Clemmnj

If the app and the order confirmations show different times and the app is unreliable it is very difficult to do any advance planning. If I can’t rely on the app then I fail to see the point. All my planning is done by the time I’m onboard. If I book an excursion for the early morning so that I can book a private tour in the afternoon I have to be able to rely on something. I’m not complaining about times being changed, I get that it happens, I’m upset about the fact that sometimes I get an email about a change and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes the app matches the order confirmation and sometimes it doesn’t. And sometimes an email, the app, and the order confirmation all have different times, which is what I noticed today. This is very nerve wracking and makes it impossible to plan ahead. My flight is now in less than 24 hours and I actually have no idea where I am going to be at any time on any day. It’s the 21st century.

I ordered my excursions months before my cruise. Since then I have received two emails updating the times of two of my excursions. In looking at the my calendar section of the app, I noticed, just by chance, that one of the excursions that had been updated, still had the original time, which was 3 hours earlier. I called Celebrity and they were very cavalier about it. They claimed it must be an IT glitch and verified the correct time. Concerned about the apps reliability I checked all of my excursions and noticed that most of the times were different on the app then they were in my order confirmation. This really upsets me because I plan around the excursion times and rely on the app. I know the times can be changed but if the changes aren’t reflected in the app and some of the times have changed by and hour or so without any notification at all how can I possibly have any confidence on what’s right and what’s wrong. I am leaving in 24 hours and am not at all certain what to do. I have called Celebrity and all they could do was tell me they would notify the IT department. Has this happened to anyone else?

Does anyone know if there has been a change to Celebrity’s on board credit policy? I am booked on a cruise in May and received a $600 on board credit. When I booked my excursions Celebrity applied the on board credit to the charges. Now however I am receiving notifications that I owe $600 even though I have paid in full for the cruise and my invoice has a zero balance. I am very confused. The on board credit is showing up as a credit on the invoice so I’m wondering if there has been a change in policy that I’m not aware of. Maybe on board credits can’t be used for excursions? But then why did they apply them to my excursions? I received no communication other than that I owe $600 and that just started a few weeks ago. I booked my excursions months ago. I would appreciate any insight.

That is exactly how I feel. Instead of anticipating my cruise with excitement I am now just worrying that I will feel let down and somewhat exploited. If Celebrity felt the need to change so much they should have done beginning with cruises not yet available for booking. I feel a little like the victim of a bait and switch. I am trying to maintain a positive attitude but I find myself feeling a bit bitter. And who wants to feel that way before a very expensive trip?! I’m holding out hope that Celebrity will consider this a failed experiment that undermines the bottom line and go back to what was once a premium cruise line instead of Motel 6.

I guess I will miss what is now gone no matter what it is because I’m sure to notice it. Things like embarkation champagne and canapés are little things in the grand scheme of things and no one wants to be thinking that the vacation that they planned and saved for is not up to what they were anticipating. And that anticipation comes from past experience. I wouldn’t miss what I never had but these little things add up. And if the food has declined it could certainly ruin the cruise since it is a long one. No one wants to be bored by the food or have it be of mediocre quality. That’s a deal breaker for me.

I guess I will miss more of what the embarkation champagne represented. I will miss that feeling of excitement that it gave you. That feeling of luxury. You save and plan as the excitement builds and then you step on board to a glass of champagne with your whole trip ahead of you. So I will miss that special feeling I guess. Most mid level hotels in resort areas welcome their guests with champagne so I think rather than the champagne itself it’s the lack of it, when it once was there, that will be a sort of let down for me. It may seem silly to some but I bet I am not alone in thinking this is a misstep on Celebrity’s part.

I’ve read that the quality of food in the MDR has really decreased and that Celebrity has made other cuts such as no more afternoon canapés or embarkation champagne. Can any recent Celebrity cruisers comment on other cuts or the reality of the MDR food. I have a cruise booked for May and I’m really concerned. We have cruised exclusively on Celebrity and keep coming back because of the high quality, but this is our first cruise since 2019 and I’m very worried that I will get a reduced experience for what is a lot of money. I still have time to switch to another line but would love to know your thoughts.

I read yesterday that Amsterdam is going to be closing its cruise port. No date was specified. I have a cruise scheduled for May of next year that is leaving from Amsterdam but now don’t know what to do about hotels etc pre cruise. I don’t want to book hotels and transportation if that is not going to be the departure port. Does anyone know anything about when this might happen or how to handle this new dilemma?

The port was Berlin and it was a 12 hour excursion getting back at 8:30 so I booked a 9:15. But it said it conflicted and there was no way to book anyway. So I eliminated select dining for that night and was then able to book the excursion. I wanted to then try for the 9:30 but the website said select dining was sold out, even though when I booked all my dining yesterday everything was wide open. The cruise is more than a year away. The celebrity website tends to be a bit glitchy. But I at least was able to book my excursions to coincide with my select dining. All except the Berlin day.

I tried to book a shore excursion but it said my select dining time conflicted with the excursion. My dining time was 45 minutes after excursion is due back. Is that too soon? Is there some sort of timing issue I’m not aware of?