If my TA goes bump

[Presto2]

Hi, just read the news and am now in panic mode as the TA we have booked with is under threat of liquidation.

We paid Celebrity our full fare 2 weeks ago for our cruise in August and have already paid for the flights (with Celebrity)

 

Just wondering what would happen if the TA hasn't paid Celebrity yet and it goes under. I know that we are covered by ABTA and will get

our money back but just worried what Celebrity would do.

 

Would we then be able to contact them directly and pay it all off ourselves (if the TA hasn't already done so).

 

Just worried now

 

 

 

[Toftwood]

Might be worth pre-empting the situation and asking Celebrity themselves what the position would be. They will have contingency plans in place for the failure of an agent (although maybe not the size of this agent!!)

[Presto2]

Hi,

 

Have just found a section on the ABTA website that says:

If your ABTA Travel Agent goes out of business and has not passed the money you paid them to your ABTA Tour Operator don't worry we will make payment to them on your behalf and you will be able to go on your holiday.

 

We are now chilling more !!

It is a major UK Travel Agent so quite a shock to read that this morning !!!

 

Tried getting through to Celebrity but it is like getting through to the Pope !!!

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Check your account on Celebrity's web site to see if it shows the balance being paid.

[Silkroad]

I would still call Celebrity, but meanwhile I would suggest logging  into your credit card account (or call them) to make sure your account was charged by Celebrity, not the TA. When my card is charged by my TA, the charge is displayed as, “Celebrity Cruises”  or something similar, not the name of TA itself.  Fingers crossed that you’ll not have any problems. I wish you a very Happy Anniversary! We just celebrated our 28th (a few days early) on beautiful Edge. It was lovely😊

Edited May 18, 2019 by Silkroad

[downsmead]

Did you pay by credit card - that also covers you over a certain amount 

[happy cruzer]

If you used a credit card, the charge should show as going to Celebrity Cruises not a travel agent.  If Celebrity has the money, then it should be a go.  Call and confirm.

[G.M.T.]

If it has been paid see if you can transfer the booking direct Celebrity /yourself, thus cutting out TA. Reason is it could be that the liquidator could see the booing7payment as an asset for the TA and try and get it back.

 

Good luck.

[vtcruising]

8 minutes ago, Silkroad said:

I would still call Celebrity, but meanwhile I would suggest logging  into your credit card account (or call them) to make sure your account was charged by Celebrity, not the TA. When my card is charged by my TA, the charge is displayed as, “Celebrity Cruises”  or something similar, not the name of TA itself.  Fingers crossed that you’ll not have any problems. I wish you a very Happy Anniversary! We just celebrated our 28th (a few days early) on beautiful Edge. It was lovely😊

Happy Anniversary!! 👩‍❤️‍👨

[GastroGnome]

Don't want to worry you - but Celebrity's T&Cs don't see to reflect the wording quoted from the ABTA website.  X says

 

When you book a Celebrity Cruises cruise-only holiday via one of our authorised travel agents, all monies you pay for that booking will be held by the travel agent on your behalf until we issue our confirmation invoice. Until that point, your monies are not protected by our ABTA membership or any other arrangement. We therefore recommend that you use a travel agent who offers their own financial security arrangements so that in the event that the travel agent becomes insolvent before we issue our confirmation invoice all monies that you have paid to that travel agent will be refunded to you. 

 

In the event that our authorised travel agent becomes insolvent after we have issued our confirmation invoice, then all monies you have paid to that travel agent for that cruise only holiday are protected by our ABTA membership. You will be required to pay any outstanding balance due (if any) directly to us (or any other travel agent nominated by us) in accordance with these booking conditions in order to receive your holiday

 

I'm assuming the TA were an "authorised agent" but even if so it sounds like you might need to reclaim the money from them and then pay it forward yourself.  I know getting through to X is difficult - but you might want to keep trying for some peace of mind.  Otherwise - assuming this is the TA in the press this morning, they have not actually declared insolvency yet.  I don't know if you would be able to persuade them to either return the money so you can pay direct or to pay the money onward without waiting for X to call for it?

[emmas gran]

In the UK if paying an agent it shows as the agent not X on our credit card statements

[Jim_Iain]

Our experience has always been that the payment is made directly to Celebrity by the TA.   I also receive a receipt of full payment on Celebrity Cruises Letterhead once paid.  The only problem I foresee is that if you need your agent to modify something for you.   You may have to call Celebrity to have your reservation transferred back to Celebrity.   Also if the agent is offering an OBC that may not show up.

[Presto2]

4 hours ago, CHEZMARYLOU said:

Check your account on Celebrity's web site to see if it shows the balance being paid.

 

Have checked in to our account and can't see it anywhere?

Help

[Presto2]

2 hours ago, Silkroad said:

I would still call Celebrity, but meanwhile I would suggest logging  into your credit card account (or call them) to make sure your account was charged by Celebrity, not the TA. When my card is charged by my TA, the charge is displayed as, “Celebrity Cruises”  or something similar, not the name of TA itself.  Fingers crossed that you’ll not have any problems. I wish you a very Happy Anniversary! We just celebrated our 28th (a few days early) on beautiful Edge. It was lovely😊

 

Hi Happy belated Anniversary :-) Have been following your travels !

We didn't pay by credit card but debit.

[Presto2]

2 hours ago, GastroGnome said:

Don't want to worry you - but Celebrity's T&Cs don't see to reflect the wording quoted from the ABTA website.  X says

 

When you book a Celebrity Cruises cruise-only holiday (we have booked a cruise with all transfers and flights with Celebrity. Flights on Jet2 already paid for) via one of our authorised travel agents, all monies you pay for that booking will be held by the travel agent on your behalf until we issue our confirmation invoice. Until that point, your monies are not protected by our ABTA membership or any other arrangement. We therefore recommend that you use a travel agent who offers their own financial security arrangements so that in the event that the travel agent becomes insolvent before we issue our confirmation invoice all monies that you have paid to that travel agent will be refunded to you. 

 

 

Hi, please see the little comment above.

To be honest we know that we will get our money back and we don't mind paying Celebrity ourselves (and get the money from somewhere) as long as we keep the cruise !! Its been a long time coming for our 25th !

 

Anyone have a good phone number for Celebrity or an e-mail address. I can't find the latter and none of the numbers I saw seem to link with just having a question to ask.

[Presto2]

11 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Our experience has always been that the payment is made directly to Celebrity by the TA.   I also receive a receipt of full payment on Celebrity Cruises Letterhead once paid.  The only problem I foresee is that if you need your agent to modify something for you.   You may have to call Celebrity to have your reservation transferred back to Celebrity.   Also if the agent is offering an OBC that may not show up.

 

Hi, we have already modified the booking (moved to a SV cabin) and the OBC deal came from Celebrity. We have sorted all excursions and dining on line so all we need them to do now is to pay Celebrity for us !

[MightyMike]

I would not worry at all.

 

A similar thing happened to us. We tried to reach our travel agent numerous times about six months before the cruise. No responses.

 

We contacted the Celebrity/Royal Caribbean Resolutions department. We sent them the invoice from the travel agent. They honored the pricing and took over the reservation.

 

In a way, it was the best of both worlds. We ended up with all the discounts offered by the travel agent, plus the service directly from Celebrity. That came in handy when we noticed a room we wanted (in the same category) became available after hours. Rather than waiting and calling the travel agent the next day, I was able to call Celebrity directly that night and snag the room in a few minutes.

Edited May 18, 2019 by MightyMike

[Presto2]

Well, an update.

 

Just got through to Celebrity and it was a complete waste of time. Couldn't give me any advice, just kept saying couldn't share any info re the TA, couldn't give me an e-mail address for me to contact someone at Celebrity (even though I have already e-mailed P&O earlier today), said there was no place he could direct me to give advice as they aren't allowed to discuss and wouldn't just give me an example re what happens in general in situations like this. I can't say it has filled me with much confidence !!!

 

PS I think I got through to the US Office unless the American I spoke to had emigrated to the UK

 

[Presto2]

6 minutes ago, MightyMike said:

I would not worry at all.

 

A similar thing happened to us. We tried to reach our travel agent numerous times about six months before the cruise. No responses.

 

We contacted the Celebrity/Royal Caribbean Resolutions department. We sent them the invoice from the travel agent. They honored the pricing and took over the reservation.

 

In a way, it was the best of both worlds. We ended up with all the discounts offered by the travel agent, plus the service directly from Celebrity. That came in handy when we noticed a room we wanted (in the same category) became available after hours. Rather than waiting and calling the travel agent the next day, I was able to call Celebrity directly that night and snag the room in a few minutes.

 

As a matter of interest how did you contact the Celebrity Resolutions department/ We can't find anything on the website and as noted above the person on the phone would not give me an e-mail address to contact anyone ??!!!!

[little britain]

32 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

 

Have checked in to our account and can't see it anywhere?

Help

You booked via TA so therefore there will be no financial information on your cruise account. You have no visibility of whether they have paid X or not; but as a huge seller of cruises they will be on 'account' with X which means they pay once a month for all their bookings.

 

As Mike says - when this has happened in the past in the UK when another huge company went under a few years back then X took over all the bookings and the clients dealt with X UK directly.  All was fine!

Edited May 18, 2019 by little britain

[Presto2]

2 minutes ago, little britain said:

You booked via TA so therefore there will be no financial information on your cruise account. You have no visibility of whether they have paid X or not; but as a huge seller of cruises they will be on 'account' with X which means they pay once a month for all their bookings.

 

Thanks, that's really helpful :-)

[MightyMike]

The email address we used was celebrityrrs@celebrity.com.

[Presto2]

5 minutes ago, MightyMike said:

The email address we used was celebrityrrs@celebrity.com.

 

 

Thanks so much. It has taken all day to find that. Should have know to ask on here. Can't believe the person I spoke to at Celebrity would not give me any more phone numbers or a help line / e-mail address to write to someone !! I did mention that I had one for P&O so why couldn't Celebrity have something similar? Oh well

[hcat]

5 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Hi,

 

Have just found a section on the ABTA website that says:

If your ABTA Travel Agent goes out of business and has not passed the money you paid them to your ABTA Tour Operator don't worry we will make payment to them on your behalf and you will be able to go on your holiday.

 

We are now chilling more !!

It is a major UK Travel Agent so quite a shock to read that this morning !!!

 

Tried getting through to Celebrity but it is like getting through to the Pope !!!

Saw pretty much the same on the ABTA website I located...( had no idea what ABTA was)

 

"How we protect you

Once you’ve planned your holiday you can relax knowing know that our Code of Conduct means that you can expect high standards from our Members. You’ll also be reassured to know that all package holidays that have been sold to you in the European Economic Area (EEA) by ABTA Members are protected financially in the event of a company failure. This means that in the unlikely event your travel company goes out of business, we have a quick, clear and simple process for you to follow, so you’ll be able to continue your holiday as planned or get your money back."

 

Perhaps contacting ABTA and filing a claim might help....esp if you cannot reach your TA to direct them to pay Celebrity

[downsmead]

Re the American voice - calls are sometimes routed through to the USA if all agents are busy here. I have encountered this a few times, and it is happening more frequently.

There is a resolutions dept but the chances are they may only be Monday to Friday work hours. I vaguely remember this after our Summit cruise got changed by Celebrity. 

I see that you booked the cruise, flights and transfers through Celebrity via your TA. Under ABTA rules, this constitutes a 'package' and as such you have more protection than if you just booked a cruise. Out of interest did your documents include the ABTA protection one? 

On the plus side, your cruise is still over 2 months away and so there is time for resolution if the TA goes under, which is rare. I hadn't seen any news about one being in trouble so will google to see which one!

Keeping fingers crossed for you.

 

Just 'googled' - it is ATOL that protects the package holidays not ABTA as I said above, either way this is good news for you.

Edited May 18, 2019 by downsmead