Cruiser BEWARE...

[Puffles311]

I booked a Celebrity Cruise for our 20th anniversary literally 24 hours ago, and saw that our preferred sailing because available in the cabin we wanted ( at 19k suite) ...and they could not accommodate moving my reservation without fees and potential cancellation penalty.

 

I have no idea what the agent did with my reservation, but they refused to just change the deposit to the earlier sailing. I've never experienced this in The Haven on NCL, Princess, or RCCL. I am the type of cruiser that likes to upgrade my cabin if finances permit.

 

Be very wary. Utterly disappointed in the treatment of a customer who was ready to pay a lot of money for a cruise on the Edge.

 

If I'm out the $900 NRD.. so be it. Lesson learned. I will spend my $$ on a more hospitable cruise line. 

Edited February 21, 2020 by Puffles311
spelling

[Jim_Iain]

 

27 minutes ago, Puffles311 said:

If I'm out the $900 NRD.. so be it. Lesson learned. I will spend my $$ on a more hospitable cruise line. 

 

It sounds like you booked using a NRD.   If you read the terms of the NRD - you don't loose the $900 deposit but there is a $100pp fee to change to change ship or sail date.    With all due respect the policy is quite clear and I would put the blame on your agent for booking a NRD unless you were aware of it.   Talk to your agent and request a $200 OBC for your dissatisfaction.  

 

Non-Refundable Deposit: To qualify for the Offer, guest must choose a non-refundable deposit. Non-refundable deposit booking (“NRD”) cancelled prior to final payment due date will receive a future cruise credit in the amount of the deposit minus a $100 per person service fee. FCC is non-transferable and expires after 12-months from issue date. $100 per person service fee applies to changes to NRD ship or sail date.

[Caribbean Chris]

This non refundable deposit situation is putting a chill on my willingness to book anything with X in the future. A friend decided a few weeks ago to join us on a 2021 cruise, picked up the phone to book direct, and at the end, the reservations agent told her the deposit was non refundable. My friend, a very experienced Cunard cruiser of many decades, simply explained she was not going to book the Sky suite under those terms. The agent came back with a slightly higher price for a refundable version. This appears to be just a not-so-subtle, and apparently negotiable, new tool to raise prices to higher levels one way or the other.

[cruisestitch]

Or, to put it another way, it’s a way to lower prices.  Book w/refundable deposit at a higher price or book w/nonrefundable at a lower price.

[Fouremco]

Last year you initiated a thread "Paid Upgrade Assigned (then renegged?)" on the NCL board. You seem to be unlucky making changes.

Edited February 21, 2020 by Fouremco

[jelayne]

The NRD is often misunderstood.  If you change the ship or sailing date you lose $100 pp admin fee, the remaining $700 is returned in the form of a Future Cruise Credit that can be used toward a new booking it applied to an existing booking within 12 months.  So OP you are not out $900 just $200.  Are you dealing direct with Celebrity or a TA?  It seems to me someone you are dealing with isn’t well versed on NRDs.

[Puffles311]

9 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Last year you initiated a thread "Paid Upgrade Assigned (then renegged?)" on the NCL board. You seem to be unlucky making changes.

 

Yes, we were in The Haven and our bid was accepted then pulled. But we ended up enjoying the cruise and learned to just book the cabin we want from the start.

 

I'm starting to think of maybe Celebrity is not the place to spend 19K on a cruise if they cannot simply move my cruise deposit 24 hours after made. I can only imagine what the onboard treatment will be like. 

Edited February 21, 2020 by Puffles311

[Puffles311]

6 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The NRD is often misunderstood.  If you change the ship or sailing date you lose $100 pp admin fee, the remaining $700 is returned in the form of a Future Cruise Credit that can be used toward a new booking it applied to an existing booking within 12 months.  So OP you are not out $900 just $200.  Are you dealing direct with Celebrity or a TA?  It seems to me someone you are dealing with isn’t well versed on NRDs.

 

I called them yesterday (directly) and booked a cruise, but wanted a specific suite which was not available on the sailing I really wanted. So I booked the following sailing. When I saw it was available tonight, I called to be switched to the new date, and it was an absolute disgrace.  I don't even know what they've done with my original cruise reservation. No email as of yet. And an 40 min wasted phone call.

[Puffles311]

21 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

This non refundable deposit situation is putting a chill on my willingness to book anything with X in the future. A friend decided a few weeks ago to join us on a 2021 cruise, picked up the phone to book direct, and at the end, the reservations agent told her the deposit was non refundable. My friend, a very experienced Cunard cruiser of many decades, simply explained she was not going to book the Sky suite under those terms. The agent came back with a slightly higher price for a refundable version. This appears to be just a not-so-subtle, and apparently negotiable, new tool to raise prices to higher levels one way or the other.

 

Cannot blame you. I was not aware there was NRD reservation, I wasn't offer any option. If I were you I wouldn't even trust the agent to book you, as you'll probably end up like me. 

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I would suggest that you use an experienced agent in the future since you seem to have little knowledge of cruiseline policies.

 

By the way, the suite experience on Celebrity is quite pleasant.

[Puffles311]

5 minutes ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

I would suggest that you use an experienced agent in the future since you seem to have little knowledge of cruiseline policies.

 

By the way, the suite experience on Celebrity is quite pleasant.

 

I've done a lot of cruises booked myself in the past. However, with the with nickel and dime culture I think you are right. 

Edited February 21, 2020 by Puffles311

[Bo1953]

30 minutes ago, Puffles311 said:

 

Yes, we were in The Haven and our bid was accepted then pulled. But we ended up enjoying the cruise and learned to just book the cabin we want from the start.

 

I'm starting to think of maybe Celebrity is not the place to spend 19K on a cruise if they cannot simply move my cruise deposit 24 hours after made. I can only imagine what the onboard treatment will be like. 

Cruise lines do not fall under the FAA and their rules for booking seats vs cabins, unfortunately.

 

Were you not able to change your fare basis to RDfrom NRD? If so, did you change it or not? If not, what is the reason you did not?

 

For this reason many of us choose to book RD and not think about it any further, especially when we are happy with the price at time of booking.

 

Sorry if this experience left a bad taste in your mouth.. yet it appears, from another poster, that you may have encountered a similar situation on another cruise line...

 

bon voyage

[NMTraveller]

46 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Or, to put it another way, it’s a way to lower prices.  Book w/refundable deposit at a higher price or book w/nonrefundable at a lower price.

I just rebooked a RD for an NRD at a better price.  My TA warned me it was an NRD.  The paperwork also says NRD.  I took the better deal.

 

 

[Puffles311]

I think what agent said is they had to refund the original cruise, and they held a new booking for the new date. Makes no sense that they couldn't just move my deposit to the new cruise.

 

The agent kept putting me on hold to go "talk to a supervisor". I haven't got a confirmation email for either the new booking or cancellation.  

 

The conversation was not clear. Extremely disappointing  service for a supposedly premium cruise line. Enough that I'm willing to walk away from the deposit and be grateful I didn't spend more with this company.

 

 

[az_tchr]

1 minute ago, Puffles311 said:

I think what agent said is they had to refund the original cruise, and they held a new booking for the new date. Makes no sense that they couldn't just move my deposit to the new cruise.

 

The agent kept putting me on hold to go "talk to a supervisor". I haven't got a confirmation email for either the new booking or cancellation.  

 

The conversation was not clear. Extremely disappointing  service for a supposedly premium cruise line. Enough that I'm willing to walk away from the deposit and be grateful I didn't spend more with this company.

 

 

As others have already said use a good TA.  Not only can you often get additional OBC but many are easy to talk to.  Call a cruise line TA and get your very confused booking fixed.  A bit of patience will be necessary on your part. Also carefully reading and understanding your fare rules. Celebrity only charges $100 for a change. Try that with a seat on almost every airline. After 24 hours - too bad.

Be aware it takes 48 hours to completely process and finalize a reservation. Celebrity is an excellent mass market cruise line. It is not premium. A suite on Silversea or another "premium" line would be twice the price or more.

[Shadow9612]

I don't understand- what is the reason the agent wouldnt just change the sailing date so you only lose the 100pp deposit, and transfer the balancw as a future cruise credit?

 

[Puffles311]

1 minute ago, Shadow9612 said:

I don't understand- what is the reason the agent wouldnt just change the sailing date so you only lose the 100pp deposit, and transfer the balancw as a future cruise credit?

 

 

Makes no sense either,  and the new cruise date/fare was a few thousand MORE.

 

I wasn't confident in their treatment to put down another 1k deposit after the run around on the phone.  So now I have the new cruise supposedly on hold, while I wait for my cruise deposit to be refunded as promised 🙄. I love the itinerary but am completely turned off by this experience. Especially at the price they want.

 

Talking to a TA now to take over our anniversary cruise.

[yorky]

3 hours ago, Puffles311 said:

I think what agent said is they had to refund the original cruise, and they held a new booking for the new date. Makes no sense that they couldn't just move my deposit to the new cruise.

 

The agent kept putting me on hold to go "talk to a supervisor". I haven't got a confirmation email for either the new booking or cancellation.  

 

The conversation was not clear. Extremely disappointing  service for a supposedly premium cruise line. Enough that I'm willing to walk away from the deposit and be grateful I didn't spend more with this company.

 

 

This is simply in line with what’s always happened just about everywhere else in the world when booking a cruise. If we cancel in cruise in the Uk we lose our deposit, simple as.

[upwarduk]

29 minutes ago, yorky said:

This is simply in line with what’s always happened just about everywhere else in the world when booking a cruise. If we cancel in cruise in the Uk we lose our deposit, simple as.

In the last few years we have been allowed to change our cruise booking ONCE at a cost of £75 p.p.

This was allowed after so many complaints from UK passengers, that they were treated differently from US pax.

We are still different however, we don’t get the choice of deposits, unless we book on the ship ( or so I have been told).

[crusinthrough]

4 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

Cruise lines do not fall under the FAA and their rules for booking seats vs cabins, unfortunately.

You can make changes or cancel a NRD reservation within 24 hours with no penalty.  I have done it plenty of times.  

[GastroGnome]

Sounds like you might be balming X for the actions of a less expereinced agent.  The terms of the NRD are clear, but you were not warned it was NRD.  That isn't X's fault - its the TA. 

 

As an aside there is no such thing as a refundable deposit in the UK - we seem to get along just fine.  Actually it a bit of a blessing as we can often pick up cheap short notice crusies when the final payment date comes around for US citizens who have booked with refundable deposits and chosen to cancel.

[chemmo]

 

Firstly OP, congratulations on your anniversary and I hope you have a fantastic cruise. The Celebrity Suite life is very sweet!

 

However, before booking a cruise, flight, hotel...you do need to check the ‘small print’. The fact the telephone operator was putting you on hold to ‘speak to her supervisor’ indicates to me that she was trying her best on your behalf. 

 

Sorry if if I don’t sound very sympathetic but you chose a cheaper original price with a NRD but now want the perks as if you had paid a higher original price...Honestly, I would take this as a lesson learned...

 

Over many years we have encountered a few ‘grumpys’ on many holidays...the ones that didn’t check exactly what their ‘All Inclusive’ included, the Celebrity Suite guests who thought they had unlimited speciality dining because someone ‘last cruise’ had told them...the cruiser who found that someone in an identical cabin to theirs had paid a fraction of the price because they had booked last minute. If you focus on the error of not knowing you had a NRD then you will become a ‘grumpy’ and it will taint your whole cruise experience. See it as a life lesson....become a ‘Happy’ you have a fantastic cruise ahead of you, at the date you want and at a price you are happy with!!!

 

Sincere best wishes that by the time you read this you will have things sorted and be ready to enjoy a fantastic experience...

[sgmn]

1 hour ago, upwarduk said:

In the last few years we have been allowed to change our cruise booking ONCE at a cost of £75 p.p.

This was allowed after so many complaints from UK passengers, that they were treated differently from US pax.

We are still different however, we don’t get the choice of deposits, unless we book on the ship ( or so I have been told).

Do you know if we get price drops now in UK. It always was a 'no'. That would be a great perk. 

[chemmo]

43 minutes ago, GastroGnome said:

 

 

As an aside there is no such thing as a refundable deposit in the UK - we seem to get along just fine.  Actually it a bit of a blessing as we can often pick up cheap short notice crusies when the final payment date comes around for US citizens who have booked with refundable deposits and chosen to cancel.

 

You know this is exactly what we thought we would be able to do once I retired but firstly they don’t tend to significantly reduce the price of RS/PH suites (they will use the upgrade system) and secondly booking flights 4/6 weeks before sailing date can not only be expensive but they can be messy (bad timing, long layover....).

 

We have always found Celebrity very good when we have needed to make a change £75 for the first two in a cabin is not excessive and if you are Elite or above you are allowed one free change.

 

6 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Do you know if we get price drops now in UK. It always was a 'no'. That would be a great perk. 

 

We asked about this recently and were told ‘no’. However, if there is a significant price drop you can phone up and upgrade as long as the new cabin you want to move to costs more...just check what perks you keep if you do this and if they will charge or waive the £75 admin charge. Unfortunately for us this won’t work next cruise as we have booked the PH so nothing to upgrade to. At least we know we have the exact room we want, at the date we want and at a price we are comfortable with...Sometimes this has  more value than a last minute bargain.

[GerScot]

1 hour ago, sgmn said:

Do you know if we get price drops now in UK. It always was a 'no'. That would be a great perk. 

I have it for an Apex cruise which was booked on board last year.