Quest delayed - raw deal?

[zaandam_2]

There's a news item on the front page of CC. The inaugural sailing is cancelled. Booked guests can cancel for a full refund or book a future cruise - 12 to 14 nights - and receive a $300 per stateroom credit.

 

This seems like a very low offer. $300 probably won't even cover air changes. this is typical of celebrity service and another reason why it is highly unlikely i'lll ever sail with them.

 

what to you think?

[Jeano222]

Technically they don't have to pay you anything, the cruise contract says they have the right to change or cancel. I had a cruise cancelled on Royal Caribbean and they booked me on another ship at the same rate for the same category. We were given a 100.00 OBC

[florisdekort]

There's a news item on the front page of CC. The inaugural sailing is cancelled. Booked guests can cancel for a full refund or book a future cruise - 12 to 14 nights - and receive a $300 per stateroom credit.

 

This seems like a very low offer. $300 probably won't even cover air changes. this is typical of celebrity service and another reason why it is highly unlikely i'lll ever sail with them.

 

what to you think?

 

The cancellation was reported here early this week by people actually booked on this cruise :rolleyes:

 

This cruise is 4 months out (!). A stateroom credit of $300 seems very generous to me.

 

In general, Celebrity and Azamara have aways been much more generous then any other cruise line with compensation, handing out both free cruises AND full refunds when sailings are cancelled on very short notice.

 

Floris

[Susan-M]

Several posters who were on the cancelled cruise have posted that they've made alternate arrangements to sail on Quest in November. They seem to be satisfied with the credit and the new sailing dates/itineraries.

 

I've been really pleased with our Celebrity cruises and although I agree that the Azamara start-up hasn't been without it's problems, I think they will get things sorted out and provide a wonderful cruise experience for their clients. :)

[1cruiselvr]

I'm one of those that was booked on the inaugural cruise. We also were offered up to $100 rebursement should we be charged for air changes. Documentation just needs to be faxed to the cruiseline. I think Azamara has been more than fair since the cruise was cancelled before final payment was due. I've adjusted mentally and have moved on. I think most have. Happy Sailing!

[zaandam_2]

The cancellation was reported here early this week by people actually booked on this cruise :rolleyes:

 

This cruise is 4 months out (!). A stateroom credit of $300 seems very generous to me.

 

In general, Celebrity and Azamara have aways been much more generous then any other cruise line with compensation, handing out both free cruises AND full refunds when sailings are cancelled on very short notice.

 

Floris

 

yours was the only post 'code red' that was a harbinger of things to come. even the roll call didn't have it posted until the 5th.

 

Several posters who were on the cancelled cruise have posted that they've made alternate arrangements to sail on Quest in November. They seem to be satisfied with the credit and the new sailing dates/itineraries.

 

I've been really pleased with our Celebrity cruises and although I agree that the Azamara start-up hasn't been without it's problems, I think they will get things sorted out and provide a wonderful cruise experience for their clients. :)

 

nobody on the roll call, or elsewhere that i can see seems pleased with the exception of 1cruiselvr, below. in fact, one poster on the roll call is contemplating canceling 4 other related cruises with X.

 

I'm one of those that was booked on the inaugural cruise. We also were offered up to $100 rebursement should we be charged for air changes. Documentation just needs to be faxed to the cruiseline. I think Azamara has been more than fair since the cruise was cancelled before final payment was due. I've adjusted mentally and have moved on. I think most have. Happy Sailing!

 

thanks for clearing that up. it was not mentioned in the news article (in which you were quoted, btw)

[Jancruz]

Believe me if Azamara had not cancelled the first cruise and it was as bad as the first few Journey cruises..everybody on board would have been screaming that the cruise line should not have gone out until they were ready..I give them credit for thinking ahead this time..

Jan

*****

[cruiseyguy]

Celebrity has been extremely generous with credits, discounts and free cruises when things have gone wrong--much more so than any cruiseline. As a result, they've created unrealistic expectations of compensation for just about every miscue or itinerary change. If I were an RCL shareholder (and I'm not anymore) I would be very concerned about this generousity.

[amazing]

Celebrity has been extremely generous with credits, discounts and free cruises when things have gone wrong--much more so than any cruiseline. As a result, they've created unrealistic expectations of compensation for just about every miscue or itinerary change. If I were an RCL shareholder (and I'm not anymore) I would be very concerned about this generousity.

 

I, instead, would be extremely concerned if people, that are affected by this cancellation at the end opt for sailing with Oceania instead. What will be more affection the shareholders.....a 300 dollar onboard credit (the money will even flow back into the company) or leaving a potential passenger with another cruise line ?

[Susan-M]

 

nobody on the roll call, or elsewhere that i can see seems pleased with the exception of 1cruiselvr, below. in fact, one poster on the roll call is contemplating canceling 4 other related cruises with X.

 

 

There are 3 posters on this thread who seem OK with the change: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=567789

 

For those booked on the inaugaural cruise, I'm sure that the initial reaction to the cancellation was annoyance .... and the poster who mentioned "contemplating" cancelling upcoming cruises was probably in the initial stages of reacting.

[Susan-M]

I, instead, would be extremely concerned if people, that are affected by this cancellation at the end opt for sailing with Oceania instead.

 

Azamara had more to lose by a repeat performance of Journey's inaugaural cruise than they did by having the good sense to cancel Quest's inauguaral cruise more than 4 months out.

[zaandam_2]

There are 3 posters on this thread who seem OK with the change: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=567789

 

For those booked on the inaugaural cruise, I'm sure that the initial reaction to the cancellation was annoyance .... and the poster who mentioned "contemplating" cancelling upcoming cruises was probably in the initial stages of reacting.

 

actually there was one, possibly 2 (they just said they were re-booking not that they were pleased about it). as for the person 'contemplating', how can you possibly know what they were thinking?

[Andy]

yours was the only post 'code red' that was a harbinger of things to come. even the roll call didn't have it posted until the 5th.

 

 

Hi Zaandam !

 

Not exactly the case. I brought up the possibility as well. You may want to take a look at this thread, where it was discussed. I agree that Floris is a great source of information !

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=554625

[1cruiselvr]

Don't misunderstand. I was extremely bummed when I learned that my cruise was cancelled. But I bounced back to reality quickly because I realized that it was better for the CL to cancel now, than repeat the inaugural Journey mess which I would not like to experience, even for free so I adjusted and concentrated my energy and thoughts on choosing a replacement cruise.

I feel the CL was fair in what they offered, after all it was 2 mos before final payment was due and 4 mos before sail date. Many on the 10/19/07 roll call haven't posted at all since the announcement. So I don't think we have heard from everyone affected by the cancellation yet. Happy Sailing!

[dabear]

seems like there always is a complaint no matter what the cruise lines do. Cancelling well in advance with credits seems more than fair.

[cruisePRN]

I think the $300 OBC is fair IF Azamara also reimburses for the fee to change the airfare. If you have to use most of that $300 to change your air and possably your ground transportation then it isn't very generous. I am booked on Azamara's first Asia itinary and if they had to change itinaries or cancel I know how bummed out I would feel so I really understand what these folks on the inaugural are going through.

[Captain Cosmo]

I'm going to guess that most of you who are satisfied with having your cruise delayed and having to reschedule are retired or not employed. I agree that it makes no sense to repeat the problems with Journey's initial sailings but then a company that had a real interest in being responsible would never have scheduled such a short time for a retrofit in the first place. Celebrity planned this whole thing poorly. As far as "X learning its lesson" a read of Mr. Hanrahan's interview with CC shows him admitting that "mistakes were made" one minute and then copping-out with "the parts we were expecting didn't arrive on time" the next. Basically, X is not taking responsibility for this mess. Why give them credit for their compensation policy of trying to replace people's lost time with an onboard credit when better planning and management could have avoided the whole mess?

 

Oh - and yes, I realize that thanks to most arcane set of laws ever that the cruiselines are not obligated to compensate you when they screw up your vacation - but they should be.

[JAXlakerdogerfans]

We were booked on the Oct 19th Quest and managed to rebook on the Nov. 12th Quest sail date. Since we had a SS booked, we're getting the $600.00 OBC. We're actually pleased with the compensation.

 

This was our 3rd re-booking. We were originally to sail in December on the Millenium, but it was dry docked. We took the reimbursement and used it to book a Hawaii cruise on the Summit in April. We had to reschedule that trip due to my work schedule (yes, not all of us are retired &/or non-employed). We booked the Quest for Oct 19th and were getting VERY nervous about the condition of the ship after hearing so much from the Journey. The new sail dates will let me take less vacation hours, get's us out of town for Thanksgiving, and now there is at least one cruise before our trip to work out the bugs. Win - win as far as I'm concerned. We will be driving to Miami, so the airfare was not an issue, but lately, we've learned to book refundable tickets for vacations that might be iffy.

 

I'm going to stay optomistic that this will still be a great cruise experience!

[surfklutz]

I'm going to guess that most of you who are satisfied with having your cruise delayed and having to reschedule are retired or not employed. I agree that it makes no sense to repeat the problems with Journey's initial sailings but then a company that had a real interest in being responsible would never have scheduled such a short time for a retrofit in the first place. Celebrity planned this whole thing poorly. As far as "X learning its lesson" a read of Mr. Hanrahan's interview with CC shows him admitting that "mistakes were made" one minute and then copping-out with "the parts we were expecting didn't arrive on time" the next. Basically, X is not taking responsibility for this mess. Why give them credit for their compensation policy of trying to replace people's lost time with an onboard credit when better planning and management could have avoided the whole mess?

 

Oh - and yes, I realize that thanks to most arcane set of laws ever that the cruiselines are not obligated to compensate you when they screw up your vacation - but they should be.

 

I agree, if they screw up they should be responsible to at least make you whole again. And despite what the contract reads ( and this applies to all lines) - just because it says it in the contract, it does not necessarily make it ironclad. There is much that lines have to legally do that they "protect" themselves against. Most people walk away when they see it in the contract. But it always pays to check - sometimes what is in there is not legally enforceable.

[florisdekort]

I'm going to guess that most of you who are satisfied with having your cruise delayed and having to reschedule are retired or not employed. I agree that it makes no sense to repeat the problems with Journey's initial sailings but then a company that had a real interest in being responsible would never have scheduled such a short time for a retrofit in the first place. Celebrity planned this whole thing poorly. As far as "X learning its lesson" a read of Mr. Hanrahan's interview with CC shows him admitting that "mistakes were made" one minute and then copping-out with "the parts we were expecting didn't arrive on time" the next. Basically, X is not taking responsibility for this mess. Why give them credit for their compensation policy of trying to replace people's lost time with an onboard credit when better planning and management could have avoided the whole mess?

 

Captain, I am curious: over the past year or so, you have been extremely vocal on Cruise Critic everytime something goes wrong at Celebrity (POD problems, Journey's launch, etc.). Why are you still cruising Celebrity despite your obvious dislike of the line? I myself had a major fall out with American Airlines once, and have simply stopped flying them ever since!

 

Best Regards,

Floris

[amazing]

Captain, I am curious: over the past year or so, you have been extremely vocal on Cruise Critic everytime something goes wrong at Celebrity (POD problems, Journey's launch, etc.). Why are you still cruising Celebrity despite your obvious dislike of the line? I myself had a major fall out with American Airlines once, and have simply stopped flying them ever since!

 

Best Regards,

Floris

 

Floris, although I can not judge on Captain and only speak for myself, I can understand why people do get frustrated but still like cruising with X.

We've been, for the past 10 years, around the world cruising with all sorts of lines. From Rccl to Silversea and from Celebrity to Seabourn and even the MS Europa. At the end we concluded that X does most appeal......especially since we feel the price / quality relation does very well onboard Celebrity.

 

But does that mean I'm over enthousiastic towards X ? The answers has to be NO. Year after Year we experience the product going down, despite Hanrahan's promise : "We continue to work on making Celebrity even better than it is today" which is totally not true. And on the other hand, Celebrity does like our comments......Hanrahan says: "They're tough critics. But the thing we like about Cruise Critic is that the readers really care about the product. Even when they're voicing displeasure, they're voicing displeasure because they care so much."

 

This site is called cruise CRITIC and therefore ment to be vocal on your experiences. Whether positive of negative. Only by adressing our concerns we can try to make cruising more enjoyable than it is today.:)

[florisdekort]

This site is called cruise CRITIC and therefore ment to be vocal on your experiences. Whether positive of negative. Only by adressing our concerns we can try to make cruising more enjoyable than it is today.:)

 

I fully agree!! I am not debating anybody's right to voice any opinion, I was only wondering why people who are so obviously displeased with Celebrity still continue to book future cruises with them. I think personally, I would move on to a different line. I run out of patience quickly ;-)

 

From your response I conclude that your main reason for doing so is that despite the frustrations, you still feel Celebrity offers the best quality/price ratio in the industry. That's a good explanation, although it surprises me that you apparently still feel so positively after reading the many negative posts in multiple threads.

 

Thank you for clarifying!

 

Best Regards,

Floris

[amazing]

I fully agree!! I am not debating anybody's right to voice any opinion, I was only wondering why people who are so obviously displeased with Celebrity still continue to book future cruises with them. I think personally, I would move on to a different line. I run out of patience quickly ;-)

 

From your response I conclude that your main reason for doing so is that despite the frustrations, you still feel Celebrity offers the best quality/price ratio in the industry. That's a good explanation, although it surprises me that you apparently still feel so positively after reading the many negative posts in multiple threads.

 

Thank you for clarifying!

 

Best Regards,

Floris

 

Isn't that exactly what I'm saying......we're absolutely not over enthousiastic towards Celebrity. Especially after the terrible experience we had on the Century a few weeks ago. But....at the end we did get an extremely good compensation just last week that was satisfying at the end. But my future bookings are with Azamara and am far from confident we will make all cruises that we have planned to do. Our upcoming Quest voyage in December will probably determin whether we'll stick to X or not !

[Goofyisme]

In a previous thread you had cancelled all your Azamara cruises. Of course that thread has been removed so I can't quote it, just a curious conflict of statements.

[1cruiselvr]

We've been cruising since the mid 80s and I have to say that ALL of the cruiselines have disappointed us sooner or later in some ways. They have turned into mass market pleasers in the more recent years. I have decided not to cruise on some lines but still consider others. Usually the ports/CL/price are what drives our vacation decision these days. I don't think you can find a CL that pleases everyone in all ways. Happy Sailing!