Lots of questions about our existing cruise now being chartered

[TurboFlex]

When we booked this cruise last year, I had checked when various ships were doing into drydock & the Eclipse was scheduled for the beginning of April 2020, (had reservations on going on a ship right out of drydock) since then it has been changed to November 2020, then 2021 & now seems to be back to April 2020 - not sure what’s going on - maybe a charter, maybe drydock, not sure which to believe. If I can find the link, I’ll post it, but all the cruise lines seem to be having changes to their drydock schedules. 
 

TurboFlex 

[Olijolu7]

We are on this cruise and booked our flights separately. Flying in 2 days before from Scotland, going to speak to our TA today and see what she advises us to do. I only booked an excursion through celebrity yesterday in Victoria. Hope they do not miss this port out because it is one of my husband's bucket list to go whale watching. 

Arlene 

[Fouremco]

My TA just finished a conversation with Celebrity. Other than confirming that there will be an abbreviated cruise departing two days late because the Eclipse will be in dry dock, the Celebrity interlocutor could provide no information on the revised itinerary or on compensation. They will contact passengers "soon", directly or through TA's, once they know what they are doing.

 

The more I think about this situation, the more disenchanted I become with Celebrity's handling of the situation. At the very least, they could have emailed passengers to provide them with an initial "heads up" that there would be a delayed departure and reduced itinerary, further information to come. Sadly, such a business-like approach seems to be lacking with Celebrity of late. It will be interesting to see how they plan to reduce fares and otherwise compensate passengers. It will also be interesting to see how they plan to squeeze a 10 day cruise into 8 days. I hope that they realize that passengers book a Hawaiian cruise to see Hawaii, and that they will make up the 2 days between Vancouver and the first currently scheduled Hawaiian port visit.

[nikel]

 

There is a 7 night  cruise from San Diego to Vancouver, March 30th to April 6th. 

That only leaves 6 days for dry dock if they are sailing on the 12th.  They cannot be doing very much !!

[Wolf 8]

15 hours ago, jelayne said:

 Charters bump everyone off when they charter the ship.  No one needs to be concerned about being on a ship that was chartered by a group whose beliefs or behaviors are different than theirs.  To sail on a charter you have to book or be invited on the sailing.  John Q Public book through X on a ship that has been chartered. 

 

Perhaps if you had been on Voyager of the Seas in October 2018 you'd see things a bit differently.  Everybody received a full refund except for a group booking of 1,300 men whose days of public depravity turned the sailing into a nightmare.

[Pickels]

How do you find out the cruise is chartered?  Do they inform you at some point.  Nunuc2000---you found out because YOU called Celebrity; but, what if you didn't call?

[RealBatman]

1 minute ago, Pickels said:

How do you find out the cruise is chartered?  Do they inform you at some point.  Nunuc2000---you found out because YOU called Celebrity; but, what if you didn't call?

They (Celebrity) will inform you eventually - either via direct, or a TA.

 

We found out our cruise on Silhouette had been CANCELLED shortly after it happened, the same way we found out that this trip had been altered! An astute Cruise Critic member stumbled on the surprise and posted it here! 🙂

 

In our case, we knew ahead of time (we always book directly with X) and when we received a phone call, we were prepared with options. While we were significantly disappointed and required a lot of negotiating, at the end of the day we appreciate Celebrity helping to soften the blow and how they treated us - very fairly.

[Fouremco]

9 minutes ago, Wolf 8 said:

 

Perhaps if you had been on Voyager of the Seas in October 2018 you'd see things a bit differently.  Everybody received a full refund except for a group booking of 1,300 men whose days of public depravity turned the sailing into a nightmare.

Apples and oranges. @jelayne is talking about full-ship charters while you are talking about group bookings, two very different things.

[Wolf 8]

6 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Apples and oranges. @jelayne is talking about full-ship charters while you are talking about group bookings, two very different things.

 

Actually, @jelayne assured me that on non-chartered sailings group behaviors are nothing to be concerned about.  I was merely offering hard evidence to the contrary.

[Fouremco]

16 hours ago, jelayne said:

A charter only has those from the chartering organization or group.  No need to worry about the “appetites” of others.

 

16 hours ago, jelayne said:

 Charters bump everyone off when they charter the ship.  No one needs to be concerned about being on a ship that was chartered by a group whose beliefs or behaviors are different than theirs.  To sail on a charter you have to book or be invited on the sailing.  John Q Public book through X on a ship that has been chartered. 

 

5 minutes ago, Wolf 8 said:

 

Actually, @jelayne assured me that on non-chartered sailings group behaviors are nothing to be concerned about.  I was merely offering hard evidence to the contrary.

I guess those assurances must have been on a different thread, as on this one @jelayne has consistently talked about charters. 

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Wolf 8 said:

 

Perhaps if you had been on Voyager of the Seas in October 2018 you'd see things a bit differently.  Everybody received a full refund except for a group booking of 1,300 men whose days of public depravity turned the sailing into a nightmare.

This is off topic.   

No info that  this cruise was shortened or  cancelled for a  charter  at this point.

 

[sanger727]

12 hours ago, Olijolu7 said:

We are on this cruise and booked our flights separately. Flying in 2 days before from Scotland, going to speak to our TA today and see what she advises us to do. I only booked an excursion through celebrity yesterday in Victoria. Hope they do not miss this port out because it is one of my husband's bucket list to go whale watching. 

Arlene 

 

Victoria is quite close to Vancouver. If they do cancel the Victoria port, perhaps you could just make arrangements to travel there on your own for a night before the cruise. You'll have extra days with with the delayed embarkation.

[brellis]

Just got a call. Shortened to 8 days. Final itinerary comes out Monday but there guessing only Victoria and a sea day out. 2 days refunded and a third day in OBC. $150 pp in flight change reimbursement. I told our TA to let us know the final itinerary as we dont want to miss any Hawaii ports. Could use the refund to easily do Victoria on own the day before. Well see what shakes down....

[Olijolu7]

12 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

 

Victoria is quite close to Vancouver. If they do cancel the Victoria port, perhaps you could just make arrangements to travel there on your own for a night before the cruise. You'll have extra days with with the delayed embarkation.

We are going to stick with our original flights and as you said it is not far. Going to take the ferry over to Victoria go whale watching then stay over for the night and come back the next day if we are going to cancel Victoria. 

[Fouremco]

39 minutes ago, brellis said:

Just got a call. Shortened to 8 days. Final itinerary comes out Monday but there guessing only Victoria and a sea day out. 2 days refunded and a third day in OBC. $150 pp in flight change reimbursement. I told our TA to let us know the final itinerary as we dont want to miss any Hawaii ports. Could use the refund to easily do Victoria on own the day before. Well see what shakes down....

Any indication as to how they compute the 2 days refunded? At first blush, 2/10 of the booking price seems logical, but I'm sure that Celebrity will use some other equation that will work to their advantage.

[TurboFlex]

My TA just emailed for confirmation that we are sill going & Celebrity told her that the delay was due to extra 2 days in dry dock. As we have the same ship/cabin for the return (Hawaii to Vancouver) we’re sticking with the shorten cruise to get over there - now we’ll and see what Celebrity comes up with for the loss of the 2 days. What I’ve been told is 2 days credit + OBC. I’ll assume the credit is based on the type of cabin & level of service that was booked. 
 

 

[nikel]

 

Anybody know what they are doing in this dry dock ?

[Cruise Junky]

2 hours ago, brellis said:

Just got a call. Shortened to 8 days. Final itinerary comes out Monday but there guessing only Victoria and a sea day out. 2 days refunded and a third day in OBC. $150 pp in flight change reimbursement. I told our TA to let us know the final itinerary as we dont want to miss any Hawaii ports. Could use the refund to easily do Victoria on own the day before. Well see what shakes down....

Best outcome you could get on the itinerary.  Good to hear

[Fouremco]

2 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

Best outcome you could get on the itinerary.  Good to hear

Looks like my wishful thinking in post #10 might come to fruition. As you say, good to hear!

[Fouremco]

Just received this email from Celebrity via my TA. It still leaves a number of important questions unanswered, such as the revised itinerary and how they'll calculate the refund and OBC amounts, but I like what I see. For example, the flight-change reimbursement and the refundable nature of the OBC.

 

Please be advised that due to an extended dry-dock, your 10-Night Hawaii sailing on Celebrity Eclipse departing April 10, 2020, will be shortened to an 8-Night Hawaii sailing now departing April 12, 2020.

Details of compensation and other information are listed below.

 

You may choose to remain on the shortened sailing now departing April 12, 2020.  Celebrity Cruises will provide a refund of two (2) nights of the cruise fare and will also provide an onboard credit in the amount of one (1) full day of cruise fare paid for this sailing. It will be applied directly to your onboard account and may be used for any onboard purchase or service. Any unused portion will be refunded to you at the end of the cruise.

 

If you incur a fee due to the change in your airline reservations, Celebrity Cruises will reimburse up to $150 per person for Domestic and $200 for International Flights. A faxed copy of air change fees accessed must be provided for reimbursement.

 

If you are interested in similar itineraries, you can also be rebooked on the below sailings in like accommodations at the protected/lowest available rate.

 

These similar itineraries include:

    

Celebrity Eclipse

o    13-Night Hawaii and West Coast Cruise departing April 20, 2020

 

Celebrity Solstice

o    10-Night Hawaii Cruise departing May 11, 2020
o    10-Night Hawaii Cruise departing September 18, 2020
o    11-Night Hawaii Cruise departing May 3, 2021

 

You can also rebook on any Celebrity vacation you choose, and you will receive an onboard credit of $200 per standard stateroom, or $400 per suite.

 

If you decide to cancel your existing reservation, a full refund for amounts paid will be processed to the original form of payment. However, if you choose to cancel, the above offer of compensation is no longer valid.

 

Decisions regarding these re-accomodaiton offers need to be made and submitted by Wednesday, December 18, 2019. These re-accommodation offers are available through this date.

[hrhdhd]

3 hours ago, Fouremco said:

I guess those assurances must have been on a different thread, as on this one @jelayne has consistently talked about charters. 

 

No, the assurance is here: "No need to worry about the “appetites” of others." Presumably that means on non-chartered sailings.

[Fouremco]

20 hours ago, jelayne said:

 

A charter only has those from the chartering organization or group.  No need to worry about the “appetites” of others.

 

8 minutes ago, hrhdhd said:

 

No, the assurance is here: "No need to worry about the “appetites” of others." Presumably that means on non-chartered sailings.

Seriously??? Maybe you missed the other sentence in @jelayne's post where it is abundantly clear that the reference is to charters.

[jelayne]

Dry dock was originally scheduled for November 2020 but in October that was changed and X added An additional Asia cruise and then the ship moves to Australia.  It cruises from there until it goes in for Revolutionizing in March 2021 with the first cruise after the redo is 4/4 2021.

[hrhdhd]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

Seriously??? Maybe you missed the other sentence in @jelayne's post where it is abundantly clear that the reference is to charters.

 

Yes, seriously. 🙄 That's precisely why the second sentence doesn't refer to charters. Here is what those sentences mean. It makes no sense to say one doesn't have to worry about appetites if one is on a charter.

 

A charter only has those from the chartering organization or group.  [If you do not book a charter, there is] No need to worry about the “appetites” of others.

 

Edited December 6, 2019 by hrhdhd

[TurboFlex]

Abbydancer - here’s the original link I had for the Eclipse to be in dry dock in April 2020, before it was rescheduled a number of times.
https://www.cruisemapper.com/deckplans/Celebrity-Eclipse-631

 

TurboFlex