What other lines have you tried when Celebrity started to feel "not nice enough"

[CMW5060]

I will be sailing with a new line in future. This is the 2nd time I’ve received a booking confirmation on two different sailings from Celebrity after booking and then rebooking  with them direct, only to go into my online account and finding it $700-$800 more.  When I called the excuse is well they made a mistake and the promo is no longer available from our original booking… but you quoted me X at the time of rebooking and I know the promos changed because we discussed it changed, and I know I have to pay a rebooking fee and we reconfirmed the  new price at time of rebooking and you sent me confirmation with the new price quoted at time of rebooking, but now its magically shows $800 more on my Celebrity account???  WTH???  

[wrk2cruise]

@CMW5060 If this is truly the case and I have no reason to doubt it I would email the executive office and ask them to investigate, send them the copy of the invoice you were provided and ask them to listen to the recorded call and that you expect them to honor the deal made on the phone and confirmed to you in writing.

 

Of course when you rebook you get the prevailing rate and promo and the original promo is dropped.  But a rebooking fee?  Never heard of such a thing.

[NutsAboutGolf]

On 10/19/2023 at 7:34 AM, D. B. said:

Viking Does not have Casinos.

Thats a non starter for my Wife who also loves casinos.

 

I just find this surprising but realize we all have different mindsets.  On any given cruise, I spent an average of an hour a day (may skip one day and spend two hours on a sea day) but I'd have no problem going on a ship without one.  Perhaps you could get her to go on a casino-less cruise and take her to a land-based casino on your next trip? 

[Suzi66]

On 12/26/2023 at 10:32 AM, chereya said:

Anyone try VV and have a comparison to the Celebrity Experience? My husband and I are in the 40-50 age group and not party people but curious about the adults only vibe.

We have just got off a 5 day cruise on Resilient Lady.  We are in our mid-50s.  Loved (most of) the food - caveat I have food allergies so for me sometimes finding something I could eat was a bit more challenging than for hubby, found the entertainment a bit hit and miss - some was fantastic, some not so great, but then again isn't that how it is with all cruise lines.  The entertainment had swearing so if that offends you, be warned.  We were able to find quiet spaces as well as those with live music.  If your phone is like mine and too old to run the app you might be in trouble.  My husbands phone is brand new, and the app had to be restarted constantly.  EVERYTHING is done from the app, and we often didn't know things were on.  We walked through the social club on the second last day to realise that music trivia was almost at the end and we love music trivia.
Hubby loved that we didn't have to dress up for dinner which was a big bonus as well.  Also it was great not having the please give us a 10 talk at the end of the cruise.

[calicakes]

33 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I just find this surprising but realize we all have different mindsets.  On any given cruise, I spent an average of an hour a day (may skip one day and spend two hours on a sea day) but I'd have no problem going on a ship without one.  Perhaps you could get her to go on a casino-less cruise and take her to a land-based casino on your next trip? 

I know someone who is a Disney freak, but won't cruise on Disney because no casinos. 

[calicakes]

We tried Oceania in Feb 2022.  We had an amazing experience.  The cruise was like a private yacht, only 338 folks.   We tried them again in August 2023, totally different experience.  The food was not as good, the pastries weren't as good as we remembered.   Since we don't drink, we look forward to good food.  We have a GBR cruise with X booked in Feb, but we're going to lay off cruising for a few years.  Oh, we did book a 4 day with Virgin in Sept. 

[D. B.]

38 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I just find this surprising but realize we all have different mindsets.  On any given cruise, I spent an average of an hour a day (may skip one day and spend two hours on a sea day) but I'd have no problem going on a ship without one.  Perhaps you could get her to go on a casino-less cruise and take her to a land-based casino on your next trip? 

My wife's favorite Land place would be one of the many Casinos within a few hours (Free) bus ride often with friends and/or family. It's more  of a Social activity than the Gambling alone.

  On A Cruise ship she likes to do a little gambling and Really enjoys watching Other People loose (or Win) their money. It's a people watching thing.

  Watching people drink too much and get Loud and stupid would be a strong second.

[CMW5060]

1 hour ago, wrk2cruise said:

@CMW5060 If this is truly the case and I have no reason to doubt it I would email the executive office and ask them to investigate, send them the copy of the invoice you were provided and ask them to listen to the recorded call and that you expect them to honor the deal made on the phone and confirmed to you in writing.

 

Of course when you rebook you get the prevailing rate and promo and the original promo is dropped.  But a rebooking fee?  Never heard of such a thing.

 

[CMW5060]

Yes, thank you -  I sent an email to the new CEO and the executive team along with copies of the two confirmations. It is $100 per person to change/rebook your cruise. I had to change date from April to November. When I called November 26 to do that they told me it would be $100 pp.

[wrk2cruise]

Yes the change fee. $100 pp.   From the limited information provided it does seem like the higher price is indeed correct if it reflects the price/promo in effect at the time of the change that you seemed to understand at the time.  But it appears you pushed back challenging the lower price and the lower price quote was confirmed by the agent and backed up with the written invoice.

 

If this is all the case I suspect they will fall back on the "errors will not be honored" fine print as they have done several times recently. But hopefully they will listen to the call and verify the situation.   At minimum you should be given some goodwill OBC for your inconvenience caused by their poorly trained agent.

[brandy3415]

On 10/18/2023 at 5:57 PM, TX-Cruiser said:

Just to clarify we have sailed the The Retreat and loved it. The big issue there is we both stopped drinking two years ago simply for better health. So the issue there is that if we could do that without having a drink package that would be great. This is one reason we book suites on RC. We like to sail everywhere....haha. 

 

We booked "cruise only" because we do not drink enough to warrant extra cost.   But-if you are talking about a higher level suite with package part of the amenities, then you cannot pick and choose, right?

[brandy3415]

On 10/19/2023 at 12:38 AM, DaKahuna said:

 We’re doing our test cruise in the MSC Yacht Club on Divina in February.  She’s one of the smaller/older ships but the itinerary is one we like. 
 

We loved Divina!  We loved Meraviglia .too.   The YC on MSC was the best!   It was our choice once cruises restarted after Covid.     We bid on YC and won.    Ship is amazingly clean.    The YC experience gives you the feeling of a really exclusive club!    The service was great, food  (and I have a special diet)  very good and small, quiet dining room just the way I like it.   If only they offered a different itinerary from Port Canaveral or Miami, I would have booked our upcoming cruise with them.  

[Gretchendz]

On 12/25/2023 at 6:32 PM, chereya said:

Anyone try VV and have a comparison to the Celebrity Experience? My husband and I are in the 40-50 age group and not party people but curious about the adults only vibe.

 

I know many former Celebrity loyalists turning to Virgin. They love not paying for any specialty dining and having tips, wifi, and group fitness included.

 

The adults only vibe is more about fun than what you might imagine. If you are offended by drag shows, this is not the cruise line for you. The demographic skews more to 30s and 40s, but there is a mix of older and younger. Mostly it attracts people who are accepting and inclusive. 

 

Yes--there are parties, but you don't have to do those.  There are many spots to quietly read a book or have a drink together.

[Jim_Iain]

On 10/19/2023 at 3:30 AM, upwarduk said:

Have you tried Azamara Jim?

I was very impressed, even though it was 7 years ago.

So much was included, drinks , gratuities and free transfers to places of interest.

However, we did pay for it in the initial payment.

No I was thinking of it but since we had not cruised with them before Jan 1 of last year they pulled our status.   With other choice I think Silverseas and Oceania are filtering to the top.

[upwarduk]

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

On 10/19/2023 at 11:30 AM, upwarduk said:

 

No I was thinking of it but since we had not cruised with them before Jan 1 of last year they pulled our status.

So , as we have cruised with them once, I assume our status is safe?

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

So , as we have cruised with them once, I assume our status is safe?

Best to phone Azamara and ask 

[Gordoncruickshank]

We have booked MSC Seascape for 3 weeks in Feb/Mar 2025 in the YC. Got a RS there for 21 nights for £7k less than a celebrity suite on the Eclipse for 19 nights. We tried MSC a few years ago in the Med the last time Celebrity hiked their prices, in the YC, and always said that we would go back. 
 

the Celebrity SUite would have taken us to zenith but not at that cost.

 

[bremenkat]

We have a Celebrity cruise booked for this summer on Ascent which we are looking forward to trying. So far we have only cruised with Celebrity in balcony rooms. 
However our  next cruise after that is with Azamara. We got a fantastic deal from a TA including flights, pre cruise stay etc so are looking forward to trying another line. 
 

Edited January 4 by bremenkat

[Gordoncruickshank]

I do not think that Celebrity is not nice enough. We really like the retreat product but there comes a time when you cannot justify the cost pp per day. 
 

For the Celebrity Suite it was working out at over £700ppd in 2015.

 

We are booked Ina SS in y weeks time at around £300 pppd. The CS is not worth that more, so you look elsewhere as I have been doing recently and we could travel on Regent or Silverseas cheaper.

 

the previous cruises are in my signature, but I would rather be on Celebrity than on any of the other cruise lines we have sailed in the past, but MSC YC is a comparable product and it is cheaper than Celebrity.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I guess the ship retreat area will be empty on our Fall TA if you read comments on CC 🤔😁

[PTC DAWG]

On 10/21/2023 at 7:16 PM, Treasure Hunter said:

Viking does not have casinos. Oceania casinos are tiny and dead. The reason I like NCL Haven ship within a ship concept. Top of the line service and amenities and great BIG casino and entertainment in the main ship. Regent ( dead). We are on Celebrity Silhouette in January. After our two Edge cruises last winter we are giving Celebrity once last chance. Even in a Royal suite on the Edge we just felt it wasn’t as good as it should be.

I too would be bored to tears on many of the so called luxury lines..choices are good..I don’t care for ships any smaller than S Class. 

[Treasure Hunter]

👍

[NMTraveller]

For my last cruise the pre and post cruise hotels had better service than Celebrity.  I will book my next vacation with the hotels.

 

Celebrity is understaffed…

Edited January 5 by NMTraveller

[ALANG]

After a recent very disappointing cruise on the Beyond in The Retreat and the continuing actions of the management of Celebrity, we have just booked trips on Oceania and the Yacht Club on MSC.  After numerous trips on X, we just feel like we have been kicked to the curb.  Today they did it again and screwed over single cruisers.  BOHICA.

[billc23]

21 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I guess the ship retreat area will be empty on our Fall TA if you read comments on CC 🤔😁

Not at all. The Retreat will be filled to capacity with passengers who use the move up program. I would find it interesting to know what percent of the Retreat passengers are there via the move up program and track how this has changed over time.