WARNING - Compare on-board charges to your credit card!!!

[excitedofharpenden]

We must stick together;)

 

Phil

[uktog]

Thanks Phil

Good thinking

And I still say, I am so looking forward to being back (this time in a Celebrity Suite) in September and somewhere in 2006.

I do wonder about the butler now I have reflected, as he did also keep going on about how we had to give him excellent on his feedback card - he was not as good as Karl whom we had on the Century. Lets see who we get on Infinity, but sure is sure, I am trying to get the $220+ back from them - even if they just stick it as credit for my next trip as I somehow do go through that amount in the Martini Bar!

[excitedofharpenden]

as he did also keep going on about how we had to give him excellent on his feedback card

Mmmm, sounds very much like ours too. I guess it must be quite a tough marking system for them on Celebrity.

 

Phil

[oldsilverfox]

I wondered whether a possible solution to the eternal minibar contents problem would be to take a digital photo of the cabin and minibar contents on the first and last days. I know that it still possible to circumvent this but at least you have some form of hard evidence if things if you finish up in a dispute.

On the question of the on board account, Brits should ALWAYS insist that the account is rendered in USD to be subsequently converted by their card issuer, it is marginally advantageous.

[excitedofharpenden]

Brits should ALWAYS insist that the account is rendered in USD to be subsequently converted by their card issuer, it is marginally advantageous.

oldsilverfox, I agree although I have thought about purchasing travellers cheques in advance to take advantage of a good exhange rate. I've always waited though. Sometimes the rate's dropped prior to the cruise, sometimes it's gone up. It seems to even out in the end and I can't help thinking that trying to play the exchange rates as a simple punter is a bit of a mugs game.

 

Phil

[Prewelli]

If you are still having trouble send a registered mail letter to the new VP in Miami-stating all your problems. I too Live in UK and have found that the office here is less than helpful unless you get a very special person. Last time on Celebrity we did not receive all our onboard credits and had to make a trmendous fuss - in particular in repect of a credit for Cirque de Soleil which we paid in advance for and then the whole thing was cancelled!

 

The on board Concierge refused to give us the credit and eventually when I threatened to telephone the VP from his office capitulated and agreed the credit - thereafter every day someone phoned to see if we were happy!

 

You are better to phone Miami and ask to speak to VP direct - the old one was Jack Williams and had a PA who was very helpful - especially after I threatened them with the UK Watchdog programme. I love Celebrity but the admin is not good - especially for Brits and they need to behave better to keep customers.

 

We have never had trouble with extra charging and this time did take dollars to pay as the exchange rate was so good. We are travelling on Galaxy next February and will probably do the same thing again. Had never even envisaged being charged for the robes or towels - they were just remived from cabin the night before disemabarkation.

 

Dont give in - really make a fuss - it pays!

 

Prewelli:cool:

[Tealwave]

The same thing happened to us in December on the Century. We had a TERRIBLE room attendant and we tipped him accordingly. When we arrived home and got our credit card statement it was quite a bit over. It was charges for robes and mini bar. Now - while X was very good about reversing the charge (YAY for them) I wonder if the attendant ever gets a slap on the wrist for their actions???

[SusieV]

Asking for the minibar to be emptied doesn't always help- we did request this and used the minibar for our own items. We still got charged!

[geoherb]

I asked our cabin steward to empty the mini bar the first day of our cruise. He said we could store the items in the space above the refrigerator portion. On the last night of the cruise, he put them back in the refrigerator and locked it. He put our last two cans of Coke in the ice bucket with ice to keep them cold.

[wtevrfltsurbt]

That is the reason I always have a "cash" account with the bank onboard! As far as the room is concerned, once I locate the ship stationary in the cabin I write a short statement saying that I have requested the attendant to remove the following items from the cabin: Minibar contents, Beach Towels, Robes. I then date it, sign it, and when the attendant has removed all the items I have HIM sign it! That way there can be no "Phantom" charges.

Asking for the minibar to be emptied doesn't always help- we did request this and used the minibar for our own items. We still got charged!

[BigDogMom]

I seem to recall on our Galaxy cruise last year that the mini bar shelves were pressure sensitive. If you pick something up just to look or move it from it's spot, it's automatically charged. I found this same thing on RCCL's Mariner and Explorer. Are the older mini bars, on the older ships, being replaced with these new auto charge ones? I have seen these in hotels also. I can't speak for the bathrobes.

[tbelian]

I seem to recall on our Galaxy cruise last year that the mini bar shelves were pressure sensitive. If you pick something up just to look or move it from it's spot, it's automatically charged.

 

This is a myth, at least in relation to Celebrity C-class.

[rjg41]

.....on the other hand do you know how many robes, mini-bar items, and towels are intentionally removed from the ship on the last day by passengers? On our recent cruise, CD, Simon Weir, mentioned some astonishing numbers.

 

NOT suggesting anyone here did it, but, many play the game, "It was all there when we left". In addition some passengers have been known to go into already vacated rooms and remove the items before the cabin stewards get a chance to gather them up. Of course, the mini-bar will usually already be locked.

 

On the other hand, yes, check you bill carefully and verify it against the credit card charges when you get home. Real mistakes do get made.

[Lsimon]

I just compared our bill from the Summit - (disembarked on 4/9/06) after getting a final bill morning of disembarkation day. Credit card charge was exactly $50 too high. Customer service indicated it was a charge on the 8th from the Emporium (shops) that was processed late. Not possible, as all our emporium charges are on bill and last was a couple days before end of cruise. They said they'd give us a credit for the $50, not too much discussion required.

[STXCruisers]

We were on Mercury March 27, 2006. A couple of nights before the end of the cruise, DH (an accountant) checked the charges on the TV. (He also keeps all the receipts.)

 

There was a charge of $94.xx at the Sky Bar for that very evening, which we had not made. Incidentally, we were at the show. We also had some Sky Bar charges for around $4 which we could not account for. As it turns out, the $4 charges were for bottled water we purchased in the spa. It seems Spa charges are put through the Sky Bar. Why??? The $94 charge was definitely not ours. Even though it was late in the evening, DH went to GR and complained. He was told that they would look into it in the morning. He told them that in the morning was not soon enough and he expected them to pull the tickets that night while those on duty in the Sky Bar might still remember. They agreed they would check into it that night. Then DH personally went to the Sky Bar and spoke to the person in charge, who was just closing down. He refused to go through his tickets.

 

At any rate, the charge was removed the next morning. No explanation. I'm still wondering from whence it came?

[mkringen]

How soon do the charges appear? We got off the Mercury on Monday and our cc is not charged yet.

 

Michelle in SoCal

Mercery 4/7/06

[marinco]

We sailed on Galaxy from Galveston 10 March 2005 and were very conscious about retaining our receipts for all on-board transactions. The morning of disembarkation (21 March), a detailed billing was posted to our cabin door and we matched receipts to charges one-for-one without any disputes. Now my credit card is posted $67 higher than the detailed billing, so I inquired with Celebrity Customer Service and they advise that charge was for one bath robe and one beach towel removed from our cabin!

We NEVER utilized these items in our stateroom and were very careful to insure they were visible to the cabin steward when we vacated the cabin on the disembarkation morning.

During our sailing, we made several complaints about our cabin steward to Guest Relations and reflected our disappointment directly with him verbally and in our gratuity. With this charge for the robe and towel, it certainly makes me wonder if the $67 charge was our "payback" from the cabin

steward or perhaps an honest mixup by Guest Relations confusing our cabin with another!! :confused: :confused:

After much discussion with Celebrity Customer Service, they decided to credit my credit card for the $67. None the less, keep all your on-board receipts, check your detail billing before leaving the ship and finalize it all with comparing the detail billing to the actual charge on your credit card!!!

 

 

 

 

A good way to make sure your account is current is to view it everyday, especially if you have made a number of large transactions. It is better to online (through the TV) and get your account for review then wait until th end of the cruise when everyone is trying to reconcile their accounts.

[Lsimon]

A good way to make sure your account is current is to view it everyday, especially if you have made a number of large transactions. It is better to online (through the TV) and get your account for review then wait until th end of the cruise when everyone is trying to reconcile their accounts.

 

I think the real issue here is charges to your account after the cruise ends, as opposed to incorrect charges during the course of the cruise. Although the latter is occasionally a problem, the rate of occurrence of the former - especially in terms of even dollar charges, seems to be alarmingly high.

[95glide]

:eek: When we got back from our February Mercury cruise, I noticed on my bank statement that we were charged more for our onboard expense account than the statement we got on the last day of the cruise. I called Celebrity's toll-free number and asked them about it. The amount added up to the items in the mini-bar in our cabin. We had our cabin steward remove these items. Celebrity explained that after we left the ship that the steward's assistant probably saw that the items were missing and charged us for them. (Who knows?) Anyway, the person I spoke with promply issued a refund to my checking account.:confused: