Reimbursement for missed ports

[Ma Bell]

Celebrity is not considered a premium cruiseline. I do feel, however that it gives the best product for the money. Apparently so do lots of people. The readers of Conde Nast magazine voted Celebrity 7 of the top 10 in the large ship category.

 

My point is this is a good cruiseline. Some are more elite and higher quality, but also carry a larger pricetag. I'm sure Celebrity is very unhappy with the performance of the pods and that is why they have a lawsuit against the supplier of the pod system. They do, however, have to try to complete their cruises and seem to be doing their best to schedule repairs when necessary and feasible. They have compensated customers for inconveniences caused. I don't know what else they could do and stay in business. I certainly want them around in the future. We've had many wonderful times with Celebrity.

[dorijo]

We just returned from Celebrity Infinity B2B South America. We are definitely not happy with the compensation we received on our 28 day cruise..We spent over $10,000 traveling 13 hours to SEE South America and missed 2 ports, got shortchanged in the straits of magellan and the fiords and time cut in Aruba from 9:30PM to 5PM. On the second leg 1/2 the ship was sick with hacking coughs or norwalk virus so much for the free hour bar..I was on antibiotics and couldn't drink.There were postings on tv about medical all day long on the second leg. I met people in a group who had Norwalk but wouldn't go to the dr because they didn't want to be confined to their cabin for 3 days. The crew was flooding everything in sight with bleach. The $150 per Cabin was a joke ($75.00 Per Person)..the reason we missed the ports was because of the reduced speed the ship was able to sail..However we sat outside the Panama Canal from 11PM to 6:30AM waiting to go thru the canal whereas we might have seen a little of Ecuador. We were also able to boogie home from Aruba at 18knots instead of the 13knots we did throughout the cruise. You say Celebrity doesn't nickle and dime you to death??? This was our first Celebrity cruise and the first cruise we had to pay for a movie in the cabin to the tune of $8.99 per. The cruise director was more of an entertainer (or thought he was) than a planner as they were not prepared for 200 b2b pax who were treated to repeat after repeat of activities, movies, shows, music. They claimed they ran out of trivia questions after the first two weeks. So they repeated them...

We begged them on the second leg to have something to do after dinner as we saw the shows, movies and heard the same music over and over, they did nothing....the food was also a complete repeat. I guess you just can't take a back to back cruise or am I whinner?? They had the late seating show at 7:15pm BEFORE dinner so when you came out of dinner what was left to do? CASINO!!! That is where they wanted you to be!! There also was no tv in the cabin 5 channels of Celebrity commercials 4 music channels and one channel that played I love Lucy,Andy Griffith,Dick van Dyke and Raymond sitcoms but the same episode over and over again we must have seen each one 15 times. On the other channel they had Judging Amy and Law and Order over and over again. I had been told before this cruise "you will not go on any other cruise line after you have been on Celebrity" Well they were wrong about that I will probably never go back on Celebrity.

The drinks are more expensive, the soda card is more expensive and the service is the same as any other line and the food is not up to par with my favorite line "Princess". We have written 3 letters to the company the earliest March 12 and have not heard a word from them and I really don't expect to. Then when we got back to the port we met people who were cancelled on the March 28th Millenium and had rebooked on Holland America and they told us they received their money back and a FREE cruise from Celebrity. That certainly left a bad taste in our mouths..we aren't looking for a free cruise but the compensation is not nearly enough for missing the ports we missed after travelling all that way to see countries we will never get to see again. It is not like going to the Caribbean and missing Barbados or St Thomas, this was a long long trip..and Celebrity knew it was having trouble when it left Rio on the cruise before us..they should have given us a choice we would not have gone this year. If some of you think I am a whinner so be it I am giving you my review of what SHOULD have been a great cruise although I must say we enjoyed the ports we did get to see its too bad we didn't see them all..

[Ma Bell]

I certainly don't think you are a whiner. I do think it's probably not prudent to do back to back with two 14 day cruises.

 

There are some premium lines that do world cruises and you would avoid repeats of food, games, etc. If you tried this on any of the mid-price lines, including Princess, you would have the same problem.

 

I've been on 12 Princess cruises and 12 Celebrity cruises and assorted others and I feel Celebrity is better than Princess. Just my opinion, but I will probably not do another Princess cruise.

 

I'm surprised that you didn't know about the pod problems. There were news articles on the Celebrity website and any good travel agent would surely have known.

 

As far as being sick, that can happen anywhere you have 2000 people together. Did you want the crew to ignore trying to keep things clean. We should all be upset with people who come on cruises when they know they are ill or those who won't stay away from others and spread the illness. The last cruise I was on, a friend of mine was sick and she stayed in her cabin because she was afraid she would make others sick. Sorry you had a bad experience.

[Shirley and Les]

Why should the passenger except money for skipping a port????

On a recent cruise, I offered the ship's captain $200 to skip stopping at St. Thomas. I did have a condition on the bribe. He would have to guarantee us pool lounge chairs for the extra sea day. A stop at St. Thomas offers a lot of extra spending privileges for USA citizens. My DW knows these rules inside and out and the $200 to the captain would probably have saved me $500. DW has a special set of aesbestos gloves for handling the VISA card during a shopping trip. Yes, you can get the credit card to a redhot level.

Les

[flagger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by dkjretired:

Flagger:

 

I agree that good customer service would dicate taking some action and therefore question your comments that they are squeezing every nickel out of customers. If you research all these cancelled cruises, Celebrities financial arrangements with their customers have actually been quite good. In this particular case, one port was missed and the customers were given a $150.00 credit on their account. Additionally, they gave a free happy hour. I think $150 is pretty darn good for missing a port. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I will agree to disagree that $150 per cabin is a good offer for missing a port. That per person credit really goes down when you have three or four people in a cabin.

 

Secondly, we don't drink and my infant certainly doesn't so an hour of open bar is not exactly compensation either. And I don't know about you, but when I was drinking I couldn't exactly pound that many back in an hour's time anyway.

 

I still hold that not everyone is aware of propulsion problems. I am not saying that everyone should be given a free cruise because of a missed port, but I certainly think the corporate culture of X needs to change to be more customer friendly. This is not the first nor will it be the last time that X has let down its passengers when this particular issue has come up.

 

"People don't know there's such a thing as recreational defibrillation" - Walter Becker on NPR

[Ma Bell]

?

[tbelian]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by flagger:

not everyone is aware of the pop propulsion problems. Not everyone reads and follows the news of such.

 

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Yes, that's true. As the old saying goes, ignorance is bliss ..... until ...... then it becomes, me being ignorant is somebody else's fault....

[raudacruise]

My TA reads these boards and has other sources of information about things. She keeps us informed (although we do find some things first).

 

If your TA does not keep you informed, find a new one. If you buy online, well buyer beware.

 

George & MaryBeth

[flagger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tbelian:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by flagger:

not everyone is aware of the pop propulsion problems. Not everyone reads and follows the news of such.

 

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

Yes, that's true. As the old saying goes, ignorance is bliss ..... until ...... then it becomes, me being ignorant is somebody else's fault....<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

No the only fault lies with the cruise line itself and the manufacturer of the propulsion units. In this instance the customer bears zero responsibility.

 

"People don't know there's such a thing as recreational defibrillation" - Walter Becker on NPR

[tbelian]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by flagger:

 

No the only fault lies with the cruise line itself and the manufacturer of the propulsion units. In this instance the customer bears zero responsibility.

 

"People don't know there's such a thing as recreational defibrillation" - _Walter Becker on NPR_<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

The customer bears responsibility for being self informed. They don't bear responsibility for the Ahlstrom pod, thats true. That's why Celebrity is suing Ahlstrom. The customer could 'sue' Celebrity, but good luck. The customer bears responsibility for being informed and aware. We can't go around with our head in the sand (or elsewhere). That is part of the foundation of a cruise message board. Sharing of information, which, this pod thing, has been shared quite freely and often.

 

Question: If there was a manufacturer defect on a stroller, or high chair, or something similar, would you just wait for the EvenFlow company to ring you up and say 'hey we have a problem with our strollers' or would you know that there is a recall on this product (if there was), and act accordingly?

 

 

 

Caveat Emptor!

[rwb]

I was also on the Infinity 3/13-28 cruise. Though disappointed in missing Manta, however dull it promised to be, my enjoyment of the cruise was not compromised.

 

Missing ports is pretty common. This was my 7th or 8th cruise (on various lines) on which a port was either missed or substituted, none of which were disclosed until after boarding or later. These things happen, and we are obligated to understand the risk, particularly on these somewhat unique itineraries. The cruise contract is pretty clear that the cruise line has the right to make deviations in schedules and ports.

 

Some of you are arguing that Celebrity made the decision to miss Manta but failed to notify us before we all left home. As a stockholder, I disagree. I don't know of any cruise line that would do that, and certainly none have any obligation to do it. We have no way of knowing when that decision was actually made. All we really know is that Celebrity confirmed that the cruise would take place (via a press release) three days before the sceduled boarding. If the decision was made a day or two before boarding, with hundreds of passengers already in Santiago, or in the air, then I'd have a real problem (as a stockholder)with the expense of notifying everyone of something that the contract already covered.

 

Frankly, I was happy with the $150 credit. Manta promised to be the least interesting of the stops, and the chief concierge explained the problem cogently when asked.

[Ma Bell]

Ah...a sensible human being!

[dorijo]

I just want to reply that I knew about the engine failure but was reassured that it had gone into drydock after a Panama Canal cruise last year and was fixed and had no further problems.I won't even respond to the rest of you who are so happy about $150 Per Cabin.ENJOY!

[ceallaigh]

I must be missing something here. You missed a port, you were given a free happy hour AND $150 credit. I'm really curious, what would satisfy you??? A free cruise for missing one port???

 

I'm in awe of how greedy we've become in this society. Stuff happens. Anyone upset with how Celebrity handled the situation appears (at least to me) to be looking for a free ride. Celebrity handled the situation better than I would expect.

 

I've missed ports on several cruises and never thought twice about it. I certainly wouldn't expect any type of compensation for missing a single port. It's the nature of cruising. The cruiseline doesn't guarantee a port, they guarantee a cruise. You absolutely got what you paid for.

 

Kelly

Cruises

RCCL Grandeur--1997

RCCL Grandeur--1998

Carnival Triumph--1999

RCCL Voyager--2000

Celebrity Galaxy--2002

Celebrity Galaxy--2003

 

 

 

 

[flagger]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ceallaigh:

The cruiseline doesn't guarantee a port, they guarantee a cruise. You absolutely got what you paid for.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

To most people, the cruiselines do not sell cruises but destinations and ports. Otherwise they would market nothing but cruises to nowhere. Ya sure don't see any of those brochures in your local TA office.

 

"People don't know there's such a thing as recreational defibrillation" - Walter Becker on NPR

[ceallaigh]

I see cruises to nowhere all the time. People do enjoy them. I'm one of the many that would love to have more seadays and less ports on a cruise. For many, the cruise is the destination.

Kelly
Cruises
RCCL Grandeur--1997
RCCL Grandeur--1998
Carnival Triumph--1999
RCCL Voyager--2000
Celebrity Galaxy--2002
Celebrity Galaxy--2003

[flagger]

I have never seen a brochure nor advert for cruises to nowhere. I have however seen countless brochures for destinations as well as those destinations being featured in their adverts.

For MANY the ports are the destination.

"People don't know there's such a thing as recreational defibrillation" - [B]Walter Becker on NPR[/B]

[Ma Bell]

and sometimes they have to skip a port.

[brigittetom]

We were on a Century cruise last year and missed Nassau. It was explained that we had engine problems and didn't have the thrust to get to the dock. We sat dead in the water about a mile out for 4 hours with some very odd diesel smells in the hallways and most elevators being out of order. We then headed twards Ft. Lauderdale at a very slow speed.

I was amazed at the $150. per cabin credit and the open bar before each seating. Actually, I felt sorry for the bartenders because people were really taking advantage. I'll readily admit that Nassau was not an important port for us personally, but I still think that was most generous on Celebritys' part. If they had offered nothing, I wouldn't have given it a second thought. My sympathy went to the Captain, the engineers and the bartenders. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

Zenith from Jacksonville
Feb. 13 05

[dorijo]

You got $150 per cabin and drinks before each seating for sitting out 4 hrs off shore..that is what we got for missing the Falklands, taking a shortcut thru the strait of Magellan and fiords so we didn't see much wildlife (which was what we took this cruise to see), we started this cruise on Feb 29 and 2 days into the cruise were told of the problem even though they knew there was a problem on the cruise before us from BA to Rio to BA. We didn't know if we were going to have to fly home from Valpariso or if the ship was going to take us to our destination of Ft Lauderdale until 4 days before Valpo. Then we were told we would be missing Ecuador and Aruba time would be cut short by 4 1/2hrs. So in comparison with sitting out 4 hrs off shore I'd say we weren't compensated enough. The free drinks were a one night deal for each 2 week cruise..it was one hour before early and one hour before late seating and if you went to the show at 7:15pm which was the time for late seating pax you couldn't participate because the hour for late seating ran from 7:30 to 8:30pm..they weren't serving drinks in the show and weren't serving free drinks before 7:30pm..so what did they actually give us. I am done explaining and some people will never get it but I just wanted to set the record straight about the FREE drinks. The bars were jammed and people were lucky if they could get one free drink in the hour(if they didn't go to the show)

[flagger]

Frankly if the line knew of the problem before the cruise they should in good faith offer those passengers who wish it an out without penalty. They hold your money earning interest for up to 90 days and then when they know of a mechanical problem they offer you no recourse.

Sure some people will say the lines would never offer such a thing, it would be bad business. Well that is what insurance is for. I am sure those who think the ship is the destination wouldn't really care nor would they take up such an offer. However, I am sure those who are pretty dismayed at their lack of customer service and forthcoming about said problem will not be choosing X in the near future.

"People don't know there's such a thing as recreational defibrillation" - [B]Walter Becker on NPR[/B]

[Ma Bell]

Why are you going Flagger? Since you say you've never been on a Celebrity cruise, but you know so much about the company and it's policies, you should probably cancel yours and try something better. You are really risking a lot to try Celebrity. After all you have read on these boards and all the comments you have made regarding what should be done and how terribly everyone is being treated, I can't imagine why you would even consider sailing with them.
But then again, maybe you can try to find something that doesn't please you so you can try to get your cruise for free. It would be a shame for you to be disappointed after all the horrible things you know. Don't come back and say you weren't sufficiently warned.

[flagger]

I am going because Ms. Flagger was promised a cruise to Alaska and Celebrity had the lowest price of all the ships sailing on the dates we are going. It was about price and nothing more. I chose the cheapest cruise for the ports we wanted to visit. For us it is all about the ports and the price not the ship or its clientelle.

[brigittetom]

dorijo, I wasn't comparing our experience to anyone elses, just telling you what happened on our cruise. That was my point. I thought they gave us alot for missing a port like Nassau. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Zenith from Jacksonville
Feb. 13 05

[jresmith]

We just returned from the back to back cruise from BA to Ft. Lauderdale on the GTS Infirmary. This is not a misspelling. We just changed the name of the ship to be more accurate. My wife and I had a cold each between BA and Valpo. I had the Norwalk virus and we both had yet a different kind of cold from Valpo to Ft. Lauderdale. All in all, we were sick three weeks out of four. All of our tablemates on both cruises were sick and the Celebrity Theater sounded a little bit more like a TB ward than a theater. There was so much coughing and blowing of noses, sometimes it drowned out the speakers. My history involves a license from the state of California as a public health inspector and I have a degree in bacteriology. My wife and I have both worked in hospitals for most of our lives. I know what sterile is, I know what dirty is. I know what clean is. On the first leg of our B2B trip, there were so many people coughing I told my wife it would be a miracle if we didn't get sick. No one was cleaning the stairwells, no one was cleaning the grime out of the tables at the Oceanside Cafe. Indeed, I saw one of the computer lecturers take out his fingernail clippers and scrape the edge of the table, obtaining a pile of black goo. At one point, I even saw a "lunger" laying on the stairs where somebody had coughed it up. It had been stepped on and tracked lord knows where. I told our stateroom attendant that I was very concerned about the cleanliness in the public areas of the ship. Unfortunately, it didn't help me. I came down with the Norwalk virus 24 hours later. Curiously, after speaking with various stateroom attendants, I found out that if a guest goes to the ship's doctor, they are isolated to their room for three days. However, if a crew member becomes sick, they are given antibiotics and told to go back to work. Indeed, one attendant told me that he worked with a temperature of 103 when he had the flu. He was told he could not take any time off. Cleanliness is a big item and Celebrity only got serious when they had a sufficient number of Norwalk virus cases approaching an amount which required complete ship disinfection. They call it condition yellow. What a way to run an airline.

As far as your TA keeping you informed about cruise changes, that presumes that he/she is kept informed. Our TA, who does a tremendous amount of business with Celebrity, had to call us and email us on the ship to find out what was happening because Celebrity would not tell him the truth. We always had the most correct, up to date information. Certainly not the TA. I agree with the above posters. Celebrity was dishonest in that they did not notify the Valpo to Ft. Lauderdale passengers in advance allowing them to rebook if they so desired. They did it only for the corporate bottom line. Ain't business in the US running just peachy. As far as being a stockholder, I was a stockholder. I sold my stock while on the cruise. I really don't have any desire to be a part of a company that lies.

Was $150 enough? I suppose it was okay until you compare it to what they gave the Millenium passengers. As I understand it, they got an entire cruise for free and were reimbursed for the one they missed. We flew thousands of miles to enjoy South America and the Falkland Islands. Due to sickness and props, we did neither. Some posters seem to think $150 was a fair amount for missing one port. Please triangulate the distance out to the Falkland Islands, around the Islands, and back to Cape Horn. We essentially steamed along the coast of South America, saving lord knows how much fuel, and we received $150. I concur with previous posters regarding the ship's capabilities after the announcement of the prop problems. Sometimes we would be doing 17 knots, which was supposedly our top speed, then we would arrive someplace too early and do 8 knots for a couple hours or sit in one spot. Then after we passed through the Canal, all of a sudden we were capable of 22 knots. I have proof. I took a picture of the TV screen indicating 22 knots, so what gives?

So would we travel with Celebrity again? Probably. Indeed, we are booked on the May 8 Baltic Cruise on the Constellation, and an October New England cruise on the Constellation. We have decided to give them one more chance. If the Baltic cruise turns out okay, we will stay on our New England cruise. If not, we will cancel it and move on to the Princess line.

Sorry to be so long winded, but so many bad things happened, it just takes awhile to tell the stories. I intend to file a formal grievance with Celebrity and will also be passing my comments on to the Public Health Department in Ft. Lauderdale.