Might be done with Celebrity/ beware the upgrade

[Arizona Wildcat]

5 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

 Viking sounds fabulous and far from boring!  I know a lot of people who just love the experience on Viking and would never go back to Celebrity or any of the other mainstream cruiselines.  Yes, IV are not balconies.  Epic fail.

That being said, I do like the Celebrity product in general.  S class ships are wonderful.  Their website and their telephone agents are far from perfect, which does put people off from booking.  We’re giving it another shot on Apex and see how it goes.

We did Viking River cruises twice.  Interesting but food was truly terrible.  I do wonder why you do not use a TA?  No booking hassles and lots of refundable OBC.

[LGW59]

7 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

I'm not sure what it means by miserable people.

 

I don't see why this whole situation can't be resolved by getting a copy of a booking confirmation???

Apparently if one does not agree 100% without all the facts, and not showing compassion, need to look in the mirror to see how miserable one is.  I just looked in my mirror and I look darn happy.

[cruiser61262]

3 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Apparently if one does not agree 100% without all the facts, and not showing compassion, need to look in the mirror to see how miserable one is.  I just looked in my mirror and I look darn happy.

Funny… why would you think I was talking about you?  

[LGW59]

15 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

We did Viking River cruises twice.  Interesting but food was truly terrible.  I do wonder why you do not use a TA?  No booking hassles and lots of refundable OBC.

I speak from the experience of learning from folks here re importance of a TA.  Had been never understanding the reason.  Recently booked a 52 day cruise and I saw the light.  In addition to the $800 OBC from Celebrity for each of the four legs, then my TA added $2k for 2 of the legs and $1k for the other two, all refundable in cash to me.  My husband was a very happy camper.

[LGW59]

18 minutes ago, cruiser61262 said:

Funny… why would you think I was talking about you?  

Wishful thinking maybe?!?

[edgee]

5 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

I speak from the experience of learning from folks here re importance of a TA.  Had been never understanding the reason.  Recently booked a 52 day cruise and I saw the light.  In addition to the $800 OBC from Celebrity for each of the four legs, then my TA added $2k for 2 of the legs and $1k for the other two, all refundable in cash to me.  My husband was a very happy camper.

Booking a cruise without using a TA is a way to pay 5 to 12% more for your cruise.  Simple as that.

[terrydtx]

6 hours ago, DrKoob said:

Actually the real moral of this story is...use a travel agent. Then they could deal with this. Mine would have known to stick with it until they got what they came for. 

I am getting into this discussion late, but I agree with you 100%.  It seems like almost every time a CC member has a problem with the customer service with a cruise line it is because they choose to book directly with that cruise line. I have a TA with over 20 years of experience, something no CS rep with Celebrity has, and she has done things for me I thought were impossible to get done. Remember when dealing with a sales rep at the cruise line they work for the company not you, my TA works for me and me only and has MY best interests. I have used this TA now for 12 years. Its is like an old lesson I learned about buying property from real estate agents, never use the same agent that has the property listed for sale because that agent works for the seller. I have bought and sold a lot of properties in my life and I always use a buyer representative agent.

 

I have sympathy with the OP's plight, but his problem is the result of an undertrained rep and supervisor who both work for Celebrity and do not have his interests as their primary concern. This should be a lesson for all who think dealing directly with the cruise line is a better way to get what you want.

[mayleeman]

Really, what probably happened is that the situation was as described by the original rep, that a guarantee SV would allow the OP to get an assigned SV when the released cabins became available.

 

The problem was that the rep should have told the OP to call back in a couple days if they had not heard anything. Maybe the rep was not able for whatever reason to follow up, or maybe the rep forgot and made no reminder for anyone else to.

 

Once a long time went by, it seems it was treated by Celebrity as an indefinite guarantee and just left ignored until the OP called to ask. The supervisor sounds like someone who should get a job anywhere but customer service.

 

The OP was not at all at fault in the problem being created. But there is still a lesson that if something seems unusual, call back to confirm. Don't rely on the Celeb reps to follow up. Many are good (I have had nothing but good experiences) but it is doubtful that call center employees will be able to be proactive in following up on calls from days or weeks before like the CVPs do (used to do?).

 

If really dissatisfied enough to quit X, I'd take the refund. But I think a long history probably shouldn't be discarded due to one snafu since it was probably the cruising that kept the OP loyal, not the booking process!

 

Good luck, OP. I hope the escalation works.

[3boyz2keep]

On 12/8/2021 at 10:02 PM, WonderMan3 said:

They took a chance with getting any possible cabin within the Sunset Veranda category or higher, not being put in a lower category. I mean are you “taking a chance” if you booked a veranda with a cabin number but the cruise line overbooks and decides to put you in an inside cabin? You are aware how the guarantee program works, right?

Celebrity considers an Infinite Veranda (IV) an upgrade from the Sunset Veranda (SV). When I recently booked our Sunset Veranda they asked me if I wanted to upgrade to an Infinite Veranda. Celebrity did not attempt to give them (OP) a lesser cabin. They operated within their upgrade policy.

[Lady Arwen]

9 hours ago, LGW59 said:

I speak from the experience of learning from folks here re importance of a TA.  Had been never understanding the reason.  Recently booked a 52 day cruise and I saw the light.  In addition to the $800 OBC from Celebrity for each of the four legs, then my TA added $2k for 2 of the legs and $1k for the other two, all refundable in cash to me.  My husband was a very happy camper.

 Brilliant!

Edited December 10, 2021 by Lady Arwen

[wrk2cruise]

2 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Oh my goodness, you’re a woman!  I did not see that one coming.

 

Nope,  Don't make assumptions.

[Lady Arwen]

1 minute ago, wrk2cruise said:

 

Nope,  Don't make assumptions.

You are so right!  You just never know, do you.  Still very surprised.

[Lady Arwen]

10 hours ago, LGW59 said:

Well I had a few kind words in several posts, you selected one, that’s ok, I still say was a roll of the dice.  You mentioned to have “compassion “ 🧐 to have pity or concerns for the suffering and misfortunes of others.  Sure absolutely can see how this applies to the thousands of dollars one pays for cruise.  LOL

Actually, I said “empathy”.   You could look up the meaning of that word.

[zitsky]

15 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Actually, I said “empathy”.   You could look up the meaning of that word.

 

3 types of empathy.  Interesting.  I learned something new.

 

https://takealtus.com/2020/06/empathy-1/

Edited December 10, 2021 by zitsky

[Homosassa]

16 hours ago, cruiser61262 said:

 

1976 - First cruise on the Britanis.  Loved the Greek food options and wished French service was still the standard in the MDR instead of the plated food assembled in the kitchen.

[lv2cruisgrl]

Celebrity is a mess!  We have been trying to get my husband's Capt club account fixed since October to no avail. We were just on Equinox and talked to the Capt Club person on the ship and they finally got it worked on. They had deleted all my husband cruises and his account#.  It's still not fixed but hoping within the next week or so. We were told there is a glitch in their system, we are not the only ones. It's crazy 😧

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, lovrccl said:

Celebrity is a mess!  We have been trying to get my husband's Capt club account fixed since October to no avail. We were just on Equinox and talked to the Capt Club person on the ship and they finally got it worked on. They had deleted all my husband cruises and his account#.  It's still not fixed but hoping within the next week or so. We were told there is a glitch in their system, we are not the only ones. It's crazy 😧

You might want to just leave it alone for awhile.  

 

After our October B2B DH got a email welcoming him to the CaptIns Club and assigning him a CC # and gave him the points for the 2nd leg.  Neither of us had gotten points for the 1st leg.

I called and spoke to a very nice guy who said he would get things fixed it would take 3-4 days.  I waited 5 days then checked my account and it was all correct.
Then checked DHs and his total CC points were correct  but he showed 0 cruises🥸.  I waited a few days and checked again points were correct and all his missing cruises were there.  Of course I checked my account and my points were correct but now I showed no cruises.  A few days later my missing cruises were back and now both accounts are correct.

I’m glad I only called once as it seems it is a multi step process and  calling midway through could have made it worst.

 

[cdn_tbird]

2 hours ago, jelayne said:

You might want to just leave it alone for awhile.  

 

After our October B2B DH got a email welcoming him to the CaptIns Club and assigning him a CC # and gave him the points for the 2nd leg.  Neither of us had gotten points for the 1st leg.

I called and spoke to a very nice guy who said he would get things fixed it would take 3-4 days.  I waited 5 days then checked my account and it was all correct.
Then checked DHs and his total CC points were correct  but he showed 0 cruises🥸.  I waited a few days and checked again points were correct and all his missing cruises were there.  Of course I checked my account and my points were correct but now I showed no cruises.  A few days later my missing cruises were back and now both accounts are correct.

I’m glad I only called once as it seems it is a multi step process and  calling midway through could have made it worst.

 

There seems to be a lot of weirdness going on with CC accounts these days. Somehow after a PUP survey I was given a new account with 2 points. Wasn't too worried about it so I just emailed X. A few weeks later all of a sudden my old account with all points & cruises is back and the new one is gone. A couple of weeks after that I got an email from X apologizing for the inconvenience.

[sasset]

All of our past cruises are listed and our point status is correct. For some reason we have several cruises listed that we never took, never booked or even courtesy held. No points were awarded for any of those, but it's still just weird.

[Oceangoer2]

On 12/8/2021 at 11:18 PM, LGW59 said:

Simply based on my own personal experience with celebrity, never once had an issue. Your mileage seems to vary.  Hope it gets resolved.

 I once agreed with you on this point.  Never had a problem with a CVP in my Elite + cruising years.  Now I've a transfer/refund/future cruise credit problem and it's very different now with CS seemingly a call centre.  There's a format they follow and no diversions and of course no satisfaction at my end.  My CVP is ill and can't help;  she forwarded my concern to a colleague with NO response.  Tried Captains Club....said they can't help.  Been transferred 3 times through CS trying to resolve.  I have never been so frustrated with the service I'm receiving.  So the long term or first time cruiser is not getting what I've enjoyed these many years with CService.   Thinking at long last to change lines but may be the same or worse elsewhere.  Imagine the new cruiser experiencing this kind of frustration. 

[Oceangoer2]

On 12/9/2021 at 8:23 AM, Lady Arwen said:

What I find most disturbing, are the number of CC members who have no empathy whatsoever for the OP.  Is it necessary to treat people this way?  The OP was merely sharing her recent experience with  Celebrity and her frustration at how she was treated.  If you saw the situation in a different light, then just explain how you  came to that conclusion.  Period. There was no need to keep reiterating that she was to blame and how incredibly smart you are to never let this happen to you.  Please try to be kind.

There are MANY right-fighters on this forum.  Empathy is lost these days.  Just put yourself in their place.  They didn't make notes.  They trusted after many years sailing with X.  They asked for opinion or even support from our posters.  Why the back and forth and blame and 'should haves'.  As you say...be kind in your response.  It's not a joke to the poster.

[Lady Arwen]

3 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

There are MANY right-fighters on this forum.  Empathy is lost these days.  Just put yourself in their place.  They didn't make notes.  They trusted after many years sailing with X.  They asked for opinion or even support from our posters.  Why the back and forth and blame and 'should haves'.  As you say...be kind in your response.  It's not a joke to the poster.

Spot on!  All it takes is a little consideration and respect.  People are so bold when they hide behind their little screens.  Just speak to people the same way you would if you were face to face.

[zitsky]

17 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

 I once agreed with you on this point.  Never had a problem with a CVP in my Elite + cruising years.  Now I've a transfer/refund/future cruise credit problem and it's very different now with CS seemingly a call centre.  There's a format they follow and no diversions and of course no satisfaction at my end.  My CVP is ill and can't help;  she forwarded my concern to a colleague with NO response.  Tried Captains Club....said they can't help.  Been transferred 3 times through CS trying to resolve.  I have never been so frustrated with the service I'm receiving.  So the long term or first time cruiser is not getting what I've enjoyed these many years with CService.   Thinking at long last to change lines but may be the same or worse elsewhere.  Imagine the new cruiser experiencing this kind of frustration. 

 

You're very experienced, so I wonder if you have escalated to the CEO's office or if there is some contact for a supervisor in Customer Service?  Are you stuck dealing with first level customer service reps?

[Lady Arwen]

17 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

 I once agreed with you on this point.  Never had a problem with a CVP in my Elite + cruising years.  Now I've a transfer/refund/future cruise credit problem and it's very different now with CS seemingly a call centre.  There's a format they follow and no diversions and of course no satisfaction at my end.  My CVP is ill and can't help;  she forwarded my concern to a colleague with NO response.  Tried Captains Club....said they can't help.  Been transferred 3 times through CS trying to resolve.  I have never been so frustrated with the service I'm receiving.  So the long term or first time cruiser is not getting what I've enjoyed these many years with CService.   Thinking at long last to change lines but may be the same or worse elsewhere.  Imagine the new cruiser experiencing this kind of frustration. 

Sorry for your frustration.  Things just are not the same as they were two years ago.  I’m hoping that this will change in the near future and I do wish you good luck getting a positive outcome with your problem.

[davekathy]

11 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

Spot on!  All it takes is a little consideration and respect.  People are so bold when they hide behind their little screens.  Just speak to people the same way you would if you were face to face.

Agree. What ever I post on any CC forum I would have absolutely no problem saying to someone or a group face to face.