Celebrity not honouring rate?

[TrueCruiseaholic]

Just talked to another Celebrity cruiser. Their travel agent said that the rate was changed on some of their Silhouette bookings. As in, the contracted price for the cruise was unilaterally increased by Celebrity. The TA had been contacted in the past about Celebrity wanting to increase the price, but neither the TA nor the guest approved of a price change.

 

One has to keep a ledger of all your booking prices and constantly check the price has not changed. Celebrity can push them up from their side at their discretion.

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

17 minutes ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

Just talked to another Celebrity cruiser. Their travel agent said that the rate was changed on some of their Silhouette bookings. As in, the contracted price for the cruise was unilaterally increased by Celebrity. The TA had been contacted in the past about Celebrity wanting to increase the price, but neither the TA nor the guest approved of a price change.

 

One has to keep a ledger of all your booking prices and constantly check the price has not changed. Celebrity can push them up from their side at their discretion.

Thanks for the info! Just checked my reservation and my amount due is unchanged, luckily.

 

My question is how was the TA made aware of an increase in price to their client's booking? Were they just checking the balance on a regular basis?

 

One does not need to constantly check all of your booking prices. This is a unique scenario. People that may be affected were previously contacted that a price adjustment may be required to keep the reservation. The sad thing is that, at least in this person's case, neither the TA or the guest were contacted that their reservation was indeed modified. They might have plans to reach out to folks in another round of calls this week?

[TrueCruiseaholic]

The general conversation with the TA according to other guest went as follows.

 

Guest to TA: "So what's happening with those Silhouette cruises you were contacted about before?"

 

Response from TA: "Oh! They raised the price on the booked rate. I need to contact Celebrity and find out what's going on."

 

No further updates. If Celebrity will keep the bookings at the higher price, my friend will probably just cancel the bookings. This process has left a bad taste in their mouth so to speak.

[islabahia]

Our 12/24 cruise more than doubled!  Needless to say we were refunded our deposit!  No way we will spend over 4K for a 4 day cruise in a Sky Suite!  MSC YC and Oceania here we come!

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

40 minutes ago, islabahia said:

Our 12/24 cruise more than doubled!  Needless to say we were refunded our deposit!  No way we will spend over 4K for a 4 day cruise in a Sky Suite!  MSC YC and Oceania here we come!

As in the price shown online doubled or that's the price they quoted you over the phone?

[kathynorth]

2 hours ago, islabahia said:

Our 12/24 cruise more than doubled!  Needless to say we were refunded our deposit!  No way we will spend over 4K for a 4 day cruise in a Sky Suite!  MSC YC and Oceania here we come!

The current price is likely artificially high due to all those who booked at the bargain basement price. I bet that price drops significantly once the computer system adjusts for all the cancellations they get for that cruise.

[AnnaNicole]

On 1/3/2023 at 8:22 PM, RichYak said:

Is this a joke? Why agree to pay more than what you already contracted to pay?

 

True there have been no damages yet, only offers (and one threat) from Celebrity. It remains to be seen how Celebrity handles those who ignore/decline the offers. Will they terminate the bookings or not? If they do, that could be breach of contract. But I’m not a lawyer, so what do I know. 

I guess there could be damages if one purchase non-refundable airline tickets and/or a non-refundable hotel pre/post cruise.

[JP9123]

I too was affected by this and Celebrity called me a couple of weeks ago. I have not cancelled or agreed to anything regarding my reservation. 

Last Week I received and email from Celebrity telling me "our booking system experienced a technical error, which resulted in incorrect pricing for your upcoming sailing. The error was discovered and corrected; however, there were a few bookings that still reflected incorrect pricing. Due to this error, a reprice of your reservation was necessary"

 

My reservation has yet to be repriced nor do I even know what the new price is. Celebrity did offer a goodwill $100 OBC along with a 10% discount off the prevailing fare (whatever that is) for the inconvenience. A little unclear if I now lose all the other perks as well. 

Still waiting to see what happens next. 

 

[jelayne]

On 1/15/2023 at 1:25 PM, AnnaNicole said:

I guess there could be damages if one purchase non-refundable airline tickets and/or a non-refundable hotel pre/post cruise.

 These cruises are over a year away so too far away for having purchased air tickets.

[TrueCruiseaholic]

Heard back from my friend about price changes on Silhouette in December 2024. All of their cruises except over Christmas were increased almost 3x. The cruise over Christmas was increased just barely under 5x. Needless to say, they will try to cancel and get their deposits back. Again, neither the guest nor the TA approved of an increased price.

 

If I booked a Hilton or Marriott for $1000 for X nights, do they have the right to change that reservation to be 3X or 5X? I am actually serious. I think the answer is no, but has that ever happened to anybody?

Edited January 17, 2023 by TrueCruiseaholic

[Arizona Wildcat]

On 1/3/2023 at 3:49 AM, PJ2911 said:

Hi all, spoke to celebrity UK this morning. Say it was a huge system glitch with the pricing. They reserve the right to amend prices due to errors. All they can offer is cancel and rebook with 10% off with a new increase of £4000. Or cancel altogether for refund. Appreciate its T&Cs but a very poor way to do business, when you think you are getting a good deal, beware that they can back track on that. Always sail Celebrity and have to say it’s left a sour taste in our mouths.

You have different rules in the UK.  But it sounds like an pretty obvious computer system error.  Would suggest 20% off might be fair.  Without knowing the specifics hard to be accurate on what would happen in Australia with similar rules.

[northwoods2]

Wow. I once got an airline ticket for very cheap. Maybe 20% of normal price. They fixed it within a couple hours but they never came to me to try to get more money. 

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

Small update for my reservation, I checked my cruise planner to see whether the AI drink package or wifi were added under my "Order History" page and they were added today!  A good sign maybe?

[RumAndCoconuts]

Well this exact scenario just happened to me. I Booked the Apex for a Baltic cruise and was pretty flipping excited. I've just got a voice mail from the travel agent (I booked online) and she is saying it was a pricing error. 

 Not sure how to handle this...I've not returned her call. 

 This would have been my first time sailing with X. I'm a diamond member with RCCL.

[Bo1953]

On 1/15/2023 at 12:59 PM, kathynorth said:

The current price is likely artificially high due to all those who booked at the bargain basement price. I bet that price drops significantly once the computer system adjusts for all the cancellations they get for that cruise.

Then that is a case of wait and see...

 

bon voyage

[Bo1953]

On 1/15/2023 at 8:09 AM, TrueCruiseaholic said:

Just talked to another Celebrity cruiser. Their travel agent said that the rate was changed on some of their Silhouette bookings. As in, the contracted price for the cruise was unilaterally increased by Celebrity. The TA had been contacted in the past about Celebrity wanting to increase the price, but neither the TA nor the guest approved of a price change.

 

One has to keep a ledger of all your booking prices and constantly check the price has not changed. Celebrity can push them up from their side at their discretion.

This is a situation where if one chooses not to 'approve' the price change, then X may automatically refund if there is no response in the affirmative that the passenger wishes to book the sailing at the new offer or not.

 

bon voyage

Edited June 27, 2023 by Bo1953

[RumAndCoconuts]

Well this is my first time ever booking with Celebrity...as I posted earlier I'm an RCCL Diamond. If they cancel this it will leave a sour taste in my mouth and I'd be extremely hesitant to book again in the future.

 Wait and see what happens I guess. 

[Bo1953]

9 minutes ago, RumAndCoconuts said:

Well this is my first time ever booking with Celebrity...as I posted earlier I'm an RCCL Diamond. If they cancel this it will leave a sour taste in my mouth and I'd be extremely hesitant to book again in the future.

 Wait and see what happens I guess. 

Sorry to say that you well may have a sour taste left.

 

If it was a computer glitch, then they have the right to correct it.

 

Were it just your reservation, they may well eat the cost, yet it sounds like it was quite a few which they most certainly will not want to eat the cost on... as a consolation they are offering a discount, I presume and OBC,

 

It is possible that your TA may be able to negotiate more OBC and/or an upgrade in cabin for the price of the cabin category originally selected OR advocate that X honour the original pricing...

 

When is the sailing you are booked on currently???

 

Good luck and bon voyage 

Edited June 28, 2023 by Bo1953

[RumAndCoconuts]

We have booked the Best of Scandinavia for next May. It was a great deal but I've had similar rates in the past with Royal Caribbean which we've jumped on and they never snatched it away. We are going to be over there anyway as we are doing a Transatlantic and are just trying to flesh out our summer.  

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, RumAndCoconuts said:

We have booked the Best of Scandinavia for next May. It was a great deal but I've had similar rates in the past with Royal Caribbean which we've jumped on and they never snatched it away. We are going to be over there anyway as we are doing a Transatlantic and are just trying to flesh out our summer.  

It sounds like RC may be the best offer for you, in this case...

 

How do their rates compare for a similar sailing at the same time in 2024???

 

Edit To Add: Many of RC ships contain more passengers than X and that will have an effect on pricing as well... something to consider also.

 

bon voyage

 

Edited June 28, 2023 by Bo1953

[Mike07]

1 hour ago, RumAndCoconuts said:

We have booked the Best of Scandinavia for next May. It was a great deal but I've had similar rates in the past with Royal Caribbean which we've jumped on and they never snatched it away. We are going to be over there anyway as we are doing a Transatlantic and are just trying to flesh out our summer.  

 

 

In the passage contract you agreed to, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity both reserve the right to cancel your reservation for effectively any reason that they see fit. Depending on what rate you signed up for, the lines sometimes will or will not honor price mistakes.

 

It's unfortunate, but sometimes price mistakes do occur.

Edited June 28, 2023 by Mike07

[RumAndCoconuts]

56 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

It sounds like RC may be the best offer for you, in this case...

 

How do their rates compare for a similar sailing at the same time in 2024???

 

Edit To Add: Many of RC ships contain more passengers than X and that will have an effect on pricing as well... something to consider also.

 

bon voyage

 

Unfortunately RCCL doesn't have a Baltic cruise next summer aside from the one leg of the World Cruise 

[Bo1953]

25 minutes ago, RumAndCoconuts said:

Unfortunately RCCL doesn't have a Baltic cruise next summer aside from the one leg of the World Cruise 

Sorry to hear that... but I do think that you will enjoy X and its' ships for that sailing, which will have a few less passengers than RCCL and all in all, pricing is comparable after all items are added together... it just looks more expensive upfront... IMO

 

bon voyage

[RumAndCoconuts]

2 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

Sorry to hear that... but I do think that you will enjoy X and its' ships for that sailing, which will have a few less passengers than RCCL and all in all, pricing is comparable after all items are added together... it just looks more expensive upfront... IMO

 

bon voyage

I can totally see us making the switch to X. I'm 60 now and huggy is 65. We really only stick to the Radiance class as we like the more intimate spaces and less...'frenzied' atomosphere. So I DO think that we will make the switch but I was certainly keen to try them out. They haven't cancelled my booking as of yet...When do you think they'd do that? If there's a remote chance we will keep it I'm going to stay mum. 

[Bo1953]

11 hours ago, RumAndCoconuts said:

I can totally see us making the switch to X. I'm 60 now and huggy is 65. We really only stick to the Radiance class as we like the more intimate spaces and less...'frenzied' atomosphere. So I DO think that we will make the switch but I was certainly keen to try them out. They haven't cancelled my booking as of yet...When do you think they'd do that? If there's a remote chance we will keep it I'm going to stay mum. 

I recommend searching out a Travel Agent who has discount rates on the sailing you wish.... 

 

Please note we are not allowed to post names/info on TA's here... an internet search will provide a few places to check out and compare offers.

 

Then cancel the current booking and rebook with them... as X has tried to contact you and you do not want them to unilaterally cancel the booking. You may have a few weeks yet to respond.

 

There have been a few IT pricing and booking glitches over the last few months and a few people who post here were outraged that either their sailing was cancelled due to double room bookings or pricing glitches.

 

While I understand and have had a pricing glitch happen to me, I figured out other ways to book which would yield better pricing and possibly better OBC, even if pricing was not as low as the glitch, it turned out to be good IMO...

 

Good luck and let us know how we can assist you further in this... it is not fun, to be sure yet upon boarding it will be because this part will be behind you...

 

bon voyage