Japan 2024 canceled…

[wahwah1]

33 minutes ago, Judy Arthur said:

 

The $500 is meant only to recover some of your own money lost on non-refundable airfare or other travel-related expense for this cancelled trip,  a spit in the bucket for some.   

 

28 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

So they couldn't even get the letter right...or the agent has relayed bad information...or both.

 

Fabulous...just fabulous...

 

Correct. Unless the agent told me incorrect information, since my letter is faulty in the first place, you may not even get any compensation of some non-refundable expenses, if you decided to do nothing. But check your letter or with an agent to confirm.

Edited April 25, 2023 by wahwah1

[luckybecky]

I posted a few days ago that we wanted to volunteer to cancel our 2 cabins for the Sept 30 2023 sailing. I spoke to an agent with our big box travel agency, who contacted Celebrity. First, they offered us a full refund of our nonrefundable deposit because they were indeed oversold, "we just hadn't gotten the letter yet." When we  jumped at that offer, they immediately rescinded it, saying oops, sorry, that was a mistake. You can't cancel or you'll lose your entire deposit ($1800). That was on Thursday, I think. 

 

I decided to try again today just in case anything has changed, because of the ongoing cluster that this has become and the mixed message from last week. 

 

After an eternity on hold with our TA, Celebrity first said no deal, then said we needed to talk to the Group Booking people, then dropped the call, then finally agreed to give us our full deposit back in the form of an FCC. This is fine with me. I have not received written confirmation of this yet. They said it will be processed and at some point I'll receive an email.

[donald1039]

 “You can't cancel or you'll lose your entire deposit”

 

isn’t it interesting the one way contract we’ve all signed up for where we pay a financial penalty if we cancel but they can cancel the guaranteed reservation anytime without penalty. But in their world of clever wording on the letter we are the ones cancelling because our choice was lift and shift of cancel. So we, the customer, chose cancel and as the Celebrity agent said to me “Celebrity” waived the loss of deposit penalty for the cancellation” that I chose. The reality is that I chose between cancel and cancel and it was just a choice of how the funds were applied. 

 

 

[southwestie]

14 minutes ago, donald1039 said:

 “You can't cancel or you'll lose your entire deposit”

 

isn’t it interesting the one way contract we’ve all signed up for where we pay a financial penalty if we cancel but they can cancel the guaranteed reservation anytime without penalty. But in their world of clever wording on the letter we are the ones cancelling because our choice was lift and shift of cancel. So we, the customer, chose cancel and as the Celebrity agent said to me “Celebrity” waived the loss of deposit penalty for the cancellation” that I chose. The reality is that I chose between cancel and cancel and it was just a choice of how the funds were applied. 

 

 

Mt ta got us lift n shift. 2021 booking. To 2024. But this year they cancelled the booking and rebooted it. Same deal and same cabin number  seems to have worked

[Northern Aurora]

There is at least one Hotel Director (and I wonder if they all do so) who reads Cruise Critic threads about "their" particular ship.  And years ago I met the Celebrity loyalty person who skimmed Cruise Critic as a part of their job.  Celebrity "powers that be" must be aware that customers are unhappy and perceive this as a mess of gigantic proportions.  I doubt that the "powers that be" will ever address this mess but we do deserve some transparency and an explanation.  

 

It was clear to a number of us that there was something amiss with some of the Asia itineraries.  What I had suspected was a full ship charter as that had happened to a B2B we had several years ago.  I didn't suspect an over booking situation.

[clojacks]

Back in the end of June, I noticed that our March 28, ‘24 sailing had disappeared from Celebrity’s and our TA’s websites. I contacted Celebrity at that time and was told the ship was sold out. Wouldn’t you think at that time they might have noticed something was might be a little unusual and cross check the inventory’s? 21 months ahead of sailing? How simple it would have been to catch some of this.

[Lotso88]

Hi I just received the email from my TA regarding my cancelled  booking for Sept 30th sailing just an hour ago today! It was linked to 3 cabins and all three were cancelled. One of the booking was a back to back cruise sailing from YVR to Japan ( but this was not cancelled). So my parents need to change their one way flight back home as the second cruise is now cancelled. 

Just to inform everyone cancellations are still going on and I have till May 1st to decide what options I want to do with my booking. This is ridiculous!!! 

[mahdnc]

3 minutes ago, Lotso88 said:

Hi I just received the email from my TA regarding my cancelled  booking for Sept 30th sailing just an hour ago today! It was linked to 3 cabins and all three were cancelled. One of the booking was a back to back cruise sailing from YVR to Japan ( but this was not cancelled). So my parents need to change their one way flight back home as the second cruise is now cancelled. 

Just to inform everyone cancellations are still going on and I have till May 1st to decide what options I want to do with my booking. This is ridiculous!!! 

 

Thanks for posting and I am real sorry that this is your first post on Cruise Critic! I like how Cruise Critic has credited you with 12 minutes of membership status!

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by mahdnc

[HSBC]

22 minutes ago, Lotso88 said:

Hi I just received the email from my TA regarding my cancelled  booking for Sept 30th sailing just an hour ago today! It was linked to 3 cabins and all three were cancelled. One of the booking was a back to back cruise sailing from YVR to Japan ( but this was not cancelled). So my parents need to change their one way flight back home as the second cruise is now cancelled. 

Just to inform everyone cancellations are still going on and I have till May 1st to decide what options I want to do with my booking. This is ridiculous!!! 

Lotso88,

Have you booked your cruise through big travel agency or local travel agency (Vancouver)?

Thanks!

[Lotso88]

1 hour ago, HSBC said:

Lotso88,

Have you booked your cruise through big travel agency or local travel agency (Vancouver)?

Thanks!

The TA is across Canada 

[anniegb]

I picked this up from a roll call.

 

A contact within Celebrity has stated that all 'purged' letters have been sent.

 

I know we have thought that before but I thought I would share.

[wahwah1]

I'm so paranoid, I am suppose to head to Celebrity Summit next week and I received an oversold email on the correct date/ship/my sailing. But it's not from a Celebrity email.

[maryann2]

1 hour ago, anniegb said:

I picked this up from a roll call.

 

A contact within Celebrity has stated that all 'purged' letters have been sent.

 

I know we have thought that before but I thought I would share.

This was corrected to say just on the one specific sailing TP from Vancouver Sept 15th 2023

 

Travel agents may be late letting their clients know.

[maryann2]

20 minutes ago, wahwah1 said:

I'm so paranoid, I am suppose to head to Celebrity Summit next week and I received an oversold email on the correct date/ship/my sailing. But it's not from a Celebrity email.

Hope this is a false alarm.

[wahwah1]

2 minutes ago, maryann2 said:

Hope this is a false alarm.

Celebrity agent said only Celebrity Millie from Japan is oversold, though another person from roll call said he received the same email.

 

I couldn't take it no more if I have to cancel two 2023 cruises in 2 days, and one sailing leaving next week.

[nolafrank]

On 4/19/2023 at 4:12 PM, mahdnc said:

 

I assume by paying in full way in advance.

Or by having a credit due to “Lift & Shift” where cancelled cruisers in 2020 - 2022 took cruise credits. 

[wahwah1]

17 minutes ago, maryann2 said:

Hope this is a false alarm.

Somebody said the email is legit 😭 and clicked the link.. basically to 1) downgrade 2) cancel or just answer a survey.

[pmarrsouth]

1 hour ago, wahwah1 said:

Celebrity agent said only Celebrity Millie from Japan is oversold, though another person from roll call said he received the same email.

 

I couldn't take it no more if I have to cancel two 2023 cruises in 2 days, and one sailing leaving next week.

Agent is very wrong as it is from Vancouver too…

Edited April 26, 2023 by pmarrsouth

[southwestie]

We're on March 4th  from Singapore.  The cruise is now back on celebrity website. You can't book anything but it is back. Looks as if there are a few concierge  or aqua cabins which is odd.  And the prices autonomic.  But the sailing is there

 

Not heard of anymore cancelled cabins today and celebrity  assure me its all OK now.  Hope  so

[canloan]

22 hours ago, luckybecky said:

I posted a few days ago that we wanted to volunteer to cancel our 2 cabins for the Sept 30 2023 sailing. I spoke to an agent with our big box travel agency, who contacted Celebrity. First, they offered us a full refund of our nonrefundable deposit because they were indeed oversold, "we just hadn't gotten the letter yet." When we  jumped at that offer, they immediately rescinded it, saying oops, sorry, that was a mistake. You can't cancel or you'll lose your entire deposit ($1800). That was on Thursday, I think. 

 

I decided to try again today just in case anything has changed, because of the ongoing cluster that this has become and the mixed message from last week. 

 

After an eternity on hold with our TA, Celebrity first said no deal, then said we needed to talk to the Group Booking people, then dropped the call, then finally agreed to give us our full deposit back in the form of an FCC. This is fine with me. I have not received written confirmation of this yet. They said it will be processed and at some point I'll receive an email.

Hi luckybecky.

 

We were booked for the same Sept 30 sailing as you.

 

Would you be willing to touch base with me by email and share some general details about the 2 cabins you cancelled? If yes, an email to use for me is reviewer . jankir at gmail dot com 

[neverlaysup]

On 4/24/2023 at 10:11 AM, Judy Arthur said:

 

FYI, we’ve been sweating it out with the rest of you, afraid to open email.  I was especially worried because of our bargain Balcony Guarantee booking.    It’s for the Trans Pacific crossing, leaving for Japan on September 15.    I asked our agent to check today, and he ascertained that it’s secure!    Whew, what a huge relief!🥳

 

We are on the same cruise and I have been sweating the emails as well. I just purchased airfare a week before these letters appeared and I transferred a ton of AMEX miles to Singapore Airlines for our business class tickets home. If cancelled, I will not be able to reclaim these miles and I will need to figure out a plan to use those miles and visit Asia on our own. We have the cheapest Sky Suite I have ever purchased and I heard they were bumping the lower fares out first so I have be on edge waiting for the axe to fall. We are hoping the 4th lift and shift into this cruise is the final one. Hoping to meet you on board!

[pmarrsouth]

4 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

We are on the same cruise and I have been sweating the emails as well. I just purchased airfare a week before these letters appeared and I transferred a ton of AMEX miles to Singapore Airlines for our business class tickets home. If cancelled, I will not be able to reclaim these miles and I will need to figure out a plan to use those miles and visit Asia on our own. We have the cheapest Sky Suite I have ever purchased and I heard they were bumping the lower fares out first so I have be on edge waiting for the axe to fall. We are hoping the 4th lift and shift into this cruise is the final one. Hoping to meet you on board!

Stop listening about “cheapest”/“lowest” regarding fares imo 😉 

[Judy Arthur]

30 minutes ago, neverlaysup said:

We are on the same cruise and I have been sweating the emails as well. I just purchased airfare a week before these letters appeared and I transferred a ton of AMEX miles to Singapore Airlines for our business class tickets home. If cancelled, I will not be able to reclaim these miles and I will need to figure out a plan to use those miles and visit Asia on our own. We have the cheapest Sky Suite I have ever purchased and I heard they were bumping the lower fares out first so I have be on edge waiting for the axe to fall. We are hoping the 4th lift and shift into this cruise is the final one. Hoping to meet you on board!

 

I feel your angst, but supposedly, all the eviction letters for this particular sailing have already gone out.    Hope it’s true!🤞

[clojacks]

22 minutes ago, Judy Arthur said:

 

I feel your angst, but supposedly, all the eviction letters for this particular sailing have already gone out.    Hope it’s true!🤞

Gone out isn’t the same as “received”. Particularly if it is in the hands of a TA who has hundreds of them to forward.

Edited April 27, 2023 by clojacks

[sfaaa]

On 4/25/2023 at 12:04 PM, sfaaa said:

This is getting from bad to ridicules. In the letter from X yesterday, my booking was cancelled and I was offered the option to Lift & Shift to one of the three Japan sailings in 2024. When I called this AM (less than 24 hours), X now said 2024 Japan sailings are no longer available to L&S and only offered to put me on waitlist for 2025 Japan cruise with no guarantee I can get on. A quick check of an online big box TA shows there are a lot of empty cabins listed for sale on these Japan cruises at a much higher price. This leads me to believe that X has no interest to honor the lower price + perks I paid and prefers to get rid of my booking. Unbelievable.

X relented and I am L&S to Mar 27, 2025 Japan cruise at the old price with perks. Happy this got resolved. Now waiting for my TA to send revised booking confirmation.