Help with complaint ?

[LaurieHoffman]

I will try to post a review later in the week when we get home but wanted to ask a quick question about how to handle a situation we encountered on a cruise we just departed..

 

here is the info - Infinity ship to Alaska, June 18 - 25th

problem #1 in Ketchikan there was a problem with the electricial on the bridge (so they said). This caused a 5 hour delay in leaving the port and due to this we missed Tracy Arm. They did, without asking, credit all cabins an OBC of 200.00, 250.00 for suites. The 200.00 was for a party of 2, 3 or 4.... so for a party of 2 this was 100.00 pp and for our family it was 50% of that or 50.00 pp. Nice but we booked the cruise to see glaciers as we were cruising in and didn't see any due to this.

 

problem #2 in Jueanu - while at dinner just after 6pm there was a complete power outage - no electrical power anywhere... alarms went off, emergency doors shut, toilets woudln't flush, no running water anywhere! This lasted for over 2 hours. Very unsafe and sanitary. One announcement about the issue and not real apology from anyone. Nothing done after the power was restored over 2 hours later and we ended up leaving the port 2+ hours late too.

 

I booked Celebrity because I was told it was better than Carnival etc... While the overall impression I have is this is true, the employees in general were great, food delicious etc, I feel the ship we sailed on was falling apart. These two MAJOR issues in my opinion were not acceptable and I feel part of our vacation was ruined...

 

Your thoughts? I will be writing a complaint letter, while also pointing out the good service we received by naming specific employees too....

[Mr_Cruise]

I will try to post a review later in the week when we get home but wanted to ask a quick question about how to handle a situation we encountered on a cruise we just departed..

 

here is the info - Infinity ship to Alaska, June 18 - 25th

problem #1 in Ketchikan there was a problem with the electricial on the bridge (so they said). This caused a 5 hour delay in leaving the port and due to this we missed Tracy Arm. They did, without asking, credit all cabins an OBC of 200.00, 250.00 for suites. The 200.00 was for a party of 2, 3 or 4.... so for a party of 2 this was 100.00 pp and for our family it was 50% of that or 50.00 pp. Nice but we booked the cruise to see glaciers as we were cruising in and didn't see any due to this.

 

problem #2 in Jueanu - while at dinner just after 6pm there was a complete power outage - no electrical power anywhere... alarms went off, emergency doors shut, toilets woudln't flush, no running water anywhere! This lasted for over 2 hours. Very unsafe and sanitary. One announcement about the issue and not real apology from anyone. Nothing done after the power was restored over 2 hours later and we ended up leaving the port 2+ hours late too.

 

I booked Celebrity because I was told it was better than Carnival etc... While the overall impression I have is this is true, the employees in general were great, food delicious etc, I feel the ship we sailed on was falling apart. These two MAJOR issues in my opinion were not acceptable and I feel part of our vacation was ruined...

 

Your thoughts? I will be writing a complaint letter, while also pointing out the good service we received by naming specific employees too....

 

 

Firstly; sorry to hear your experience was less than you envisioned.

 

Secondly...

 

1. Even if you cruised up Tracy Arm, the odds of your cruise ship getting within sight of the twin Sawyer Glaciers is about 1 or 2 in 10 due to the fjord being blocked by ice most of the time making it impassable. So if glaciers were your #1 scenic priority, you should have booked a ship visiting Glacier Bay or Hubbard Glacier.

 

2. Ships are highly electronic as well as mechanical; in a perfect world, nothing would fail or breakdown but in the real world, this sort of thing can and does happen (just like with cars).

 

 

Overall I think they did a great thing by immediately compensating with a generous on board credit. Kudos to Celebrity for their pro-active approach to things I say! Regarding it being the same for rooms of 2, 3 or 4... that's the case with any cruise amenities or on board credit etc, so why expect different under these circumstances?

 

Hopefully you managed to keep smiling and you enjoyed your vacation. Celebrity is fantastic and so is Alaska.

[Karynanne]

It's unfortunate that the electrical problems impacted your cruise. But, these issues can occur.

 

I feel that Celebrity was more than fair in giving OBC for this mishap. A complaint letter probably won't achieve anything.

[cruisestitch]

I appreciate that you were terribly disappointed, but to be very frank, I don't think you'll get much more from Celebrity then what you already got, although you may feel better by venting a bit in writing to them. Unfortunate things happen, and you still had a beautiful ship to enjoy, good food, on-board entertainment, and so forth. The cruise line is not under any obligation to do anything for you, although they did provide a goodwill gesture. You may feel that what they gave you is inadequate compensation for the loss of the Tracy Arm day, they didn't have to give you anything at all. I've stayed in a hotel with no electricity on and off for two nights running, had to cancel precious and scarce theater tickets because of mechanical delays on airplanes and had other travel delays, as have most of us. It's a shame, but it happens. I hope you'll get to see the spectacular scenery of Alaska another time.

[wwcruisers]

Disneyhotmama -- The facts (good and bad) in your post look like a good basis for a letter to Celebrity Customer Service. Don't know if they will offer you anything (more than than your onboard comp.) But X will appreciate the feed-back -- and writing that letter will make you feel better. Hope your next cruise has fewer problems than this one did. :)

[BBsails]

You know what they say: Stuff happens. Consider yourself fortunate that =X= compensated you. We were on the Infinity in April 2009 from FL to CA through the Panama Canal. We were not able to dock at any of our three Mexican ports due to the H1N1 outbreak, which was new at the time. Instead, we docked in San Diego for a long day, sailed to Catalina Island for a day, and spent the night in San Francisco aboard ship. We were not compensated. Although we were terribly disappointed to miss the Mexican ports, I heard only a few complaints. We sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge in the early afternoon instead of at 5:00 am, and the night we spent on the ship in SF was magical--warm, full moon, perfect. Life gave us lemons and we made lemonade.

[biker1972]

As experienced cruisers are aware, the sea is not a friendly place. If you book a cruise with certain landfalls as a priority, you may sometimes be disappointed. The Infinity has a very bad track record of making its port of calls because of past turbine problems. Other cruise lines miss ports or have to divert elsewhere for various reasons including ailing passengers who have to be airlifted to land side hospitals. Several years ago the Infinity stayed in a SA port several days because of a tragic accident on a shore excursion when a number of passengers were killed. While you suffered minor losses that were inconvenient, you did get what your cruise contract said you would get, and that is just what all cruise lines will give you. Try to see the glass as half full. Or think of it as a taste of Alaska and the need to go back and do a long land based tour of the greatest American frontier .

[seasy going]

I'm sorry that your cruise was disrupted by power problems. It's discouraging that such things happen because we have planned, dreamed, looked forward to and spent our hard earned money on a cruise we envisioned as being perfect. Part of the planning process of booking a cruise certainly includes ports of call that we want to visit and when that changes for whatever reason, is disappointing (and scary with complete power failure). The power disruption was certainly not liked by Celebrity either. In my opinion, a letter stating your displeasure along with your positive comments about the crew, food etc. is fine. Perhaps ships should go to dry dock more often to alleviate such problems the older they get and particularly when such problems actually happen. Just a thought you might mention to Celebrity. But, as others have said, such things do happen and normally can't be anticipated, but maybe can be prevented with a more aggressive maintainence program.

[Lois R]

As experienced cruisers are aware, the sea is not a friendly place. If you book a cruise with certain landfalls as a priority, you may sometimes be disappointed. The Infinity has a very bad track record of making its port of calls because of past turbine problems. Other cruise lines miss ports or have to divert elsewhere for various reasons including ailing passengers who have to be airlifted to land side hospitals. Several years ago the Infinity stayed in a SA port several days because of a tragic accident on a shore excursion when a number of passengers were killed. While you suffered minor losses that were inconvenient, you did get what your cruise contract said you would get, and that is just what all cruise lines will give you. Try to see the glass as half full. Or think of it as a taste of Alaska and the need to go back and do a long land based tour of the greatest American frontier .

 

Hi biker:), I realize you are trying to make a point but that accident

in Chile was Millennium, not Infinity. Happened in March 2006.

12 folks were killed:(

[cruzeluver]

While I am sympathetic to the OP, the OBC offered was far more than fair. I have missed ports and experienced delays several times, and the most I have ever received was a return of port fees which isn't much. I feel the compensation was more than adequate.

[GITC]

No itinerary is guaranteed and mechanical issues happen all the time. Look at the bright side, the ship didn't sink. :)

 

Not sure what the OP is hoping to gain from writing a letter unless it's just cathartic but it seems that an unfortunate situation (or two) was handled pretty well by Celebrity.

[teajak]

Do you live in a perfect house,drive a perfect car and nothing you use every breaks? Mechanical problems happen, you were compensated, what more are you expecting?

[CruisingChick]

Wow, I'm so sorry to hear of the problems you encountered on Infinity. All I can say is to document everything and write a letter to the President. I agree you should also mention the good things about your trip as well as the bad. I not sure you will get any sort of compensation for it since you were already compensated on the ship.

 

I have been on cruises before that we have missed ports or have had delays getting in port and therefore our time cut short and have never been given any sort of OBC or compensation.

 

Good luck.

[biker1972]

Lois, I'm sorry. That was the year they switched out the Infinity and Millennium for the SA cruises because they were having so many problems. I was thinking about the itinerary and not the ship they were using.

[80sramfan]

I will try to post a review later in the week when we get home but wanted to ask a quick question about how to handle a situation we encountered on a cruise we just departed..

 

here is the info - Infinity ship to Alaska, June 18 - 25th

problem #1 in Ketchikan there was a problem with the electricial on the bridge (so they said). This caused a 5 hour delay in leaving the port and due to this we missed Tracy Arm. They did, without asking, credit all cabins an OBC of 200.00, 250.00 for suites. The 200.00 was for a party of 2, 3 or 4.... so for a party of 2 this was 100.00 pp and for our family it was 50% of that or 50.00 pp. Nice but we booked the cruise to see glaciers as we were cruising in and didn't see any due to this.

 

problem #2 in Jueanu - while at dinner just after 6pm there was a complete power outage - no electrical power anywhere... alarms went off, emergency doors shut, toilets woudln't flush, no running water anywhere! This lasted for over 2 hours. Very unsafe and sanitary. One announcement about the issue and not real apology from anyone. Nothing done after the power was restored over 2 hours later and we ended up leaving the port 2+ hours late too.

 

I booked Celebrity because I was told it was better than Carnival etc... While the overall impression I have is this is true, the employees in general were great, food delicious etc, I feel the ship we sailed on was falling apart. These two MAJOR issues in my opinion were not acceptable and I feel part of our vacation was ruined...

 

Your thoughts? I will be writing a complaint letter, while also pointing out the good service we received by naming specific employees too....

 

stuff happens. You don't have a vailid complaint of any type

[eandj]

booked the cruise to see glaciers as we were cruising in and didn't see any due to this.

problem #2 in Jueanu - while at dinner just after 6pm there was a complete power outage - no electrical power anywhere... alarms went off, emergency doors shut, toilets woudln't flush, no running water anywhere! This lasted for over 2 hours. Very unsafe and sanitary. One announcement about the issue and not real apology from anyone. Nothing done after the power was restored over 2 hours later and we ended up leaving the port 2+ hours late too.

 

I booked Celebrity because I was told it was better than Carnival etc... While the overall impression I have is this is true, the employees in general were great, food delicious etc, I feel the ship we sailed on was falling apart. These two MAJOR issues in my opinion were not acceptable and I feel part of our vacation was ruined...

 

Your thoughts? I will be writing a complaint letter, while also pointing out the good service we received by naming specific employees too....

 

Experienced cruisers know that many things including mother nature, ship mechanics, social unrest etc. can affect stops on the itinerary. Disappointment, sure. But you were compensated. Not much more can be done. X can't sail you back for the day.

Losing electricity for two hours? Not that big a deal. It wasn't two days.:rolleyes: I don't see that as a MAJOR problem as you do.

 

You said you saw that Celebrity was indeed better in food, service and more you didn't mention here, than Carnival. Most would agree it is steps above. Try another X cruise. When things go wrong on a particular cruise, all you can do is write a letter of disappointment. And I hope you DID fill in the questionaire at disembarkation.

 

If you are looking for more in compensation, I doubt you will receive that. That was taken care of while on board.

 

Sorry you missed one of the highlights of the trip.

[TomTN]

Do you live in a perfect house,drive a perfect car and nothing you use every breaks? Mechanical problems happen, you were compensated, what more are you expecting?

 

Hey that is not funny!:rolleyes: honestly I'm in a home with the A/C on the blink, and it is 95 degrees outside(hotter in here) and 95% humidity. I drive a Toyota too, and everyone knows they are perfect.;)

[wvufan]

We have been on many cruises. I don't think that any went as planned. Missed ports of call, storms, a case or two of the pods, norovirus (personally), and so on. Those sort of things are simply the nature of the beast. Yet, we had a fantastic time on each cruise, regardless of the unexpected.

 

I agree with others who feel the compensation offered by Celebrity was generous.

 

I am curious why the OP didn't simply take the shuttle to the Mendenhall glacier in Juneau or even a helicopter landing.

 

Some folks seem to roll with the punches easier than others and the same circumstance that would be a minor glitch to some would be a major deal to others. I am not faultiing anyone, but if one is not flexible, then perhaps travel in general and cruising in particular may not be right for them.

 

Ship happens.

 

Happy sails to you

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl

[bplazo]

It is disappointing when things go wrong but they gave you some compensation.

[Orator]

The same compensation was given to us when the air conditioning failed on the Century. We also did not ask for compensation, it was just credited to our account. Everyone I spoke to thought that it was more than fair. If I have a complaint when on a ship I go to guest relations and fill out a brief form. The very few times I've done this I've received prompt replies and was completely satisfied. That being said, I don't know in the case of the OP what could have been done that wasn't done. As others have said: "stuff happens", you sometimes just need to look beyond what can't be controlled.

[sasset]

The difference in the original poster's case is that this was a maintenance issue. Unless the ship was struck by lightening or experienced some other force of nature it was Celebrity's responsibility that the ship could not function properly.

[LaurieHoffman]

The difference in the original poster's case is that this was a maintenance issue. Unless the ship was struck by lightening or experienced some other force of nature it was Celebrity's responsibility that the ship could not function properly.

 

That was my real question. I am flexiable, and understand fully that ports are subject to weather conditions. I know the contract says we may miss a port or be rescheduled due to weather but this was not weather, this was the ship maintence issues.

 

We did not take a glacier trip as all our excursions were prebooked and prepaid, we could not cancel. Having been on 10 cruises this has never happened to us and we were not happy with how they handled the power outage - maybe we expected more but not having running water or flushing toilets was unhealthy and gross.

 

Would we sail again, 100% for sure, would it be on Celebrity, maybe but I think our next trip will be another cruise line....

 

I will document our issues in a letter, didn't really want/need financial compensation but did need to vent.....

[Orator]

The OP sounds like the type of person Celebrity would really want to cultivate. I hope that all of her concerns are addressed in a timely and satisfactory manner. In granting an unasked for OBC X took responsibility for some of the mechanical problems. Interested to know how they respond. Keep us posted.

[Gonzo70]

That I know the contract says we may miss a port or be rescheduled due to weather but this was not weather, this was the ship maintence issues.

 

Actually the contract states that they can drop a port of call at any time, for any reason (see page three): http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/pdf/cruise_ticket_contract/Celebrity_04_23_08.pdf

 

I have to agree with most of the others. While I am sorry you encountered some problems on your cruise, it appears as though Celebrity was generous with the compensation (they did not have to provide any) and did what they could to repair the problems. This could have occurred on any cruise line and it is unlikely that other cruise lines would have done more/handled it better. Hopefully your next cruise will be better.

[Lois R]

Lois, I'm sorry. That was the year they switched out the Infinity and Millennium for the SA cruises because they were having so many problems. I was thinking about the itinerary and not the ship they were using.

 

No need to apologize:)