century 10/13 cruise cancelled in Nice

[ncLindaB]

We were on the Century sailing immediately before the current.

We had no problems. in fact, we were impressed with how well the ship was handling the last night with the rough seas.

 

Anyway, we have never traveled with a travel agent but this situation has me rethinking this. We live in a rural area without a TA. How would a person go about finding a travel agent online? I defintely wouldn't want to be a faceless email address to this person.

[C 2 C]

Anyway, we have never traveled with a travel agent but this situation has me rethinking this. We live in a rural area without a TA. How would a person go about finding a travel agent online? I defintely wouldn't want to be a faceless email address to this person.

 

We have used different agents over the years. It's just not the fact you have an agent but one that will actually do something besides sell trips. Other than a couple of wonderful examples who happened to be CC members as well there would be many TA's who do not have the expertise in critical moments like this.

What I do know is that many of us have been living in a dream world in which we actually thought that Celebrity, or most cruise lines, would help us when we most need it.

[ocngypz]

This may be the case in the USA but again we have the mix between what an agent or insurance company will do in the USA vs what happens in the UK

 

In the UK your insurer is available 24 x7 but only to give advice regarding what is covered by your claim and to authorise immediate spend (ie if you were in a hospital and doctors needed agreement before they would start - believe me that does happen!). Otherwise you will be told here is what you can claim for, here is the evidence we need and off you go.

 

--------------------

 

Understood. Reference AAAAAdios who posted earlier who had insurance. One call would have probably advised to take the cruiseline offered bus and one night hotel in Barcelona. Booking a one way last minute ticket on an Aer Lingus-US Air combination would have been in the neighborhood of 12-1300 per person.. not the exhorbitant amount they paid to Delta.

 

Once I started to price alternate air out of Nice or Marseille, it became quite evident I needed to get my clients out of France and into a major air gateway. They took the Celebrity bus and one night hotel. Thus, once in Barcelona I had more carriers from which to choose and mitigate the damage to their wallet while at the same time providing them with an alternate vacation to enjoy.

 

As far as keeping passengers on the ship longer, it becomes an insurance liability issue. And it's the liability insurer's call.

[uktog]

Understood Babette

Perhaps then it would have helped if this insurance liability issue had been explained to the passengers it might have helped. I am sure though as in all big incidents like this Celebrity will have a full debrief and whilst it might look like they have not learned from the past, I am sure this is not entirely the case and lessons will again be learned for the benefits of the future cruisers. Hopefully they will get some passenger insights and also insights from TAs like yourself

 

A

[flagger]

Now a third ship has been affected by propulsion problems:

 

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/captain-greybeard/2010/10/third-cruise-ship-is-crocked.html

[Jade13]

That is absolutely not true. You need the PLUS or Interac Logo not Visa or Mastercard.

 

I can only speak of my Bank, BofA, which (at least a year or so ago) only had two different Debit cards for ATMs. One just said "Debit" and the other "Visa" "Debit". The one with the Visa "Logo" was issued to me to use overseas.

[Jade13]

That´s definitely not true.

 

Our German banks do hand out both, PINs starting with a 0 or an 1. I had both and never hand any problems.

 

An ATM card with a VISA or Mastercard logo would be a credit card and no ATM card. Of course you can get money with your credit card using its PIN. I assume he was talking about the MAESTRO logo. That´s the international logo for ATM cards which can be used all over the world to withdraw money.

 

steamboats

 

I haven't used an ATM in Germany. I am only telling you what my Bank told me. Also, this was over a year ago so maybe has changed. I was told that "some banks" will not accept certain numbers.

 

My Bank only had two types of Debit Cards. One just says "Debit" and the other "Visa" "Debit" (but is an ATM debit card). My card has a Visa logo on it but is not attached to my credit card. It was issued by Bank of America.

 

Btw, I just Googled MAESTRO not being familiar with it and it is MasterCard's Debit logo, so you must be using a Debit card issued by MasterCard. According to what I just Googled the cards with the MAESTRO logo are not issued in the US.

[aaadios]

When I attempted to call the insurance company to get help with the cancellation and rebooking..the line was busy..I waited and called again and got a very nice woman who could not help me. She told me a rep would call back.

 

After an hour with no return call, I decided to take things into my own hands and started to make plans for us to return home. While on the line with Delta (51 minutes) I had a call come in from the insurance company. I was afraid to drop the call with Delta (and possibly lose the flight I was trying to book) and transfer over to the insurance co. Whren the call with Delta finished I called the insurance co. and the woman told me to continue with my plans and get receipts for all expenses and submit to company for approval. That still left us with transportation and housing issues, as well as meal expenses.

 

I am calling Delta customer service this am and the insurance company to see what is my next step in the process.

[d4m]

I have two bank debit/ATM cards. Neither are tied to a charge card, but rather are connected to my checking account. One has the Master Card insignia on it & the other is a Visa.

[Jade13]

When I attempted to call the insurance company to get help with the cancellation and rebooking..the line was busy..I waited and called again and got a very nice woman who could not help me. She told me a rep would call back.

 

After an hour with no return call, I decided to take things into my own hands and started to make plans for us to return home. While on the line with Delta (51 minutes) I had a call come in from the insurance company. I was afraid to drop the call with Delta (and possibly lose the flight I was trying to book) and transfer over to the insurance co. Whren the call with Delta finished I called the insurance co. and the woman told me to continue with my plans and get receipts for all expenses and submit to company for approval. That still left us with transportation and housing issues, as well as meal expenses.

 

I am calling Delta customer service this am and the insurance company to see what is my next step in the process.

 

Do you have enough insurance to cover your flights? That is the key with the insurance. Most policy's I have looked at for the interruption coverage are 100% or 150% of the trip costs.

 

If someone paid $1,000 per person for a vacation and flight to return home was $2,500.00, they would not have enough to cover, obviously.

 

That does not stop one from looking to Celebrity to cover any additional expenses not covered by insurance.

[Jade13]

I have two bank debit/ATM cards. Neither are tied to a charge card, but rather are connected to my checking account. One has the Master Card insignia on it & the other is a Visa.

 

Yes, that is what I was trying to explain. My card is attached to my bank account, not a credit card but has the Visa "Logo" or "Insignia".

[Jade13]

I really can't believe that Celebrity did not give passengers the opportunity to use their Choice Air Department to complete the transportation from a Celebrity cruise.

 

I wonder how many people do not have $10,000 "headroom" left on their credit cards for emergencies.

 

I saw your earlier posts and "Choice Air" is just a booking site. Celebrity is just collecting their $25.00 booking fee. But, you are right. If one is using them as TA than they should be able to offer assistance.

[C 2 C]

Can a travel agent get more accurate information from Celebrity than an individual booked direct with Celebrity? In other words are there TAs right now contacting their clients that they may have an issue this weekend? That some passengers should start looking for hotel rooms in anticipation of a late departure or potential flights back home if the cruise is cancelled/postponed.

There are a large number of us booked on Century for the Transatlantic cruise leaving Barcelona a week from today. Century left her anchorage this morning and is now moored at a pier in Marseilles, not moving towards the drydock as we hoped. The strikes in France are getting worse and more widespread.

I know it is futile to call Captain's Club for an update on the likelihood of repairs being made in time.

[Ontario Cruiser]

If you book with Celebrity's Vacation planner do they help you the same way as a TA? I read that effective Oct 6th you only had 60 days to move your booking to a TA. Not sure if that is correct and if it is wouldn't Celebrity Vacation planners have to step up to the plate in these emergency situations?

So sorry to hear of the cancellation and hardship for everybody. We were to go on the cancelled Millie Australia/New Zealand cruise and know how disruptive and up setting this can be.

Hope everybody gets home safely

Ontario Cruiser:confused:

[curiouscat]

Ontario

 

The short answer No... they are in a call center to book your cruise...period. A travel agent that has resources/contacts do more than manage your booking... they help with the logistics of air/hotel/rail etc.

 

That is the difference and in this case the lesson to be learned...For Int'l travel and exotic travel it would be advisable to find yourslef a TA you are comfortable with and who has the connections to handle situations such as this:p

 

For land vacations I always use reputable vendors/tours who have 24 hour assistance while traveling. For cruises I see the level of assistance from the lines are minimal at best and the TA really would play a strong role in aid:eek:

 

CC

 

PS so for anyone who thinks us TA's are dinosaurs...!!!! ?

[steamboats]

I haven't used an ATM in Germany. I am only telling you what my Bank told me. Also, this was over a year ago so maybe has changed. I was told that "some banks" will not accept certain numbers.

 

My Bank only had two types of Debit Cards. One just says "Debit" and the other "Visa" "Debit" (but is an ATM debit card). My card has a Visa logo on it but is not attached to my credit card. It was issued by Bank of America.

 

Btw, I just Googled MAESTRO not being familiar with it and it is MasterCard's Debit logo, so you must be using a Debit card issued by MasterCard. According to what I just Googled the cards with the MAESTRO logo are not issued in the US.

 

I had that PIN starting with "1" years ago. So it definitely hasn´t changed and I never heard anything like this for Europe.

 

O.k., here in Germany only credit cards do have VISA or Mastercard logos. Credit and debit(ATM) cards are strictly separate over here. All ATM cards are issued by the bank you have an account with. The MAESTRO logo has been invented by MasterCard but the ATM cards are not issued by MasterCard.

 

steamboats

[C 2 C]

I contacted my TA this morning about our upcoming Century cruise:

 

Morning Arno,

All passengers that booked with ------ on a back to back were secured on the 10/16 CS. As of this minute everything is scheduled for the 10/25, we have over 200 people booked on it so they will contact first if something is going to change

[flagger]

Just an FYI, not all who were on the back to back were moved over to the Constellation. Maybe a large group was, but many B2B individuals were unable to be accommodated on Connie.

[C 2 C]

Just an FYI, not all who were on the back to back were moved over to the Constellation. Maybe a large group was, but many B2B individuals were unable to be accommodated on Connie.

 

If you were a gambler, what would be your bet on Century being ready for the Transatlantic?.. Just in case I want to hold a Connie booking preemptively..

[CruisinGerman]

Dear friends:

 

By not making a decision yet about whether the next Transatlantic cruise will go forward, Celebrity is setting itself up for even more liability.

 

They are now forewarned of the possibility of the next cruise not going forward, so the longer they take to make a real decision, the more liability they will face, as potential "aggravated" breach of contract.

 

Don't forget the cruise is only a week away and people will start leaving on their pre-cruise stays in the next few days. This time around, by still saying now that the cruise is on when there is a very real possibility of it being cancelled, there will be no question of their liability for airfare, pre-cruise stays, etc., despite what their abusive, unilateral contract might say, and despite the lack of consumer protection laws in the United States.

 

I would suggest passengers leaving in the next few days to request written confirmation from Celebrity that the cruise is still departing. This will help you claim your airfare and pre-cruise arrangements against Celebrity should the cruise end up being cancelled.

 

Kind regards,

 

Gunther and Uta

[DiamondPlusDan]

If you were a gambler, what would be your bet on Century being ready for the Transatlantic?.. Just in case I want to hold a Connie booking preemptively..

 

C 2 C - why don't you ring up the Captains Club after you have put a hold on a particular cabin and see if they can extend the hold? I would think that by the 21st to 22nd of October, they will need to make a public decision about the upcoming Century transatlantic cruise.

[ocngypz]

When I attempted to call the insurance company to get help with the cancellation and rebooking..the line was busy..I waited and called again and got a very nice woman who could not help me. She told me a rep would call back.

 

After an hour with no return call, I decided to take things into my own hands and started to make plans for us to return home. While on the line with Delta (51 minutes) I had a call come in from the insurance company. I was afraid to drop the call with Delta (and possibly lose the flight I was trying to book) and transfer over to the insurance co. Whren the call with Delta finished I called the insurance co. and the woman told me to continue with my plans and get receipts for all expenses and submit to company for approval. That still left us with transportation and housing issues, as well as meal expenses.

 

I am calling Delta customer service this am and the insurance company to see what is my next step in the process.

 

 

Who did you insure your trip through?

[ocngypz]

Can a travel agent get more accurate information from Celebrity than an individual booked direct with Celebrity? In other words are there TAs right now contacting their clients that they may have an issue this weekend? That some passengers should start looking for hotel rooms in anticipation of a late departure or potential flights back home if the cruise is cancelled/postponed.

There are a large number of us booked on Century for the Transatlantic cruise leaving Barcelona a week from today. Century left her anchorage this morning and is now moored at a pier in Marseilles, not moving towards the drydock as we hoped. The strikes in France are getting worse and more widespread.

I know it is futile to call Captain's Club for an update on the likelihood of repairs being made in time.

 

No, not really. Not in cases like this. When decisions are made at the top, it is e-blasted out to the various call centers. I found out about Century's problem from a passenger phone call into the office. It wasn't until some 4 hours later, the call centers were e-blasted.

 

Also, there was not much inventory still available on Connie for affected passengers to switch to.. and it had to be be done onboard the Century.

 

As far as the Connie ta.. there are 6 cabins remaining.

[Project_gal]

If you were a gambler, what would be your bet on Century being ready for the Transatlantic?.. Just in case I want to hold a Connie booking preemptively..

 

Connie's TA has been teetering on full booked for weeks.

 

Sue

[excitedofharpenden]

I haven't used an ATM in Germany. I am only telling you what my Bank told me. Also, this was over a year ago so maybe has changed. I was told that "some banks" will not accept certain numbers.

I think the key thing is your PIN must be 4 digits long to work in Europe.

 

Phil