Booking question

We are thinking of booking a cruise using the big box people for the first time and would like to know how easy it is to change rooms, upgrade, etc. with them. We have found that booking thru Celebrity changes are very easy, and since this cruise is a long time off, we may want to be making changes. Thanks!

Not sure how easy it would be. Had an NCL cruise that I had transferred to them as my TA, and then cancelled the other day in favor of a cruise on the Reflection. They were very efficient in both accepting the transfer and doing the cancellation. They were able to get through to NCL very quickly. You sure can’t beat their incentives for booking with them!

I replaced my cancelled booking online to Celebrity myself. Thought I could book the cabin I wanted directly online with the store but that cabin type wasn’t in their inventory being offered.

I’ve got about 55 days to decide if I’m going to transfer this booking to them, but I might be prohibited from doing so because I had a Celebrity vacation planner reach out and contact me after I made the online booking. She worked further on my booking to reduce my price points. She has been great to work with and very knowledgeable. Working with her probably counts as a transfer to her as my travel agent, which you can only do once. Anyone know if this is true when the TA is from Celebrity?

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We are thinking of booking a cruise using the big box people for the first time and would like to know how easy it is to change rooms, upgrade, etc. with them. We have found that booking thru Celebrity changes are very easy, and since this cruise is a long time off, we may want to be making changes. Thanks!

I have used the travel department (located in Seattle) of a big box warehouse store. Transferred an on-board booking to them and later called them up to transfer the reservation to an entirely different cruise. No problem and kept the on-board booking bonus OBC. Recently, I decided to change the cabin when one in a better location became available on the Celebrity website. Called up the TA and had it changed - again no problem.

Occasionally you may have to wait on hold and for a few minutes (max I experienced was 15 minutes) for a customer service rep to come on line.

And when I was interested in booking a RCI cruise that was a little more than two years in the future, I noted that the big box's website did not list cruises beyond two years out. But when I called them, there was no problem booking the beyond-two-years cruise in my desired cabin at the same price as that of the RCI website.

With no additional fees for changes or cancellations and about 8% back on their gift card, it's a great deal to me; but you may wish to compare it with other online TAs.

I book with TA (same as you are suggestion - i think). Once I have a booked cruise, I check prices everyday. I check with Celebrity's website and the TA website. If I find a price change I contact my TA and they contact Celebrity and work it out. I just got a $400 reduction in price - this was prior to final payment. Now that I am past the final payment, any price changes will result with a cabin change probably. I am currently in a 1C Balcony, with $200 OBC, gratuities and classic drinks. If the price goes down for that category, then I would look to get upgraded to a better cabin.

I replaced my cancelled booking online to Celebrity myself. Thought I could book the cabin I wanted directly online with the store but that cabin type wasn’t in their inventory being offered.

 

I just transferred two cruises to the same agent. At one time when looking at the agent's website, I found that some cabin types were missing (as I recall, no suites were displayed, although I knew that suites were available). And yet when I talked to them about this, they assured me that they could book any available cabin. So I am not sure if there is a real problem there if you do not see your cabin type in their website listing. Or did they actually tell you that they don't carry the ability to book that type of cabin?

Tom & Judy

 

I replaced my cancelled booking online to Celebrity myself. Thought I could book the cabin I wanted directly online with the store but that cabin type wasn’t in their inventory being offered.

 

Even if it is not listed in their inventory [at least for the big box store I use] they will be able to get any cabin that is showing on Celebrity's website by merely calling Celebrity. See my earlier posting where I was able to book my desired cabin on a RCI cruise for which the cruise was not yet listed on the TA's website.

I have had very good service from big box. You don’t get one person to deal with, but I have done a lot of changing of our upcoming cruise - price reduction reimbursement, changing categories and cabins, adding perks, etc. everyone I dealt with was very helpful and went the extra mile. They won’t call you with a price decrease, but they are helpful. No commission, so they are fine spending time with you.

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We are thinking of booking a cruise using the big box people for the first time and would like to know how easy it is to change rooms, upgrade, etc. with them. We have found that booking thru Celebrity changes are very easy, and since this cruise is a long time off, we may want to be making changes. Thanks!

I prefer the flexibility of working directly with the cruise line and have always found the CSRs to be very helpful. Recently, after placing my cabin on hold with Celebrity, I went to a Big Box travel site and found the same sailing, same price, same perks with an extra $200 cash back. I called my Celebrity-assigned CSR to ask about transferring the booking after paying the deposit. After a brief hold to confirm the online offer she matched it with an extra $200 OBC, which IMO works much better than $200 cash back. If you find a better offer from the BigBox folks, it costs nothing to ask...

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Not sure how easy it would be. Had an NCL cruise that I had transferred to them as my TA, and then cancelled the other day in favor of a cruise on the Reflection. They were very efficient in both accepting the transfer and doing the cancellation. They were able to get through to NCL very quickly. You sure can’t beat their incentives for booking with them!

 

I replaced my cancelled booking online to Celebrity myself. Thought I could book the cabin I wanted directly online with the store but that cabin type wasn’t in their inventory being offered.

 

I’ve got about 55 days to decide if I’m going to transfer this booking to them, but I might be prohibited from doing so because I had a Celebrity vacation planner reach out and contact me after I made the online booking. She worked further on my booking to reduce my price points. She has been great to work with and very knowledgeable. Working with her probably counts as a transfer to her as my travel agent, which you can only do once. Anyone know if this is true when the TA is from Celebrity?

 

 

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No, the Celebrity Vacation planner does not count as a TA transfer. I have transferred cruises to a TA after working with Celebrity Vacation Planner. Whenever I book a cruise on line, a Celebrity Planner calls me.

You have to transfer within 60 days.

The 1.50 hot dog travel agency is great! Lots of perks. They do not call you. I have never received an upgrade offer (even if a fee was involved) or a notification if prices have dropped. It is your responsibility to stay on top of your reservation. They are very helpful whenever you call. I had a cruise line cancel my itinerary and they really helped me find another cruise on their line. I always use them! Know it is your responsibility to communicate with them as you probably will not receive any upgrade offers for a fee or notification of price drop. When I noticed a price drop on line and called them, they were very helpful to transfer the booking to the lower price with the cruise line.

Thanks all, you've convinced me, I'll do it. Iv'e booked the other ways, might as well try this way, hopefully I'll find it the best way. Only problem left,,,,,the cruise isn't until next year!

I prefer the flexibility of working directly with the cruise line and have always found the CSRs to be very helpful. Recently, after placing my cabin on hold with Celebrity, I went to a Big Box travel site and found the same sailing, same price, same perks with an extra $200 cash back. I called my Celebrity-assigned CSR to ask about transferring the booking after paying the deposit. After a brief hold to confirm the online offer she matched it with an extra $200 OBC, which IMO works much better than $200 cash back. If you find a better offer from the BigBox folks, it costs nothing to ask...

 

 

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One main difference is that any OBC you get from X will be non-refundable, that is, use it or lose it. If you go to a TA that will give you OBC for your booking, that OBC should be refundable. I never liked the concept of getting a cash card (AKA gift card) from a big box TA as it locks you into where you can use the gift. Also you need to wait to get it after the cruise, whereas OBC from a normal TA is available onboard.

Steve

I book with them. I recently booked a cruise on X for fall 2019. They happened to have a group rate on his particular sailing. Which is saving a lot over what X is currently offering. And I get a beverage package and their cash card.

BTW, the cash card generally arrives much faster than they say (days not weeks).

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One main difference is that any OBC you get from X will be non-refundable, that is, use it or lose it. If you go to a TA that will give you OBC for your booking, that OBC should be refundable. I never liked the concept of getting a cash card (AKA gift card) from a big box TA as it locks you into where you can use the gift. Also you need to wait to get it after the cruise, whereas OBC from a normal TA is available onboard.

 

Steve

You MAY be able to go to Costco and get cash for the cash card. They used to allow it, but you'll have to check on their current policy.

I prefer the flexibility of working directly with the cruise line and have always found the CSRs to be very helpful. Recently, after placing my cabin on hold with Celebrity, I went to a Big Box travel site and found the same sailing, same price, same perks with an extra $200 cash back. I called my Celebrity-assigned CSR to ask about transferring the booking after paying the deposit. After a brief hold to confirm the online offer she matched it with an extra $200 OBC, which IMO works much better than $200 cash back. If you find a better offer from the BigBox folks, it costs nothing to ask...

If you're an Executive Member at the big box store, you get an additional 2% back as part of your annual spending calculation. So if your cruise cost $5,000, you would get an additional $100 value just by keeping it with the big box travel site. That's a round number for illustrative purposes. YMMV based on your spending habits (there is a maximum reward of $1,000 per year).

I have used 3 different big, online stores. For the most part they are very easy to deal with and very responsive to calls about price drops, upgrades and cabin changes etc. Each one offers different incentives so I usually check with each one and make a decision. When I can book onboard it is easy to keep the booking with Celebrity even if I had it booked with one of the big box stores and then transfer it within 60 days to get the big box incentives added to the onboard booking deals.

If you're an Executive Member at the big box store, you get an additional 2% back as part of your annual spending calculation. So if your cruise cost $5,000, you would get an additional $100 value just by keeping it with the big box travel site. That's a round number for illustrative purposes. YMMV based on your spending habits (there is a maximum reward of $1,000 per year).

Unfortunately, purchases from the travel agency don’t count against the 2 percent back program.

Unfortunately, purchases from the travel agency don’t count against the 2 percent back program.

That was changed last summer.

I have transferred my last 5 cruises from Celebrity to the Big Box TA. Always started with an inside and worked my way up to either an AQ or suite over the course of months days or weeks. 5 or 6 changes and always looking for and changing to a HC cabin and then moving again, without any problem whatsoever. With the Seattle Big Box they just get Celebrity right on the line and hook you into a 3 way call, that way you get the info directly from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.

For the cruise I booked (11 day Veranda) they gave me a GC for $855! Plus beverage pkg. ! What's not to like?

I prefer the flexibility of working directly with the cruise line and have always found the CSRs to be very helpful. Recently, after placing my cabin on hold with Celebrity, I went to a Big Box travel site and found the same sailing, same price, same perks with an extra $200 cash back. I called my Celebrity-assigned CSR to ask about transferring the booking after paying the deposit. After a brief hold to confirm the online offer she matched it with an extra $200 OBC, which IMO works much better than $200 cash back. If you find a better offer from the BigBox folks, it costs nothing to ask...

 

 

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Thanks for the suggestion! I checked online with the Big Box and would receive a $380 store credit if I transferred the booking to them. Just sent an email to my Celebrity Personal Vacation Planner to see if they would match the amount as an OBC, which I would prefer. I’ll find out Tuesday when she returns to the office.

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I just received a call from my vacation planner and Celebrity is matching the Big Store Credit with an onboard credit that will go on my account one month before my cruise date!

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Wow! That's great! This shows how helpful CC is.