Celebrity REVAMPED???? Website

[cltnccruisers]

There are issues with everything nowadays; unfortunately this isn’t new. I have found that the simple life is gone and has been replaced by technology. When it works, it is wonderful; however that is 50/50., so I choose my thoughts and take no prisoners. I breathe and move forward...that is life, but the sea keeps on calling! Taking care of an elderly parent has changed my life in many ways...perspective!

 

I've made my living in IT since 1979. Plan to retire in 3 years. When I do I will disconnect as much as is reasonably possible. I won't be able to get completely away but no social media, email only from people I want to contact me, no iPhone. After nearly 40 years I'm sick of this crap.

[Luvcrusn]

I'm told there will be another "fix" tomorrow. I've heard it before, for five months, so I'll not get my hopes up or hold my breath....I don't look to good when I'm blue!

[Luvcrusn]

Thanks so much, I finally can see my calendar and Order History this way! Surprisingly I had no issues with the Check-In process and Xpress Pass.

 

I'm so glad that helped! I stumbled on it when my beverage package disappeared when I was logged in, but showed up the other way.

[cltnccruisers]

I was just on the site for the first time in a couple of weeks. I couldn't even get to our itinerary let alone drill down to excursions. When I went to Manage your Reservation it brought up Nov Southern Caribbean - our booking isn't until March, 2018.

[Shadow9612]

I'm told there will be another "fix" tomorrow. I've heard it before, for five months, so I'll not get my hopes up or hold my breath....I don't look to good when I'm blue!

 

"The sun will come out Tomorrow, So ya gotta hang on 'Til tomorrow"

 

"Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I love ya Tomorrow! You're always a day away"

 

Could someone in IT explain to me why this is such a hard problem to fix - I just can't get my head around this. They can create floating cities, but can't fix a website?

[GottaKnowWhen]

Well, the site is not a total disaster. I got on yesterday, searched for cruises, found a good deal in December and put a Hold on it. Called my CVP today and he tweeked the details, processed my card, and Confirmation arrived. I went back in to that new reservation this evening, was able to "gift" some flowers and wine to our stateroom. Charge processed, receipt received. I downloaded the 170+ page Excursions Brochure. I noted that the brochure reflects the original itinerary, not the changed itinerary as revised by a couple of hurricanes. But I expected that.

Not all the internal links take you to where you are trying to go, but if you have a clue about design and/or computers then a bit of looking around will get you to the right spot. I get it that there is frustration, it is not perfect. But the extra pain and agony of dealing with the site is totally insignificant compared to the joy of getting onto that ship that you had to work so hard to book. IMNSHO.

 

Stan

[Luvcrusn]

Well, the site is not a total disaster. I got on yesterday, searched for cruises, found a good deal in December and put a Hold on it. Called my CVP today and he tweeked the details, processed my card, and Confirmation arrived. I went back in to that new reservation this evening, was able to "gift" some flowers and wine to our stateroom. Charge processed, receipt received. I downloaded the 170+ page Excursions Brochure. I noted that the brochure reflects the original itinerary, not the changed itinerary as revised by a couple of hurricanes. But I expected that.

Not all the internal links take you to where you are trying to go, but if you have a clue about design and/or computers then a bit of looking around will get you to the right spot. I get it that there is frustration, it is not perfect. But the extra pain and agony of dealing with the site is totally insignificant compared to the joy of getting onto that ship that you had to work so hard to book. IMNSHO.

 

Stan

I'm happy for your success and agree that once on the ship all will be better. I had a lot of frustration. I booked my next two cruises with the TA I've used for years without so much as a hiccup. Since the launch, when I click manage my reservation, I get a message telling me to complete pending items before checking in (with no indication of what I need to complete). When I click Travel Arrangements, I get a message telling me to complete my booking prior to making travel arrangements. All the buttons on that page are greyed out and inactive. One cruise is 34 days from now and the other is December of 2018. I've made my arrangements myself outside of Celebrity. I'm fairly knowledgeable, but the site won't let me do basic things using it because they haven't been able to iron out kinks that allow those using TAs to do basic things we've always been able to do in the past. It's most annoying to be told to complete my booking on a cruise that's paid in full, checked in, Xpress pass printed, luggage tags and E-docs finished. That's not inability on my part, but failure on their part.

I've used two different computers with different OS. I've used two different tablets and smart phones. I've used 4 browsers, deleting cookies and cache. I've tried logging in and not logging in. I've tried Incognito windows. I've spoken directly with Celebrity IT management (not an easy feat to accomplish) who have acknowledged it is their failure and not my inability. The only thing that has kept us from cancelling is, as you said, the wonderful times we've had on our past cruises and the wonderful time we expect to have once we get past all this and are next on board. But part of the fun of a vacation, at least for us, is the planning. It shouldn't be stressful. I have enough stress in daily life.

[lilghallinsf]

Instead of calling this site cruise critic they should call it cruise grip. Lol

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fleckle]

I'm told there will be another "fix" tomorrow. I've heard it before, for five months, so I'll not get my hopes up or hold my breath....I don't look to good when I'm blue!

Luvcrusn, it looks like they have at least fixed some of the problems that were reported on the special thread you started for that specific purpose:

 

POST WEBSITE PROBLEMS HERE

So that may be a good place for people to continue posting their Celebrity website problems, ..... if the Celebrity IT people are still checking it.

Do you know if they are?

I was able to do online check in all the way through from beginning to end very easily, without any problem!

 

Also found it very easy to make online payments and immediately received the updated invoice.

These were both features that had not been working correctly previously, so something had been done to fix them.

But it seems like every time they fix one problem, they manage to mess up something else.

Edited October 24, 2017 by fleckle

[fshagan]

Could someone in IT explain to me why this is such a hard problem to fix - I just can't get my head around this. They can create floating cities, but can't fix a website?

 

The only website I can think of that is worse was the original Healthcare.gov site for the insurance exchanges. It was originally designed by a 11.2 billion dollar company who specializes in "digital presences", Montreal based CGI. It was salvaged by Accenture, the same company Celebrity is looking towards for their "digital presence".

 

So I don't think its a bunch of high school drop outs in the Celebrity IT department. It might be senior management, just like the government's senior managers with healthcare.gov, that are driving the process and making a mess of it. That would be my best guess. I suspect the new Celebrity website is costing close to a million dollars, far less than the estimated 1 billion dollars Healthcare.gov ended up costing, but certainly not cheap.

 

Both sites are highly complex, with multiple databases and security concerns that have to addressed. Previously, I think Celebrity had four or five domains they shifted you through for seeing itineraries, checking the booking engine to see the cabins available, holding your personal information for Captain's Club securely, and booking an airline reservation through their travel subsidiary. It was a weird setup that I haven't seen on any other cruise line site. It always felt patched together. So they started out with garbage, and had to consolidate the various pieces of junk they had to work under one domain name, and one login. It isn't easy, and it isn't cheap, and management may have thought that spending money with a top agency like Accenture would suffice.

 

These aren't excuses that Celebrity can hang their hat on ... NCL, Princess, Carnival and HAL all have functional websites that do just fine.

 

The longer it takes, the harder it is to fix. In software development there's something called Brook's Law, a caution against "adding people to just fix it" because the more software developers you add, the slower the project goes. If the story is ever told, we may hear about the first team being fired or "helped" by hiring more resources, then the second team not fixing enough of the site to satisfy their contract, and that X is now on their third or fourth infusion of experts and human capital. Each addition starts from the beginning, and makes the process slower.

 

I don't think you'll see a functional, well working website until the end of 2018. They have solved a lot of the major issues, but the ones that impact us the most are the minor ones to a developer.

[Shadow9612]

The only website I can think of that is worse was the original Healthcare.gov site for the insurance exchanges. It was originally designed by a 11.2 billion dollar company who specializes in "digital presences", Montreal based CGI. It was salvaged by Accenture, the same company Celebrity is looking towards for their "digital presence".

 

So I don't think its a bunch of high school drop outs in the Celebrity IT department. It might be senior management, just like the government's senior managers with healthcare.gov, that are driving the process and making a mess of it. That would be my best guess. I suspect the new Celebrity website is costing close to a million dollars, far less than the estimated 1 billion dollars Healthcare.gov ended up costing, but certainly not cheap.

 

Both sites are highly complex, with multiple databases and security concerns that have to addressed. Previously, I think Celebrity had four or five domains they shifted you through for seeing itineraries, checking the booking engine to see the cabins available, holding your personal information for Captain's Club securely, and booking an airline reservation through their travel subsidiary. It was a weird setup that I haven't seen on any other cruise line site. It always felt patched together. So they started out with garbage, and had to consolidate the various pieces of junk they had to work under one domain name, and one login. It isn't easy, and it isn't cheap, and management may have thought that spending money with a top agency like Accenture would suffice.

 

These aren't excuses that Celebrity can hang their hat on ... NCL, Princess, Carnival and HAL all have functional websites that do just fine.

 

The longer it takes, the harder it is to fix. In software development there's something called Brook's Law, a caution against "adding people to just fix it" because the more software developers you add, the slower the project goes. If the story is ever told, we may hear about the first team being fired or "helped" by hiring more resources, then the second team not fixing enough of the site to satisfy their contract, and that X is now on their third or fourth infusion of experts and human capital. Each addition starts from the beginning, and makes the process slower.

 

I don't think you'll see a functional, well working website until the end of 2018. They have solved a lot of the major issues, but the ones that impact us the most are the minor ones to a developer.

Very much appreciate your insight. I have no background in this area and I would imagine that there's a lot more to the back-end processes than just 'snapping my fingers and making the changes happen'.

 

I would think though that the amount of money needed to fix this is not out of reach for Celebrity (but again, I have no educated foundation for this statement).

 

I've personally never had a functional problem with the site - I'm just not impressed with the look/aesthetics and I feel there is a huge lack of intuitiveness - I'm always spending time trying to figure out where things are, etc. This may just be a learning curve though -admittedly, I don't use the site very much anymore because I don't like the look of it.

 

I am reading posts about some functional things being fixed for people, so let's hope this continues to move in the right direction.

 

Thank you again for your insights.

[fshagan]

I've personally never had a functional problem with the site - I'm just not impressed with the look/aesthetics and I feel there is a huge lack of intuitiveness - I'm always spending time trying to figure out where things are, etc. This may just be a learning curve though -admittedly, I don't use the site very much anymore because I don't like the look of it.

 

I didn't either, except for the broken Cruise Connections page. I think that's because I was a brand new customer for X, with no prior cruises and therefore no Captain Club's account with data in it, and I never book excursions through the cruise line so I didn't see those problems. They didn't have to consolidate data for my account. I was able to log in, add my itinerary (I booked with a TA) so it wasn't listed at first), go through the check in process, order luggage tags, enter passport numbers, etc. without any trouble at all. Maybe I matched the "test profile" the initial designers used or something.

 

I don't like most modern sites; the majority of them violate the accessibility guidelines and are unreadable (low contrast or undersized fonts) and have very limited navigation controls forcing you through the path the designer wants you to follow. The Celebrity site actually works better on mobile, and I suspect most of the people here are, uh, "more mature" like me and still using a desktop. But over 50% of web traffic is on mobile devices now.

[cltnccruisers]

I didn't either, except for the broken Cruise Connections page. I think that's because I was a brand new customer for X, with no prior cruises and therefore no Captain Club's account with data in it, and I never book excursions through the cruise line so I didn't see those problems. They didn't have to consolidate data for my account. I was able to log in, add my itinerary (I booked with a TA) so it wasn't listed at first), go through the check in process, order luggage tags, enter passport numbers, etc. without any trouble at all. Maybe I matched the "test profile" the initial designers used or something.

 

I don't like most modern sites; the majority of them violate the accessibility guidelines and are unreadable (low contrast or undersized fonts) and have very limited navigation controls forcing you through the path the designer wants you to follow. The Celebrity site actually works better on mobile, and I suspect most of the people here are, uh, "more mature" like me and still using a desktop. But over 50% of web traffic is on mobile devices now.

 

I "graduated", as my grandkids say, to a laptop a couple of years ago and to an iPhone only last year. I'm also a new user to X and you may have something there. Most of the issues I've had have been annoyances rather than showstoppers. Not being able to pull up our March itinerary the other night was the most serious and that seems fine now. So the idea of not already being the the databases and starting with a clean slate does make some sense.

[Luvcrusn]

I "graduated", as my grandkids say, to a laptop a couple of years ago and to an iPhone only last year. I'm also a new user to X and you may have something there. Most of the issues I've had have been annoyances rather than showstoppers. Not being able to pull up our March itinerary the other night was the most serious and that seems fine now. So the idea of not already being the the databases and starting with a clean slate does make some sense.

I'm curious whether those not having problems booked directly with X or through a TA. The problems I have seem to stem from the fact that our cruises are booked through a TA and the new site can't seem to deal with the different way that those reservations are handled. When booking with a TA, all payments and discussion about payments for the actual booking fare and deposits must be made through the TA. Ancillary products, ie, shore excursions, dining, choice air, transfers, hotel (before and after stays) could all be purchased directly through the old website without going to the TA. Since the new launch, some of that can be done and some can't. The part that can't be done is choice air, hotel and transfers. The rest works intermittently and is best done with phone calls. When I log in with user name and password, and click manage my reservation, a message appears telling me to complete pending items before checking in. That appears even though I managed to complete my check by not logging in and clicking on the check in tab next to the log in. I entered reservation number, name, ship and sail date and completed everything. I printed my express pass. I'm pretty sure, based on my conversation with several of X's IT personnel that the problem stems from the fact that they haven't figured out how to successfully integrate several systems that need to run together into the new site rather than starting over. One is the booking, one is captains club, and the third is ancillary bookings. It is not a function of users computer ability, or whether they access the website through a smartphone, tablet, computer or Mac. It is also not the fault of using the wrong operating system or browser (although some browsers seem to behave better than others).

[cltnccruisers]

I'm curious whether those not having problems booked directly with X or through a TA. The problems I have seem to stem from the fact that our cruises are booked through a TA and the new site can't seem to deal with the different way that those reservations are handled. When booking with a TA, all payments and discussion about payments for the actual booking fare and deposits must be made through the TA. Ancillary products, ie, shore excursions, dining, choice air, transfers, hotel (before and after stays) could all be purchased directly through the old website without going to the TA. Since the new launch, some of that can be done and some can't. The part that can't be done is choice air, hotel and transfers. The rest works intermittently and is best done with phone calls. When I log in with user name and password, and click manage my reservation, a message appears telling me to complete pending items before checking in. That appears even though I managed to complete my check by not logging in and clicking on the check in tab next to the log in. I entered reservation number, name, ship and sail date and completed everything. I printed my express pass. I'm pretty sure, based on my conversation with several of X's IT personnel that the problem stems from the fact that they haven't figured out how to successfully integrate several systems that need to run together into the new site rather than starting over. One is the booking, one is captains club, and the third is ancillary bookings. It is not a function of users computer ability, or whether they access the website through a smartphone, tablet, computer or Mac. It is also not the fault of using the wrong operating system or browser (although some browsers seem to behave better than others).

 

We've never used a TA so I can't speak to those thoughts. I have had issues with the X site vs RCCL and which browser I use. X seems fine with Firefox but RCCL works better with Edge or Chrome. As a long time IT guy (not a genius - more of a grunt) that should never happen.

[fshagan]

I'm curious whether those not having problems booked directly with X or through a TA.

 

We had booked with an on-line TA and had to wait for some time before we could put in our reservation number and see our cruise on the X site. That was on the old site and I thought at the time it was about as bad as I had ever seen; it looked like a patched together system of four or five different databases. But we were an absolutely clean slate, with no contact with X before that reservation. I don't recall if I entered the reservation number to get it active on the X site on the old site or new site.

 

I'm pretty sure, based on my conversation with several of X's IT personnel that the problem stems from the fact that they haven't figured out how to successfully integrate several systems that need to run together into the new site rather than starting over. One is the booking, one is captains club, and the third is ancillary bookings.

 

That makes sense to me. These are all secure systems with encrypted data, and it isn't easy transferring data like that.

[caribill]

 

I've personally never had a functional problem with the site - I'm just not impressed with the look/aesthetics and I feel there is a huge lack of intuitiveness - I'm always spending time trying to figure out where things are, etc. This may just be a learning curve though -admittedly, I don't use the site very much anymore because I don't like the look of it.

 

 

Maybe it is the definition of what functional means.

 

When I search for a cruise, I can no longer effectively select months to look for or embarkation ports to look for or areas of the work to cruise in. The drop down list is there, but there is no longer the button to apply what I have chosen, so the only search I can do has to include every single cruise on every single ship from every single embarkation port. Yes, I then get a list of every possible Celebrity cruise, so the search function works. But I then have to wade through that list and though I can then have the list sorted by ship name, it is still hard to locate a cruise I might be looking for.

 

And the last time I tried to get the "booklet" of shore excursions for my cruise, that option did not work at all. I had to call Celebrity and the rep was able to accomplish what I could not and e-mailed the resulting "booklet" to me.

 

And the multiple times it has told me I am locked out for at least 20 minutes to protect my data is quite frustrating.

[GottaKnowWhen]

Maybe it is the definition of what functional means.

 

When I search for a cruise, I can no longer effectively select months to look for or embarkation ports to look for or areas of the work to cruise in. The drop down list is there, but there is no longer the button to apply what I have chosen, so the only search I can do has to include every single cruise on every single ship from every single embarkation port. Yes, I then get a list of every possible Celebrity cruise, so the search function works. But I then have to wade through that list and though I can then have the list sorted by ship name, it is still hard to locate a cruise I might be looking for.

 

And the last time I tried to get the "booklet" of shore excursions for my cruise, that option did not work at all. I had to call Celebrity and the rep was able to accomplish what I could not and e-mailed the resulting "booklet" to me.

 

And the multiple times it has told me I am locked out for at least 20 minutes to protect my data is quite frustrating.

I think I sortta understand the complexity of the site and the problems they are having. But your comments baffle me. I have done multiple search’s the last 3 Days. Some when signed in, some as a “guest.” Using my iPad and my desktop. And I do see an Apply button when I drop down the date or destination options, and it works fine to narrow down the search (when I remember to tap it.) I was able to download a 172 page Excursions Brochure for my upcoming sailing. It doesn’t make sense that your experience is so different from mine. Hopefully the Celebrity web wonks do understand and are working to figure it out!

 

Selfishly, I must say that if they do make changes so that everyone’s experience is the same, I hope that they improve yours rather than degrading mine!

Stan

[ORV]

Try this to get your E-docs and printable luggage tags from a PC.

1. Log OUT of your account.

2. Clear your cookies and cache.

3. Open an incognito window on your browser. (I find Edge and Chrome work best)

4. Instead of logging in with user name and password, click on "Check IN' at the upper right hand corner of the X home page

5. Manually enter your reservation number, name ship and sail date and click enter

6. At the top is a tab to check for luggage tags. Click it.

7. This will take you to a page that looks like the old Celebrity site.

8. Scroll to near the bottom. On the left, in a box with a blue border it says Print Luggage Tags. Click it.

9. This will take you to your E-docs. On the last few pages you can print your tags, or you can print the entire document.

Hope this helps!. BTW, on that last page before you click Print Luggage Tags on the right hand side of the page about midway down is Order History. I clicked that and found my missing purchases that don't show up in the Order History when I log in with user name/password and present and accounted for!

 

Got any tips for booking excursions?

 

What happens is; add excursion to cart, then it has drop down for number of guests, that drop down works. Then it asks for date(they should know that, duh) drop down only says select, but no choices. Then asks for language, once again same as date, then time, same story. If you push Next you get a message "No offerings Available" and also another box with,

Selection Not Available

 

Your selection is currently not available. Please try with a different search option. You can also check once onboard.

 

If there are none available it shouldn't be listed on the Planner yet.

 

I'm not going to call in. I've booked plenty of Celebrity excursions on their website in the past. It's always worked fine. It should be getting better, not worse.

[ralphd]

Try this to get your E-docs and printable luggage tags from a PC.

1. Log OUT of your account.

2. Clear your cookies and cache.

3. Open an incognito window on your browser. (I find Edge and Chrome work best)

4. Instead of logging in with user name and password, click on "Check IN' at the upper right hand corner of the X home page

5. Manually enter your reservation number, name ship and sail date and click enter

6. At the top is a tab to check for luggage tags. Click it.

7. This will take you to a page that looks like the old Celebrity site.

8. Scroll to near the bottom. On the left, in a box with a blue border it says Print Luggage Tags. Click it.

9. This will take you to your E-docs. On the last few pages you can print your tags, or you can print the entire document.

Hope this helps!. BTW, on that last page before you click Print Luggage Tags on the right hand side of the page about midway down is Order History. I clicked that and found my missing purchases that don't show up in the Order History when I log in with user name/password and present and accounted for!

 

This works! Tried to sign in using the 'proper' method and it kicked me out 3 times. Asked me for email and then told me it was already registered (???). At least I finished check in. Thanks!

[Luvcrusn]

Got any tips for booking excursions?

 

What happens is; add excursion to cart, then it has drop down for number of guests, that drop down works. Then it asks for date(they should know that, duh) drop down only says select, but no choices. Then asks for language, once again same as date, then time, same story. If you push Next you get a message "No offerings Available" and also another box with,

Selection Not Available

 

Your selection is currently not available. Please try with a different search option. You can also check once onboard.

 

If there are none available it shouldn't be listed on the Planner yet.

 

I'm not going to call in. I've booked plenty of Celebrity excursions on their website in the past. It's always worked fine. It should be getting better, not worse.

My best tip is call Celebrity One Touch at 800-760-0654. I didn't want to do it either, but got fed up with the site. They emailed me a pdf with all of the excursions offered for my cruise. I emailed them when I was ready to book and they called me back. At least that way I didn't have to wait on hold twice.:rolleyes: The best clue that this is what needs to be done now is the new grey banner on top of the page in cruise planner for shore excursions that says something to the effect that We are working to improve your experience booking excursions. Good luck.

[ORV]

My best tip is call Celebrity One Touch at 800-760-0654. I didn't want to do it either, but got fed up with the site. They emailed me a pdf with all of the excursions offered for my cruise. I emailed them when I was ready to book and they called me back. At least that way I didn't have to wait on hold twice.:rolleyes: The best clue that this is what needs to be done now is the new grey banner on top of the page in cruise planner for shore excursions that says something to the effect that We are working to improve your experience booking excursions. Good luck.

 

I can see all the excursions for each port. It's just I can't purchase them.

[Luvcrusn]

I can see all the excursions for each port. It's just I can't purchase them.

I can't imagine the amount of revenue loss Celebrity has experienced because of the failures of the website. In my case, I didn't book air or hotels with Celebrity because the website wouldn't allow it. Many can't purchase other ancillary products as well. You think they'd notice the drop in their sales and would be pressing to get these things rectified. Not to mention that they've had a definite uptick in the number of call ins for assistance in things people could always do themselves. I base this on the frequent and lengthy hold times that coincided with the new website launch.

[GottaKnowWhen]

...

Edited October 26, 2017 by GottaKnowWhen
img link not working, sorry!

[Beyond the Sea]

I'm finally able to edit our passenger information that was being flagged however my OBC was incorrect and our linked reservation with our friends was gone.

 

Am I ahead or behind in the game??