Apex excursion overbooked and canceled

[lovetogolfgirl45]

I am a first time Celebrity cruiser as we usually cruise on Royal Caribbean and other cruise lines.  I booked a 9 day to Norway on the Apex for its destinations.  The railway excursion in Flam was expected to be a highlight.  I booked the excursion on 12/12/22, well ahead of our July 31 departure to ensure we had this specific excursion.  The day before our arrival in Flam, we received notice that our excursion was canceled.  We were offered 25 percent off another excursion in Flam which were very limited.  After first being told by Shore Excursion staff that all Celebrity Railroad tickets were canceled, we learned through guest relations that Celebrity overbooked and only certain guests were chosen to be canceled.  This was very disappointing as there was very little to do in Flam that day.  I feel that booking almost 8 months ahead should have been considered when guests who booked onboard were not canceled.  Only after continued escalation through Guest Relations were we offered 150 dollars in Future Cruise Credit which I will not use because I have lost confidence in Celebrity.    I wanted to post to see if others have seen cancelations of excursions last minute due to Celebrity overbooking or if this was common.   

[CruiseCrew123]

It’s easy to do Flam yourself in the railway

[lovetogolfgirl45]

11 minutes ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

It’s easy to do Flam yourself in the railway

I was aware of it and did consider that option online in December.  I had a false sense of security with Celebrity on this particular excursion because I wanted it to go smoothly.   When we received the cancelation notice, we immediately checked online directly through the railway and it was booked.  Also double checked when we got off the ship and was told it was full.  I want to let others know in the future that there is a risk booking with Celebrity as opposed to through the railroad.  

[mrgabriel]

I'm sorry you experienced this. We rode the railway in Flåm and really enjoyed it but for us, the highlight was hiking in the area.

 

We've never experienced this in over 20 cruises on Celebrity. A couple of times we've had excursions cancelled but it was well in advance - months. It sounds like this was a one-off situation. Which unfortunately happens everywhere and in every business. It seems to be happening with more frequency. The random selection is annoying - if they were going to cancel people you would think they would have started with those who booked last. 

[lovetogolfgirl45]

1 hour ago, mrgabriel said:

I'm sorry you experienced this. We rode the railway in Flåm and really enjoyed it but for us, the highlight was hiking in the area.

 

We've never experienced this in over 20 cruises on Celebrity. A couple of times we've had excursions cancelled but it was well in advance - months. It sounds like this was a one-off situation. Which unfortunately happens everywhere and in every business. It seems to be happening with more frequency. The random selection is annoying - if they were going to cancel people you would think they would have started with those who booked last. 

Thank you for providing your perspective and insight.   I appreciate the reply.  

[horseymike]

Sorry this happened to you. It stinks.

[Islander500]

No excuse for cancelling an overbooked desirable excursion in that manner. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I would also have been furious.

 

A significant credit or OBC for a 2nd Norway cruise would have been more appropriate. 

[PTC DAWG]

I have had some crazy experiences with excursions with most every cruise line I have been on.  Sorry this affected you.  

[sunpsyche]

Sorry to hear about your experience. I would be disappointed and angry, especially booking so far in advance. I wonder how they chose the cancellations?

[lovetogolfgirl45]

1 hour ago, sunpsyche said:

Sorry to hear about your experience. I would be disappointed and angry, especially booking so far in advance. I wonder how they chose the cancellations?

We asked but were not given any explanation.  

Edited August 8, 2023 by lovetogolfgirl45

[adjustman]

I would write Celebrity Senior Management. I think that is deplorable. You should have been notified far in advance. Celebrity should have known long before the vacation started that it was overbooked. If I were to guess the cancellation was possibly based on loyalty status. i have never had that happen on Celebrity but did have the same problem on Princess. We were bumped from a land tour of Denali National Park. Everyone that was bumped from the tour was a first-time cruiser on Princess. Below is the email address for Celebrity. 

 

executiveoffice@celebrity.com.  

[jagoffee]

2 hours ago, lovetogolfgirl45 said:

We asked but were not given any explanation.  

Sorry this happened to your party.  It does seem unlikely that your booking 8 months ago would not have priority over those booked later, but I guess you do not really know.  
 

I certainly hope the selection was not based on a better deal that your received for booking so far in advance.

 

Since  you have decided you are never going to use the $150 OBC given as compensation (with a full refund I assume), it is probably not worth pursuing further.  
I have had excursions cancelled, but it as always been because of weather or lack of interest.  

[phoenix_dream]

I wonder if you are the same person posting this on a FB group?  He/She claimed it was overbooked by 400 guests which sounded a little dicey to me.  Regardless, at the risk of sounding like a Celebrity cheerleader, are you 100% certain that it was cancelled because Celebrity overbooked?  Did Guest Relations actually tell you that? Is it possible the railway mismanaged it?  If it was truly Celebrity's fault I agree they should not have waited until the day before to advise you.  They could have at least told you that there was a possibility that it could be cancelled and then you could have decided whether to take the chance or rebook another, or book direct.  Sorry you had to go through that frustration.  Most of us only get to see those places once in our lifetime and it's a shame it didn't work out.

[jshli]

Years ago (before covid), I had an experience with Celebrity regarding a shore excursion. Like you, I purchased it many months in advance. Right before our cruise, I received an email from Celebrity letting us know that the early morning time of our excursion was cancelled and they rescheduled us for later in the day, We were disappointed but assumed it was beyond Celebrity’s control. During our cruise, we were surprised to discover that our original time slot was not cancelled but fully booked. We were not happy as we much preferred the earlier time and planned our day around it. We went to the concierge, she apologized, said it was unacceptable and within a few hours rescheduled us for our original time.  Like other people have said on this board,  it wasn’t  the change that upset us as much as Celebrity lying to us. 
 

[Lastdance]

That is just another reason why I do not book Celebrity excursions; there are no 100% guarantees with private ones either, but I just enjoy very small groups, or just with my DH.  Celebrity’s pricing always seem to increase the closer it gets to the excursion date, so maybe those who paid less were canceled.  Of course, this is just a guess, on my part, but everything now seems to be about money...raising prices, cutting services etc.  I am also a stockholder, but I do not believe that is a viable way to make more money, if that occurred.  

 

I am very sorry that this was done at a time when you really could not find a decent replacement tour, especially for Norway/Flam, but can only try and understand what transpired.  I would not be a happy camper either if this happened to me.  In addition, why someone would use a laughing emoji without any explanation is a bit odd too, but nowadays, everything is free game on social media, along with people agreeing/disagreeing with your post.  Ultimately, life is a risk and we all try and do the best we can.  Again, sorry that this happened to you.  I am a "why” person and expect correct information, especially if my money was given to secure a place in a very timely manner.  I guess there is no guarantee that this won’t happen again to you, or to anyone else, where not being completely honest is used as a rationale...sometimes life just goes wackadoodle!  It will make it up to you in the future with something else; I totally believe that one’s glass is half full, but something life can be so darn frustrating.

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by Lastdance

[NMTraveller]

6 hours ago, sunpsyche said:

Sorry to hear about your experience. I would be disappointed and angry, especially booking so far in advance. I wonder how they chose the cancellations?

We had something similiar happen to us on an Eastern Med cruise on the Edge.  The reason for the excursion cancellations was weather and port changes.  The good excursions were given to the suites.

Edited August 8, 2023 by NMTraveller

[Crazy planning mom]

17 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

We had something similiar happen to us on an Eastern Med cruise on the Edge.  The reason for the excursion cancellations was weather and port changes.  The good excursions were given to the suites

Omg, this is the first I've heard where suites were favored on excursions.

[SoloAlaska]

So sad for you and you are reasonably upset. I wonder if there could have been a mechanical issue that required a reduced number of guests for safety reasons. I could see the railway and celebrity lying about that so that other guests didn’t find out and feel unsafe. Celebrity should have arranged a replacement tour for those who were cancelled and refunded and provided compensation in my opinion. 
 

Unfortunately I am not surprised they selected who were bumped. They probably have priority for suites and “loyal customers”. It’s not right but they probably thought those people would complain the most and cost them the most money in the short and long term. Again not saying it’s right.

[phoenix_dream]

2 hours ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Omg, this is the first I've heard where suites were favored on excursions.

And do we know that was/is actually the case?  I can’t imagine Celebrity stating that. Are people just assuming that’s the case or did someone credible at Celebrity actually say that.

[lovetogolfgirl45]

8 hours ago, jagoffee said:

Sorry this happened to your party.  It does seem unlikely that your booking 8 months ago would not have priority over those booked later, but I guess you do not really know.  
 

I certainly hope the selection was not based on a better deal that your received for booking so far in advance.

 

Since  you have decided you are never going to use the $150 OBC given as compensation (with a full refund I assume), it is probably not worth pursuing further.  
I have had excursions cancelled, but it as always been because of weather or lack of interest.  

Thanks for your input.   These were our previous experiences as well.  

[lovetogolfgirl45]

8 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I wonder if you are the same person posting this on a FB group?  He/She claimed it was overbooked by 400 guests which sounded a little dicey to me.  Regardless, at the risk of sounding like a Celebrity cheerleader, are you 100% certain that it was cancelled because Celebrity overbooked?  Did Guest Relations actually tell you that? Is it possible the railway mismanaged it?  If it was truly Celebrity's fault I agree they should not have waited until the day before to advise you.  They could have at least told you that there was a possibility that it could be cancelled and then you could have decided whether to take the chance or rebook another, or book direct.  Sorry you had to go through that frustration.  Most of us only get to see those places once in our lifetime and it's a shame it didn't work out.

I am not the same person.   This is the only post I have made about this except to my private Facebook page to friends and family.  The guest relations officer who assisted did state it was overbooked after we escalated our concerns.   

Edited August 9, 2023 by lovetogolfgirl45

[Tyler414]

Had a similar thing happen on a San Juan excursion. On an Apex 2022 cruise I had a zip-line tour booked, I ended up cancelling and chose a less demanding (covid lung) excursion at the Bacardi distillery.  That, for some reason got cancelled, and by then the zip-line was sold out, I was not happy.

I ended up booking directly with Bacardi and had a great time.  

At the end of the day I think these cruise companies rely heavily on third parties for the excursions and anything can happen (staff gets ill, transportation problems, over booking, you name it..)

So I cant really blame the cruise line when this stuff happens...

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, Tyler414 said:

Had a similar thing happen on a San Juan excursion. On an Apex 2022 cruise I had a zip-line tour booked, I ended up cancelling and chose a less demanding (covid lung) excursion at the Bacardi distillery.  That, for some reason got cancelled, and by then the zip-line was sold out, I was not happy.

I ended up booking directly with Bacardi and had a great time.  

At the end of the day I think these cruise companies rely heavily on third parties for the excursions and anything can happen (staff gets ill, transportation problems, over booking, you name it..)

So I cant really blame the cruise line when this stuff happens...

I would certain blame the cruise line for the decision on which reservation is cancelled.  

[bluwes]

We had two Fjords sailings cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the Pandemic. Since the restart non of the suitable sailings had Flam on the itinerary, so we weren’t interested in choosing what was available. 
2024 with the Apex has what we want and includes Flam. With having a fair amount of OBC we decided to book the train excursion through Celebrity.

I am now considering whether I should book direct with the train company hearing about your experience, as we would be seriously disappointed if we got bumped off.

[terrydtx]

20 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I wonder if you are the same person posting this on a FB group?  He/She claimed it was overbooked by 400 guests which sounded a little dicey to me.  Regardless, at the risk of sounding like a Celebrity cheerleader, are you 100% certain that it was cancelled because Celebrity overbooked?  Did Guest Relations actually tell you that? Is it possible the railway mismanaged it?  If it was truly Celebrity's fault I agree they should not have waited until the day before to advise you.  They could have at least told you that there was a possibility that it could be cancelled and then you could have decided whether to take the chance or rebook another, or book direct.  Sorry you had to go through that frustration.  Most of us only get to see those places once in our lifetime and it's a shame it didn't work out.

My thoughts too, the railroad is not owned by Celebrity and out of their control, so it is within the possibility of the RR overbooking including the Celebrity passengers. Since the OP tried to book after they got off the ship and was told the trip was full this sounds like what happened.

 

Last year I got bumped out of a first class seat with American Airlines, when they had to change aircraft type the day I was to fly. I booked the flight 10 months ahead at a very good price, when I asked why I was chosen to be bumped to coach, I was told it was because I had purchased a very low fare,

Edited August 9, 2023 by terrydtx