Welcome home gift?

[BB5953]

I also received one back in May.... no gift!

[Andy]

We also got one, six months after returning from our B2B on the Constellation. Exactly as the other letters, envelope marked "Welcome Home Gift Enclosed", nothing but the form letter inside.

 

I actually called Captain's Club, spoke to a very nice young lady who checked on it, and actually called back yesterday to update me. Apparently this is some sort of Marketing Gaffe which no one else at Celebrity knows anything about. Her personal take was that the purpose was to get your attention and have you go to the website and be tempted by the "specials".

 

Anyone else think that this will be entertaining to follow as it plays out.....?

 

 

Hi Ed !

 

The biggest news in your post, was that someone from Captains Club actually followed up on a request, and called you back. Gee, that must be a first :).

 

IMHO, there is NO WAY Celebrity did that mailing of that size, with an intentional mistake, to "get your attention". Unfortunately, it appears this mailing was not reviewed before it was sent out to a great number of passengers.

 

While it was a letdown, it is not of great concern for us. However, I hope Celebrity does the right thing, and does another mailing which in some way, makes things right. After this type of unfortunate mistake, it is the least they can do.

 

We will have to wait and see how it turns out.

[greeneg]

Hi Andy. As I mentioned, the young Lady was very, very nice and I think that I must have been one of the early ones to call Captain's Club about it: when she called back yesterday, she did mention that there had been a bunch of calls since I had spoken to her.

 

I do think that this is a good example of how the "Devil can be in the Details" and that someone dropped the ball, either by not checking the mailing more carefully, or, more likely IMHO, by trying to use up an old supply of envelopes and not really reading what was printed on them. Or ( as the Cynicism of Aging rears its ugly head), perhaps whoever did the stuffing just figured that no one reads the envelopes very carefully. ( "He don' know us very well, do he?", to quote the Mean Little Kid cartoon caracter from my younger days....

 

Keep Smiling.

 

Ed

[bububr]

That they finally came to grips with the March 17th 'bleach' cruise.

 

I was LOL at the comment :

" We hope you had an extraordinary experience"

 

.....can't dissagree with that one. It was EXTRAORDINARY and quite the EXPERIENCE.

 

As for:

 

"And you can visit celebritycruises.com to choose from a wide array of shore excursions. Be sure to book early for the best selection".....

 

they forgot to mention they've been working on the site for the last three weeks, and they won't book the excursions over the phone.

 

I guess I'm sending mine back too.

 

Dave:eek:

[bububr]

Notice the dates on the savings certificates:

 

"Book between April 1 , 2006 and June 30, 2006."......Hmmmmmmmmmm:confused:

 

Dave:eek:

[teedee]

I was feeling left out until I just checked the mail, now I too have the letter with no gift! My cruise was just in May so at least the timing wasn't too bad.

 

I'll have to go to the websight and see what the coupon says. It wouldn't surprise me at all if it's expired already.

 

Terri

[Lsimon]

Gee, mine had a coupon for free airfare and half off our next cruise.;)

Not to mention the bottle of champagne, four martini's and massage that were in the envelope too!

 

Seriously, I had the same thoughts as you others and also tried emailing the sender - guessing at her email address.

[joelmarj]

Well, same here. Letter with no gift. Ours was Thanking us for our Constellation cruise on 4/28 so the timing wasn't terrible, however if I go to the website I don't see any offers newer than the April issue. I'll wait to see if they remail coupons and would love to be able to apply to a future one. Guess time will tell.

[greeneg]

For what it's worth, there appears to be a summer issue of the Captain's Club Newsletter with summer "specials" for booking July 1- September 30......

 

That's as of 10 minutes ago (12:55PM EDT).

[excitedofharpenden]

I guess I'm happier being unloved. Reading all the posts here, my expectations have been managed. What's that saying? Promise short and deliver long. Mmmmm.......

 

Larry, I'm just trying to picture the postman trying to deliver all that to you. Must have been quite a morning;)

 

Phil

[C 2 C]

For what it's worth, there appears to be a summer issue of the Captain's Club Newsletter with summer "specials" for booking July 1- September 30......

.

 

It includes a picture of Ellen Taaffe.

 

No discounts for insiders though. In the old days X used to throw an occasional $50 coupon to us frugal cruisers.:(

[greeneg]

Story of my life, Steak yesterday, steak tomorrow, never steak today....

 

The best deal as far as I am concerned is booking on board and getting that credit, plus being a RCCL shareholder and getting that credit. As long as those come through, I suspect I'll be happy.....

 

Not that I would spit on an addition $50 of course....:)

[Lsimon]

...Larry, I'm just trying to picture the postman trying to deliver all that to you. Must have been quite a morning....

Phil

 

yes, one of the martini's spilled and as for the masseuse..well that was a surprise!

[meyer4two]

The more I think about it, I bet the secretary grabbed the wrong batch of envelopes, they should have been plain ones. We all deserve a 'gift' for the mistake.

[ocngypz]

I got one too.

 

Now, here's the rub.

 

When Royal Caribbean sends the welcome letters, the letter tells you how much the future cruise savings certificate is for. No mystery, and it is good towards your next 7 night or longer cruise... any cruise.

 

Someone in CEL marketing needs to wake up!

[DC2OC]

we got one,I called Captains Club,spoke to Kylarr who told to me to call marketing at 305-539-6000 , she said I had to dial long distance ,she could not transfer me :eek:....................................Frank

[rianvi]

We have also received the Letter"...wondering where the gift was and why it tool 6 months for the "welcom home" gift. After reading all these post, I followed Buckeye Geo's suggestion and went to mycelebrity. And as in Buckeye's case, the coupon is doesn't apply to any of the cruises we are interested in. What a waste of time, money and trees. Couldn't all of this been e-mailed to us?

Take care.

Peace, Anna:)

[Andy]

We have also received the Letter"...wondering where the gift was and why it tool 6 months for the "welcom home" gift. After reading all these post, I followed Buckeye Geo's suggestion and went to mycelebrity. And as in Buckeye's case, the coupon is doesn't apply to any of the cruises we are interested in. What a waste of time, money and trees. Couldn't all of this been e-mailed to us?

Take care.

Peace, Anna:)

 

Hi Anna !

 

Same here. All of the new coupons were of no use to us. Fact is, many of Celebrity's coupons are of no use to most of us. Celebrity has put some tight restrictions on these coupons (not like years ago). In many cases, they cannot be used if you have previously booked the same sailing, and that is very unfair. It truly seems like they are dangling a carrot, that they would prefer you do not use.

 

As for the emailing of coupons for Captains Club Members, not a bad idea. However, I have so many problems recieving email from Celebrity, that I feel I would not see everything they have to offer.

 

I do enjoy getting the Welcome Home letter, and I would like to see that remain as a physical letter, as opposed to email. I would like to see it come on a more timely basis, and with some sort of discount towards a future sailing, as they have done in the past.

 

We will see what happens.

[Lsimon]

FWIW - I received a response to my email to celebrity on this mailing. It indicated the mailing should have included a link to their website for special offers on future cruises. It directed me to the Special Offers listed in the Captains Club section of their website - where there are coupon codes for certain cruises valid for new bookings made July 1 to Sept 30 as well as other "special offers".

[DC2OC]

THOSE SO CALLED 'WELCOME HOME COUPONS' ARE THE SAME THING YOU GET IF YOU DIDN'T GO ANYWHERE AT ALL...........FRANK:eek:

[fllady]

We just received the same letter. Which I thought was very nice, but then noticed the envelope stating a free gift, like all of you i turned the envelope inside out and nothing. so I sent a email to Capt club, and got an automatic reply, that an answer will be coming soon. will let you all know. But now I want to check out the coupons? on their web site.;)

[Blazerboy]

Well, I hate to seem snarky, but a "free gift" of a coupon to book another cruise to thank me for booking THREE future cruises on my last cruise is hardly a gift at all! More of an insult!:mad: The empty envelope seems to represent the empty promise of treating returning passengers with any extra special care...:rolleyes:

 

Bu then I remember that loyalty programs, etc. are rarely the reason I return (sorry Cunard and Crystal, I don't use those vinyl luggage tags...and the crystal glasses are chipped by now, and I think I lost my loyalty pins...;) ) And I guess I always hope that the good experience I've had on Celebrity is my reward, and that they're doing so well that they don't need to entice me with gifts and such....

 

And then I see what's given to RCCL folks, and I go hmmmm. So while I'm going on these next three, I guess I won't necessarily have much loyalty, and will just book by cruise price, itinerary, and what my friends are doing....now if my friends would just stop booking on Celebrity...

 

Hey, Regent and Oceania, I'm ripe for the enticing to jump ship! Impress me.:D (hear that, Celebrity?:p )

 

Andrew

[Texed]

You tell 'em Andrew!:D

[excitedofharpenden]

Andrew, you have this knack of saying exactly what I think in a much more unthreatening way. Good to see the new "weekend" computer is making as much sense as the weekday one;)

 

Phil

[C 2 C]

Well, I hate to seem snarky, but .. The empty envelope seems to represent the empty promise of treating returning passengers with any extra special care...:rolleyes:

 

Andrew

We can't understand the letter because (according to Laurel & Hardy)

 

"You know what the trouble is don't you. We never had no education. That's whats the matter. You see, we're not illiterate enough."

PS. I hope I have the right demographics here.