On-board credit and beverage package discrepancy

[drjochen]

We are booked on a Solstice Alaska cruise in June. When we booked the cruise, we were told we would get $300 per adult in on-board credits, free wifi, and all passengers would receive the premium beverage package (for the adults and a non-alcoholic four our dd). This is also reflected online. However, the cruise booklet now shows $150 credit per person and no bev package for my daughter. I called X and the consultant was really lost and gave me conflicting information. Bottom line was it doesn't matter at all what I was told during the reservation process but what is written in the booklet.

 

Has this happened to other cruisers before? Any ideas on how to resolve this?

[WestLakeGirl]

Never heard o$300 pp credit...it's always been $300 per stateroom. Is the daughter the third person in the stateroom? Sometimes 3rd doesn't get any perks.

 

What paperwork do you have showing the perks? Booking confirmation?

 

Did you book on line, on board or with a Travel agent? If a TA, I'm afraid you may have been misled

[drjochen]

Never heard o$300 pp credit...it's always been $300 per stateroom. Is the daughter the third person in the stateroom? Sometimes 3rd doesn't get any perks.

 

What paperwork do you have showing the perks? Booking confirmation?

 

Did you book on line, on board or with a Travel agent? If a TA, I'm afraid you may have been misled

 

I booked directly. When I pull up the reservation on the Celebrity web page, it still shows the total on board credit of $600 for the stateroom, which is what i was told when I reserved our suite. The booklet they sent us, however, shows $300. Daughter is third person and I was told during the reservation proves with the Celebrity rep that she would get the non-alcoholic beverage package. The confirmation they sent me states:

 

Promotions Applied

GOBETTER OBCGRT

EXTRA SALE

 

Whatever that means.....

 

I assume the bev package and Internet are included because we are in a suite:

 

•Complimentary Premium Beverage Package for all guests in suite. Minors will automatically receive a Premium-Non-Alcoholic Beverage Package

•Complimentary unlimited Internet access

 

But the agent I just spoke with told me its not included for minors....only for adults.

Edited April 23, 2016 by drjochen

[jelayne]

Did you call the main Celebrity number or did you call the Captains Club about the discrepancy?

 

If you didn't call the CC, I would suggest you call them @ 1-800-760-0654.

 

I also have never heard of $300 per person OBC but if it is showing on your confirmation you should get it.

[RickT]

Take screen shots of what you see on your computer. Call Celebrity back and ask to speak to a supervisor. While it sucks that you need to do this, Celebrity has had so many different promos/perks that it can be hard for the reps to keep things straight.

 

That said, what you see on the website is what you'll get. If there was something you were "told " but isn't on the website may be tough to get unless you have a hard copy of it somewhere.

[drjochen]

Did you call the main Celebrity number or did you call the Captains Club about the discrepancy?

 

If you didn't call the CC, I would suggest you call them @ 1-800-760-0654.

 

I also have never heard of $300 per person OBC but if it is showing on your confirmation you should get it.

 

I called the main number. Thanks for the tip, I'll try the CC number.

[cruzzzinma]

There was a period in Dec 2015 when they offered double OBC and it was not well advertised. We have $600 from Celebrity for our upcoming cruise to Bermuda. I thought it was a mistake when our TA sent us the invoice, but it was correct.

[drjochen]

There was a period in Dec 2015 when they offered double OBC and it was not well advertised. We have $600 from Celebrity for our upcoming cruise to Bermuda. I thought it was a mistake when our TA sent us the invoice, but it was correct.

 

Correct, that's when I booked.

[SPacificbound]

Print out what you see online.

[CruisersTimesThree]

I also booked our upcoming August cruise in Jan during the "double" OBC promo and also got an additional $300 for a total of $600 OBC (for all in the cabin, not $300 pp)

My booking confirmation shows the original $300, and then underneath it shows $150 for guest 1 and $150 for guest 2 and shows a total of $600.

There is a section a bit lower down the page that says Onboard Credits-Currency.

[CruisersTimesThree]

The confirmation they sent me states:

 

Promotions Applied

GOBETTER OBCGRT

EXTRA SALE

 

Whatever that means.....

 

I assume the bev package and Internet are included because we are in a suite:

 

•Complimentary Premium Beverage Package for all guests in suite. Minors will automatically receive a Premium-Non-Alcoholic Beverage Package

•Complimentary unlimited Internet access

 

But the agent I just spoke with told me its not included for minors....only for adults.

 

It looks like you booked your cruise with the Go Better promo not the Suite promo that gives all 4 perks (that promo is for cruises between now and next May and has been in place the last couple of months)

The Go Better promo gives you a choice of 2 perks. It seems you have the OBC ($300) plus GRT (gratuities for the first two pax in the cabin)

You also have the Extra Sale which was the double OBC promo, so you should have $600 in OBC.

I don't know what suite you have, but the Complimentary Premium Bev Package and Unlimited internet are given to the Penthouse and Royal Suites only, unless you have the Suite promo (which I explained above)

Call Celebrity and ask them what promo you have exactly and what perks you were given.

[LabGuy64]

Did you save anything that shows the perks you were supposed to get?

 

 

I booked directly. When I pull up the reservation on the Celebrity web page, it still shows the total on board credit of $600 for the stateroom, which is what i was told when I reserved our suite. The booklet they sent us, however, shows $300. Daughter is third person and I was told during the reservation proves with the Celebrity rep that she would get the non-alcoholic beverage package. The confirmation they sent me states:

 

Promotions Applied

GOBETTER OBCGRT

EXTRA SALE

 

Whatever that means.....

 

I assume the bev package and Internet are included because we are in a suite:

 

•Complimentary Premium Beverage Package for all guests in suite. Minors will automatically receive a Premium-Non-Alcoholic Beverage Package

•Complimentary unlimited Internet access

 

But the agent I just spoke with told me its not included for minors....only for adults.

[OhioDogLover]

Print it and take it with you. I always do that, because Celebrity makes so many mistakes with OBC and promos. I also always use a TA, because that way there is someone to advocate on my behalf if/when there is an error. (I also get perks from my TA.)

 

Ohiodoglover

[gopro63]

Did you call back speak to another person? On-board

[ORV]

Another cautionary tale as to why people should use a good TA and not book direct.

[Iamthesea]

There was a period in Dec 2015 when they offered double OBC and it was not well advertised. We have $600 from Celebrity for our upcoming cruise to Bermuda. I thought it was a mistake when our TA sent us the invoice, but it was correct.

 

We were also given the "extra" OBC for an upcoming cruise. Had it in writing and saw it online. Then one day, $300 of that credit disappeared in My Celebrity.:rolleyes: I was getting ready to call CC about it when a better deal came up for our stateroom category with a big box TA. We came out ahead by switching. :)

 

The cruise is in 4 weeks. Anxious to see that we get all the perks we are do. Taking copies and have access to screen shots. :D

[bEwAbG]

The people on the ship are not going to rely on your screenshots as proof of anything. They'll simply talk to the shore-side people to confirm what you have booked and then if there's still a discrepancy, you'll have to deal with the middleman. Always best to sort these kinds of things out before you take the trip.

 

OP - did you get a booking confirmation emailed to you after you booked? The invoice from Celebrity? If the Captain's Club people come back and say you booked something else, that's going to be the proof you need. Hopefully they'll see some sort of error and correct it, though. Let us know how it turns out!

[rjg41]

After you call customer service and CC and get not satisfaction ask to speak to the "resolutions desk". These are the folks who handle the tough issues/escalations.

[jagoffee]

The people on the ship are not going to rely on your screenshots as proof of anything. They'll simply talk to the shore-side people to confirm what you have booked and then if there's still a discrepancy, you'll have to deal with the middleman. Always best to sort these kinds of things out before you take the trip.

 

OP - did you get a booking confirmation emailed to you after you booked? The invoice from Celebrity? If the Captain's Club people come back and say you booked something else, that's going to be the proof you need. Hopefully they'll see some sort of error and correct it, though. Let us know how it turns out!

 

Good recommendation. The ship personnel will just call the land based team to resolve. If you cannot get it resolved before you depart I would not think you will do any better once you are on the ship.