“Cruise With Confidence”- cancellations up to 48 hours before sailing

[JOHN474]

WOW.  Celebrity did have in their fine print, that they could change or withdraw the offer at any time, at least when I read the fine print and cancelled on Sunday.  After reading several entries that Celebrity changed the policy sometime today ... I reviewed the high level policy statement on their website. Apparently today it was changed from "you will get 100% of your cancellation Penalty as a Future Cruise Credit" to 

Cancel at any time up to 48 hours before your sailing, for sailings departing up until 7/31/2020, and you’ll receive a Future Cruise Credit.

 

LEARN MORE

 

 

[Pushka]

On 3/8/2020 at 5:12 PM, upwarduk said:

It just makes me wonder how many other countries are going to ban cruise ships?

My Cruise was due on August 1st- one day AFTER the July 31st ‘Cruise with confidence’ cut off date.

I really do wonder whether the ships will be Repositioned to Europe in a few few months time.

If the US follows Australia's lead, our Government just issued a Do Not Travel to all of Italy. 

[Fouremco]

23 minutes ago, Grandmaanne7 said:

We paid very little for our 5-day cruise but got all 4 perks. How do they compensate for the perks if you choose to cancel? Are you allowed to keep them for your next cruise?

No carry over of perks. You'll get whatever perks are being offered at the time of your future booking.

[Ward517]

51 minutes ago, Lilikins said:

Before “cruise with confidence” Was announced, my cruise was on the list of those that the final payment date was pushed back to 60 days before sail (March 31st). Does anyone know if the cruise with confidence supersedes the 60 day final payment? I’ve tried calling Costco several times but they are so backed up and unfortunately with my work schedule I haven’t been able to actually get through. With 13 hour work days, it’s difficult for me to find enough time to wait for a rep 😥

 

Our date was changed too on 2/28, but we had made final payment.  When I called Celebrity tonight to ask about my options, they said that things have changed since those were issued and they aren’t applicable anymore.  But maybe if you haven’t made final payment you may have better luck!

[NantahalaCruiser]

On 3/8/2020 at 4:31 PM, hvbaskey said:

 

We’re on the Reflection in May (out of Dublin); waiting to see if she makes it there.  I believe we’re the 2nd cruise of the EU season (vs. first).   Waiting ... our cruise has loads of cabins available now and “zero” price reductions since FP.   Interesting that Revenue Dept is not trying to sell off the high inventory available.

If Celebrity were to reduce the prices of your cruise and if it made sense considering the new vs old perks, then you could cancel your cruise prior to 48 hours of the sail date - get a FCC - and then rebook the same cruise using your FCC. This may be causing Celebrity to hold prices constant.

 

Of course, the above statement assumes that Celebrity would allow the FCC to be used with a rebooking of the previously cancelled cruise. Have not seen anything on CC yet regarding this assumption.

[Condogirl]

Update! Costco did call back tonight! Getting full FCC back, and taxes will go to credit card! Not sure what happened online today, but it is corrected. Should see certificate of FCC in about 4 weeks mailed from Celebrity!

[Von & John]

43 minutes ago, JOHN474 said:

WOW.  Celebrity did have in their fine print, that they could change or withdraw the offer at any time, at least when I read the fine print and cancelled on Sunday.  After reading several entries that Celebrity changed the policy sometime today ... I reviewed the high level policy statement on their website. Apparently today it was changed from "you will get 100% of your cancellation Penalty as a Future Cruise Credit" to 

Cancel at any time up to 48 hours before your sailing, for sailings departing up until 7/31/2020, and you’ll receive a Future Cruise Credit.

 

LEARN MORE

 

 

 

The 100% is still currently listed in the verbiage:

 

[Lilikins]

11 minutes ago, Ward517 said:

 

Our date was changed too on 2/28, but we had made final payment.  When I called Celebrity tonight to ask about my options, they said that things have changed since those were issued and they aren’t applicable anymore.  But maybe if you haven’t made final payment you may have better luck!

Thank you for the information. That’s disappointing to hear as I paid in full a few months ago. The real issue is that we have also paid for another couple and if FCC is issued it would be in their name even though I paid for it. They won’t be able to travel next year so if we were to cancel that FCC is useless.

[middlehaitch]

17 minutes ago, Von & John said:

 

The 100% is still currently listed in the verbiage:

 

 

Not only does it still say 100% FCC It says '100% Future Cruise Credit (good until 12/31/20210) for the full amount in penalty.' Monies to be refunded not in penalty should still go back to your original method of payment.

 

There are posts saying this is going to change to a full FCC, (no monies refunded). Not my post, don't know the veracity of the information.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2740838-celebrity-is-no-longer-issuing-partial-refunds-after-final-paymentwill-royal-follow/page/2/

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2740864-celebrity-no-longer-issuing-partial-refunds/

 

Cheers, heather 🥂

[Peachy leaf]

Anyone crusing in august 2020 Canada? We have final payment June 1St not sure what to do.

 

[Lilikins]

Don’t know if this was already posted but now it’s saying “change your sail date or get FCC” https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-with-confidence

 

Not really sure how that’s different? It doesn’t give any new details about the date change. At least for my itinerary it’s only available on 4 dates and the latest is still in June I believe. Not sure how the date change will be super helpful unless they add more for 2021.

[natasha81]

Does anyone have info on how long it will take to get the FCC or how it will be delivered (snail mail or email)?

 

I managed to cancel my April cruise via TA who said they talked with someone at Celebrity, but received only an automated email from the TA showing the 100% cancellation fee and refund of taxes, but with no mention of the FCC. I’m confused and a little worried about the $4k FCC, can anyone clarify?

[Grandmaanne7]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

No carry over of perks. You'll get whatever perks are being offered at the time of your future booking.

Not what I wanted to hear but thanks for the answer. We're still planning to cruise but my 84-year-old father and his companion are likely going to cancel. I don't blame them.

[middlehaitch]

6 minutes ago, Lilikins said:

Don’t know if this was already posted but now it’s saying “change your sail date or get FCC” https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-with-confidence

 

Not really sure how that’s different? It doesn’t give any new details about the date change. At least for my itinerary it’s only available on 4 dates and the latest is still in June I believe. Not sure how the date change will be super helpful unless they add more for 2021.

 

That is the heading.

Read down and it still says.....

 

'Essentially, Cruise with Confidence means that guests who cancel their cruise for sailings departing up until 7/31/2020 can do so for for ANY reason as late as 48 hours before sailing and get a 100% Future Cruise Credit (good until 12/31/2021) for the full amount in penalty.'

 

 

That means if you still have monies due outside the penalty phase you will/should get them back by the method payed. Penalty only is FCC.

If you are still within a penalty phase due a percentage back and are being denied it being monies in the form of original payment, challenge it via the post above.

 

ie: I cruise the end of April so I am in the 75% penalty phase. if I were to cancel I would get 75% in FCC and 25% returned to my credit card. As the above link shows at this point in time. (things change rapidly so this post could be invalid in 10 min)

 

Cheers, heather 🥂

 

[JOHN474]

Folks, you are missing the change in the fine print. When I cancelled on Saturday, the policy read 100% of the cancellation penalty would go to the FCC.  From last Friday to at least Monday, what that meant was the portion other than the cancellation penalty went to CC cash refund plus port fees and taxes went to CC.

They changed the wording sometime Tuesday 3/10.  Now it says if you cancel up to 48 hours before, " 100% goes to FCC ".  Under the new policy, apparently only port fees and taxes gets refunded to CC.

They had in original fine print they could change the offer or withdraw it.. Well on Tuesday they changed it,

I suspect they hoped it would slow down cancellations, instead it probably accelerated cancelations. If you thought it was likely you would cancel, until today there was an incentive to cancel sooner. If you did, a greater % of monies went to CC refund.  Folks that did not cancel by yesterday monday, or possibly early Tuesday... not sure when they changed it ... are not eligible for the better deal. 

I printed out the original website wording on Saturday. Amazing how just changing a couple words, makes such a significant difference, if you were cancelling after final payment.

Celebrity to my knowledge did not advertise or put out a press release that they somehow changed the policy today.

[middlehaitch]

2 minutes ago, JOHN474 said:

Folks, you are missing the change in the fine print. When I cancelled on Saturday, the policy read 100% of the cancellation penalty would go to the FCC.  From last Friday to at least Monday, what that meant was the portion other than the cancellation penalty went to CC cash refund plus port fees and taxes went to CC.

They changed the wording sometime Tuesday 3/10.  Now it says if you cancel up to 48 hours before, " 100% goes to FCC ".  Under the new policy, apparently only port fees and taxes gets refunded to CC.

They had in original fine print they could change the offer or withdraw it.. Well on Tuesday they changed it,

I suspect they hoped it would slow down cancellations, instead it probably accelerated cancelations. If you thought it was likely you would cancel, until today there was an incentive to cancel sooner. If you did, a greater % of monies went to CC refund.  Folks that did not cancel by yesterday monday, or possibly early Tuesday... not sure when they changed it ... are not eligible for the better deal. 

I printed out the original website wording on Saturday. Amazing how just changing a couple words, makes such a significant difference, if you were cancelling after final payment.

Celebrity to my knowledge did not advertise or put out a press release that they somehow changed the policy today.

 

Could you please post a link to this, especially the fine print, as I have not been able to find it on the USA or Canada site. 

Thank you, I would hate to post misinformation because I didn't delve deep enough.

 

Cheers, heather 🥂

[JOHN474]

3 minutes ago, middlehaitch said:

 

Could you please post a link to this, especially the fine print, as I have not been able to find it on the USA or Canada site. 

Thank you, I would hate to post misinformation because I didn't delve deep enough.

 

Cheers, heather 🥂

 

 

I already posted earlier. Go to US website. Top left, read Alert. Then hit LEARN MORE button. They just changed a few words. On Saturday, it said "100% of cancellation penalty would go to FCC" ... It no longer say that.

No it does not mention "cancellation penalty". It says everything goes to a FCC. That is consistent with what posters have been posting today. The exception is port fees taxes etc, which folks say are refunded to C, which makes sense.

Folks that did not cancel by either end of day Monday, or possibly early Tuesday, not sure of hour they changed ... can not get a portion going to CC and a portion to FCC, at least if you go with the new cancellation policy.

Very unfortunate. Some folks had trouble getting through to either Celebrity or TA. In my case, the net result was I was able to get $ 11,000 credited (in up to 14 days) to my CC and the balance to FCC ... for multiple cruises. For folks that had suites or expensive rooms, this change could be very significant.

[WonderMan3]

1 hour ago, Lilikins said:

Don’t know if this was already posted but now it’s saying “change your sail date or get FCC” https://www.celebritycruises.com/cruise-with-confidence

 

Not really sure how that’s different? It doesn’t give any new details about the date change. At least for my itinerary it’s only available on 4 dates and the latest is still in June I believe. Not sure how the date change will be super helpful unless they add more for 2021.

 

It's probably just marketing to get people to move to another date right away as opposed to cancelling and sitting on a FCC for awhile so that they keep people on the books. It would be nice if they offered a price protection option if you moved to another date on the same ship with same itinerary in same cabin category; they'd get a lot more people to move over right away instead of waiting.

[middlehaitch]

4 minutes ago, JOHN474 said:

 

 

I already posted earlier. Go to US website. Top left, read Alert. Then hit LEARN MORE button. They just changed a few words. On Saturday, it said "100% of cancellation penalty would go to FCC" ... It no longer say that.

No it does not mention "cancellation penalty". It says everything goes to a FCC. That is consistent with what posters have been posting today. The exception is port fees taxes etc, which folks say are refunded to C, which makes sense.

Folks that did not cancel by either end of day Monday, or possibly early Tuesday, not sure of hour they changed ... can not get a portion going to CC and a portion to FCC, at least if you go with the new cancellation policy.

Very unfortunate. Some folks had trouble getting through to either Celebrity or TA. In my case, the net result was I was able to get $ 11,000 credited (in up to 14 days) to my CC and the balance to FCC ... for multiple cruises. For folks that had suites or expensive rooms, this change could be very significant.

 

As I posted,  #266, and provided the link to where I was reading that information, I was hoping you would post your link as your direction only takes me to the 'Travel Alert' page Scrolling further and clicking on the Cruise With Confidence page, then scrolling down,

this is still what I get ....

 

"Essentially, Cruise with Confidence means that guests who cancel their cruise for sailings departing up until 7/31/2020 can do so for ANY reason as late as 48 hours before sailing and get a 100% Future Cruise Credit (good until 12/31/2021) for the full amount in penalty."

 

Not doubting, or bugging you, just generally want to have the link that provides different info.

Cheers, heather 🥂 

[hancogran]

1 hour ago, middlehaitch said:

 

As I posted,  #266, and provided the link to where I was reading that information, I was hoping you would post your link as your direction only takes me to the 'Travel Alert' page Scrolling further and clicking on the Cruise With Confidence page, then scrolling down,

this is still what I get ....

 

"Essentially, Cruise with Confidence means that guests who cancel their cruise for sailings departing up until 7/31/2020 can do so for ANY reason as late as 48 hours before sailing and get a 100% Future Cruise Credit (good until 12/31/2021) for the full amount in penalty."

 

Not doubting, or bugging you, just generally want to have the link that provides different info.

Cheers, heather 🥂 

Check this thread... 

 

[middlehaitch]

3 minutes ago, hancogran said:

Check this thread... 

 

I posted a link to that thread in my post  #259 above. It is posted as an instruction for travel agents as far as I can see, and hasn't been broadcast (email, web, or phone) as a change in policy to the general cruising customer.

 

As one of the cruising public I can only know, and act upon, changes that  Celebrity has advised me of and the above information is not in the public domain at the moment, it is a post on a forum, not a notification (via any means) from Celebrity.

 

I can, in the next day or so, see it being made public as change of policy, but right now it isn't.

 

Cheers, heather 🥂

 

[hvbaskey]

We went to cancel and confirmed the 50/50 split (we were in the 50% penalty box).  First response from Celebrity was FCC only and that they were changing their policy as the need arises.  I then sent a screenshot from their web site and it was acknowledged  / honoured and I received the 50/50 split.  

 

I *guess* they were in the midst of internal communications of the revised policy, but it hadn’t reached social media as of yet.  PHEW!

 

Looks like I timed it “just in time”.

 

[Hllb]

Their officially posted policy still says "the full amount in penalty" as of 3/11/2020. This to me says monies not in penalty will still be refunded.  I received the same information in an email from Celebrity last night as of 11:25 PM EST. If they are changing their policy, they have not yet posted that change.

[hvbaskey]

Just now, Hllb said:

Their officially posted policy still says "the full amount in penalty" as of 3/11/2020. This to me says monies not in penalty will still be refunded.  I received the same information in an email from Celebrity last night as of 11:25 PM EST. If they are changing their policy, they have not yet posted that change.

 

That is good news for those who would like to receive the splits (vs. 100% FCC).  I used a screenshot from the 9th March to confirm eligibility for the split.  “in penalty” are the key words for what should go to FCC ...

[Hllb]

7 minutes ago, hvbaskey said:

 

That is good news for those who would like to receive the splits (vs. 100% FCC).  I used a screenshot from the 9th March to confirm eligibility for the split.  “in penalty” are the key words for what should go to FCC ...

I agree, but I also suspect they  have changed the policy and just haven't updated the wording.  At this stage, you have a good argument to make for getting the split still, but once they post the update, you won't.