Booking has never been so stressful as now

[dwjoe]

Wanted to say, it's Brussels like in sprouts and Belgium like in waffle :cool: )

LOL!!

Oh, it's also scary to see it's one of the 5 worst cruise lines for Europeans :eek:

Please don't pay attention to that ranking, the data in the survey doesn't seem terribly significant other than to highlight issues with MSC and Costa.

[Gitte]

Hi sandravb79' date=' I understand your frustration. The company mentioned on the X-website is the international representative for Celebrity Cruises in Belgium. When we started cruising, I also called them, since their phone number was displayed on the X-website. They told me I wasn't supposed to call them. When I said I saw their number on the website, they said it was meant for TA's, not for customers...

The thing is that you can't book a Celebrity cruise in Belgium without passing through this international rep, they have the monopoly.

It's quite complicated, here we go : you have to book through a TA. The TA has to book through a tour operator. And the tour operator has to book through the international host and finally the international host interacts with Miami.

Our biggest frustration for the moment is the fact that this international rep keeps charging us a fee of € 75 ($ 100) when we want our cruisefares to be adjusted in case of a price drop. It's not our TA, it's not the tour operator, but by all means this international representative of Celebrity who charges us extra... I wrote them several letters concerning the price protect policy of X, but nevertheless they keep on charging us extra fees. We cruise about 3 months a year (all with X) and I don't think this is the way you treat a loyal customer (although it shouldn't matter if someone cruises 1 or 20 times a year, policy is policy) . If I ask for a price drop, let's say 8 times a year, that's € 600 ($ 800) for them, just because they say so.

I wrote a letter to Celebrity Miami to inform them about this matter and now I'm waiting for their answer.[/quote']

 

Hi Cote d'Or,

It is not possible in a lot of Europian countries (Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, etc) to receive the lower price for a price drop once you has booked. Maybe they charge you the € 75,00 as cancellation fee if you have more than 70 days before departure and then they book again for the new rate.

 

Gitte

[CanWeGoYet?]

I hope you have a wonderful cruise, Sandra. About the shore excursions, like another poster said, they hold back quite a few until the ship sails ( a celebrity phone rep told me 1/3).

[Cote d'or]

Hi Cote d'Or,

It is not possible in a lot of Europian countries (Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, etc) to receive the lower price for a price drop once you has booked. Maybe they charge you the € 75,00 as cancellation fee if you have more than 70 days before departure and then they book again for the new rate.

 

Gitte

 

Hi Gitte,

As far as I know, our last price adjustments were done in our existing bookings, without having to cancel/rebook... Are you sure about this information ? Do you live in Europe yourself ?

[sandravb79]

I hope you have a wonderful cruise, Sandra. About the shore excursions, like another poster said, they hold back quite a few until the ship sails ( a celebrity phone rep told me 1/3).

 

 

Thank you. In the meanwhile, the cruise comes up as "confirmed" on the X-website, and I was able to book the Tulum-excursion. I am one happy camper/ cruiser at this point :)

Cruise booked, Mickey Mouse booked (WDW, third and last part of the vacation)!

If only I could find the energy to go book a hotel at NYC (first part of our trip) and a hotel at Miami... :rolleyes:

[Gitte]

Hi Gitte' date='

As far as I know, our last price adjustments were done in our existing bookings, without having to cancel/rebook... Are you sure about this information ? Do you live in Europe yourself ?[/quote'

 

 

I am sure about this info. Please feel free to contact me for more information.

 

Gitte

gitte107@hotmail.com

[robtulipe]

I am Canadian and booked my last cruise with a German online agency that has an English web site to get a much lower. They don't charge any service fees and you can get a price reduction as long as final payment has not been made which in Germany is 30 days before. Also in Germany you can't book direct with a cruise line, therefore must book through a TA and my research indicate that the consumer protections laws are very strong over there. I also put charges on my credit card which offers all the protection I need. It is the cruise line not the TA that bills your card.

I go online to check prices in different countries by simply changing the Change Country option on RC and X websites.

They provided me with excellent service and shortly I am going to book our next cruise with them. I can't give TA recommendations on Cruise Critic but will send it to you.

[robtulipe]

please let me know at sandra underscore vanbossuyt at yahoo dot com.

 

sandra_vanbossuyl at yahoo dot com didn't work as I got a failure message back.

[Deeliteful]

Hi Sandra - re your hotel bookings try Priceline - I've recently booked the Hyatt downtown for just $60.

 

Check 4 or 5 star and downtown and bid for a hotel - several of us got the Hyatt for that price. Should work for NYC too. Good luck

 

Enjoy your cruise

 

Pat

[robtulipe]

sandra_vanbossuyl at yahoo dot com didn't work as I got a failure message back.

Sandra, you've got mail. I had to go out so I was pressed for time and copied your email address wrongly.

[duke052]

TAs are not old school. 87% of all cruises are still booked through a travel agent. And yes we can book for our friends around the globe.

[dutchess43]

Sandra what a mess but glad that you got it all sorted out including the excursion you wanted. I never realized how difficult it can be to book a cruise in Europe. I agree in this day & age you would think that all cruise lines would be hooked into their main computer system. I wonder how much money RCI & X looses by this aggravation & then passengers going else where? Glad that you like Mickey Mouse enjoy him every opportunity you can he is Internationnal!

[celle]

Sandra what a mess but glad that you got it all sorted out including the excursion you wanted. I never realized how difficult it can be to book a cruise in Europe. I agree in this day & age you would think that all cruise lines would be hooked into their main computer system. I wonder how much money RCI & X looses by this aggravation & then passengers going else where? Glad that you like Mickey Mouse enjoy him every opportunity you can he is Internationnal!

 

It's not just customers in Europe who have this problem.

 

We in New Zealand and Australia also have to book through a RCCL-nominated booking agent. While we can put a hold on a cabin via the RCCL web site, we then have to deal through a TA to confirm the booking and pay the deposit (within 48 hours). Our local TA has to deal with RCCL through the TA nominated by RCCL, so all dealings are a further step removed.

 

We also cannot take advantage of price drops and we have to pre-pay gratuities.

 

I can sympathise with the original poster in this thread, because I remember my frustration the first time we had to do all this. Now I am aware of all the hoops we have to jump through, it seems less stressful.