Compensation - Millennium Alaska - Interrupted and Canceled Cruises

[moebruin]

I would try appealing their calculations. You added on a land tour to your cruise - not vice versa. Ask Celebrity to show you when the price of a Concierge Cabin (not a guarantee) was $1050 per person. They should at least credit you the lowest advertised cost of a Concierge Cabin.

 

Called Celebrity Guest Relations and present your numbers, and your rationale for them, to Celebrity. Maybe you can at least reach a compromise with them.

 

Tried calling and couldn't even get the Customer Relations people to even pass me on to a supervisor. They did finally take my number and agreed to have someone call within 2 to 3 business days.

 

It appears the problem as far as having Celebrity talk to me details isn't that I used a Travel Agent. Apparently because it was a special Cruise Tour arranged through Costo it was considered a "Group" tour and thus you have to go through the "Group" people and the "Group" people will only give details to the person who arranged the group "Costco".

 

Sandy do you have the e-mail for the President because I definitely do want to explain to him how they went from having allot of good will with a new Celebrity customer to having ill will. No expectations but want him to know how they are tarnishing their name.

Edited September 18, 2013 by moebruin
add something

[WestLakeGirl]

Looks like Costco needs to take some of the responsibility. They never explained the terms of the trip they sold you, that it was a group booking, and how the price broke down. Have you gone back to them for further details of the booking? Did they ever generate a Celebrity invoice for you? I think that they should have and they still should be able to get you one

[sandyss]

Sandy do you have the e-mail for the President because I definitely do want to explain to him how they went from having allot of good will with a new Celebrity customer to having ill will. No expectations but want him to know how they are tarnishing their name.

 

It's contactmichael@celebrity.com

 

Also try Captain's Club, and like WestLakeGirl suggested, insist on getting a detailed cost breakdown from Costco.

 

Glad to hear that the FCCs are starting to come.

[moebruin]

It's contactmichael@celebrity.com

 

Also try Captain's Club, and like WestLakeGirl suggested, insist on getting a detailed cost breakdown from Costco.

 

Glad to hear that the FCCs are starting to come.

 

Will pursue on but yes the Costco person while I was on hold for about a half hour or more did contact numerous people at Celebrity before she finally did get an invoice with a breakdown for the cruise versus tour. The breakdown without all the details showed the land tour coming in at $2076.12 pp to be exact.

 

Now I am sure all of this was done after the fact so should Costco hold a responsibility also?

 

BTW appreciate all the support and help allot.

[sandyss]

Will pursue on but yes the Costco person while I was on hold for about a half hour or more did contact numerous people at Celebrity before she finally did get an invoice with a breakdown for the cruise versus tour. The breakdown without all the details showed the land tour coming in at $2076.12 pp to be exact.

 

Now I am sure all of this was done after the fact so should Costco hold a responsibility also?

 

BTW appreciate all the support and help allot.

 

I would insist on speaking to a supervisor at Costco, and explain to them that the land tour was an add-on to the cruise. Celebrity does not discount their cruise fares, so the price of the cruise should be the published rate at the time that you booked. Tell Costco that they should recalculate their cost breakdown. Also insist that Costco needs to send to you the official Celebrity invoice for your cruise tour.

[moebruin]

I would insist on speaking to a supervisor at Costco, and explain to them that the land tour was an add-on to the cruise. Celebrity does not discount their cruise fares, so the price of the cruise should be the published rate at the time that you booked. Tell Costco that they should recalculate their cost breakdown. Also insist that Costco needs to send to you the official Celebrity invoice for your cruise tour.

 

Thanks again Sandy. Had some long talks with Costco including one with the supervisor. They claimed it was all on Celebrity and tried to explain that the perks such as onboard credit should count against the cost. I explained to them that there was just a little lower onboard credit with the cruise only fare that I quoted above.

 

I kept insisting that they give me an invoice with a breakdown like you said. They insisted that no such invoice exists but after lots of persistence promised to ask Celebrity to produce one although they couldn't promise that Celebrity would give them one. I told the Supervisor if they couldn't justify the cost then and I think it should be difference that I guess I would just need to challenge with the credit card company but I prefer not to.

 

She said she would see what she can do and get back to me.

 

Not optomistic but will see what happens

[sandyss]

Thanks again Sandy. Had some long talks with Costco including one with the supervisor. They claimed it was all on Celebrity and tried to explain that the perks such as onboard credit should count against the cost. I explained to them that there was just a little lower onboard credit with the cruise only fare that I quoted above.

The OBC and perks should not count against the cruise cost. For example, we booked through an online TA. We received her on-board credit on our ship invoice, and our tips and wine went against our OBC. Since we also received a prorated credit of the taxes that we paid, we actually had a credit balance on our ship invoice, which was applied to the credit card that I gave Celebrity on boarding.

 

Tell Costco that their OBC and perks should not count against the cost of the cruise. I would assume that all TAs, including Costco, will be allowed to keep their commissions for the sale of our cruise. The OBC is the part of their commission that they are rebating to us.

Edited September 18, 2013 by sandyss
Added info.

[moebruin]

The OBC and perks should not count against the cruise cost. For example, we booked through an online TA. We received her on-board credit on our ship invoice, and our tips and wine went against our OBC. Since we also received a prorated credit of the taxes that we paid, we actually had a credit balance on our ship invoice, which was applied to the credit card that I gave Celebrity on boarding.

 

Tell Costco that their OBC and perks should not count against the cost of the cruise. I would assume that all TAs, including Costco, will be allowed to keep their commissions for the sale of our cruise. The OBC is the part of their commission that they are rebating to us.

 

Well Costco called back saying Celebrity wouldn't give additional information but they would be happy to talk to me and call them at a special number which apparently yesterday I had but wrote down wrong.

 

When I talked to the people at Celebrity they weren't happy to talk to me and again said they couldn't talk numbers because I was on group even after I told them they told the group to have me call.

 

After more discussions with Celebrity it was clear they got an invoice from the Alaska Tour Company which they claim isn't broken down beyond the $2076.12 per person and that they were subtracting that cost plus taxes and pre-paid tips etc and that the remaining amount was my cruise fare refund and credit.

 

Had long discussions about the rediculousness of that type of pricing.

 

But I think its pretty clear the bottom line from both Celebrity and Costco is this is what Celebrity is giving and if you don't like it well thats your problem.

 

So I suppose I can pursue the credit card route but at this point leaning toward not going that route. Probably just going to move on.

[sandyss]

Well Costco called back saying Celebrity wouldn't give additional information but they would be happy to talk to me and call them at a special number which apparently yesterday I had but wrote down wrong.

 

When I talked to the people at Celebrity they weren't happy to talk to me and again said they couldn't talk numbers because I was on group even after I told them they told the group to have me call.

 

After more discussions with Celebrity it was clear they got an invoice from the Alaska Tour Company which they claim isn't broken down beyond the $2076.12 per person and that they were subtracting that cost plus taxes and pre-paid tips etc and that the remaining amount was my cruise fare refund and credit.

 

Had long discussions about the rediculousness of that type of pricing.

 

But I think its pretty clear the bottom line from both Celebrity and Costco is this is what Celebrity is giving and if you don't like it well thats your problem.

 

So I suppose I can pursue the credit card route but at this point leaning toward not going that route. Probably just going to move on.

 

Sorry to hear that you have struck out with Celebrity and Costco. Have you talked with anyone at Captain's Club? They are always super helpful.

[gblotter]

The OBC and perks should not count against the cruise cost. For example, we booked through an online TA. We received her on-board credit on our ship invoice, and our tips and wine went against our OBC. Since we also received a prorated credit of the taxes that we paid, we actually had a credit balance on our ship invoice, which was applied to the credit card that I gave Celebrity on boarding.

 

Tell Costco that their OBC and perks should not count against the cost of the cruise. I would assume that all TAs, including Costco, will be allowed to keep their commissions for the sale of our cruise. The OBC is the part of their commission that they are rebating to us.

We also used Costco Travel for the August 16th cruise.

 

I just spoke with Costco this afternoon. Costco told me that Celebrity is reclaiming their commission of $500.48 for the cruise and will then refund that amount to us on our credit card. Doesn't seem fair, frankly. Celebrity - not Costco - should bear the cost of this screwup. Travel agents incurred greater-than-normal expenses related to the August 16 cruise and yet they will be given no compensation through commissions? If the Costco OBC ($285.00 for our stateroom) already constitutes a partial return of that commission, I am wondering if we will really see the full $500.48 refunded to our credit card.

 

Costco said that we are also expected to receive an additional refund of $286.24 related to gratuities and taxes (that refund comes from the ship). We already received a small refund of taxes while still on the ship, so once again I am wondering if we will really see the full $286.24 refunded to our credit card.

 

There are obviously a lot of different buckets here, and I do not have a full understanding of how all of this works. If both of those refunds (commission and taxes) come through as promised, then we will have received a full refund of everything we paid. Fingers crossed. With the various moving parts, I can now better understand why the refunds are showing up piecemeal.

 

Whatever the amounts, I do think it is reasonable to expect Celebrity and Costco Travel to provide a full and detailed accounting of the refunds after the dust finally settles.

 

All of our refunds are supposed to be finalized by Sept 23rd (according to Costco Travel anyway).

 

Regarding the reimbursement of travel expenses to get us home after the ship evacuation - that's a different story. Except for a robo-reply to my email - nothing from Celebrity about that.

[BEAV]

We also used Costco Travel for the August 16th cruise.

 

I just spoke with Costco this afternoon. Costco told me that Celebrity is reclaiming their commission of $500.48 for the cruise and will then refund that amount to us on our credit card. Doesn't seem fair, frankly. Celebrity - not Costco - should bear the cost of this screwup. Travel agents incurred greater-than-normal expenses related to the August 16 cruise and yet they will be given no compensation through commissions? If the Costco OBC ($285.00 for our stateroom) already constitutes a partial return of that commission, I am wondering if we will really see the full $500.48 refunded to our credit card.

 

 

While it has nothing to do with a sailing being cancelled due to mechanical problems, several months ago we received a refund for a $600 price drop that occurred after we had made final payment, but before the penalty phase kicked in. When Celebrity adjusted the price on our reservation, our TA told us to expect the refund in two different installments. Sure enough, our first credit hit for $504, and a week or so later along came the remaining $96 credit. It was my understanding at the time that the refund came in two installments for accounting purposes at Celebrity. It's my belief the $96 represented the TA commission on the $600.

 

Reading your post, I agree with Costco that your refund will come in installments for the same reason ours did - accounting purposes. Where I disagree with Costco is their claim they are losing their commission. I can't imagine Celebrity taking back a TAs commission for a sailing that departed and was aborted midway through. I'm of the opinion that Costco Travel simply didn't explain it correctly to you if you went away with the understanding that they're going to lose out on their commission.

 

Hopefully, some of the terrific TAs that hang out on this board can elaborate and save some further confusion.

[moebruin]

We also used Costco Travel for the August 16th cruise.

 

 

Whatever the amounts, I do think it is reasonable to expect Celebrity and Costco Travel to provide a full and detailed accounting of the refunds after the dust finally settles.

 

All of our refunds are supposed to be finalized by Sept 23rd (according to Costco Travel anyway).

 

Regarding the reimbursement of travel expenses to get us home after the ship evacuation - that's a different story. Except for a robo-reply to my email - nothing from Celebrity about that.

 

Well I think my case is a little different because buying the special Costco Cruise Tour allowed Celebrity to call my cruise a "group" tour and allowed them to use the "tour" to jack down our refund.

 

The actually received two refunds from them. The first was my credit from my shipboard account that including the refund of taxes and the refund of tour excursions etc. The second refund covered what they claim to be my cruise portion of my trip (actually its about 65% of the cost) and that posted on Sept 12th and they all agree except for a small food credit that is all that I am getting.

 

The other thing Costco and Celebrity seem to be fully adamant about is that they won't give a full accounting on how they determined the amount of the refund. They just say Alaska Travel Company billed them a total amount without any back-up or justification and that is what they are deducting. They also both seem to have no matter who you talk to well if you don't like it that's your problem attitude.

 

So for the short term unless a go the credit card route Celebrity makes an extra $1000 on me this year and looses allot more over the next 15 to 20 years or longer.

 

I should also note they tried to say all sorts of weird things they were deducting to me also but I called them on every item and they really didn't have an answer.

 

Best of Luck. But I find it interesting that they are trying to bring down the bill from people that they can't blame the bring down on a Land Tour.

[gblotter]

Where I disagree with Costco is their claim they are losing their commission. I can't imagine Celebrity taking back a TAs commission for a sailing that departed and was aborted midway through. I'm of the opinion that Costco Travel simply didn't explain it correctly to you if you went away with the understanding that they're going to lose out on their commission.

The agent at Costco Travel said her information came directly from a conversation with the Celebrity "redeployments office" which is the department tasked with processing the refunds. She spoke to me in very clear terms including specific dollar amounts. I took notes during the conversation. So this is not a matter of me misunderstanding what Costco Travel meant to say. However, I hope that what she told me is wrong.

 

Hopefully, some of the terrific TAs that hang out on this board can elaborate and save some further confusion.

While the Costco agent was very clear in her explanation, I hope that she was misinformed about the facts. It would certainly be nice to hear firsthand from another TA if Celebrity intends to take back commissions for the August 16 cruise. I would expect travel agents to scream bloody murder given that the cruise departed and was aborted midway through.

[lhbsurf]

[\QUOTE]While the Costco agent was very clear in her explanation, I hope that she was misinformed about the facts. It would certainly be nice to hear firsthand from another TA if Celebrity intends to take back commissions for the August 16 cruise. I would expect travel agents to scream bloody murder given that the cruise departed and was aborted midway through.

 

My TA was told directly from Celebrity that their commission was protected and they were NOT taking it back. However, I have been told so much conflicting information related to this event, I don't believe much of anything they say anymore (I was supposed to be on the 8/23 sailing).

 

For the record, I have not seen one single penny of refund from Celebrity yet. Having to pull from savings to pay thousands on the credit cards incurred while trying to get back home from Cruise Tour (was already in Alaska).

 

We have been very patient and trying to be understanding, but this wait is getting very ridiculous.

Edited September 19, 2013 by lhbsurf

[deise17311]

4 weeks and a day and we have only received $750.06 of our $3500 in cruise fare...so much for "within 3 weeks"...Celebrity is great when things run smooth but crap when they don't...

[Cindy]

We just got home from Alaska, and I checked our credit card statements. We've been completely refunded for the cruise, but still haven't received reimbursement for our air change fees.

[nealberk]

I am looking at the prices of cruises and cruise tours for next year. It looks like a large portion of the price is for the tour- not the cruise. If Costco got the same amount off the tour as the cruise, then their numbers are in line with what you were quoted.

 

But I agree with the above posts, Costco should be giving you a full breakdown.

[Cindy]

Much to my surprise, when I opened a credit card bill this morning my $400.00 air change fee reimbursement was on there.:) It was dated September 10th, and never showed up on line.

[deise17311]

Much to my surprise, when I opened a credit card bill this morning my $400.00 air change fee reimbursement was on there.:) It was dated September 10th, and never showed up on line.

 

Yeah! You are lucky, we seem to be lost in the shuffle...seriously, don't (expletive) with people's money...this is getting ridiculous...we were a straight cruise, no tours etc for the 8/23...GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK!!!!

[moebruin]

Nealberk I am not sure where you see that. Even Celebrity admits you can never get into a Concierge room ever for the 1075 pp they claim I paid. For anything more then the $2300 delta for two people I thought I paid I was going to do the land myself which would have been cheaper then the $2300. I surely if on the boat was told the land portion was now $4000 and given the change to cancel would have done so.

 

As I surely even with last minute could have done it myself much cheaper.

 

On the positive side, I did get a very small epilogue to all this. A manager from Celebrity did call me back on Friday. She said she was one of the people who was sent too the ship and seemed to genuinely feel bad about things. While she couldn't help me with the ridiculous refund, she did give me her personal number and told me when I found the cruise I wanted to use my credit to call her and that she would make sure I received the best price possible for that cruise. Said that she sees the ever changing prices before the public and thus when a great situation opened she would get me on it. Honest enough also took assure new that for the voucher amount it would never be Concierge room.

 

Will definitely will take her up on it although must say I look at it as an employee who feels bad about being taken by their employer.

 

Did write the heads of Celebrity and Costco be interesting to see if Costco even responds and what Celebrity has to say.

 

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[VanessaM]

Just checking to see if anyone has received the FCC certificate in the mail yet?

 

Looking to possibly book a spring break cruise and hoping to use it.

[satdan]

No fcc yet but I was told yesterday they are currently being mailed for the pax on the Aug 16 cruise.

One other tidbit.. I was told you could use a travel agent or book with celebrity and use the fcc. Was dealing with a ta yesterday and learned that many may not want to deal with it because it affects their commission. What it effectively does is lower the cost of the cruise by that amount and thereby reducing the commission they would get. Just an fyi

 

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[micruiser12]

Yes, I reported in an earlier post that we received our FCC last week. We were on the 8/9 cruise that had the itinerary cancelled. I would think you should receive yours soon.

[micruiser12]

No fcc yet but I was told yesterday they are currently being mailed for the pax on the Aug 16 cruise.

One other tidbit.. I was told you could use a travel agent or book with celebrity and use the fcc. Was dealing with a ta yesterday and learned that many may not want to deal with it because it affects their commission. What it effectively does is lower the cost of the cruise by that amount and thereby reducing the commission they would get. Just an fyi

 

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Our online travel agent said they would have to take away part of our OBC and the prepaid gratuities they had given us for our June cruise when I asked them to apply the FCC so that seems to be true, at least in some cases. I figured we were still ahead getting the refund and the FCC.

[satdan]

For sure we will be ahead, but not the ta's

 

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