Celebrity Open Passage

[J.E.C]

Has anyone ever been successful in applying one of these to an existing booking?

 

A few weeks ago we booked our next cruise and to be honest we had completely forgotten that we had a Celebrity Open Passage unused. We have just asked our TA to try to apply it to this booking and Celebrity said no!

 

Has anyone ever successfully done this and if so how?

 

Many thanks

 

J

[huskerc]

I don't think it's possible without canceling the existing reservation. The open passage isn't something that is applied--it is the actual reservation (the number doesn't change when you book).

[J.E.C]

I don't think it's possible without canceling the existing reservation. The open passage isn't something that is applied--it is the actual reservation (the number doesn't change when you book).

 

Thanks for responding - that is what the TA is saying (although to be honest they are not a big cruise TA so I thought I would check - we have used them because of the flight and other add on we are doing).

 

Somehow I would have hoped Celebrities systems would say "hey these folks have an open passage lets make this the booking number" (by matching our CC numbers) - but then IT isnt one of their "specialities".

 

Will just have to book another cruise and not forget next time :)

[varoo]

Has anyone ever been successful in applying one of these to an existing booking?

 

A few weeks ago we booked our next cruise and to be honest we had completely forgotten that we had a Celebrity Open Passage unused. We have just asked our TA to try to apply it to this booking and Celebrity said no!

 

Has anyone ever successfully done this and if so how?

Check current pricing and perks being offered. If equivalent to what you already have, or better, it should be easy to cancel and rebook using the reservation number of the open passage.

 

An agent has to book the reservation with the open passage for you as that is something you cannot do yourself.

 

That was how we did it when we ran across an old open passage that we had forgotten about.

To make sure we did not lose our cabin, we coordinated the cancellation and re-booking with the agent so that we both were online at the same time. We canceled our original booking and as soon as we released the cabin, the agent instantly picked it up on the new booking.

 

But if a TA booked or owns your current reservation, then you will not be able to cancel it yourself.

So in that case the TA would need to do both the cancellation of the current reservation and the new booking.

 

The terms of the old Open Passages are even better now because you can combine them with another offer, which is something we could not do when our old passages were originally issued.

 

[Straughn]

 

An agent has to book the reservation with the open passage for you as that is something you cannot do yourself.

 

 

I had a different experience with an open passage from 2012. I put a booking on 24 hour hold and, after checking with my traveling partner on schedule, was able to convert the 2012 open passage to the booking directly with Celebrity. No travel agent required. I got the OBC for the open passage and, as it was an Aqua Class stateroom, got all the 123 Go perks.

[larry1365]

What is an Open Passage?

[varoo]

I had a different experience with an open passage from 2012. I put a booking on 24 hour hold and, after checking with my traveling partner on schedule, was able to convert the 2012 open passage to the booking directly with Celebrity. No travel agent required. I got the OBC for the open passage and, as it was an Aqua Class stateroom, got all the 123 Go perks.

So you did not need to have an agent assign the open passage number to your reservation for you? :confused:

 

I did not know that you could do it directly yourself and thought that an agent has to do it for you, regardless of whether it is a cruise line's reservation agent or an outside travel agent.

 

Looking at a reservation in my account, either already booked or just on hold, I never saw a place where I could assign the reservation number from an open passage myself without needing to have an agent do it for me.

 

Please share how you assigned the open passage number to your reservation on hold directly yourself without needing to involve an agent do it for you.

That would be such a handy thing for all of us to know for future reference, especially if booking late at night or other times when an agent is unavailable or hard to reach.

 

Edited March 6, 2015 by varoo

[Caribbean Chris]

What is an Open Passage?

 

It's the former name for "Cruise Later," an open-ended certificate you buy through a cruise consultant on board if you know you will sail again with Celebrity, but you are not sure of the date or itinerary.

 

You make a small deposit ($100 per person) which will eventually be applied to your future cruise. One benefit (sometimes) is that's the only small deposit you'll need to make until final payment.

 

You also will get an On Board Credit when you sail. You can combine it with another Celebrity offer. It never expires, unlike some cruiseline' programs. You can transfer it to someone else. And in my experience, if you need to make a change after you pick your sailing, and switch it to another cruise entirely (before final payment), you can rebook to a different cruise.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Caribbean Chris

[J.E.C]

Thanks for all your responses.

 

Cancelling and rebooking is not an option because we have all the 123 perks which are no longer on offer.

 

It doesnt expire so a cruise in the future is the best option.

 

Although I might just e mail Celebrity direct to see what happens

 

J

[Banjo]

For years I had one but could never use because the perks were always better then the Open Passage. It must have been 4 or 5 cruises I tried to use it and they said the Open Passage could not be combined with other Celebrity perks. Thought the Open Passage would never get used. Then this time last year on booking a October, 2014 Eclipse cruise to the Canary Islands they took it and I still received the 123 Perk.

 

My suggestion, if cannot re-book, save it for a future cruise. You may want to do your re-booking at the Future Cruise Desk on your upcoming cruise. This way you can explain your situation in person and still give the cruise to your TA. I re-booked all my future cruises (I could not do it with September Infinity cruise because Aqua was sold out) on my last January Reflection cruise and got some nice additional OBC.

[lysolqn]

We've had no problems using Open Passages certificates, however, when attempting to purchase a couple of new certificates on our December Reflection cruise, we were told the certificates now being issued no longer include the "Friends and Family" discount which used to include up to three cabins on one reservation.

[Straughn]

So you did not need to have an agent assign the open passage number to your reservation for you? :confused:

 

I did not know that you could do it directly yourself and thought that an agent has to do it for you, regardless of whether it is a cruise line's reservation agent or an outside travel agent.

 

Looking at a reservation in my account, either already booked or just on hold, I never saw a place where I could assign the reservation number from an open passage myself without needing to have an agent do it for me.

 

 

Please share how you assigned the open passage number to your reservation on hold directly yourself without needing to involve an agent do it for you.

That would be such a handy thing for all of us to know for future reference, especially if booking late at night or other times when an agent is unavailable or hard to reach.

 

I thought you were referring to an outside travel agent. I called Celebrity and the nice lady took my Courtesy Hold and applied/converted it to the Open Passage booking.

Edited March 6, 2015 by Straughn