Celebrity Will Announce Suspension Through July 31

[hcat]

11 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

In Celebrity's mind, the 125% FCC is definitely a better deal for the passenger, so giving it up for "only" a 100% refund is forfeiting the better deal.

I get that,....but making it sound like a forfeiture or penalty is a bit of a stretch as a marketing tactic.  Why not call it a bonus ?  We already own one large FCC,  and it  will be a miracle if we ever  get to use it!

 

We are down on X these days so not impressed with most of what they do.,

 It may be a passing phase....or lead to something new and more exciting!

 

For those who love it..it is a great deal for, sure!

Hope processing does not delay my last refund!

[ILgirl]

Did anyone notice that the Celebrity notice is dated Tuesday, May 20th????  They can't even get the day/date correct...

[PhillyTravelBug]

Glad to see the extension and I was able to submit my refund request.  It’s disappointing. I was extremely excited about trying Celebrity and exploring the Apex and visiting Europe for the first time. It will just have to wait.

Edited May 20, 2020 by Joeghartman

[Fouremco]

36 minutes ago, ILgirl said:

Did anyone notice that the Celebrity notice is dated Tuesday, May 20th????  They can't even get the day/date correct...

See post #68. 

[jagoffee]

5 hours ago, WNcruiser said:

A 25% FCC is not worth having thousands of dollars tied up for months. You can beat their game by NOT paying your final payment.

 

We booked our air separately. If we aren’t 100% sure the cruise will go before final we will cancel. We only book fully refundable deposits and can always rebook the cruise closer to sail date (which we will now make a habit of). 
 

It depends on whether you are taking a Celebrity cruise in 2021.  If not, go for the cash.

If yes, where else are you going to get a 25% return on your money?

[jelayne]

2 hours ago, hcat said:

Maybe Viking?

Great itins...looks good to us!

Be prepared to pay in full 12 months out, if you cruise them more frequently you can sometimes get final payment down to 6 months out.  

[Decpl]

I think Celebrity is doing an end run, delaying the inevitable especially on Alaska, what tour companies are going to operate for just a 6 week window. ??? Celebrity is just taking advantage of those of us you are paid in full and waiting for next blow. Notice they haven't stated any info on cruises starting back up? Social distancing and how they are going to do shows, casinos, Embarkations, excursions. They are playing a shell game to hold our money.

[poffles]

1 hour ago, ILgirl said:

Did anyone notice that the Celebrity notice is dated Tuesday, May 20th????  They can't even get the day/date correct...

 

The irony of this is just yesterday I got an invite for an online Microsoft learning session and it was for Wednesday May 19th ... I actually had to double check the date and even verified on my calendar.  LOL

 

Funky week I guess.

[Pushka]

5 hours ago, downsmead said:

It is on the U.K. site, with the list of sailings affected.

Predictable  timing of cancellation as I mentioned upthread that final payment dates for affected end of July cruises just passed. 
 

Glad I didn't pay full balance two days ago for 27 July cruise. Blind Freddy knew in March this was never going to sail. 

 

I did a full transfer with the price I had the (now cancelled) cruise for same dates next July. I don't have to think about it for 11 months. 

[Pushka]

3 hours ago, hcat said:

Maybe Viking?

Great itins...looks good to us!

Other than some snaffus with the first Alaskan cruise we took, Viking really understand personal service. Their ships are beautiful with classic Scandinavian design. Very classy. 
 

We are lucky in Australia, we don't have to pay 12 months out but the usual 90 days. 

Edited May 20, 2020 by Pushka

[WNcruiser]

As I said earlier, I wish they would be a little more upfront and aggressive with future cancellations. They know full well there will not be any Alaska cruises this season, and probably no European or TA's. Why make people wait and pay final payment? Why only cancel up to July 31st?

 

Giving customers notice and being forthcoming will definitely keep me as an X customer. Being deceitful will not.

[Fouremco]

18 minutes ago, WNcruiser said:

Giving customers notice and being forthcoming will definitely keep me as an X customer. Being deceitful will not.

I have to say that I'm torn. On the one hand, the ships and their crews are wonderful, and I love cruising with Celebrity. On the other hand, I've lost a lot of respect for corporate Celebrity over the past few months. With one remaining cruise booked, I'm not sure which will have the greater influence on my decision to cruise with Celebrity in the future.

[poffles]

14 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

I have to say that I'm torn. On the one hand, the ships and their crews are wonderful, and I love cruising with Celebrity. On the other hand, I've lost a lot of respect for corporate Celebrity over the past few months. With one remaining cruise booked, I'm not sure which will have the greater influence on my decision to cruise with Celebrity in the future.

 

44 minutes ago, WNcruiser said:

As I said earlier, I wish they would be a little more upfront and aggressive with future cancellations. They know full well there will not be any Alaska cruises this season, and probably no European or TA's. Why make people wait and pay final payment? Why only cancel up to July 31st?

 

Giving customers notice and being forthcoming will definitely keep me as an X customer. Being deceitful will not.

 

I think if you look across many of cruise lines during all this, Celebrity is not the worst, or at the very least not alone in their approach.  Not excusing anything but it really is a game of survival for them all right now and game of balance.

 

Sucks all around right now.

[Pushka]

13 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

I have to say that I'm torn. On the one hand, the ships and their crews are wonderful, and I love cruising with Celebrity. On the other hand, I've lost a lot of respect for corporate Celebrity over the past few months. With one remaining cruise booked, I'm not sure which will have the greater influence on my decision to cruise with Celebrity in the future.

Having been on a few different cruiselines, I think you will find, with very few exceptions, that the ships and crews are all quite wonderful. I do love Celebrity, but there are many other choices out there that will give a fabulous experience. 

[Fouremco]

21 minutes ago, poffles said:

I think if you look across many of cruise lines during all this, Celebrity is not the worst, or at the very least not alone in their approach.  Not excusing anything but it really is a game of survival for them all right now and game of balance.

 

Sucks all around right now.

 

21 minutes ago, Pushka said:

Having been on a few different cruiselines, I think you will find, with very few exceptions, that the ships and crews are all quite wonderful. I do love Celebrity, but there are many other choices out there that will give a fabulous experience. 

Both of you make excellent points. We've long deliberated whether our favourite cruise line is Celebrity or Holland America and wouldn't be devastated leaving Celebrity behind if that was our final decision. On the other hand, we had no HAL booking this year and consequently haven't experienced the same issues as we have with Celebrity.

[JennAngel9]

Celebrity is our favorite cruise line for when we are traveling on multi-generational cruises (I consider it far superior to the other lines that are big enough to have real kids club areas, but if it was just DH and me, we'd go back to Seabourn or Regent or try Viking)-- however, I agree with the other people on this thread that they are cynically waiting to cancel sailings until they've passed the deadline which forces people to fork over final payment or "accept" CWC where you only get FCC to try to hold on to as much of our money as possible-- unlike Princess which announced cancellations once the writing was on the wall much further in advance.

 

Honestly, I wouldn't mind spotting Celebrity $500 or even $1000 to help them through these times, but they are currently holding over 5k in varying credits and I'm not willing to risk that much money on a very possible future bankruptcy.  They will be much more likely to get new deposits (and sailings) from our not quite Elite Plus large family next year if they honor a refund for the sailing they are no longer offering this July.

[Want2Cruise 701]

1 hour ago, WNcruiser said:

As I said earlier, I wish they would be a little more upfront and aggressive with future cancellations. They know full well there will not be any Alaska cruises this season, and probably no European or TA's. Why make people wait and pay final payment? Why only cancel up to July 31st?

 

Giving customers notice and being forthcoming will definitely keep me as an X customer. Being deceitful will not.

I agree completely with what you're saying, but we all know the reason why X waits until after final payment.  They want our dollars.  I know it's business but it's disgraceful.  You do the right thing even if you're a huge for-profit corporation.  NCL's President even said it will be probably 5-6 months until the fall when they sail again.   Even Carnival has been stating recently that their attempt to startup Aug 1 is in doubt.  

 

I'm really starting to dislike X and their tactics.  I have been for awhile but this just puts it front and center now.  

 

[RICCruisers]

Waiting to cancel cruises in a methodical manner is X doing what they feel is the best thing for their shareholders otherwise known as their ownership even though their new bond holders are are probably more important than the shareholders. Time will tell if this is the best course of action vs. cancelling cruises further out in the calendar which would be the best result for their customer’s peace of mind. 

 

They are walking a fine line at the present time in their decision making. The “Lift and Shift” offer was probably the best decision they have made for both shareholders/bond holders and customers. Both parties got something out of this offer. Bonus points to whoever came up with it. 

 

X/Shareholders got positive cash flow if the customer switched the date of their cruise since X did not have to refund any cash and the Customer got a cruise the following year at the same price with the same Perks. If the customer was really happy with their current pricing/perks it was a win for them.

 

The negative for X is that it may replace a new cruise the customer may have possibly booked next year. X may be counting on a certain percentage of customers booking an additional cruise in 2020 since the customer may have a certain amount of travel budgeted each year. In that scenario X really wins twice by holding on to the customer’s money for an additional year taking some pressure off of their negative cash flow and they still get what the customer had planned to spend on cruising in 2022. 

 

All of this musing is simply me sitting at home instead of at the Martini Bar and thinking about what conversations are taking place in the X “C Suite” in Miami. 

 

Smooth sailing everyone, whenever or if ever that takes place. 

[marieps]

The earnings call today revealed that 45% of cancelled passengers want cash refunds.  That means X is keeping more than half the deposits and finals it is collecting.  Just sayin'. 

[Covepointcruiser]

If Celebrity cancels your cruise, then you have an option of a refund although you will wait for it.   Several weeks ago Seabourn canceled our rebooked cruise and they won’t be sailing until after 11/6/2020.    Carnival plans to start earlier, 8/1, with a few of their ships.   Guess they are all waiting for the rules from the CDC.   They seem to be in charge of the cruise lines right now as none can sail before the CDC says they can.

[poffles]

10 hours ago, Want2Cruise 701 said:

 NCL's President even said it will be probably 5-6 months until the fall when they sail again. 

 

 

They said that but even they waited until yesterday to officially do their next round of cancellations to end of July.  It's a game of chess waiting for the next 'official' move even though we can all anticipate what it will be .... though some (not me) still expected to sail in July 😞

[TeeRick]

20 hours ago, C-Dragons said:

That would be 71 sailings to be canceled by X alone. You think there might be exceptions?

 

Exceptions- Here is what they said (from the Cruise Critic News report).  So China cruises might go??

 

A statement from RCL reads:

"Given ongoing global public health circumstances, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has decided to extend the suspension of most sailings through July 31, 2020, with the exception of sailings from China, which will be suspended through the end of June."

[C-Dragons]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

 

Exceptions- Here is what they said (from the Cruise Critic News report).  So China cruises might go??

 

A statement from RCL reads:

"Given ongoing global public health circumstances, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. has decided to extend the suspension of most sailings through July 31, 2020, with the exception of sailings from China, which will be suspended through the end of June."

Interesting. On X's website the search engine begins with August for cruises in 2020.

So it's strange they mention cruises from China possibly opening in July.

Departure Dates

 

Departure Dates

2020

All 2020

AugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember

 

Edited May 21, 2020 by C-Dragons

[bouhunter]

16 hours ago, jagoffee said:

where else are you going to get a 25% return on your money?

Or 0% or less if prices are raised for future cruises.  FCC's might be a good deal, and might not...….

[omeinv]

Posted in error. 

Edited May 21, 2020 by omeinv