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Celebrity just tried to bump us

djmarchand

By djmarchand,
in Celebrity Cruises

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ggo85 "Live from...." Rare

ggo85

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To the OP, fully understand the panic you felt. I'm sure all of us have had moments when something very special almost went awry (and some where it actually went awry). It happened to us when, one week before our wedding, our minister announced he wouldn't be there to officiate (had "forgotten" he had an engagement out of town) and we'd get a minister we'd yet to meet. To make a long story short, it turned out better than we'd ever imagined -- and we're still married 20 years later.

 

The bottom line is that what happened to you sucked. But you are on the exact cruise you expected to be on -- with a few extra dollars to spend. The cruise now is what you make of it. If you decide to stew over what happened and be miserable, then that's your reality and your memory.

 

An alternative is to say, "Wow, that was a close one. Better make sure to enjoy this even more!" And move on. Enjoy your time together. Enjoy this special moment. Turn this into the best vacation possible. Remember, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade!:D

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shipshape sam Great Review Rare

shipshape sam

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Cruise lines like any other business that overbooks, only has to sweeten the offers sufficiently to get volunteers. We were on a flight from Boston to Atlanta and opted to volunteer to get off a flight. We were coming back from a leisure visit, so time was not as critical. They put us on the next plane out with goal to get us to ATL as soon as possible using their planes and gave us $500 credit towards future flights. We had to fly to NY and catch a flight to ATL. Got home 4 hours later than planned.

 

I have seen this play out on planes in the past and heard the offer sweeten at least once till they had the number of seats needed. I have seen people jump at the chance to earn some future credits. I would think the same would be for cruise passengers.

 

I would argue that there is never a need for involuntarily bumping someone due to pure overbooking where there are a limited number of overbooked cabins. Charters are a different story.

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ddpe

ddpe

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I am very happy for the retired folks who say it is an "opportunity". But, for those of us who work, obtaining time off for vacation involves a host of people at work adjusting their schedules for you. In addition, you have deposits for the dog, airline tickets, plans with friends in the area who may have arranged their schedules. Due to this post, I doubt we will be booking with Celebrity again unless they specifically say they will not be doing this again. For me, it would mean still having to take the time off as scheduled and basically losing a planned vacation. Not acceptable at all and perhaps if this continues there needs to be a bill of rights for cruise passengers. It is not worth the possible problems and loss of money when there are other cruise lines. Kudos for Princess taking the high road.

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Cruise Junky

Cruise Junky

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I am very happy for the retired folks who say it is an "opportunity". But, for those of us who work, obtaining time off for vacation involves a host of people at work adjusting their schedules for you. In addition, you have deposits for the dog, airline tickets, plans with friends in the area who may have arranged their schedules. Due to this post, I doubt we will be booking with Celebrity again unless they specifically say they will not be doing this again. For me, it would mean still having to take the time off as scheduled and basically losing a planned vacation. Not acceptable at all and perhaps if this continues there needs to be a bill of rights for cruise passengers. It is not worth the possible problems and loss of money when there are other cruise lines. Kudos for Princess taking the high road.

 

Why couldn't you just go somewhere else at the same time? You get a complete refund, free cruise and money to cover changes. Take your refund, cruise or vacation somewhere else (tons of last minute deals) and then you get a free cruise out of it.

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upwarduk

upwarduk

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Why couldn't you just go somewhere else at the same time? You get a complete refund, free cruise and money to cover changes. Take your refund, cruise or vacation somewhere else (tons of last minute deals) and then you get a free cruise out of it.

 

Most people take a great deal of time planning; excursions, foreign currency, travel arrangements, hotels, etc etc

In my case, I have to let the cruise line know 90 days in advance that I require dairy free food, so no, I cannot just jump on to another ship.

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Cruise Junky

Cruise Junky

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Most people take a great deal of time planning; excursions, foreign currency, travel arrangements, hotels, etc etc

In my case, I have to let the cruise line know 90 days in advance that I require dairy free food, so no, I cannot just jump on to another ship.

 

I would think you'd be the exception. Yes, it would be upsetting but you don't have to lose your vacation over it. No need to stay home. Keep your flights, go do a land trip. Tons of ways of turning lemons into lemonade if faced with the same situation. I leave for Hawaii in 3 days on Solstice, do you think if I got the call I'd stay home or be booking the next flight to the islands?

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villauk

villauk

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Hope OP can salvage a nice cruise for himself and his wife,

 

What I do not understand is how AFTER accepting final payments and assigning cabins to guarantees, the cruise line suddenly discovers it is overbooked...how does that happen so late in the process?

 

Sounds like the children's game of Musical Chairs...too many rear ends...not enough seats,,,

 

Presume they play the waiting game, hoping some pax will cancel last minute and so free up more cabins - that's why a few still don't have their cabin assignment until they reach the port (or not as was the case in the above linked Oz thread). The problem arises when no one does cancel and they have far more rear ends than seats ;p.

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ggo85 "Live from...." Rare

ggo85

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Three issues: (1) How Celebrity handled the situation, (2) How the OPs handle the situation, and (3) Impact on others who have booked/might book Celebrity.

 

(1) Agree fully that if Celebrity had sweetened the deal/upped the compensation, they would have found SOMEONE already booked who was not only willing to give up their cabin but anxious to. Guarantee it. It's discouraging that they resorted to threatening the OP with a forcible cancellation rather than taking the high road and getting a willing volunteer.

 

(2) That said, the OP and spouse did end up EXACTLY where they started out. They had to go through a bunch of (what should have been) needless machinations to get there. But they're on the cruise they paid for with a bit of extra cash. We can all debate whether a few more $$ would have been nice, but it's not as if they had to cancel or take a different cruise. So, the choice is either continue to be miffed or shrug it off and enjoy oneself.

 

(3) The OP's experience may have others thinking about the security of their reservations. Some may no longer book with Celebrity. My guess is that other lines do something similar but don't know. Each person has to decide whether the tiny potential risk of aggravation of being bumped (because the OP was in the end aggravated but not bumped) is worth booking another line or not booking a cruise. And in this Internet age, Celebrity has to decide whether their approach still makes sense.

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drsel

drsel

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Why couldn't you just go somewhere else at the same time? You get a complete refund, free cruise and money to cover changes. Take your refund, cruise or vacation somewhere else (tons of last minute deals) and then you get a free cruise out of it.

Pardon me if i am wrong, but i think you will get either a complete refund OR a similar free cruise. Not both

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Dunmore2

Dunmore2

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The lesson is to not answer any calls that come from Celebrity. If they cannot talk to you, they'll move on down their list.

 

I'm glad I answered when Celebrity called. I happily accepted their offer to upgrade to a Royal Suite for $400! Yes, it's likely the exception, but you never know!

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HokiePoq

HokiePoq

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In my mind, (i) a 'call for volunteers' by email offering the move over makes the most sense - as some people with flexible schedules would jump at an offer to get a full refund, and future credits. First person to grab the offer gets it.

(ii) failing that, it should be the most recently booked cabin that gets the bump, not someone booked months in advance and fully paid.

 

To the OP - you handled it beautifully. Thumbs up for being able to even think of demanding $10K! Happy Birthday to your wife! Also, as another poster mentioned, the on-ship cruise experience is very different from land customer service, so don't rule out sailing with X again until after your experience...I hope you can enjoy your cruise !

 

Agree with this. And from what a previous poster said, Princess does it in a manner like you suggest.

I was seriously injured in an auto accident six weeks prior to sailing one time with HAL. We had fortunately bought the "cancel for any reason" insurance. Our rep at the cruise line said to wait until late to cancel in case they had overbooked and we'd get a sweet offer. (Wish that guy was still there!) Unfortunately, no overbooking but we did get our money back less the cost of the insurance.

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shipshape sam Great Review Rare

shipshape sam

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Agree with this. And from what a previous poster said, Princess does it in a manner like you suggest.

I was seriously injured in an auto accident six weeks prior to sailing one time with HAL. We had fortunately bought the "cancel for any reason" insurance. Our rep at the cruise line said to wait until late to cancel in case they had overbooked and we'd get a sweet offer. (Wish that guy was still there!) Unfortunately, no overbooking but we did get our money back less the cost of the insurance.

 

Interesting thought.

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Cruise Raider Great Review Rare

Cruise Raider

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(2) That said, the OP and spouse did end up EXACTLY where they started out. They had to go through a bunch of (what should have been) needless machinations to get there. But they're on the cruise they paid for with a bit of extra cash. We can all debate whether a few more $$ would have been nice, but it's not as if they had to cancel or take a different cruise. So, the choice is either continue to be miffed or shrug it off and enjoy oneself.

 

I have a very strong suspicion that they ended up way ahead of where they started. Celebrity representatives onboard will bend over backwards and then some when they learn that customer service has wronged you. The OP probably also been told to keep it on the hush hush ... which is just fine IMO. No criticisms at all of the OP.

 

(3) The OP's experience may have others thinking about the security of their reservations. Some may no longer book with Celebrity. My guess is that other lines do something similar but don't know. Each person has to decide whether the tiny potential risk of aggravation of being bumped (because the OP was in the end aggravated but not bumped) is worth booking another line or not booking a cruise. And in this Internet age, Celebrity has to decide whether their approach still makes sense.

 

This is probably a very rare occurrence on Celebrity and as a matter of fact, they probably have a couple of cabins onboard that remain empty just in case. I would never hesitate to book with Celebrity and if it happens to me and I wasn't flexible on that particular sailing, it does appear that demanding additional funds does seem to prompt them to revisit the next passenger on the list. I am not saying it couldn't have been handled better from customer service prior to the cruise, though. I am pretty sure that Celebrity is monitoring this thread and the situation has been rectified.

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