george_sf

On the Edge in December... Wine is hard as the menus and availability are two separate things. In general, all bars have wine including Cafe al Baccio and the Martini Bar. For best selections, the dining rooms are tops. And different restaurants have different selections. (If you are in a Suite, you can ask The Retreat to stock something you find by-the-glass at any restaurant.) The Casino Bar also had a good selection as did The Club.

OP here. (1) If anyone purchased a typical Suite Guarantee, they'd be THRILLED with a Celebrity Suite! (They typically get a Sky Suite). What happened was someone did not get a Suite Guarantee as can be purchased by common-folk. We were only told that after my husband made that comment. That info was not volunteered at first. (2) Somehow, folks didn't seem to look at the Terms and Conditions for the entire Move Up. It is quite clear later on, with language about cancelling AFTER the bid has been accepted. (Which was our case). The cruise was not canceled and we are on the ship. Celebrity should have no recourse to refund us in the Move Up T & Cs. " Refunds, credits, or changes may be issued only in the following circumstances: 1) Celebrity cancels the cruise, or 2) Celebrity cancels the cruise and re-books the guests onto another cruise in a stateroom class that is lower than the upgraded stateroom class." and " Modifying the Booking by Celebrity If Celebrity for whatever reason re-books the Guest or any person associated with the booking to another cruise departing on a date that is different from the original booking date, Celebrity, in its sole discretion, may transfer any Offer made in relation to the original booking to the new booking, subject to availability of the upgraded stateroom category."

Our TA works for a large agency. She brought it up to her counterpart. The company's direct sales manager also brought it up to Celebrity. Crickets.

We will do nothing of the sort! Maybe you haven't been in the Retreat Lounge, but you meet and talk with a lot of people. If we meet a film crew or exec (which we've experienced on our last cruise), we'll know what's up!

Correct. (OP here). The Terms and Conditions continue about what happens AFTER the offer is accepted. Celebrity charges our card on file. I, as a consumer, cannot change/cancel it. The money is Celebrity's. There is no cancellation even if the room is not as described. Or if I cancel the cruise. Nope - Celebrity keeps the money no matter what. Celebrity can cancel the Move Up only if the cruise is cancelled or if they need to move us to a different cruise. So in our minds, the Move Up should have stuck. As to "why" we bid, and our circumstances. We booked this cruise about 2 years ago and got a really good deal. (Ones you don't see any more!) As a comparison, the price for our original cabin was being sold at nearly 2x what we paid just a few months ago. So adding $5440 ($100 over the minimum) for a Penthouse suite still meant it was almost within our budget for a 10 night cruise. A splurge, but not a huge one. What we managed to snag was a Penthouse, as a bargain. It wasn't even close to retail: it was less than 1/2 of what Penthouses would be going for. Heck, as a total, much less than what 10 nights in Celebrity Suite is currently going for next month. Over the weekend, we saw our refund. An "enhanced" OBC offer was added to a "cruise of our choice." At least the person with the most consistent info (I'll call her "S") worked for us.

D***a. "Fish" if you get my drift 😉 Glad she was helpful to you. She gets a 50% rating then!

The refund posted on my credit card overnight. So it was 3 days after they said it was being processed. (10 days after they took it.) At least it was an AMEX so we don't have to front the money on March's statement.

That emails bounces. For the record, Laura's actual email is still: lhodges@rccl.com. She had someone from the CEC call us. The description in the call was in the report. The CEC Exec (I'll call her "D") was on the phone with us for like 3 minutes. She "hears us." And the "error wasn't intentional." Again, never an actual apology. Her goal was to say she called (and then we got a survey on how D did!) We've decided not to follow up until after the cruise. If we find out who is in the room, and we've been lied to by the manager who provided us the most details, we'll re-open the conversation. Otherwise, we fly out a week from today and will focus on having a good time.

Yup. And don't forget that Move Up is a chain of events. Someone was probably assigned our old room... The "disappointment" isn't just mine/husband's. And, why am I know entitled to know what happened? The Move Up Terms and Conditions are clear... Changes can't be undone. Celebrity doesn't have to honor it going forward ONLY if the cruise is cancelled or we move to another cruise. That's it. If they are going to disregard their own T&C, we should know why they feel it's appropriate.

Thanks. I just wanted to let folks hear about our experience. No violins. We have a great room and fabulous group going on the cruise. We'll make the best of it and have a good time. But folks should to hear that we experienced outright deceit. And Celebrity ignored their own Terms and Conditions for their own program. It was a $uck up. As a loyal cruiser, we expected actual apology and an explanation. Oh and an immediate refund. If I get attacked for that, it says more about the attackers than me.

VIP - Very Important Person. This is our definition: It is someone who was offered the best suite at below market rates. It was offered to this person but would not be offered to the average cruiser. It is offered via a channel that the average cruiser can't use. It is not an Exec with Celebrity. Whether true or not, this was what was confirmed by the STAR manager who eventually called us.

Yeah. We just make this ***** up. And we get Celebrity charges of $5440 on our AMEX for your kicks.

Yes. We are on the cruise in just over a week. The room is across from our pals' room. We'll try to figure out who has the room. (I'll report back if we find out). The VIP is an educated guess by us and our travel agent. The category isn't available to book via Celebrity or a travel agent. It is "offered" via the revenue department directly. Could be a casino big wig. Also, when we asserted this in our calls, no one denied it. And they told us it wasn't a normal booking through a normal channel (Celebrity sales or a Travel Agent).

Let's get this straight: 1. You booked a category cabin that, at the time, you were happen with. >> YES. And we are still happy with it and will have a good vacation. The folks on the ship are great and had nothing to do with this screw up. 2. You then put in a bid for an upgrade that was still probably a discounted price from the regular price or guarantee price category for the cabin. >> It was lower that regular price. I have no idea what a "guarantee penthouse" costs as it's not a published fare. 3. You were notified that your bid was accepted. >> It was accepted. They charged our card. They changed our room. We printed our boarding passes and luggage tags. And their own Terms and Conditions on MOVE UP say it can't be reversed. You get this room and that's it. 4. You then received a call from a employee who was doing their job (probably courteously and professionally), that due to an error or a mix up, you upgraded cabin was not available. >> We get a call from someone who is too green and immature to do this job. The call is about her. And she can't provide any answers nor can she provide a person that will. She was polite, but it's the wrong person to call about such a screw up. 5.Cruise line ticket contracts (Terms and Conditions) include the language that a cabin assignment can be changed at a the cruise line's discretion. >> The MOVE UP is very clear that this can't be modified unless Celebrity cancels the cruise or moves you to a different cruise. 6. For some reason, there is the perception that all the cruise line professionals that were in contact with you are "flunkies," a derogatory term for someone who performs menial tasks, usually obsequiously. You, of course should only be dealt with by the cruise line CEO's office and immediately receive your discounted cabin. >> Now this is derogatory. Such a screw up should come with an explanation and an actual apology. We got neither. So yeah, of course we escalated. Is that the gist?

Thanks for understanding. Yes, we got a lot of excitement and lots of disappointment within the span of a week. I used the word "flunky" as it was an appropriate description for the 1st person to call us. The woman who originally called was a young employee, who made the call about her. It was hard for her. She was't the "messenger"... She could provide no reason how or why it happened or why it was US that lost the room. When asked to speak with a manager who could provide answers, we're told "it's Spring Break" and of course managers are not available. She had no authority to compensate us more than $100 OBC each. It was insulting to leave this job to her. Our email to the President specifically asked to get contacted by "someone with knowledge (and actual influence to fix this)"

There are 2 penthouse suites on the ship. A guarantee for 2 rooms is "selling it." (Some ships have over 100 Sky Suites. Those are "guarantees." ) Also, these reservation types are not available to average passengers and not available to travel agents. Also, we asked specifically - "Did this other reservation come in after we were assigned the room?" The STAR manager says they don't know and they can't find out. Our BS meter went high again.

If you want more details:

Just sharing our experience. It was not a good start to our vacation in about a week. TL;DR - Celebrity gave us a great Move Up room costing a pretty penny. They backed it out a week later after giving the room to a VIP for a deep discount. My husband / I bid and were successful for a Move Up on the Silhouette. Celebrity Suite to Penthouse Suite. On March 7th, we got the email that said our bid (over $5400 additional) was accepted. Credit card charged even before we got the email. The Celebrity site showed our new room and we downloaded the new luggage tags! On March 13th, we got a call from a STAR program flunky. (STAR includes the Move Up program). The Penthouse Suite was not available; she had no info on why it was reserved by another passenger. They were moving us back to the Celebrity Suite. We wanted to speak to her manager. Manager is "out for weeks" and not available before we cruise. We get a lot of "I am sorry I have to make this call." Nothing about how it affects us, loyal Elite Plus cruisers. Celebrity's own Terms and Conditions be damned, I guess these aren't really "final." Flunky later sends an email offer of minimal OBC that says "thank you for taking the time to take my call." That evening, we send an email to the CEC team and Laura Hodges Bethge, President Celebrity Cruises. On March 14th, we got a call from a STAR manager... (We get a few more answers.) We told her that in the era of immediate inventory updates, it is categorically impossible that this room was reserved by an average revenue customer where it was then overlooked for 6 days. We are told that the room was purchased as part of a category guarantee. So when my husband says "put them in the vacant Celebrity Suite," we are told the passenger purchased a "Penthouse guarantee." Pressing her, she said the revenue dept does higher guarantees, not just Ws (W = Suite Guarantee). We realize this is total BS: we have in fact just been told it was also offered to a VIP paying a steep discount. She told us our refund was being processed that day. The STAR manager sends an email later in the day that she has applied that minimal OBC and repeats their term "sorry for the inconvenience." Later on March 14th, we got a call from a CEC. (Celebrity Engagement Center). I have to point out that our travel agent urged us to be sure that Laura Hodges Bethge's office knew of this incident. The travel agent wanted to be sure it wasn't buried by the flunkies that messed up. Talking to the CEC exec was about a 3 minute call. It did not give us the confidence that this issue was heard or will be addressed so it doesn't happen the future. You can tell the call was solely a "check-off item" so Laura Hodges Bethge can say that someone followed up. We were told that the error was "not intentional." "Not intentionally" giving our room to a VIP doesn't improve our vacation. Celebrity supposedly says they are a Service Driven line, for differentiation in the market. But in this instance, Celebrity failed us miserably. Our vacation had started on a low point! George

There is no drip coffee in the Retreat lounge. Just the pod coffee: Latte, Americano... The waiters will make it any way you want. For sail-aways, the Retreat Sundecks will offer cocktails via the waiters or the outdoor bar. Sparking waters in both places. EVERYTHING at the Retreat is included.

If you are in The Retreat, ask the shore side Retreat Host. We've had good luck asking for added seats on Shore Excursions (twice) before the cruise starts.

I've got a DOOZIE for you: Ship: Silhouette Length of Cruise: 10 days Cruise Sail Date: Mar 25, 2024 Date email offer received: Dec 27, 2023 Captain’s Club Tier [“PREVIEW” = first Celebrity Cruise]: Elite Plus Booked through Celebrity Direct OR via TA: TA Current Cabin: Celebrity Suite Bid? Yes/No: Yes - Penthouse and Royal Suite Accepted - Penthouse on Mar 7, 2024 ($2720pp, $100 over minumum) BUT THEN Celebrity backed it out and reverted it back on Mar 13, 2024. Terms and Conditions be damned, I guess these aren't really "final." A flunky called to "lie" and say that they double booked the room and we'd be getting a refund. No compensation, no nothin'.

This has happened with X for many years. Even before the pandemic cancellations and folks had massive FCC to be used. Our friends and I have purchased rooms years in advance to see them go up considerably over time. Sometimes a few thousand. We have one this Spring that is today over 50% higher than our reservation. We joke "who is paying this?" quite often! As we only sail in a suite, we look at the prices of the larger ones and our mouths drop. (We do SS and CS. Twice Royal, but those were relative bargains). We will see some suites going at $4000/day for these big rooms. And they get reserved, sometimes very very quickly. We do not think that Celebrity is suffering to fill the suites. We continue to book Celebrity, but no longer exclusively. Price and amenities are not the main concern. We are happy with the product; we will wait-n-see with the butler situation. But we have traveled enough on X and want ports that are different. We never have to see St Maarten or Civitavecchia ever again! George

I get it. But, for me, I enjoy the personalized service. Especially on a cruise lasting 12+ days where we book at the moment. Sure, It could work out fine. But this isn't the experience we paid for nor is the change transparent.

Lots of lurking... so I guess I should comment too. 1st, we only book suites when travelling on Celebrity. It isn't "elitist" but we enjoy The Retreat and are there A LOT. Same for the Retreat Sun Deck (only ships we sail). Typically we book Sky or Celebrity Suites. We want to dine in Luminae and not the MDR. I hope that is not elitist, but it is how we travel. I would never turn my nose up to other travelers not in a suite (and enjoy the interaction).That just seems absurd to blanket call us all elitist... 2nd, after cruising started post-pandemic, we were on one of the 1st Apex sailings from Greece. The ship was 1/3 full. We spent a lot of time speaking with our Sunset Sky Suite butler. (He was a sweetheart!) He had just joined the Apex to work with his wife, and was therefore "low butler on the totem pole." Assigned the Sky Suites at the rear corners on decks 7 - 10, plus a few others on the ship. Celebrity ran him ragged being so spread out. There is a possible job satisfaction / retention issue with Sky Suite butlers if they are meant to carry a larger number of rooms plus all over the ship. They could be doing this to ease/equal the loads. 3rd, I am disappointed and will see how it all works out on our next Celebrity cruise this December...

With regards to who gets the upgrade / maximizing profits.... it doesn't just matter what someone offers for a move up. It also matters what was offered on the now free room. And so forth down the chain. This is handled by a third party. I was also told (last July) that the cruise line provides other inputs such as leaving a certain percentage of a class of rooms empty. Probably due to the pandemic (crowds in restaurants, staffing...) . So even if rooms are available, they would not take all of the move up offers. This is probably changing if not already changed by now. When I asked if CC status or what was originally paid mattered, I was told "no." It just maximizes the bottom line extra $. (That was before the recent Captain's Club bonus announcement.)