Might be done with Celebrity/ beware the upgrade

[Lady Arwen]

56 minutes ago, davekathy said:

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

And that is a really good thing!  As long as what you say is respectful, truthful and kind.  Not everyone on these boards meets that criteria.

[suspaul]

17 hours ago, edgee said:

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

edgee……dI’m so sorry for misquoting your post, you’re correct.  Please, please disregard my response.  Next time I promise to read the original post 😞. 

 

 

Edited December 10, 2021 by suspaul
Error on my part, please delete

[edgee]

1 minute ago, suspaul said:

Only my opinion but have to totally disagree with you.  We just booked a celebrity cruise thru our TA, same exact price as celebrity quoted, same perks and same OBC BUT we’ll receive a check from TA for $600.  So no, not paying a cent more.

You and I agree! I said if you DO NOT use a TA you are, in effect, paying more because you lose out on benefits TAs give which effectively reduce the price of the cruise.  In your case you would have paid $600 more if you had gone thru Celebrity directly instead of TA.

[davekathy]

38 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

And that is a really good thing!  As long as what you say is respectful, truthful and kind.  Not everyone on these boards meets that criteria.

I realize this is way off topic but IMO there are also some that can't except the truth and will call it offensive, disrespectful or unkind because another poster disagrees and is voicing their opinion. CC is the only social media I belong to so my exposer is very limited. IMO (again) the CC Mod squad dose a good job of monitoring and keeping posts civil within the CC guidelines. 

[zitsky]

29 minutes ago, davekathy said:

I realize this is way off topic but IMO there are also some that can't except the truth and will call it offensive, disrespectful or unkind because another poster disagrees and is voicing their opinion. CC is the only social media I belong to so my exposer is very limited. IMO (again) the CC Mod squad dose a good job of monitoring and keeping posts civil within the CC guidelines. 

 

I've learned that some people want posters to be direct while others want you to say "I sympathize with you" or "I'm sorry you feel that way".

 

The problem is that you don't know who is who until someone scolds you for being rude.

[deliver42]

Of course, finding the right TA is paramount, and there are no guideline. It's trial and error. No thanks, I don't like trial and error. I'll just be stupid and know who I'm dealing with, which is Celebrity.

[davekathy]

2 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

I've learned that some people want posters to be direct while others want you to say "I sympathize with you" or "I'm sorry you feel that way".

 

The problem is that you don't know who is who until someone scolds you for being rude.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Empathy or sympathy. I just laugh at those that want it their way or the highway. Again, only the CC mod squad has the final say what an acceptable post is. Speaking for myself, I'm thick skinned so to speak and not easily offended. 

[Oceangoer2]

4 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

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?

At this point, waiting for my CVP to recover (a few days most likely).  Not at the escalation point YET.  But thanks for your concern and response.

[Oceangoer2]

1 hour ago, davekathy said:

Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Empathy or sympathy. I just laugh at those that want it their way or the highway. Again, only the CC mod squad has the final say what an acceptable post is. Speaking for myself, I'm thick skinned so to speak and not easily offended. 

LOL...it shows!  Those who are thick skinned tend to think everyone else should be. 

[edgee]

1 hour ago, deliver42 said:

Of course, finding the right TA is paramount, and there are no guideline. It's trial and error. No thanks, I don't like trial and error. I'll just be stupid and know who I'm dealing with, which is Celebrity.

Not stupid.. While I am "pro TA" for the significant money difference, also recognize that some folks feel they have more control and are most comfortable with ability to communicate more directly with the cruise line. 

[davekathy]

58 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

LOL...it shows!  Those who are thick skinned tend to think everyone else should be. 

Thanks for the laugh. 😂 Sounds like something a "right-fighter" would say. 😉

 

BTW, you can't speak for me and/or what I think. Years ago someone told me, "people don't have to like you and you don't have to care". Be yourself. At least I own it. 

 

To stay on topic, I got an updated invoice today from my Celebrity booking agent. I got a small unexpected rate decrease on our September 2022 cruise. 👍

[zitsky]

2 hours ago, edgee said:

Not stupid.. While I am "pro TA" for the significant money difference, also recognize that some folks feel they have more control and are most comfortable with ability to communicate more directly with the cruise line. 

 

When I read stories about Celebrity customer service, I wonder how much control people have?

[deliver42]

For me, I just like to talk directly with whatever cruise line. It's like having a conversation. With a 3rd party, I really don't know what's going on until someone tells me, and I still don't know if it's accurate.

[zitsky]

3 hours ago, deliver42 said:

For me, I just like to talk directly with whatever cruise line. It's like having a conversation. With a 3rd party, I really don't know what's going on until someone tells me, and I still don't know if it's accurate.

 

It doesn't seem complicated.  I tell the TA to do ABC.  Then I have multiple ways to confirm with Celebrity.  I'm not on hold for 2 hours.  I have no status so I don't have a special phone number to call.

[jagoffee]

18 hours ago, deliver42 said:

Of course, finding the right TA is paramount, and there are no guideline. It's trial and error. No thanks, I don't like trial and error. I'll just be stupid and know who I'm dealing with, which is Celebrity.

 

6 hours ago, deliver42 said:

For me, I just like to talk directly with whatever cruise line. It's like having a conversation. With a 3rd party, I really don't know what's going on until someone tells me, and I still don't know if it's accurate.

Certainly very understandable.  If it were  not for the extra 8% refundable OBC that I receive from our TA, I would also book direct.  For me it is not worth paying 8% extra to book direct.  For others it is worth the premium, but I am a low maintenance cruiser. .  I pick out own cruises, my own cabins, and monitor my cruise prices.  

[canderson]

6 hours ago, deliver42 said:

For me, I just like to talk directly with whatever cruise line. It's like having a conversation. With a 3rd party, I really don't know what's going on until someone tells me, and I still don't know if it's accurate.

Given the current state of shoreside service by Celebrity (can't speak for other lines), I don't see how you could think that you're getting accurate information there.  A good TA will have far more experience and better policy insight than 99% of these inexperienced people answering the phone at Celebrity at the moment.  Pretty sad situation, but in this current state of things, a good TA is likely to be providing better information than a first tier X employee on the phone.

 

[deliver42]

I guess you're lucky, because I haven't found TA's to be that helpful. I have to see what's happening, then talk to the TA who will contact the line. No thanks.

[Pinboy]

19 hours ago, Lady Arwen said:

 As long as what you say is respectful, truthful and kind.

After reading 7 pages --- it appears that there was miscommunication between both parties which resulted in several " wars on words " amongst CCers.

Some dopes on CC certainly aren't " respectful, truthful and kind " because they can hide in their basement behind a computer and criticize others ? Quite few are easy to spot--- so, just take it from whom it comes . 

Back to the topic--- We never book a Gty -- just in case we, oops, " you know who " is not happy with the location. The few $$ extra is well worth it.

We want to know our cabin number and receive a confirmation in writing immediately.

We have also booked future cruises while on board or with Big Box travel ( receive a gift card for about 8 % of the cost of the cruise after the cruise )  and never had a problem. 

 

  

[Lady Arwen]

18 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

After reading 7 pages --- it appears that there was miscommunication between both parties which resulted in several " wars on words " amongst CCers.

Some dopes on CC certainly aren't " respectful, truthful and kind " because they can hide in their basement behind a computer and criticize others ? Quite few are easy to spot--- so, just take it from whom it comes . 

Back to the topic--- We never book a Gty -- just in case we, oops, " you know who " is not happy with the location. The few $$ extra is well worth it.

We want to know our cabin number and receive a confirmation in writing immediately.

We have also booked future cruises while on board or with Big Box travel ( receive a gift card for about 8 % of the cost of the cruise after the cruise )  and never had a problem. 

 

  

We’ve never booked a guarantee cabin because the not knowing would kill me!  God forbid, we should be too far forward, too far aft, too close to the elevators, too far from the elevators, too high, too low, too noisy, too far from the action!  I choose our cabin only after my husband and I have had a meeting to discuss pros and cons, with me having the deciding vote, of course.  The only guarantee I want is that everything is exactly what I want. Unless, of course, we get upgraded to a Royal suite, then I could be flexible.

[canderson]

45 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

I guess you're lucky, because I haven't found TA's to be that helpful. I have to see what's happening, then talk to the TA who will contact the line. No thanks.

TAs come in a lot of flavors, and in an extraordinary range of experience and quality.  The new trend to "online" and "big box" TAs without the true personal touch contact hasn't helped.  

 

Sorry your experiences haven't been good.  Mine remains excellent, very responsive and pro-active.  She contacts ME about pricing changes, application of FCC & etc before I can even call to inquire.  She knows X's policies as well or better than the people at X that she works with since she's been doing this much longer than most of them.  She's the one that waits on the phone to 'batch' her X issues for her clients into a single call, saving us a ton of hold time.  A TA that good would, I think, change your mind.

Edited December 11, 2021 by canderson

[zitsky]

41 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

After reading 7 pages --- it appears that there was miscommunication between both parties which resulted in several " wars on words " amongst CCers.

Some dopes on CC certainly aren't " respectful, truthful and kind " because they can hide in their basement behind a computer and criticize others ? Quite few are easy to spot--- so, just take it from whom it comes . 

Back to the topic--- We never book a Gty -- just in case we, oops, " you know who " is not happy with the location. The few $$ extra is well worth it.

We want to know our cabin number and receive a confirmation in writing immediately.

We have also booked future cruises while on board or with Big Box travel ( receive a gift card for about 8 % of the cost of the cruise after the cruise )  and never had a problem. 

 

  

 

Respectful, truthful and kind.

 

Sure I can relate to that.  I don't know what "side" of the conversation I'm on, although I can guess.  I think people should be careful not to suggest that there is only one way to communicate. 

[Lady Arwen]

24 minutes ago, zitsky said:

 

Respectful, truthful and kind.

 

Sure I can relate to that.  I don't know what "side" of the conversation I'm on, although I can guess.  I think people should be careful not to suggest that there is only one way to communicate. 

There are many ways to communicate.  You can be on either side and you can agree or disagree.  Everyone is entitled to speak their mind and offer their opinion.  Just ask yourself before you talk/type “Is this how I would want someone to speak to me?”  Personally, I love a good debate!  I hate bullies.  I think you’re very much the same.

Edited December 11, 2021 by Lady Arwen

[zitsky]

6 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

There are many ways to communicate.  You can be on either side and you can agree or disagree.  Everyone is entitled to speak their mind and offer their opinion.  Just ask yourself before you talk/type “Is this how I would want someone to speak to me?”  Personally, I love a good debate!  I hate bullies.  I think you’re very much the same.

 

I think you can be polite but direct.  I don’t think those have to conflict.  Thank you.

 

Look how we talk about Celebrity?!  We certainly don't pull any punches.

[lara68]

On 12/9/2021 at 9:54 PM, cruiser61262 said:

Ok people…. To answer some questions.   Yes I have all of my booking documents from the very beginning not that I have any idea why that is relevant.  It is really quite simple:  I was told that there was a sunset veranda available and that it would be given to me after the rooms were processed after being returned by a travel agent.   Celebrity did not follow through.  They dropped the ball not me.

1.) Yes the IV is I higher category then the one  I originally booked,  but even if I did unknowingly book a “Sunset Veranda Guarantee”  an obstructed view IV is in no way an upgrade from an SV and I will be willing to die on that hill.

2.) If I did unknowingly book a “SV guarantee”,  why were my all inclusive perks not taken away  when they are not included in that category.

3.) the supervisor stated that she was able to go back and listen to the original conversation and stated that the agent would be sent for retraining.  To me that is an admission that I was wronged by an untrained agent.

4 .). I sent an email to the CEO and I received a response from her office in less than 24 hours.  I have a meeting with her representative scheduled next week to talk about what occurred.  If Celebrity feels that I have no legitimate complaint why wouldn’t they just ignore my email?

I really appreciate the support that most of you have given me, but some people on this thread should really take a look in the mirror and try to figure out why they are such miserable people

Thank you so much for  clearly stating your entire dealings with Celebrity and what occurred.  My husband and I have been cruising Celebrity 30+ Years and have come to rely on Celebrity . If they  messed up something on our booking, they bent over backwards to fix it.  Maybe I'm naive, or just plain lucky.   To me this is a no brainer.  If in good faith, the OP booked a certain cabin category and was told it was only temporily being booked under "guarantee",  why would the OP expect less?   This wasn't "rolling the dice" to me as the OP wasn't intentionally booking a quarantee.   Good Luck!  I suspect Celebrity will make it right.

[zitsky]

20 minutes ago, lara68 said:

Thank you so much for  clearly stating your entire dealings with Celebrity and what occurred.  My husband and I have been cruising Celebrity 30+ Years and have come to rely on Celebrity . If they  messed up something on our booking, they bent over backwards to fix it.  Maybe I'm naive, or just plain lucky.   To me this is a no brainer.  If in good faith, the OP booked a certain cabin category and was told it was only temporily being booked under "guarantee",  why would the OP expect less?   This wasn't "rolling the dice" to me as the OP wasn't intentionally booking a quarantee.   Good Luck!  I suspect Celebrity will make it right.

 

I just reread OP's post.  It was my understanding that they did agree to an Sunset Veranda Guarantee but they wanted a cabin number.  (I didn't realize guarantee worked that way.)  OP should be given a sunset veranda or better.