? about 123 offer

[betmust]

I booked thru a TA for a 5 day cruise with this offer.

I my confirmation papers from the TA it shows a $200 OBC. In the upper corner it shows Booking status: Offer

 

When I look at my reservation online it shows I have a Wave promo - classic beverage package. I was charged gratuities which I was told would be credited back to my credit card.

 

Does anyone know how long that takes to credit back gratuity money paid?/

 

Thanks for any info

[betmust]

Just bumping this up so it will be seen again.

 

Hoping someone may have an answer

 

Thanks

[jelayne]

I'm confused. Did you select the beverage package from the 123 go offer or did you select prepaid gratuities?

[jagoffee]

I'm confused. Did you select the beverage package from the 123 go offer or did you select prepaid gratuities?

 

Or do you have the 123GO inclusive for all three?

[betmust]

Sorry for the confusion.

 

I booked with the 123 Go offer which will give me the 3 - gratuities, OBC and classic beverage package. I do not have traditional dining so my gratuities had to be prepaid I guess.

 

I was told they would be credited back to my credit card and was just curious how long that would take.

 

Hope someone knows...

[Lynnees]

When are you sailing? If you haven't made final payment yet you haven't actually paid the grats so there is nothing to apply back to your cc.

[Hlitner]

The issue is a bit complicated. If you book a fixed dining seating, you do not need to pre pay the gratuities. You would simply go on the cruise and notice that you are never charged for gratuities that are covered by your TA.

 

But if you decide to book Select Dining or Aqua Class, Celebrity requires that you prepay the gratuity. Since most TAs will not want to pay this out of pocket at the time of booking, you will usually have to pay the gratuities at that time. Then, at a later date (which can vary by TA) you will be credited back the amount of those gratuities which are paid by your TA (or by a combination of your TA and cruise line). You actually would need to ask your TA when they do this as we know one that does it around final payment and another that will not do it until you actually take the cruise.

 

There is a risky strategy that can avoid having to pay the amount...and still get Select Dining. We recently took a Eclipse cruise for which we booked a fixed late dining. Once on the ship we went to the Maitre'd and asked to have our dining switched to Select...which was done the 2nd night of our 14 night cruise. The risk is that there is no room in Select...in which case you would be stuck with your original booked dining scheme.

 

Hank

Edited December 29, 2014 by Hlitner

[betmust]

We are sailing in February - it was a last minute booking so it was very close to final payment (2 days) so we just made full payment. The amount was charged to my card by Celebrity not the TA.

 

The fixed seatings were full so we ended up with select dining.

[jagoffee]

The issue is a bit complicated. If you book a fixed dining seating, you do not need to pre pay the gratuities. You would simply go on the cruise and notice that you are never charged for gratuities that are covered by your TA.

 

But if you decide to book Select Dining or Aqua Class, Celebrity requires that you prepay the gratuity. Since most TAs will not want to pay this out of pocket at the time of booking, you will usually have to pay the gratuities at that time. Then, at a later date (which can vary by TA) you will be credited back the amount of those gratuities which are paid by your TA (or by a combination of your TA and cruise line). You actually would need to ask your TA when they do this as we know one that does it around final payment and another that will not do it until you actually take the cruise.

 

There is a risky strategy that can avoid having to pay the amount...and still get Select Dining. We recently took a Eclipse cruise for which we booked a fixed late dining. Once on the ship we went to the Maitre'd and asked to have our dining switched to Select...which was done the 2nd night of our 14 night cruise. The risk is that there is no room in Select...in which case you would be stuck with your original booked dining scheme.

 

Hank

 

One minor correction. You do not need to prepay your gratuities when booked in AQ although it is "select" style dining in Blu.

 

OP, I have never had included gratuities when using Select so I cannot confirm how it will work. I do have two cruises booked with the 123Go inclusive that list a charge for the gratuities and a equal amount of credit for the gratuities. They are booked direct at this point and does not include the Select option. Since your gratuities are part of the 123go inclusive I would not think your TAs timing for any TA extra benefits would have any affect on this. I suggest you ask your TA to obtain and send you the most recent invoice from Celebrity. As I recall it took a free weeks for it to show on the Celebrity invoice.

[betmust]

One minor correction. You do not need to prepay your gratuities when booked in AQ although it is "select" style dining in Blu.

 

OP, I have never had included gratuities when using Select so I cannot confirm how it will work. I do have two cruises booked with the 123Go inclusive that list a charge for the gratuities and a equal amount of credit for the gratuities. They are booked direct at this point and does not include the Select option. Since your gratuities are part of the 123go inclusive I would not think your TAs timing for any TA extra benefits would have any affect on this. I suggest you ask your TA to obtain and send you the most recent invoice from Celebrity. As I recall it took a free weeks for it to show on the Celebrity invoice.

 

Actually we are booked in Concierge class so gratuities have to be pre- paid

 

I spoke to my TA today who in turn, spoke to Celebrity. They sent through a new invoice with a credit for the gratuities and it will appear on my credit card.

 

Thank you for answering my questions...

[jagoffee]

Actually we are booked in Concierge class so gratuities have to be pre- paid

 

I spoke to my TA today who in turn, spoke to Celebrity. They sent through a new invoice with a credit for the gratuities and it will appear on my credit card.

 

Thank you for answering my questions...

 

Good to know that it worked out for you. Enjoy your cruise.

[cle-guy]

Actually we are booked in Concierge class so gratuities have to be pre- paid

 

 

Prepaid gratuities are only required for those booked into "Select dining" arrangements - i.e. could not or chose not to select early or late dining times (perhaps these were booked solid, leaving only select dining open).

 

The cabin type does not factor in, I sail Suites and Aqua and never had to prepay gratuities, so have to assume it wouldn't be required for Concierge either.

 

The supposition elsewhere by one about BLU being automatic select dining is an intriguing thought, but when you book AQ, they "assign" you to "early seating" and thus your reservations isn't flagged as such to require the gratuities to be prepaid. This is another common question, "why am I set for fixed early dining n BLU".

 

As I understand it, for those with the all-in 123 that includes gratuities, you end up with an On Board Credit posted to your seapass account once you board for the amount. If you don't use the credit for something while on board, it is refunded to your card used for your sea-pass account at the end of your sailing

 

If you do in fact see an actual credit to your credit card before you sail ( not just a corrected invoice - as many people have recorded in these forums receiving multiple versions of invoices that are still filled with erroneous information), please do post back here, as it would be a good detail to know for a fact. TA's and X staff often miss these details, or make assumptions that may not actually pan-out.

Edited December 30, 2014 by cle-guy

[jagoffee]

I have two cruises booked with the 123Go inclusive and the include free gratuities are listed on my Celebrity invoice and I do not have Select dining.

 

Both bookings state for each person:

 

gratuities $217

123go promo3. -$217

 

Same thing for the drink package. This is the first time that I have had all three including the gratuities so I do not know if this is a change to the process. Previously when I had the drink package it was the same way with a charge for the package and then a credit.

 

The credit for the gratuities was not on my first invoice from Celebrity and they told me it would take a couple of weeks for the credit to show up on the invoice and it did later. The initial invoice showed the charge for the gratuities then the credit later even though I had not chosen Select dining. Perhaps this explains what happened to the OP if the booking was made under the 123GO promotion. Maybe the invoice was paid (with the gratuities charged without Select dining) before the 123GO gratuities credit was added to the invoice. The confusion being that the 123GO inclusive only applies to Conceirge Class and above.

Edited December 30, 2014 by jagoffee

[Hlitner]

It gets even more complicated depending on who is actually paying the gratuities. Sometimes it will be part of a Celebrity promo where the cruise line actually covers the gratuities, but other times we will have our gratuities paid by one of our cruise agencies (one of the reasons we always book with agencies). And then its possible to get into a situation where both the cruise line and the agency contribute to a perk. For example, on a recent booking we got $700 of OBC of which $300 is provided by the cruise line and the other $400 paid by the cruise agency.

 

Hank

[betmust]

I guess I did not explain things to clearly.

 

We booked the offer for free gratuities, classic drink package and OBC. In order to get this, I had to book Concierge class or higher, which I did. I paid in full at that time.

 

When I booked, I have select seating for dining so I had to pay gratuities.

I was told it would be credited back to my credit card.

 

My TA got a new invoice from Celebrity that showed, drink package charge and a credit for it, gratuities and then a credit for it and below my OBC.

 

Celebrity now says the actual credit will appear back to my credit card on my next statement.

 

I will let everyone know when that actual happens.

 

Thanks for all the replies...

[jagoffee]

I guess I did not explain things to clearly.

 

We booked the offer for free gratuities, classic drink package and OBC. In order to get this, I had to book Concierge class or higher, which I did. I paid in full at that time.

 

When I booked, I have select seating for dining so I had to pay gratuities.

I was told it would be credited back to my credit card.

 

My TA got a new invoice from Celebrity that showed, drink package charge and a credit for it, gratuities and then a credit for it and below my OBC.

 

Celebrity now says the actual credit will appear back to my credit card on my next statement.

 

I will let everyone know when that actual happens.

 

Thanks for all the replies...

 

Very clear. It makes perfect sense.

[huskerc]

Not saying it won't work out that way for you, but for reference, when we booked a med cruise during the time when X was giving 2 of the 3 on European cruises, we took drink package + gratuities and having gratuities included was enough to get select dining. We did not have to pay them and then be refunded.