Celebrity NOT helpful with airline problems

[just G]

Delta. You found Mr Garcia who had the authority to make things happen.

 

Again, read your cruise contract. Celebrity has NO obligation or responsibility to get you to the ship. It is ENTIRELY up to the airline/hotel/tour/transfer company to make things happen. Celebrity MAY intervene somewhat when there are 40-50+ passengers on a single plane. And even in that scenario, they would have limited impact other than to negotiate with the airline to negate the rules of the tickets (ticket changes would most likely come out of the cruise lines pocket) They do not have the personnel in the air sea dept to take care of individual passengers and they have NO responsibility/liability to do so. EXACTLY why when you called Celebrity they told you to call/deal with Delta. You were the recipient of OUTSTANDING, above and beyond Delta customer service/goodwill.

 

I have read and reread my "contract", i.e., the little booklet that has my cruise ticket, air stuff, etc. that Celebrity sent to me, and I can't find anything in there.

 

Do you know why we bother to book air through the cruiseline? Is it just ignorance on our part? I paid $600 per person for air on this cruise when I could have gotten direct flights for $240! Do you think I would have gotten the same service if I had booked my own air? (Mr. G did ask to see my cruise tickets)

 

I sent an email to Delta singing the praises of Mr. Garcia.

[greatam]

I have read and reread my "contract", i.e., the little booklet that has my cruise ticket, air stuff, etc. that Celebrity sent to me, and I can't find anything in there.

 

Do you know why we bother to book air through the cruiseline? Is it just ignorance on our part? I paid $600 per person for air on this cruise when I could have gotten direct flights for $240! Do you think I would have gotten the same service if I had booked my own air? (Mr. G did ask to see my cruise tickets)

 

I sent an email to Delta singing the praises of Mr. Garcia.

 

Here is the entire Celebrity cruise contract.http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/pdf/cruise_ticket_contract/Celebrity_04_23_08.pdf

 

Pay attention to Paragraph 5.

 

To answer your questions: MOST believe the cruise line will "take care of them"/"get them to the ship". NO, they won't.

 

Quite a few like the CONVENIENCE (for which they are generally paying higher fares)

 

And Americans don't travel outside our country as the Europeans/Aussies do. So some of it just goes back to "fear factor" and having someone look out for them.

 

Whether you would have gotten the same service depends on a lot of things. Who is on duty probably more than anything? But if Mr. Garcia was not on duty, how would you have fared otherwise? The first two agents you dealt with were very little help. How well prepared are YOU? Do you have alternate flights which you would be willing to take?

 

I ALWAYS have a list of flights on the ORIGINATING airline as well as other airlines which will get me to my destination, so when I have a problem at the airport and are generally dealing with a "junior agent", I can say something like-"Can you route me through Chicago/RDU/MIA instead of DFW on flight XXX?". Most agents look for the SAME routing-they figure pax will throw a fit if you have to be rerouted. When there are no seats on that routing, you are essentially STUCK. But if YOU know what is acceptable to YOU, it makes the whole thing go a LOT easier.

 

It takes some time and patience to learn the airline "system". First place to start in my book is itasoftware.com. You cannot book a flight on there, but you can see what flights are available and the ENTIRE price (including taxes, fees, etc). Then go to the airline website, search by schedule AND fare class. You should be able to duplicate the fare 98% of the time if you know what you are doing. ITA is the "back end" software for Kayak, Alaska Airlines, Continental and quite a few others. So the info is "real time" and correct. Good luck in the future.

[Gonzo70]

Greatam, I am curious if there are some circumstances where you would consider Choice Air. I did recently opt to go with them because in my case the savings was tremendous. I recently pruchased a one way ORD to FCO for $403 (including all taxes/fees). It is a non-stop so I do not have to worry about missed connections, it is not in winter so I do not need to worry about snow, and the schedules arrivals is more than 48 hours before the cruise. Without going through Choice Air (or another consilidator) there were no non-stops available for under $1,000 and even one-stop flights were at least a couple hundred more. I felt the risk/reward ratio in my situation warranted going with Choice air - what are your thoughts?

[gourmetlover]

greatam,

 

I booked a Choice Air yesterday for Constellation from Hamburg back to U.S. and was told by TA that I would get my Delta Sky Miles. So, you are saying that I may and may not?

 

Thanks for your help.

[just G]

Thank you for your priceless info. It is appreciated! Live and Learn.

[Ma Bell]

Let's not forget that a contract is a document used in case of lawsuits and the every day reality is usually a much different thing. The instructions given to passengers when flight problems are encountered are to deal with the airline yourself to reschedule your flight and then if you get no satisfaction to call them and they will intervene to help to get you to the ship.

 

Your first responsibility is to try to help yourself, not just throw up your hands and call the cruise line.

 

Although legally the cruise line may have no responsibilty to get you there, they regularly help passengers with problems and in the case of Choice Air, advertise that they will.

[just G]

Let's not forget that a contract is a document used in case of lawsuits and the every day reality is usually a much different thing. The instructions given to passengers when flight problems are encountered are to deal with the airline yourself to reschedule your flight and then if you get no satisfaction to call them and they will intervene to help to get you to the ship.

 

Your first responsibility is to try to help yourself, not just throw up your hands and call the cruise line.

 

Although legally the cruise line may have no responsibilty to get you there, they regularly help passengers with problems and in the case of Choice Air, advertise that they will.

 

Not in this instance. I called Celebrity and they told to deal with Delta. I then spent at least 1.5 HOURS on the telephone with Delta. When that didn't work, I called Celeb. back AND my TA called them. They did not offer any assistance and said it was in Delta's hands. That's when I went back and spoke with a "real" body - and then with another "real" body, who did fix the situation.

 

Celebrity made it quite clear that they would not get involved in getting me to the ship.

[Ma Bell]

Did you have Choice Air or just book regular air with them?

[just G]

Did you have Choice Air or just book regular air with them?

 

Just regular air.

[greatam]

greatam,

 

I booked a Choice Air yesterday for Constellation from Hamburg back to U.S. and was told by TA that I would get my Delta Sky Miles. So, you are saying that I may and may not?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

You may or may not, correct. Do you have the fare code/class? Have you read the fare rules? That is generally the determining factor. And as per my example with AA's Q and O codes, even the specific first letter of the fare code is not 100% foolproof.

 

Sometimes it also depends on how the info is entered into the computer. I have seen instances where a consolidator/NO ACCRUED MILES ticket is booked that the AAvantage (AA's FF club) computer actually gives miles to (O tickets booked that were NOT supposed to get miles, but they did). I have heard that the same happens with Delta Sky Miles and Dividend Miles (US Air).

 

UNLESS you can see the COMPLETE fare rules and the fare code, you really won't know until you return from your trip. TRULY the luck of the draw when dealing with cruise air tickets. Are you on the April 11 Connie???

[gourmetlover]

Thanks for the info. Yes, we are on the Connie with another couple at the back of the ship on 9, too. Just not at the very back - my favorite!! Hope to see you onboard.

[greatam]

Greatam, I am curious if there are some circumstances where you would consider Choice Air. I did recently opt to go with them because in my case the savings was tremendous. I recently pruchased a one way ORD to FCO for $403 (including all taxes/fees). It is a non-stop so I do not have to worry about missed connections, it is not in winter so I do not need to worry about snow, and the schedules arrivals is more than 48 hours before the cruise. Without going through Choice Air (or another consilidator) there were no non-stops available for under $1,000 and even one-stop flights were at least a couple hundred more. I felt the risk/reward ratio in my situation warranted going with Choice air - what are your thoughts?

 

See post 69. I was actually curious about booking Choice Air from London or Frankfurt to DFW for DH. BUT as posted, when they could not provide me with fare code/class info and kept pushing me to a W (ship/air package) ticket, I certainly did not feel comfortable with the process. Choice Air is certainly not much different in that respect than any other cruise air other than YOU get to pick and really don't have to go through Celebrity or a TA. You STILL don't know what class of ticket you have.

 

I just got off the phone with my AA rep (not for this issue, but while I had her on the phone, I asked a couple of questions). She states that Choice Air is tied into Travelocity. The cruise lines/Travelocity have negotiated the same one way air deal as the cruise line always has had by themselves-they buy RT tickets at a premium price from the airline and then the cruise line through Choice Air issues only 1/2 of the ticket to TWO passengers-one outbound/one inbound. Travelocity is running the software/"back end" for Choice Air. Doesn't mean a darn thing in the "protection" factor but it may mean that Celebrity is weaning passengers away from cruise air. If they get $15-25.00pp without DOING anything, saves a lot of man hours dealing with cruise air/air deviation tickets.

 

While your trip will most likely go very well due to all the parameters you listed, I DO NOT buy airline tickets without reading the fare rules. No one should. You just have NO IDEA what you are buying. Long and cumberson reading, yes. A trip saver in a lot of cases, most definitely.

 

As Globaliser posted on the cruise air board-"Top tip: Do not delude yourself into believing that "cheapest" = "best"

[dzcruisers]

You consider Alanta to have major snow problem, it's a good thing X didn't route you through a NE airport like PHI, NYC or BOS. We typically fly out of Buffalo, NY and always fly in the day before the cruise.

 

The NE cities can handle snow. We were in Atlanta 10 days ago when one half inch of snow and cold closed the airport for a day, the schools for 2 days, had most churches cancel Sunday services and caused massive pile ups ( a 24 car crash and a 27 car crash) plus many wrecks that closed the highways for periods of time. Plus I've been stranded in Atlanta more than anywhere else even on a pretty day.

1/2 inch of snow rarely closes NE airports. They have equipment to deal with it.

[robtulipe]

The NE cities can handle snow. We were in Atlanta 10 days ago when one half inch of snow and cold closed the airport for a day, the schools for 2 days, had most churches cancel Sunday services and caused massive pile ups ( a 24 car crash and a 27 car crash) plus many wrecks that closed the highways for periods of time. Plus I've been stranded in Atlanta more than anywhere else even on a pretty day.

1/2 inch of snow rarely closes NE airports. They have equipment to deal with it.

I went to school in NC and agree that the southern USA doesn't handle snow storms well because they rarely have them. That's what my post indicated not that they never get snow. You live in SC so I imagine you most likely fly out of or connect through Atlanta quite often. I've been delayed quite a few times due to snow at NE airports because I need to use them typically when flying. We tend to connect a lot at ORL (Chicago) when flying west and are doing so both ways for our next cruise. These locations get a lot more snow so it makes sense that northern airports need to have better snow clearing equipment. I agree a 1/2 " snow may shut down ATL but so will 12" of rapid lake effect snow do so to BUF and I hear about that more than ALT being shut down.

[ellasnan]

ARTM,

We only have 1h10mins between flights i still think that is very optimistic on Delta's part, but live in hope that they know what they are doing. I have read about ice storms in the Atlanta area and they look frightening.

I should state that my main concern about this whole thread is the fact that Celebrity (RCI) take no care of their clients when things go wrong.

 

 

Hi there,

Just had a look on the web and found this http://airtravel.about.com/od/airports/a/minimumconnect.htm

 

It states International to domestic/international is 1 hr 30 mins.

 

Also here in the UK we don't buy airline tickets as in the US. Celebrity will have contracts to sell seats in certain classes (U) so when they have gone on more direct routes they will build via other airports. ( Was a flight consolidator in a previous life).

 

Do check with Delta they should look at this as it is not classed as a connecting flight, someone may have built it and not confirmed it as OK.

Good luck.

[cricketlover]

Thanks ellasnan, I have just come off the phone with Delta in USA and they reckon that the 1hr 20mis will give us plenty of time to get through immigration, the lady I spoke to said that our luggage will go straight from London to Miami, without us seeing it in Atlanta (I don't believe that).

[ellasnan]

Thanks ellasnan, I have just come off the phone with Delta in USA and they reckon that the 1hr 20mis will give us plenty of time to get through immigration, the lady I spoke to said that our luggage will go straight from London to Miami, without us seeing it in Atlanta (I don't believe that).

 

You are right. If Atlanta is the first port of entry you will have to go through both immigration and customs (we have in past).

Also take page 88 out of the 1/10-3/11 first edition brochure. "Why should I book a fly/cruise with Celebrity........Full assistance in the event of flight changes, delays or unforseen circumstances affecting your cruise....

 

Regards..

Karen