. However, that agency is not large and most of his bookings are decent/good prices. The information is on youtube but it's in Cantonese. I recalled he mentioned a few hundreds of bookings are affected, but I don't know all the few hundred bookings is only from that agency.

[mahdnc]

22 minutes ago, Belgian fry said:

I have just posted this in my roll-call, where at least 4 bookings have been cancelled:

 

Here is a translation of the text I received in French today (25 April). This is from the official Celebrity agent in Belgium (original text below):

 

We have no indication that this departure, or other departures with Celebrity Cruises in Asia have any overbooking problems. For this reason, we cannot answer your question. It would be pure speculation.

 

In the very rare case that the fleet (I think they used the wrong word here in the French) is faced with an overbooking situation, initially volunteers are called upon to postpone their trip, in exchange for compensation. When, how and how much compensation is given is decided and proposed only at the time at which the problem presents itself.

 

I told them I was dumbstruck by their response, given the problems are common knowledge and have been reported in the press.

 

I am at the point where I want to cancel all future bookings with Celebrity (including my dream Galapagos trip) and never travel with them again 

 

Nous n’avons aucune indication que ce départ, ou d’autres départs avec Celebrity Cruises en Asie ont des problèmes d’overbooking.

Pour cette raison, nous ne pouvons pas répondre à votre question.  Ce serait de la pure spéculation.

 

Dans le cas très exceptionel que l’armement est confronté avec une situation d’overbooking, d’abord les volontaires sont demandés pour reporter leur voyage, moyennant un dédommagement.

Quand, comment et combien de dédommagement est décidé et proposé uniquement au moment que le problème se présenterais.

 

Did you send to your contact the cancellation form letter that Celebrity issued?  Let him or her be dumbstruck.

Edited April 25, 2023 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

4 minutes ago, clojacks said:

 

Yes, send this to your contact, @Belgian fry

[wahwah1]

Also, for those who are considering lift and shift, I suggest to do it ASAP as Celebrity wouldn't assign you a higher cabin category, unless you pay for the difference at prevailing rate. I prefer Oct 6 2024 sailing (original Oct 12 2023) but I was told my cabin is U/A unless I downgrade to obstructed balcony or choose another sailing in Sept.

[Larasmum]

1 hour ago, wahwah1 said:

Also, for those who are considering lift and shift, I suggest to do it ASAP as Celebrity wouldn't assign you a higher cabin category, unless you pay for the difference at prevailing rate. I prefer Oct 6 2024 sailing (original Oct 12 2023) but I was told my cabin is U/A unless I downgrade to obstructed balcony or choose another sailing in Sept.

You are correct.   I looked at this sailing as an option for my split group of six cabins (three cancelled/three stilled booked for October 24/23) and there were no verandah cabins that wouldn't involve a downgrade for everyone.    Oceanviews only on Deck 2 ...       At this time, our cancelled cabins will take the refund on May 1 unless a miracle occurs before then.   They do not trust staying with Celebrity anymore ... 

[Judy Arthur]

2 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Did you send to your contact the cancellation form letter that Celebrity issued?  Let him or her be dumbstruck.

 

I hope that ill-informed “Celebrity representative” was informed that there were NO requests for volunteers.    It would’ve made too much sense.

[ezi-amy]

We are one of 3 couples traveling together who all booked balcony cabins and had our reservations linked.  This reservation was part of a B2B2B.  One couple was notified of their cancellation last week, and one just found out today.  So the cancellations are not over.

[mahdnc]

9 minutes ago, ezi-amy said:

We are one of 3 couples traveling together who all booked balcony cabins and had our reservations linked.  This reservation was part of a B2B2B.  One couple was notified of their cancellation last week, and one just found out today.  So the cancellations are not over.

 

That's a shame.  The couple that found out today--did they book through a travel agent or directly through Celebrity?  And so of the three couples, you are the remaining one now?

Edited April 25, 2023 by mahdnc

[ezi-amy]

8 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

That's a shame.  The couple that found out today--did they book through a travel agent or directly through Celebrity?  And so of the three couples, you are the remaining one now?

We all booked through the same travel agent.  It is a very large agency we have used numerous times.  They tried to appeal the cancellation, but were not successful. 

 

Celebrity has "kindly" offered us the same cancellation options.

[sfaaa]

This is getting from bad to ridicules. In the letter from X yesterday, my booking was cancelled and I was offered the option to Lift & Shift to one of the three Japan sailings in 2024. When I called this AM (less than 24 hours), X now said 2024 Japan sailings are no longer available to L&S and only offered to put me on waitlist for 2025 Japan cruise with no guarantee I can get on. A quick check of an online big box TA shows there are a lot of empty cabins listed for sale on these Japan cruises at a much higher price. This leads me to believe that X has no interest to honor the lower price + perks I paid and prefers to get rid of my booking. Unbelievable.

[mahdnc]

5 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

This is getting from bad to ridicules. In the letter from X yesterday, my booking was cancelled and I was offered the option to Lift & Shift to one of the three Japan sailings in 2024. When I called this AM (less than 24 hours), X now said 2024 Japan sailings are no longer available to L&S and only offered to put me on waitlist for 2025 Japan cruise with no guarantee I can get on. A quick check of an online big box TA shows there are a lot of empty cabins listed for sale on these Japan cruises at a much higher price. This leads me to believe that X has no interest to honor the lower price + perks I paid and prefers to get rid of my booking. Unbelievable.

 

A very discouraging response.

[dlh015]

This whole sad situation keeps going from incredibly bad to worse...and just when you think it's hit bottom...oy...

 

DW has absolutely forbidden me from booking with X after I showed her a few of the posts...

 

 

[wahwah1]

53 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

 A quick check of an online big box TA shows there are a lot of empty cabins listed for sale on these Japan cruises at a much higher price. 

Check the specific cabin category. E.g. if you booked a V2 verandah, they won't give you V1 verandah even though they are both balconies.

 

As I mentioned, if you paid for V2 previously and if they only have V1 or V3 left, you either downgrade to V3, or pay the difference of V1 and your V2 at prevailing price, or choose a different sailing.

 

Hope this helps! I was dealing with this mess yesterday and seen a lot of the posted letters only gave 3 options, so availabilities could be limited.

Edited April 25, 2023 by wahwah1

[WestLakeGirl]

Everything about this whole mess is discouraging

[wahwah1]

2 hours ago, Larasmum said:

At this time, our cancelled cabins will take the refund on May 1 unless a miracle occurs before then.   They do not trust staying with Celebrity anymore ... 

My letter doesn't have the May 1st deadline because it only stated the automatic downgrade from V to OV. However, when I called celebrity, an agent told me if I don't confirm by May 1, they will automatically cancel me with no compensation. It was verbal so I don't know if your letter states whether it is automatically cancel with $450 FCC and $500, or just cancellation with nothing.

[Judy Arthur]

41 minutes ago, wahwah1 said:

My letter doesn't have the May 1st deadline because it only stated the automatic downgrade from V to OV. However, when I called celebrity, an agent told me if I don't confirm by May 1, they will automatically cancel me with no compensation. It was verbal so I don't know if your letter states whether it is automatically cancel with $450 FCC and $500, or just cancellation with nothing.

 

The $500 is meant only to recover some of your own money lost on non-refundable airfare or other travel-related expense for this cancelled trip,  a spit in the bucket for some.   

[dlh015]

47 minutes ago, wahwah1 said:

My letter doesn't have the May 1st deadline because it only stated the automatic downgrade from V to OV. However, when I called celebrity, an agent told me if I don't confirm by May 1, they will automatically cancel me with no compensation.

So they couldn't even get the letter right...or the agent has relayed bad information...or both.

 

Fabulous...just fabulous...