Back home. Great cruise but let down on other issues.

[HappyChappy]

Firstly the cruise itself was amazing.

A fantastic experience and this is my daily report from it.

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1597058

 

But this is the downside of our trip.

 

We wanted to stay in Downtown or Central Miami. Before and after out cruise. Remember this fact.

The guy who took our booking from us at the Scottish Cruise show last October told us that the Airport is around a 5 minute & $15 taxi ride. Well that was proved to be a lot of bull. Being at the cruise show and not having any internet access handy when we were at the point of booking we took him at his word. Lesson learned. Know list of hotels in area you want them to book for you. As it turns out the airport was 15 to 20 minutes away and a minimum £33 fare.

 

We had also booked the Eden Roc Rennaisance Hotel which is close to Lincoln Road and South Beach which is where we wanted to be. In Miami.

 

On the Thursday afternoon (2 days before we were due to arrive) we were advised that the Eden Roc had been overbooked and we had been moved to the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood. Around 15 miles North from where we wanted to be. That was it. Game over you are going there.

Its a nice hotel. But its not where we wanted to be. It is around $65 between the 2 in a taxi. Celebrity gave us $150 on board credit. Big wow!!! They completely ruined the last 3 days of our trip by not doing more to get us a hotel in the Miami area. They told us they have emailed the Celebrity TA department and its in their hands.

Phillip was the Guest Relations manager on board and was sympathetic to our situation but he was as much use a chocolate watch.

He is English and I asked him if he booked a hotel in Kensington, Central London would he accept a hotel in Tottenham North London. His exact words were 'I can't comment on that' ***?????

I also asked when they were confirming our reservation in the WD to ask if we can we have breakfast and a late check out. They done neither.

There was no request made to the Westin Diplomat as I asked to speak to the reservations manager.

 

I refuse to believe for 1 minute that there were no hotel rooms of any standard available in Miami as we were told. The closest they could get us to Miami was 15 miles away.

 

Wee lesson learned. Make sure you know the location of the hotels beforehand and if possible ensure you cannot be bumped out the room.

It didnt completely spoil our holiday but it certainly put a dampener on it.

 

Anyway I will be writing to Celebrity to see what they say.

[NewSalt]

I'm very sorry your enjoyable vacation was spoiled by the hotel problems you encountered.

 

But I must say that I found your "useful as a chocolate watch" comment to be the best simile I've heard in years.

[garycarla]

That stinks.

 

And that is exactly why I avoid booking hotels, transfers, etc through a cruiseline/agent. I prefer to do that myself so I know what is up, and if there is a problem, they do not just refer me back to some booking agent who is not available.

[texmex.ferr]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, we thoroughly enjoyed your blog updates as the week went by, but I think I'd be like you re the problems with your hotel on your return. It must be an American thing where they can turf people out of hotel rooms because the hotels overbook. I remember this happened to us a number of years ago when we had a trip to New York (a promotion I got through a Glasgow hotel chain for being their 500th paying customer), we arrived at the hotel that had been booked for us, after waiting what seemed an age to be told by the Manager, that there was a problem, the room we were supposed to be booked into, had not been vacated, and we could not use it until the following day, but they had phoned another hotel to accommodate us. (we were only there for 4 nights). We were supplied with a taxi to and from the rearranged hotel, but it did spoil the trip for us.

 

Now where are the photys!!!!! lol

[anonymousegirl]

I'm sure there were many hotels that would have fit your requirements in Miami. Problem is Celebrity doesn't have a contract with them, except the one that was overbooked. I always arrange my own pre and post hotels. It is always cheaper and I have more control and choice.

[swigso]

I'm very sorry your enjoyable vacation was spoiled by the hotel problems you encountered.

 

But I must say that I found your "useful as a chocolate watch" comment to be the best simile I've heard in years.

 

My grandad used the phrase "as useful as a chocolate fire guard ":)

[swigso]

Lesson learned. Know list of hotels in area you want them to book for you. As it turns out the airport was 15 to 20 minutes away and a minimum £33 fare

 

For future info

There is a bus from the airport to Downtown Miami takes about 20 minutes,

The fare is $2.50 per person.

We stayed at the Sheraton, used their airport shuttle and took the bus

To Lincoln road.

We then got a taxi back to the hotel .

[PathfinderEss]

Sorry about your hotel problem but glad you had a good cruise.

[NYDee]

Not so sure it is an American thing. We were bumped in London about 10 years ago. However, we went to the hotel we booked before we knew we were bumped. My husband had just had a cast removed for a broken ankle. His leg was badly swollen from the flight and all he wanted was to lie down with his leg up. It was another 2 hours before we got to a hotel.

[fishycomics]

Blame the person you booked not celebrity

 

Damage is done write to the companies get something done about it

 

As long as the main objective was done you cannot bitch and moan. It sure sucks when upgrades were n/a Hollywood and

Iami is no where close. Carmine drive the fountain blue or any hotel on the strip

 

We been there done that today you have google and a smartphone yesteryear a paper and stamp

Pick the phone up and talk vs some onboard person who is. It located in area

[uktog]

Sorry to hear of your hotel hassles, but glad you enjoyed your cruise

I did like your blog, wonder how well it stood up to translation :)

I assume as ever, there was no Irn Bru on board ;)

[TIMAS]

Know where you want to go before blaming a cruise line. Miami and Miami Beach are not the same.

[Kellie Poodle]

The CC boards are fabulous. I've gotten good information about pre-cruise hotels from the ports of call boards many times.

 

I take the recommendations and "vet" them through 'Trip Adviser' and other travel boards. I have never been disappointed.

 

Cruise Critic is the most powerful tool in the world for cruisers. There is so much excellent information, it never ceases to amaze me.

[h20cruzer]

Sorry about your hotel situation. No matter where I travel I make my own hotel reservations with the hotel directly. If I really dont care about a specific hotel I will sometimes use Priceline.

I believe the reason they said they were all full is that Celebrity only has contracts with some hotels.

I have found if I have control over the hotels I have less problems.

Maybe next time it will be better.

Glad you had a good cruise though.

[HappyChappy]

Know where you want to go before blaming a cruise line. Miami and Miami Beach are not the same.

 

You are being pedantic. Either Miami or Miami beach would have been acceptable. Hollywood is not in Miami. It's 15 miles away.

[rob12782]

That's a very unfortunate situation, but glad you had a great cruise. Just to put in my two cents, I got married in Miami last year at the end of March and had this same issue with the hotel rooms for our guests. The problem is that they have Ultra Music festival and the sony ericcson tennis tournament going on during this time and easily have over 100,000 people in the downtown area. When you said you refused to believe there was nothing available, I truly think that was the case being that these events were again in town. I don't agree that they should have overbooked the hotels, but this is common practice and unfortunately it affects people when these huge events arrive. Just thought I'd give you some insight

[biker1972]

An assumption: By booking a package at the Scottish Cruise Show, you got a better price. I always hate being put in the position of having to make a decision about a large purchase because "the deal goes away " in just a few hours. Your experience proves that the deal might not be such a good thing except to the person offering the deal.

[Lsimon]

I'm sorry about your situation. Clearly when one expects to be in an area like the heart of Miami Beach where there are beaches, shopping and loads of restaurants within short walking distance it would be totally unacceptable to be even a mile or more further let alone 15 miles.

 

I don't know how things are when booking from the UK but, for future reference, we've always found that from our end the hotels booked through the cruise line are considerably more expensive than even the same hotels booked direct. Also if you book direct you have total control over your reservation.

 

I've never heard of someone on a direct booking being rejected from a hotel in a resort area if they had a confirmed reservation. I suspect your issue had more to do with general bulk/block booking practices of the organization that booked for you than of the hotel itself.

 

The only time I've ever been denied a hotel room due to overbooking has been at business meeting travel and in those few cases the hotel found us a room in a nearby hotel and completely comped that hotel stay so there was no cost to us. In many years of travel this has only happened 2 or 3 times.

[fishycomics]

Hollywood is a great place. Down at scooters you grab a boat ride can travel the coastal hmmm. Nowhere near Miami. Like said blame the travel you were clear we're you

[HappyChappy]

I'm sorry about your situation. Clearly when one expects to be in an area like the heart of Miami Beach where there are beaches, shopping and loads of restaurants within short walking distance it would be totally unacceptable to be even a mile or more further let alone 15 miles.

 

I don't know how things are when booking from the UK but, for future reference, we've always found that from our end the hotels booked through the cruise line are considerably more expensive than even the same hotels booked direct. Also if you book direct you have total control over your reservation.

 

I've never heard of someone on a direct booking being rejected from a hotel in a resort area if they had a confirmed reservation. I suspect your issue had more to do with general bulk/block booking practices of the organization that booked for you than of the hotel itself.

 

The only time I've ever been denied a hotel room due to overbooking has been at business meeting travel and in those few cases the hotel found us a room in a nearby hotel and completely comped that hotel stay so there was no cost to us. In many years of travel this has only happened 2 or 3 times.

 

Our whole package was booked through Celebrity Cruises.

Both hotels flights transfers the lot.

I blame Celebrity for backing down and accepting this.

[Lsimon]

Our whole package was booked through Celebrity Cruises.

Both hotels flights transfers the lot.

I blame Celebrity for backing down and accepting this.

I agree - in fact it is more likely that they caused it and not just "accepted" it. I'm guessing they probably had x number of slots reserved at the hotel and booked too many guests for those thinking someone would cancel and if not they'd just put them elsewhere. That sounds more likely than the hotel overbooking itself.

[HappyChappy]

Back home now and cooled down a bit about it.

We will not receive compensation off Celebrity so no point in complaining.

Just make a mental note for future about booking hotels and flights.

 

Only have 1 question about that.

If I book my own flights and and out of any city will Celebrity still do transfers to ship and back to hotel or airport.

I would not expect them to do airport to hotel to ship but maybe 1 transfer each end of the trip would be nice.

[uktog]

Back home now and cooled down a bit about it.

We will not receive compensation off Celebrity so no point in complaining.

Just make a mental note for future about booking hotels and flights.

 

Only have 1 question about that.

If I book my own flights and and out of any city will Celebrity still do transfers to ship and back to hotel or airport.

I would not expect them to do airport to hotel to ship but maybe 1 transfer each end of the trip would be nice.

 

Happy Chappy

No they will not do any transfers

One thing to bear in mind, a lot of the advice you are getting is from non UK travellers and as a UK booker you should not be swayed without fully understanding the one benefit you have with total package booking. None of what I say excuses double booking you had to put up with.

 

In the UK, if you buy the whole package, your whole package is fully protected, so for example if you have another ash cloud and your flights were cancelled or at risk of being cancelled, Celebrity would refund you all the funds due, whereas if you aggregate it yourself you have the hassle of sorting it out with your insurer and will be out of pocket for excesses etc

 

During the ash cloud, direct bookers were able to reschedule to other cruises whereas non direct bookers had to pay out again and carry to cost until (or even if) there insurers paid up

[Suzy Smith]

In the UK, if you buy the whole package, your whole package is fully protected

The protection you get by booking everything with Celebrity is a major factor to bear in mind.

 

We always book the whole package with the cruise line, and we have never had any problems, but we leave it to Celebrity to decide which hotel to put us in. There have always been other couples from our cruise in the same hotel.

 

I wonder if the hotel that you requested is one that Celebrity does not have a contract with and this is why you were switched. I am not making excuses for Celebrity, as it is clearly unacceptable to tell you of a change at the last minute, but when they give an all-inclusive price, they will want to use hotels that give them preferential rates.

[texmex.ferr]

Back home now and cooled down a bit about it.

We will not receive compensation off Celebrity so no point in complaining.

Just make a mental note for future about booking hotels and flights.

 

Only have 1 question about that.

If I book my own flights and and out of any city will Celebrity still do transfers to ship and back to hotel or airport.

I would not expect them to do airport to hotel to ship but maybe 1 transfer each end of the trip would be nice.

If it were me, I would write a letter to Celebrity's UK office detailing how upsetting this was to you and your DW, explaining all of the information, and see what happens, if only for piece of mind.

 

We travelled with Princess cruises last March to Caribbean and I had notified them of my DH birthday whilst on board ship, where the cabin was supposed to get decorated, and he was supposed to get a cake in the dining room, this all went unrecorded whilst we were on our cruise, although like you we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise, but I sent an e-mail to Princess to say that we hadn't had the birthday celebrations, and we ended up with a beautiful hamper filled with champagne, red & white wine and other delicacies to say how sorry the were.

So, you just never know.

 

Good luck

Texmex