Phone call from Michael Bayley's office

[bbappel]

Since I've posted my unhappiness with the Celebrity website, I feel I should also let you know about the positive response to my e-mail to Mr. Bayley's office. Our next cruise is in January. We got an e-mail from RCCL telling us:

Dear XXXXXXXXXXX,

Thanks again for choosing Celebrity Cruises. Your electronic cruise documents for Reservation Number XXXXXXX are now ready at the link below. You will need to enter your reservation number, last name, ship and sail date to access your documents.

....

SHIP LUGGAGE TAGS

If you enter the online check-in section at least 14 days prior to your sailing date, you may also request that we mail you your personalized ship luggage tags before you leave home. Otherwise, you will receive your ship luggage tags from our porters at the pier.

So being responsible travelers, we did as requested. No results. So I responded to the e-mail with a copy to Mr. Bayley's office.

Folks - this is frustrating beyond reason. You send us this message, and we should be able to request our luggage tags, but instead, when my husband logs into his account and tries to look at this cruise, he gets this message.

We are unable to handle your request due to system maintenance. Please try again later.

AND Invalid Loyalty Number

This seems to be caused by a lack of cooperation between the Captain's Club portion of the website and Celebrity overall website. ... several sentences of discussion about problems with my name ...Sadly, this has caused me so much trouble that I no longer have a log-in of my own, since I've given up. This has been changed more times than I can count and it has never been corrected for long. If other cruise lines had the same smoking policies and itineraries as Celebrity, I would be tempted to transfer my loyalty, but I love the Celebrity smoking policy and ships and staff and itineraries.

The saga continues...

We decided to try the online checkin method and to request our luggage tags and we get this message:

We apologize for the inconvenience, but we re unable to process your bag tag request at this time. Please try again later.

What's up with this? Not only do we have to go through online checkin rather than logging in, but now we can't request our luggage tags.

 

Too bad you can't get the website together. I'm certain this has cost you revenue from people who aren't loyal to Celebrity through good and bad. When the website is as ineffective as this one, people who are trying to decide between two cruises on two separate cruise lines, will take the path of least resistance. I want you to be financially successful so you can continue to take me to wonderful ports.

 

Rather than trying to fix the website, maybe it is time to build a separate one, then transfer over.

Just my opinion,

And I gave my name, address, and phone number.

 

I was very surprised when I received the phone call and although I don't know that it resolved anything, it was nice to feel I was heard.

 

Beth

[jagoffee]

Since I've posted my unhappiness with the Celebrity website, I feel I should also let you know about the positive response to my e-mail to Mr. Bayley's office. Our next cruise is in January. We got an e-mail from RCCL telling us:

Dear XXXXXXXXXXX,

Thanks again for choosing Celebrity Cruises. Your electronic cruise documents for Reservation Number XXXXXXX are now ready at the link below. You will need to enter your reservation number, last name, ship and sail date to access your documents.

....

SHIP LUGGAGE TAGS

If you enter the online check-in section at least 14 days prior to your sailing date, you may also request that we mail you your personalized ship luggage tags before you leave home. Otherwise, you will receive your ship luggage tags from our porters at the pier.

So being responsible travelers, we did as requested. No results. So I responded to the e-mail with a copy to Mr. Bayley's office.

Folks - this is frustrating beyond reason. You send us this message, and we should be able to request our luggage tags, but instead, when my husband logs into his account and tries to look at this cruise, he gets this message.

We are unable to handle your request due to system maintenance. Please try again later.

AND Invalid Loyalty Number

This seems to be caused by a lack of cooperation between the Captain's Club portion of the website and Celebrity overall website. ... several sentences of discussion about problems with my name ...Sadly, this has caused me so much trouble that I no longer have a log-in of my own, since I've given up. This has been changed more times than I can count and it has never been corrected for long. If other cruise lines had the same smoking policies and itineraries as Celebrity, I would be tempted to transfer my loyalty, but I love the Celebrity smoking policy and ships and staff and itineraries.

The saga continues...

We decided to try the online checkin method and to request our luggage tags and we get this message:

We apologize for the inconvenience, but we re unable to process your bag tag request at this time. Please try again later.

What's up with this? Not only do we have to go through online checkin rather than logging in, but now we can't request our luggage tags.

 

Too bad you can't get the website together. I'm certain this has cost you revenue from people who aren't loyal to Celebrity through good and bad. When the website is as ineffective as this one, people who are trying to decide between two cruises on two separate cruise lines, will take the path of least resistance. I want you to be financially successful so you can continue to take me to wonderful ports.

 

Rather than trying to fix the website, maybe it is time to build a separate one, then transfer over.

Just my opinion,

And I gave my name, address, and phone number.

 

I was very surprised when I received the phone call and although I don't know that it resolved anything, it was nice to feel I was heard.

 

Beth

 

Does you husband have a suffix on his name?

 

You many try calling the Captain Club number and have them remove his CC number from the reservation. If that works then you can request the tags and complete all the information, but not check in. You can then reenter the number.

[cruisegirl1]

I got a similar message about tags. I called Celebrity, spoke to an agent who verified my address and processed the tags.

No reason to send an email to the CEO's office.

M

[Bfson]

I wonder what the OP would have done had there been a truly serious problem.

[The_Big_M]

It's true it's not the most serious, but when processes are built by a company that they request you to follow, and then they don't work (I'm assuming it was tried more than once) then it's fair enough to raise them.

 

The cruise line - or any company - can't fix what they don't know about.

[Cathy p]

I called and ordered mine with no problem and the rep was so sweet. They came in 4 days.:)

[bbappel]

OK folks - I get it. My post wasn't clear. The obviously hidden point of my post was to say that Celebrity was great and responsive to issues. I figured I had to give some background, but it caused that message to get lost in the static. The take home message is that if you have a problem or even better a positive review, you can e-mail Michael Bayley and someone will read the message and do something. Hooray Celebrity.

 

Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

 

@The_Big_M - a big THANK YOU - you got the point of my e-mail to Celebrity. Initially, I just hit reply, but in the end decided the RCCL e-mail might not be monitored and added Mr. Bayley's office, thinking his office might need to be made aware of the issues, since every time we called the agents seems surprised that we had website problems.

 

@jagofee - I know what the problem is with My Celebrity for me. I didn't want to bore you all with the details. It isn't my husband's name, though that was an interesting suggestion, it is my name and a lack of communication between Captain's Club and Booking. My parents used my middle name so I use my first initial and middle name. Originally I used "H Elizabeth" as my first name and all was well. Somewhere along the line, the programmers decided not to allow a space in a name, causing me to be H - on my sea pass and on my booking. But in Captain's Club I was either "H." or "H Elizabeth" and the names didn't match. I had completely given up trying to have access to My Celebrity because it was fixed at least 6 times, maybe more, and each time would take about an hour. And within a week, I would lose access.

 

@others - a few days after sending the e-mail, we did call and get our luggage tags, but thanks for the suggestions.

 

@cathy - I absolutely agree. Celebrity agents are so cooperative and easy to talk with.

 

@bfson - maybe this wasn't a serious problem - I save the words serious for the big illnesses or disasters, but it was a major waste of our time and a rather serious irritant. We had been trying for weeks to get into our booking (through my husband's log-in) and add a beverage package, and into another booking and link with friends. We spent quite a bit of time trying to do this ourselves. It was a major thorn. So I was frustrated when the e-mail came, tempting us to try one more time, and I felt like Charlie Brown with the football. Once again Lucy snatched it away as we tried to kick it. The e-mail was a response to my frustration.

 

Since then, my log-in has worked for several days, and maybe it will be OK. We've been able to access our bookings and add our friends, buy a beverage package, etc.

 

Beth aka "H"

Edited November 30, 2013 by bbappel

[LINGBER]

I think it is great that you received a phone call in response to your email! There is an ongoing problem with the website and it is wonderful that Celebrity recognizes it and takes the time to offer a personal response.

 

I had the exact same problems as the OP. After several weeks of trying to access luggage tags, I called the captains club desk and they handled it for me. Got the tags in the mail that week.;)

[jagoffee]

OK folks - I get it. My post wasn't clear. The obviously hidden point of my post was to say that Celebrity was great and responsive to issues. I figured I had to give some background, but it caused that message to get lost in the static. The take home message is that if you have a problem or even better a positive review, you can e-mail Michael Bayley and someone will read the message and do something. Hooray Celebrity.

 

Thank you all for taking the time to respond.

 

@The_Big_M - a big THANK YOU - you got the point of my e-mail to Celebrity. Initially, I just hit reply, but in the end decided the RCCL e-mail might not be monitored and added Mr. Bayley's office, thinking his office might need to be made aware of the issues, since every time we called the agents seems surprised that we had website problems.

 

@jagofee - I know what the problem is with My Celebrity for me. I didn't want to bore you all with the details. It isn't my husband's name, though that was an interesting suggestion, it is my name and a lack of communication between Captain's Club and Booking. My parents used my middle name so I use my first initial and middle name. Originally I used "H Elizabeth" as my first name and all was well. Somewhere along the line, the programmers decided not to allow a space in a name, causing me to be H - on my sea pass and on my booking. But in Captain's Club I was either "H." or "H Elizabeth" and the names didn't match. I had completely given up trying to have access to My Celebrity because it was fixed at least 6 times, maybe more, and each time would take about an hour. And within a week, I would lose access.

 

@others - a few days after sending the e-mail, we did call and get our luggage tags, but thanks for the suggestions.

 

@cathy - I absolutely agree. Celebrity agents are so cooperative and easy to talk with.

 

@bfson - maybe this wasn't a serious problem - I save the words serious for the big illnesses or disasters, but it was a major waste of our time and a rather serious irritant. We had been trying for weeks to get into our booking (through my husband's log-in) and add a beverage package, and into another booking and link with friends. We spent quite a bit of time trying to do this ourselves. It was a major thorn. So I was frustrated when the e-mail came, tempting us to try one more time, and I felt like Charlie Brown with the football. Once again Lucy snatched it away as we tried to kick it. The e-mail was a response to my frustration.

 

Since then, my log-in has worked for several days, and maybe it will be OK. We've been able to access our bookings and add our friends, buy a beverage package, etc.

 

Beth aka "H"

 

My situation was with the Jr, but it is the same basic problem as yours on how the handle the space between my last name and the Jr. It is handled different between the new main system and the Captain Club. If you are still having problems doing things on the booking, you could try removing your CC number from the reservation and seeing if it works.

 

Also, thanks for posting you posted experience with you e mail to the CEO. I understood the purpose of your thread and I was just sharing my experience on a similar issues although you did not really ask. A short coming of my gender. I will now go back into my cave. (My attempt at humor something to do with Mars)

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[emileg]

Beth - I think it was an excellent idea to bring the website problem to the attention of the president's office. Many times upper management is not aware of ongoing problems. I am attempted to send to Mr. Bayley that ridiculously long error message I continue to get trying to sign up for the Connections Party for our upcoming cruise in September on the Summit.

 

I wonder if Celebrity hired the same company to design their website as the one hired initially for the Affordable Care Act.

Edited November 30, 2013 by emileg

[Redtravel]

I did my online checkin and tried to figure out how to get the luggage tags. In the past it was so easy. Checkin on lone and get tags sent in the mail. This time I hit a snag. I called Celebrity and got an agent who said sorry that he could not help me. Try again another day. Again and again...same scenerio. I am just going to go to the cruise, get tags at the pier and fill them in. I will also attach tags that I have that include my info including cabin number. The website does not work, the phone squad does not help. I am wondering if this is a preview of how things will go on the cruise. If I had not taken cruises previously on Celebrity, I would be very nervous. May be I should be nervous. Getting upset about luggage tags seems like a waste of time. See you on the cruise.

[buzzybuzzbuzz]

I cannot believe those people giving the OP a hard time, if X or any other company has a web site then it should work not after several attempts but 1st time every time.

 

It isn't as though X don't know they have web issues, but they choose not to deal with it, assuming our loyalty and patience will be on-going.

 

Imagine e-bay if it only work some of the time? Or Amazon.

 

OP, I am glad you raised the issue and I am glad X acknowledged it. Big win all around!

[Ellen S]

Beth, You say you use your middle name. So does my DH. And it causes all kinds of problems( including 40 years ago trying to get a marriage license). But since he got his passport, for traveling we only use his first name and that solves all kinds of problems. I am surprised the Cruise lines and airlines do not do the same to you.

I also sent an email to Michael Bayley's office. I wanted the company to know what a positive experience I had on the Summit when my husband was taken very ill in September. I got a call about a month later and the rep and I had a very nice call. I also wanted the information to get back to the captain. The rep said he was going to forward my email.

[CaroleSS]

Beth,

I don't care if the issue is an initial, a suffix or anything else, these things are known issues and you'd think that after a couple of YEARS, X could somehow get it fixed!

 

Alas, it persists. I just can't understand how this, and the plethora of other issues, can't get fixed. X is losing a TON of money by not resolving their website issues. I don't want to hear anyone tell someone not to use Rum Runners as they "steal" money from X.....especially sine X is GIVING money away by having a poor website!!!!