Celebrity Vacation Planners

[Janet524]

What's going on with Celebrity and their vacation planners?

I have worked with the same person at Celebrity for 15 years.  I sent her an e-mail yesterday and received a robo-reply saying they are "in the process of reassigning our vacation planner coverage.  You will soon hear from your newly assigned dedicated Celebrity representative."

I didn't want to wait for Celebrity to get back to me, so I phoned my representative only to be put into a queue in the customer service pool where I've been waiting on hold for 55 minutes now. 

 

My dedicated rep was working on resolving an issue with OBC for an upcoming cruise, and I have no confidence that if she is reassigned that any information she may have found will be passed along.

 

This is ridiculous.

[NutsAboutGolf]

They went to an overseas call center

[Mike981]

22 minutes ago, Janet524 said:

What's going on with Celebrity and their vacation planners?

I have worked with the same person at Celebrity for 15 years.  I sent her an e-mail yesterday and received a robo-reply saying they are "in the process of reassigning our vacation planner coverage.  You will soon hear from your newly assigned dedicated Celebrity representative."

I didn't want to wait for Celebrity to get back to me, so I phoned my representative only to be put into a queue in the customer service pool where I've been waiting on hold for 55 minutes now. 

 

My dedicated rep was working on resolving an issue with OBC for an upcoming cruise, and I have no confidence that if she is reassigned that any information she may have found will be passed along.

 

This is ridiculous.

 

Sounds like you are now in limbo. I hope you get the OBC issue corrected quickly.

[Janet524]

22 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

They went to an overseas call center

Fantastic!  That will improve customer service....NOT!

[Oceangoer2]

Interesting.  I sent an email as soon as the 'rumour' was posted here ...Oct 11.... with no reply.  Then another email ....Oct 17......considering a future booking.  No reply.  A phone call still went to voice mail with her message telling me she'd be with be at the next opportunity.  No response.  So they let all these people go with no word to their client?  Not good.

[Oceangoer2]

50 minutes ago, Janet524 said:

What's going on with Celebrity and their vacation planners?

I have worked with the same person at Celebrity for 15 years.  I sent her an e-mail yesterday and received a robo-reply saying they are "in the process of reassigning our vacation planner coverage.  You will soon hear from your newly assigned dedicated Celebrity representative."

I didn't want to wait for Celebrity to get back to me, so I phoned my representative only to be put into a queue in the customer service pool where I've been waiting on hold for 55 minutes now. 

 

My dedicated rep was working on resolving an issue with OBC for an upcoming cruise, and I have no confidence that if she is reassigned that any information she may have found will be passed along.

 

This is ridiculous.

Please let us know if/when you receive a phone queue response and/or a new rep.

[jelayne]

I put a cruise on hold maybe 2 weeks ago which triggered a call from my “new vacation planner”.  I haven’t had 1 in years as I book with a TA.  The call went to voice mail but from background noise and accent sounding like someone outside the US.

[hcat]

We made final payment on line last week fearing we would not do well calling in. Fear was misplaced.

 

Afterward..we called in.. had a quick response. A  Miami based  Cruise Planner confirmed all our info and that final payment was made,  He also added my Cap Club number and status to the res..and sent out the usual Confirmation e mail showing   zero bal due.

 

We have never used a specific cruise planner..and recently ignored an e mail from someone saying they were assigned,,,we just call in when we have,issues.

 

Hope  OP tries to call early am.,and the person they reach

 can pull up the history and notes started by the former Vac Planner

[CHEZMARYLOU]

I knew our CVP had been laid off. I just sent her an email to see what kind of response I would get.  It was the canned we are in the process of reassigning, etc. 

We have an open passage that is too late to transfer to a TA. Might just cancel it.

[1Virgo]

we ve had the same awesome Celebrity cruise planner for awhile.  received an   email yesterday from  our “new” planner introducing himself.      

 

Really hope this guy is not offshore

[RTShaker]

After reading this thread I sent off a quick email to my CVP and received a reply in less than an hour...

 

Good afternoon Peter,

 

Thank you for your email.  Earlier this month we did layoff some of my colleagues unfortunately.  I am still here though, and will always be happy to help.  Have a great weekend!

 

Kind Regards,

Edited October 20, 2023 by RTShaker

[deliver42]

If the OP is having a problem that the PVP was doing, why not call for the Resolutions Dept. and skip the PVP's?

[bikerunner]

Why I deal with a TA for the last 18 years.  They have let me know when on vaca and who to contact etc.  no interest in dealing with corporate celebrity with there ever changing things going on nowadays. 

[rodndonna]

Also chasing missing OBC and a useless (unresponsive) PVP.

 

Has anyone had any luck with the "chat" feature on Celebrity. Going to try it today, but expect it will just tell me togo to my PVP who is is ignoring our emails.

 

Most frustrating part is we had a cruise booked online (no PVP) which was cancelled by X offering us $200OBC to rebook. We immediately received an email from a PVP which I reluctantly used assuming it way to ensure we got that extra OBC on the rebooked cruise. She said to wait a bit for it to show up, its now been months and she doesn't respond to our email. 

[Cruising89143]

I just tried to contact our CVP as we booked a cruise with her about a month ago. Her number now goes to a call pool. Looks like they’re using the same call center as RCI. I think my CVP moved to the Executive offices as she called me one recent afternoon and the number came up as that on my caller ID. I had the number saved from an earlier issue from a year or two ago. 

[rodndonna]

5 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

I just tried to contact our CVP as we booked a cruise with her about a month ago. Her number now goes to a call pool. Looks like they’re using the same call center as RCI. 

 

I tried our CVP today (after getting nowhere with Chat) and her voicemail still indicates she works M-F and her hours. Maybe she has taken on additional clients and busier than normal if there were layoffs, and that is why we are getting no response on our emails. Trying to cut her some slack ... not sure why. 

 

I would still prefer we were just in a pool and have whoever is available when I call help me.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

59 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

I would still prefer we were just in a pool and have whoever is available when I call help me.

This was part of the email I received for service on an existing reservation :"Should you need immediate assistance with your existing reservation prior to hearing from your new vacation planner, please contact us at 1-800-556-8209, option 2."  Maybe it will help but no idea about how long you would be on hold.

[rodndonna]

3 minutes ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

This was part of the email I received for service on an existing reservation :"Should you need immediate assistance with your existing reservation prior to hearing from your new vacation planner, please contact us at 1-800-556-8209, option 2."  Maybe it will help but no idea about how long you would be on hold.

 

Thanks. Our issue is not immediate as our cruise is Jan 2025 (lol). Just trying to resolve our outstanding OBC offer to rebook from an X cancelled cruise in July. We were told it might take a week or so.

 

We have only had one sailing with X, so this is not giving me the most confidence )-:

[Oceangoer2]

On 10/20/2023 at 2:49 PM, Oceangoer2 said:

Interesting.  I sent an email as soon as the 'rumour' was posted here ...Oct 11.... with no reply.  Then another email ....Oct 17......considering a future booking.  No reply.  A phone call still went to voice mail with her message telling me she'd be with me at the next opportunity.  No response.  So they let all these people go with no word to their client?  Not good.

Update:  Called my CVP again today and .... surprise, surprise....a recorded message from HER (so she's not laid off) with new hours, M-F - no Saturday...and a request for patience as she has been out of the office and has reduced hours and many calls....in 2 to 3 business days I may expect an answer.  In the meantime, my hold on a new booking expires Monday with a cabin much in demand (in the past anyway).  Hopefully I can renew the hold.  Guess this will all even out given time.

[hcat]

2 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Update:  Called my CVP again today and .... surprise, surprise....a recorded message from HER (so she's not laid off) with new hours, M-F - no Saturday...and a request for patience as she has been out of the office and has reduced hours and many calls....in 2 to 3 business days I may expect an answer.  In the meantime, my hold on a new booking expires Monday with a cabin much in demand (in the past anyway).  Hopefully I can renew the hold.  Guess this will all even out given time.

Suggest you just call the gen number and work with the person who answers or calls you back.  There are usually good records made of past issues &  discussion. 

 

No one is forced to use the suggested planner unless you want to.. We tried it twice..the person was never in, never called  back or e mailed a response..and was re- assigned giving us no notice

. It was a waste  of time for us..they are just reps not like a travel agent you pay. Some folks have used same person for yrs but it is not needed.

[Joker54]

When I first heard about the cvp layoffs I emailed mine and received 2 replies. First said there was no one with that email address in outlook. Then a few minutes later I received an email from Celebrity outreach department letting me know that our cvp was no longer with Celebrity effective 3 October and that we would be contacted by our new cvp shortly. That was 3 weeks ago and nothing. Now I just call the retreat desk as they can manage any existing suite bookings and plan on finding a good TA for the future.

I would assume non suite guests could just call the general number as has been mentioned already and who ever answers hopefully can help.

[Oceangoer2]

15 hours ago, hcat said:

Suggest you just call the gen number and work with the person who answers or calls you back.  There are usually good records made of past issues &  discussion. 

 

No one is forced to use the suggested planner unless you want to.. We tried it twice..the person was never in, never called  back or e mailed a response..and was re- assigned giving us no notice

. It was a waste  of time for us..they are just reps not like a travel agent you pay. Some folks have used same person for yrs but it is not needed.

I agree with what you say....not forced;  I do all the homework and really don't ask for anything from my CVP other than she do the booking and answer my queries in a timely manner;  but if something needs changing/adding I find that she will intercede with those in higher authority who will bend somewhat. I've had mess ups in the past when CVP was 'out of the office' and  called the general number.  The CVP couldn't touch my booking because it was not made with her.  It was a real job getting it fixed finally with the Pres. Office intervention between X and my bank.  So I'm hesitant now to deal with other customer service agents.  Bitten and Shy...LOL.

[sasset]

I’ve had bad experiences with the general number calls. I see a lower fare, call for an adjustment and the fare goes up, etc. When I hear a dog or a baby in the background it never goes well.

Edited October 22, 2023 by sasset
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[CHEZMARYLOU]

My CVP would call to let me know when the new itineraries were being released and we would discuss what we wanted to book next. Since we book higher level suites the best way, and sometimes the only way to get want we want is to book within the first day of the release.

 

I've called the retreat desk when she was on vacation and had several bookings messed up which she fixed when she came back. She also interceded several times with resolutions on our behalf.

 

My luck with overseas call centers has been 50/50 and the background noise annoys me to no end.  I understand working from home but trying to baby sit at the same time. I make sure to call when I won't be interrupted and expect the same from an employee of a call center.

[hcat]

3 hours ago, sasset said:

I’ve had bad experiences with the general number calls. I see a lower fare, call for an adjustment and the fare goes up, etc. When I hear a dog or a baby in the background it never goes well.

. same with calling a credit union, bank or any similar call center set up..working from home.  the barking dog  and baby in background are a tip- off to divided attention.. i keep those calls short.

 

we have been lucky with X reps