Cancelled cruise compensation

[phoenix_dream]

I am one of the unlucky ones on the cancelled 14 night Silhouette cruise next January.  Many of us are really not happy with how Celebrity is handling the options being offered us as compensation.  Wondering what others have experienced on other cancelled cruises.  What were you offered as far as compensation and/or rebooking offers?  This has only happened to me once before years ago so I can't compare that.  Wondering if our situation is par for the course.

[yorky]

12 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

I am one of the unlucky ones on the cancelled 14 night Silhouette cruise next January.  Many of us are really not happy with how Celebrity is handling the options being offered us as compensation.  Wondering what others have experienced on other cancelled cruises.  What were you offered as far as compensation and/or rebooking offers?  This has only happened to me once before years ago so I can't compare that.  Wondering if our situation is par for the course.

What have you been offered ?

[Fogfog]

43 minutes ago, yorky said:

What have you been offered ?

Dear Travel Partner: 
The Celebrity Silhouette® 14-Night Southern Caribbean sailing departing January 31, 2020, has been cancelled. Please contact your clients to re-accommodate them on another Celebrity Cruises vacation. Details of guest compensation and other information is below. 
Guests currently booked on the sailing who are interested in similar itineraries can be rebooked on these sailings in like accommodations at the protected/lowest available rate. 
Celebrity Silhouette 
12-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing December 1, 2019 
9-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing December 13, 2019 
12-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing April 5, 2019 
Celebrity Reflection® 
10-Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise departing November 29, 2019 
11-Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise departing March 23, 2020 
10-Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise departing April 3, 2020
Celebrity EquinoxSM 
10-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing April 11, 2020
Your clients are free to rebook any Celebrity vacation they choose. Those who rebook will receive a 50% Future Cruise certificate per stateroom. 
Guests who incur a fee due to the change in their airline reservations will be reimbursed up to $300 per person. A faxed copy of the air fees assessed must be provided.
If a guest chooses not to rebook, a full refund for amounts paid will be processed to the original form of payment, and the above offer of compensation is no longer valid.

 

 

 

 

 

I DO wonder about the weird April 5,2019 sailing (how long did they know before telling pax?)  Or is that a misprint in some other way

Edited May 18, 2019 by Fogfog

[yorky]

2 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

Dear Travel Partner: 
The Celebrity Silhouette® 14-Night Southern Caribbean sailing departing January 31, 2020, has been cancelled. Please contact your clients to re-accommodate them on another Celebrity Cruises vacation. Details of guest compensation and other information is below. 
Guests currently booked on the sailing who are interested in similar itineraries can be rebooked on these sailings in like accommodations at the protected/lowest available rate. 
Celebrity Silhouette 
12-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing December 1, 2019 
9-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing December 13, 2019 
12-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing April 5, 2019 
Celebrity Reflection® 
10-Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise departing November 29, 2019 
11-Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise departing March 23, 2020 
10-Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise departing April 3, 2020
Celebrity EquinoxSM 
10-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing April 11, 2020
Your clients are free to rebook any Celebrity vacation they choose. Those who rebook will receive a 50% Future Cruise certificate per stateroom. 
Guests who incur a fee due to the change in their airline reservations will be reimbursed up to $300 per person. A faxed copy of the air fees assessed must be provided.
If a guest chooses not to rebook, a full refund for amounts paid will be processed to the original form of payment, and the above offer of compensation is no longer valid.

 

We would lose £1200 straight away in flight fees.

[gerelmx]

26 minutes ago, Fogfog said:

 

 

I DO wonder about the weird April 5,2019 sailing (how long did they know before telling pax?)  Or is that a misprint in some other way

 

misprint there is a Silhouette April 5, 2020 sailing  (12 nights southern Caribbean)

[jelayne]

 

We had a cruise cancelled before we booked air.  One of the offered alternative cruises worked for us so we moved our booking, kept the same cabin category at the rate we were booked at (the rate on the cruise we moved to was higher) and we received $200 OBC.   

We didn’t receive a offer that included a Future Cruise credit but that may be because all the offered alternative cruises were the same number of days or 1-2 more.

Edited May 18, 2019 by jelayne
Addition

[Cruise Raider]

I've been on nearly 60 cruises across different lines and Celebrity has been the only cruiseline that has canceled any one of those sailings ... three times, no less.  Now, don't get me wrong, Celebrity is still my absolute favorite cruise line and we are usually very flexible in our plans but I know that isn't the case for some.  

Anyway, the first time was when Celebrity was doing some 7 night sailings out of San Francisco on the Mercury.  They canceled at least two of these sailings and turned them into 11 night sailings.  If we choose the one with the same departure date (we were lucky, we were on the first one), we could rebook to the same room and extend our stay for no additional charge and they gave us $200 back to boot.  

The next one was a 14 night Alaska sailing on the Infinity, again, SF roundtrip and they chartered the sailing for 5 of those nights so canceled Alaska altogether.  One of the offerings was to replace our 14 night Alaska sailing with a 9 night Pacific Coastal sailing ... but for the same price!  Well, that's crazy .... no other cruiseline would have charged the same price but we really liked the itinerary so were given $200 more in OBC, were able to keep all our perks (except the beverage package) and downgrade to an inside cabin.  But prices plummeted, as we guessed they would and  we ended up getting a family sized veranda (one of the side ones) for only $100 more.  So, that one worked out to our advantage as well.  

The third time was on the Eclipse for a 7 night Pacific Coastal for this coming October.  I really wanted the 9 night itinerary but the price difference was a deal breaker.  Well, they canceled the original sailing on which I was booked and offered me the 9 night itinerary instead, again, with keeping all my agreed upon perks, pricing and $200 obc for a cabin in the same category.  Score!!!!  

 

So, moral to the story .. either don't book the same cruises I book with Celebrity as I sure do seem to know how to pick them (hahaha) ... or, take what they offer you and make the best of it.  We came out way ahead in each and every time they've canceled on us.  To this day, those were a couple of my favorite cruises of all times!  

[CYNSport]

We had a cruise cancelled by Oceania. The third cruise after the inaugural cruise for Riviera  (completion delay). Offered very little (some trivial amount off a future cruise). Our cruise insurance paid for lost expenses. We avoided Oceania ever since.

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, yorky said:

We would lose £1200 straight away in flight fees.

 

Woukd your travel insurance or credit card travel benefits cover any of the flight expenses or change fees?

[Denny01]

No idea what the UK rules are, but in the US with non-refundable flights, you are usually charged about $200+/- to make changes and have a year to use the ticket amount on another flight. 

 

As to cruises, I personally haven’t had a cruise cancelled, but since it is about 8 months prior, their offer doesn’t seem to be out of hand. 

 

WIll see if others who have had cruises cancelled have to say about what they were offered, but I’d think it also has to do with how much time prior that it’s cancelled. 

 

Always tough to make changes.

 

Den

[Turtles06]

6 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

No idea what the UK rules are, but in the US with non-refundable flights, you are usually charged about $200+/- to make changes and have a year to use the ticket amount on another flight. 

 

On United at least, it's a year from the date the ticket was issued, not a year from the date of the (cancelled) flight, so depending on people's travel plans, work schedules, etc., that might not work out for some folks.

[Pattyhoo]

We were booked on the Silhouette cruise that was cancelled.  Thanks to the Cruise Critic members that posted the news, we were able to phone Celebrity yesterday afternoon. The first rep we spoke with kept saying that it was not cancelled, eventually realized that we were correct. 

After 90 minutes, we rebooked ! My head is still spinning, but here it is:

             Reflection 1/20/20.  11 nights  veranda

                                                                    (No concierge available)

             Kept our $250 for booking onboard

              

             Received $250 for the cancelled cruise

 

              In approximately 3-4 weeks, will receive a Future Cruise certificate of $3800+ 

                   that can be used towards this sailing. 

 

Initially we were disappointed but felt that the FC certificate took the sting out of the news. Life goes on.  Watch this be the best cruise ever!

 

 

[Cruise Raider]

1 hour ago, Pattyhoo said:

We were booked on the Silhouette cruise that was cancelled.  Thanks to the Cruise Critic members that posted the news, we were able to phone Celebrity yesterday afternoon. The first rep we spoke with kept saying that it was not cancelled, eventually realized that we were correct. 

After 90 minutes, we rebooked ! My head is still spinning, but here it is:

             Reflection 1/20/20.  11 nights  veranda

                                                                    (No concierge available)

             Kept our $250 for booking onboard

              

             Received $250 for the cancelled cruise

 

              In approximately 3-4 weeks, will receive a Future Cruise certificate of $3800+ 

                   that can be used towards this sailing. 

 

Initially we were disappointed but felt that the FC certificate took the sting out of the news. Life goes on.  Watch this be the best cruise ever!

 

 

 

Whoa!  That is some awesome compensation.  When the terms noted you got 50% on a future cruise credit, for some reason I thought that was $50 off for each pax (interpreting it as half off the $100 deposit) ... but, I would consider myself blessed to get that kind of deal.  My head would be spinning, too!!  

 

 

[Want2Cruise 701]

I think it's a great deal.  We've had Celebrity cancel 3 cruises on us.  We were only allowed to pick from two other sailings each time for price protections in the same category.  Of the three cruises cancelled, $200 OBC was the max.  Can't remember the other amounts but no more than $200.  No air reimbursement either.

 

Each time, the cruises they chose were not doable for us so we were just left with up to $200 OBC on a future cruise.  Would have loved 50%.  

[PROCRUISE]

Just had Holland America notify us that our (party of 4) 3/18/20 cruise to Cuba is now chartered.

We could rebook or cancel. We were able to rebook an earlier same cruise in March, got the same cabins and perks. 

They gave us $25 OBC per person for the inconvenience. Nothing to write home about but cancellations/charters can probably happen on any cruise.

 

[WpgCruise]

6 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I am one of the unlucky ones on the cancelled 14 night Silhouette cruise next January.  Many of us are really not happy with how Celebrity is handling the options being offered us as compensation.  

What would the O.P. or any of the unlucky ones consider to be fair compensation ?

 

Edited May 18, 2019 by WpgCruise

[Cruise Raider]

27 minutes ago, PROCRUISE said:

Just had Holland America notify us that our (party of 4) 3/18/20 cruise to Cuba is now chartered.

We could rebook or cancel. We were able to rebook an earlier same cruise in March, got the same cabins and perks. 

They gave us $25 OBC per person for the inconvenience. Nothing to write home about but cancellations/charters can probably happen on any cruise.

 

 

Interesting you mentioned this.  I forgot all about a cruise that I was booked on for NCL up in Alaska.  They rerouted the ship to be in Cuba.  They offered me $25 OBC for the cabin to switch....not even per person, if that tells you anything.  Needless to say, I went to Princess instead.  hahaha!  

 

[phoenix_dream]

2 hours ago, WpgCruise said:

What would the O.P. or any of the unlucky ones consider to be fair compensation ?

 

First of all, if you are offering 'price protection' it should be cost per day.  They are protecting the price of a 9, 10, or 11 day cruise when we originally booked and paid for a 14 day cruise.  Not a fair comparison for cruises as much as 5 days difference in length.  Second, their protection should be applying to cruises that honestly have 'similar itineraries'.  None of the cruises has a similar itinerary - in particular none of the offered cruises go to the ABC islands which is one of the main reasons people booked this cruise.  None of the cruises are offered during the months of Jan and Feb, when this cruise was scheduled, which DOES have similar itineraries (including the ABC's).  But those cruises are been selling well so the prices are higher so they don't want to include them in their offering.  I wouldn't be so upset if this had happened months ago.  But now the cruises in January and early February are already fairly booked up and therefore quite expensive.  Finally, in typical Celebrity fashion, they are being inconsistent in their re-bookings - at least according to what I've read here on Cruise Critic.  Some people are getting price protection on cruises not listed.  We were told no.  Some people are getting extra OBC.  We were told no.  At the very least, be consistent in what you are offering.

[CHUCKIE50]

Just to let everyone who was wondering why many of us are very upset with C this is the second time this cruise has been cancelled. The new dates offered to us are much less desirable than the original offer made to us. Also for some this was part of a b2b during prime time for those of us who live in cold climates and there is very little availibility on any appropriate dates.

 

Here is the original offer  made to us made which I thought

 was very fair.

 

November 15, 2018 

Dear Travel Partner,

We’ve decided to extend the Celebrity Silhouette^® dry dock that’s happening as part of The Celebrity Revolution^SM, which is taking our entire fleet to the Edge^® and transforming the way your clients experience the world. Unfortunately, as a result, the following sailings will be cancelled: January 24, 2020 and February 2, 2020. We ask that you please contact any clients you may have booked on these sailings and re-accommodate them on another Celebrity Cruises vacation. You’ll find all the details about guest compensation and other helpful information below.

Guests currently booked on the 9-Night Southern Caribbeansailing departing January 24, 2020 who are interested in similar itineraries can be rebooked on these similar sailings, in like accommodations, at the protected/lowest available rate: 

Celebrity Silhouette^®: 
9-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing December 13, 2019 
14-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing January 31, 2020 
9-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing February 14, 2020 

Celebrity Reflection^®: 
10-Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise departing January 10, 2020 
11-Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise departing January 20, 2020 
10-Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise departing January 31, 2020

Guests currently booked on the 12-Night Southern Caribbean sailing departing February 2, 2020 who are interested in similar itineraries can be rebooked on these similar sailings, in like accommodations, at the protected/lowest available rate: 

Celebrity Silhouette^®: 
12-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing December 1, 2019 
14-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing January 31, 2020 
12-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing February 23, 2020 
12-Night Southern Caribbean Cruise departing March 15, 2020 

Celebrity Reflection^®: 
10-Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise departing January 31, 2020 
11-Night Ultimate Caribbean Cruise departing February 10, 2020 


Of course, your clients aren’t limited to these sailings; they can rebook any Celebrity Cruises vacation they choose.

Clients who rebook another Celebrity Cruises vacation will receive $200 onboard credit per standard stateroom and $400 onboard credit per suite.

 

[Pattyhoo]

4 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

First of all, if you are offering 'price protection' it should be cost per day.  They are protecting the price of a 9, 10, or 11 day cruise when we originally booked and paid for a 14 day cruise.  Not a fair comparison for cruises as much as 5 days difference in length.  Second, their protection should be applying to cruises that honestly have 'similar itineraries'.  None of the cruises has a similar itinerary - in particular none of the offered cruises go to the ABC islands which is one of the main reasons people booked this cruise.  None of the cruises are offered during the months of Jan and Feb, when this cruise was scheduled, which DOES have similar itineraries (including the ABC's).  But those cruises are been selling well so the prices are higher so they don't want to include them in their offering.  I wouldn't be so upset if this had happened months ago.  But now the cruises in January and early February are already fairly booked up and therefore quite expensive.  Finally, in typical Celebrity fashion, they are being inconsistent in their re-bookings - at least according to what I've read here on Cruise Critic.  Some people are getting price protection on cruises not listed.  We were told no.  Some people are getting extra OBC.  We were told no.  At the very least, be consistent in what you are offering.

The cruises that were price protected were not acceptable to us. We wanted to cruise in late January or February and none were offered. 

We decided on the Reflection 1/20 and technically paid the current price. However, we could still have $250 OBC for booking on board and $250 OBC for the cancellation. Add in the Future Cruise certificate of $3800 and it seemed like fair compensation. 

We had not booked a flight yet and our hotel is refundable. 

[wrk2cruise]

I'm also on this cancelled sailing.  I booked it right after it was announced due to the extension of the original dry dock so I got a very good deal on a great itinerary including the ABC islands and 6 sea days (very close to the now extinct 14 day trips).  What has been offered for protected price cruises are all in the "shoulder season" of early December or late March/April and are 3-5 days shorter than the booked cruise.

 

As others have said there ARE sailings in the Jan-Mar which include the ABC islands.  In my case I found multiple with rare corner aft S1 cabins available which is what I booked on the original sailing.  If I don't get price protected on the 11 night I'm looking at and I use the 50% FCC against this replacement cruise I will basically be paying the same price for an 11 day (at a senior rate with no perks where I had all 4 perks on the original) that I paid for the original cruise.

 

So while the 50% FCC is generous for a cruise cancelled this far out it's the lack of price protection on truly similar cruises which is upsetting.

 

In addition many of us have very expensive hotel and air arrangements for the 1/31 cruise due to the Super Bowl being in Miami the following Sunday.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Our Millennium 2019 Transpacific - Vancouver to Japan, got cancelled last summer.  We were left in limbo for several weeks as they reorganized 4 or 5 cruises to make room for a charter.  Once the itineraries were finalized, we had 2 weeks keep and claim the altered date/itinerary, or switch to a different cruise, for $200 OBC.  Only those who booked direct were informed of the offer, our travel agents were all left in the dark.  Luckily we were on CC to share notes.

 

[4774Papa]

Celebrity has cancelled two cruises that we booked.  This was in 2015 and we booked a cruise Around Japan.  It was on the Century and the Century was to be sold to an Italian company, so the options we had included a Singapore to Dubai cruise on Century (later X didn't sell to the Italian company, but to a Chinese company).  The Singapore to Dubai cruise was great, no problem.

 

The second cancellation was (guess what) another Around Japan cruise in September of that year.  Apparently, our cruise was chartered.   One of the options was Japan and China with the cruise ending in Hong Kong.  We transferred our booking at no extra charge, even though the Japan and China cruise was $400 pp more.   That turned out to be a fantastic cruise.

 

Our other cancelled cruise was on Royal Caribbean, out of Sydney, Australia to New Zealand.   Cancelled because one of the azerpods failed.   Cancellation was 3 days prior to boarding.  We were already in Australia.  We got a full refund for that cruise as well as credit for another future cruise for the exact same amount.  We were told that we had to use that in one year, but we already had our travel plans booked for the year, so we asked Royal if we could go beyond that year.  They agreed and we booked a cruise to Norway, Arctic Circle next month.   We were satisfied with our compensation for all three cancellations.

 

However, we were a bit miffed when is seems that those Around Japan cruises get chartered frequently and there are very few of them every year.  Hated that X seemed to prefer chartering to its loyal customers.

[Creekside89]

Our cruise for Oct 2020 to the Caribbean got cancelled in March, so was offered alternate cruises around that date with price guarantee or $200 OBC if I chose something else. As we have another cruise booked for a few days later to the Panama Canal, we searched around and booked another cruise, but I got the OBC put on our Panama cruise and not the new cruise. In the end I think it has worked for us as we are now doing a B2B. 

[villauk]

1 hour ago, 4774Papa said:

However, we were a bit miffed when is seems that those Around Japan cruises get chartered frequently

 

 

Yes, which is why I have major hesitation booking any Japan cruises with X.