Booked The Connie for 2021...now what?

[Peter118]

We have not been on our first cruise yet with Celebrity but will be on the Summit in 3 weeks. Of all the cruise lines that are available we feel Celebrity is the right one for us and we want to stay loyal to. Especially since we appreciate what they have done to rectify the Valentine booking we had with Tuscan and chose not to hits us with a cancellation and the new $119 price tag...:).

 

So we booked the Connie for October out of Venice to Rome. We booked this thru United Cruises since we were able to get 7 miles per dollar spent. We earn and use a lot of miles each month so why not get another source to participate at 7 miles per $.

 

So being a rookie at this I have frequently seen topics that include once booked to transfer to a travel agent? Which we do not have nor do I know why we would do this transfer thing.

I have also seen topics on waiting to book "on board". Not sure why but we are on the Summit in 3 weeks. Is there any advantage to cancelling and rebooking once on board?

 

Any thoughts from those with experience, or simply just have the knowledge, as to what we should do if anything? We are ok with just leaving things as they are but I will like to avoid a "rookie" mistake.

 

Thanks...

 

 

[Moby Jones]

Make not of the pricing and value of the cruise you have including all perks and miles etc. 

Wait until you are onboard and visit the future cruise desk. You will have to see what the pricing and deal is on the day you visit to compare and calculate if it is worth rebooking. Until you have all the figures before you no one can say if you will be better off or not. 

[ECCruise]

11 minutes ago, Peter118 said:

We have not been on our first cruise yet with Celebrity but will be on the Summit in 3 weeks. Of all the cruise lines that are available we feel Celebrity is the right one for us and we want to stay loyal to. Especially since we appreciate what they have done to rectify the Valentine booking we had with Tuscan and chose not to hits us with a cancellation and the new $119 price tag...:).

 

So we booked the Connie for October out of Venice to Rome. We booked this thru United Cruises since we were able to get 7 miles per dollar spent. We earn and use a lot of miles each month so why not get another source to participate at 7 miles per $.

 

So being a rookie at this I have frequently seen topics that include once booked to transfer to a travel agent? Which we do not have nor do I know why we would do this transfer thing.

I have also seen topics on waiting to book "on board". Not sure why but we are on the Summit in 3 weeks. Is there any advantage to cancelling and rebooking once on board?

 

Any thoughts from those with experience, or simply just have the knowledge, as to what we should do if anything? We are ok with just leaving things as they are but I will like to avoid a "rookie" mistake.

 

Thanks...

As far as the Connie cruise, you cannot transfer it to a Travel Agent since you already have a TA--United Cruises.

As far as booking on the Summit, it may be less than your current booking, the same or more since prices fluctuate frequently. If you book it on the Summit, cancel your current booking with United, you could then turn around and transfer the new booking to United but would you get the mileage bonus?  Dunno.  For us, not sure it would be worth going through all that to get the minimal benefit you might get by booking onboard.  Which varies by type of cruise.

[Peter118]

15 minutes ago, Moby Jones said:

Make not of the pricing and value of the cruise you have including all perks and miles etc. 

Wait until you are onboard and visit the future cruise desk. You will have to see what the pricing and deal is on the day you visit to compare and calculate if it is worth rebooking. Until you have all the figures before you no one can say if you will be better off or not. 

thank you this makes sense. I think our upcoming Summit cruise price changed 3 times after we booked with promotional sales we took advantage of since original booking.

[Peter118]

8 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

As far as the Connie cruise, you cannot transfer it to a Travel Agent since you already have a TA--United Cruises.

As far as booking on the Summit, it may be less than your current booking, the same or more since prices fluctuate frequently. If you book it on the Summit, cancel your current booking with United, you could then turn around and transfer the new booking to United but would you get the mileage bonus?  Dunno.  For us, not sure it would be worth going through all that to get the minimal benefit you might get by booking onboard.  Which varies by type of cruise.

 

So...I guess we do have a travel agent...LOL.

 

I guess we will see what is offered on board. The mileage thing expired yesterday and is not a deal breaker. As we all know it takes a lot of miles to have any real value but we do use them for flights. A better price and giving up miles is not the end of the world.

Thanks for your insight.

[jelayne]

Just a word of caution.  The Cruise Critic guidelines for participation do not allow us to post travel agent or agencies names.  If you are interested in getting info and suggestion on agencies a good place is by asking others on your cruise for recommendations.  

[Peter118]

9 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Just a word of caution.  The Cruise Critic guidelines for participation do not allow us to post travel agent or agencies names.  If you are interested in getting info and suggestion on agencies a good place is by asking others on your cruise for recommendations.  

thanks...i will edit post.

 

oops looks as though I cannot edit. Can a mod delete it?

Edited January 18, 2020 by Peter118

[Justalone]

55 minutes ago, Peter118 said:

We have not been on our first cruise yet with Celebrity but will be on the Summit in 3 weeks. Of all the cruise lines that are available we feel Celebrity is the right one for us and we want to stay loyal to. Especially since we appreciate what they have done to rectify the Valentine booking we had with Tuscan and chose not to hits us with a cancellation and the new $119 price tag...:).

 

So we booked the Connie for October out of Venice to Rome. We booked this thru United Cruises since we were able to get 7 miles per dollar spent. We earn and use a lot of miles each month so why not get another source to participate at 7 miles per $.

 

So being a rookie at this I have frequently seen topics that include once booked to transfer to a travel agent? Which we do not have nor do I know why we would do this transfer thing.

I have also seen topics on waiting to book "on board". Not sure why but we are on the Summit in 3 weeks. Is there any advantage to cancelling and rebooking once on board?

 

Any thoughts from those with experience, or simply just have the knowledge, as to what we should do if anything? We are ok with just leaving things as they are but I will like to avoid a "rookie" mistake.

 

Thanks...

 

 

 

New to cruising.  What is/who is The Connie?

Thank you.

Edited January 18, 2020 by Justalone

[mahdnc]

I think the answers you got were pretty good.

 

I would definitely drop by the Future Cruises office when you are aboard Summit and look into whether the current Celebrity offers coupled with the onboard booking incentive make it worth your while to cancel your existing Constellation reservation and rebooking it through them

 

Just know that whoever you booked your Summit reservation through will automatically be assigned to your new onboard reservation unless you sign a form that states you do not want them assigned (this then gives you the right to shop your booking to a different agent within a fixed period of time). 

 

This exercise will be good for you and even if you change nothing, you'll be more prepared if you decide to book your next cruise during your Constellation sailing. 

 

Edited January 18, 2020 by mahdnc

[Moby Jones]

3 minutes ago, Justalone said:

 

New to cruising.  What is The Connie?

Thank you.

The cruise ship Celebrity Constellation.

Edited January 18, 2020 by Moby Jones

[mahdnc]

8 minutes ago, Justalone said:

 

New to cruising.  What is The Connie?

Thank you.

 

Nickname that some use for Constellation, the fourth Millennium class ship built for Celebrity. 

 

The first ship of that class, named Millennium, is sometimes nicknamed "Millie". And I think those are the only two ships where nicknames are used in Celebrity's current fleet that you need to learn!

Edited January 18, 2020 by mahdnc

[Peter118]

9 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

I think the answers you got were pretty good.

 

I would definitely drop by the Future Cruises office when you are aboard Summit and look into whether the current Celebrity offers coupled with the onboard booking incentive make it worth your while to cancel your existing Constellation reservation and rebooking it through them

 

Just know that whoever you booked your Summit reservation through will automatically be assigned to your new reservation unless you sign a form that states you do not want them assigned (this then gives you the right to shop your booking to a different agent within a fixed period of time). 

 

This exercise will be good for you and even if you change nothing, you'll be more prepared if you decide to book your next cruise during your Constellation sailing. 

thanks

we booked the Summit Cruise direct with Celebrity, no TA. Our confirmation for the new booking (paperwork) also came from Celebrity so I did not realize that a TA was involved with the new booking so I did not intend to mention by name.

But your are correct...a good exercise.

[39august]

Be aware that you cannot cancel your TA booked cruise while on board and Celebrity will not allow you to double book. This is because your TA "owns" your booked cruise and only they are allowed to make changes. So, if the deal is better on board, you will have to call your TA and have them cancel the current cruise before you can book the same cruise while on board.  However, you are allowed to call your TA from the ship at no charge. Whether you can do this from the Future Cruise agent's phone, I don't know. But over the years I have made many calls to my TA from Guest Services. Lately I have discovered I can do so from my cabin by just calling the operator and saying I understand  you can dial my TA for me at no charge and they are happy to do so.  

[mahdnc]

2 minutes ago, Peter118 said:

thanks

we booked the Summit Cruise direct with Celebrity, no TA. Our confirmation for the new booking (paperwork) also came from Celebrity so I did not realize that a TA was involved with the new booking so I did not intend to mention by name.

But your are correct...a good exercise.

 

The only way that I know of to book directly through Celebrity is using the Celebrity website or on board a Celebrity or Royal Caribbean ship. That's apparently how your Summit reservation must have occurred and is set up (no travel agent). 

 

When you do that, Celebrity allows you a short period of time to transfer the booking to a travel agent. This allows you to get additional incentives from the TA (e.g. on board credit, bonus freq flyer miles, gift card, etc) that will be added to your booking. 

 

Your Constellation reservation must have been booked through the airline or its credit card website in order get the additional miles so they became the travel agent of record. 

[Peter118]

45 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

The only way that I know of to book directly through Celebrity is using the Celebrity website or on board a Celebrity or Royal Caribbean ship. That's apparently how your Summit reservation must have occurred and is set up (no travel agent). 

 

When you do that, Celebrity allows you a short period of time to transfer the booking to a travel agent. This allows you to get additional incentives from the TA (e.g. on board credit, bonus freq flyer miles, gift card, etc) that will be added to your booking. 

 

Your Constellation reservation must have been booked through the airline or its credit card website in order get the additional miles so they became the travel agent of record. 

 

you are correct on both points...

We booked the Summit online using the Celebrity website. We never transferred to TA or better yet we did not know to transfer. 

The Connie was booked while signed into our credit card account. Now I understand who the TA is for this booking.

[Oville]

55 minutes ago, 39august said:

Be aware that you cannot cancel your TA booked cruise while on board and Celebrity will not allow you to double book. This is because your TA "owns" your booked cruise and only they are allowed to make changes. So, if the deal is better on board, you will have to call your TA and have them cancel the current cruise before you can book the same cruise while on board. 

I’m not sure you can’t double book.

[39august]

I tried to double book on a cruise and was told I could not do that. 

[Oville]

We have done this if when we board there is a better deal and cancel the first one booked when we return home.

[39august]

Wow! I was most certainly denied double booking. I'll try again next cruise.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

3 hours ago, mahdnc said:

 

Nickname that some use for Constellation, the fourth Millennium class ship built for Celebrity. 

 

The first ship of that class, named Millennium, is sometimes nicknamed "Millie". And I think those are the only two ships where nicknames are used in Celebrity's current fleet that you need to learn!

Have people stopped using “Silly/Sillie” for the Silhouette? Seems I used to see that one a lot.

[TeaBag]

Only the ones who can't spell Silhouette! 😀  I think it's demeaning for such a beautiful ship.  I saw it the other day.

[mahdnc]

2 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Have people stopped using “Silly/Sillie” for the Silhouette? Seems I used to see that one a lot.

 

Good point, I overlooked that one--so I don't know.  I was on a Silhouette roll call for 8 months and I don't recall that nickname being used!

[wrk2cruise]

6 hours ago, Oville said:

We have done this if when we board there is a better deal and cancel the first one booked when we return home.

 

I've double booked many times.   You want to understand the terms of your original booking as Non Refundable Deposits are very common lately.   You can still cancel but they will charge you $100 pp against your deposit and any remaining will be returned in form of a Future Cruise Certificate.   It can still be beneficial to do this if the savings is more than $200.

 

You do have 60 days from time of booking direct with Celebrity (or onboard if you tell them to keep your reservation with Celebrity) to transfer to a TA.    I agree with others here that talking with others onboard about their TA recommendations is probably the best way to get a TA recommendation.

[Oville]

2 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

I've double booked many times.   You want to understand the terms of your original booking as Non Refundable Deposits are very common lately.   You can still cancel but they will charge you $100 pp against your deposit and any remaining will be returned in form of a Future Cruise Certificate.   It can still be beneficial to do this if the savings is more than $200.

 

You do have 60 days from time of booking direct with Celebrity (or onboard if you tell them to keep your reservation with Celebrity) to transfer to a TA.    I agree with others here that talking with others onboard about their TA recommendations is probably the best way to get a TA recommendation.

Yes, I agree with you that the non refundable does make things more complicated.