Celebrity Xpedition runs aground in Galapagos

[RVfromAZ]

2 hours ago, Hawkmooon said:

Just talked to Celebrity.  The 1/11 sailing has now been canceled.  No word on our 1/18 sailing but I'm not optimistic. 😞

That's too bad, hope you find out soon about your sailing, I feel so bad for you not knowing yea or nay.  I see that Xpedition is still in dry dock per cruise mapper/ tracker .  Keeping my fingers crossed for you. 

[dogdental]

I'm on January 25th  and they're insisting that it's still going.  They were certain January 4 AND 11 were going also !  But, both were canceled.  I'm still hoping but they need to be more proactive about advising passengers of status!!

[sippican]

2 hours ago, dogdental said:

I'm on January 25th  and they're insisting that it's still going.  They were certain January 4 AND 11 were going also !  But, both were canceled.  I'm still hoping but they need to be more proactive about advising passengers of status!!

 

I wish you luck! Unfortunately, that seems to be less and less likely as time ticks by.

The only ones currently showing as available for booking on Xpedition are February. The Flora however, has availability on January 26th so maybe that will be an option for some, should they need to cancel.  

Please keep us informed - FWIW, I'd call every single day.

 

[ipeeinthepool]

1 hour ago, sippican said:

 

I wish you luck! Unfortunately, that seems to be less and less likely as time ticks by.

The only ones currently showing as available for booking on Xpedition are February. The Flora however, has availability on January 26th so maybe that will be an option for some, should they need to cancel.  

Please keep us informed - FWIW, I'd call every single day.

 

 

I agree.  I'd be calling a couple of times a week and I'd transfer if I could

[Hawkmooon]

Got the official cancellation call today (for 1/18 sailing).  Offer was 100% refund, 100% in future cruise credit, and up to $400 in airline change/cancellation fees.  We immediately called Celebrity and we were able to rebook onto the Flora's 1/26 sailing!  Then we called Delta and Avianca and were able to change our flights.  After two months of heartache it seems like we will be going on a Galapagos cruise...and a nicer one that we had planned on.

[RVfromAZ]

4 hours ago, Hawkmooon said:

Got the official cancellation call today (for 1/18 sailing).  Offer was 100% refund, 100% in future cruise credit, and up to $400 in airline change/cancellation fees.  We immediately called Celebrity and we were able to rebook onto the Flora's 1/26 sailing!  Then we called Delta and Avianca and were able to change our flights.  After two months of heartache it seems like we will be going on a Galapagos cruise...and a nicer one that we had planned on.

Oh my gosh!  So happy you were able to book Flora!!!

Have a great cruise! 

[ohiolovescrusing]

Anything new on the Xpedition repairs / cruises?  Our final payment time is soon and still debating on this cruise...

[Kylie]

What is the status of the Xpedition now?

We are on this ship in late May.

[Hawkmooon]

There have been no updates, as far as I know.  They've been cancelling trips one week at a time (about 10 days before the scheduled sailing).  The customer service representatives on the Galapagos desk have no information about when the ship will be ready.  They're basically told to tell customers "The ship is scheduled to sail...until we tell you otherwise."  They aren't informed of the cancellations until the same day that customers are. 

 

On the bright side, when they have cancelled existing sailings they've been pretty fair with their reimbursement package (in my opinion).

 

You can use Cruise Mapper (https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9228368) to see that the ship is still in drydock in Curacao.  

[sippican]

On 1/3/2020 at 11:08 AM, dogdental said:

I'm on January 25th  and they're insisting that it's still going.  They were certain January 4 AND 11 were going also !  But, both were canceled.  I'm still hoping but they need to be more proactive about advising passengers of status!!

 

Have you heard anything?  Would love to hear an update.

 

[RVfromAZ]

We are booked late April, I have been checking Cruise Mapper , Xpedition still in dry dock!  Yes it would be nice to have an update! 

[Kylie]

1 hour ago, RVfromAZ said:

We are booked late April, I have been checking Cruise Mapper , Xpedition still in dry dock!  Yes it would be nice to have an update! 

 

We are going in late May and final payment is due soon plus we have already booked our flights.  I hope people keep us posted here.

 

[cavydad]

We were contacted by Celebrity last Friday. The xpedition cruise scheduled for January 25 has been cancelled. Barely even a sorry guys for the inconvenience. Yes they will refund our money and provide a travel incentive. Doesn’t mean much as we spent a great deal of time planning our vacation.

 

We are in Peru and had to scramble to find another option for the Galápagos. Airline tickets were in place for our pre cruise visit to Machu Picchu and the Andes and the flight home from Ecuador. 
 

How long ago did Celebrity know the xpedition would not be available for the 25 January cruise?

[GWaite]

Hi all. With Xpedition still in dry dock, according to Cruise mapper, either the boat was more damaged that initially thought or they are updating for reduced passengers now, or what?? I am on 14 March cruise and like others cannot really do much but wait. Much is planned and booked around those cruise dates and you cannot really change or cancel plans at this stage without penalty. They do have later February and March bookings on the website, but that seems to mean little. Am really at Celebrity's whims; hell, I am still showing as room 305 that is now closed.

My only consolation to date is that the cruise price is much higher now from when I booked a while ago, probably from reduced passenger numbers.

Gerry

[ohiolovescrusing]

We are taking a chance and doing final payment tomorrow. I did call today and on a positive note we got our airfare reduced prior to final.  While on the phone I asked about the Xpedition so they transferred my call. I was told repairs were running behind because things got out of sorts/behind during the holidays. Who knows. Of course no comment on completion but “all will be good for your May cruise...”.  We will see but I assume anything can occur!

[dogdental]

On 1/12/2020 at 4:43 PM, sippican said:

 

Have you heard anything?  Would love to hear an update.

 

Cruise was canceled. Tried the entire week prior to get on Flora but they wouldn’t do it. By the time they canceled my cruise, Flora was booked for Jan 26. Horrible customer service. Extremely disappointed with Celebrity. 

[sippican]

11 hours ago, dogdental said:

Cruise was canceled. Tried the entire week prior to get on Flora but they wouldn’t do it. By the time they canceled my cruise, Flora was booked for Jan 26. Horrible customer service. Extremely disappointed with Celebrity. 

 

Thanks for the update.

I agree. Celebrirty should be ashamed of the way they have handled the Galapagos incident/s as far as communication and customer service. It looks like there will be more cruises impacted.

 

Hopefully you received generous compensation and will be able to enjoy a trip to the Galapagos in the future.

[cavydad]

Check your travel insurance. We tried to have the travel insurance for our cancelled Xpedition cruise applied to the Galápagos cruise that we booked in Peru. Same dates, just a different tour. The insurance company will not transfer the insurance because we have already begun our vacation. We had a separate policy for the Peru tour and the Galápagos cruise.

 

The insurance company will give a credit on the cancelled Celebrity xpedition insurance to use on a future cruise.

 

Had we booked our new Galápagos trip at home they would have issued a new policy

[MdeB]

Booked for March 7 sailing (March 5 Quito arrival).

The following is a chat between my travel agent and Celebrity yesterday:

 

GarethHas the Xpedition been repaired after going aground and will it be back in service by March.

You have been transferred to: Hugh.

HughHi Gareth, We are currently reviewing the situation with Xpedition, who should be back in service imminently... Affected guests have been contacted

GarethMy clients are due to sail 05 March 20 on the Northern Loop and are worried because they cannot get updates.

HughXpedition is planned to be back in service by March 5th.

Gareth12:27 pmThank you, I will let them know.

12:29 pmPart of their worry is that they will be leaving the UK to tour Central America on 14 Feb. Read

HughI understand their concerns, but the ship should be sailing then.

 

I am hopeful that I will sail, but based on comments earlier in this thread, I am not particularly reassured.

[RVfromAZ]

It's really sad that they are not providing better information.  This is a trip you plan for a year or two in advance, and now not knowing, makes it vey difficult.   We are booked for April, and I feel uncertain.  Hopefully Xpedition will soon be up and running! 

[travelgoddess1]

22 minutes ago, RVfromAZ said:

It's really sad that they are not providing better information.  This is a trip you plan for a year or two in advance, and now not knowing, makes it vey difficult.   We are booked for April, and I feel uncertain.  Hopefully Xpedition will soon be up and running! 

 

I agree.  I booked this cruise, plus the MP add-on, two years ago, and I still have 8 months to go!  While I think my chances are pretty good that my cruise will operate, who knows? It has already been a large investment of both money and time, which I am happy to do, IF the ship sails.

[Host Anne]

We did the Galapagos two years ago on Expedition and it was wonderful.  We don't often (if ever) spend this kind of money on a vacation but anytime we travel overseas for vacation, we always purchase trip insurance.  You may also consider booking your air through Celebrity.  We have on occasion and their new air packages are better than the last time we used them.  I'd ask, though, if your sailing is cancelled and you've paid for air, do they refund that along with your cruise fare?

 

Hope to do the other Galapagos route in the future....ENJOY and best of luck to everyone! 

[travelgoddess1]

16 hours ago, Host Anne said:

We did the Galapagos two years ago on Expedition and it was wonderful.  We don't often (if ever) spend this kind of money on a vacation but anytime we travel overseas for vacation, we always purchase trip insurance.  You may also consider booking your air through Celebrity.  We have on occasion and their new air packages are better than the last time we used them.  I'd ask, though, if your sailing is cancelled and you've paid for air, do they refund that along with your cruise fare?

 

Hope to do the other Galapagos route in the future....ENJOY and best of luck to everyone! 

 

I have done both:  purchased travel protection insurance and booked my flights through Celebrity Air.  (They are refundable, BTW, until paid for at time of final payment.) I think I remember reading on one of these threads, that some folks on canceled Expedition cruises had their airfare refunded. I do not remember the exact circumstance, i.e, how their airfare was purchased.

Edited January 20, 2020 by travelgoddess1

[SoCalTraveler]

As one of the folks cancelled in November, as we booked our air through Celebrity, we received a full refund.  People who booked air separately received up to $400 p/p for change/cancellation fees.  And some either used the air and made separate arrangements or were already in South America.  (Our cruise was finally and officially cancelled about 6 hours before we were to board our flight.)  

[ohiolovescrusing]

So Feb 8 2020 cruise is still being sold. An odd thing about that, the Oceanview cat lists Cabin 416 as the cabin avail, but that cabin is no longer on the deck plans. ??  Maybe for some up sell as several suites avail.  Also wonder what’s happening with the Feb 1 cruise...