HELLO? Celebrity, anybody working there?

[Lois R]

OOPS:o:o You are correct Lois!

 

LOL...no problem:D....with all the hold times..who knows, maybe 0054

would help;):)

[smoosh21]

I googled "Celebrity Cruise phone number"

It gave me 866-592-7225.

I called, said I wanted to change my husband's drink plan & the rep said he would transfer me to the correct line. I was on hold maybe 30 seconds, done in a couple minutes.

I believe I have called the number you did before with no issues either.

One thing to remember--there are only so many reps & if there can be a huge flux in calls they cannot predict.

Now, why the computer didn't answer & put you on hold--sounds like a computer glitch to me.

 

As someone who once worked for a company that built call center equipment, you would be surprised how predictable they can be. It is amazing how well they can slice and dice data to know exactly how to staff. Unless something completely extraordinary happens, they know how they want to staff.

 

Celebrity may have ulterior motives in these longer wait times, including potentially driving more cruisers to Travel agents.

 

I do agree that call times have been unacceptable lately

[riclop]

Everyone seems to be having the same problem.

[sollan]

Just curoius... I can't use the US number as I'm not booking through US Celebrity. Have noticed that many apperantly is told that they should have phone an other number and are placed on an new line to the right department.

Here we dial the number and then we are given a lot of choices, for this press 1, for that press 2 and so on. It a lot of choices I can tell you but mostly you will get in contact with the right person. Not always but most times....

So I wonder; do you just all call one number and then are placed in a line?

[neeko]

I have almost had it with Celebrity. Not only is the phone service terrible but the web site is still under maintenance...that has been 6 or 7 months now. Why is it that RCCL (a part of the same company) can do it so much better? Almost time to switch loyalty.

[HelenfromMelbourne]

I'm in Australia and last month called Celebrity about our Jan 2015 cruise. After a wait of 58 min, I hung up. Tried at a different time of day-early morning-and hung up after 37 min as I had to get ready for work. Tried again earlier this month and got through after a 49 min wait. Unfortunately, the rep was just plain rude and couldn't wait to get me off the phone. I tried again a few days later-after a 23 min wait I spoke to an absolutely lovely rep who was both helpful and polite. At last-problem quickly solved! I contrast this with our 2012 cruise experience-I never waited more than 10 min to speak to a rep who was invariably cheerful and helpful. The reduction in staff is very obvious.

[happybos]

I have been trying all week to get through to Celebrity Australia so I can book using my future cruise voucher, which you can't use to book online.

 

Was on hold for over an hour on either Monday or Tuesday (can't remember which) to finally get through to a lovely call centre man who took my details and said that he could not actually help me but would arrange a call back.

 

Well, that call back came today when I was in a school so could not answer my phone! I then took advantage of the 1.5 hour drive back to my base to call and be on hold - oh, that was fun - listening to the same tinny song playing through my car handsfree for just under an hour! Finally, I got through to a consultant who was lovely, although he was obviously just learning.

 

After half an hour of trying hard, two different attempts at the booking, because he forgot it was a future cruise booking, his computer going down half-way through confirming it the second time, he told me it was all done. Oh, and he was in South America and the time was 11.15 at night! (My time was 3.15 in the afternoon).

 

My confirmation email was waiting for me but it does not reflect the reduced deposit information of the future cruise voucher. All I can do now is wait until it shows up under My Celebrity and hopefully it will be right.

 

If not, I will be doing it all again next week!! And to think, I have this to look forward to 2 more times, as we are booking 3 back to back cruises as the different itineraries for the 2015/16 season are released.

 

Jennie

[sollan]

Just curoius... I can't use the US number as I'm not booking through US Celebrity. Have noticed that many apperantly is told that they should have phone an other number and are placed on an new line to the right department.

Here we dial the number and then we are given a lot of choices, for this press 1, for that press 2 and so on. It a lot of choices I can tell you but mostly you will get in contact with the right person. Not always but most times....

So I wonder; do you just all call one number and then are placed in a line?

 

 

I'm still curious how it works in different places.... Can somebody help me please? :)

[mido78]

I'm still curious how it works in different places.... Can somebody help me please? :)

 

Same in Germany, we call a German number and have to go through the choices.

 

I believe that Royal / Celebrity joined all European call centers to a single one in the Netherlands which handles all calls from European (maybe not UK) clients. Since then the waiting times skyrocketed.

 

A few years back I had literally no waiting time when calling, the agents were German native speakers (they are not anymore now and you can hear other agents talking in different languages in the background) and emails were answered within hours (now: about a week or no answer at all).

 

It is all to save money (legitimate). At least profits should rise and so should the stock :D

Edited February 27, 2014 by mido78

[odysee]

My theory is that following have certainly contributed to the longer wait times :

 

1. inexperience and indifference of call center staff

2. inconsistency of information, replies and especially Celebrity policy

 

Therefore you have to keep calling again and again to get the correct information - or to get the answer that best suits you, as I have seen often on these boards.

These additional, repeating calls - which would be unnecessary if you get professionals and the correct information to begin with - block lines and add to wait times.

Edited February 27, 2014 by odysee

[grayjay]

Same in Germany, we call a German number and have to go through the choices.

 

I believe that Royal / Celebrity joined all European call centers to a single one in the Netherlands which handles all calls from European (maybe not UK) clients. Since then the waiting times skyrocketed.

 

A few years back I had literally no waiting time when calling, the agents were German native speakers (they are not anymore now and you can hear other agents talking in different languages in the background) and emails were answered within hours (now: about a week or no answer at all).

 

It is all to save money (legitimate). At least profits should rise and so should the stock :D

 

It's obvious that the problem is world-wide and if Celebrity doesn't listen and will change its policy ( i.e. back to representatives and sales personell in each country or have more experienced staff at least) bookings and customer loyalty will come down.

We're elite plus - just to show that we have been really loyal customers so far and love ( still love) the product. But after weeks of trying to reach an actual voice instead of tinny music and the reassuring computer voice of " your call is important to us, please hold the line" and the disappointment that NONE of my e-mails was answered I'm getting really annoyed of the fact that I still have no access to my reservations and can't even book dinner times on a cruise that leaves in a few days time.

To compare: I called both NCL and Princess at their respective offices and got my answers in 5 minutes flat - polite, friendly and helpful.

We have booked another cruise - sorry Celebrity! Try to listen, please! We're calling you...

I can agree to the previous poster's statement that a few months ago there was no waiting time, it was easy to reach both the reservations department and Captain's Club, e-mails were prompt and helpful. None of that now. :mad:

[sollan]

:(

Same in Germany, we call a German number and have to go through the choices.

 

I believe that Royal / Celebrity joined all European call centers to a single one in the Netherlands which handles all calls from European (maybe not UK) clients. Since then the waiting times skyrocketed.

 

A few years back I had literally no waiting time when calling, the agents were German native speakers (they are not anymore now and you can hear other agents talking in different languages in the background) and emails were answered within hours (now: about a week or no answer at all).

 

It is all to save money (legitimate). At least profits should rise and so should the stock :D

The Nordic sales are now placed in Norway and they handle their incoming calls quite fast. But I have heard that they are going to close down there and move to the Netherlands. Not sure if it's true but if it is so I suppose that we will have the same problems that others have....:(

It's really a shame that the companies nowadays doesn't seems to value good customer service anymore. It's a cost of course, but I'm convinced that in the long run it will show to be well invested money. It's a matter of quality. A happy, well treated customer will spread the good word.

[Michidoeme]

The other day I was 35 min on hold with Celebritz US and finally gave up.

 

A couple of weeks before our Oct 13 cruise, I sent an email with a question concerning that cruise. I received a response 10 days after returning from that cruise without actually a useful answer to my question !

Edited February 27, 2014 by Michidoeme

[cruisegoal100]

Curious to see if this alleviates on Saturday or Monday after the 123 promo ends....

[Gunnerpup]

I have just tried to call given the 50% discount won't work on their website (for captains club members) and yes..the cruise is over 70 days away. Not sure why. The system dumped me at 10 minutes or so...and I called back and just left a number to call me back at.

 

This is the best option, just leave your number go watch TV/whatever and they'll get back to you.

 

I'm betting most people do the callback and only some of us are foolish enough to actually sit on the phone and wait! ;)

 

Go watch something or have a drinkie while waiting...you can pretend you are on the Sunset bar. :)

[cbsmama]

I have to admit that DH and I had a less than impressive experience on the phone with Celebrity last night to book our very first X cruise on the Summit. DH had put a courtesy hold on a room, but since we hadn't sailed with Celebrity before, we thought we would call a "Brand Specialist" :rolleyes: to finalize. This seemed like a good idea, as our Carnival rep is AMAZING and will talk to us for a minimum of 30 minutes to help us pick a room and make sure we are getting what we want and the best pricing.

 

We did the "call me" option, but when we told the not-that-excited person that we had a courtesy hold, she had to transfer us to a different department. So we waited on hold for 30+ minutes. The woman who answered the phone basically had no interest in helping us. I thought they were supposed to be selling cruises? :confused: We were asking questions about a specific cabin that looks like it has a bigger balcony (and members here on CC have confirmed), and her response was "all balconies are the same size.":mad:

 

We just hung up and continued our booking online and just relied on what we know about cruise ships in general and what I have learned here on CC. I'm still excited for our cruise, and I'm sure we will enjoy it, but our first dealings with Celebrity were not good.

[kborth]

Hello I have booked first time with Celebrity on Silhouette for Italy and can't get through. I wanted to check the reservation made through an online TA. Also wanted to join Captain's Club as I am Platinum with Royal. Have tried 3 times and left my number. The phone rang right away but when I picked up got a fast busy. Getting nervous about this.

[Lois R]

Hello I have booked first time with Celebrity on Silhouette for Italy and can't get through. I wanted to check the reservation made through an online TA. Also wanted to join Captain's Club as I am Platinum with Royal. Have tried 3 times and left my number. The phone rang right away but when I picked up got a fast busy. Getting nervous about this.

 

Hi:)....2 things relating to your post. I would suggest calling Capt's

Club about joining...... 800 760 0654. While you are on the phone you

can ask about your reservation BUT and it is big BUT....once you make

a booking through a Travel Agency, Celebrity will tell you to call the

TA for any questions......what are you nervous about?

Edited April 10, 2014 by Lois R

[kborth]

Hi Lois thanks for replying. I tried the Captain's Club number and still can't get through. Just voice mail. Guess I wanted to speak to someone at Celebrity . Am Platinum on RCI and wanted to be enrolled. I guess I will keep trying.