Celebrity Passages NEVER Again!!!

[Lois R]

Was unable to use passages cetificate because I could not transfer to my TA, was beynd 60 days so I simply asked for my money back which Celebrity cheerfully did. No passages certs for me too restrictive

 

Really? After using passages many, many times I have always read

they are NON-refundable. They must have changed that policy?

Anyone else know?

[Sheffie]

Misunderstanding do happen

We book a future cruise for RCL and we believed we could use it also on Celebrity ( book it before we ever did a cruise on Celebrity)

Cannot use on Celebrity and really do not want to do RCL :(

 

One thing we are Canadians, so we can transfer them to someone else

 

Our maybe take the grand kids on a RCL

 

I used our RCI future cruise booking on our upcoming Celebrity cruise.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Sheffie

[Ex-Airbalancer]

I used our RCI future cruise booking on our upcoming Celebrity cruise.

 

Interesting , because I tried last on our Greek island cruise on Celebrity and they said no

 

Could they have change it

[Sheffie]

Interesting , because I tried last on our Greek island cruise on Celebrity and they said no

 

Could they have change it

 

Things are forever changing. Maybe I got lucky?

[reefisher]

On the possibility that this thread is not closed, I would like to say that on this last Friday 2/8 I filled out the Passages offer onboard the Reflection as we were returning from a 7day. Having had trouble before with Celebrity's penchant for being obscure about restrictions, and all the trouble one has to go through and the hoops one must jump through to get what you thought was totally allowed. I decided to re-read very carefully the promotion/application sheet before dropping it of. Most troubling was the statement,"combinable with most offers".

I turned to my wife and said "you know you just don't know where you stand on these deals with Celebrity. I don't think it is worth the potential hassle", then ripped up the application and tossed it.

[reefisher]

follow up

[elena7seas]

Really? After using passages many, many times I have always read

they are NON-refundable. They must have changed that policy?

Anyone else know?

 

Hi Lois:

 

I think the terms of the Passages have said "non-refundable" for some time, but I have read on these boards that, from time to time, people have had their Passages deposits refunded. I don't know if that was a function of the individual Celebrity booking agent, or whether the passenger was very upset and Celebrity just gave them their money back. I do know that Celebrity does work hard to keep the client happy, moreso than most companies I have ever had to deal with.

 

I don't thing the general policy has changed though.

[Lois R]

Hi Lois:

 

I think the terms of the Passages have said "non-refundable" for some time, but I have read on these boards that, from time to time, people have had their Passages deposits refunded. I don't know if that was a function of the individual Celebrity booking agent, or whether the passenger was very upset and Celebrity just gave them their money back. I do know that Celebrity does work hard to keep the client happy, moreso than most companies I have ever had to deal with.

 

I don't thing the general policy has changed though.

 

Oh..ok, thanks:).....guess I always use mine;) and never had

any issues with them.

[varoo]

Misunderstanding do happen

We book a future cruise for RCL and we believed we could use it also on Celebrity ( book it before we ever did a cruise on Celebrity)

Cannot use on Celebrity and really do not want to do RCL :(

We were told that Royal Carribibean NextCruise certificates can only be used for Royal Carribbean cruises and Celebrity Passages can only be used for Celebrity cruises, no matter which cruise line you are on when you purchase them.

 

Just looking at a NextCruise certificate and it says "A NextCruise account is not valid on any other cruise line, including any other affiliates of Royal Caribbean International"

 

Maybe they just made exceptions for the people who say they were able to cross cruise lines with them.

 

Edited February 11, 2013 by varoo

[adamtennis]

I just wanted to send all of you a quick follow-up to my original post regarding the difficulties I encountered using my Celebrity passages certificate. After contacting a number of TA's (including Celebrity agents), I was able to get a really good deal on an upcoming cruise on Celebrity's Silhouette.

 

As I feared, my passages certificate was not combinable with the rate I booked. However, I've allowed my initial frustration to subside and decided to forgo using the passages deposit. After getting all of your great feedback, I know that I can potentially use it in the future (and if necessary, I will simply use the deposit I already paid on a future cruise). So, I'm going to put my passages certificate back into its' folder with the hopes of finding an opportunity to use it in the future.

 

I want to thank all of you again for your help :)

 

Adam

[dln929]

I just wanted to send all of you a quick follow-up to my original post regarding the difficulties I encountered using my Celebrity passages certificate. After contacting a number of TA's (including Celebrity agents), I was able to get a really good deal on an upcoming cruise on Celebrity's Silhouette.

 

As I feared, my passages certificate was not combinable with the rate I booked. However, I've allowed my initial frustration to subside and decided to forgo using the passages deposit. After getting all of your great feedback, I know that I can potentially use it in the future (and if necessary, I will simply use the deposit I already paid on a future cruise). So, I'm going to put my passages certificate back into its' folder with the hopes of finding an opportunity to use it in the future.

 

I want to thank all of you again for your help :)

 

Adam

Adam, that's really sweet of you to come back and wind up the storyline. I"m guessing you like Celebrity enough to book another cruise using your certificate. I do too, which is why having two certs languishing in my safe box doesn't cause me too much lost sleep. ;)

[PBPirate15]

Think on it, or drink on it LOL

Edited February 12, 2013 by PBPirate15

[adamtennis]

@ Deirdre - you are quite welcome. And yes, we enjoy Celebrity ships a lot. We are very partial to both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean - having sailed both lines quite a bit. I'm just going to hope we can find a great combinable rate at some point in the future - and if not, at least I now know I can use my initial deposit and simply forgo the OBC.

 

For now, I will put my energy into looking forward to sailing on Silhouette in a couple of weeks :) Having sailed on Solstice and having thoroughly enjoyed the S-class ships in the past, I'm sure it will be a great cruise.

 

Warm regards, and many, many thanks!

 

Adam

[wendydarling]

CELEBRITY PASSAGES CERTIFICATES are wonderful...however, if you try and use them with the current 1-2-3 GO promotion, they will NOT allow you to get the ONBOARD CREDIT which you would normally receive from this...

 

However, 1-2-3 GO is such a wonderful promotion, especially if you are planning to sail Europe, that you are better off NOT using the PASSAGES CERTICATE......save it for the next time you cruise....

 

And....the individuals onboard selling these things are NOT really trained effectively and do a terrible job explaining....which is really a shame...

wd

[mvlulu]

I have had issues with a Passages certificate as well. I bought one on a cruise in 2009. Cruised back to back in 2011 and just took another cruise in 2013 and the certificate was never applied to my account on any of these cruises. Celebrity blamed it on my travel agent, the travel agent blamed it on Celebrity, etc. After boarding our 2011 cruise and seeing that the Passages certificate wasn't applied to our account, I talked to the cruise agent on board who gave us a Friends & Family Certificate to compensate for the Passages certificate not being applied. That certificate was supposed to give our original Passages credit to any other people we booked with on our next cruise. We happened to be traveling with nine other people in 2013, tried to use the F & F certificate and once again, got nothing. I was so disappointed. I wrote the CEO a letter detailing our experience and he had someone call me. Eventually, I was told that I was only entitled to the matching credit on the cabins that I booked at one time (3) and so they would give us an onboard credit of $300 for our NEXT cruise as well as our original $100 Passages Certificate amount. That is not what my paperwork said. Long story short, for a relatively small amount of money, they have really angered a bunch of Celebrity cruisers. Who knows if that onboard credit will ever appear the next time we cruise? And if I die before I cruise again, I guess I'm just screwed.

[Christine Frances]

I think a lot of the confusion is that people think it can be applied to a booking they have made. The Passages Certificate has to be used to book a cruise, it can't be "applied" to a previously booked cruise. I am stressing right now with these new itineraries coming out and I don't have on in my "back pocket"!! For sure we will be picking up a couple more in June:D

[jagoffee]

I have had issues with a Passages certificate as well. I bought one on a cruise in 2009. Cruised back to back in 2011 and just took another cruise in 2013 and the certificate was never applied to my account on any of these cruises. Celebrity blamed it on my travel agent, the travel agent blamed it on Celebrity, etc. After boarding our 2011 cruise and seeing that the Passages certificate wasn't applied to our account, I talked to the cruise agent on board who gave us a Friends & Family Certificate to compensate for the Passages certificate not being applied. That certificate was supposed to give our original Passages credit to any other people we booked with on our next cruise. We happened to be traveling with nine other people in 2013, tried to use the F & F certificate and once again, got nothing. I was so disappointed. I wrote the CEO a letter detailing our experience and he had someone call me. Eventually, I was told that I was only entitled to the matching credit on the cabins that I booked at one time (3) and so they would give us an onboard credit of $300 for our NEXT cruise as well as our original $100 Passages Certificate amount. That is not what my paperwork said. Long story short, for a relatively small amount of money, they have really angered a bunch of Celebrity cruisers. Who knows if that onboard credit will ever appear the next time we cruise? And if I die before I cruise again, I guess I'm just screwed.

 

I am wondering how you would not know when you made your deposit? That is how I know it has been applied, I use the Passage as my deposit. Or were all your bookings after final payment thus it was difficult to tell? I would have thought that even if it was after final payment than the remaining balance would have been reduced by each Passage applied. It appears that your TA did not apply the Passages to your booking. I am not really sure how this could be a problem on Celebrity's end unless you were booking direct and the Celebrity phone agent did not apply the Passage.

 

The bottom line is that it has always been clear to me on the invoice if the Passage was applied way before the actual cruise. The only thing that I need to monitor is the OBC on my account when on board, but not whether it has been applied.

Edited March 28, 2013 by jagoffee

[royalcruz]

I've never had a problem using a Future Cruise with a senior or state resident discount. The last one I purchased in 12/2011 was just used in December to book a cruise for last week with a FL resident discount...no problems. I just bought another open Future Cruise last week and I hope the policy hasn't changed.

[fouti123]

Wow!!! I just got off the phone with a Celebrity agent and I am both frustrated and amazed! To be fair, I had absolutely no idea how the Celebrity Passages account worked before I bought it. I should have done more research! And, I definitely was not FULLY informed by the Celebrity agent who sold me on the idea during a previous cruise (again, my bad for not knowing). If I knew then what I know now, I never would have given Celebrity a $100 deposit towards a future cruise. I honestly feel as if I threw $100 in the garbage!

 

In an effort to understand my dilemma, it may be helpful to know that I live in the south Florida area and I have the ability to be somewhat flexible in my vacation plans. Consequently, I have the ability to choose cruises based on getting a special deal, promotion, rate, etc. As I have recently found out the hard way, I cannot use my passages account with any special rate or promotion.

 

At this point, I don't even care if I don't get the OBC. I even asked the agent if I could simply use my $100 deposit that I've already paid for. He said NO! Really??? I don't think I'm asking for anything unreasonable. I already paid Celebrity $100 - so I'm not asking for anything I didn't pay for (Celebrity can keep the OBC that is typically assigned to the passages account). But alas, it is not to be!

 

So, for all of you who may be considering booking a Celebrity Passages during your next cruise, please read ALL of the fine print and ask the agents LOTS of questions before giving them any money. Don't make the same mistake that I made!

 

Please pardon my frustration - but I'm incredibly pissed off (and before you flame this response - please know that I am pissed off at myself more than anyone else). While it may not help me get my $100 back, if my experience can keep someone else from making the same mistake - that may be worth something :)

 

Adam

I am just as frustrated as you are with Celebrity Passages. It should have nothing to do with other special offers. Most cruises that anyone books has a special offer. It is disgraceful. I have tried to use it twice to no avail.

Very shady practice! They just took our money and made a nice profit.

[jagoffee]

I am just as frustrated as you are with Celebrity Passages. It should have nothing to do with other special offers. Most cruises that anyone books has a special offer. It is disgraceful. I have tried to use it twice to no avail.

Very shady practice! They just took our money and made a nice profit.

 

I share your frustration with the significant restrictions on the Passages, but I would not say that Celebrity makes a nice profit unless you never use it. Next time I just might use it has the deposit without the OBC as I have read that it is possible. I beleive the issue is really with the OBC associated with the Passage.

[Iamcruzin]

One thing to be aware of: if you book a cruise using a Passages certificate, do NOT cancel the cruise. If you do, you lose your $100. Rather, if you find yourself unable to take the booked cruise, move the booking to another cruise, keeping the same booking number (which is the Passages certificate number). You can do this indefinitely until you're able to book a cruise you can take.

 

Hope you find this information useful.

 

This information was helpful as it gives me another reason not to purchase them. Princess has a much better program and you can combine it with any promotion and add shareholder OBC, Military OBC, TA OBC and Princess credit card OBC. The deposit is also refundable. I would never purchase a future cruise certificate from Celebrity or Royal Caribbean.

[Feelin' Nauti']

This information was helpful as it gives me another reason not to purchase them. Princess has a much better program and you can combine it with any promotion and add shareholder OBC, Military OBC, TA OBC and Princess credit card OBC. The deposit is also refundable. I would never purchase a future cruise certificate from Celebrity or Royal Caribbean.

Only thing with Princess's is that you have to use it within four years. Celebrity's never expires.

[kkorman]

Wow!!! I just got off the phone with a Celebrity agent and I am both frustrated and amazed! To be fair, I had absolutely no idea how the Celebrity Passages account worked before I bought it. I should have done more research! And, I definitely was not FULLY informed by the Celebrity agent who sold me on the idea during a previous cruise (again, my bad for not knowing). If I knew then what I know now, I never would have given Celebrity a $100 deposit towards a future cruise. I honestly feel as if I threw $100 in the garbage!

 

In an effort to understand my dilemma, it may be helpful to know that I live in the south Florida area and I have the ability to be somewhat flexible in my vacation plans. Consequently, I have the ability to choose cruises based on getting a special deal, promotion, rate, etc. As I have recently found out the hard way, I cannot use my passages account with any special rate or promotion.

 

At this point, I don't even care if I don't get the OBC. I even asked the agent if I could simply use my $100 deposit that I've already paid for. He said NO! Really??? I don't think I'm asking for anything unreasonable. I already paid Celebrity $100 - so I'm not asking for anything I didn't pay for (Celebrity can keep the OBC that is typically assigned to the passages account). But alas, it is not to be!

 

So, for all of you who may be considering booking a Celebrity Passages during your next cruise, please read ALL of the fine print and ask the agents LOTS of questions before giving them any money. Don't make the same mistake that I made!

 

Please pardon my frustration - but I'm incredibly pissed off (and before you flame this response - please know that I am pissed off at myself more than anyone else). While it may not help me get my $100 back, if my experience can keep someone else from making the same mistake - that may be worth something :)

 

Adam

 

I have not had any issue using the face value of the FCC when the promo is better. It worke for pick your perk and gift card promo. Sure you lose the OBC and ave to pay full deposit, but you still get the 100$.

[A Sixth?]

Only thing with Princess's is that you have to use it within four years. Celebrity's never expires.

 

But you can ask for your deposit back anytime you want and it'll be refunded. I've done this no problem a few times before.

Edited September 2, 2013 by A Sixth?

[royalcruz]

I've never had a problem using a Future Cruise with a senior or state resident discount. The last one I purchased in 12/2011 was just used in December to book a cruise for last week with a FL resident discount...no problems. I just bought another open Future Cruise last week and I hope the policy hasn't changed.

Update: I was able to use the Passages certificate that I purchased this March to book a European cruise in June for next June 2014 on a special rate deal...got a balcony for the price of an inside, and the certificate will give us $200 OBC. We got prepaid free gratuities from the TA too, as TA perks are always combinable.

 

If we booked this cruise now with pick your perk instead, the rate would cost about $500 more for 2, and I can't see us using a beverage package much on a port-intensive cruise (no hangovers, please, on those morning excursions:))...our drink bill over 10 days should be under $500.