Celebrity customer service

Booked a cruise last night using the promotion Special Offer + View More Details

Half Off Second Guest + Classic Bev. package per person +

Offer Terms and Conditions

Onboard credit per stateroom $300.00 USD *†

When I received my confirmation I was charge 165 per person for the bev package. I called and went through (3) layers of customer service and 2 hrs of my time to have the resolutions dept. tell me I was wrong (even after the first 2 service reps. agreed with what I saw. So for 5% of the cruise cost Celebrity lost a booking and customer.

I put this out their to make others aware and to check your booking confirmation against what you booked. :mad:

My experience has been that when we have a beverage package or prepaid gratuties as a perk the initial confirmation show them as charges. Then in a day or so we get a confirmation that show that charge and a credit to offset the charge; some strange thing in the system.

What type of beverage package were you charged $165 for? The Classic beverage package is $ 64.90 per person, per day, so $165 doesn't even pay for the package for 1 person for 3 days.

Just did a little math and the cost to upgrade the included (Classis) beverage package to the premium package is $165.20 for 2 people, 7 days; could it be that they misunderstood or made a coding error and upgraded the package in error.

My reservation also showed charges and then the next day they were reversed.

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Looks like a pretty simple error was made. Next time book thru a travel agency and let them sort it out for you

Oops.

Sounds like another opportunity gained for someone....

bon voyage

Yet another reason for people to use a TA, they actually understand the system.

Yet another reason for people to use a TA, they actually understand the system.

Mine aren't showing on my reservation yet but the Travel Agent has confirmed that there are there and he can see them and I have been told they will appear shortly on the celebrity booking. Its a bit crazy that its takes time for them to appear at the correct cost

To the OP, just MHO but seems pretty drastic to write off a cruise line because of a $165 charge you don't owe especially given the fact if you don't owe it I'm sure the Captain's Club would have gladly looked into it and fixed it.

Can you post that section of your invoice so the experts on the CC forum can try and figure it out? Many of my X invoices are strange to look at but always come down to the right bottom like with all the expected perks.

Anyway, good luck with whatever cruise line you choose to sail on.

To the OP, just MHO but seems pretty drastic to write off a cruise line because of a $165 charge you don't owe especially given the fact if you don't owe it I'm sure the Captain's Club would have gladly looked into it and fixed it.

 

Can you post that section of your invoice so the experts on the CC forum can try and figure it out? Many of my X invoices are strange to look at but always come down to the right bottom like with all the expected perks.

 

Anyway, good luck with whatever cruise line you choose to sail on.

Hi RickT. I am TeeRick. By the way I agree completely with you. All the codes applied, removed, changed, sometimes they are there, sometimes they disappear. I just always ask for everything to be spelled out on my reservation copy by the booking agent. Just to be safe.

The 165 is the charge for upgrading to premium. We booked 2 weeks ago and did the upgrade and this is what was charged.

Sad that they end up canceling the cruise. Strange that celebrity missed the ball for clearing this unwanted upgrade.

The 165 is the charge for upgrading to premium

That's very interesting! We had that amount charged, as well. Read on...

We recently booked onboard the day before leaving the ship. We received the invoice late, so I didn't really get a chance to go over everything while onboard.

FYI, when currently booking onboard, the offer is 2 perks (OV - AQ) and an onboard credit the amount of the deposit.

In our case, it was $100pp deposit = $200 OBC. And we picked Gratuities (11 night cruise) and the Beverage Classic Package.

Our invoice has an amount of $165 pp listed. I could not figure that out, as the gratuity amount would be less. So it sounds like the rep charged us for a Premium Package.:eek:

So I go to the Celebrity website and added my reservation number. The $165 pp charge is gone, but what a train wreck the invoice is (Both are!) Different from the original, but more correct. What is not correct is the Half Off promo amount on the onboard invoice. And it took me a while to figure this out...but we were suppose to get a CC discount rate (AQ1 for the price of an AQ2) Confirmed by the onboard rep. Instead we were charged for the AQ1 rate.

Going to call Celebrity tomorrow to try and straighten this out. In the meantime I have another onboard reservation to figure out. Booked 3 staterooms for a future cruise, and never received the invoices. :eek:

Here are the previously mentioned invoices (screenshots) if anyone is interested in seeing the differences. First screenshot (#3) is the onboard invoice. Second screenshot (#2) is from my Celebrity reservation page.

Yet another reason for people to use a TA, they actually understand the system.

I still don't understand why people don't use Travel Agents. You don't pay any more than booking directly. We received an OBC of $150.00 from our agent.

Just recently our flight was changed so now we would be coming home at 1:00AM. I looked at options, so I looked like I knew what I was talking about.....lol. By the time I called my agent, she informed she was already on the phone with the offending airline, and we would be arriving some 6 hours earlier.

Like I've said many times how Celebrity can ever figure their own system out I have no idea. They must have a million customer service people working for them to answer all the calls from confused customers. We just recently had an issue with a cruise booked for January. Must have made 10 calls on it..our original booking paperwork said final payment due Nov 17. Online said October 18. Tryed to straighten it out through our Customer service rep. Then called the Captains Club. Said she would talk to IT guy... finally after getting 1 or 2 notices saying our cruise would be cancelled if not payed by October 18 finally got it worked out and notices were from someone at Celebrity we have never heard of. We were told we booked under the 60 days before cruise for final payment policy. Celebrity changed system and the new policy was 90 days out. But still we felt it would be cancelled.

Its amazing that their system is a complete nightmare and so hard for thier customers to even know what they bought. You just wouldn't think it could be that difficult...its the codes you have to decipher, perks they add in and then subtract costs, not right away but a day or so later.. its so confusing.

Agreed...

To the OP, just MHO but seems pretty drastic to write off a cruise line because of a $165 charge you don't owe especially given the fact if you don't owe it I'm sure the Captain's Club would have gladly looked into it and fixed it.

 

Can you post that section of your invoice so the experts on the CC forum can try and figure it out? Many of my X invoices are strange to look at but always come down to the right bottom like with all the expected perks.

 

Anyway, good luck with whatever cruise line you choose to sail on.

Hi RickT. I am TeeRick.

At the risk of posting something off topic, Nice to meet you TeeRick :D

Usually takes awhile for the perks to show up...I call every few weeks to make sure it still shows on the res Celeb has..very inefficient and annoying system

Usually takes awhile for the perks to show up...I call every few weeks to make sure it still shows on the res Celeb has..very inefficient and annoying system

I'm confused by all this. We use a TA. Have done that in all but our first cruise where I learned my lesson. The TA deals with all these issues and has always delivered what was promised at price promised and given us more perks, better service at same or better prices than on cruise lines site. I always check the fine print do some comparative shopping and if I have a ? I call and it's resolved with 1 call quickly. Win win!

I still don't understand why people don't use Travel Agents. You don't pay any more than booking directly. We received an OBC of $150.00 from our agent.

Just recently our flight was changed so now we would be coming home at 1:00AM. I looked at options, so I looked like I knew what I was talking about.....lol. By the time I called my agent, she informed she was already on the phone with the offending airline, and we would be arriving some 6 hours earlier.

The snag is not all travel agents are good! There are the lazy ones who don't respond quickly to emails or phone requests, the uninformed ones who talk with authority about things they don't know and the don't care ones who just want to make an initial booking and then insist they can not do anything.....

I think this is particularly true over here in Europe where Celebrity may not be the most well know cruise line....one of the saddest thing I ever saw was a group of SS1 passengers, first cruise after the introduction of the suite life, who had been told they had access to Michael's Club which of course they didn't at that time. The passengers had queried with their TA as it didn't match the brochure and were wrongly reassured....

So if you have a great TA fine, stick with them, but be cautious trying a new one, just as in all walks of life they come in all shapes and sizes!

That's very interesting! We had that amount charged, as well. Read on...

 

 

 

We recently booked onboard the day before leaving the ship. We received the invoice late, so I didn't really get a chance to go over everything while onboard.

 

 

 

FYI, when currently booking onboard, the offer is 2 perks (OV - AQ) and an onboard credit the amount of the deposit.

 

 

 

In our case, it was $100pp deposit = $200 OBC. And we picked Gratuities (11 night cruise) and the Beverage Classic Package.

 

 

 

Our invoice has an amount of $165 pp listed. I could not figure that out, as the gratuity amount would be less. So it sounds like the rep charged us for a Premium Package.:eek:

 

 

 

So I go to the Celebrity website and added my reservation number. The $165 pp charge is gone, but what a train wreck the invoice is (Both are!) Different from the original, but more correct. What is not correct is the Half Off promo amount on the onboard invoice. And it took me a while to figure this out...but we were suppose to get a CC discount rate (AQ1 for the price of an AQ2) Confirmed by the onboard rep. Instead we were charged for the AQ1 rate.

 

 

 

Going to call Celebrity tomorrow to try and straighten this out. In the meantime I have another onboard reservation to figure out. Booked 3 staterooms for a future cruise, and never received the invoices. :eek:

 

 

 

Here are the previously mentioned invoices (screenshots) if anyone is interested in seeing the differences. First screenshot (#3) is the onboard invoice. Second screenshot (#2) is from my Celebrity reservation page.

I'm making a wild leap here but the code for the $165 Is BEVGRT. Could this be their system allowing for 18% gratuities on the included classic Bev pkg? Not saying they are now on charging these, it may be one of those amounts that will be deducted or disappears in a few weeks!

We too can't believe the crazy codes and debits and credits that need to be used by their internal systems, and the fact that there own staff are not always aware of what they mean nor correctly explain them [emoji33]

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Every thing is run by MBO. Any level of service for what ever reason has a pat answer that only that level can handle and so up the line of supervisors, you go looking for answers.

My recent experience was pretty good, but poor outcome for me. I'm still dealing with it a little, but at some point, it is not worth the time or effort.

We have a TA who is a friend, we only use her when the company offers OBC or something else we need. However, I am "experience" at booking EVERYTHING and prefer to do/manage my own bookings. For less experienced travelers/cruisers, a GOOD" TA is a great way to go. I actually get better deals on many things that the TA would never have time to find. No one, will understand how detailed and time consuming travel planning can be.

Side note, on my invoice, my perks are so hard to understand, they do not just say beverage package etc, and when I ask the Agent, if it was truly on there it took her some time to see it. Maybe they have a different screen when looking at the reservation.

When I referred to using a TA in earlier post, I was referring to a large online cruise only TA, not a local store front. We are , like earlier poster capable of arranging our own travel and always price any trip regardless of cruises, land or air, (it's how we learn), then pick the best deal, but once we find a good source, we tend to go back. Passengers should ALWAYS check and double check Everything. Smooth travel plans happen when passengers do their best due diligence. Even in our computerized world (especially) errors happen and people make mistakes. Having a TA or arranging yourself, my motto is check and double check, then print and take with me anything vital to alleviate potential problems.It doesn't hurt to have printed proof with you, electronics, much as we love and depend on them sometimes fail!

I'm making a wild leap here but the code for the $165 Is BEVGRT. Could this be their system allowing for 18% gratuities on the included classic Bev pkg? Not saying they are now on charging these, it may be one of those amounts that will be deducted or disappears in a few weeks!

 

We too can't believe the crazy codes and debits and credits that need to be used by their internal systems, and the fact that there own staff are not always aware of what they mean nor correctly explain them [emoji33]

 

 

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No, the gratuity for the drink package does not come out to that amount. Yes, it is confusing that the code says BEVGRAT. But then again, that's what we chose...Beverage and Gratuities. Anyway, as you can see from the online invoice, the charge is gone.

I am calling today and getting all new invoices sent to my email. Celebrity does have a nifty new automotive telephone system that sends the invoices without having to speak to anyone. I'll start there. ;)

BTW- Most of the time, I will turn my reservation over to a big box TA to get more OBC, but I need to make sure that everything is correct before doing so. Once the reservation is in the TA's hands, I don't have as much control over it and have to go through the TA to get answers from Celebrity. Sometimes this proves difficult.

Hello !

I am a newbie on Cruise Critic and new to Celebrity Cruises.

I like to share my pleasant experience booking my 2017 Western Caribbean

a few weeks ago.

I never used a TA while travelling around the world (flight, land, sea), rather

doing research and exploring options myself. That takes a lot of time but I really enjoy doing the research.

I booked the cruise on the website of Celebrity and the booking process

went very smooth. I call it "booking process" because it is a process which

takes several days. I have read about this on Cruise Critic before, so I was prepared.

I booked Aqua Class with GoBest and Half-of-2nd-Guest.

The 4 perks of GoBest showed up as follows:

OBC -- immediately after booking

Beverage Package -- 1st day after booking

Prepaid Gratuity -- 2nd day after booking

Free Internet -- 3rd day after booking

At this point my reservation was confirmed and I was happy !

A few days later I noticed a price drop for this cruise.

I called Celebrity, got a very helpful lady on the phone and had the

price adjustment done in 5 minutes or less. I received a guest copy of

the booking confirmation via eMail within 10 minutes after hanging up

the phone.

My experience booking the cruise on the Celebrity website and with

Celebrity customer service is to my satisfaction :)

I can see that the website of Celebrity is work in progress but I also

noticed improvements during the last couple of weeks.

The booking confirmation is not easy to read but it is not rocket

science either, Celebrity just uses codes to identify the items/services.

This is just my experience and I would have probably got a TA involved

if I had problems during booking.

Thanks for reading...

and 2-thumbs-up for all the information on Cruise Critic !!!

Wolfgang

Hi Wolfgang,

Since you booked diret with Celebrity, you should have 60 days in which to transfer the booking to a travel agent of your choice, I use one of the large online agents) and add their own special bonus offers to the ones you received from Celebrity. In most cases this amounts to additional on board credit.

Enjoy your cruise!