Onboard booking of a next cruise - problems afterwards with Celebrity

[Squadra03]

During our last "X" cruise in 2015 we payed onboard 160 euros downpayment for a next cruise. This after having had multiple "invitations" by letters to our cabin.

 

The future sails, sales guy told us we only had to pay 160 euros downpayment and for our next cruise we would get:

 

1) classic beverage package

2) free gratuities

3) 300 OBC for the first person and 150 OBC for the second person

 

Although we didn't want to link a cruise to this downpayment they said this was necessary and they randomly added a Caribbean cruise to our booking but we got on paper that the booking was changeable.

 

Now we wanted to book an Alaska cruise with Celebrity and the problems started.

 

1) Price mentioned in aqua class A1 on the website was around 2.500 euros but we should pay 2.619 a person to also get the things they promised.

To me this sounded awkard, but X told us that we booked at basic prices and we could not use the promotion of their website combined with the already booked cruise.

At the end we said ok and tried to book this cruise via our TA for 2.619 euros but WITH the 3 benefits. This was two weeks ago.

The onboard sales guy of X also told us that booking via our normal TA was not a problem, this was also even mentioned on the papers we have.

 

2) Our TA gave in this booking but it got refused, the 2.619 + the 3 benefits could not be granted. It took us more than 1 week to get on ok on that one...

 

3) But in the meantime the price of the cruise has changed to 2.700 and something a person so because we weren't booked yet, we should now pay 2.700 euros to get the 3 benefits... ???!!!

This is already 200 more than the first price mentioned on their website, like this it totally useless to book this future sailings.

 

Did anybody experience the same kind of things with future sailings bookings or what is going on?

 

X told us that paying back the downpayment is not an option, like this we feel like held hostage... .

 

We totally don't understand the slow reaction times of Celebrity, this gives totally no customer satisfaction. Each time it takes 2 to 3 days to get a reaction from them.

We were quite big Celebrity fans in the past with 3 (all in aqua class) out of 4 cruises made with X but when you threat customers like this they might go explore other options... .

Seen that we are still in our 30's, we might still book a lot of cruises with them, but customer satisfaction seems not so important to X.

If you make promises you should keep them...

 

If anybody would have experienced the same thing in the past or now, please tell us what you did to clear up the situation?

[dazey]

While on a cruise two years ago we did the 1-2-3 offer and chose as European cruise and also chose a cabin and a quoted price. A year later we took the cruise and never had a problem. Also we gave our TA info and it was transferred to him. No problem. We plan to look at scheduling another cruise while on board the Summit this summer and I will make sure I get everything in writing. Hope this works out for you.

[Bo1953]

Sorry for your experiences with this booking.

 

We never had a problem with our on-board booking, but we never changed sailings as we understood that the potential for loss of 'perks would happen (the fine print on our contract'.

 

We also understood that using the offered OBC for current sailing would cause us to lose deposit on the future cruise should we change or not take the original new cruise, again fine print.

 

We chose not to book right away on-board until we understood the 'pitfalls', if any, as the on-board sales people are just that, sales people who are in some cases, looking to make the sale for their commission, I want to emphasize that NOT all X's OB sales people are that way, and has NEVER been our experience.

 

I trust you find someone at X who can further help you out in this situation ....

 

bon voyage

[ClaudiaB]

To the OP -- we've done that before. No problems, just using the same booking number and changing the cruise. We always transfer to a TA (for additional OBC) and they can do it or X can do it. Were they aware you had a booking/reservation number? That should carry on to whatever you change the cruise to and give you the same perks associated with that number.

 

To Smithtown -- just WOW. I'm sorry you have been disappointed. We've been in storms on ships before with 20+ foot seas. Not that it matters, but did you ever consider moving that glass frame to a more secure location (like the floor under the bed or something??) when the storm hit? We moved glasses and wine bottles and other things ourselves because we knew they'd fall.

 

I know there are differences between when you were 12 and now but I think you'll find that many will disagree with you about Celebrity being a total bad deal. I have never had stale food on X. Seriously. Not once. I hope you find a cruise line that meets your needs. Or maybe cruising just isn't for you anymore and a land vacation would be more to your liking. I hope you find it. For us, Celebrity is still our #1 cruise line of choice and we have never had a bad cruise. Not even a so-so cruise.

Edited July 3, 2016 by ClaudiaB

[Poconolady]

Smith town, if you are so completely over sailing with Celebrity and have had such poor experiences multiple times, why are you even following a forum about X, unless you just want to complain. Your comments have nothing to do with the Op's problems with booking onboard. Poor customer service, perhaps, but seasickness and broken picture frames is totally off subject. I hesitate to post this since I know I might have multiple people jumping down my throat, but here goes

[El Crucero]

If anybody would have experienced the same thing in the past or now, please tell us what you did to clear up the situation?

 

We have never experienced any of the issues you describe and we generally book at least one Future Cruise while on board. The "rules" for Future Cruises, deposits, and perks are very specific and we are always careful to understand them (they do change from time to time) before we pay our deposit while onboard. Yes, the price of a different cruise with different perks could be different if you decide to change at a later date......ESPECIALLY if you are dealing with a currency different than the US dollar due to fluctuations in exchange rates. (Hello Brexit!)

 

I would suggest you make this your last cruise with 'X' and move on, or just realize you are never going to be treated the way you should with this line

 

I guess you didn't enjoy your cruise. How is Celebrity at fault because you failed to pack your expensive picture frame properly? The food in the MDR is as good if not better than other cruise lines in Celebrities price point. If you have cruised in Aqua in the past, I understand that the MDR is NOT going to be the same kind of dining experience. However, the MDR is NOT 1/4 the size after addition of the suite restaurant. You are grossly exaggerating (on many of your complaints)! As a boat owner, I can tell you that trying to avoid rough weather is a guessing game at best - sometimes you guess right and sometimes you are wrong.

 

We are "low maintenance" cruisers and have tried several other mass market lines. We find that Celebrity is not perfect but far superior to other similar lines. We will continue to happily cruise with Celebrity and enjoy every minute of it.

 

I hope you find a cruise line that will meet all your expectations and requirements.

Edited July 3, 2016 by El Crucero

[Bo1953]

To the OP -- we've done that before. No problems, just using the same booking number and changing the cruise. We always transfer to a TA (for additional OBC) and they can do it or X can do it. Were they aware you had a booking/reservation number? That should carry on to whatever you change the cruise to and give you the same perks associated with that number.

 

To Smithtown -- just WOW. I'm sorry you have been disappointed. We've been in storms on ships before with 20+ foot seas. Not that it matters, but did you ever consider moving that glass frame to a more secure location (like the floor under the bed or something??) when the storm hit? We moved glasses and wine bottles and other things ourselves because we knew they'd fall.

 

I know there are differences between when you were 12 and now but I think you'll find that many will disagree with you about Celebrity being a total bad deal. I have never had stale food on X. Seriously. Not once. I hope you find a cruise line that meets your needs. Or maybe cruising just isn't for you anymore and a land vacation would be more to your liking. I hope you find it. For us, Celebrity is still our #1 cruise line of choice and we have never had a bad cruise. Not even a so-so cruise.

 

 

Concur

[Bo1953]

Smith town, if you are so completely over sailing with Celebrity and have had such poor experiences multiple times, why are you even following a forum about X, unless you just want to complain. Your comments have nothing to do with the Op's problems with booking onboard. Poor customer service, perhaps, but seasickness and broken picture frames is totally off subject. I hesitate to post this since I know I might have multiple people jumping down my throat, but here goes

 

Concur, not jumping down your throat either.. :)

 

bon voyage

[Cruise Raider]

We've used onboard bookings ... a couple of times without really knowing what we were doing, evidenced by having denials down the road.

 

I am not sure what the cancellation policies are for over in Europe but will try to explain, as a US citizen, what I have learned about onboard bookings:

 

- The open passage, which you don't put down on a particular sailing, is non-refundable. It is also per person, so you can only use one if you are booking a cruise as a solo passenger ... but also you can only use one if you didn't purchase one for each passenger in the stateroom.

These are also transferable to a travel agent, but only if done within a specified time period (it is between 30 and 90 days, I believe). I was also told that it was transferable to another passenger but the same time limit exists for that transfer to take place. I am not even sure if they are doing the transfer to another passenger any longer. Well, live and learn.

You will only receive the onboard credit if you book an open sailing -- one which is not attached to a particular itinerary, date, ship -- and none of the onboard perks that are being offered. Again, this is non-refundable but it doesn't expire either. You can also change it from sailing to sailing and not lose anything -- mostly because not that much was offered in the first place.

My advice -- don't book one of these. I have one that has been sitting out there for years and probably will never be used. I do blame myself for not asking more questions at the time I booked these.

 

- When purchasing a particular sailing while onboard, you will be offered onboard credit (either for the current sailing or the cruise you are booking) and hopefully one or two other perks. I have found it is really best to pick the cruise you really think you want to sail on. I have transferred these over to different sailings and it does seem that you could lose the perks that you were granted when you first plunked your deposit down while on your cruise. I did end up getting one travel agent to transfer everything over properly but it wasn't without a lot of phone calls and follow up on my part.

These types of deposits are fully transferable to a TA, but then again, only and I mean ONLY, if done within a specified time frame.

My advice on this one is to book the cruise you really think you will be able to take and realize that you may lose out on some of the offered perks while booking it onboard. Also, don't be so tied to using that FCC -- remember, it is fully refundable. If you can save more than the onboard credit that is offered using the FCC (future cruise credit -- and this might be a Princess term?), by using a TA that offers you more, then I would just go in that direction. Also, don't transfer to a TA that has a cancellation or change fee penalty if you aren't absolutely sure of the sailing you are choosing. Again...US advice and not sure if this applies to European passengers.

 

The rules do change a bit, so hopefully I am not giving you old advice. Still, the only onboard future sailing program I would now purchase is the one where I pick a particular sailing. For me, because it is fully refundable, what do I have to lose? The deposit is a low amount.

 

Don't forget when you are onboard, that captain's club members usually get a 1 category upgrade as well. The last future cruise sales girl was right on top of that one before I could even mention it but some are not quite as sharp.

 

PS -- in nearly 50 sailings over the years, I have never ever ever had a bad Celebrity cruise. Actually, I have only been on two sailings where things went horribly wrong ... neither of which were on Celebrity. I just love their product and they are my cruiseline of choice!! Now, if they would only come back to do some sailings out of San Francisco .... but that is another topic altogether.

[Squadra03]

Sorry for your experiences with this booking.

 

We never had a problem with our on-board booking, but we never changed sailings as we understood that the potential for loss of 'perks would happen (the fine print on our contract'.

 

We also understood that using the offered OBC for current sailing would cause us to lose deposit on the future cruise should we change or not take the original new cruise, again fine print.

 

We chose not to book right away on-board until we understood the 'pitfalls', if any, as the on-board sales people are just that, sales people who are in some cases, looking to make the sale for their commission, I want to emphasize that NOT all X's OB sales people are that way, and has NEVER been our experience.

 

I trust you find someone at X who can further help you out in this situation ....

 

bon voyage

 

Hello,

 

thanks for your answer but just to make it clear.

 

They said (and we have it on paper) we can change the cruise and not loose our perks. That's why we agreed to pay a little bit more than the web listed pricing, because we understood this.

 

But to us it seems very strange that one celebrity employee tells like this and the other one tells something else and it takes far too long time to get an answer eacht time. In the meantime the cruise price goes up and than again (because they didn't want to book it earlier) we should pay the difference.

 

For me this is Kafka...

[freehold101]

Squadra03

Write to Lisa Lutoff Purlo CEO of X.

 

I had a similar issue a few years ago with X. I spent half my cruise just trying to get to see the onboard booking agent (who always seemed to be out on break or away from her desk when she was supposed to be in her office). The offer of $200 on board credit was too good to pass up at the time, so I kept going back and trying to catch her.

 

Finally on the last day I was able to sit down with her. We were both in her office but she kept taking calls on her cell and not paying attention to me and the questions I was trying to ask her.

 

She gave me a booking number after running my credit card and swore it was being sent to my travel agent. A few weeks after I got home, there was the 1-2-3 promotion and a state promotion for New York. I saw a cruise I wanted to take and called my travel agent to try and set up my reservation.

 

My agent said she never received anything from X with my name. I gave my agent the pre booking number I had and she told me it was listed as being with X still.

 

My agent called X in front of me and was able to get it moved to her agency, but it had only been set up as a 1 passenger ticket. My agent asked me why I would set it up as a 1 passenger ticket, and I explained to her I didn't.

 

My agent called X back while I ran home to get the papers the onboard agent gave me. Sure enough, the onboard agent set it up for 1 person, but charged me the pre booking rate for 2. I called my agent and she told me to print my credit card statement and to call my credit card company to get the authorization number.

 

I printed my card statement and wrote down the authorization number and gave it to my TA. She called X and explained that she had my statement and the authorization number for the charge and that I was charged for a 2 person ticket. My agent was told to fax it to them so they could look into it and that they would get back to my agent in a few days.

 

Almost a week later, my agent called and told me the finally got back to her and agreed I did pay for a 2 person pre booking and that they issued me a new number. We discussed the cruise I wanted and the 1-2-3 go program, and the NY special offer and an offer my agent was running and set up my reservation.

 

When X sent my agent the confirmation back, the $200 onboard credit was missing. She called me and told me, then she called the cruise line. They asked her for proof of the $200 on board credit offer.

 

I emailed my agent a copy of the flyer from the ship and again a copy of what the onboard booking agent gave me. She explained the whole situation to them, and after all that, they sent back a confirmation with the $200 onboard credit, the 1-2-3 go promo, but set up for 1 person and missing the NY promo and my agents promo.

 

My agent tried again, this time they got the 2 passengers, the $200 onboard credit and my agents promo but not the 1-2-3 go or NY promotions.

 

When my agent called this time they told my agent the 1-2-3 expired and so did the NY promo. We then spent a week calling and writing to X to get it all sorted out and fixed. In that week, the price went up $300 per person.

 

We finally had everything in place. The $200 onboard credit from X, the $100 on board credit for being a New York resident, the $150 on board credit from my TA and the 1-2-3 drink package and prepaid gratuities. However, now we were paying $600 more because all the runaround with X and the onboard booking agents mistake.

 

A few months later, my TA calls to tell me that X told her they were removing the $150 onboard credit from her and the $100 onboard credit for being an NY resident, because they didn't feel all these offers should apply if we had the prepaid gratuities, drink package and $200 OBC for booking on a prior cruise.

 

I was very frustrated (especially since I thought all the BS was done and their onboard booking agents mistake was already costing me $600). We tried for days to get this fiasco settled. Nobody in the cruise lines reservation department seemed to care about the mistakes their employee made or the stress, time and extra money it was costing me.

 

Some of the employees even tried to tell us if they edited anything now, we would lose the NY OBC and the 1-2-3 offer because they both expired already. We finally had it, I decided to request my money back and (I'm sure like they told you), they couldn't do that.

 

At that point, I googled "executives celebrity cruises" and "executive Royal Caribbean cruises". I wrote to all of them, and then my TA received a call from a random person in X saying they would honor the price from when we started trying to book the cruise months earlier (when we discovered that the onboard booking agent only put my reservation in for 1 person {so a $600 savings}), they would honor the $200 OBC for booking on board, the $100 NY resident OBC, the drink package and prepaid gratuities for the 1-2-3 go promotion, and the $150 from my TA and that they were going to add another $150 in OBC and a certificate for a free meal at a specialty restraint of my choosing for the hassle.

 

We also received an extra bottle of champagne and a thing of chocolate covered strawberries when we got on board.

 

I find that the X customer service on land is less impressive and less caring than the onboard customer service and (despite being on the ship) the onboard booking agents are just on land customer service agents who happen to be with the ship.

 

Also, don't use the website, that thing is useless. Write an old fashioned letter and mail it.

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited July 4, 2016 by freehold101

[Beanb41]

Couple of things spring to mind. Did you transfer your booking to your TA within the 60 day allowable time frame in order for you to keep all your benefits.

 

You might try sending an email to concerns@celebrity.com This email goes into head office in Miami

[junetraveler2014]

I and my whole family HAD been a 'X' customers since the beginning in 1989. When we were kids, my family started taking 'X' every summer to Bermuda. In recent years I have had nothing but problems and disappointments wit 'X' (not just their website either). That's why I said "HAD" been customers. We now sail HAL and MSC. We find their customer service and appreciation to be much better.

 

On the April 2015 Summit repot cruise I took with my wife, I noticed so much wrong that I will never return to 'X', and 'X' made it clear after I wrote them about my issues that they do not care about my business, passenger safety or anything but their customers money and the bottom line.

 

This was a late honeymoon/ anniversary and my wives first cruise (we had been married for 2 years but didn't get to take a honeymoon because of work issues). I decided to book a regular balcony on deck 6 instead of my normal Aqua cabin on decks 9 and 11. I did this because as mentioned, it was my wives first cruise and after reading several post on here, other travel sites and talking to my TA, I felt it best to be lower and closer to things for her.

 

The ship still had broken and cracked windows in the solarium (that I spotted and mentioned to them in a letter 2 years prior and I am willing to bet they are still there). The MDR was now even smaller since the suite class restaurant was almost done being built.

 

They were squeezing 75% of passengers into an MDR that was now 1/4 it's original size. We were squeezed in a corner looking at a wall. The food in the MDR was low quality diner food (and 'X' said in their reply "...if you want quality food, you need to book a suite or Aqua cabin. Inside, ocean view and balcony are not considered luxury cabins anymore. That is why we have created Blu for Aqua guest and (I forgot the name) for suite guest, so we can offer them the service and quality those guest pay for."

 

Again, I have been on 'X' since I was 12 and since the line began. Besides issues with the cabin, the MDR, the excursion desk, and an (issue with the photo package I purchased and then them losing half my photos on the last night and refusing to refund me for it), none of these were safety issues.

 

What was a safety issue was that the cruise line was warned of a severe storm before leaving Bermuda for Bayonne. The cruise line ignored the warning and for half the next day, the ship was getting hit by high winds and waves and heavy winds. It tore canopies off up on deck and made it almost impossible to do anything that day.

 

My wife was sick (exactly what I was trying to avoid by choosing a lower mid ship cabin), and we had to keep picking up items off the floor of our cabin. A $300 glass picture frame my wife purchased in Bermuda was destroyed when it fell out off the shelf in the closet and got crushed by our suite case.

 

I'm sure this storm probably wasn't as bad as the one Anthem OTS hit a few months ago (that finally forced 'X' and RRC to change their storm policy), but it was really bad.

 

Their answer about the storm??? "... It cost a lot of money when you delay a ship in port or deviate from course to avoid storms. We try to stick closely to schedules. We take the safety of our ship seriously as well as the safety of passengers and crew. Sometimes risk have to be taken to keep our schedule. We do apologize for the fact that you and your wife weren't comfortable during the storm you mentioned, but there was nothing the captain could have done to avoid the storm and to delay the scheduled departure or steer the ship in another direction was never an option."

 

We had friends on the Breakaway that same week. They were in port next to us and scheduled to head back to NY Harbor at the same time. The Breakaway listened to the coast guard warnings and waited, and then went a little off course to avoid the storm, and it managed to beat the Summit back to NY Harbor, avoid the storm and avoid damage to its ship (and its passengers didn't get sick and had a fun day at sea).

 

I had a few other issues in the past with 'X' and pretty much got blown off in the same way. I have been complaining about issues with their site since 2000 and obviously nothing has ever changed there either.

 

To put it in a nutshell, 'X' is looking to get back to the old way of cruising with class systems. If you aren't 1st class (highest priced suites), 2nd class (slightly lower cost suites and Aqua), you will be left with nothing but stale food and lacking accommodations. Some people like ocean view and inside cabins or basic balcony cabins, but if you chose these on 'X' then don't expect anything resembling luxury or even quality. You are the "Stowage" (old term from steam ship days) guest to them and barely worth anything. Regardless of how long you have been a loyal customer or how many cruises you have taken. Loyalty means nothing to 'X' and neither does customer appreciation. These two terms are lost on this cruise line now. Not like the old days when they went out of their way to thank you for your LOYALTIES and show you their APPRECIATION .

 

I would suggest you make this your last cruise with 'X' and move on, or just realize you are never going to be treated the way you should with this line.

 

 

 

 

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We were on Summit first week of June 2016 in a Royal Suite. I agree with you 100% and am still quite upset of X,s changes..quite upset. But to add to your statement they don't care what cabin you are in tough luck for the all might buck. If I don't get any correspondence for all the trouble (complained about in the so important review survey I am canceling my next on board booking with them. I sure as heck can find other cruises that will gladly take my $9000 and give us the space, decor and outside deck furniture that reflects price paid.:eek:

[smithtown]

Junetraveler2014 Thank you and good luck!

 

Poconolady: I follow a lot of forums. I saw this one and it does reflect the "we don't care" customer service 'X' has shown me and a lot of its guest.

 

ClaudiaB and El Crucero;

You are correct, it is not 'X's fault the frame broke. It was packed in a box with tissue paper along with other items in a gym bag on the top shelf in the closet pushed all the way to the back. Maybe (had I thought more about how much the ship was rocking and swaying) I should have placed that bag on the floor. However, I was busy trying to keep an eye on my sick wife.

 

I too have been on several ships in storms, however, (while this storm didn't do as much damage as the one the Anthem went through that finally caused the 2 companies to change their policy's for sailing through storms and didn't make the news), this was a bigger storm than most, and it was a storm the cruise line was well aware of and warned about for days prior to the decision to sail through it. It was also big enough for Breakaway to delay itself and set a different course home.

 

The possibility of the storm was mentioned to passengers 4 days prior and it was all the people in Bermuda were talking about when we mentioned what ship we were on. Had it been a freak storm that they were unaware of and weren't receiving warnings about, I wouldn't have been upset.

 

As far as the size of Summits dinning room, again, I concede you are correct, it is half its original size not quarter (my most humble apologies again on that slip/ mistake!).

 

As far as the quality of the food (on that cruise in the MDR), the food was some of the lowest quality I have had on any ship and I have sailed on many lines, including budget lines that no longer exist.

 

My main point is that I paid for a "LUXURY" cruise from a so called "LUXURY" brand and received anything but, and when I took my issues to the cruise line, I was told that if I wanted "LUXURY" I should have paid more and gotten a suite. That isn't good customer service and all other aspects of the cruise didn't help either. Plus, the ship is so concerned about creating new spaces for its suite class guest and creating separation of class for its guest, it keeps overlooking repairs that should be made (like the cracked and broken windows in the solarium), and overlooking how they treat their loyal guest because of the room chosen.

 

I am fully aware that a lot of things changed since the 90's and 2000's. I am aware a few smaller competing brands have gone out of business. I am aware that "customer service" isn't what it used to be in a lot of businesses, but when you are loyal to a company and spend the kind of money people spend on cruises, some sign of appreciation and respect should be shown by the line when there are issues.

 

For example, what is happening to Squadra03 and what happened to Freehold. For example (as I mentioned before), we purchased one of the photo packages that was offered on the second day. We went every day and pulled our photos from the night before and handed them to the person on duty at the time at the photo counter.

 

Now besides the fact they had a new girl who was left in some busy areas to take pictures with little training (I had to show her how not to block the antennas signal on the camera from the flash umbrellas because she was on a corner taking pictures with the antenna aimed the wrong way to send its signal, and she want telling people how they should stand to be in the picture properly, but she was a really nice girl and reminded us of my wives oldest daughter), I figured the people were at least trained enough that when you hand them photos, tell them your room number and name and watch them slip them in a folder in a draw, that they are placing the photo in the right bag.

 

We collected our photos every day (as mentioned) and the last night when we went to pick up our photo package, half our photos were missing. According to the person In charge of the photo section, they had no idea what happened. They even admitted to the woman we called down from customer relations that he saw us every day picking out our photos and handing them to his staff.

 

When we asked about pulling them up on the computer, the photos that were missing had already been deleted from the data bank. When we asked for a refund on the photo package, once again, it was something they can't do.

 

I realize a bunch of people on here hold 'X' as the almighty great cruise line from God and to say anything bad about it is sacrilege. They quickly try to respond as strongly as they can against anything bad being said against 'X'.

 

These people should realize that 'X' does make mistakes and that people are entitled to their opinions. Like I said, I do follow other forums on here.

 

And as far as "or maybe cruising just isn't for you any more...." And "I hope you find a cruise line that will meet your expectations and requirements." I would like to sincerely say Thank you!

 

I love cruising and plan to spend the next 40-50 years of my life doing it (God willing). I have found 2 cruise lines that (at the moment) seem to fit my "requirements" of good customer service and customer appreciation. It really wasn't that hard for them to do so. Plus when I do have an issue, they aren't so quick to say "No! We can't help you!" Or "If you want luxury you need to spend more."

 

Plus their websites actually work, they don't break down all the time and people actually respond to the emails you send (sorry, slight dig on that one).

 

I am truly glad so many people are happy with X. I am glad you are happy with the way they are trying to recreate the class system. I am glad you are willing to put up with a line that doesn't believe in customer service as a priority and doesn't put money into maintaining its ships cosmetic issues or its website (sorry, but a company making that much money and having such a cheap and useless site with so many problems. I haven't scene a site that bad since 1996. Sorry! Last dig).

 

I am truly glad so many of you are happy with your beloved 'X', but don't be so quick jump on the people who express opinions that don't praise the oh mighty 'X' and that are different than yours.

 

This is a free sight and people are entitled to their opinions without the backlashes because their opinions don't reflect yours.

 

Again, thank you everyone and sorry I offended any of you holy 'X' followers with my opinions and examples of my experiences. Sorry I miss spoke about the size of the Summit MDR and sorry I didn't think it was necessary to move a gym bag with a box and tissue paper protecting my frame from the back of the top shelf of my closet to the floor, but I was more concerned about my wife at the time and wouldn't expect a cruise ship to sail directly into a storm they had been warned about for 4+ days (risking passenger comfort and safety, as well as damage to the ship) and were advised against sailing into. (Did they even fix the torn canopies on the pool deck yet?)

 

For those of you in the United States, Happy 4th!!! For everyone everywhere, good cruising and goodnight!

 

 

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[smithtown]

We were on Summit first week of June 2016 in a Royal Suite. I agree with you 100% and am still quite upset of X,s changes..quite upset. But to add to your statement they don't care what cabin you are in tough luck for the all might buck. If I don't get any correspondence for all the trouble (complained about in the so important review survey I am canceling my next on board booking with them. I sure as heck can find other cruises that will gladly take my $9000 and give us the space, decor and outside deck furniture that reflects price paid.:eek:

 

 

My thanks again! Maybe you can answer this or Dazey, maybe when you go on Summit this summer you can look and tell us (and I'm sure that there will be back lash from the 'X' faithful who feel anything negative said about 'X' is wrong).

 

I am curious of 3 things....

 

1) is the white canopies on the sun deck above the band stand still torn (from the storm it sailed through in 2015 that I mentioned).

 

2) is the fake skylight in the buffet (just before you walk out to the aft bar, kind of in the center) still have strands of LED lights hanging down and melting the plastic coating???

 

And 3) is there still crack glass windows on the roof of the solarium to the right (when facing forward). There were 3 cracked Windows I spotted in 2013 and mentioned to the line (along with the skylight thing). When I went back on the ship in 2015, both issues were still not fixed.

 

As mentioned, in 2015's storm, the canopies got ripped, and a friend of mine was on the ship in August or September of 2015 and said all 3 still weren't fixed.

 

Just curious. Hope I didn't offend anyone.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Squadra03]

Couple of things spring to mind. Did you transfer your booking to your TA within the 60 day allowable time frame in order for you to keep all your benefits.

 

You might try sending an email to concerns@celebrity.com This email goes into head office in Miami

 

Even better, my TA is mentioned on the papers I got from X while booking on board!

[Miaminice]

@Squadra03

 

I see you live in Belgium - and that might be the problem.

 

We booked a couple of cruises on board and never had a problem - UNLESS we wanted to change something. Since we live in Germany that causes a problem.

 

The sales reps on the ships sell their stuff based on American conditions. Based on that their information is correct (most of the times). As long as you live in America or transfer the booking to an American TA everything is fine.

 

However if you live outside the US and transfer the booking to a local TA the local regulations apply regardless of where you booked. As soon as you or your TA calls Celebrity they will tell you that changes are not possible because they may simply not be possible by your (Belgium) regulations. That happened to us when we wanted to make a change once. German conditions applied and a change meant loosing our perks and deposit.

 

In our case all worked out fine because we and our TA personally know a member of the RCCL/Celebrity branch office in Germany - so they did some magic. The cruise we changed to was also way more expensive, which also helped ;-)

[varoo]

During our last "X" cruise in 2015 we payed onboard 160 euros downpayment for a next cruise. This after having had multiple "invitations" by letters to our cabin.

 

The future sails, sales guy told us we only had to pay 160 euros downpayment and for our next cruise we would get:

 

1) classic beverage package

2) free gratuities

3) 300 OBC for the first person and 150 OBC for the second person

 

Although we didn't want to link a cruise to this downpayment they said this was necessary and they randomly added a Caribbean cruise to our booking but we got on paper that the booking was changeable.

 

Now we wanted to book an Alaska cruise with Celebrity and the problems started.

 

1) Price mentioned in aqua class A1 on the website was around 2.500 euros but we should pay 2.619 a person to also get the things they promised.

To me this sounded awkard, but X told us that we booked at basic prices and we could not use the promotion of their website combined with the already booked cruise.

At the end we said ok and tried to book this cruise via our TA for 2.619 euros but WITH the 3 benefits. This was two weeks ago.

The onboard sales guy of X also told us that booking via our normal TA was not a problem, this was also even mentioned on the papers we have.

 

2) Our TA gave in this booking but it got refused, the 2.619 + the 3 benefits could not be granted. It took us more than 1 week to get on ok on that one...

 

3) But in the meantime the price of the cruise has changed to 2.700 and something a person so because we weren't booked yet, we should now pay 2.700 euros to get the 3 benefits... ???!!!

This is already 200 more than the first price mentioned on their website, like this it totally useless to book this future sailings.

 

Did anybody experience the same kind of things with future sailings bookings or what is going on?

 

X told us that paying back the downpayment is not an option, like this we feel like held hostage... .

 

We totally don't understand the slow reaction times of Celebrity, this gives totally no customer satisfaction. Each time it takes 2 to 3 days to get a reaction from them.

We were quite big Celebrity fans in the past with 3 (all in aqua class) out of 4 cruises made with X but when you threat customers like this they might go explore other options... .

Seen that we are still in our 30's, we might still book a lot of cruises with them, but customer satisfaction seems not so important to X.

If you make promises you should keep them...

 

If anybody would have experienced the same thing in the past or now, please tell us what you did to clear up the situation?

 

I am so sorry that you are having such a bad experience and certainly understand and identify with your disappointment and disgust.

 

Since you used a travel agent, your TA should have taken care of the matter for you and there should have been no need for you to contact or deal with anyone else.

 

The cruise line is paying your TA a nice commission to handle this booking for you.

 

As others have pointed out, once you give your booking to a TA, the cruise line deals with the TA because you are now the customer of the TA, who essentially "owns" your booking.

 

 

We had a bad experience with a different cruise line that totally messed up our cruise booking several years ago. The problem was somewhat different from yours, but yet similar in that they tried to force unwanted changes on us after the final payment date, and our TA was of no help whatsoever.

 

The situation dragged on and on, getting worse and worse, to the point where we just wanted out of it completely.

But the TA kept stalling, claiming that they could not do anything, telling us that if we cancelled the cruise or did not show up, we would lose all the money we had paid.

(Obviously, all they cared about was getting their commission.)

 

Like you, we also felt that we were being held hostage.

 

 

But fortunately, we had paid for our cruise with a major credit card, so we contacted the credit card company and explained the situation.

Since our complaints were legitimate, the credit card company took care of the whole thing and got all our money refunded to us.

 

 

We are in the USA, so I don't know if credit card companies give you the same protection in Belgium.

But if they do, I hope you paid for your cruise with a credit card, and if so, I would suggest filing a dispute with your credit card company and letting them handle it.

 

 

We were very pleased with the outcome of our dispute as we got back every penny. The only cost to us was the aggravation.

As soon as we got our money back, we booked another cruise, with a different cruise line.

 

Obviously, we never used that worthless travel agency again.

[El Crucero]

I have found 2 cruise lines that (at the moment) seem to fit my "requirements" of good customer service and customer appreciation. It really wasn't that hard for them to do so. Plus when I do have an issue, they aren't so quick to say "No! We can't help you!" Or "If you want luxury you need to spend more."

 

Please share what the two cruise lines are. Have you cruised with them yet?

[El Crucero]

Even better, my TA is mentioned on the papers I got from X while booking on board!

 

Yes, my TA is always listed on my Future Cruise papers. In fact when the Future Cruise staff pulls up my records (by my last name) they always note who my TA is, it is in their computer records. My TA gets notified about my future cruise within two weeks, often before I get home from the cruise I am on.

[Muushka]

We were on Summit first week of June 2016 in a Royal Suite. I agree with you 100% and am still quite upset of X,s changes..quite upset. But to add to your statement they don't care what cabin you are in tough luck for the all might buck. If I don't get any correspondence for all the trouble (complained about in the so important review survey I am canceling my next on board booking with them. I sure as heck can find other cruises that will gladly take my $9000 and give us the space, decor and outside deck furniture that reflects price paid.:eek:

 

Would you care to elaborate on the negatives of your RS? What was up with the decor and deck furniture? I was under the impression that they had recent refurbs. Was it just your suite or all of them? I ask because we are in one in 2 weeks and cannot imagine what could be wrong.:eek:

 

So sorry that it wasn't a good experience and I hope they get back to you about it.

[thebutlerdidit]

 

On the April 2015 Summit repot cruise I took with my wife, I noticed so much wrong that I will never return to 'X', and 'X' made it clear after I wrote them about my issues that they do not care about my business, passenger safety or anything but their customers money and the bottom line.

 

This was a late honeymoon/ anniversary and my wives first cruise (we had been married for 2 years but didn't get to take a honeymoon because of work issues). I decided to book a regular balcony on deck 6 instead of my normal Aqua cabin on decks 9 and 11. I did this because as mentioned, it was my wives first cruise and after reading several post on here, other travel sites and talking to my TA, I felt it best to be lower and closer to things for her.

 

The ship still had broken and cracked windows in the solarium (that I spotted and mentioned to them in a letter 2 years prior and I am willing to bet they are still there). The MDR was now even smaller since the suite class restaurant was almost done being built.

 

They were squeezing 75% of passengers into an MDR that was now 1/4 it's original size. We were squeezed in a corner looking at a wall. The food in the MDR was low quality diner food (and 'X' said in their reply "...if you want quality food, you need to book a suite or Aqua cabin. Inside, ocean view and balcony are not considered luxury cabins anymore. That is why we have created Blu for Aqua guest and (I forgot the name) for suite guest, so we can offer them the service and quality those guest pay for."

 

Again, I have been on 'X' since I was 12 and since the line began. Besides issues with the cabin, the MDR, the excursion desk, and an (issue with the photo package I purchased and then them losing half my photos on the last night and refusing to refund me for it), none of these were safety issues.

 

What was a safety issue was that the cruise line was warned of a severe storm before leaving Bermuda for Bayonne. The cruise line ignored the warning and for half the next day, the ship was getting hit by high winds and waves and heavy winds. It tore canopies off up on deck and made it almost impossible to do anything that day.

 

My wife was sick (exactly what I was trying to avoid by choosing a lower mid ship cabin), and we had to keep picking up items off the floor of our cabin. A $300 glass picture frame my wife purchased in Bermuda was destroyed when it fell out off the shelf in the closet and got crushed by our suite case.

 

I'm sure this storm probably wasn't as bad as the one Anthem OTS hit a few months ago (that finally forced 'X' and RRC to change their storm policy), but it was really bad.

 

Their answer about the storm??? "... It cost a lot of money when you delay a ship in port or deviate from course to avoid storms. We try to stick closely to schedules. We take the safety of our ship seriously as well as the safety of passengers and crew. Sometimes risk have to be taken to keep our schedule. We do apologize for the fact that you and your wife weren't comfortable during the storm you mentioned, but there was nothing the captain could have done to avoid the storm and to delay the scheduled departure or steer the ship in another direction was never an option."

 

 

Wow. We were on the ship with you and had a fabulous cruise. We had rough seas, but the outside portions of the ship were closed in the name of safety. On debarkation morning we did walk the decks and saw torn awnings, but that didn't affect our experience at all. We were on deck 9, the one you were careful to avoid, and had no problems. We never felt unsafe and never questioned the captain's decisions.

[Bo1953]

Wow. We were on the ship with you and had a fabulous cruise. We had rough seas, but the outside portions of the ship were closed in the name of safety. On debarkation morning we did walk the decks and saw torn awnings, but that didn't affect our experience at all. We were on deck 9, the one you were careful to avoid, and had no problems. We never felt unsafe and never questioned the captain's decisions.

 

Thank you for your view point on this.

 

bon voyage

[Muushka]

Would you care to elaborate on the negatives of your RS? What was up with the decor and deck furniture? I was under the impression that they had recent refurbs. Was it just your suite or all of them? I ask because we are in one in 2 weeks and cannot imagine what could be wrong.:eek:

 

So sorry that it wasn't a good experience and I hope they get back to you about it.

 

Nevermind junetraveler2014, I stumbled on your report on CC.

[Squadra03]

Talking about going off topic ...

 

I just got the news from our TA that they managed to solve the problem with "X".

 

We get the cruise at the promised prices AND with the promised extra perks!

 

Alaska, here we come!