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We could choose seats on major European airline when booking with Choice Air, but against fee as for checked bags.  I expressly asked for rate which would include this, bus Choice Air rep said they do not have this on offer.  This was different in past.

I don t like this new system as I prefer to book with no perks.  However don t want nonrefundable rate either.  So I am stuck with booking 2 perks or not at all.

We are from Switzerland and use USA TA to book with US conditions and $.  Directly on phone with Celebrity US won’t work, even not through Captains Club as they can not give in a different country from US.    Same problem online on Celebrity.com : I can give in resident country USA to be able to get in website and can go through booking until very end where you have to give in address and credit card and  am then thrown out when country is mentioned.  However am able to put booking on hold for 24 hour with Swiss email address and can then phone US TA.  

1 hour ago, Barwick Cruiser said:

On our cruise they were $10 so only a one dollar upcharge plus the 18%, so $1.18.  

Yes that was also my experience on last cruises.

Not bad, although I question the efficiency and net result of this charge for Celebrity ; enter and print receipt for this small amount, have it signed, etc

On Solstice last November it was very obvious that staffing was either down or badly managed.

Thanks for responses

We have successfully upgraded after final payment by paying the (sometimes very small) difference.

Has someone been able to upgrade if final cost was less ?  Eg from veranda to concierge or Aqua if these were less than originally booked veranda.

Just asking as I always thought new cabin has to be at least $ 1 more.  On our planned sailing, seems prices after final payment are really going down and we might have paid more for veranda than Aqua is going to cost.

Not looking to get refund of difference, just to be upgraded, even willing to pay slight admin fee if necessary.

Just found this in the press this morning :

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3422044/Terrorists-target-cruise-ships-Med-ranking-commander-says-ISIS-s-spread-Libya-casts-uncomfortable-shadow.html

We had a similar negative experience. We booked on board the 1-2-3 go program and were clearly told that we could rebook to a different cruise anytime, anywhere and take all perks along. In fact we were just going to buy future cruise certificates as I mentioned that I wasn't certain of a date yet and we were then talked into booking a "placeholder" cruise as the "benefits" were much greater and we could change anytime and keep the same benefits.

When trying to rebook months later, we were told - no sorry, those perks are not in force anymore.

Now on our booking confirmation nothing is stated about rebooking and keeping/not keeping those perks, so even being a good and careful reader did not help here.

Just wanted to show a different aspect. As airlines are more and more globally focussed and adjust their marketing accordingly, it might be interesting to some what happens somewhere else. :confused:

This is just nonsense. You cannot compare a fixed price meal to an airline ticket.

 

You agree to take your flights in order, and the airline states your ticket will be cancelled if you fail to do so. You get exactly what you pay for.

The opinion here (in Switzerland, but also Germany) by legal experts is that a contract not conforming to the law is not binding and can not be enforced even if the counterparty originally signed or accepted it. The local law in question is "unlauterer Wettbewerb" (unfair competition).

And since airlines do not let it get to court, it seems that they are not too sure of their position. There have been several cases here that passengers have enforced the right to use the return portion without having been on the first part (see my case where they let me fly back). Even cases written about in newspapers of airlines refunding the substitute ticket bought by passengers who were refused their return flight on original ticket at the gate. At least 2 consumer organizations have an open offer here to pay legal costs if someone sues the airline, however it has never come this far yet, because airlines settle before. Which seems to prove the point of the legal experts.

Unfortunately not too many people are aware of this or are not in the position that they need to use the return part without having flown the first portion. And don't forget that a lot of people here have annual travel insurance which refunds very easily if a trip needs to be rebooked.

Therefore maybe nonsense where you live, but certainly not here :cool:

If you know someone who can read German, I can send links to several publications.

In various European countries, consumer lobbies would like to bring this to court as airlines should not be allowed to refuse to give all or part what you paid for and e.g. in Switzerland a lot of legal opinions say that the airline would be in the losing position. If you order and pay for a set menu in a restaurant, they can not refuse to serve the main course and/or desert because you don't want the soup.

However so far airlines have settled before it went to court. I had my own experience in 2011 when I could not fly the first part of a cheap return ticket. I phoned airline to make sure that I could use return ticket and was told NO, as per fare rules. When I insisted to talk to someone in management and mentioned what I had read about the legal opinions and consumer lobbies, they "graciously" allowed me to use the return ticket. I was told they had to "fix" it in their systems so I would not be thrown out. I had no problem at all flying back.

BTW airline was Swiss.

By the way, airline was Swiss.

see my comments highlighted

1. I guess, but I can't see them re-rigging all the slots to accommodate this. I guess we'll see. - It is already built in. Same thing happens when someone gets or wins vouchers to play in casino. You can then only cash out winnings, none of the remaining credit to play.

 

2. So, what you're saying is if you have $200 OBC, play $10 on one spin and win $15, the $15 goes into the "winning" column & your OBC "bank" goes to $190 & theoretically you could "cash out" the $15? Just want to make sure I "get it. exactly " Yesterday 07:58 PM

We took the Celebrity Tulum Beach tour a couple of years ago and were so glad we did.

Tour was fine, good guide in Tulum. Beach resort where we got lunch was nice. But we specially appreciated being on a Celebrity tour when because the busses where late coming back (lots of traffic, wait for passengers that did not return on time, etc.) we missed the ferry back to the ship. The next one was more than 1 hour later as there was also a big sea that day, so we arrived at least 50 min. after the ship was supposed to depart. Luckily they waited for us, altough they were in such a hurry they practically pulled the gangplank under our feet. They would not have waited for us if we were on a private tour.

I had friends who were on an MSC cruise in that area last fall, and during their night time sailings, the ship instructed them to keep all curtains closed, veranda lights off, and cabin lights off as much as possible, so they could sail in near complete darkness. They also brought on board armed local military personnel (forget which country provided) for further protection.

We did Barcelona to Dubai on the Solstice in Oct 2012. Ship got ready for convoy at night, but sailing through Suez Canal was during daytime.

The armed personnel during day and night standing guard on deck, extra safety drill for pirate attack, closed curtains, lights off, no passengers on outside decks at night, etc. was during the trip through the Gulf of Aden because of the pirate threat there and not in the Suez Canal or Red Sea.

We thought the trip through the Suez Canal was certainly worth doing once.

I was also on this cruise. And while I fully understand and accept the decision to avoid Israel during a very sensitive situation, I completely do not approve of the way Celebrity handled this situation. As other passengers pointed out, this cruise changed completely in nature. For me it did not have the excitement of travelling to and reaching distant ports. On the contrary we were just floating forth and back between different close points. Sometimes we even joked that the captain really had to stand on the brakes not to overshoot the destinations. Often we arrived already in the middle of the night in the harbor instead of in the morning. For this reason -changing the nature of the cruise and not just any missed ports, and being aware that this new cruise could have been bought a lot cheaper than the one originally advertised -I think Celebrity should have made some kind of gesture. By doing something, some gesture ; free drinks (o.k. does not work for those with a drink package), some OBC to spend onboard (which would only have cost X a fraction of the nominal value), future cruise credit, etc. they would have created a lot of acceptance and goodwill.

Now, Celebrity will have to realize that a cruise that starts/ends in an EU country also falls under EU passenger rights - even if US company and disclaimers in their contracts - and they might have be faced with claims.

Big misconception that they Guarantee getting you to the ship.

 

Here's the magic term "same class of service" what they are not telling you is that they buy/book the very lowest "class of fare" tickets... Many times "wholesale" in other words the leftovers the airlines did not sell.

 

Disagree : With Choice Air one also has the choice to book higher fares, with less or no limits re rebooking, refunding, upgrading, etc. One does not just have to take the cheapest fare. On-line one can scroll down to the higher priced fares, or even better do it by phone to find out what options are available and what type of fare is behind the prices quoted.

Does someone know how long this Captain's Club discount can be booked at ?

I get the $ 750 deducted if I make an as-if booking, but nowhere can I see terms and conditions of this special.

Maybe someone else has had more luck to find out the details ?

I have never seen any mailing about it either, just tried it after having seen it mentioned here.

PS I posted same question on another blog, which was really about another issue.

Does someone know how long this Captain's Club discount can be booked at.

I get the $ 750 deducted if I make an as-if booking, but nowhere can I see terms and conditions of this special.

Maybe someone else has had more luck to find out the details ?

If you booked and paid excursions before boarding, and you need to cancel them, they are refundable. If at the end of your cruise a balance in your favor remains with is equal or smaller than the cancelled excursions, they will refund to your credit card. This is not treated the same as OBC. However it will take a while for the money to be transferred and get back to you.

Yes you can - Just came back from Constellation where I intended and was confirmed that I could do this for my brother as well. However, after discussion and advice by the staff, we found out it would be a lot better, without any other disadvantages to book under the 1-2-3 go program on board. I booked 2 cruises for next year : one of us and one for my brother with each cabin 200 $ deposit. This gave way better benefits han the future cruise program; you get to choose 1-2-3go benefits for the booked cruise plus OBC on cruise you are currently on. However, you can also have the OBC for present cruise booked on the future cruise, if you don't want or can use on present cruise. Booking number could be transferred to other cruise if plans change or you are not sure of exact cruise yet and if you cancel, you get deposit back. You can book directly on name of your usual non-celebrity TA or transfer afterwards if that is what you want.

That is great. How do you find it?

Getting bored, feeling itchy to go on a cruise and looking around.

Saw good deals for guarantee cabins and to my surprise, when put in 1 person, the price per person stayed same ie was not marked up for whole cabin. Even my TA that I called then thought first it was a mistake, but he made final booking.

The 25 Oct sailing with Constellation has the best deals and starts at around $ 630 (incl. taxes, etc.) for inside cabin for 1 person - for a 11 day cruise this is a fantastic deal.

same here

They have great last minute solos on the Celebrity Constellation in October (possibly other dates/cruises, did not look further) ;

Only 100% for a guarantee cabin, up to balcony (i.e. half of the normal cabin price for solo cruisers).

What if the Silhoutte is late for debarkation on final day of cruise and someone misses his flight home ? Will Celebrity pay for a new flight if this was a nonrefundable, non changeable rate ? Or if someone can then only fly out next day and has to find a hotel room ?