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Celebrity will get their $400 from someone else! Back to Princess!


donnaw

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Have to add that IF the TA in fact did a "Courtesy Hold" at the rates they quoted to you, they SHOULD have gotten a fax from the cruiseline which would have showed the fares that were on that booking..... this would have been the ONLY RECOURSE or AMMO that that the TA would really have to fight this issue.

 

I suspect that a "Courtesy Hold" was never placed, therefore the rates increased !

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ReggieRal, I'm so happy that you have dined well on Celebrity as I have also. Celebrity dining for dinner excels none. My favorite waiters, the best service. Oh, can we ever relive it again. Oh please Reggie.

 

But RCL for lunch buffets, none will match. Sorry Reggie, that will always be my favorite. :D We could try that???????

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I don't think this post has anything to do with his TA, or with putting a cabin on hold. It would not have mattered. Celebrity had the wrong price listed.

 

He is saying that the Celebrity web site lists a cheaper price that is wrong and celebrity won't honor it.

 

OP said, The issue here is that the price was advertised at the time she booked it. Feels a bit like bait and switch which I'm sure is everyone's favorite.

 

Why is everyone going on and on about his TA. He is not complaining about his TA. He is telling you the Celebrity site at the time he wanted to book advertised a price $400 cheaper than they really wanted.

Does it really matter if it's 3, 9 or 12 days. Celebrity should have done a better job at updating their site. Why is it so hard for you people to see(or admit) that Celebrity is at fault here.

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I think that Celebrity is one hundred wrong here. If I (or my TA) call them to book THEIR advertised price and they inform me that they have advertised the price incorrectly and I will have to pay $400 more, I would tell them to shove it!

 

I am a die hard Celebrity fan who had to cancel a February cruise and reluctantly (kicking and screaming) booked a Princess cruise instead. So I am off to "compare". With Celebrity instituting no discounts, not sure if I will be back.

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In the past when I found a cruise I wanted for an acceptable price, I would ask the agent to put a 48 hour hold on that cruise for that price while I talked to my wife and checked other arrangements. At the end of that time I would give them a deposit or let it go. If Celebrity is no longer doing this it is definitly good bye.

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Count me among those who see this as your TA's fault...

I know Celebrity recently raised it's prices on many cruises...I've been tracking my July Constellation cruise and the fare for my category cabin has just gone up another $300 in the past few days...in fact, it's gone up about $700 since we first booked it...it's why I book early whenever I can...You can always HOLD the reservation for a short time...AND you can always put down a relatively small deposit and CANCEL it up to about 2 months prior if you can't work the rest out...

 

I booked mine well in advance of AA even releasing their frequent flyer reservations for my dates...If, for some strange reason I couldn't get satisfactory frequent flyer flights, I would either fly with Celebrity or work something else out...and if not that, I could just cancel and then find somethinbg else...but, at least I would have been insured against price increases...

 

But, by your description, it sounds as though you got a QUOTE but failed to reserve it and there was a subsequent price change and three days later, you expected them to live by a blind quote you hadn't acted on?

 

Ever go to a store, see the price for something, go home without doing anything and come back three days later, find out the price has gone up and insist they give YOU the old price?

 

Blame your TA...your TA should have known that prices MIGHT go up and should have talked you into placing at least a hold...

 

If you didn't even give your TA an inkling that you were serious about booking it, then blame yourself...

 

But, you can't blame the cruise line...or any other provider of a product or service for changing its prices from time to time and NOT honoring mere quotes WITHOUT reservations, bookings or deposits...

 

From the Celebrity website itself:

>>important price information

 

>>Unless otherwise expressly noted, all prices are per person, based on double occupancy of the stateroom and are quoted in U.S. dollars. Celebrity Cruises Inc. reserves the right to increase its prices without prior notice; however, if you have confirmed your booking with a deposit, or if you have already made your final payment, your price will be protected. <<

 

Until you confirm your booking with a deposit, they can change their prices...the fact they will also do a "complimentary hold" at times is just a freebie on them...

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Did any of you who think it's the TA's fault read the OP. This has nothing to do with the TA or a 48 hour hold. This is about the Celebrity site that lists a different price than what the price really is.

I don't get it, one person talks about the TA who should have put a hold on the cabin and everyone jumps on the band wagon and agrees. The OP is complaining about Celebrity not honoring their site price. It didn t matter if there was a hold or not, the price was different on the site than what Celebrity wanted.

The site was never updated, it still showed the old prices. Celebrity was at fault here.

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I cannot get over they would refuse to honor a price on their website. I read other message boards and occasionally a wrong price is posted on Orbitz. If someone catches it and books they get the price listed. I happened to see this price late one night and booked asap.I expect my local grocery store to honor advertised prices. I would never deal with a cruiseline who refused to do the same. There are many good choices out there and too much money on the line.

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Did any of you who think it's the TA's fault read the OP. This has nothing to do with the TA or a 48 hour hold. This is about the Celebrity site that lists a different price than what the price really is.

Did you read the OP? We don't know that Celebrity admitted the prices on their website were wrong. We don't even know that Celebrity's prices were wrong. All we know is that the OP says her TA claims she got a call from Celebrity. That doesn't make it true.

 

We know the cabin was not booked with a deposit because the OP says she reserved a cabin and that "It took (3 days) to figure out FF air so we could go ahead and book." The OP does not say that she was there when the TA got the call from Celebrity saying the price listed 3 days ago was wrong. So it is possible that the TA lied when she learned the price had gone up and she had not warned the OP that price was not firm until deposit.

 

Celebrity's policy is that the price is locked in when you make your deposit, not when you hold a cabin. So Celebrity had every right to change the price. We have only the TA's word that Celebrity admitted that the price was wrong. But since they had the right to change the price, why would they admit the price listed 3 days ago was wrong? They had only to quote their policy that the price is not locked in until a deposit is made, so it doesn't matter what the price was 3 days ago. Supposedly Celebrity called the TA to say they made a mistake in pricing. Why would they make that call for a cabin that was on hold (and it looks like this one wasn't on hold)? Many hold cabins get dropped. Are we to believe that Celebrity called everyone who put a cabin on hold during the period the prices were wrong? That was, after all, at least 3 days. Many of those holds would have just dropped away, and Celebrity did have the right to increase the price on non-deposited cabins, so why make the calls?

 

Here's the biggie. Although the OP initially said "we reserved a cabin," she also said when questioned why she didn't have her TA put a hold on it, "I'm sure she would have if we had requested it. Because of black out dates and odd flight times, we didn't." So if there was no hold, why would Celebrity have called the TA? Without a hold, Celebrity had no idea that the TA's client was thinking about booking the cruise. How could they?

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[quote name=donnaw

She says (and I have no reason to disbelieve her at this time) that Celebrity said that no' date=' the price had been wrong all along but it takes time and a lot of work to correct it. I correct databases on a daily basis (admittedly not the size of Celebrity's) and I wouldn't have a job if it took more than a an hour to get the information corrected. The wrong price was still showing on Expedia after this conversation and when I clicked on book, it notified me that the pricing was incorrect. The price two hours before the conversation was still the wrong price on the Celebrity website but I checked after the conversation and it had been changed.[/quote]

 

 

The op is saying he checked the Celebrity site and it was still wrong 2 hours before his conversation with his TA. Did Celebrity contact any of the TA's since the wrong price was still showing up on other TA sites? Should Celebrity honor their site price?

 

Not everyone is happy with the no discount game RCCL/Celebrity has been playing, will it make a difference, no.

90% of cruisers do not come to this site and have no clue about the no discount policy. They go to their local TA and book what looks good to them.

 

This is just another part of the game, list a low price than say opps, sorry we forgot to change the price on our site.

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I don't see how any company could or should be forced to honor a price that wasn't correct.

That said, even a courtesy hold is not guaranteed until deposited. I've never seen this happen, but if you read the fine print, that's the bottom line.

Even the airlines won't guarantee a price until it is ticketed. You can get a great price and a 24 hour hold, but unless you ticket it, the price could go up.

That's life in the big city.:rolleyes:

 

Read the fine print.

 

Reggie:D

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If a travel agent ever told me something that was inconsistent with my own experience I would never accept his/her word at face value. Instead, I would have called Celebrity directly to rectify the situation. Unfortunately, when people choose a travel agent based on price, it can frequently cost them more in the long run. I think the internet has created a significant number of incompetent and unethical travel agents, who would have never been able to stay in business a few years ago.

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You know, it's really hard to tell what it was that Celebrity told the travel agent who told the original poster who told us...

 

The original story sounded somewhat incosistent...It originally intimated that there was a three day gap between quotes during which the OP was searching out frequent flyer flights...

 

Then, it seemed to change to a two hour gap...

 

Then, it was "wrong" simultaneously with the higher quote...

 

I happen to KNOW that Celebrity just recently RAISED theuir prices ON their website...They certainly did for MY cruise (I was smart enough to book it already--I just check it to see where the prices are going from time to time)...

 

But, they certainly DID just change prices...and they did it ON THEIR website...

 

IF somehow, the OP's timing was just THAT bad that they were talking to Celebrity WHILE the prices were going up...well, c'est la vie...you STILL should have booked it at a lower price when you had the chance...

 

He who hesitates is lost...

 

The Celebrity website...and their brochures...and their advertising all clearly state that they reserve the right to change their prices AT ANY TIME UP UNTIL you plunk down a deposit...

 

It's actually age-old contract law...You learn it in first year contracts class at any high school in North America and Britain...an offer without acceptance and consideration can be withdrawn AT ANY TIME by the offeror...It only becomes irrevocable when coupled with acceptance AND CONSIDERATION (For those non-lawyers out there, "Consideration" means you PAY SOMETHING for it...until you've paid something...and are at risk...you have NO RIGHT to even an "advertised" price...There was no promise to leave the price open...the price was offered with the express reservation that it may be changed at ANY TIME on the sole discretion of the offeror...

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I agree with those that say your travel agent bears the resopnsibility here.

 

The thing that no one else has also mentioned (other than the original poster), is that the TA in question admittiedly already is quoting now:

 

"an independent agent for one of the majors that is battling with Royal Caribbean "

 

And (again quoting):

 

"is not getting along with Celebrity at the moment"

 

So, we have turblulent siutation between this particluar TA and the cruise line.. I' m sure that TA would me more than happy to convert donna to a Princess customer. Maybe thats what the goal is for this TA considering the situation with Celebrity/RCCL.

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Even the airlines won't guarantee a price until it is ticketed. You can get a great price and a 24 hour hold, but unless you ticket it, the price could go up.

That's life in the big city.:rolleyes:

 

Read the fine print.

 

Reggie:D

 

Not true with all airlines. An online 24 hour hold on Continental also holds the price.

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I agree with those that say your travel agent bears the resopnsibility here.

 

The thing that no one else has also mentioned (other than the original poster), is that the TA in question admittiedly already is quoting now:

 

"an independent agent for one of the majors that is battling with Royal Caribbean "

 

And (again quoting):

 

"is not getting along with Celebrity at the moment"

 

So, we have turblulent siutation between this particluar TA and the cruise line.. I' m sure that TA would me more than happy to convert donna to a Princess customer. Maybe thats what the goal is for this TA considering the situation with Celebrity/RCCL.

I agree with you, and that is another reason why I think the original poster should have verified what the TA told her with Celebrity. It appears that the travel agent is either incompetent or has an agenda and can't be trusted.
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Hi Donna:) I had to cancel the Horizon to Bermuda due to unforseen circumstances and sailed the Zuiderdam instead.

 

I was on a cruise for a week;) and I always go with a good attitude but I was disappointed with quite a few things....service was lacking (in my opinion).

I am in the middle of a review on the HAL boards, you are more than welcome to pop over there and read it...though I am not finished with it yet.

 

I am not sure what I am going to do at this point....IF X is way more than I can afford I will have to do some research for new options and see what my TA has to say......actually she is on a cruise to Tahiti right now!

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Sorry I have been MIA but lots of system work this weekend. After actually having a chance to sit down and talk with dh, here is exactly how it went.

 

DH called TA and had a hold put on the cabin that we wanted on Thursday morning. One hour later dh got a call from the TA who said that she just got off the phone with Celebrity and that the cabin was reserved on 24 hour hold and gave him the price which was as stated on the website. He told her to go ahead and book it and gave her a charge card number. She called back five minutes later and was very upset. She said that her Celebrity rep had told the price was wrong and has been but that it takes time to change it and the new price was $200.00 more per person. I suppose we could have gone straight to Celebrity but I was in meetings all day and dh was out on the road. It ended up feeling like bait and switch and just left a very bad feeling after the wonderful treatment that we received from Celebrity just one year ago.

 

While highly possible that a different agency/TA may have managed to get Celebrity to hold the price, I am still disappointed with Celebrity with putting the customer in the middle of crossfire if that is what happened.

 

All is well that ends well and we will be buying Carnival stock and booking our third cruise on Princess tomorrow, which I am sure we will enjoy, and we will look at booking their Med while on board!

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Hi Lois, I am so sorry that it didn't live up the expectations! I hope you had some fun anyhow. Actually, I am sure that you made the best of it and had a good time!

 

I don't know why, I thought you already had the booking in on the Century. Don't forget that Gail (Tugger) is a great source of information and you can email her anytime.

 

I'm sure you'll come up with a great solution!

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No rate is guaranteed on any cruiseline until a deposit is received.

 

As for rates being wrong, that is a load of bull... you are just being handed a story. The rate was not wrong, the rate just went up.. basic law of supply and demand.

 

The next time you see a cruise you want.. at at price you want.. assuming you are outside the no-cancellation period, deposit. If your air doesn't work out, you can always cancel your cruise booking.

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