Elite + Specialty Dining Discount

[Islander500]

Last spring, we sailed on Edge. We had prepaid for dinner on Eden because we wanted to get in on first evening (there was mo discount). Since we are entitled to a 15% Elite Plus discount, we went early to see if the Maitre’ D could help us. She said no; go to Customer Relations.  We said OK and proceeded to enjoy our dinner (which was fantastic, btw).  
Next day, we stop at customer relations. The young lady had no idea what to do.  She called the restaurant while we waited to no avail. Not them. She walks in the back. Eventually, asks us to stop by the next day & she’ll sort it out. The next day, she said she was working on it and would call us. Around the 5th day, we see a credit posted to our account. It was for the exact amount we were expecting but was entitled, Port Taxes Credit.  And, no, we didn’t miss any ports or have an itinerary change. Okay, whatever.  

Our next cruise is in January. I called captains club to make a specialty dining reservation with our 15% discount to avoid that same situation. I was told that it had to be done on-board.  There are only a few time slots left open so I even spoke to the Supervisor who explained they have no way to book it with the discount on the phone (nor can it be done online.) So we booked it without the discount and she told me to speak to the Maitre’d or Customer Relations once on-board. The next day she sent me an email and said she’d posted an OBC for the 15% to my account.  

I looked back at my phone and realized I’d been talking to the initial Captains Club rep, and then the supervisor, or on multiple holds for 1 hour and 26 minutes.   

Anyone have a similar experience?  What is the accepted way to book with the Elite Plus discount?  

 

 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

How nice would it be if they'd just apply the discount when booking online?! Seems it would save a ton of hassle.

 

(not holding my breath)

Tom

[hampshirelad]

I have had problems with the 15% Elite plus discount, but this is when we have booked onboard. For a couple or more to get the discount on each meal you must handover  both  (all) your  cabin cards otherwise you will get effectively 7.5%  discount (or proportion)on the total.

 

Thanks for the info on a work around with online bookings.  Looks like you need to be patient and persistent.

[Beachlover1989]

We booked Eden almost a year early in order to get a reservation. I called Captain’s Club and they couldn’t figure out how to give me the discount, so gave us OBC instead for the difference we should have had.

 

I love Celebrity, but I sure wish they would have systems in place to handle it when they add these benefits ☹️

[Islander500]

44 minutes ago, Beachlover1989 said:

We booked Eden almost a year early in order to get a reservation. I called Captain’s Club and they couldn’t figure out how to give me the discount, so gave us OBC instead for the difference we should have had.

 

I love Celebrity, but I sure wish they would have systems in place to handle it when they add these benefits ☹️

That’s good to know. Maybe that’s the specific ask (an OBC for 15%) when you call to reserve in advance or have booked online.  That’s how it was eventually “fixed” for me, too. 
Coincidentally, I just got an email from Celebrity inviting us to book specialty restaurants & advising, “They’re extremely popular so book today”.  
You really have to laugh!  
 

[mandream]

I always book what I want, then ask the Maitre 'D to make the adjustment.  The only issue I had was last cruise I didn't see the credit on my account after a couple days - so I had to go back and ask again.  He was very apologetic and took care of it while I stood there.

 

Would be nice if it could be taken care of when making the reservation, but hasn't been a hassle for me in the past.  Seems I've been lucky.

 

Mike

[Lastdance]

I had so much trouble getting the appropriate OBC during my last two cruises that I almost gave up.  Not only for speciality restaurants, but for the correct amount from Celebrity and my TA.  Why do I have to spend so much time correcting errors on my cruise?  Yes, I had all my paperwork too, but that really didn't help very much.  Finally, I just gave up on some of the extra OBC because it just wasn't worth the aggravation.  I do not want to go through this again on my future cruises, so please, Celebrity, do it right the first time and allow me to relax on my cruises, as that is what I pay for in the first place.

Edited December 19, 2022 by Lastdance

[Islander500]

11 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

I had so much trouble getting the appropriate OBC during my last two cruises that I almost gave up.  Not only for speciality restaurants, but for the correct amount from Celebrity and my TA.  Why do I have to spend so much time correcting errors on my cruise?  Yes, I had all my paperwork too, but that really didn't help very much.  Finally, I just gave up on some of the extra OBC because it just wasn't worth the aggravation.  I do not want to go through this again on my future cruises, so please, Celebrity, do it right the first time and allow me to relax on my cruises, as that is what I pay for in the first place.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist but I'm convinced that it's deliberate.  Think of how many folks forget to ask (multiple times) or just give up. That saves Celebrity lots of money in the aggregate. 

When you book amenities or extras on-line within your account, the Celebrity system knows your Captain's Club Level, so connecting that status to the pricing of items booked on-line cannot be that complex.  I'm guessing (and I admit not based on any data, only experience) that more than 50% of people entitled to status discounts don't get them. Anyone think it's higher? 😉

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

10 minutes ago, Islander500 said:

I'm not a conspiracy theorist but I'm convinced that it's deliberate.  Think of how many folks forget to ask (multiple times) or just give up. That saves Celebrity lots of money in the aggregate. 

When you book amenities or extras on-line within your account, the Celebrity system knows your Captain's Club Level, so connecting that status to the pricing of items booked on-line cannot be that complex.  I'm guessing (and I admit not based on any data, only experience) that more than 50% of people entitled to status discounts don't get them. Anyone think it's higher? 😉

I want to join a conspiracy. Any conspiracy.

 

So, I'm in on this one, fellow conspirators!

 

Whew. That feels better.

 

I'm calling the Geico gecko to say I saved a buck!

[jelayne]

36 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

I had so much trouble getting the appropriate OBC during my last two cruises that I almost gave up.  Not only for speciality restaurants, but for the correct amount from Celebrity and my TA.  Why do I have to spend so much time correcting errors on my cruise?  Yes, I had all my paperwork too, but that really didn't help very much.  Finally, I just gave up on some of the extra OBC because it just wasn't worth the aggravation.  I do not want to go through this again on my future cruises, so please, Celebrity, do it right the first time and allow me to relax on my cruises, as that is what I pay for in the first place.

I can honestly say that I have never had a problem having the correct OBC from either Celebrity or my TA.

🤞I didn’t just jinx myself.

[Tudy]

We have had trouble getting the specialty dining discount as well. We booked onboard. We did talk with the maitre"d prior to our reservation because we wanted to make sure that we got the Elite+ discount. "Yes, yes, of course." We reminded the waiter when we ordered. "Yes, yes, of course." When it was time for the check, the waiter told us we didn't need to sign. Looked at our account the next morning. WE DID NOT GET THE DISCOUNT.

 

I hightailed it down to guest services. Merely stated that I had reminded the waiter about the Elite+ discount and that he agreed but did not give us a check to sign and we did not receive the discount. Guest services took care of it and the amount was credited to our account within 24 hours.

[hampshirelad]

• Have taken this from the current Murano web page
•  
• Offers are non-transferable and not combinable with Captain Club discounts or any other offer or promotion.

We are Elite plus and  were going to book Murano for a July cruise. The bookings have a small discount of 8% at the moment. Does this mean that they will no longer apply Captains Club discount in these situations

 

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated

 

Why make something simple when you can make it complicated

[kathynorth]

We booked Eden online and then called Captain's Club to try to get the discount posted. We were told this had to happen through guest services. When we went to Guest Services upon boarding we were directed to a "specialty dining" table that was set up next to where everyone was trying to set up their internet packages. We waited on the restaurant line and they applied our elite+ discount as OBC. We would not have known why the table was there if the person at Guest Services hadn't pointed it out to us. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, Islander500 said:

I'm not a conspiracy theorist but I'm convinced that it's deliberate.  Think of how many folks forget to ask (multiple times) or just give up. That saves Celebrity lots of money in the aggregate. 

When you book amenities or extras on-line within your account, the Celebrity system knows your Captain's Club Level, so connecting that status to the pricing of items booked on-line cannot be that complex.  I'm guessing (and I admit not based on any data, only experience) that more than 50% of people entitled to status discounts don't get them. Anyone think it's higher? 😉

 

1 hour ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

I want to join a conspiracy. Any conspiracy.

 

So, I'm in on this one, fellow conspirators!

 

Whew. That feels better.

 

I'm calling the Geico gecko to say I saved a buck!

I used to be on team conspiracy but on a recent sailing I heard a bartender rant about how terrible their point of sale system was.  So it appears it’s both a software limitation and a lack of training the crew.

 

Even on their website, it seems incapable applying a discount based on your CC status for anything

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

27 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

I used to be on team conspiracy but on a recent sailing I heard a bartender rant about how terrible their point of sale system was.  So it appears it’s both a software limitation and a lack of training the crew.

 

Even on their website, it seems incapable applying a discount based on your CC status for anything

 

Enjoy a Muffuletta for me at Emeril's !!

 

Tom

[mandream]

34 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

... how terrible their point of sale system was.

 

Can't say I'm all that surprised.....

 

Mike

[Lastdance]

32 minutes ago, mandream said:

 

Can't say I'm all that surprised.....

 

Mike

At this point in time, nothing surprises me at all in life.  That's my claim and I am sticking to it!

[Islander500]

1 hour ago, hampshirelad said:

• Have taken this from the current Murano web page
•  
• Offers are non-transferable and not combinable with Captain Club discounts or any other offer or promotion.

We are Elite plus and  were going to book Murano for a July cruise. The bookings have a small discount of 8% at the moment. Does this mean that they will no longer apply Captains Club discount in these situations

 

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated

 

Why make something simple when you can make it complicated

 

1 hour ago, hampshirelad said:

• Have taken this from the current Murano web page
•  
• Offers are non-transferable and not combinable with Captain Club discounts or any other offer or promotion.

We are Elite plus and  were going to book Murano for a July cruise. The bookings have a small discount of 8% at the moment. Does this mean that they will no longer apply Captains Club discount in these situations

 

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated

 

Why make something simple when you can make it complicated

Ha!  Thats the other thing I didn’t mention in my original post because it would have made it too complicated.  

During my extended phone conversation, I was told that the discounts currently advertised are not combinable with the captains club status discount of 15%.   So the discount I got was the difference between them. 
In effect, the 15% off they promised for loyalty is from the regular price, not the sale price. 
Loyalty is overrated!  

[hrhdhd]

1 hour ago, hampshirelad said:

• We are Elite plus and  were going to book Murano for a July cruise. The bookings have a small discount of 8% at the moment. Does this mean that they will no longer apply Captains Club discount in these situations

I got the 15% applied to a pre-cruise reservation that was discounted by maybe 9%. The CC host handled it for me.

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, hrhdhd said:

I got the 15% applied to a pre-cruise reservation that was discounted by maybe 9%. The CC host handled it for me.

 

So that's the "secret sauce", book online and call CC to request the CC discount; thanks

[hrhdhd]

58 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

So that's the "secret sauce", book online and call CC to request the CC discount; thanks

The CC host was onboard.