customer advocate contact/sr management?

[bubbadogmom]

Read your contract. Mine says in black and white that the fare isn't guaranteed until final payment is made. I agree they should honor the price on the booking, but in my experience, Celebrity doing the right thing isn't always going to happen.

 

 

Holy crap. I did not know that!

 

I thought after I put my deposit down that the price would remain the same. I've seen many cruises go waaaay up in price - but my "price" remained the same......that's why I book really early.

 

Have I just been lucky?

 

How often does this happen?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[GottaKnowWhen]

Read your contract. Mine says in black and white that the fare isn't guaranteed until final payment is made. ....

 

Your assertion caught my attention just because it seemed so wrong.

I just went back and looked at my Celebrity Booking Confirmation docs for a couple of Booked cruises and the Ticket Booklet (eDocs) for a paid-for cruise coming up (which includes a detailed Cruise/Cruisetour Ticket Contract.) I do not see anything that says that Celebrity can change contracted fare prices. Much verbiage about what I as passenger can and cannot expect if I cancel, don't show, show up without travel docs (e.g. passports), show up late, etc. Nothing that says they can adjust the price.

 

Could you please provide a direct citation to the Black and White stipulation that the fare isn't final until it is final? Thanks!

 

Stan

[Cruise Raider]

Hi everyone,

we have a little situation here and i was wondering if any of you more seasoned celebrity cruisers might be able to help.....we went to pay our balance for a sailing and the price has effectively doubled. We booked this on-board last year and the itinerary for the sailing has changed due to salesforce reserving the ship as a floating hotel in SF. celebrity updated our conformation with the new itinerary and honored the price we had booked. As we always do, this transferred to a TA when we got home. he states that celebrity has not given him any reason for this price increase and it seems celebrity will not talk to me at all. so my question is, does anybody know any contacts within Celebrity that could explain why the price has increased or possibly resolve this?

 

very frustrating!

thanks in advance :)

-tom

 

This same thing happened to us on the Infinity last year. We were booked on the Infinity for a 14 night Alaskan itinerary for last September. They chartered the ship to serve as a floating hotel in SF during the Salesforce convention and canceled the Alaska itinerary. They sent those that were booked a notification that we could transfer this booking to a number of different specified sailings for the SAME price and we could keep all of our perks that we were to receive onboard with the original booking. If we didn't want to choose one of those offered sailings, we could transfer to any other cruise that was offered with a $200 onboard credit. Well, we transferred it to the 9 day Pacific Coastal sailing but they wanted the same amount of money as we were being charged for the 14 night Alaska itinerary. I held onto it as I knew it would come down in price .... nobody was going to pay that kind of money for a sailing that Princess does at half the cost, albeit, 2 days less. If it didn't come down in price, I would just cancel ... alas, it really came down in price ... and then some!!

I had done my entire booking through Celebrity so it was a little easier than working through a travel agency for this type of situation. However, on final payment date, I made my payment online and it showed I still owed hundreds of dollars. Really?? I paid the entire balance and then got an email that if I didn't pay the remainder, the cruise would be canceled. I called Celebrity and did have all the documentation and eventually, they took care of it but think there must be a glitch in these cases where they cancel sailings and offer you another set of cruises at a discounted rate. Remember, we were to pay the SAME amount as the original sailing but in my case, I picked one that should have been a lot cheaper than the other ones were offered. The good news is, we ended up in a family veranda ... wow! just wow! for the price of an inside and received a LOT of perks....actually, equal to one of our fares.

 

So, you should have gotten a letter documenting everything ... what was owed and what the perks were to be. I have no doubt that this can be straightened out, it just might take an extreme amount of patience, but you should be able to get it taken care of ... especially if you have that documentation. If no luck with your TA, I would definitely try the Captain's Circle Host and explain your situation. Ask for them to hear you out before they refuse to speak to you. I have had luck with this before. It shouldn't take this action on your part but think these situations arise from time to time and in my case, resolved. Good luck and please report back on what happens.

[hcat]

So sorry for OPs plight....seems this Celeb and Salesforce connection strikes again.!

 

We also were booked on Infinity for an ABC Island cruise for early Oct 2016 (a combined b-day and anniv celebration). We got wind of something going wrong with bookings for our itin and could never get answers..We were dangled along by X for quite some time while Celebrity negotiated with Salesforce for use of the ship as a hotel in Ca for its convention......

 

Not many ABC itins were being offered so we decided not to wait. We paid 100 extra to switch to the Oct 27th itin while our same cabin was still available..Shortly after that Celeb announced a whole new plan...for the charter for thebconvention, pacific coastals and a canal cruise..,so everyone had to scramble to see what might work out for them.. timewise, airfare wise etc,,,by then we were aleady situated with the new date and a great roll call. BTW...we later heard on CC that the booking on Inf with Salesforce did not go through..so all that inconvenience to so many cruisers was for no real good reason....

 

If they can move you to the Oct 27, 2016 Infinity ABC cruise for a decent price that might be a way to salvage your vacation plans,.,another painful option would be to cancel without penalty before final payment, lick your wounds and find another cruise for a much later date at a decent price...it is despicable that this happens esp so close to final payment date!

 

We have booked a coastal Ca cruise for Oct next yr on Inf and booked two diff dates,.,just in case this happens again..and will also fly SW Air which can be cancelled....but seems they have moved onto a bigger S class ship for the Convention,,,,

 

Wising OP good luck!

Edited July 4, 2016 by hcat

[tcsmithh]

So sorry for OPs plight....seems this Celeb and Salesforce connection strikes again.!

 

We also were booked on Infinity for an ABC Island cruise for early Oct 2016 (a combined b-day and anniv celebration). We got wind of something going wrong with bookings for our itin and could never get answers..We were dangled along by X for quite some time while Celebrity negotiated with Salesforce for use of the ship as a hotel in Ca for its convention......

 

Not many ABC itins were being offered so we decided not to wait. We paid 100 extra to switch to the Oct 27th itin while our same cabin was still available..Shortly after that Celeb announced a whole new plan...for the charter for thebconvention, pacific coastals and a canal cruise..,so everyone had to scramble to see what might work out for them.. timewise, airfare wise etc,,,by then we were aleady situated with the new date and a great roll call. BTW...we later heard on CC that the booking on Inf with Salesforce did not go through..so all that inconvenience to so many cruisers was for no real good reason....

 

If they can move you to the Oct 27, 2016 Infinity ABC cruise for a decent price that might be a way to salvage your vacation plans,.,another painful option would be to cancel without penalty before final payment, lick your wounds and find another cruise for a much later date at a decent price...it is despicable that this happens esp so close to final payment date!

 

We have booked a coastal Ca cruise for Oct next yr on Inf and booked two diff dates,.,just in case this happens again..and will also fly SW Air which can be cancelled....but seems they have moved onto a bigger S class ship for the Convention,,,,

 

Wising OP good luck!

i think we were booked on the same abc cruise, the 16th of oct right? kinda funny, X just offered to re-book us onto the new panama canal repo from sf to fll, never an option to move to another ABC cruise date (end of the month does not work for my wife, she is an accountant). the re-booking was confirmed and i received a booking conformation then when we go to make final payment the cost was nearly double very frustrating, i am hoping somebody goes oops because we have air for 4 that is non refundable

thanks

-tom

[hcat]

i think we were booked on the same abc cruise, the 16th of oct right? kinda funny, X just offered to re-book us onto the new panama canal repo from sf to fll, never an option to move to another ABC cruise date (end of the month does not work for my wife, she is an accountant). the re-booking was confirmed and i received a booking conformation then when we go to make final payment the cost was nearly double very frustrating, i am hoping somebody goes oops because we have air for 4 that is non refundable

thanks

-tom

 

My old papers say 10/17/16..10 days ABC Infin.....no idea abt Silhouette..maybe they added that later...gee we like Silho and would have gone for that...so they really did u bad esp if you thought u had the replacement at the orig price and booked non ref air..hope they or your trvl agent do right by you..

 

We have 4 booked cruises with X...canceling one b/c Cartagens. Panama, Costa Rica and zika mosquitoes...but after the rest of them we may look for easier vacations ..cruises have become alot of work to book and manage and we are getting less for more these days! Sincerely hope this works out well for you...

..

Edited July 4, 2016 by hcat

[dodger1964]

I know it won't make it much better, but you won't have to eat the whole cost of plane tickets if u cancel (at least if with normal nonrefundable tickets on most airlines). U will get some of ticket value as credit on future flight.

[RickT]

To the OP. In addition to what you have from Celebrity, what do you have from the TA you transferred the cruise to?

 

As far as any price increase the only reference I've seen are prior to paying a deposit the price is not guaranteed and after paying a deposit a fuel surcharge can be added.

 

At the point all you have is what you were provided by Celebrity and what you were provided from your TA. Because you are now booked through a TA you are basically stuck with them. As an outside observer the only two explanations I see are a misunderstanding between you and Celebrity (which is why I ask what written confirmation you have from them) or a misunderstanding with your TA (again, what written confirmation do you have). In my experience, Celebrity has never changed the price of my cruise after booking, but I have had a TA try to...

 

Please report back. If necessary, go into your TA's office or have them conference you in so you can hear exactly what is being said by both sides.

[RickT]

Read your contract. Mine says in black and white that the fare isn't guaranteed until final payment is made. I agree they should honor the price on the booking, but in my experience, Celebrity doing the right thing isn't always going to happen.

 

Please advise which clause/document you are referring to? I just reviewed my current contract and the only area that refers to a potential price increase is clause 19 and that specifically deals with fuel surcharges.

 

As others have mentioned, I have been told by both Celebrity and TA's that my price is subject to change until booked. Booking requires a deposit (putting a hold on a cruise does not).

Edited July 5, 2016 by RickT

[hcat]

It may not be exactly the same' date=' but..

 

We were booked on the Summit b2b Jan.2017.

Lo and behold they chartered it.

So, they offered us similar dates on the Equinox at the Summit price.

It was Take it or Leave it! We took it!

 

We prefer the Summit itinerary, but there was nothing else comparable.

Good luck![/quote']

 

Sorry about the change in itin but you should be very happy on Equinox...we enjoyed it this past January..,and if changes the port it sails from u may save some airfare?...

 

We are very concerned about our Oct 2017 on Infinity...Pacific Coastal. Even with b2b itins booked they could still rent out the ship as a hotel and leave us hanging...This salesforce, dreamforce seems to be a very large convention, always held around the sept..oct dates in .San Francisco..and may need overflow beds once again..we won't book any non refundable air for sure! Ironically we were orig booked with Princess for sim itin and they cancelled us so we switched to X....but Princess gave ample advance notice!

 

Hope OP is making progress.. Celeb phones were very busy today

[Cruise Raider]

Sorry about the change in itin but you should be very happy on Equinox...we enjoyed it this past January..,and if changes the port it sails from u may save some airfare?...

 

We are very concerned about our Oct 2017 on Infinity...Pacific Coastal. Even with b2b itins booked they could still rent out the ship as a hotel and leave us hanging...This salesforce, dreamforce seems to be a very large convention, always held around the sept..oct dates in .San Francisco..and may need overflow beds once again..we won't book any non refundable air for sure! Ironically we were orig booked with Princess for sim itin and they cancelled us so we switched to X....but Princess gave ample advance notice!

 

Hope OP is making progress.. Celeb phones were very busy today

 

HI hcat ... as I think you know, we are also booked on both of these itineraries and you are smart to get changeable airfare....this works so well with Southwest!

[cheeseheads4ever]

Wow! I haven't been on a 100 cruises but been on close to 10. if celebrity can raise prices after you have documentation and paid a deposit I think that would be illegal and no one would sail with them. I've never heard of that.

This is the horror story I never want to have to experience and I feel bad for you.

I've posted many times on CC asking if it's worth transferring to a TA meaning are the perks worth it. We've always booked thru the cruise line and have a rep to contact in case I have any issues we call the rep directly.

I've never seen proof from any American cruiser that shows me it worth it to move to a TA if you book a balcony room. Maybe a suite you would get more perks.

I just don't have a warm fuzzy feeling moving reservation to a TA. But that's me...

I sure hope you get things worked out and I wish I could offer help. Getting ahold of a superior at Celebrity and talking kindly may get you somewhere but I'm thinking they feel it's in TAs hands.. Good luck my friend..

[tcsmithh]

To the OP. In addition to what you have from Celebrity, what do you have from the TA you transferred the cruise to?

 

As far as any price increase the only reference I've seen are prior to paying a deposit the price is not guaranteed and after paying a deposit a fuel surcharge can be added.

 

At the point all you have is what you were provided by Celebrity and what you were provided from your TA. Because you are now booked through a TA you are basically stuck with them. As an outside observer the only two explanations I see are a misunderstanding between you and Celebrity (which is why I ask what written confirmation you have from them) or a misunderstanding with your TA (again, what written confirmation do you have). In my experience, Celebrity has never changed the price of my cruise after booking, but I have had a TA try to...

 

Please report back. If necessary, go into your TA's office or have them conference you in so you can hear exactly what is being said by both sides.

 

so i do have the original booking conformation document showing the 10 night abc cruise departing the 7th of oct from fll, i have the reissued booking conformation showing the new itinerary departing the 7th of oct from sfo (panama canal eastbound) salesforce chartered the infinity for the week before (its called the dreamboat) X held our abc cruise price. i also have the booking conformation issued july 3rd showing a price increase of double (more in the case of my daughter and her husband!) i am supposed to be on a con call with X and our ta tomrrow at 10 am. hopefully this will all get straightened out

 

thanks

-tom

[tcsmithh]

Hi Tcsmith,

 

Agree with the previous posts, that your getting involved is all but impossible. As your TA is holding the booking, they are the folks who need to contact Celebrity and resolve the situation. At the very least, they need to resolve it, or offer you an explanation as to why the price has changed. With that said, it's impossible to understand why the price may have increased, unless they claim there was no deposit on the booking. Again, this would be a TA issue.

 

I highly recommend speaking with your TA as soon as possible. Please let us know the outcome and good luck !

 

Hi Andy,

 

we have spoken quite a bit in the last 4 days. our booking conformation's all show a deposit being paid (although it was a reduced deposit because we booked onboard) so i am not sure that could be the case...dont know what else it could be as my TA is emphatic that they have not touched to reservation to cause such an issue.

 

thanks for your help & have a good evening

-tom

[jelayne]

Wow! I haven't been on a 100 cruises but been on close to 10. if celebrity can raise prices after you have documentation and paid a deposit I think that would be illegal and no one would sail with them. I've never heard of that.

This is the horror story I never want to have to experience and I feel bad for you.

I've posted many times on CC asking if it's worth transferring to a TA meaning are the perks worth it. We've always booked thru the cruise line and have a rep to contact in case I have any issues we call the rep directly.

I've never seen proof from any American cruiser that shows me it worth it to move to a TA if you book a balcony room. Maybe a suite you would get more perks.

I just don't have a warm fuzzy feeling moving reservation to a TA. But that's me...

I sure hope you get things worked out and I wish I could offer help. Getting ahold of a superior at Celebrity and talking kindly may get you somewhere but I'm thinking they feel it's in TAs hands.. Good luck my friend..

 

 

We have not done 100 cruises either, just 32 and all but the first have been booked through or transferred to a TA.

 

Initially, our TA (brick & mortar) gave us a bottle of wine or $50. OBC.

I thought that was good then we started talking to other cruisers using on-line TA's.

 

So I booked a couple of cruises that way- and refundable OBC of from 8-10% of the cruise price. We have never had a problem they couldn't correct, have never paid a change or cancellation fee and have had great service. So we now either book onboard and have it assigned to one of the TA's we use or we book direct with a TA. For us, that is just too much money to leave on the table so we can "control" our reservation. A good TA will & has done a much better job than I would do.

Edited July 6, 2016 by jelayne

[tcsmithh]

We have not done 100 cruises either, just 32 and all but the first have been booked through or transferred to a TA.

 

Initially, our TA (brick & mortar) gave us a bottle of wine or $50. OBC.

I thought that was good then we started talking to other cruisers using on-line TA's.

 

So I booked a couple of cruises that way- and refundable OBC of from 8-10% of the cruise price. We have never had a problem they couldn't correct, have never paid a change or cancellation fee and have had great service. So we now either book onboard and have it assigned to one of the TA's we use or we book direct with a TA. For us, that is just too much money to leave on the table so we can "control" our reservation. A good TA will & has done a much better job than I would do.

 

i agree our ta handles one or two cruises a year for us and i have always been satisfied, we used to use the cruise lines planners, but i always felt their first loyalty was to the cruis line signing their checks.....i feel a TA is more of an advocate for us that the cruise lines would be (imho). i am feeling screwed good on this one!

Edited July 6, 2016 by tcsmithh

[okiehokiepokie]

Hi Andy,

 

we have spoken quite a bit in the last 4 days. our booking conformation's all show a deposit being paid (although it was a reduced deposit because we booked onboard) so i am not sure that could be the case...dont know what else it could be as my TA is emphatic that they have not touched to reservation to cause such an issue.

 

thanks for your help & have a good evening

-tom

 

Tom,

Just read the thread. Will try to be brief and specific with relevant facts. Hope it helps.

 

December 2015, booked through X call center, a September 2017 AMS to BCN repositioning cruise. Got a call (not a letter as your case) from X in May 2016 saying the cruise had been chartered. Call was from their "Displaced Traveler Desk" ..I think they called it. Rep seemed to be up to speed on how my situation would be handled per X policy...wasn't her first rodeo type.

 

Gave me the option to rebook with same perks onto one of two cruises they thought to be comparable to the AMS-BCN cruise. They weren't so we passed. She said would honor our AMS-BCN fare...no deal there since the rack rate on the two offered were less than our AMS-BCN fare. She said X would then charge rack rates..not the price I committed to for the AMS-BCN cruise...I would hope so!!!.

 

She then said we could book any other cruise and pay the rack rate, keep our perks, and they would add another $200 per cabin to whatever OBC we already had promised to us. We took that option.

 

X then emailed me the confirmation documentation..that lists out they deal, as discussed.

 

What strikes me odd about your situation is the early written communication they sent to you. I would have thought, based on my situation, they would have called your from the "Displaced Traveler Desk"..not send you a letter.

 

More FYI....when I was working with the "Displaced Traveler Desk" I posted on the Roll Call page for the AMS-BCN cruise to see others experience and/or deals offered. All (five or so) had the same experience as me.

 

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

OHP

 

ps....(sigh)...missed on the brief response attempt!...oops

[fleckle]

........I've never seen proof from any American cruiser that shows me it worth it to move to a TA if you book a balcony room. Maybe a suite you would get more perks.

I just don't have a warm fuzzy feeling moving reservation to a TA. But that's me...

There is no one yes-or-no answer that fits all situations.

 

For us, sometimes it is worthwhile to give our booking to a TA and other times it isn't.

There are a number of variables involved.

 

It depends on what incentives the TA offers us in the way of a lower price, or a better cabin, or additional perks on top of what we are already getting from the cruise line, or a combination.

 

Almost always, a TA will offer us OBC in addition to whatever OBC we are already getting from the cruise line, but the amount can vary greatly.

 

 

We also consider ease of reaching the TA (hate calling and needing to leave voicemail messages),

and whether or not they charge a fee for cancellations or changes.

 

 

As long as you are within the 60 day transfer window, I can only suggest that you contact several of the major TAs to see what they will offer you, and then decide for yourself whether or not transferring your booking to any of them would be worthwhile for you.

 

 

Edited July 6, 2016 by fleckle

[hcat]

so i do have the original booking conformation document showing the 10 night abc cruise departing the 7th of oct from fll, i have the reissued booking conformation showing the new itinerary departing the 7th of oct from sfo (panama canal eastbound) salesforce chartered the infinity for the week before (its called the dreamboat) X held our abc cruise price. i also have the booking conformation issued july 3rd showing a price increase of double (more in the case of my daughter and her husband!) i am supposed to be on a con call with X and our ta tomrrow at 10 am. hopefully this will all get straightened out

 

thanks

-tom

 

Can you tell us when the plans actually changed for your itin and when & how you found out?..we do not use a TA so only get news from X or more likely cruisecritic,,,

 

Nervous for next yr...esp when we are thinking of adding a Canal eastbound transit to the pacific coastal..... more issues if they dreamforce us out,,,,

Edited July 6, 2016 by hcat

[Going Coastal]

Last year on Millennium in Asia, there was a charter on one segment, but Celebrity kindly gave everyone an extra four days for the same price, including perks.

[tcsmithh]

Can you tell us when the plans actually changed for your itin and when & how you found out?..we do not use a TA so only get news from X or more likely cruisecritic,,,

 

Nervous for next yr...esp when we are thinking of adding a Canal eastbound transit to the pacific coastal..... more issues if they dreamforce us out,,,,

 

i will update after the call i am having with X right now

 

thanks

[tcsmithh]

Can you tell us when the plans actually changed for your itin and when & how you found out?..we do not use a TA so only get news from X or more likely cruisecritic,,,

 

Nervous for next yr...esp when we are thinking of adding a Canal eastbound transit to the pacific coastal..... more issues if they dreamforce us out,,,,

 

so our ittn changed june last year. i found out because i spent way to much time looking at cruise stuff on the internet, lol, and i noticed our original sailing disappeared...for about two weeks, then it came back as the panama sailing. i told my TA about it and he was like ***. anyway X offered us the "new" ittn, with the same departure date and honored our pricing

after convincing my wife that we would probably never get the opportunity to do this she said ok and we accepted their offer.

 

anyway, i guess the easiest way to find out is to just watch your sailing on a booking site and if it disappears start making phone calls...

 

have a great day

-tom

[tcsmithh]

So i wanted to say that my issues with our cruise have been resolved and we made final payment on the sailing. The Celebrity staff we spoke with today were polite and responsive. our issue was escalated smoothly and restored to our satisfaction. Drake and Tarra (sp, sorry if it is wrong) were very pleasant and easy to communicate with. My only wish is that X would have settled this with my travel agent.

 

i am once again a satisfied customer.

thanks for the comments & suggestions

have a great day

-tom

[jelayne]

Thanks for posting the outcome and glad things are straightened out. In our experience Celebrity does an excellent job of addressing issues when you get beyond the front-line call center staff.

[FlorenceItaly]

So i wanted to say that my issues with our cruise have been resolved and we made final payment on the sailing. The Celebrity staff we spoke with today were polite and responsive. our issue was escalated smoothly and restored to our satisfaction. Drake and Tarra (sp, sorry if it is wrong) were very pleasant and easy to communicate with. My only wish is that X would have settled this with my travel agent.

 

i am once again a satisfied customer.

thanks for the comments & suggestions

have a great day

-tom

 

FABULOUS!!! Thanks so much for the update.