No Refund Policy with Celebrity

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, hrhdhd said:

I knew you'd still be mad. 😄

I never understood why some people insist on assigning emotional states to a discussion?  Someone says ABC and you apparently have a problem with someone asking “can you confirm that?”.

 

My travel agent said that on Celebrity they eat babies for breakfast.  It must be true because my travel agent told me.

[Gracie115]

28 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

    When you cancel a reservation you room immediately comes back into inventory and you our your agent can then grab it immediately.

 

@Jim_Iain My concern would be if Celebrity had others who were waitlisted for that particular category of room, would it be automatically grabbed for that guest?  I don't know if Celebrity will even wait list rooms as others like Oceania and HAL do, so it may not be an issue at all.

 

We are looking at a Constellation sailing from Ravenna to Civitavecchia in 2025 that has an itinerary we've always wanted to do that I can't find on other lines right now. But booking a non-refundable deposit just doesn't work for me, so I'm encouraged that you've booked a refundable and rebooked later non-refundable.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

6 hours ago, stevenr597 said:

Must disagree, it is also the responsibility of the cruise line to make it clear, exactly what your are purchasing.  

They do if you bother looking at the whole page. The fact that they have a box to select that states "Pay more for a refundable deposit" indicates that otherwise it is non-refundable. It's not their fault you choose to skip steps like insurance and dining preference.

[hrhdhd]

22 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

They do if you bother looking at the whole page. The fact that they have a box to select that states "Pay more for a refundable deposit" indicates that otherwise it is non-refundable. It's not their fault you choose to skip steps like insurance and dining preference.

He didn't book on the website!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

5 minutes ago, hrhdhd said:

He didn't book on the website!

 

I am aware. Yet they insist on blaming Celebrity and using the website as proof for their blame rather than putting it on their TA who should have been advising them that their deposit was non-refundable at the time of booking and reminded them of that when they called to cancel.

[zitsky]

56 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

I am aware. Yet they insist on blaming Celebrity and using the website as proof for their blame rather than putting it on their TA who should have been advising them that their deposit was non-refundable at the time of booking and reminded them of that when they called to cancel.

It’s the attitude that nothing is their responsibility that interests me.  I wasn’t told and why should I ask.  It’s all someone else’s fault.  Celebrity, the TA, the IT department.  

[dreamer321]

What I don't understand is that the Original Poster (OP) said he booked through a travel agent (TA).  When I book through a TA I don't scroll through Celebrity's website's various options pages unless I first book the cruise directly through the website then transfer the booking to a TA.(which I've done on the past)  If the OP booked the cruise then transferred it to a TA then the OP screwed up.  If the OP let the TA do all of the booking and the TA didn't discuss refundable vs. non refundable deposits then the TA screwed up.  The TA definitely screwed up when the OP request a cancelation  by not explaining to the customer all of the consequences of canceling the cruise instead for transferring the deposit to a different cruise for a $100 per person service fee.

 

I just had my TA book a last minute cruise for me a couple weeks ago. I called her and told her which cruise I wanted.  She reserved my desired cruise on a 48 hold and emailed me back with the details of the cruise.  I then called her a few hour later after I reviewed the reservation to go ahead and book it and gave her my credit card.  (Paid in full since its less than 90 days out)

[Ken the cruiser]

On 3/1/2024 at 8:29 AM, stevenr597 said:

Celebrity and Princess offer fairly similar products.  But the way they handle deposits is a major advantage of Princess.  

We did not rebook Celebrity, instead we booked Sun Princess.  

Sorry you had to go through your Celebrity ordeal, but glad your TA returned your deposit. We jumped over to Princess and occasionally NCL last year and have been quite happy with our decision since, especially when it comes to booking cruises with Princess. Not sure if you have cruised with Princess before, but they do offer some unique itineraries and are pretty much above board when it comes to their booking options and associated perk packages. 

[Giraffes]

8 hours ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Thanks for sharing that piece of information. I always wondered why Celebrity introduced that 20% "refundable deposit" surcharge once the demand really started to rise in a big way after the pandemic.

But they also have the "Move Up" offers to fill those more expensive cabins.

[billc23]

16 hours ago, sciencegrrl said:

Why is there such a visceral need to savagely refute or gaslight the OP? This happens frequently across the different cruise line threads. Our experiences are our own and cruise lines are consistently inconsistent. Just because an issue was handled one way last month doesn't mean it will be handled the same way today. Same with service, food, etc.

 

I don't post much but I've been on here a while and I love the valuable information and trip reports, but sincerely dislike some of the uncivil, nasty stuff.

 

PLEASE, love each other and be nice.

Thank you for saying this. I have been on CC as a reader for a while and have benefited greatly from the information. I have recently started posting more because I have been on sailed with Celebrity for more than 26 weeks since Covid and feel I could be helpful.

 

There are a few posters, who are on this site all the time with many posts, who do not cruise very often but feel the need to stir things up in a bad way. I have decided to start using the ignore feature and avoid engaging when my comments are met with constant criticism and disrespect. Really an unfortunate situation for the OP and the rest of us.

[D C]

On 3/1/2024 at 9:31 AM, tupper10 said:

Agree we gave up on Celebrity because we want a refundable deposit and the differential between refundable and non refundable is absurd.  Also charging me a fee to re book when all they are doing is a ministerial function is not acceptable. There are many other cruise lines with more reasonable policies with cheaper fares for similar cruises; we have been sailing with them.

Well said. After 10 years of sailing almost exclusively on X, we've moved on. We'll book celebrity on a last minute basis, but we're not paying non-refundable deposits a year or two in advance when Celebrity is in a state of flux with what's included or not, what extras might cost, how bad the dining cutbacks might be, etc.  Plus they're the most expensive mainstream cruising option these days. 

[D C]

5 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

They do if you bother looking at the whole page. The fact that they have a box to select that states "Pay more for a refundable deposit" indicates that otherwise it is non-refundable. It's not their fault you choose to skip steps like insurance and dining preference.

This was a fairly recent change that happened with little fanfare. The standard (pre-covid) was refundable deposits.  Should you be willing to accept a non-refundable deposit, Celebrity would generally give you some additional consideration at the same price. "all 4 perks", premium instead of classic drinks and the like. 

 

Personally, i was surprised to find (post covid} that a future cruise deposit was not refundable. I don't recall seeing a notice or being told at the time of booking while onboard. It was a subtle change that was contrary to who knows how many years of practice.  

 

I certainly will not admonish someone for missing an unexpected change in policy that runs counter to years of tradition. 

[ngrund]

The whole policy is absurd-every cruise I've priced, the fare with refundable deposit would make me pay more additional than the amount of the deposit-

 

I'll just take the say 75% chance that I'll have to cancel and lose the deposit ($900) rather than be 100% paying $1100 more (its been a while, I think that's the additional that the RD would have cost)

[Liao]

25 minutes ago, D C said:

Well said. After 10 years of sailing almost exclusively on X, we've moved on. We'll book celebrity on a last minute basis, but we're not paying non-refundable deposits a year or two in advance when Celebrity is in a state of flux with what's included or not, what extras might cost, how bad the dining cutbacks might be, etc.  Plus they're the most expensive mainstream cruising option these days. 

It's hard to argue with what you, or the others have said abouy this.  Thus far for me though, fortunately the on board experience IMHO is still a the top of the game and ultimately, that is what I want and still am willing to pay for my once/yearly cruise.  

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

8 hours ago, D C said:

Personally, i was surprised to find (post covid} that a future cruise deposit was not refundable. I don't recall seeing a notice or being told at the time of booking while onboard. It was a subtle change that was contrary to who knows how many years of practice.  

 

Well, they had improved communication by this summer then because the future cruise rep I dealt with was VERY clear that it was non-refundable.

 

As for "missing" something, again, I must be the weird duck here but I always double check - on my own and/or through my travel agent (who also reminds me about the refundable/non-refundable option because she knows me...one of the benefits of having a regular TA you've used for a while) - for any changes since the last time.