First Celebrity Cruise/TA Booking/Don't see upgraded drink package

[catbro]

This is my first Celebrity cruise and I have to say I really hate that customer service cannot discuss your own booking information and you are FORCED to go throught the booking agent, who I have not be very happy with. Departing in 75 days. My TA invoice included the additional fee to upgrade fom classic beverage package to upgraded beverage package. When I log into my Celebrity account it does not show I have the upgraded package and even offers it as a possible upgrade. So when does this happen, shouldn't it have been recorded with my originial booking. I don't think I will sail Celebrity again, I don't appreciate the lack of transparency. Thanks.

[cruisestitch]

Celebrity doesn’t seem to be able to differentiate between what you have already bought and what you might like to buy. So you get ads and announcements for things you already have.  It is frustrating.

 

If you find that you enjoy the celebrity cruise experience you can always book directly with them and not use a travel agent at all next time.  

[catbro]

There interface is the worst I've ever experienced. They are going to have to really wow us on this trip which I don't expect and I think we won't sail on the line again. They are so completely lacking in customer service.

 

[zitsky]

Many of us know that the IT systems are not as good as they could be.  But service onboard tends to be good.  You'll be the judge of that.

 

Since it's 75 days to the cruise I guess it's too late to cancel?  Is your deposit refundable or non refundable?

 

For you there may not be a next time, but I agree, book directly with Celebrity if you want to *talk* directly with Celebrity.

[NHCRUISIN]

You have decided you will never sail Celebrity again because 75 days before your cruise the upgraded drink package is not showing on your reservation ?  I decide by the actual cruise if it is worth sailing with a certain company…..I guess everyone is different in what they determine is important when it comes to cruising.

[LGW59]

2 hours ago, catbro said:

This is my first Celebrity cruise and I have to say I really hate that customer service cannot discuss your own booking information and you are FORCED to go throught the booking agent, who I have not be very happy with. Departing in 75 days. My TA invoice included the additional fee to upgrade fom classic beverage package to upgraded beverage package. When I log into my Celebrity account it does not show I have the upgraded package and even offers it as a possible upgrade. So when does this happen, shouldn't it have been recorded with my originial booking. I don't think I will sail Celebrity again, I don't appreciate the lack of transparency. Thanks.

Yes, based on just one experience, 75 days before you ever even step foot on a Celebrity ship...may I suggest a bit more patience and/or involve your TA who you are paying to assist you.

 

[DaKahuna]

You are not going to see these on the website. You booked through a TA so your booking invoice from the TA should show all of your perks and such.

 

As an example, we are booked in a Sky Suite in December.  On-line I see all the upgrade offers for the beverage packages even though we are Retreat class and the premium beverage package is included.

 

[mom says]

Don't blame Celebrity ; blame your TA. Since legally your TA owns the booking at this point, not you,  Celebrity will not discuss anything to do with the booking with anyone other than the TA. And this isn't restricted to just Celebrity. It has been our experience with the other lines we've sailed on as well.

 

Contact your TA and insist they contact Celebrity and correct the missing upgrade. Next time, pick a better TA.

[canderson]

10 hours ago, catbro said:

When I log into my Celebrity account it does not show I have the upgraded package and even offers it as a possible upgrade. So when does this happen, shouldn't it have been recorded with my originial booking. I don't think I will sail Celebrity again, I don't appreciate the lack of transparency. Thanks.

What you don't want to do is look at the web site to understand what you bought vs. what you can buy.  I'm staying in a cabin that comes with just about every whistle and bell you can imagine on my next cruise, and the web site still shows the premium beverage package and specialty restaurant packages (already part of my perks) as available options that I can purchase.  Please look at your invoice(s) from your TA.  What you're wanting to see should be encoded there.  We can help with that if you'll  tell us what you see.  There may be no correction needed.  You may see lines that read something like "TCP1-BEVPRINGRA10" or "YVY9-INTERNETSAV1".

 

There are two Celebrity Cruise Lines.  There is the one that runs the poorly executed IT side of the business and comes up with different answers on the phone depending upon who's on the other end, and there's the one that will take excellent care of you once you climb up that gangway.  Spend any time reading here, and you'll find that shoreside and shipboard experiences are often night and day.

[canderson]

9 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

If you find that you enjoy the celebrity cruise experience you can always book directly with them and not use a travel agent at all next time.  

Alas ... The silly web site won't look any different either way.  And Celebrity's invoices that require a newbie (and some not-newbies as well) to get out the secret decoder ring to decipher them won't look any different, either! 

 

@catbro

Dealing with agencies and how that changes your ability to communicate with a line's agents isn't just a Celebrity 'thing', either.  There are various reasons for working with one vs. the other, but your current situation isn't one of them that would have been helped either way.  Your heartburn comes from Celebrity's inept web communications, and that's not just a Celebrity 'thing' either, based upon our past experiences with other lines.

 

 

[jagoffee]

16 hours ago, catbro said:

This is my first Celebrity cruise and I have to say I really hate that customer service cannot discuss your own booking information and you are FORCED to go throught the booking agent, who I have not be very happy with. Departing in 75 days. My TA invoice included the additional fee to upgrade fom classic beverage package to upgraded beverage package. When I log into my Celebrity account it does not show I have the upgraded package and even offers it as a possible upgrade. So when does this happen, shouldn't it have been recorded with my originial booking. I don't think I will sail Celebrity again, I don't appreciate the lack of transparency. Thanks.

It would appear that you may have booked with a TA that does not have a lot of experience with Celebrity.  This may be causing you to be confused.

1.  Celebrity pays your TA a commission to mange your booking.  Hopefully your TA is sharing some of their commission with you.  (Refundable OBC).  You cannot really expect Celebrity to deal with you on every issue and still pay your TA a commission.  You can make this less confusing in the future by using a different more Celebrity experienced TA or booking directly with Celebrity.

 

2.  Since your drink package premium upgrade is on you TA’s invoice, it has not yet been paid. Unless the TA is comping you the cost, there is not reason for it to be on the TA invoice.  You could just upgrade directly with Celebrity after your final payment or once you are on board. Assuming that you booked with the AI package, the gratuities,Classic drink package, and internet should be reflected on your invoice and on line account.  Aren’t they?

 

3.  As others have said, the website can be confusing at times.  Fortunately the on board experience is much better.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

[davekathy]

20 hours ago, catbro said:

This is my first Celebrity cruise and I have to say I really hate that customer service cannot discuss your own booking information and you are FORCED to go throught the booking agent, who I have not be very happy with. Departing in 75 days. My TA invoice included the additional fee to upgrade fom classic beverage package to upgraded beverage package. When I log into my Celebrity account it does not show I have the upgraded package and even offers it as a possible upgrade. So when does this happen, shouldn't it have been recorded with my originial booking. I don't think I will sail Celebrity again, I don't appreciate the lack of transparency. Thanks.

What other cruise lines have you cruised with that will discuss your booking you made with a TA? Ask  your TA to call Celebrity and request a guest copy of your invoice. Customer service is part of their job also. Or call  1-888-307-8413 and follow the prompts. 

 

 

[CalTexCruiser]

While I love Celebrity and agree their onboard service is fantastic, I do wish they would invest a bit more effort into making their reservation portal more informative.  How hard is it to list what perks are part of a reservation?

[jagoffee]

1 hour ago, CalTexCruiser said:

While I love Celebrity and agree their onboard service is fantastic, I do wish they would invest a bit more effort into making their reservation portal more informative.  How hard is it to list what perks are part of a reservation?

They don’t?  I would guess the OP’s on line account does state that they have the Classic Drink package, because it is part of his standard booking.  Likely it does not say that they have the Premium upgrade because it may be before final payment and they actually do not have the Premium upgrade yet.

[canderson]

7 minutes ago, jagoffee said:

They don’t?  I would guess the OP’s on line account does state that they have the Classic Drink package, because it is part of his standard booking.  Likely it does not say that they have the Premium upgrade because it may be before final payment and they actually do not have the Premium upgrade yet.

We don't yet know what's on the OP's invoice ... it may all be there, just not in distinguishable style.  And as I say, the web cruise planner site is still trying to sell me specialty dining packages and the premium drink package, and we are in a RS where that makes even less sense.

[upwarduk]

Have you downloaded the Celebrity app? 
I would check on there.

It certainly shows the 2 excursions that I have booked. 

[jagoffee]

29 minutes ago, canderson said:

We don't yet know what's on the OP's invoice ... it may all be there, just not in distinguishable style.  And as I say, the web cruise planner site is still trying to sell me specialty dining packages and the premium drink package, and we are in a RS where that makes even less sense.

Good points.  I thought I previously could see my included “perks” under order history, but not now.  What you say as always been true, I guess I am just used to it.

[CalTexCruiser]

I don't see any of the AI perks in my reservation details on the Celebrity portal (except for the OBC).

 

On my Sep Apex cruise, I just assumed that the AI perks would automatically activate once I'm onboard.

 

Not true in my case.  My wife had no problem on her Wifi package, but they showed I did not get a Wifi package when I was told when booking it was included.

 

The concierge had to work with the IT guy on board to get my Wifi package activated.

 

If the reservation details would reliably list what's included, I could have taken care of it before I got on board.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by CalTexCruiser

[Jeremiah1212]

Did you book with the Indulge or Elevate package? Otherwise I'm curious to see how the TA made a Cruise Planner purchase on your behalf and included it on the invoice.

 

FWIW, you typically see the option to upgrade drink packages online only after final payment. 

[gimletgal]

On 10/15/2021 at 1:47 PM, catbro said:

This is my first Celebrity cruise and I have to say I really hate that customer service cannot discuss your own booking information and you are FORCED to go throught the booking agent, who I have not be very happy with. Departing in 75 days. My TA invoice included the additional fee to upgrade fom classic beverage package to upgraded beverage package. When I log into my Celebrity account it does not show I have the upgraded package and even offers it as a possible upgrade. So when does this happen, shouldn't it have been recorded with my originial booking. I don't think I will sail Celebrity again, I don't appreciate the lack of transparency. Thanks.

All the cruise lines I deal with are the same. If you have an issue with your booking and went through a TA, you need to run everything through the TA. 

[zitsky]

I've been told several times "talk to your TA".  When X had a fare sale and I couldn't get a hold of the TA I was told, too bad.

[gimletgal]

On 10/15/2021 at 3:00 PM, catbro said:

There interface is the worst I've ever experienced. They are going to have to really wow us on this trip which I don't expect and I think we won't sail on the line again. They are so completely lacking in customer service.

 

You need to ask your TA for a copy of the “Booking Confirmation” that Celebrity sent to them. That should show everything. Many TA’s conveniently “forget” to share this very important piece of the booking process.