Passages and deposits question

[trk_koa]

Perhaps the knowledgeable folks can help me make sure I am doing this right. Here's the background...

 

I bought a Passages certificate on Infinity in March. DH & I like to get away in September so I booked a balcony 2C (via phone to X) Infinity Alaska for September 2012. The price wasn't that great but not too bad. Added DH's deposit so we are in now for $200.

 

Yesterday we decided we'd rather do the Century wine cruise and see that the veranda category is more expensive than concierge or category NS Century suite. Never done a suite before so opt for the NS. At first the rep at X says this requires double deposit, then he puts me on hold and comes back and says he is wrong and my current deposit is fine since NS is not considered a "deluxe" suite category.

 

So I get the booking confirmation and it says the following:

North American bookings will require a 200% deposit of standard deposit amount for deluxe suite categories. This amount is not reflected in the total deposit requirement

listed above.

Deposit of $900.00 is due by 31 OCT 2011,5:00 PM EST. Final Payment is due by 12 JUL 2012, 5:00 PM EST

 

So

1) Was he incorrect that the passages deposit is sufficient for category NS?

2) Do I just need to add $700 to the deposit and we're good until July?

 

Mahalo!

[ghstudio]

A suite is a suite.....Celebrity only has deluxe suites, after all who would want a suite that wasn't deluxe.

 

Once again you have proven that if you call celebrity three times with a question or wanting to understand their policy, you will get at least four answers.

[Lsimon]

...So I get the booking confirmation and it says the following:

 

North American bookings will require a 200% deposit of standard deposit amount for deluxe suite categories. This amount is not reflected in the total deposit requirement

listed above.

Deposit of $900.00 is due by 31 OCT 2011,5:00 PM EST. Final Payment is due by 12 JUL 2012, 5:00 PM EST

 

So

1) Was he incorrect that the passages deposit is sufficient for category NS?

2) Do I just need to add $700 to the deposit and we're good until July?

 

Mahalo!

 

We've had the same language on all the booking forms I've seen for standard cabins (not suites) so there is no special meaning to it on your form regardless as to whether you have a suite or not. Based on that alone I'd have no issue with the statement that your deposit due is $900. However, I would be bothered by the fact that your form says $900 is due when you've already paid $200 - I would expect it to say $700. Unfortunately your only option on this is to call celebrity and ask them to confirm what is due when. Either that or transfer everything to a TA who will do all the work for you.

[elena7seas]

We've had the same language on all the booking forms I've seen for standard cabins (not suites) so there is no special meaning to it on your form regardless as to whether you have a suite or not. Based on that alone I'd have no issue with the statement that your deposit due is $900. However, I would be bothered by the fact that your form says $900 is due when you've already paid $200 - I would expect it to say $700. Unfortunately your only option on this is to call celebrity and ask them to confirm what is due when. Either that or transfer everything to a TA who will do all the work for you.

 

I currently have two Celebrity cruises booked with Passages Certificates. I just checked, and each of my confirmations say the same thing that is noted by the OP. The confirmations say that $900 is due, and the "amount paid" shows as $200.00. Here is the line on my Booking Confirmation for my February 2013 cruise:

 

Deposit of $900.00 is due by 04 MAY 2011,5:00pm EST. Final Payment is due by 09 DEC 2012, 5:00pm EST

When booking, I double-checked each time with different Celebrity reps, and each time was told that my $200.00 was sufficient.

 

I usually book with Passages Certificates, and what the OP has posted is consistent with my past experience.

 

The OP might consider calling in to Celebrity and confirming that the Passages Certificate is all that is required in terms of deposit. It might be comforting for the OP to hear it again. :)

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We booked a suite on Century while on board Equinox. We only needed the $200 deposit for the suite, not $900. When we booked an Alaska cruise with a passage certificate we did not need an additional deposit despite the fact that the confirmation from Celebrity stated an amount above $200 was due.

 

Mary Lou

[trk_koa]

I talked to a Captain's Club rep yesterday and she confirmed that my $200 deposit from the passages certificate is all that is required. What I gleaned from our conversation is that their booking receipt system doesn't handle the passages deposits correctly most of the time.

 

She also fixed my receipt to show the $200 OBC. It had said $100 OBC since the first sailing I had it booked under was for 7 days and we have now switched to 10 days.

 

Thanks for everyone's insight.