Equinox Redeployment

[dkjretired]

Great attitude. :)

 

I just booked for Sept. next year, our 35th wedding anniversary. Arriving in Aruba same day we did for our honeymoon 35 years ago. Got all four perks plus a some extra OBC from the TA.

[cruise kitty]

It is a lot cooler there in the summer than it is in Texas! :D

 

The summer Caribbean Cruise will sell out and will be expensive. Look at RCC and Carnival summer prices only the December holiday sailing are more expensive. The best weather in the Caribbean ocean tempt wise is April to end of September and maybe air temp also. I live in Florida and would never go in the winter just to cold. Look at all the families with kids out for the summer they will book them up fast. I just hope they keep it here.

 

Definitely different people have different comfort levels, for me, the Caribbean in December was too hot for my taste, so summer is a no-go, but it's nice that people will have the option with Celebrity because apparently there's a demand for it. I guess time will tell. :) We're in the midst of a heat wave here, & all day people have been complaining about the humidity (it's at almost 30% !) so yeah, I can admit to being a big baby when it comes to that type of weather. :) Enjoy your cruises.

[cruise kitty]

People like me, mid-50 school administrators who can only vacation at certain times of the year! Hooligans!

 

Again, I've always pictured the Caribbean cruiser being someone who's escaping freezing weather & snow, hence my surprise at the idea that there's this huge pent up demand for Caribbean Cruises in July or August.

 

Cruise Kitty!

You need to read Lisa's press release. It calls the new group or demographic

that she is addressing..."affluent." I wonder how many of these affluent people will want to cruise in the summer...

S[/url]

 

Well, according to this thread, they'll be lining up, :) I guess we'll have to wait & see. I feel terrible for the people who had their cruises cancelled, especially those who've already paid for airfare... as someone who books far ahead I'd be pretty devastated. :(

 

Also feel bad for the crew, I know the Caribbean season is not something that they look forward to.

[whitshel]

While I must admit to being surprised by the people here who say that they're excited about the Equinox redeployment to the Caribbean, I think that Celebrity will be surprised by the number of people who will say "This is it! Celebrity has been slipping and it ]'s time to find another cruise line". As Elite Plus members, I think we've shown our "brand loyalty", but we have had it.

 

We are scheduled on both the Equinox April 24 T/A and its B2B 10 night Med cruise. We choose our cruises by the itinerary and the alternatives do not appeal to us. There is a vast difference in itineraries available for Europe, which affect the flavor and dynamic of the experience. Most of the Caribbean ports are just a variation on the theme; I do not understand how Celebrity can frame this decision as anything in the customer's best interest or benefit. Granted, there will be be people who will happily hop on the Equinox rather than one of the other available Caribbean ships, but I predict the Celebrity bottom line will suffer for this redeployment decision.

 

Finally, I am offended that Celebrity's notification that they've cancelled our holiday is presented as their "pleasure". Time for a change in the Executive Office.............

 

Get real, it's a business that does business in a very volatile area. When you book any European trip, cruise or land, you have to have a bit of uncertainty that the trip may be moved or not happen at all. Sucks, you had 2 cruises that have been canceled but you chose an area where things happen. Is it going to take an event like 911 before you feel it's justified? PAX make the decision where to cruise and my guess is they are saying no to Europe, I cant blame Celebrity for lessening their capacity. Remember, the it's the PAX decision, Celebrity just acted on it. And yes after 911, a lot ships that were scheduled in Europe in 2012 stayed in the US.

 

Find another cruise line.....Rant over:D

[grandgeezer]

Get real, it's a business that does business in a very volatile area. When you book any European trip, cruise or land, you have to have a bit of uncertainty that the trip may be moved or not happen at all. Sucks, you had 2 cruises that have been canceled but you chose an area where things happen. Is it going to take an event like 911 before you feel it's justified? PAX make the decision where to cruise and my guess is they are saying no to Europe, I cant blame Celebrity for lessening their capacity. Remember, the it's the PAX decision, Celebrity just acted on it. And yes after 911, a lot ships that were scheduled in Europe in 2012 stayed in the US.

 

Find another cruise line.....Rant over:D

 

If what you say is true, why didn't they pull all of the ships out of Europe? They still have 10,000 passengers in possibly harms way, that's acceptable?

How long have you worked for Celebrity? A regular passenger wouldn't be so callused again fellow cruisers.

[TourDeCruise]

After much persistence, we got ahold of our travel agent for our pending cancellation of the Equinox 3 November 2017 Transatlantic cruise. We were able to transfer the cruise to one of the new Equinox Caribbean sailings. We still have not received an email from Celebrity and our travel agent said she also did not receive an email from Celebrity regarding the cancellation. She was able to confirm the cancellation by calling Celebrity.

 

Why not just cruise with Holland American? I have no loyalty to any line or a favorite cruise line. :cool:

 

If Celebrity does not offer this same cruise at some point, we would consider the HAL cruise. We have sailed on HAL three times and definitely prefer Celebrity, with which we sailed numerous times. We have a degree of loyalty with Celebrity because of our Elite Plus Captain's Club perks and because we enjoy the Celebrity experience more than on other lines (2nd favorites are Azamara & RCI).

Edited July 20, 2016 by TourDeCruise
Spelling correction

[cruise kitty]

I just booked for Sept. next year, our 35th wedding anniversary. Arriving in Aruba same day we did for our honeymoon 35 years ago. Got all four perks plus a some extra OBC from the TA.

 

Awesome, congrats on your anniversary, our 30 year is this October. :) No cruise till the next November though. :)

[KW Cruisers]

Get real, it's a business that does business in a very volatile area. When you book any European trip, cruise or land, you have to have a bit of uncertainty that the trip may be moved or not happen at all. Sucks, you had 2 cruises that have been canceled but you chose an area where things happen.

 

I would hardly consider Europe to be a "volatile" area. Horrible things happen all around the world... For people to be "afraid" to go to Europe because of recent events (with the exception of the attempted coup in Turkey)? My advice is to take a look in your own backyard. The only reason we mainly choose cruises out of North America is because of the airfare savings, and the reduced suite fares, definitely not because we feel safer...

[vtcruising]

We were on Equinox Sept 4, 2017 out of Barcelona as well. Our big box TA emailed today and I called after some quick research and after an hour on the phone tonight settled on a great-sounding cruise.

 

We booked the Reflection for Sept 1, only 10 nights instead of 12, but are going to all the same ports except Barcelona (luckily have been there) without the overnights and have Sicily added. In addition to the $200 OBC, the cruise is $1340 cheaper for us and we are in AQ1 instead of C1, so have Blu. Our Captain's Club discount (upgrade form AQ2 to AQ1) was $800 so that was nice - there was no upgrade from C2 to C1.

 

Interestingly, the big box had given us $595 OBC originally and when I checked the new cruise OBC on their site, I noticed that they are now giving a gift card to their store instead of OBC! We were counting on the OBC so I told the rep that we had no use for the gift card and booked with them for the OBC. She talked to a manager and made sure that we received the OBC since that is what we had originally. Excellent service - she was very apologetic about the cancellation and wanted to make it right.

 

All in all, we are happy with our new cruise, though will miss Barcelona.

[Andy]

I just booked for Sept. next year, our 35th wedding anniversary. Arriving in Aruba same day we did for our honeymoon 35 years ago. Got all four perks plus a some extra OBC from the TA.

 

Hi Don,

 

Might you care to share which sailing you've booked ? We booked the 9/15/17 sailing today. It would be wonderful to see you. Or, feel free to email me. Thanks !

[peteukmcr]

Get real, it's a business that does business in a very volatile area. When you book any European trip, cruise or land, you have to have a bit of uncertainty that the trip may be moved or not happen at all. Sucks, you had 2 cruises that have been canceled but you chose an area where things happen. Is it going to take an event like 911 before you feel it's justified? PAX make the decision where to cruise and my guess is they are saying no to Europe, I cant blame Celebrity for lessening their capacity. Remember, the it's the PAX decision, Celebrity just acted on it. And yes after 911, a lot ships that were scheduled in Europe in 2012 stayed in the US.

 

Find another cruise line.....Rant over:D

Thanks for your empathy. Volatile area? Could I suggest you look in your own backyard? Things happen in Europe? What about Florida? Ok, you stay safe in the US I'll stay in Europe and avoid the US.

[J&G]

Re-book on any Celebrity Cruises sailing at prevailing rates. Below are some excellent options for other European cruises. - Just getting clarification on 'prevailing rates' - means if the current rate is £200 pp more than we have paid, then we have to pay that.

 

Any 'offer' we have on our Equinox sailing (free classic beverage package and $400 OBC) stays if we take one of the following. Otherwise, not transferable.

 

Alternative European Sailings

 

Celebrity Constellation, various departures from Rome, Barcelona and Venice

02nd May 2017; 26th May 2017; 03rd July 2017; 22nd July 2017; 10th August 2017; 19th

August 2017; 28th August 2017

 

Celebrity Reflection, sailing from Rome:

 

08th May 2017; 19th May 2017; 29th May 2017; 9th June 2017; 19th June 2017; 30th June

2017; 21st July 2017; 11th August 2017; 01st September 2017; 11th September 2017; 09th

October 2017

Celebrity Silhouette, sailing from Amsterdam:

 

29th June 2017; 14th September 2017; 11th October 2017

Celebrity Eclipse, sailing from Southampton:

 

17th September 2017; 28th September 2017; 18th October 2017

 

When re-booking any other Celebrity Cruises European sailing, you will receive a $200 onboard credit per standard stateroom or $400 onboard credit for suites.

 

Should you incur an administration fee to change your airline reservations you will be reimbursed up to a maximum of £250 per person plus any difference in their airfare cost when you choose to rebook a European cruise with us.

 

Additional flight costs will only be reimbursed within the original flight class booked.

To assist you with any changes and to rebook, a special desk has been established to help you. The desk opened today, Tuesday 19 July 2016 and will remain open until Tuesday 2 August 2016.

 

Where did you get this from? We still haven't heard anything officially but when our TA called to ask she was told $200 onboard credit period.

 

Gail

[J&G]

I got an official e-mail from my TA this afternoon which had an attachment from Celebrity offering up various options.

 

Our TA wasn't given any options at all!

[peteukmcr]

Where did you get this from? We still haven't heard anything officially but when our TA called to ask she was told $200 onboard credit period.

 

 

 

Gail

 

 

This is the letter I received from Celebrity as I booked directly with them.

[Eloise4Ever]

Our TA wasn't given any options at all!

 

 

See below the notification we received from our Travel Agent. The only thing I have deleted is the name of the agency. The letter had the Celebrity Logo on it but that won't paste in here.

 

 

Dear Valued Guests,

 

After years of you asking for a Celebrity ship in the Caribbean for the Summer, it is our pleasure to announce, the Celebrity Equinox is being redeployed for the 2017 Summer season and will now offer roundtrip Caribbean sailings from Miami, Florida. This redeployment will affect sailings from April 24,2017 — November 3, 2017.

 

 

Guests booked on Celebrity Equinox sailinqs from April 24, 2017 — November 3, 2017:

 

Below are some excellent options to re-book to other destinations in Europe.

 

Alternative Europe Sailings

 

Celebrity Constellation: 5/2/17; 5/26/17; 7/3/17; 7/22/17; 8/10/17; 8/19/17; 8/28/17

 

Celebrity Reflection: 5/8/17; 5/19/17; 5/29/17; 6/9/17; 6/19/17; 6/30/17; 7/21/17; 8/11/17; 9/1/17;

 

Celebrity Silhouette: 6/29/17; 9/14/17; 10/11/17

 

Celebrity Eclipse: 9/17/17; 9/28/17; 10/18/17

 

 

Guest will receive a $200 onboard credit per standard stateroom, $400 onboard credit for suites when re-booking any other Celebrity sailing.

 

Additionally, guests who incur a fee to change their airline reservations will be reimbursed up to $300 per person plus any difference in their air fare cost when they choose to rebook a European cruise with us. A faxed copy of air change fees and additional costs assessed must be provided for reimbursement and can be emailed to CelebrityOneTouch@Celebrity.com. Guests booked through Celebrity ChoiceAir who choose to cancel and not re-book should be referred to the Celebrity ChoiceAir desk to obtain Air Ticket values and information.

 

A full refund for amounts paid will be processed to the original form of payment, however, if a guest chooses to cancel they will not receive any of the above compensation.

 

To assist you with any changes or to rebook, please call <Travel Agent> and ask for Customer Service. The reaccommodation offer will be available until Thursday, July 28, 2016.

 

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you and sincerely hope you are able to re-book on another Celebrity Europe or Caribbean sailing.

 

Sincerely,

 

Celebrity Cruises

[peteukmcr]

Just re-booked Reflection 19th May 2017 sailing. Additional costs £4! They have honored the lower service charge (which has increased since we made the original booking) and still given us a 2A cabin for a 2B fare which again was the original offer when booking Equinox.

 

USD 200 additional OBC, so USD 600 in total together with the free classic beverage package (transferred from Equinox booking).

 

All I have to do now is book flights to Rome (as the airline I booked to Barcelona does not operate a Manchester to Rome service), then send the nonrefundable costs of the Barcelona flights together with the costs of the new flight to Celebrity and they will pay the difference.

 

Not too bad a deal.

[J&G]

See below the notification we received from our Travel Agent. The only thing I have deleted is the name of the agency. The letter had the Celebrity Logo on it but that won't paste in here.

 

Thanks so much!

 

Gail

[mickeysgal]

I would hardly consider Europe to be a "volatile" area. Horrible things happen all around the world... For people to be "afraid" to go to Europe because of recent events (with the exception of the attempted coup in Turkey)? My advice is to take a look in your own backyard. The only reason we mainly choose cruises out of North America is because of the airfare savings, and the reduced suite fares, definitely not because we feel safer...

 

But they are. Personally, many of our family and friends are afraid and can't believe we just chose to travel to Europe and have two others planned. There is enough fear out there, I would imagine, for Celebrity to not be able to adequately fill all their ships there at prices they can stomach. Thus, reduce inventory and hope that they can fill their remaining ships at less than fire sale prices.

[Sandyrella]

Great attitude. :)

 

Thanks Ed! It's what we call "first world problems". :rolleyes: Just got to roll with it.

 

Say hello to Jacquie for me!

[Gishua_]

There is definitely a market for Caribbean cruises in the summer. We like to do one longer international trip and one Caribbean cruise every year. I hated how basically after April it was either RCCL, Carnival or Disney. We tend to do our international trips in the range of Nov-Feb so it made it hard to budget for a Caribbean cruise on a cruise line we want to go on.

 

So glad celebrity is placing the Equinox out of Miami all summer. Already cancelling our May cruise on the Harmony and switching do the 11 N southern Caribbean. YAY

 

That sucks for all of you that have previous cruises booked but I laugh at the ones claiming.. "that is it.. we are done with Celebrity" Things happen, plans change, get over it and move on.

[gordylad]

I too am glad Celebrity has placed a ship in the Caribbean all year but per my post on the board........need help deciding between 11 night or 10 night itinerary....

[Gishua_]

I too am glad Celebrity has placed a ship in the Caribbean all year but per my post on the board........need help deciding between 11 night or 10 night itinerary....

 

What is making it hard to decide?

 

For us the 11 N was an easy decision. The 4 seas days + St. Lucia, Barbados and Tortola all which we have never been to was the appeal.

[Mulege]

There are some huge discounts with gratuities, premium beverage pkgs, SBC, and unlimited wifi. I can't name the major online co. Look around.

[gordylad]

have only been to st maarten no nothing about the others

[Rob the Cruiser]

There are some huge discounts with gratuities, premium beverage pkgs, SBC, and unlimited wifi. I can't name the major online co. Look around.

 

We decided to keep our April 2017 B2B Transatlantic/Med reservation that had been converted to B2B Jazz/Caribbean. Called our travel agent, he got a Celebrity agent on the line and we did the deal. We lost our original AQ1 cabin but booked a different one on the hump. They added more OBC to what we originally booked and gave us the premium beverage package, free gratuities and unlimited internet. We were disappointed about the TA/Med being cancelled but the new deal is a no-brainer.

Edited July 20, 2016 by Rob the Cruiser
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