20% off extended to September 23.

[cbfb]

Just saw this on celebrity website. 

[upwarduk]

So, the nightmare continues of hold times. Made worse by UK free phone numbers being transferred to USA.

[Lastdance]

My poor TA was holding for three hours!  I gave up after an hour on hold.  

[drakes2]

5 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

My poor TA was holding for three hours!  I gave up after an hour on hold.  

I called Wednesday evening got through in 40 minutes lady was quite helpful. 

[zitsky]

OK well I can report a success in repricing.  My new/old TA called me this morning to tell me she got a price reduction from $7100 down to $4600 on an Aqua cabin, deck 11 aft, on a Spain / Portugal cruise that went from 10 days down to 8 days.  October 12, 2022 to October 20.

 

I am still a little confused by OBC?  Does OBC change when you reprice?  Because I thought I read some people getting *more* OBC but I've got less, if I understand my booking info correctly.  I had $800 at the higher price and $500 OBC at the lower price.  I won't know for sure until I can get back into the cruise planner.

 

What helped me is my "new" TA who booked this cruise for me, I guess, gave up and shifted it back to my "old" TA who was the person who make the call to Celebrity this morning.

 

 

[kathynorth]

Zitsky, if at least some of your OBC was from your TA based on a % of cost then the OBC would be reduced. 

[zitsky]

20 minutes ago, kathynorth said:

Zitsky, if at least some of your OBC was from your TA based on a % of cost then the OBC would be reduced. 

 

Thank you.  I have my original bookings, from original OBC.  And $100 from TA.  I'm happy though.  I saved about $2400.

 

EDIT:  And the good thing is, I can now get back into the Cruise Planner.

Edited September 17, 2021 by zitsky

[TeaBag]

I lost my OBC of $100 on a $456 price drop and wondered if it was an oversight.  I don't have the  heart to spend hours on hold to find out, so I will wait till the sale is over.

I got an email yesterday telling me there was only one day left on the sale.  I feel this was dishonest because they (and I) knew this was not true.  Cruise Critic had already announced the sale extension.  They're the best.

[HskrCrsr]

13 hours ago, TeaBag said:

I lost my OBC of $100 on a $456 price drop and wondered if it was an oversight.  I don't have the  heart to spend hours on hold to find out, so I will wait till the sale is over.

I got an email yesterday telling me there was only one day left on the sale.  I feel this was dishonest because they (and I) knew this was not true.  Cruise Critic had already announced the sale extension.  They're the best.

How did you get the $100 OBC? Although taking advantage of a new promotion might mean converting to prevailing rates, Celebrity does say this:

Will guests who booked onboard be allowed to convert their booking to Always Included and keep their onboard booking benefit?

Yes, guests who book onboard will be permitted to convert to Always Included pricing at prevailing rates and continue to keep their onboard booking benefits.

(https://www.celebritycruises.com/faqs/all-faqs#always-included)

[zitsky]

I haven't paid attention.  How often does X have fare sales like this?  I'm debating a December 2023 South America cruise (Patagonia) in Aqua on Infinity.  A 20% off makes it very attractive.

[LGW59]

23 hours ago, drakes2 said:

I called Wednesday evening got through in 40 minutes lady was quite helpful. 

Called on Wednesday as well, on hold for 18 minutes, repriced two cruises, received email confirmation while on the phone with the rep, verified the info and done.  Easy peasy...

[drakes2]

20 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Called on Wednesday as well, on hold for 18 minutes, repriced two cruises, received email confirmation while on the phone with the rep, verified the info and done.  Easy peasy...

Had to call again last night they gave me new invoice one of my FCC'S dropped off so they had to adjust my refund.  

[LGW59]

1 minute ago, drakes2 said:

Had to call again last night they gave me new invoice one of my FCC'S dropped off so they had to adjust my refund.  

How long was your hold time?

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, LGW59 said:

How long was your hold time?

@LGW59just a couple minutes to reach an agent then transfer to resolutions who processed the refund manually and issued new invoice while still on the phone. Speediest transaction ever. Let's see when  it gets posted to my card. They estimated 7 to 10 days.

[zitsky]

4 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

@LGW59just a couple minutes to reach an agent then transfer to resolutions who processed the refund manually and issued new invoice while still on the phone. Speediest transaction ever. Let's see when  it gets posted to my card. They estimated 7 to 10 days.

 

Is the invoice the same as booking  confirmation which is what I get from TA?

 

Why are some hold times short and some so long?

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

I haven't paid attention.  How often does X have fare sales like this?  I'm debating a December 2023 South America cruise (Patagonia) in Aqua on Infinity.  A 20% off makes it very attractive.

Hopefully never again for the employees’ sake. I can just imagine the nightmare it has been for those folks that have to process all of these discounts to exiting bookings as well as deal with all of the normal issues that go along with working with their clients. On top of that they are working shorthanded due to the cutbacks caused by the  pandemic. 

Edited September 18, 2021 by Ken the cruiser

[LGW59]

5 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Is the invoice the same as booking  confirmation which is what I get from TA?

 

Why are some hold times short and some so long?

It is approx 4 pages, lists booking number, suite number, each port/date, room charge, OBC, tax, port charges, internet/bev package/gratuities and insurance cost.  I always wait for them to email me while on the phone and review it then confirm that it is OK.  I also have seen folks post here that their planner is not updated with changes, never had this as an issue either.

 

I have no idea why some have such long hold times, honestly every time I call I generally get through in 5 mins or so, the 18 min I waited the other day was the longest I have waited.  

Edited September 18, 2021 by LGW59

[drakes2]

9 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

It is approx 4 pages, lists booking number, suite number, each port/date, room charge, OBC, tax, port charges, internet/bev package/gratuities and insurance cost.  I always wait for them to email me while on the phone and review it then confirm that it is OK.  I also have seen folks post here that their planner is not updated with changes, never had this as an issue either.

 

I have no idea why some have such long hold times, honestly every time I call I generally get through in 5 mins or so, the 18 min I waited the other day was the longest I have waited.  

I just logged in to my account and it shows the new updated invoice and total. I emailed my CVP this morning to let him know that its been looked after. Tempted to book a January cruise but want to be sure this cruise takes place. First one out of Florida after the cancelled TA. 

[zitsky]

33 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hopefully never again for the employees’ sake. I can just imagine the nightmare it has been for those folks that have to process all of these discounts to exiting bookings as well as deal with all of the normal issues that go along with working with their clients. On top of that they are working shorthanded due to the cutbacks caused by the  pandemic. 

 

Well I get that they're busy.  Not enough people on the phones.  But hopefully their IT systems can handle the load.  Maybe that's wishful thinking.  They're not using an abacus.

[DaKahuna]

55 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Well I get that they're busy.  Not enough people on the phones.  But hopefully their IT systems can handle the load.  Maybe that's wishful thinking.  They're not using an abacus.

I highly doubt the issue is Celebrity's IT systems.  Given that most of the customer care representatives that are answering the phones are working out of their houses, the slowest link in the chain is the quality and speed of that person's internet service connection.  If I understand what I have seen mentioned in other post about these people being in various countries, I can only image the differences in service they can provide based on the country/city of their work location.  

 

 

[zitsky]

26 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

I highly doubt the issue is Celebrity's IT systems.  Given that most of the customer care representatives that are answering the phones are working out of their houses, the slowest link in the chain is the quality and speed of that person's internet service connection.  If I understand what I have seen mentioned in other post about these people being in various countries, I can only image the differences in service they can provide based on the country/city of their work location.  

 

 

 

Those people working from home are connecting to some central IT system.  They aren't running the accounting system from their laptop.  Maybe an app that connects to it.  Probably also connecting to a customer service system of some kind.

[DaKahuna]

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

 

Those people working from home are connecting to some central IT system.  They aren't running the accounting system from their laptop.  Maybe an app that connects to it.  Probably also connecting to a customer service system of some kind.

Exactly, all of that across their home internet connection.   I highly doubt RCL ran dedicated connections to everyone's homes. 

 

[Stem to Stern]

Was the double Captains Club points offer extended as well?

[etiggercruiser]

I received an email from Celebrity a few minutes ago, they have extended the double CC points offer through 9/23 as well.

[Ken the cruiser]

4 minutes ago, EmQ-CA said:

I received an email from Celebrity a few minutes ago, they have extended the double CC points offer through 9/23 as well.

As anyone had any luck in submitting The Form for the double points perk on exiting cruises or is it only for new bookings? According to the T&C it's only for new booking on specific ships and timeframes.

 

_{Terms & Conditions:}

^{*Captain's Club Member Offer ("Offer") applies to new individual bookings. Captain's Club Members ("CC Members")  are eligible to receive double Club Points when they book a Veranda stateroom or higher between March 25, 2021 – October 3, 2021. Offer applies to Celebrity Summit sailings between July 3, 2021 through August 21, 2021 and Celebrity Apex sailings between June 19, 2021 through October 3, 2021.} 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2021 by Ken the cruiser