Compensation - Millennium Alaska - Interrupted and Canceled Cruises

[micruiser12]

Has anyone received their FCC yet? If, so, can you share the dates that it is good? A year from the date of the cancelled cruise? Do you just have to book a cruise in 1 year or must it be completed within a year? It seems we should have received them by now. We would like to know if we can apply to a 2015 Baltic cruise (we won't have the info on that cruise until next spring) or if it must be applied to a cruise that is completed within a year. Thanks-- hope this mess will be behind us SOON.

 

 

We have received our 100% FCC for the 8/9 Alaskan cruise and have already applied it to a Baltic cruise for June 2014. I recall the expiration date on the certificates was 8/31/14 so it might expire one year later in the month you were to cruise. I was told by several sources you had to travel generally within one year of the cruise in which you received the FCC. We did find that when we applied them to our already booked cruise that we lost out on some perks from our TA.

Good luck - hope you receive your FCC soon!

[sandyss]

Our FCC for our August 16th cruise was just applied to our upcoming January Celebrity cruise. The FCC was equal to our cabin cost plus port charges on our August 16th cruise. The FCC reduced the cost for our January cruise, so as expected, the OBC from our TA was reduced accordingly. We were still able to keep our Celebrity OBC.

 

Katy from Guest Relations contacted our TA to help her apply the adjustments. (We have not received a copy of the FCC letter yet.)

 

Kudos to Celebrity Guest Relations for being so very helpful and responsive to my phone calls.:D

[aviarykeeper]

I have received all but the flight change refunds as of today.........no FCC received yet......I was on the 8/23 sailing...........

[tinabinab]

8/16 Ketchagain cruiser here...

 

We have finally received the last part of our cruise fare refund. We are now at 100% refunded for the cruise.

 

We are now just waiting on the FCC and airfare reimbursement. Celebrity told our TA that the FCC's were mailed last Monday direct to us. I haven't found one in the mail yet and I'm not sure if it is indeed being mailed direct to us or not (as that is exactly the opposite of what we were told previously.) Has anyone else that used a TA had their FCC mailed directly to you?

[ccsuwxman]

8/16 Ketchagain cruiser here...

 

We have finally received the last part of our cruise fare refund. We are now at 100% refunded for the cruise.

 

We are now just waiting on the FCC and airfare reimbursement. Celebrity told our TA that the FCC's were mailed last Monday direct to us. I haven't found one in the mail yet and I'm not sure if it is indeed being mailed direct to us or not (as that is exactly the opposite of what we were told previously.) Has anyone else that used a TA had their FCC mailed directly to you?

 

We were also on the 8/16 sailing. Got the full refund a few weeks ago. Still waiting for the reimbursement of expenses post-cruise. And still waiting for FCC certificates. I will be VERY upset if we have to TRAVEL within a year, considering that it is now two months post-cruise, so we effectively have only 10 months to use these FCCs. Would like to use them for a Caribbean sailing on 10/25/14 but I'm getting the impression that they won't be valid then.

 

Spoke with my TA today (who was on the cruise with us). She has not received any of our FCCs yet, and neither have we.

[GWCoyote]

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.

 

I got the same answer from a sympathetic employee in guest relations who thought it was unfair as my refund was then $400 for a veranda stateroom. So, I end up paying $300++ per day for land tour's lodging and transport but only $60/ day for cruise including meals !!! Looking at next year's Alaska cruisetour in August shows difference between cruise only and cruise plus land for 6 days to be only $1400 not nearly $2100

[cruisestitch]

Still missing: the remainder of my cruise fare for August 16 cruise. No payment since mid September. I am owed over $1300 and there is a "problem" with getting it to me that no one can understand or explain to me.

 

Also still missing, my Future Cruise Certificate, and reimbursement for expenses (receipts mailed Sept 18 so I am not surprised that I haven't gotten that money yet.

 

Talked to my credit card company who suggested disputing my cruise's cost, but I think that the time for doing this has expired. Still, I might consider it if something positive doesn't happen soon.

[moebruin]

For those following my Celebrity drama with the Costco Cruise tour. While Celebrity president ignored my e-mail, the executives at Costco didn't and seemed to agree Celebrity's claim that my concierge level room only cost me $1075 a room was bogus.

 

After two weeks of negotiating with Celebrity with various proposals they wouldn't budge. So Costco travel decided to refund their commission of $868 in the form of a Costco cash card.

 

So Costco kept their rep in my book and Celebrity/RCCL lost lots of future business.

 

Not that it matters but to date no Captain Club credit or FCC from Celebrity although they claimed to Costco those were sent out on September 19th.

 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Forums mobile app

[SHAZ1721]

I too booked the Aug 16 CruiseTour through Costco. I feel caught in the middle between Costco and Celebrity regarding my cruise refund. I received the same amount back as "moebruin" but have no way to go back and prove the true cost of the "cruise only" portion of this trip. Celebrity tells me that this is amount Costco told them to credit back and Costco tells me that is untrue and the refunds are totally controlled by Celebrity. The math just doesn't add up based on the total cost of the cruisetour, current priceing being offered and other websites that show last Aug. cruise prices for this trip. Neither Costco or Celebrity will give me any verification of the breakdown of our cruise only portion costs.

 

I'm happy that those who only had the cruise booked seem to have received the credit they paid for that. Those of us who had the cruise/land tour booked at one total price, seem to have gotten less than what the cruise only would have cost.

 

I also have not received any FCC from Celebrity and the clock is ticking against future travel deadlines.

[RDC1]

I too booked the Aug 16 CruiseTour through Costco. I feel caught in the middle between Costco and Celebrity regarding my cruise refund. I received the same amount back as "moebruin" but have no way to go back and prove the true cost of the "cruise only" portion of this trip. Celebrity tells me that this is amount Costco told them to credit back and Costco tells me that is untrue and the refunds are totally controlled by Celebrity. The math just doesn't add up based on the total cost of the cruisetour, current priceing being offered and other websites that show last Aug. cruise prices for this trip. Neither Costco or Celebrity will give me any verification of the breakdown of our cruise only portion costs.

 

I'm happy that those who only had the cruise booked seem to have received the credit they paid for that. Those of us who had the cruise/land tour booked at one total price, seem to have gotten less than what the cruise only would have cost.

 

I also have not received any FCC from Celebrity and the clock is ticking against future travel deadlines.

 

Pretty much all of the cruise lines discount the cruise portion in combined landtour/cruise combinations. You can get an idea by pricing out what a land tour a similar accommodations would cost (Alaska Railroad is a good source for doing that pricing). Especially for Celebrity who outsources most of the land tour services, unlike Princess and Holland America who own a lot of their land facilities in Alaska. The advantage to booking a cruise land tour is that the combined rate is far cheaper then buying them individually. The downside is what you have run into if there is a problem with the cruise. The landtour is carried on their books as the majority of price while the cruise is pretty much at their cost.

[moebruin]

I too booked the Aug 16 CruiseTour through Costco. I feel caught in the middle between Costco and Celebrity regarding my cruise refund. I received the same amount back as "moebruin" but have no way to go back and prove the true cost of the "cruise only" portion of this trip. Celebrity tells me that this is amount Costco told them to credit back and Costco tells me that is untrue and the refunds are totally controlled by Celebrity. The math just doesn't add up based on the total cost of the cruisetour, current priceing being offered and other websites that show last Aug. cruise prices for this trip. Neither Costco or Celebrity will give me any verification of the breakdown of our cruise only portion costs.

 

I'm happy that those who only had the cruise booked seem to have received the credit they paid for that. Those of us who had the cruise/land tour booked at one total price, seem to have gotten less than what the cruise only would have cost.

 

I also have not received any FCC from Celebrity and the clock is ticking against future travel deadlines.

 

I felt like you but after writing to the two Presidents, I am certain the blame is on Celebrity who decided to make a nice profit on the tour part of our cruise.

 

While Celebrity ignored my letter Costco was very pro-active. They assigned a manager to the case and then kept giving me updates on what was going on. When they felt like Celebrity wouldn't budge, as stated above Costco offered to give me Cash Card that I believe covered what they received as commission from Celebrity on the trip.

 

The person I talked to at Costco was Travis at 425-657-1842 if you want to discuss your situation with him, you might feel better about the Costco part. BTW I haven't even gotten the Captain's Club credit.

 

Since I got home I would estimate I have received about 70 e-mails from Celebrity on future cruise deals and 0 communication from them directly on my anything related to the cruise. If there is one thing that can be learned from all this without dispute is Celebrity isn't big on customer communication.

[moebruin]

Pretty much all of the cruise lines discount the cruise portion in combined landtour/cruise combinations. You can get an idea by pricing out what a land tour a similar accommodations would cost (Alaska Railroad is a good source for doing that pricing). Especially for Celebrity who outsources most of the land tour services, unlike Princess and Holland America who own a lot of their land facilities in Alaska. The advantage to booking a cruise land tour is that the combined rate is far cheaper then buying them individually. The downside is what you have run into if there is a problem with the cruise. The landtour is carried on their books as the majority of price while the cruise is pretty much at their cost.

 

Well first they don't advertise that fact, second they didn't give us a choice about continuing the land cruise at the non-discounted rate. I personally had priced it before the tour and know I could do 5 days on land for two for well under the $4200 that Celebrity claims we paid for the land cruise. So if it wasn't about making money why didn't Celebrity give us an option of doing the land tour at the "non-discounted" combined rate or not doing it at all. BTW I figured I was paying about $2300 for the land tour which was slightly more then doing it myself but worth the convience especially considering my new bride wanted a tour versus doing it ourselves. Finally Celebrity didn't have to take a full profit on the land tour being their decisions ruined our honeymoon. I had personally thought and Costco even ran through them OK be cheap on the cash but be more generous on the FCC so that we can at least get on the same boat in close to an equivalent cruise and finish our honeymoon but Celebrity's answer was pretty much the attitude the original people on the boat had when parties were being spit up etc. Which do you think we really care about your problem?

 

Moe

[cruisestitch]

And here's a scenario to consider . Friends booked the cruise at xyz dollars then added the cruise tour which increased their total to abc dollars .

 

It sure looks to me that they should get the original cruise price of xyz dollars back.

 

Adding the tour should not have lowered the price of the cruise portion.

 

Thoughts?

[deise17311]

Today Celebrity told me if I make final payment before getting my FCC, they will refund the difference once I receive the FCC..why is it that I don't believe them for a second and am sure I will be screwed over for the third time..1) Cruise canceled 2) my refund sent to someone else's Amex (still have not received refund) 3) I pay final payment and then come to find out they lied...if you feel the need to flame this post, keep it to yourself, I'm not interested in the slightest with your opinion...I've had it with the back seat drivers who post about how we should feel, act, and behave regarding this situation...stow it!

[sandyss]

Today Celebrity told me if I make final payment before getting my FCC, they will refund the difference once I receive the FCC..why is it that I don't believe them for a second and am sure I will be screwed over for the third time..1) Cruise canceled 2) my refund sent to someone else's Amex (still have not received refund) 3) I pay final payment and then come to find out they lied...if you feel the need to flame this post, keep it to yourself, I'm not interested in the slightest with your opinion...I've had it with the back seat drivers who post about how we should feel, act, and behave regarding this situation...stow it!

 

 

We were on the August 16 cruise and have not received the FCC letter, even though they were supposed to be mailed out around two weeks ago.

 

Since we are around a month from final payment on our January cruise, the lady that I talked with at Guest Relations, Katy, contacted our TA on our behalf, and sent the FCC information directly to her. We received a follow-up call from Katy at Guest Relations telling us that we should receive a new invoice from our TA in around two days. The new invoice from our TA arrived, as promised, two days later - with the cruise fare reduced by the exact amount of our FCCs. We are very pleased with the help that we received from Guest Relations.

 

Call Guest Relations at 800-256-6649.

[deise17311]

We were on the August 16 cruise and have not received the FCC letter, even though they were supposed to be mailed out around two weeks ago.

 

Since we are around a month from final payment on our January cruise, the lady that I talked with at Guest Relations, Katy, contacted our TA on our behalf, and sent the FCC information directly to her. We received a follow-up call from Katy at Guest Relations telling us that we should receive a new invoice from our TA in around two days. The new invoice from our TA arrived, as promised, two days later - with the cruise fare reduced by the exact amount of our FCCs. We are very pleased with the help that we received from Guest Relations.

 

Call Guest Relations at 800-256-6649.

 

Wow this is excellent! I will call today! Thanks!!

[CPT Trips]

Pretty much all of the cruise lines discount the cruise portion in combined landtour/cruise combinations. You can get an idea by pricing out what a land tour a similar accommodations would cost (Alaska Railroad is a good source for doing that pricing). Especially for Celebrity who outsources most of the land tour services, unlike Princess and Holland America who own a lot of their land facilities in Alaska. The advantage to booking a cruise land tour is that the combined rate is far cheaper then buying them individually. The downside is what you have run into if there is a problem with the cruise. The landtour is carried on their books as the majority of price while the cruise is pretty much at their cost.

 

 

Until X used this "logic" to weasel out of rep funds, how could any passenger know this? Is it separated out on the invoice? Does the cruise line show it in their advertising? Does X offer a land tour only for price comparison?

[aviarykeeper]

....after all that has happened, it cannot be argued that Celebrity has dropped the ball on a couple of fronts.....receiving untold number of emails about "specials" is, to me, a slap in the face. Hey, lets get the people in marketing to come over to customer service and help sort this out-because if they don't, I feel like WHENEVER my FCC shows up it will go straight into the shredder.......after all.....why on earth would I want the chance to experience something like this over again?

 

As of this date, still no payment for airline changes of $800.00 for the 4 of us.....6 weeks from filing......

[moebruin]

Until X used this "logic" to weasel out of rep funds, how could any passenger know this? Is it separated out on the invoice? Does the cruise line show it in their advertising? Does X offer a land tour only for price comparison?

 

Is it separated out on the invoice?

No - I asked to see and they said no such item exists!!!!

 

Does the cruise line show it in their advertising?

No in fact I pointed out that in my package it talked about getting a free upgrade from 2C to C2 category. Nothing at all about any other discount on the overall cruise price. Yes I would be happy if I was only compensated for a 2C.

 

Does X offer a land tour only for price comparison?

No I specifically asked this when it was suggested early on by someone from Costco and Celebrity stated more then once they do not sell land only tours. You can only by the land tour with the cruise package.

[jabo-ct]

And here's a scenario to consider . Friends booked the cruise at xyz dollars then added the cruise tour which increased their total to abc dollars .

 

It sure looks to me that they should get the original cruise price of xyz dollars back.

 

Adding the tour should not have lowered the price of the cruise portion.

 

Thoughts?

 

I too have been told that the cruise price was lowered because I booked a cruise tour and have also written a post about this. Feel that this is unethical and possibly a violation of the agreement since this was not mentioned when the booking was made.

[CPT Trips]

Is it separated out on the invoice?

No - I asked to see and they said no such item exists!!!!

 

Does the cruise line show it in their advertising?

No in fact I pointed out that in my package it talked about getting a free upgrade from 2C to C2 category. Nothing at all about any other discount on the overall cruise price. Yes I would be happy if I was only compensated for a 2C.

 

Does X offer a land tour only for price comparison?

No I specifically asked this when it was suggested early on by someone from Costco and Celebrity stated more then once they do not sell land only tours. You can only by the land tour with the cruise package.

 

That's what I thought. Thanks for the info.

[satdan]

My post cruise expenses were just credited to my credit card today!

 

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Forums mobile app

[bigmohes]

This will make people mad but so be it.

 

Do I think that the whole situation was handled poorly, yes absolutely. Do I think that Celebrity cheated anyone maybe maybe not. The thing is that in the three years I spent planning this trip of a lifetime with 3 other couples, not one time did any of us ask for a breakdown in price. NOT ONCE! I accept responsibilty in that fact and the fact that as a consumer I should have been more vigilent in my planning. Now that being said we have been told that the FCC will have a must sail by date on it however, it should read a book by date. Due to the number of folks who were affected they could not possibly accomodate everyone as needed.

 

We were on cruisetour 12 and still had a fabulous time. I was appalled with how several of our fellow travelers treated our tour guides after they recieved the cancellation information. Our group chose to make lemonaid out of lemons. We still ended up doing a cruise! It was not the exact trip we planned no but it was still a trip of a lifetime! We are all getting back together this weekend to exchange pictures and celebrate the fact that we can check it off the list.

 

May all of us soon recieve our FCCs and happily book another wonderful trip that goes off without a hitch!

[moebruin]

This will make people mad but so be it.

 

 

bigmohes,

 

Your post doesn't make me mad and in fact I agree with just about all of it.

 

The one thing I don't agree with you is that you should have known what the price of the tour was going to be. The reason being you had know way of knowing. If you try booking a cruise tour and ask them how much the land portion is going to be, they won't tell you. I know because I asked. What they tell you is they don't sell land tours seperate and they won't quote you a price even if you are booking both the cruise and the land.

 

That said I don't feel cheated by Celebrity but I do feel lied to and its clear to me they are a corporation more worried about today's dollars then their future.

 

I feel lied to because they did not give me a 100% cruise credit and a 100% FCC like they promised and told the press while we were on the ship. Were they under a legal obligation to do so? I am not a lawyer but my guess is that they probably were not. So instead of 100% they gave me 60%. Can I live with that? yes. Will I use the credit? you betcha.

 

Did I enjoy the cruise and the land tour? I did. Even all the days in Ketchikan.

 

Even on the cruise I new they had allot of leadway on how they could break up the charges between the cruise and the land. They arbitrarily, imo, picked a point that was totally to their advantage and totally against their customers and they have taken an extremely hardline on that.

 

Therefore, I will choose in the future to spend my cruise dollars (except when it is purely to my advantage to do so) with other cruise lines. All conditions equal or close to equal, I prefer to not do business with Celebrity.

 

Because they cheated me? No, but because they did not treat me as a valuable customer whose business they care about.

[gblotter]

I have now received all of the expected cruise fare refund.

 

The Captains Club credits have now appeared as well.

 

Still waiting on the reimbursement of travel expenses to return home from the aborted August 16 cruise.

 

Still waiting for the Future Cruise Credit as well.

 

I received in the mail today the Future Cruise Credit certificate.

 

The amount of the FCC is for the full value of the cruise fare, but does not include the taxes and fees that we paid.

 

Now waiting only for the reimbursement of travel expenses to return home from the aborted August 16 cruise.

Edited October 11, 2013 by gblotter