"Unusual" online booking practice?

Has anyone ever booked online, through the actual Celebrity website, and had the reservation "assigned" to a non-Celebrity agent who claims to be a "co-branded Celebrity site?"

No such thing. Be sure you are on Celebritycruises.com. If you Google Celebrity, it can take you to a sponsored site.

This is not an option booking directly on the Celebrity website. You need to book http://www.celebritycruises.com if you want to book direct with Celebrity.

Yes, booked on Celebrity's website. Celebrity claims there are cookies that can divert away from them to questionable agents. Just a word of warning. I actually received the official Celebrity confirmation, then hours later received an "official" looking invoice. Problem is this agent then has your reservation blocked, and Celebrity cannot get into it anymore to change.

I would cancel the booking and rebook over the phone with Celebrity.

If you were indeed on the Celebrity site and booked through it, not sure how this would have happened. Celebrity (and others) will not arbitrarily assign a direct booking to a TA. Bookings made through them stay with them unless you request it to be transferred. As suggested I would cancel and rebook over the phone and would also advise Celebrity of this situation. Very unusual. Hopefully you won't incur a fee from the TA for cancelling.

There are ways celebrity can re-take a reservation away from a TA. I would pursue that option.

Yes, booked on Celebrity's website. Celebrity claims there are cookies that can divert away from them to questionable agents. Just a word of warning. I actually received the official Celebrity confirmation, then hours later received an "official" looking invoice. Problem is this agent then has your reservation blocked, and Celebrity cannot get into it anymore to change.

To clear something up: if there is a cookie on your computer that diverts you from Celebrity's site to a different one, that is not Celebrity's issue. You downloaded some malware somewhere. If there is a diversion, it means you're then being directed to someone else's site so anything you did from that point forward was with someone else. You need to clear your cookies and run antivirus on your machine.

If you submitted any type of credit card info, I would also cancel that card and report the fraud. I would also call Celebrity and talk to them about this. Just because someone sent you something that looks official, you need to confirm this with someone at Celebrity on the phone. As noted, they'll be able to take back your reservation from any bad actor (or just cancel and start over).

I would first contact my credit card company to dispute fraudulent use and request a new card. Then contact X by telephone and escalate the situation beyond the initial call center contact. Something is amiss. I suspect that you did not check your address bar to check where you were when making the reservation, but if you did, then definitely clear your cookies and cache and run a malware check on your computer with a good anti-virus program.

Wow...this is creepy. I agree with the above posters. Call your CC company asap!!!!

I agree with others. This whole explanation and having Celebrity tell you they “have cookies” that would cause this is not a plausible situation. I would strongly suggest contacting your credit card company and contacting Celebrity. Verify you are not calling a number provided from the questionable agency and see if they have a reservation on file. If they do, I would have Celebrity pursue cancellation on your behalf.

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Has anyone ever booked online, through the actual Celebrity website, and had the reservation "assigned" to a non-Celebrity agent who claims to be a "co-branded Celebrity site?"

Yes.... this actually happened to a friend of mine just recently. She booked through the Celebrity website and when she received the confirmation she noticed that a TA name was attached to it. She'd never heard of the agency before. And when she phoned Celebrity to ask them about it they basically told her the same thing, that they couldn't do anything with the booking because this TA now owned it. She phoned the TA in question who cancelled it for her and then she phoned Celebrity and rebooked. This wasn't her first time booking through the Celebrity website but this first time she had this problem.

So, yes, it can happen.

Yes.... this actually happened to a friend of mine just recently. She booked through the Celebrity website and when she received the confirmation she noticed that a TA name was attached to it. She'd never heard of the agency before. And when she phoned Celebrity to ask them about it they basically told her the same thing, that they couldn't do anything with the booking because this TA now owned it. She phoned the TA in question who cancelled it for her and then she phoned Celebrity and rebooked. This wasn't her first time booking through the Celebrity website but this first time she had this problem.

 

So, yes, it can happen.

Considering the state of the Celebrity website for the last 10 months this is both believable and disturbing.

Considering the state of the Celebrity website for the last 10 months this is both believable and disturbing.

Agreed. The Celebrity explanation about cookies doesn't hold water. If Celebrity's website is allowing the reservation to be hijacked because of the existence of cookies, this is 100% Celebrity's fault.

Agreed. The Celebrity explanation about cookies doesn't hold water. If Celebrity's website is allowing the reservation to be hijacked because of the existence of cookies, this is 100% Celebrity's fault.

There is a well know "browser virus" that can hijack your browser when booking travel. It lurks in your browser and then redirects the booking. This very annoying virus is most commonly used when booking hotels. Never heard of it hijacking a cruise booking ... but the little bugger could be getting smarter !

Please run a virus checker !

-- Don

Has anyone ever booked online, through the actual Celebrity website, and had the reservation "assigned" to a non-Celebrity agent who claims to be a "co-branded Celebrity site?"

I know Azamara does or did that with an outside agent.

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Yes.... this actually happened to a friend of mine just recently. She booked through the Celebrity website and when she received the confirmation she noticed that a TA name was attached to it. She'd never heard of the agency before. And when she phoned Celebrity to ask them about it they basically told her the same thing, that they couldn't do anything with the booking because this TA now owned it. She phoned the TA in question who cancelled it for her and then she phoned Celebrity and rebooked. This wasn't her first time booking through the Celebrity website but this first time she had this problem.

 

So, yes, it can happen.

Thank you for the confirmation.

Another reason I just contact my TA directly and let her handle it.

Yes, booked on Celebrity's website. Celebrity claims there are cookies that can divert away from them to questionable agents. Just a word of warning. I actually received the official Celebrity confirmation, then hours later received an "official" looking invoice. Problem is this agent then has your reservation blocked, and Celebrity cannot get into it anymore to change.

This exact thing happened to my sister the other day when booking a hotel. She was routed to another site that would not allow her to cancel. There must be some weird stuff going on. Many say it's always best to just call Celebrity directly... which I never do... but may start based on these issues.

There is a well know "browser virus" that can hijack your browser when booking travel. It lurks in your browser and then redirects the booking. This very annoying virus is most commonly used when booking hotels. Never heard of it hijacking a cruise booking ... but the little bugger could be getting smarter !

 

Please run a virus checker !

 

-- Don

Certainly, the reservation should not be retained by a travel agent that gets its bookings through a virus; whether they were complicit with the virus's owner or not. It's possible they paid the virus's owner a fee to direct traffic their way and weren't aware how that was done (however likely this is or not) but as with breaking laws, ignorance isn't a valid excuse.

Why would anybody book on the Celebrity website. I know, it is the 21st century, and you should be able to, but ...

If you must book with Celebrity, call them. Then you can use the website to flounder around ;)

This pattern has happened to me with a (very large and reputable whose name is the same as a unit of American money totaling one hundred pennies) rental car company.

These are not the company's websites doing this, though. If this happens, you have a virus on your machine that you picked up from somewhere. That needs to be addressed rather than just using the phone for everything.

Celebrity doesn't need any interference from shysters; they can do it themselves.

I was enticed to investigate a cruise in an S1 by a Celebrity ad offering a lower fare along with four (count 'em) FREE perks. When I went to book the cruise, the fare was lower but suddenly it would cost me $300 for the FREE perks. Curious, I selected a second cruise on which the FREE perks were $460. Finally, as I have time on my hands, I found a cruise where the FREE perks were over $800.

Regent is just as bad. They advertise FREE business class airfare and a night in a hotel. In fact if they just said our fares include air and hotel costs, I would have no problem. But once the word FREE enters the picture, I find it very misleading at best.

We all know little in life comes free; how do they get away with this?

Why would anybody book on the Celebrity website. I know, it is the 21st century, and you should be able to, but ...

Because it is the quickest, easiest and most direct way to book, since it does not require involving a third party.

There is no need to waste time explaining what I want to someone else.

It gives me instant confirmation -- no waiting on hold listening to recorded messages or waiting for someone to get back to me later to confirm it.

It lets me immediately lock in the stateroom and price at any hour of the day or night.

Then I gain 60 additional days to shop around and compare offers before transferring the booking to the travel agent of my choice who offers the best deal for that particular cruise.

Additionally, one of the main advantages of doing it this way is that I retain complete access to my booking and billing information in my Celebrity account, right there on my own screen...... up until the day I transfer it to an agent and lose access to it.

Sometimes if I get a last minute rock bottom closeout price it is not even worth the bother of giving the booking to a TA at all, when they are unable to offer sufficient additional perks to make it worthwhile.