Sold Out?? Really???

[florisdekort]

There suddenly is a hole in Constellation's schedule from September 1 to September 20 2007 (the Scandinavia & Russia cruise planned for this period disappeared) and the September 20 Transatlantic (on which I have a reservation) is now closed for bookings. The plot thickens.

[kelhair]

We held a SS over this last weekend with deadline for deposit for this past Monday. Tried to get an extension but our TA was told they were sold out and wouldn't give a deposit extension.

 

So we paid the deposit that day.:confused:

 

Very interesting, thanks very much for the heads up!!!

 

Hope to see you onboard (heck, hope to see us onboard!)

 

Kelly

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

I called Celebrity's Customer Service today to inquire about the April 13, 2007 sailing.

 

As expected, the call was pretty much a waste of time. They told me EXACTLY what we already knew.... that the sailing is not available for new bookings at this time. I asked what could be happening, and the woman said it could be an itinerary change, or that a group had booked the ship, or a possible redeployment.

 

She did say that it was likely, that it was nothing more than a minor itinerary change. In her words... "no need to worry yet". Of course, we have all been speculating that it could be any of these items, so nothing new was learned.

 

I asked when this will be resolved. They said it could be a matter of days, to as long as a few weeks. Definately not what I wanted to hear.

 

I am going to book something else to be on the safe side. I am looking at Coral Princess, which has a sailing that begins a few days later, leaves from Ft Lauderdale, and does a round trip Panama Canal. I would prefer to sail on Celebrity, but if this sailing is cancelled (and it looks like it is), there will be nothing else from Celebrity for us to choose from.

 

Update as of 10 pm 7/20/06 :

 

As Floris mentioned, the 4/13 sailing now shows as a Transatlantic, so I guess it is time to worry. It looks like our sailing is cancelled. I am very disappointed. I am hoping this is a website glitch, but I dont think so.

 

If this turns out to be the case, you just have to laugh at how uninformed Celebrity's Customer Service dept is. If this information is fact.... you mean to tell me they didnt know about it earlier today ? Why purposely misinform me ? Why not tell me the truth ? It just makes me feel they could care less about their most loyal customers.

 

I always feel that Celebrity doesnt care much about the Caribbean, and this is yet another example of it. If this is how Celebrity feels, we have no choice but to take our business elsewhere. I am very disappointed. I am going to book Coral Princess tomorrow.

[Andy]

This is what very briefly appeared on www.celebrity.com but then was taken off again:

 

Fri, Apr 13 Fort Lauderdale

Sat, Apr 14 At Sea

Sun, Apr 15 At Sea

Mon, Apr 16 At Sea

Tue, Apr 17 At Sea

Wed, Apr 18 At Sea

Thu, Apr 19 At Sea

Fri, Apr 20 At Sea

Sat, Apr 21 Cork, Ireland

Sun, Apr 22 Dublin, Ireland

Mon, Apr 23 Cornwall (Falmouth), England

Tue, Apr 24 Paris (Le Havre), France

Wed, Apr 25 Southampton, England

 

Cheers,

Floris

 

Hi Floris !

 

As of 10 pm tonight, it is back on the Celebrity website. I strongly believe the 4/13/07 caribbean sailing is history. I am still holding out that it will change, but I doubt it.

 

I am booking Coral Princess tomorrow, to be on the safe side, as that is when my vacation time is, and I do not have much flexibility. The only other Celebrity option that week is Century, and the prices are way too high for a back to back.

 

Obviously, barring a last minute change, I am VERY unhappy with Celebrity right now. If you hear anything more, please post it here.

[chessbriar]

Andy,

 

Jill just posted on the RC, it's offical we have been cancelled. She called Captains Club to get the scoop. We have the option of keeping our booking cabin and pricing if we want to do the TA. We'll see what they offer.

[florisdekort]

Hi Andy,

 

I understand your disappointment :o My only hope is that this is one of the dry docks Celebrity is schedueling for all M-class vessels to get auxilary diesel engines installed. They are doing the same on Millennium early April in Southampton, and it looks like Constellation is going into the exact same dry dock immediately after Millennium goes back into service.

 

Why don't you book the April 2 Ultimate Caribbean on Constellation? If April 13 indeed becomes a Transatlantic Cruise, you will have a fabulous back-to-back!!

 

Best Regards,

Floris

[florisdekort]

There suddenly is a hole in Constellation's schedule from September 1 to September 20 2007 (the Scandinavia & Russia cruise planned for this period disappeared) and the September 20 Transatlantic (on which I have a reservation) is now closed for bookings. The plot thickens.

 

Quoting myself :D

 

So now we know about Spring. If anybody learns anything about September, please post it here!

[Andy]

Andy,

 

Jill just posted on the RC, it's offical we have been cancelled. She called Captains Club to get the scoop. We have the option of keeping our booking cabin and pricing if we want to do the TA. We'll see what they offer.

 

Hi Rick !

 

I just read your post there. Thanks. I was very concerned that when the sailing went code red, that it was over. Sadly, thats the case. I am not really worried about compensation, but I have to scramble to book something else now.

 

I am getting very fed up with Celebrity. I dont think they deserve another booking from us as of right now. All the other Cruises I looked at months ago for this date, are at least 500.00 per person more, and we are 4 people. This nonsense is going to cost me at least 2,000.00 more to book something else. I made my choice to stay loyal to Celebrity, and now I am going to get burned for it.

 

Guess I am just pretty annoyed right now. Please let me know what you plan to do. I am pretty sure I am going with Coral Princess for 4/18/07.

[Andy]

Hi Andy,

 

Why don't you book the April 2 Ultimate Caribbean on Constellation? If April 13 indeed becomes a Transatlantic Cruise, you will have a fabulous back-to-back!!

 

Best Regards,

Floris

 

Hi Floris !

 

I cant do the 4/2 sailing as it is a Monday - Friday sailing, and that is way too many days off for me. And, I cant do the TA, as my parents cannot travel for distance. I need a sailing that begins and ends in Florida.

 

As Celebrity has nothing else to offer other than Century and we are sailing her in Feb '07, (and there is VERY little Century availability), we will be looking at other Cruise lines. This latest Celebrity instance of very poor advance planning, is going to cost us a couple of thousand dollars, and I am not a happy camper right now.

 

I will get over it though :)

[pvmkmyer]

I looked into this for the first time yesterday and noticed that the on-line agency I used had different dates for the crossing than Celebrity's website, so this probably has to do with a schedule change. Also, I think there was one change in ports of call.

[CruisingChick]

I can't tell you how sad and depressed I am. I am sitting here in tears. How could they do this to us????????

 

We can't sail any other time as it's my son's school vacation.

 

The TA will be out of the question because it's TOO many days. 10 was the most we could do.

 

This SUCKS big time.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

While I dont put a lot into this, and I do not wish to give anyone booked on the 4/13/07 any false hope, I have some updated news as of 1pm today.

 

There MAY be some good news. I JUST got off the phone with Celebrity Customer Service. I spoke with a supervisor who was very aware of our Cruise. She told me that the 4/13/07 sailing MAY still be back on as scheduled. Although I DO think the sailing is cancelled, they assure me there is still hope the sailing might go on as planned. Bottom line is, there could still be a change for the better, but it is doubtful.

 

She promised to call me, as soon as she heard something more definitive. As soon as I hear more, I will post it here. Let's hope for the best. Stay Tuned !

[hajekfam]

Anne Marie -

I feel for you big time. We had our trip of a lifetime taken away from us last year. Actually we ended up having multiple disappointments with this cruise.

We booked the last 2005 Med Cruise and the following trans for a 26 night cruise from Venice to Barcelona and Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale as soon as booking opened for Europe for 2005. Then all of a sudden, the transatlantic disappeared from the website! After a number of phone calls, the trans finally appeared with a 12 day break between the Med cruise we booked and the transatlantic - with no info on the ship during those 12 days. Celebrity decided to put the ship in drydock. There was no way we could get the extra days off - 28 days was pushing it - to be able to do both with having to fly back and forth to Europe, so we had to cancel our Med cruise.

No compensation was offered for the cancellation of our back to back - we did book the two cruises as a back to back staying in the same cabin.

We did feel a little better because the itinerary of the trans was changed and added some of the ports of the Med cruise - Rome, Villefranche, and Marseille. At least I would make it to Rome!

Or so I thought. At the last minute (a couple of weeks before the cruise), our trans goes missing again. It suddenly appears on the website with another new itinerary - overnighting in Barcelona, stopping in Villefranche and dropping Rome and Marseille. But even that wasn't correct. It turns out that the drydock couldn't be done in Marseille and the ship ended up going elsewhere which took more sailing time. So a little over a week before flying to Europe, we were told that the ship actually would not be arriving until 2 days later and our 14 day trans was now a 12 day trans. Celebrity would put us up in a hotel for 2 days from when we were supposed to sail to when we actually sailed but the hotels that they used were not of the same class that we were staying in pre-cruise (we were at Le Meridien right on Las Ramblas for our precruise stay and ended up moving to a hotel in the Olympic Village area - far away from most everything.) We were also give a credit for a percentage off our price paid for the two days that we were not on the ship. However, meals and transportation around Barcelona were on our own (with the exception of breakfast which is included in most hotel in Barcelona.)

[templed]

We were booked on the 4/13 sailing as well...

 

We've since moved out bookings over to the 3/23 sailing... but, I am still a little miffed at the fact that I found out this information from a 3rd party... NOT Celebrity... (Kudos to the 3rd party... aka Cruise Critic)..

 

There was a little talk early in our RC about the Martini Bar / Ice bar refurbishment... so, I'm guessin we jinxed ourselves...

[CruisingChick]

Hi Everyone !

 

While I dont put a lot into this, and I do not wish to give anyone booked on the 4/13/07 any false hope, I have some updated news as of 1pm today.

 

There MAY be some good news. I JUST got off the phone with Celebrity Customer Service. I spoke with a supervisor who was very aware of our Cruise. She told me that the 4/13/07 sailing MAY still be back on as scheduled. Although I DO think the sailing is cancelled, they assure me there is still hope the sailing might go on as planned. Bottom line is, there could still be a change for the better, but it is doubtful.

 

She promised to call me, as soon as she heard something more definitive. As soon as I hear more, I will post it here. Let's hope for the best. Stay Tuned !

 

While I would love to believe this, the fact that when you log into MyCelebrity to check your reservation, it states that you have no reservation, so that means to me that it doesn't look good.

 

All I can do is pray. Let me get the Rosary Beads out.

[Andy]

While I would love to believe this, the fact that when you log into MyCelebrity to check your reservation, it states that you have no reservation, so that means to me that it doesn't look good.

 

All I can do is pray. Let me get the Rosary Beads out.

 

Hi Anne Maria !

 

I agree that it doesnt look good, but dont give up yet. If I hear anything, I will post it here. I am doubtful we will hear anything before early next week. For now, we will have to wait and see.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

The plot thickens.... and hopefully, for the better :)

 

Perhaps the Customer Service Supervisor I spoke with today, was right after all. She said the 4/13 sailing was not committed to being a transatlantic, and the website changes might be in error.

 

As of Midnight tonight, the Celebrity website PULLED off the 4/13/07 Constellation sailing altogether. While our sailing still does not appear, neither does the Transatlantic. Very interesting.

 

I am wondering if Celebrity listened to all the complaints today ? Who knows. This could be very good news. Stay Tuned.

[bububr]

I think X is having some serious site problems.

 

For my 9/8/06 Mercury Alaska cruise last night it showed us stopping in Nanaimo twice, once after we get to Juneau......Talk about hauling butt.

 

Today I went onto the site and it shows the sailing completely sold out. Last night around 10 there were at least 20 cabins showing available that I could count.

 

I realize that I,m not on this sailing that you all are talking about, but It looks like X is have problems across the board with its operating system.

 

Dave:eek:

[ocngypz]

When I spoke with the Star Desk yesterday, Constellations' new 4/13/07 itinerary is a ta from FLL to SOU. However, it is not open for bookings yet.

 

It is SOP for affected bookings (in this case the 4/23/07 and the Caribbean bookings) to be notified via their agencies once revenue opens the new ta for sale. At that time we will also know what incentive the cruiseline is offering for those affected bookings.

 

So you will just have to sit tight until revenue pushes the green light.

 

Both 4/13/07 and 4/23/2007 are in code red and cannot be accessed by anyone until revenue opens them.

[wv4891]

Ok Celebrity, push that button, will yeah!!!!

[dprice70]

ocngypz,

 

Will Celebrity hold the cabins already booked by the 4/13 and 4/23 passengers? We are already booked in one of the best CC cabins for the TA and hope to be able to stay in it.

 

What happens in situations like this?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Debra

originally booked for the 4/23 TA and 5/5 Baltic

[DavCar]

Celebrity customer service today told me my 4/23 cabin booking on the ta would stay the same. Although how would they accomodate someone on the 4/13 Caribbean assigned to the same cabin????

 

So many unanswered questions. It's going to be a long weekend!

 

Carol

[Andy]

Celebrity customer service today told me my 4/23 cabin booking on the ta would stay the same. Although how would they accomodate someone on the 4/13 Caribbean assigned to the same cabin????

 

So many unanswered questions. It's going to be a long weekend!

 

Carol

 

Hi Carol !

 

You are right about the unanswered questions part. This is just a guess, but I would think that the passengers on the 4/13 sailing will have first shot at the cabins they were originally assigned. Now, I know that sounds bad, but keep in mind that (I believe) the majority of those on the 4/13 sailing will not want to go on a Transatlantic, so many of those cabins will likely be available.

 

Again, this is all strictly a guess. I doubt Celebrity knows what they are doing right now :). For all we know, things could be back to normal next week. I find it VERY odd that Celebrity has now pulled the 4/13 Transatlantic off of their website, so more changes could be in the works.

 

For those of us on the sailings that are involved in this mess, all we can do, is wait and worry.

[ocngypz]

Hi Carol !

 

You are right about the unanswered questions part. This is just a guess, but I would think that the passengers on the 4/13 sailing will have first shot at the cabins they were originally assigned. Now, I know that sounds bad, but keep in mind that (I believe) the majority of those on the 4/13 sailing will not want to go on a Transatlantic, so many of those cabins will likely be available.

 

Again, this is all strictly a guess. I doubt Celebrity knows what they are doing right now :). For all we know, things could be back to normal next week. I find it VERY odd that Celebrity has now pulled the 4/13 Transatlantic off of their website, so more changes could be in the works.

 

For those of us on the sailings that are involved in this mess, all we can do, is wait and worry.

 

It's pulled off because it generated too many questions for which there are no concrete answers right now. And it is not open for booking.

 

Revenue is not finished.

 

You are going to have to wait. Affected bookings get first dibs.

[ocngypz]

ocngypz,

 

Will Celebrity hold the cabins already booked by the 4/13 and 4/23 passengers? We are already booked in one of the best CC cabins for the TA and hope to be able to stay in it.

 

What happens in situations like this?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Debra

originally booked for the 4/23 TA and 5/5 Baltic

 

The original 4/13 sailing was a Caribbean itinerary. The chances of a Carribean booking changing to a transatlantic are pretty slim.