Be Careful when you book another cruise on board!

[baggal]

9 days ago we disembarked the Edge after having a wonderful cruise in the Western Caribbean.  On the last full day of the cruise, DH and I decided to book another cruise to take advantage of the $100 per person deposit plus other benefits.  We chose a Honolulu to Vancouver itinerary in May 2021.  A very long way off for us (we usually book within a 12 month or less window) but we decided to go ahead with the booking.  The Celebrity rep assured us that if the price dropped between now and final payment (more than likely since the cruise was 1 1/2 years away) we would be able to receive the lower fare and keep our "perks."  He  never mentioned that the $100 deposit was NON-REFUNDABLE if we decided to cancel.

 

Now here's tricky part.  We had booked that current Caribbean cruise through a large Airline/online agency over July 4th weekend. They had a fabulous promotion.  All 4 perks plus an additional benefit of airline miles after we completed the cruise.  Yes, the deposit then was also non-refundable but the cruise was only 5 months away so we felt comfortable with the non-refundable deposit. At the time of booking the Hawaii cruise the Celebrity rep said that the only way we could get the lowest possible fare with all 4 perks, which we really liked having, was to make the booking through the agency we used to book the current Caribbean cruise.  Seemed a little shady to us since we were on a Celebrity ship and talking to a Celebrity rep, but we let it go and let him make the booking.

 

Fast forward to today: DH got the email confirmation from the Airline/Online agency.  It quite clearly states that there is not only a $100 per person non-refundable deposit but a $24.99 non-refundable administrative fee.  DH called and was told "it was cruise industry policy to charge the non-refundable deposit and the $24.99 administrative fee was for all the work the agency made in creating the reservation."  Really?  We felt like we were being "played'"  We escalated the complaint, canceled the cruise, and all the fees were waived.  

 

We;re not novice cruisers and have booked cruises through traditional TA's, big box TA's, the cruise line itself,and for the first time, an on-line TA.  In this case, its not only the money, but also the principal that we were moved into an arrangement we had no control over.

 

Be forewarned and ask questions.

 

Happy Holidays!

[jelayne]

I have never heard of X charging a $24.99 administrative fee for cancelling a cruise. Some TA do charge a fee, 1 that I am aware if charges $25pp for cancelling and  price changes.  There are others that charge $50 -100 pp if you cancel.

 

With a non-refundable deposit Celebrity charges $100 pp for cancelling, changing sail dates or ship.  If you book with a refundable deposit X doesn’t charge a cancellation or administrative. 
 
Is the Airline/TA that your booking was transferred to the same one as you used for the cruise you were on?  If so the normal procedure is that a on-board booking is automatically transferred to the TA that booked the cruise you are on.  You must request that the Booking stay with X and sign a form to that effect.  

[baggal]

11 minutes ago, jelayne said:

I have never heard of X charging a $24.99 administrative fee for cancelling a cruise. Some TA do charge a fee, 1 that I am aware if charges $25pp for cancelling and  price changes.  There are others that charge $50 -100 pp if you cancel.

 

With a non-refundable deposit Celebrity charges $100 pp for cancelling, changing sail dates or ship.  If you book with a refundable deposit X doesn’t charge a cancellation or administrative. 
 
Is the Airline/TA that your booking was transferred to the same one as you used for the cruise you were on?  If so the normal procedure is that a on-board booking is automatically transferred to the TA that booked the cruise you are on.  You must request that the Booking stay with X and sign a form to that effect.  

 

X did not charge the administrative fee - the TA did without our knowledge.  Our complaint is that we were handed off to the TA that we had our original booking with.  We were not informed that this is X's policy.  The Celebrity rep made it seem as though he was doing us a favor by moving over the booking as we were sitting on a Celebrity ship with a Celebrity rep.  

[Algebralovr]

The Celebrity future cruise consultant normal SOP is to make the reservation and then send it to the agent you booked the current cruise with, UNLESS you tell them not to.  You CAN tell them not to, but have to specify it.

 

Regarding the non-refundable deposit, they should have had you sign something on board that you understood the deposit was being applied to a non-refundable rate.  That is a fairly new future cruise form, but we signed one last week.  It should also say it on the booking copy you received there on board when you made the reservation.

 

The real issue I see is the $25 pp travel agent fee.  
At least you were able to cancel and get your money back.

[mayleeman]

Since it was the same TA that you booked the Caribbean cruise with, was there a $25 fee in your TA's bill for that booking?

 

If so, should you have anticipated that same fee when you agreed to the transfer of the booking for Hawaii to the TA?

 

I also wondered about something else: what additional benefits did you get by having X transfer to the TA (in other words, what did you get that X wouldn't give you)? Lots of people like to do that transfer because they get more OBC after getting OBC for booking onboard.

 

Finally, why did you cancel so soon?

Edited December 27, 2019 by mayleeman

[wrk2cruise]

On 12/24/2019 at 1:42 PM, baggal said:

At the time of booking the Hawaii cruise the Celebrity rep said that the only way we could get the lowest possible fare with all 4 perks, which we really liked having, was to make the booking through the agency we used to book the current Caribbean cruise.

 

If they actually told you that the only way to get the lowest possible fare was to have the booking go to the agency you used for the current cruise that was totally FALSE.   I suspect they told you the way to get the lowest fare was a non refundable deposit.

 

In addition if they told you you would retain all "perks" if you were to reprice the booking due to a price drop that is also FALSE.   When repricing a cruise you do retain the OBC perk you get for booking onboard but any perks (including other OBC) which is part of the regular booking promo aren't retained.  You get whatever the current promo is at the time of the repricing.

 

Cruise pricing has gotten ridiculously complicated and it is very easy to misunderstand or for the person explaining things to omit a small detail which can result in a misunderstanding like this.

 

 

[Sealegs0604]

On 12/24/2019 at 2:15 PM, jelayne said:

I have never heard of X charging a $24.99 administrative fee for cancelling a cruise. Some TA do charge a fee, 1 that I am aware if charges $25pp for cancelling and  price changes.  There are others that charge $50 -100 pp if you cancel.

 

With a non-refundable deposit Celebrity charges $100 pp for cancelling, changing sail dates or ship.  If you book with a refundable deposit X doesn’t charge a cancellation or administrative. 
 
Is the Airline/TA that your booking was transferred to the same one as you used for the cruise you were on?  If so the normal procedure is that a on-board booking is automatically transferred to the TA that booked the cruise you are on.  You must request that the Booking stay with X and sign a form to that effect.  

The Non Refundabel deposit if you cancel this cruise moves to the next celebrity booking.

[intrepid55]

We  booked the same cruise we were just on this December (12 day Southern Caribbean) for Dec 2020 and we’re alarmed at the increase in price vs this year. The 2019 cruise cost $2200 p.p Canadian with 3 perks. The same cruise with 3 perks for 12 days Southern Caribbean in 2020 now costs $3150 p.p Canadian. This is quite an increase in one year.... and of course it now has this new non refundable deposit 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

1 hour ago, Sealegs0604 said:

The Non Refundabel deposit if you cancel this cruise moves to the next celebrity booking.

With a NRD $100 per person is charged as an administrative fee by celebrity. Any thing above $100 can be moved to another booked cruise or given as a future cruise credit good for 12 months.

Edited December 27, 2019 by CHEZMARYLOU

[intrepid55]

Actually we were more alarmed at the massive increase in the cruise cost than the potential $100 deposit loss.

[baggal]

6 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

If they actually told you that the only way to get the lowest possible fare was to have the booking go to the agency you used for the current cruise that was totally FALSE.   I suspect they told you the way to get the lowest fare was a non refundable deposit.

 

In addition if they told you you would retain all "perks" if you were to reprice the booking due to a price drop that is also FALSE.   When repricing a cruise you do retain the OBC perk you get for booking onboard but any perks (including other OBC) which is part of the regular booking promo aren't retained.  You get whatever the current promo is at the time of the repricing.

 

Cruise pricing has gotten ridiculously complicated and it is very easy to misunderstand or for the person explaining things to omit a small detail which can result in a misunderstanding like this.

 

 

 

Yes, it is ridiculously complicated and IMO, not necessary.  I don't want to beat the system, but I don't want the system to beat me either.  It seems that the cruise lines and the big TAs have an advantage.