Pitiful

Ok so I had not intended to pour out all the woes that I experienced on my cruise but in view of the reaction to the three posts I have made to others threads, I think a warts and all thread is justified. Where I have posted so far, I have experienced a level of push back that is at odds with what you would normally expect on a forum like this so I have to assume that there is a tactic of discreditation taking place here. The only thing I can say is that everything I say actually happened, read into what you wish but it won't change the facts!

We arranged prior to our trip a number of things, or tried to! First we wanted fixed dining but were allocated anytime dining. There is to my knowledge/experience nowhere on the Celebrity website where you can address this issue and so went through my travel agent to try and resolve this, we will come back to this later. We were to board on the 21st of December which is my wife's Birthday and so I went to great lengths to arrange through the travel agent, a "special" day! When we boarded, the extent of their special treatment was a black and white plain card in the room! No cake and no Champagne! We went to dinner and were told No you are on anytime dining and that was it! the staff did try to change things there and then but in view of the problems, we accepted an assurance that we would be seated in the same area at the same time each night (note the staff were brilliant about this). Later that night in view of the lack of birthday celebrations, I went to guest services to complain and with due respect I was wasting my time. the lady on the desk just didn't get the fact that they had screwed it up and you don't get another day to celebrate a birthday! then a manager came over and stood behind her, I asked if he would like to comment, he said no, I asked if he was stood there simply for intimidation purposes and he said speak to your travel agent, I said my travel agent had arranged things but they hadn't done anything and he said they werent to know it was her birthday and I should speak to my travel agent as they didn't know anything about it! I pointed out that they must have known as they left the card and that was the end of that conversation!

So on to the next incident, The next night we went to the casino and asked to put $50 in chips on the card, We were told there is a surcharge, I asked why (meaning why are you charging a surcharge on your own card?_The reply I got put a stop to further discussion! "because that's the way it is"!

That night, the restaurant staff having found out about the birthday, we got the cake, too late! the next day the room attendant having seen the card arranged a bottle of champagne, too late!

This is a small fraction of what went wrong, if you want to know more of the woes, feel free to ask but I feel that I have started war and peace (I'm expecting the war) So more to follow!

Did either you or your TA pay for the Birthday package? You should receive a refund if you paid. The problem is with the TA if she didn't pay to arrange something extra.

Standard choc b day cake is presented on night selected by guest or TA for guest..guest should confirm upon entry to din rm..just in case.

If your travel class ( suite, AQ Conciwrge ) did not get comp welcome bubbly..up to TA to arrange order for same and guest to confirm..or could be ordered on line...with flowers, chocs etc

Requests to switch from dining choice often accomodated in a few days...but solution seemed best at the time

Sounds like TA let you down which is why we prefer doing our own arrangements..Guest rel staff sometimes not as friendly or helpful as they should be...drop off a neg comment card

We do not use the casino so no idea about that..

I believe all lines charge a service fee to use card for chips I know rccl does, same as if you want cash.

I am sorry you and your wife had an unpleasant experience. Could you post again once you have contacted your travel agent and gotten their side of the story? Because it is the travel agent's responsibility to arrange (re: pay for) champagne if you are not in the above mentioned classes of cabin.

Savvy cruisers know to speak with the maiter'd as soon as they board in regards to changing dinner times, tables, and special requests.

What difference does ONE day make in celebrating a birthday? NONE!

You definitely handled the situation wrong. Have to say the mix-up was your fault.

Sorry for your issues. Happy you have had an opportunity to vent.

Hopefully you understand the comments made about the issues posted so far.

bon voyage

I have found that other lines have the same problems with special events (unless you purchase a special package if available).

Personally, I don't tell any line about a special event anymore. We just book a specialty restaurant and enjoy the evening.

If you want to play in the Casino you need cash, the other way they will sell you a credit with a commission. Same if you get cash from the ATM with your credit card.

For Celebrations definitely there was an error because the card was in his cabin but without data. If you purchased a celebration package you must be reimbursed the amount paid and receive an apology for ruining the party. In your documents there must be a charge for the celebration. This packages also can be purchase online like shorex, beverage, etc.

There are free celebrations, you simply notify customer relations when and what kind of celebration. At the time of dessert at dinner they will bring you a cake and sing the song.

Celebrity sells celebration packages. Did you order and pay for cake and champagne. Or did you assume the TA was going to arrange something?

Prior to one cruise, the concierge called to asked if we would be celebrating a special occasion on board. I mentioned our anniversary. We went to the MDR that night wondering if we might get some kind of acknowledgement. Nothing special happened, no greeting or special dessert. Nothing. It didn't bother us because we make our own good times, but I did wonder why the concierge asked about special occasions.

When the Concierge called before our last cruise to ask if we were celebrating a special occasion, I told her we were celebrating that our son survived a life threatening illness. He was travelling with us to celebrate life. She didn't know what to say. I guess there's no cake for that either. But that's okay, there are cakes and desserts aplenty and champagne available all my waking hours, at least.

I'm sorry you and your wife were disappointed, but it didn't have to ruin her birthday. Life is what you make it.

While "That's company policy, sir" might have been a more eloquent response than "because that's the way it is", it was an accurate reply to your question and I'm not sure what "further discussion" you contemplated. If a bartender informed you that their was an 18% gratuity added to a drink purchase, would you have asked him why and then been disgruntled with his reply?

Can you tell us about some of the things that you and your wife really enjoyed about the cruise?

I believe the issue that some seem to have with the OP is in the telling. Yes, sadly the birthday, for whatever reason was mishandled. Was it by X or the TA or perhaps could there have been a check done by the consumer that arrangements were in place upon boarding? Was the whole vacation ruined by lack of a birthday cake? By only telling the negatives, it makes some question the veracity of the whole account. Yes, sometimes in life things don't go the way we've planned, however it should teach us to dot our i's and cross our t's when planning next. Was the whole vacation awful? Were there any good parts? If not, you should reflect that on your post cruise survey with both the cruise line and your travel agent. Sorry about your experience.

Sorry to hear about the birthday issue. If you did pay for this I would definitely recommend contacting your TA to inquire about a refund.

With regard to the Casino though, as others have mentioned, there is always a surcharge imposed. This is on all lines as when they charge your card they are pay a service charge too. I get what you're saying as it is "their card" why charge the fee, but "their" card is simply a medium used for accounting. Your credit card on file is what ultimately gets charged.

Can't speak to your issue with the casino, since we just use cash on our infrequent stops there. But we have celebrated life events on board a ship. For instance, we were on the Solstice to Alaska in September. Since we were in a CS we had been contacted a couple of times by the Suite Concierge for the ship and asked about any special needs we might have. Since our anniversary fell during the cruise, I mentioned this and asked for a recommendation for a specialty restaurant for that night. I didn't really ask for anything from Celebrity and, with the exception of a card in our suite, didn't receive anything. We like the suite experience on Celebrity: Luminae, Michael's Club, the extra room, etc. Suites have butlers and we've had butlers we really like and some not so much. Michael's Club has a hostesses and some are personable and terrific and at least one has seemed completely lost in the position. But the services of the butler and the hostess, while potentially enhancing the experience, are not critical to the experience. The same goes for event acknowledgement. Would we have appreciated something more than a card? Sure. Were we disappointed? Nope...not important to the experience of a great cruise.

I would venture that there are lots of people celebrating lots of things on any particular cruise. Why you'd expect anything beyond the card unless you'd made specific arrangements for something else is a bit perplexing. If your TA did arrange for something that wasn't delivered, that is a basis for complaint. At that point you have to take it up with the TA to sort it out. Are you sure you just didn't misunderstand what the TA was offering to do? I'd be mad at that person first and not take it out on the ship crew.

The casino fee is standard everywhere I've been. You're requesting a cash advance on your own credit card when you do that.

Did you pay ( or your travel agent) for a cake and Champagne? It seems the issue is with your travel agent.

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Seems rather vague information which could be why you're getting a "push back" not to mention how few posts you've made and ALL seem to be post cruise sign of not much researching. Did you have written documentation something would be done for the birthday or just verbal told something would be done? The website clearly says they have a fee if you're using your ship card to get money for the casino = not their fault. Personally don't see why anytime dining is a bad thing. Just go the same time as fixed dining or slightly earlier if you want fixed time just not seated in the same area.

Personally believe the TA is more at fault than the cruise line for these issues. Any special things requested should be checked for confirmation on embarkation day as soon as possible.

Did I miss it somewhere? What ship and when? Not that it really matters but I guess I'm curious.

Did I miss it somewhere? What ship and when? Not that it really matters but I guess I'm curious.

Solstice, Holiday Cruise, December 2017.

OP, sorry you had so many issues during your cruise.

With regard to dining, my bet would be that fixed dining was full. Did you get on the waiting list, because spaces do free up?

Did you TA give you a written confirmation that they set up the birthday celebration for your wife?

Sorry, the person in the casino answered the question kind of gruffly, they probably get people complaining about this all the time. The surcharge has been in affect as long as I can remember.

I noticed from your other posts, that you had other issues, sorry about that.

I'm thining you gave a big thank you to your server and cabin steward who tried to make your wife's birthday a great day, even though a little late.

I view this as reinforcement that one should assume that anything you told Celebrity HQ prior to the cruise is information that will never reach the ship. That includes dinner arrangements, special events and most anything else you had planned in advance.

After discovering this the hard way, we now confirm all items when we board. That would include any celebrations.

Sorry that all this happened to the OP....but consider it a learning experience...at least as far as Celebrity goes....verify everything when you first get on board.

The casino charge is, unfortunately, just an extra cost for the convenience of not carrying real cash (and profit for the casino). It's waived for high rollers and I think perhaps suite/zenith guests (not sure about that).

The casino charge is, waived for high rollers and I think perhaps suite/zenith guests (not sure about that).

You are correct. :)

There seems to be a lack of communication between the OP and the travel agent pre cruise.

If I were the OP, I would have contacted the TA upon returning home to relay his experience onboard and check to see if a birthday cake and champagne were in fact ordered and paid for by the TA.

Perhaps it is because I am a type A personality ,as I always check arrangements with the cruise planner assigned to our booking and again when first boarding a ship.

Always cross the t(s) and dot the i(s) as much as possible.

Even then, mistakes can be made. Then it is time to move on to Plan B.

We were on our first Celebrity cruise on Solstice in 2017 for my DH’S significant birthday. On embarkation day quickly bought a specialty package assuming Murano was the place to be on THE night. No fuss wanted! Sadly Murano was full so I explained my dilemma. No probs. Leave it with us! That evening we had a booking! On THE night we had a great table and after our wonderful lobster dinner and rejection of dessert, DH had a covered silver plate put in front of him with their choc dessert underneath! He was impressed and specially with no singing!! We couldnt eat it so they delivered it to our cabin. Made for a special night!maybe we were lucky with the staff involved??

Don't forget the umbrella when the sky is falling.