Cruise next week - 2 ports changed/cancelled

[michaeljc70]

Celebrity just cancelled 29 cruises on the Infinity moving them from Europe to the Caribbean. I'm surprised they didn't just say instead of Barcelona, you'll be going to the Bahamas...instead of Portugal you'll be going to Port Au Prince....instead of Rome you'll be going to Roatan......

[zitsky]

Just now, michaeljc70 said:

Celebrity just cancelled 29 cruises on the Infinity moving them from Europe to the Caribbean. I'm surprised they didn't just say instead of Barcelona, you'll be going to the Bahamas...instead of Portugal you'll be going to Port Au Prince....instead of Rome you'll be going to Roatan......

I know you don’t work for Celebrity’s marketing department but you should.

[TeeRick]

The pandemic lasting this long has hurt the business solvency of many enterprises land and sea.  Unfortunately Crystal is the latest cruise line casualty.  Maybe it will be purchased by a larger line and it will survive.  Others might follow in the near future.  Too bad but predictable unfortunately.  I would be worried about Azamara which was recently cut loose from RCG.  It is a difficult time for smaller lines that are independent to remain in business.  The survivors like Silversea (now part of RCG) should hopefully be ok.  Also Seabourn owned by Carnival.  Or Oceana and Regent owned by NCL. 

 

Here is a good summary:

 

https://thepointsguy.com/news/crystal-cruises-travel-brand-special/

[Keepin_outOcold]

On 1/19/2022 at 10:05 AM, michaeljc70 said:

That is the cruise we were on.   We were really interested in the overnight in Cartagena.  Though Grand Cayman is not terribly exciting, their port in Honduras is less than desirable to me.  That combined with the thought of being quarantined if you get Covid pushed us over the line.  There are also being changes made to entertainment, food, activities, etc. on ships that get outbreaks (and probably ships that don't).    

 

We cruised in November on the Edge without issue.  We look forward to cruising again when things are less volatile which I think will not be that far off. 

 

We are wait for Grand Cayman to be changed for or cruise on Equinox March 4. We would welcome Roatan, Honduras in its place. Roatan, It is and island off Honduras and safer than many other Caribbean islands. The reefs are beautiful, shallow and close to the beach. They speak English and are very protective of their tourist business.

[jeno]

On 1/20/2022 at 3:22 PM, jelayne said:

We cancelled a cruise about 2 weeks ago and it was about 5 days before it dropped of the app and our list of upcoming cruises. 

We cancelled our 1/29/22 cruise on 1/6 and it’s still showing on the Celebrity website.  We do have email confirming it was cancelled, but sure hope it disappears before the start of the cruise! 

[zitsky]

3 hours ago, jeno said:

We cancelled our 1/29/22 cruise on 1/6 and it’s still showing on the Celebrity website.  We do have email confirming it was cancelled, but sure hope it disappears before the start of the cruise! 

Did Celebrity cancel it or did you cancel it???

[jeno]

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

Did Celebrity cancel it or did you cancel it???

We cancelled it.  It was a cruise with my book club and some of the ladies are in their eighties. They just wanted to postpone the cruise.  Celebrity wouldn’t let us roll the credit to a new cruise.  Had to cancel and then rebook. 

[zitsky]

13 minutes ago, jeno said:

We cancelled it.  It was a cruise with my book club and some of the ladies are in their eighties. They just wanted to postpone the cruise.  Celebrity wouldn’t let us roll the credit to a new cruise.  Had to cancel and then rebook. 

I am waiting to hear from my TA if I can use my credit.  It would be more than a year after the cancelled cruise.

[chamima]

On 1/18/2022 at 5:53 PM, michaeljc70 said:

We cancelled our cruise leaving next Monday.  They changed 2 ports to 2 different ports (and added a sea day since one port was an overnight port) that we have no interest in.  As I understand it, we only get a future cruise credit.  Is that correct?   Essentially, half the ports were changed so I'm not real happy if that is true.  Not that we won't use the credit ever....but it was booked with a friend that has a hard time taking time off work.  

 

33 minutes ago, zitsky said:

I am waiting to hear from my TA if I can use my credit.  It would be more than a year after the cancelled cruise.

 

I wonder if Celebrity opened that narrow window (sail by Dec. 2022 or one year from your cancelled cruise) to sail by Dec. 2023 the same as the airlines have done if that would alleviate a lot of the dissatisfaction with  their current policy.They would still have the use of the money from all of those paid in full cruises for all of that time.

Edited January 23, 2022 by chamima

[daydreamer16]

I cancelled my 1/24 cruise on 12/31 but it still shows up on the app & I got an email reminder today about my cruise tomorrow! 🙁 My TA is holding a March cruise for me & will roll over the FCC whenever it comes. It's a pain but a least the TA is on it!

[michaeljc70]

From Celebrity's website:

 

• FCCs must be used by April 30, 2022, on sailings departing on or before December 31, 2022, or one year from the original sailing date, whichever is later.

So, assuming it takes a month or two to get my credit, that doesn't leave much time if I am reading this correctly.  It must be booked by 4/30/22.  I cancelled in January and might not get the credit until March.....

 

Does anyone know how this credit works?  If I booked with person X, do I need to use it with person X?  I paid for the whole thing myself.

Edited January 23, 2022 by michaeljc70

[chamima]

25 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

I wonder if Celebrity opened that narrow window (sail by Dec. 2022 or one year from your cancelled cruise) to sail by Dec. 2023 the same as the airlines have done if that would alleviate a lot of the dissatisfaction with  their current policy.They would still have the use of the money from all of those paid in full cruises for all of that time.

 

8 minutes ago, michaeljc70 said:

From Celebrity's website:

 

• FCCs must be used by April 30, 2022, on sailings departing on or before December 31, 2022, or one year from the original sailing date, whichever is later.

So, assuming it takes a month or two to get my credit, that doesn't leave much time if I am reading this correctly.  It must be booked by 4/30/22.  I cancelled in January and might not get the credit until March.....

 

Does anyone know how this credit works?  If I booked with person X, do I need to use it with person X?  I paid for the whole thing myself.

 

 

You're right - they'll never get all of these FCCs out in time for people to book under their current guidelines.

So I amend my recommendation to "book by 4/30/23 and sail by December 2023. That gives people with limited vacation time a window to arrange future time off.

It would generate a lot of good will.

And I reiterate - they still have use of all of the money we all paid for these cruises for the time between now and December 2023.

[kidz_rn]

58 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

 

You're right - they'll never get all of these FCCs out in time for people to book under their current guidelines.

So I amend my recommendation to "book by 4/30/23 and sail by December 2023. That gives people with limited vacation time a window to arrange future time off.

It would generate a lot of good will.

And I reiterate - they still have use of all of the money we all paid for these cruises for the time between now and December 2023.

I certainly hope X implements your suggestion! 😀  We have a b2b booked for Jan. 2023 where Week 1 qualifies and Week 2 does not!  😔

[TeaBag]

Celebrity doesn't seem to know anything about good will.  Yesterday I cancelled an April cruise, FP due today, as they would not agree to give me another 30 days to make FP.  They would rather have an empty cabin.  Both HAL and Princess have changed to 60 days out for FP instead of the 90.  Good for them.

OP, I'm sorry that you had to cancel.  I know how you feel.  I hope you find another cruise and that things will be better by then.  I hate what this virus has done to us all and I'm not just talking about cruising.

[Virginia100]

1 hour ago, chamima said:

 

 

 

You're right - they'll never get all of these FCCs out in time for people to book under their current guidelines.

So I amend my recommendation to "book by 4/30/23 and sail by December 2023. That gives people with limited vacation time a window to arrange future time off.

It would generate a lot of good will.

And I reiterate - they still have use of all of the money we all paid for these cruises for the time between now and December 2023.

I cancelled my 2/21 cruise a few weeks ago and received my FCC by email in two weeks. The FCC document stated it expired 4/30 and did not mention the one year from original sail date. This seemed incorrect snd I called Celebrity customer service and they said that info was incorrect and the info printed on the FCC document was not yet updated. The CS rep said the expiration date is 5/31 as I thought and  it is good for any cruise one year from original sail date, in my case 2/21/23. My hope now is the final payment is changed from 90 days for my August cruise to a more appropriate 30 or 60 days. 90 is far too much these days. I agree extended the expiration date to 12/31/23 would be a great service to all.

[moeson]

On 1/20/2022 at 3:02 PM, michaeljc70 said:

My travel agent said it could take 75 days for the credit to show up.....so I guess I won't be booking anything soon.  Unless this is just worst case scenario.   Anyone know how long it typically takes?

 

My cruise is still showing on my Celebrity account even though the travel agent said she canceled 4 days ago.  Should I be alarmed?  I would think this is all electronic and fast.....

I canceled on 1/4 and am still waiting for air fare and port fee refunds. I've confirmed the cancelation, but the cruise still shows in my Celebrity account too.

[michaeljc70]

  

39 minutes ago, moeson said:

I canceled on 1/4 and am still waiting for air fare and port fee refunds. I've confirmed the cancelation, but the cruise still shows in my Celebrity account too.

 

 

I uninstalled the Celebrity app the other day as I was getting a ton of notifications like I was on the ship for safety things, embarkation, etc.  

Edited January 26, 2022 by michaeljc70

[zitsky]

2 minutes ago, michaeljc70 said:

  

 

 

I uninstalled the Celebrity app the other day as I was getting a ton of notifications like I was on the ship for safety things, embarkation, etc.  

 

I would love that.  Would make me feel like I was on board.

[39august]

Didn't X extend the book by period to the end of this year about a week or so ago?  I got a note from my TA that he got a notice stating that. It was "apply by or use by" Dec. 31, 2022 or one year from original sail date. 

[Arizona Wildcat]

2 hours ago, moeson said:

I canceled on 1/4 and am still waiting for air fare and port fee refunds. I've confirmed the cancelation, but the cruise still shows in my Celebrity account too.

Because it will take at least 30 and up to 90 days to process all the refunds and the FCC.

[michaeljc70]

FYI...I just found that you can cancel directly with Celebrity rather than your TA:

 

https://cancellation.celebritycruises.com/?brand=C

 

I thought it had to be done through the travel agent. 

[michaeljc70]

As an update....it has been 6 weeks and I still haven't received my cruise credit.  I frankly cannot imagine why it takes this long.  It is 2022....computers????  Do they use a teletype and filing cabinet?

Edited March 3, 2022 by michaeljc70

[Loracpin2]

9 minutes ago, michaeljc70 said:

As an update....it has been 6 weeks and I still haven't received my cruise credit.  I frankly cannot imagine why it takes this long.  It is 2022....computers????  Do they use a teletype and filing cabinet?

We cancelled on December 27th and are still waiting!!

[jelayne]

Volume of cancellations and staffing issues.  We cancelled  mid January and were told it would be 45-60 days.  The refund to our credit card of taxes and fees and the upgrade to the beverage package occurred about 3 weeks later.  We had paid a portion of the fare with a FCC from a previously cancelled and that FCC has been reissued however the FCC for the remaining has not arrived. I will have my TA follow up when we get over 60 days.

 

if you have not cancelled a cruise with Celebrity before a few things I have

learned.  
FCCs are emailed to you ( 1 for each person on the booking).  If you booked with a TA they can see when the FCC was issued and how much the FCC is for. Sometimes theses emailed FCCs go to a junk mail folder so you may want to check there

 

Taxes and fees are refunded to the credit card on file  as are purchases  (excursions ,specialty dining, upgrade of the beverage)   you made but you do not receive any notice of the refund being processed. These refunds are not a,ways combined into 1credit but often as separate credits, for each item.

[Jim_Iain]

On 1/18/2022 at 7:10 PM, michaeljc70 said:

I've been on a lot of cruises over the last 25 years.  Of course there have been small changes due to weather, unrest, strikes or whatever.  I do feel if 1/2 of the itinerary changes that is something different.  I'll deal with it, but I think when loyal customers take a chance in the middle of a pandemic and you cannot offer close to what they bought, you should get a refund.  

 

You have the option to cancel up until 48 hours before departure under the Sail With Confidence Program.   If the changes are enough to ruin your vacation I would take that option and change your cruise to one that suites you expectations better.    The program was put in place to help mitigate ports changing due to situations not under Celebrity's Control.