Celebrity is turning into a rip off

[the penguins]

On 3/14/2024 at 2:47 AM, Avidcruiser321 said:

So here is the update!  I did call to try the upgrade idea.  I asked to upgrade to Prime Aqua class (from our regular balcony) and the price difference was not big enough.  Prime Aqua in a suite was still less than we paid, so they couldn't do it as the price needs to be higher than what I paid.  So no go.  The next option up was to a big sky suite which was waaaay more.

 

So worth a try, but no luck.  Just goes to show the original point of the post is true - I got ripped off. 

 

And to all the Internet bosses who will now chime in to say I'm not allowed to feel that way - please save your breath.  I am allowed to feel however I want about it right now.  And I am sure I'll still have a nice time when the cruise comes along!

I have been watching this debate with interest and I can't see how you were "ripped off".

Annoyed I get, trying to get the lower price I get, but "ripped off" - no.

You chose, the itinerary, ship, date, and cabin.

At that point you had the option to book or wait to see if the price would drop.

You chose to book so clearly you accepted price was fair.

You could have waited and by so doing risk loosing the cabin you wanted or that the price might rise but you didn't you booked.

Sales happen on all, well most products and services, all the time. Relax and enjoy your cruise.

 

 

[zitsky]

4 hours ago, the penguins said:

I have been watching this debate with interest and I can't see how you were "ripped off".

Annoyed I get, trying to get the lower price I get, but "ripped off" - no.

You chose, the itinerary, ship, date, and cabin.

At that point you had the option to book or wait to see if the price would drop.

You chose to book so clearly you accepted price was fair.

You could have waited and by so doing risk loosing the cabin you wanted or that the price might rise but you didn't you booked.

Sales happen on all, well most products and services, all the time. Relax and enjoy your cruise.

 

 

I booked some flights recently for a trip in 10 months because I did my homework and found an airline giving great prices.  My spouse wanted to wait so we did wait about a month but then decided to go ahead.  

I have no regrets because other airlines were selling similar flights at $5-7K more total.  Sometimes when you see a good price you grab it.  Checking prices constantly will just give you a headache.

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

I booked some flights recently for a trip in 10 months because I did my homework and found an airline giving great prices.  My spouse wanted to wait so we did wait about a month but then decided to go ahead.  

I have no regrets because other airlines were selling similar flights at $5-7K more total.  Sometimes when you see a good price you grab it.  Checking prices constantly will just give you a headache.

I agree. we find what we want at a price we are prepared to pay and book it. After that we concentrate on the trip itself not on what may or may not happen to the price.

We regularly book flights the day they go on sale.

[stevenr597]

On 3/13/2024 at 10:10 PM, Liao said:

Is that equivalent to a SS or CS?

I think the Minisuite Reserve Class is not easily comparable to anything at the same price on Celebrity. 

[Lastdance]

On 3/13/2024 at 7:10 PM, Liao said:

Is that equivalent to a SS or CS?

No, it is not.  I agree that Princess is a better value, but Celebrity has a lot that I enjoy from cabins/suites to being onboard.  Canceling before the 90 days and not getting the correct refund has made me truly worn out from the new-hires; my TA is experiencing the same through-out the cruise industry and spends so much more time on the phone nowadays.  I have encountered issues before, but not returning funds that are owed can be a nightmare!

Edited March 16 by Lastdance

[sandy bottom]

I can understand the frustration.  Even if it is well with in the rules of the cruise line  -  being on the "over paying end" stinks.  I bet any one of us that was in this original posters situation would want a safe place to vent and kind ears.   Don't we want this to be a safe place for this?

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, sandy bottom said:

I can understand the frustration.  Even if it is well with in the rules of the cruise line  -  being on the "over paying end" stinks.  I bet any one of us that was in this original posters situation would want a safe place to vent and kind ears.   Don't we want this to be a safe place for this?

Venting is good, and the OP got lots of advice on possible solutions. It's the title of the Post which, to me at least, is questionable.

 

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, Lastdance said:

No, it is not.  I agree that Princess is a better value, but Celebrity has a lot that I enjoy from cabins/suites to being onboard.  Canceling before the 90 days and not getting the correct refund has made me truly worn out from the new-hires; my TA is experiencing the same through-out the cruise industry and spends so much more time on the phone nowadays.  I have encountered issues before, but not returning funds that are owed can be a nightmare!

 We confirm what what is due and that we expect the payment to be made within 28 days and if it's not we will go straight to our Credit Card Company. Even at the height of the Covid refund saga here in the UK when people were waiting for months all our refunds were received within 28 days.

[wrk2cruise]

I cancelled a refundable reservation last week.  The deposit was pending credit on my credit card account 2 days later.

[zitsky]

4 hours ago, sandy bottom said:

I can understand the frustration.  Even if it is well with in the rules of the cruise line  -  being on the "over paying end" stinks.  I bet any one of us that was in this original posters situation would want a safe place to vent and kind ears.   Don't we want this to be a safe place for this?

Do you want to have a safe space where we just tell everyone how unfair life is?  No one, including Celebrity, made the poster pay what they did, when they did.  

[gold1953]

14 hours ago, sandy bottom said:

I can understand the frustration.  Even if it is well with in the rules of the cruise line  -  being on the "over paying end" stinks.  I bet any one of us that was in this original posters situation would want a safe place to vent and kind ears.   Don't we want this to be a safe place for this?

OP didn't think they overpaid when they booked. Hotels drop last minute and airlines can as well

[deliver42]

Evidently the OP thought the price was OK when they booked, and now upset because someone paid less. It happens in stores, airlines, hotels, and cruises. It's called free enterprise. Celebrity didn't do anything nobody else does, and was perfectly in their right to do it.

[Lastdance]

16 hours ago, the penguins said:

 We confirm what what is due and that we expect the payment to be made within 28 days and if it's not we will go straight to our Credit Card Company. Even at the height of the Covid refund saga here in the UK when people were waiting for months all our refunds were received within 28 days.

Thanks for sharing; glad that everything was easy for you.  We also went to our Credit Card company because not all was returned.  You can see where some people are refunded very quickly too.  I was told 21 days by TA/Celebrity.  I have also had to cancel and received my funds quickly, just not this time.  It was a little more complicated due to the original individual working on it making a mistake and then another etc.  Just a huge conundrum of errors where no one was checking the policy/rules.  Also, FBC made an error.  The funny thing was that everything was in writing by Celebrity and their rules, not mine.  Customer Service basically failed and no one cared enough to make things right.  

 

Edited March 17 by Lastdance

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, Lastdance said:

Thanks for sharing; glad that everything was easy for you.  We also went to our Credit Card company because not all was returned.  You can see where some people are refunded very quickly too.  I was told 21 days by TA/Celebrity.  I have also had to cancel and received my funds quickly, just not this time.  It was a little more complicated due to the original individual working on it making a mistake and then another etc.  Just a huge conundrum of errors where no one was checking the policy/rules.  Also, FBC made an error.  The funny thing was that everything was in writing by Celebrity and their rules, not mine.  Customer Service basically failed and no one cared enough to make things right.  

 

that's sort of my point. I would simply have phoned the Credit Card company, explained the situation, copied them the paperwork from Celebrity and asked for an immediate refund - which it will do with the proviso that Celebrity can issue a challenge within 28 days. The CC Company would then have claimed the money back from Celebrity. 

We had a complex itinerary involving  flights, cruise and The Rocky Mountaineer Train cancelled due to Covid. My TA refused to refund the Train as Rocky Mountaineer were only issuing Credit Notes. I said that as the booking was covered by UK ATOL rules i.e. if one part failed the whole lot was refundable and that my contract was with them not with Rocky. Again they refused. Called the CC company and the refund was made the same day. Needless to say the Travel Agent did not contest the refund.

[Avidcruiser321]

On 3/15/2024 at 9:48 AM, truckswain said:

I missed when your last Celebrity cruise was that you are able to compare that the service is better on the other lines and "Celebrity has gone downhill"

We have been on many Celebrity cruises over the years, but last one was pre-Covid.  We were on the second last cruise out of Ft Lauderdale before everything got shut down.  Since then we have been on HAL and Princess.

 

I just want to clarify - Celebrity is not BAD.  Far from it.  It's still great and we always have a great time.  But in our opinion it has slipped back.  Others experiences mat vary! 

 

And the whole point of this post was to vent about the price drop, not the shipboard services.  Hope that helps!.

[Avidcruiser321]

On 3/16/2024 at 1:01 AM, the penguins said:

I have been watching this debate with interest and I can't see how you were "ripped off".

Annoyed I get, trying to get the lower price I get, but "ripped off" - no.

You chose, the itinerary, ship, date, and cabin.

At that point you had the option to book or wait to see if the price would drop.

You chose to book so clearly you accepted price was fair.

You could have waited and by so doing risk loosing the cabin you wanted or that the price might rise but you didn't you booked.

Sales happen on all, well most products and services, all the time. Relax and enjoy your cruise.

 

 

Good point.  You are right, I was annoyed all right.

[hcat]

Sometimes you win if prices go way up which has usually been the case for us.... At the  future cruise desk on ASCENT,  Sr rep could not beat our already  booked cruise deals, and was quite impressed with our prices, inclusions, OBC etc.   We book early!

 

Sometimes you lose when prices drop.  Only way to avoid that is to book the Refundable fare .usually quite high!  And after final..you really lose out!

 

We did "win big" once when we booked last minute to replace a cancelled cruise (medical) and got a primo cabin at a great fare!

 

I do think the title of this thread is unfair ..A better title is to warn that price drops after final payment  will not be matched  or something else!

[zitsky]

2 hours ago, Avidcruiser321 said:

We have been on many Celebrity cruises over the years, but last one was pre-Covid.  We were on the second last cruise out of Ft Lauderdale before everything got shut down.  Since then we have been on HAL and Princess.

 

I just want to clarify - Celebrity is not BAD.  Far from it.  It's still great and we always have a great time.  But in our opinion it has slipped back.  Others experiences mat vary! 

 

And the whole point of this post was to vent about the price drop, not the shipboard services.  Hope that helps!.

So you just want to vent about price drops?  Is this the first time it’s happened to you?

[Avidcruiser321]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

So you just want to vent about price drops?  Is this the first time it’s happened to you?

yes, and no.

[zitsky]

1 hour ago, Avidcruiser321 said:

yes, and no.

How many times has a price drop happened to you?  Because I got the impression you were upset because it was your first time.  How many times have you purchased a cruise?

[Bo1953]

On 3/12/2024 at 7:13 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

What a funny thread!

itinerary was change because the port was closed because of the fires in August 

Do you think if X docked a few miles off shore and tendered OP onto the dunes, would there be a reason for being upset over the change??? LOL

 

My guess, is no.

 

bon voyage

[Bo1953]

Thank you for adding "vent" as part of the post up front....

 

bon voyage on whichever cruise line you choose going forward...

Edited March 19 by Bo1953

[Bo1953]

On 3/12/2024 at 7:31 PM, markeb said:

The only thing you gain checking prices after final payment is frustration. Just don’t do it. 

Unless, that is unless you have a very good TA who can work miracles on actionable items...

 

Thank you spot on input,

 

bon voyage

[Bo1953]

On 3/12/2024 at 8:02 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Not really

 

Businesses, yet I have heard (not verified only through news reports) that there are residents who do not want tourists to return soon.

 

I understand that businesses want tourists to return, that is their lively hood going down the drain, for sure.. along with some of their employees.

 

Where is the balance???

 

bon voyage

[NutsAboutGolf]

5 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Businesses, yet I have heard (not verified only through news reports) that there are residents who do not want tourists to return soon.

 

I understand that businesses want tourists to return, that is their lively hood going down the drain, for sure.. along with some of their employees.

 

Where is the balance???

 

bon voyage

There isn’t a balance, residents vote to limit ships/people and the government overrules them