Celebrity’s Offshore Call Centers Sink Their Reputation For Service

[Bobsgonecoastal]

I take no joy in reporting my experience with X when service is required on existing bookings.

My comments do not include their domestic new bookings cruise planners.
We are long time X cruisers, so we experienced Celebrity at its peak.

Anyone who has called the main number recently, knows the phone tree has separate selections for service of existing bookings and New bookings.  During the C-19 debacle, X decided to eliminate the cruise planner role that many of us frequent cruisers enjoyed.  I had a personal CP who I exclusively used for my X bookings, service and advice.   He was a treasure of information, handled my new bookings, all service on existing bookings,  and was a great help.  Boy, do I miss those days!  No need to sit on the phone for 45 minutes to get someone at a foreign call center with little or no experience, and even less knowledge of  the Celebrity system.  This is not meant to be critical of these hard working people, but certainly of bad decisions coming from the corner suite of Celebrity management.  Latest example: After several attempts to service a booked cruise, I simply resorted to canceling my booking, taking the $200 hit, and rebook with a new cruise reflecting the changes I wanted from the service department.  I have had these folks actually tell me they could not switch a booking to a different cruise, and/or apply FCCs to the change without help from a supervisor.  When I asked if they would go ahead and ask for help from their supervisor I was hung up on.  I called the service center a second time, asked to cancel the same booking, so I could rebook with the FCCs they hung up on me again. Really, and I was being as nice and polite as I could be.  My message to LLP, service should not change after the sale, it’s the same customer, and we don’t forget.  It’s not a good look for a supposedly premium cruise line.  

 

[RTShaker]

I take it that your original CP is no longer with Celebrity? My guy is still there to do all of my new and servicing. I do agree that the current batch of call centre staff are not up to speed.

Edited September 26, 2022 by RTShaker

[Bobsgonecoastal]

6 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

I take it that your original CP is no longer with Celebrity? My guy is still there to do all of my new and servicing. I do agree that the current batch of call centre staff are not up to speed.

RT, I had assumed they eliminated the CPs, but glad to hear you have one.  I received a call one day from a someone who said she was my new CP.  I took her info, but when I called and emailed to book a cruise, my call and email were never returned. Maybe  I’ll get lucky and find a CP like I had.  They can be a great resource.

Bob

[jelayne]

I book with a TA but do occasionally call to upgrade wi-fi or something similar.

I have encountered reps who are clearly new and have to get assistance from a supervisor who is not located where the rep is.   Calls take longer than pre shut down but hold times are improving as staffing is increasing. Every rep I have spoken to has been polite, and eager to help.  When they have to put me on hold while they check something they come back and update me and apologize for the hold.   None  have ever hung up on me.  
We have cruised frequently for almost 20 years, 11 on X and I still struggle at times with pricing, promotions and associated terms and conditions, which amenities come with which cabins, which ship have which restaurants or what the deadline is to cancel a excursion, or a cruise’ etc.  I can only imagine the learning curve these new reps are dealing with and try not to take my frustration out on them.

[letsgogogo]

2 hours ago, Bobsgonecoastal said:

No need to sit on the phone for 45 minutes to get someone at a foreign call center with little or no experience, and even less knowledge of  the Celebrity system.

This is not unique to Celebrity. Most of the western world is experiencing major staffing shortages. Wages are very high in order to attract and restrain employees, and in many cases, it’s not enough. Faced between high cost domestic labor which is not that reliable currently (I know this personally as I work in HR and recruiting) or offshoring the servicing of existing bookings/sales, companies are having to do this out of necessity. Raising fares to cover the higher cost of domestic labor wouldn’t get more people cruising again. And even if they did raise fares enough to provide the kind of service that you miss, it’s virtually impossible to retain employees in this market. Someone else is always paying more. None of this helps us as customers, but this is where the labor market is currently. Better time than ever to use a TA. 

[Alakegirl]

Agree….a travel agent should b able to take care of all that for you

[Cruise a holic]

We used to have very well trained competent people answering the phone.  Today I feel like a call center of inexperienced people now answer the phone.  I have been disconnected, given incorrect information on multiple occasions.  We have been cruising over 22 years- mostly Celebrity and Royal.   If representatives are properly trained, perhaps business would increase for the cruise lines.  

 

Hire and train better people Celebrity please.  I also just started using a TA for easier access to information.

[LGW59]

My experience for virtually all of my lifting/shifting/canceling/rebooking/new bookings, has been always a very positive and helpful experience.  Longest wait time I’ve had the past 2+ years was 18 minutes, I’ve been called back when they said they would, utilized the chat feature to good results.  My TA also reports that in his experience Celebrity is still one of the best customer service experience he and his team work with.

[PKB]

Not trying to open a can of worms here, or start a war...this is an honest, legitimate question....Could someone explain to me the reasoning for contacting Celebrity planners directly for new bookings and subsequent adjustments, answers to questions, and all the things a travel agent would do?

[Oceangoer2]

26 minutes ago, PKB said:

Not trying to open a can of worms here, or start a war...this is an honest, legitimate question....Could someone explain to me the reasoning for contacting Celebrity planners directly for new bookings and subsequent adjustments, answers to questions, and all the things a travel agent would do?

In my case, contacting a CVP is a direct contact with Celebrity, not a go between with a TA or a non-continual agent if contacting Celebrity CS.  Both have merit, but I prefer to have access to my booking AND have an X agent who will do what I can't do online.  I do my homework eg:  cruise selection, pricing, etc on their website then contact my PVP to book;  we build a relationship of sorts which has been quite workable over time.

Edited September 26, 2022 by Oceangoer2

[Algebralovr]

57 minutes ago, PKB said:

Not trying to open a can of worms here, or start a war...this is an honest, legitimate question....Could someone explain to me the reasoning for contacting Celebrity planners directly for new bookings and subsequent adjustments, answers to questions, and all the things a travel agent would do?

I’ve been known to use both. 
I have a travel agent, but I’ve learned that my TA only makes about 5% commission.  The rest of it is split between the agency, the agency group, and the OBC the agency provides as a reward for booking.  If the expected commissionable cost of my cruise is super low, I skip the TA and go directly to a Celebrity CVP.  For example, I booked a cruise in Sept 2021 for last Christmas that was about 250/per person.  I booked it right before final payment, online, then called the TA to see if she wanted to pull it in.  She told me it really wasn’t worth bothering with, that her commission was only going to be $25, and that it would require a couple of hours of phone time.  The price was so low she would not be able to offer any OBC.  Her agency uses a formula to award appreciation OBC and our cruise cost before taxes was below the minimum.  
 

I managed to hook up with a Celebrity CVP around the same time.  She is salaried with Celebrity, has a direct phone number, direct email, and works from home.  Great gal.  
 

So now, if I want to book a budget cruise, I call the CVP and she gets points for doing the booking.  If I am planning a cruise in advance and it is over a price threshold I call my TA.   There is no reason to waste my TA’s time with a cruise that I find last minute for a super low price.  Could I?  Yes, and would she likely book it? Yes… particularly after final payment if she can just use my card directly inside of Cruising Power, but if anything else comes up, then she and I end up spending far too much time on the phone.  At that point, it is honestly easier for both of us for me to just book directly. 

[CaroleSS]

My experience has been similar to Bob's. Wait times exceeding 1.5 hours and then I am connected with someone who does not know anything about the ship, excursions, etc. I had to call to upgrade to the Premium package and the agent quoted me a price (which I questioned several times). Afterwards a different price showed up on my cruise planner. I had to call back (wait on hold another 2 hours) only to be told that the agent had made a mistake. 
 

While I agree that they are all polite and apologize for everything....they are not as knowledgeable as they should be and the wait times for incorrect information is frustrating.

 

The chat feature can be frustrating as well as their scope is very limited. Most times all they have done for me is to give me a phone number to call.

 

Yes, it is frustrating.

[Oceangoer2]

17 minutes ago, Algebralovr said:

So now, if I want to book a budget cruise, I call the CVP and she gets points for doing the booking.

This is interesting.  My CVP has never mentioned her 'merit' system.  I thought salaried was just that.  Can you share how that works and how you know if not told by her directly?  So if she wants to take vacation/time off she can do so without any HO repercussions?  I've experienced this and left hanging for 3 weeks waiting for a response with no peer covering for her.  Received a lot of 'sorryies' but that didn't help my situation.  TIA.

[Algebralovr]

@Oceangoer2 my CVP said the points are for completing the booking, and get her things like choice of schedule, etc.  Apparently they get to choose their schedule every three months, based on the merit system.  It is a fairly common way to do it when a system needs to be manned more than regular business hours.    When my CVP started, she was working essentially 2nd shift, starting at 3 pm, and worked every weekend.  The last 6 months, she has worked 9am to 6pm M-F.  She said she got to swap to more preferred hours based on the number of cruises she completed bookings for.  
 

If she is off, she is off.  However, because the booking is owned by Celebrity, rather than a TA, if she is not available, I can speak to any agent and get a question answered or issue resolved…. Assuming the agent is capable of doing so.  
 

I’ll admit, it still gets frustrating.  I had left her a message to call me back, so I could pre-pay gratuities (based on my credit card closing dates) and she didn’t.  I tried to online and it wanted to re-rate the entire cruise and charge a lot more.  I tried to call the regular line and was frustrated by untrained agents and long hold times.  
 

I finally sent email to the exec suite office, and had a US based agent calling me back the next day who handled everything.  

[Oceangoer2]

19 minutes ago, Algebralovr said:

@Oceangoer2 my CVP said the points are for completing the booking, and get her things like choice of schedule, etc.  Apparently they get to choose their schedule every three months, based on the merit system.  It is a fairly common way to do it when a system needs to be manned more than regular business hours.    When my CVP started, she was working essentially 2nd shift, starting at 3 pm, and worked every weekend.  The last 6 months, she has worked 9am to 6pm M-F.  She said she got to swap to more preferred hours based on the number of cruises she completed bookings for.  
 

If she is off, she is off.  However, because the booking is owned by Celebrity, rather than a TA, if she is not available, I can speak to any agent and get a question answered or issue resolved…. Assuming the agent is capable of doing so.  
 

I’ll admit, it still gets frustrating.  I had left her a message to call me back, so I could pre-pay gratuities (based on my credit card closing dates) and she didn’t.  I tried to online and it wanted to re-rate the entire cruise and charge a lot more.  I tried to call the regular line and was frustrated by untrained agents and long hold times.  
 

I finally sent email to the exec suite office, and had a US based agent calling me back the next day who handled everything.  

That's GREAT information.  I've been using CVP's for over 10 years and never knew anything about performance merit or the fact I could use another CVP in her absence.  It's quite inconvenient when I can't contact her if there's a pricing change which would entail a few booking enhancements which go beyond the norm and I want to keep (complicated and has been a BIG problem during covid cancellations).  And yes, they want to rebook and not use the original booking number which changes everything.  Each CVP seems to protect their client list to themselves and if I do contact another (saved phone #s or I wouldn't know who to contact), I feel that it's a favour that's being done.  So that's where the merit system kicks in I guess.

[PKB]

I didn't know for sure but I suspected a travel agent's commission was around 5%.  Our cruise history has involved multiple cabins the last 10 years or so, making a travel agent a valuable resource.  Traveling with only my spouse will be an adjustment, especially at meals.  Love the full table for dinner.  The upside for our next cruise on Reflection will be in the retreat and Luminae.  

[edgee]

6 hours ago, Oceangoer2 said:

In my case, contacting a CVP is a direct contact with Celebrity, not a go between with a TA or a non-continual agent if contacting Celebrity CS.  Both have merit, but I prefer to have access to my booking AND have an X agent who will do what I can't do online.  I do my homework eg:  cruise selection, pricing, etc on their website then contact my PVP to book;  we build a relationship of sorts which has been quite workable over time.

Important to note that there is a price to pay for booking directly. Based on the 8 to 10% rebate I receive from my TA with gratuities often added in, I figure that if I were to book direct it would cost me about 10% more for the cruise. I cannot see paying extra for the perceived ability to have more control over my cruise. My TA also provides excellent service.

[canderson]

40 minutes ago, edgee said:

Important to note that there is a price to pay for booking directly. Based on the 8 to 10% rebate I receive from my TA with gratuities often added in, I figure that if I were to book direct it would cost me about 10% more for the cruise. I cannot see paying extra for the perceived ability to have more control over my cruise. My TA also provides excellent service.

Indeed.  Some complain about access, but when you get a TA that will take your call and book your cabin while waiting at the gate for his/her airplane to fill, it's hard to beat.  Actually happened when I went to add daughter & SIL to our next cruise when I saw a corner S1 pop up as available.

[Arizona Wildcat]

10 hours ago, Cruise a holic said:

We used to have very well trained competent people answering the phone.  Today I feel like a call center of inexperienced people now answer the phone.  I have been disconnected, given incorrect information on multiple occasions.  We have been cruising over 22 years- mostly Celebrity and Royal.   If representatives are properly trained, perhaps business would increase for the cruise lines.  

 

Hire and train better people Celebrity please.  I also just started using a TA for easier access to information.

How do you suggest that Celebrity do that?  Have 2 call centers nearby in Tucson. Both have had turnover reach 200% a year.  4X that of precovid.   They also are stuffed at about 75%.  Everyone is in the same situation.

I found an excellent TA a while ago.  They can provide the service you are requesting.  You just need to find one.

[ScottC4746]

20 hours ago, Bobsgonecoastal said:

I take no joy in reporting my experience with X when service is required on existing bookings.

My comments do not include their domestic new bookings cruise planners.
We are long time X cruisers, so we experienced Celebrity at its peak.

Anyone who has called the main number recently, knows the phone tree has separate selections for service of existing bookings and New bookings.  During the C-19 debacle, X decided to eliminate the cruise planner role that many of us frequent cruisers enjoyed.  I had a personal CP who I exclusively used for my X bookings, service and advice.   He was a treasure of information, handled my new bookings, all service on existing bookings,  and was a great help.  Boy, do I miss those days!  No need to sit on the phone for 45 minutes to get someone at a foreign call center with little or no experience, and even less knowledge of  the Celebrity system.  This is not meant to be critical of these hard working people, but certainly of bad decisions coming from the corner suite of Celebrity management.  Latest example: After several attempts to service a booked cruise, I simply resorted to canceling my booking, taking the $200 hit, and rebook with a new cruise reflecting the changes I wanted from the service department.  I have had these folks actually tell me they could not switch a booking to a different cruise, and/or apply FCCs to the change without help from a supervisor.  When I asked if they would go ahead and ask for help from their supervisor I was hung up on.  I called the service center a second time, asked to cancel the same booking, so I could rebook with the FCCs they hung up on me again. Really, and I was being as nice and polite as I could be.  My message to LLP, service should not change after the sale, it’s the same customer, and we don’t forget.  It’s not a good look for a supposedly premium cruise line.  

 

My first cruise on X in September I decided to book on my own.  NEVER AGAIN because of this.  From here on out it is a TA for me.

[AlbertaCruisers]

I have used a TA in the past and never had great service and never really saw a reason for them when I could deal with everything myself when I wanted.  I did have a vacation planner through Celebrity, who was amazing, but if for some reason he wasn't available I could still call.  He left during the pandemic and is no longer there.  Before the pandemic I could call, almost never had wait times and always got amazing service.

 

Now, what a mess.  Wait times were huge but I was still getting good service a while ago.  I called this weekend, and a lady picked up really quickly (less than 2 minute hold), but it was clear that she had no idea what she was doing.  She took down all my information and then had to place me on a brief hold to look into the changes.  It quickly became apparent that she had no idea what she was doing and she was getting in touch with someone else when I was on hold.  I was moving a refundable deposit cruise made onboard to a different cruise, which I have done many times before.  I had to tell her that I did not have to pay the $100 change fee because I had a refundable deposit, she fought me on it and I had to ask her to confirm with "someone else" (which I assumed would be the person she was putting me on hold to talk to), and then she came back and confirmed I was right.  She then fought me on losing my OBC for booking onboard and I had to ask her to confirm with someone else and again she confirmed I was right and I got to keep that OBC.  Finally she wanted me to pay the rest of the regular deposit, again she fought me on that and said I was wrong, and once she confirmed with someone else she came back to confirm my $200 deposit for booking onboard was all I had to pay until final payment.  In the end, everything was done correctly and I have the correct invoice, but it still took over 1 hour to move 1 cruise, which is ridiculous.  It may have been less painful to wait on hold for 1 hour (while doing other things) and get someone that knew what they were doing and took the normal approx 5 minutes to get it done!

 

Edit:  With the service issues, I worry that someone doing this alone, that doesn't know the deals and how things work may miss out.

Edited September 26, 2022 by AlbertaCruisers

[ScottC4746]

2 minutes ago, AlbertaCruisers said:

I have used a TA in the past and never had great service and never really saw a reason for them when I could deal with everything myself when I wanted.  I did have a vacation planner through Celebrity, who was amazing, but if for some reason he wasn't available I could still call.  He left during the pandemic and is no longer there.  Before the pandemic I could call, almost never had wait times and always got amazing service.

 

Now, what a mess.  Wait times were huge but I was still getting good service a while ago.  I called this weekend, and a lady picked up really quickly (less than 2 minute hold), but it was clear that she had no idea what she was doing.  She took down all my information and then had to place me on a brief hold to look into the changes.  It quickly became apparent that she had no idea what she was doing and she was getting in touch with someone else when I was on hold.  I was moving a refundable deposit cruise made onboard to a different cruise, which I have done many times before.  I had to tell her that I did not have to pay the $100 change fee because I had a refundable deposit, she fought me on it and I had to ask her to confirm with "someone else" (which I assumed would be the person she was putting me on hold to talk to), and then she came back and confirmed I was right.  She then fought me on losing my OBC for booking onboard and I had to ask her to confirm with someone else and again she confirmed I was right and I got to keep that OBC.  Finally she wanted me to pay the rest of the regular deposit, again she fought me on that and said I was wrong, and once she confirmed with someone else she came back to confirm my $200 deposit for booking onboard was all I had to pay until final payment.  In the end, everything was done correctly and I have the correct invoice, but it still took over 1 hour to move 1 cruise, which is ridiculous.  It may have been less painful to wait on hold for 1 hour (while doing other things) and get someone that knew what they were doing and took the normal approx 5 minutes to get it done!

 

Edit:  With the service issues, I worry that someone doing this alone, that doesn't know the deals and how things work may miss out.

I too had a so called dedicated VP from X.  I am still waiting for his return reply to my emails and phone messages from 6 months ago.

[Algebralovr]

2 hours ago, PKB said:

I didn't know for sure but I suspected a travel agent's commission was around 5%.  Our cruise history has involved multiple cabins the last 10 years or so, making a travel agent a valuable resource.  Traveling with only my spouse will be an adjustment, especially at meals.  Love the full table for dinner.  The upside for our next cruise on Reflection will be in the retreat and Luminae.  

I believe the commission paid by the cruiseline to the travel agency  is actually about 20%.  I’m sure it can be higher, if an agency sells a LOT of Celebrity/Royal cruises.  Not certain, just an educated guess.  It is split up a number of ways.  Part goes to the individual agent. Part goes to the agency, and part goes to the group the agency belongs to.

 

So, if your agency is associated with AMEX, then AMEX travel gets part of the commission, strips off their share, and sends the agency their share.  The agency strips off the overhead they charge the agent, strips off the OBC awarded to the client by their formula, and then pays the actual agent their individual commission.  
 

I’m not a TA, but I’m going off the numbers of OBC I’ve received and comments my TA has made. 

[letsgogogo]

3 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

How do you suggest that Celebrity do that?  Have 2 call centers nearby in Tucson. Both have had turnover reach 200% a year.  4X that of precovid.   They also are stuffed at about 75%.  Everyone is in the same situation.

All that!

[ScottC4746]

13 hours ago, Algebralovr said:

I’m not a TA, but I’m going off the numbers of OBC I’ve received and comments my TA has made. 

I left my former TA because of similar comments.  Mostly, "make sure you want to make this change because I have to wait on hold for over an hour."  A TA should never overshare.