Did you book during the "4-perks included" Veterans Day Sale? Check your balance due.

[bhughey]

Called X today to book the Apex transatlantic cruise, October 22, 2020. Super psyched about the ship and itinerary and with the 4 perk sale bonus... a no brainer!

The rep outlined the total price and asked me to review the invoice that was emailed to me to confirm all was copacetic. We reviewed the confirmation together over the phone and I assumed all was good to go. Hung up the phone, and 5 minutes later, I received a 2nd invoice that was $406 more than what I had paid a $900 non refundable deposit for. Trying to contact X now.... So far, I've been on hold for 26 minutes waiting to speak to someone.

Edited November 11, 2019 by bhughey

[wrk2cruise]

Is it possible the 2nd invoice has a line item for gratuities or something that hasn't had the matching credit applied?  That sometimes happens. 

[pmarrsouth]

12 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Is it possible the 2nd invoice has a line item for gratuities or something that hasn't had the matching credit applied?  That sometimes happens. 

This might well be it. I was told when booking a TP that had prepaid gratuities as one of the perks, that it will show up on the invoice as being needed to be paid, but will be removed on final payment 

[mayleeman]

I spent 2 hrs on hold yesterday about this very problem. The rep confirmed my pdf-file invoice total for my 7 day April cruise was indeed $203 lower than the balance showing in "Manage Your Reservation." She said it is, as suggested in post #2,  due to the fact that gratuities are separately accounted for. She promised it will reconcile in a few days. Your trip must be 14 nights.

 

I suspect it is due to how gratuities get paid--into a separate account, I think, so that Celebrity can avoid taking the money in as income from our booking. So it wouldn't get credited until X gets around to funding it. They will probably dump a lot in at once.

 

Anyway, my latest confirm (#7--look in the upper right corner) was issued showing the perk promo applied and also shows the lower amount so that will prevail if there is ever a dispute.

 

I hope.

[RickT]

Same issue here.  My PDF confirmation was $286.06 (CDN) less than what was on the website.  That $286.06 was the prepaid tips.  A quick call to X confirmed it was an IT issue (I’m shocked 😮) and that it would be taken care of in the next 48 hours.

 

Seems the latest promo offers free grats but the website thinks you’re paying for them.  Will report back as soon as X corrects the issue.

[ShawninFL]

I've had this happen a number of times.  It always rectifies in a couple days, but stay on top of it to be sure it does.

[jelayne]

The  X  systems takes a multiple updates to get things correct- patience is a virtue.  Another reason to book with a TA..

[mayleeman]

6 hours ago, jelayne said:

The  X  systems takes a multiple updates to get things correct- patience is a virtue.  Another reason to book with a TA..

Would it not happen? Or would it have just meant the TA was the one waiting on the phone rather than me?

 

Right after booking our next cruise on Tuesday, I sent the receipt to a TA with a big travel agency. She responded late the following day with an offer of $75 OBC. Meanwhile, I had discovered our fare was cheaper that day by $300 and got it reduced. A day later, still before we declined her offer, the Vet Day sale was in my inbox and we got those benefits.

 

All in all, I am not sure any TA will be as obsessive in tracking my cruise as I am. But unlike many, I have all the time in the world to deal with this stuff, and since I would be doing it anyway and then contacting a TA, I would rather deal directly with X. 

[redjetz]

42 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

All in all, I am not sure any TA will be as obsessive in tracking my cruise as I am. But unlike many, I have all the time in the world to deal with this stuff, and since I would be doing it anyway and then contacting a TA, I would rather deal directly with X. 

our TA waited online with us for Celebrity for 2 1/2 hours on Saturday as we wanted to take advantage of the 4 perks offer to upgrade our March cruise before final payment next month. She stayed online waiting for Celebrity even after we had to drop off. She secured our upgrade. And we received over $600 OBC from her as well. That’s why we use TAs.

[TeeRick]

I always ask the Celebrity rep on the phone to hold on until I receive the emailed copy- usually within 30 sec or so.  Then I open it and review it for accuracy. They usually agree to do this no problem.

[bhughey]

54 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I always ask the Celebrity rep on the phone to hold on until I receive the emailed copy- usually within 30 sec or so.  Then I open it and review it for accuracy. They usually agree to do this no problem.

 

Same - and we did so in this instance as well, but after hanging up the phone, I received the new invoice with the higher price. This has never happened to me before so felt compelled to call and confirm it was a typical X - IT "oopsie". Of course, that resulted in 50 minutes of my life I'll never get back..........

[poffles]

57 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I always ask the Celebrity rep on the phone to hold on until I receive the emailed copy- usually within 30 sec or so.  Then I open it and review it for accuracy. They usually agree to do this no problem.

 

From what I read, the OP did that ...she got the emailed invoice and reviewed with the rep on the call so this is not the issue ... it was a later email with another invoice that was different.

 

As she said above at same time as I was posting LOL

Edited November 11, 2019 by poffles

[kearney]

You might try the chat line . https://www.celebritycruises.com/celebrity-vacation-planners Start scrolling to bottom of page... the chat box should popup... have your reservation number.... This work great for me.... saved me hours and money ....although I did have to contact them several times...

[bhughey]

After speaking to the representative last night, I was told that he needed to have the supervisor handle the removal of erroneous charge and I would receive a new correct confirmation today. So far, I've not received anything and my online X account still shows the higher price. We are traveling with friends who also received a 2nd higher invoice than what was agreed. They called X this morning as well and the rep told them that it could not be removed until final payment.

[PTC DAWG]

I also received a 2nd invoice with the room service charges showing...I am going to give it a few days to work itself out, then I'll either call or try the link above for the chat...thanks for that. 

[dadofjessie]

13 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

Is it possible the 2nd invoice has a line item for gratuities or something that hasn't had the matching credit applied?  That sometimes happens. 

Exactly happened to us.  I called, waited an hour on the phone but the matter was straightened out.

[sazznfreddy]

I hope you all have better luck than I did as they did not honour my price drop.  That is why I did not want to lock it in when speaking to X rep...I did  not want to take a chance in not  getting my 960CAD refund back if the new promo was more than my original booking.

[joelmarj]

7 minutes ago, bhughey said:

After speaking to the representative last night, I was told that he needed to have the supervisor handle the removal of erroneous charge and I would receive a new correct confirmation today. So far, I've not received anything and my online X account still shows the higher price. We are traveling with friends who also received a 2nd higher invoice than what was agreed. They called X this morning as well and the rep told them that it could not be removed until final payment.

Yep, I’m said friend and they said it would come off at final payment.  I guess my only concern is that is not until next year and I would hate for the story to change then  It does sound like others here have seen it happen and resolved so I’m hoping for the best.   I must say that Celebrity would save an awful lot of money they spend in customer service if they could get their IT team to be more efficient.  How many excess calls fo they get because of issues like this.  

[bhughey]

I find it interesting that I can get more accurate pricing for cruises on celebrity through EVERY big box travel agent website that I research, but can't get accurate pricing from the X website or even Celebrity agents on the phone. In fact, the cruise in question that we booked - STILL does not show the 4-perk option online. Just the 2 perks plus an additional fee for the classic beverage package.

 

 

[PTC DAWG]

I just received an email from Celebrity with the updated and correct invoice for my 3/29 Edge sailing.  

[mayleeman]

I was never sent anything showing the price with the gratuities still there. I just found it when I was going to go into cruise planner and saw the higher-than-expected balance.

 

When final payment comes, does anyone know if will it be deducted in time for us to be showing nothing due? I told the rep I didn't want to have my cruise cancelled because of an improper add-on. I mentioned that I had been reading here about people who made changes to something and then noticed that unrequested trip insurance had been added, so they showed a balance due. She said that imbroglio has been a huge nightmare, but no one got cancelled.

 

Fingers crossed.

[kearney]

Just a note..... if you do use the chat line...make sure at the end to have a transcript sent to you...That way if invoice differs you at least have a transcript of your discussion.  If you have done it... and not done so... you might go back and see if it still shows up in the chat box... that happened to me...previous discussion was still there after one call.

[mayleeman]

47 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I just received an email from Celebrity with the updated and correct invoice for my 3/29 Edge sailing.  

 

After you posted this, I checked the balance due on my Celebrity portal and it has been corrected, too. Like many things, the worrying was for naught! Thanks!

[cruise kitty]

2 hours ago, bhughey said:

I find it interesting that I can get more accurate pricing for cruises on celebrity through EVERY big box travel agent website that I research, but can't get accurate pricing from the X website or even Celebrity agents on the phone. In fact, the cruise in question that we booked - STILL does not show the 4-perk option online. Just the 2 perks plus an additional fee for the classic beverage package.

 

 

 

This is what I'm resorting to, I do my shopping/price checking on a big box site, & then I call X.    As much as I love their product once I'm on onboard, every little thing that happens shore side is so excruciatingly complicated.     Luckily, most accounting problems on our cruises have been taken care of before we sail...  Except that it seems we always have to go to guest services/michaels CC to get our OBC to show up on our onboard account.   

 

Good luck with getting everything sorted out.  :)

[drakes2]

17 hours ago, bhughey said:

Called X today to book the Apex transatlantic cruise, October 22, 2020. Super psyched about the ship and itinerary and with the 4 perk sale bonus... a no brainer!

The rep outlined the total price and asked me to review the invoice that was emailed to me to confirm all was copacetic. We reviewed the confirmation together over the phone and I assumed all was good to go. Hung up the phone, and 5 minutes later, I received a 2nd invoice that was $406 more than what I had paid a $900 non refundable deposit for. Trying to contact X now.... So far, I've been on hold for 26 minutes waiting to speak to someone.

I would not fret over it. May be gratuities that will eventually drop off in a few days to a week. Check your invoice and you'll likely solve it yourself.