Celebrity gave away my cabin. Has this ever happened to you?

[villauk]

On 4/14/2019 at 4:27 AM, the_dylaness said:

Not exactly the same, but something similar happened to us last year.

 

Short version:

 

We booked 2 connecting Concierge cabins about a year or maybe more in advance. (Travelling with our young kids + nanny.)

Just a few days (4?) prior to sailing my TA called me to say that they were unable to accommodate us as both of the rooms we booked were only rated for 2 pax.  (Our 2nd room had 3 pax.)  They assured us they were "looking hard" to find another room that would hold 3.

 

I did not want "another room" that held 3. I wanted two, connecting concierge cabins, one of which could hold 3.

 

They offered a few permutations including moving nanny + kids to a sky suite (not connecting, not even on the same deck, and really they are going to eat in Luminae while I am in MDR?! no way.)

 

I told them I would consider a category switch (with appropriate refunds) to balcony if required but that we absolutely must have the connecting cabins.  Eventually they came through for us (strangely enough the two connecting "hump" cabins I had actually wanted to book in the very first place but they were booked!)

 

It was a really stressful experience as for a while it really seemed they would have no space to suit us.  (Apparently some rooms had been recategorized in terms of capacity since we had booked and no one caught it.)  Many phone calls, emails, time spent.  Eventually they offered (after I inquired how they would make the situation right) a moderate OBC to compensate for the time, trouble, worry, inconvenience, etc.

 

The OBC never appeared while we were sailing and no one onboard could answer us about it.

Had to reconnect with TA again about OBC... multiple more calls/emails later it was finally given as a refund to our CC.

 

I know some think we should just be "happy to have gotten rooms!" but I did not like heading into my vacation really worried if we had a place for everyone to sleep and I think a modest OBC for the time and anxiety was not inappropriate.  Having to chase it down was just silly and the whole scenario reflects poorly on X.

 

 

 

I wonder if your scenario will continue to happen as all the ship go through the ‘Revolution’?

[kathynorth]

On 4/13/2019 at 12:44 PM, woodinville cruisers said:

I talked to my TA and also sent him an email.  He said that he spent half an hour on the phone with Celebrity and no resolution.  We've used the same TA since 2003.  We can't change to one of the other cabins at the bow because they are all booked for the 4/3/2021 sailing.  I thought when you book it's like a contract.  The big difference in this incidence is that they changed the schedule on the first cruise.  

Mary

 

My advice is to ask your TA to call Celebrity and have you on the 3 way call. I've found that it's a lot harder for Celebrity to say "nothing can be done" when the customer is on the line and Celebrity won't speak with you unless the TA is part of the call. Let Celebrity know you have an invoice that shows you in cabin 7003, but your online account has been changed to 7001 and that you want them to fix this. Point out that Celebrity may want to call the people currently showing as being in 7003 to offer them 7001. Celebrity may be surprised to find that the current 7003 passengers may be willing to move to 7001. Whenever I call to problem solve I always ask for the name of the person on the other end, what their job title is, and what their range of responsibilities are. I then pause everyone on the call knows that I'm writing all this down. If the Celebrity representative can't solve my problem I ask to be forwarded to the person above them.  I stay on the line until my problem is resolved. 

[kathynorth]

21 minutes ago, kathynorth said:

 

My advice is to ask your TA to call Celebrity and have you on the 3 way call. I've found that it's a lot harder for Celebrity to say "nothing can be done" when the customer is on the line and Celebrity won't speak with you unless the TA is part of the call. Let Celebrity know you have an invoice that shows you in cabin 7003, but your online account has been changed to 7001 and that you want them to fix this. Point out that Celebrity may want to call the people currently showing as being in 7003 to offer them 7001. Celebrity may be surprised to find that the current 7003 passengers may be willing to move to 7001. Whenever I call to problem solve I always ask for the name of the person on the other end, what their job title is, and what their range of responsibilities are. I then pause everyone on the call knows that I'm writing all this down. If the Celebrity representative can't solve my problem I ask to be forwarded to the person above them.  I stay on the line until my problem is resolved. 

 

Sorry, as I read further I realized all the room swapping has been discussed. However, you may want to be on the phone when the TA speaks with Celebrity. This has helped me to satisfactorily work out several situations in the past.. 

[Denny01]

To answer your initial question, no I’ve not heard of someone losing a SR that they’d booked and paid their deposit. Obviously this occurred because the cruise changed dates. And I don’t really see blaming Celebrity - they informed the TA twice and are now trying to fix what the TA didn’t take care of.  

 

Den

Edited April 16, 2019 by Denny01

[woodinville cruisers]

I stopped by my TA's office today and it doesn't look likely to get my original cabin back.  What does look probable is to get some compensation for the inconvenience of having to move.  Both cabins are very nice but we just didn't want to waste time moving.  I'll post the final outcome when I have information.

Mary

[hcat]

21 minutes ago, woodinville cruisers said:

I stopped by my TA's office today and it doesn't look likely to get my original cabin back.  What does look probable is to get some compensation for the inconvenience of having to move.  Both cabins are very nice but we just didn't want to waste time moving.  I'll post the final outcome when I have information.

Mary

Arent the cabins nearby?   Moving won,t be as bad as anticipated  and you will have help..

 

On a cruise awhile ago , we had settled in  to what we thought was a great hump, large balc cabin and had pretty much unpacked and set up... Then the dj started up on the pool deck, then Zumba etc. It was terribly noisy and  lots of vibration... We called  guest rel...they sent someone up  asap to confirm how noisy and vibrating our cabin was..We were offered a  quick switch to a much quiter location  a bit forward... both our outgoing and new cabin attendant helped us pack and move...by dinner we were completely re settled..

 

Perhaps inconvenient but  hope op wont let it ruin the  cruise .. and get as much obc as you can

[Covepointcruiser]

I don’t think Celebrity  would have changed the stateroom if both deposits were made at the same time.    I have never heard of reserving a stateroom and not making the deposit at the same time.   Since this cruise is two years away 4/2021, it is likely there will be more changes to the itinerary and hopefully one of the cruises won’t be chartered!