Strange wording in my confirmation email from Celebrity...not sure what to make of it.

[dlh015]

After booking a Caribbean cruise for January a couple nights ago, I received my confirmation email and in it was:

 

"A valid driver's license, state-issued ID, proper military identification, or proper proof of fire/police employment (badge or ID) will be required for validation at the pier. If age, state of residency, military, or fire/police participation cannot be validated, you will be charged the standard rate or denied boarding."

 

It sounds like I'm expected to be a member of the military or fire/police organization (which I am not) and that I'm getting a discount for such. And I did not check anything (there was nothing to check) that indicated I was.

 

Is this just bad wording (imo) and is the normal thing to find in their confirmation letter??

 

Thanks!

[LeeW]

Could be a state discount booking.

[realnice46]

We clicked box for military discount which we received and also confirmation similar to yours that we needed to provide proof on boarding which we have. I would call just to confirm mistake you wouldn’t want to be embarrassed at embarkation. 

[Denny01]

Yes, it appears you got the military/police/fire discount and you need to get that cleared up. Not a big deal, but could be a hassle…….If they ask for confirmation. 

 

Although I’ve not been asked, kind of like when I used a AAA or AARP (I fake being over 55!) hotel discount…I dont remember ever being required to prove it, but not a good idea to let it go. Could be a bit embarrassing.

 

den 

[Markham123]

I received that message when I booked a cruise for March 2023 and I knew I didn’t click that I was part of military. Called Captains Club and they said all was good and msg was auto generated. Make sure you get a copy of your invoice since mine was messed up. 

[madmedic]

8 hours ago, realnice46 said:

We clicked box for military discount which we received and also confirmation similar to yours that we needed to provide proof on boarding which we have. I would call just to confirm mistake you wouldn’t want to be embarrassed at embarkation. 

I get military discount but have never seen a tick box. I have to call X to book. Is this new or only for US bookings ? I'm in the UK. 

[RichYak]

11 hours ago, dlh015 said:

A valid driver's license, state-issued ID

This indicates to me that you may have booked a resident rate, if they even still exist.

[cangelmd]

23 minutes ago, madmedic said:

I get military discount but have never seen a tick box. I have to call X to book. Is this new or only for US bookings ? I'm in the UK. 

Maybe a US website thing. Here, when you are trying to do a booking yourself, or even if you are checking cabin availability, you click through a series of screens asking about various things that would affect the quoted price, including military discount. The way the screens are set up, it’s real easy to accidentally click a discount.

[cangelmd]

5 minutes ago, RichYak said:

This indicates to me that you may have booked a resident rate, if they even still exist.

Don’t resident rates apply for anyone living in a state having any Celebrity departures? We always think about Florida, but I think NJ, Alaska and CA may qualify too?

[Moonarino]

17 minutes ago, RichYak said:

This indicates to me that you may have booked a resident rate, if they even still exist.

 

One possibility it seems. I actually count four possible booking discounts in the wording. Military and Fire/Police are typically two different checkboxes (in the US at least), and then "age" is added in the second sentence. So it seems to me the phrasing is just a catch-all for four discount criteria -- senior citizen, state of residence. military, or fire/police, as also itemized in the second sentence.

(Edited to remove "all" four, remembering "past guest" which makes it five.)

Edited August 10, 2022 by Moonarino

[Moonarino]

7 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

Don’t resident rates apply for anyone living in a state having any Celebrity departures? We always think about Florida, but I think NJ, Alaska and CA may qualify too?

No. I've gotten a state-of-residence discount at least once, for the state of North Carolina, and there are no cruise ports of any brand here.

[Jeremiah1212]

7 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

Don’t resident rates apply for anyone living in a state having any Celebrity departures? We always think about Florida, but I think NJ, Alaska and CA may qualify too?

 

Resident rates are called Local Luxury now but dependent on the sailing, there are offers out there for SC, GA, TN, LA, TX, AL, FL, NC and all of Canada. NJ, AK, and CA are not listed. 

 

 

 

[RichYak]

8 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

Don’t resident rates apply for anyone living in a state having any Celebrity departures? We always think about Florida, but I think NJ, Alaska and CA may qualify too?

It's not automatic though. You have to choose to book a resident rate, then prove your residency at the pier when boarding. OP appears to have booked some form of discounted rate that requires verification at boarding.

[Moonarino]

1 minute ago, RichYak said:

It's not automatic though. You have to choose to book a resident rate, then prove your residency at the pier when boarding. OP appears to have booked some form of discounted rate that requires verification at boarding.

And the only one that doesn't require verification is Past Guest.

 

[Homosassa]

1 hour ago, cangelmd said:

Don’t resident rates apply for anyone living in a state having any Celebrity departures? We always think about Florida, but I think NJ, Alaska and CA may qualify too?

No.  Residents of the state with the embarkation port usually do not get a resident rate.

 

We received resident rates when we lived in New York and in Maryland for cruises departing from Florida.

 

Cruise lines will offer the discounts to residents of states other then the state of the embarkation port to bring in passengers that may not have otherwise booked.

 

We have also received resident state discount offers after final payment for cruises leaving from a local port (Baltimore and now Florida) to entice us to fill an empty cabin.

[dlh015]

Thanks to everyone for your responses. I'll be calling customer support again. Just in case.

 

Being somewhat OCD 🙂, I took screenshots of the entire booking process. At no time is there a box or screen indicating any discount whatsoever for anything. Which is why I am concerned about this wording. 

 

However, in the guest invoice I received from customer support are the following lines:

 

Booking Charge     Guest #1   Guest #2     Guest #3      Guest #4          Total

BOGO60 SGL            -776.00         0.00           0.00               0.00              -776.00

 

So I need to ask CS just what BOGO60 SGL is.

 

Also, the guest invoice says nothing about military, police/fire discount...unless that is what BOGO60 SGL stands for. In which case I would have expected the CS person to tell me that. 

 

Looks like more hold time on the phone...unless someone here knows what the BOGO60 SGL code means. I sure don't...this is my first cruise with X...not the way I wanted to start out  🤪

 

ETA: And looking at Manage My Reservation online it has under  OFFERS:

          DISCOUNT                                 - $776.00    USD

with no mention of what the discount is for...

Edited August 10, 2022 by dlh015
Added more info

[canderson]

Assume you're cruising solo.  BOGO60 SGL  looks like coding for a solo fare at the 60% promotional rate they've been running.

[dlh015]

7 minutes ago, canderson said:

Assume you're cruising solo.  BOGO60 SGL  looks like coding for a solo fare at the 60% promotional rate they've been running.

Thanks, I think so, too. It seems obvious. But I will check just to be sure. It's the wording in that email that bugs me. I certainly do not want to show up and then find out there is a problem. 

 

 

[Jeremiah1212]

4 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

Thanks, I think so, too. It seems obvious. But I will check just to be sure. It's the wording in that email that bugs me. I certainly do not want to show up and then find out there is a problem. 

 

 

 

What you are seeing is 100% normal. Any email from Celebrity with the subject "Your Celebrity Cruises Reservation Summary for Reservation #:12345678"  will have that verbiage at the end. I have an email box full of them and I have never booked a military/fire/police rate. The discount you are seeing is because there is no second passenger or single supplement on your sailing. 

[JuliaMS]

"If age, state of residency, military, or fire/police participation cannot be validated"
You could have received any one of those four rates

[dlh015]

27 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

What you are seeing is 100% normal. Any email from Celebrity with the subject "Your Celebrity Cruises Reservation Summary for Reservation #:12345678"  will have that verbiage at the end. I have an email box full of them and I have never booked a military/fire/police rate. The discount you are seeing is because there is no second passenger or single supplement on your sailing. 

Thank you! That is precisely what I wanted to know. In my OP I asked:

Is this just bad wording (imo) and is the normal thing to find in their confirmation letter??

 

 

 So it's their standard wording. That could use a little re-working imo...

 

[cangelmd]

I want to apologize for posting what seems to be erroneous info- and I get a resident discount, who knew?! Mea culpa.

[wrk2cruise]

You have to select a resident discount, it's not automatic.   It's a separate fare and historically didn't come with perks.   Not sure since AI but I would assume it's cruise only.

 

In order to book with any of the "discounts" you have to select "See if you qualify for any offers"