jo-b

On 5/22/2024 at 6:59 AM, Cruisingagain2022 said:

We have not received anything yet … mind you still 6 weeks out. 
We are in the UK not sure if that makes a difference.

we got ours about two weeks ago for a mid July cruise, we are also UK based may be worth checking with your TA? Ours did come direct from O though.

Thank you, I obviously didn’t search well enough to see if this had already been raised 

Both my OH and I opened the app today to find it asking us to sign in, and then it doesn’t accept the login details. Due to board Sunday so a little concerned. Anyone else have the same, or even better a solution. App seems to be up to date. I have also tried the website and getting a message login details incorrect. 

We are in the UK cruising Cape Town to Cape town December. . We asked for BA flights as they fly direct LHR to CPT but we were quoted an additional £1000 pp per leg as Regent don't have an arrangement with BA.  

Phew!!!

7 minutes ago, Mark_UK said:

Just been back and forth on the phone with the travel agent and Celebrity and we got them re-booked for the 16th!!

 

They had their fast track passport appointment today and have been told the replacements should arrive by Monday at the latest. 

 

 

Great news and now you can all cruise together. Do let us know how you enjoy it, we are all very invested now 😀😀

Strange that your cases wouldn’t fit under the bed, we’ve recently been on Vista our clam shell style hard cases fitted under fine without being opened up. I think cabin stewards on all ships will lift beds to put cases under if required, or store them elsewhere if necessary. 

10 hours ago, Mark_UK said:

 

Thanks, the travel agent tried their hardest but was getting nowhere really. It was only when I contacted the executive office that we actually had some sort of positive interaction. I may point this post out to them and highlight this would be a good PR win! 

Certainly the hint that adverse publicity would follow them making two senior citizens lose their dreamed of cruise or bankrupting them might help focus the collective mind! 

11 hours ago, Mark_UK said:

 

Thanks for your thoughts. My parents got home on Wednesday and still feel quite down. We had to uninstall the Celebrity app as it was sending them notifications about where they would otherwise be on each day. They are going for an appointment to get a fast-track replacement passport tomorrow. 

 

Their insurance have sadly stated in writing that they won't cover the cost of cruise, so we're hoping that Celebrity will issue a credit as a goodwill gesture that they can use for the identical 16th sailing. Celebrity are saying they need confirmation from the ship that they didn't board which seems to be taking a while. 

 

Annoyingly prices have also gone way up and not that many cabins left so it's all a bit nail biting. They were originally booked into a Veranda which are now close to £5000 ($6000) and the credit will probably be worth about £3300 if all goes well. 

 

Mark, if your parents booked via a reputable cruise agent they may have some “pull” with Celebrity if they contacted them directly it may do something to get your parents case pushed further up the chain. 
 

Or a DM ago Celebrity on X/ Twitter and their press office maybe as to what a great opportunity for them to get some great publicity at little or no cost if they gave then an upgraded cabin on the next cruise. 

Been in CS and SS and never been contacted. 

19 minutes ago, zitsky said:

What are those cushioned chairs to the left of the pool that seem to be totally empty and not reserved?

 

When do they start playing Billy Idol?

Settees anyone can use, but no one was? 

If they didn’t get off the ship in Egypt or Israel they may be able to still enjoy some of the cruise. 
 

I would second the comments about searching again though, we too have had that panic of it was definitely in that place and it’s not there any more only to find whatever vital thing put somewhere else safe. Especially with passports you have in your hand in the airport and then stick it away quickly to do something else. 

We are recently back from Vista and had to,open the door to hear announcements.We were deck 7.  I think an earlier comment is correct it depends where you are in relation to the speaker. 

Not sure if the sound will work on this. This is the live band on Apex pool deck today it was LOUD! 

3 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

That's very surprising as I can’t believe that’s the case as I’m sure that travel agents with clients on Explora would have been notified. I know mine was 

There seems to be as UKTog says a disparity between UK a& USA agencies lines of communication. My TA a confirmed neither she nor the HO of her company had had any prior notice , she found out when we told her what was on here. She has been in touch with Explora high ups and made her feelings known! 

This communication farrago on top of the the dubious business practices we’ve seen have really made us very wary of this line. 

OK reporting back 

UK based, neither our TA or her company had had any communication from Explora about the changes. I emailed her on Friday 1 September to tell her what we had read on here.

1 September lunchtime got a call back from her she had phoned Explora UK office, they had confirmed the changes and told her the options we had. We said full refund, she called them back and told them to refund the full payment we had made split across two credit cards. Later that day she emailed to say Explora had confirmed the refund process had been started and would take 5/7 days. 
 

This morning both CC statements show the refunds were received on 4 September. 
 

Whenever we pay for a cruise the payment taken by our TA is to the cruise company not to the TA, as far as I was aware this was a change made some years ago after the collapse of a large UK travel agency who had been holding customers money and not passing it on. I thought it was now a legal requirement to pay the cruise operator direct, but it may be that it is only certain cruise operators who insist on this. Certainly that is what happened here my CC payment was to Explora not the TA. 
 

We will keep an eye on Explora but very warily! Sticking to Oceania and looking at alternatives who may be a little more reliable. Good luck everyone whatever option you choose. 
 

Edited to add that our TA did all this whilst driving to Southampton to join Sky princess for a holiday! 

I tried it on both the phone and the pad umpteen times, as did my OH neither of us could get past filling in our loyalty number which I knew by heart by the time we finished. 
It was the reception staff who told us there was an issue with Apple devices and to go to the concierge and use his laptop. 

For us the loud music in Martinis on Edge class spoils the atmosphere in all the surrounding venues, Cafe al Bacio in particular it is difficult to have a conversation. and for us it would be nicer for each speciality restaurant to either be quiet, or to have a background music suited to their style. 

Full refund we will give this time to settle down before booking again. Not sure also that Explora  II would have arrived on time. 

8 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Wow! Please let us know when you get your refund. 
 

They told her it would take 7-10 days which she didn’t know if it was working days, I got a text from her to say that Explora had got back to her to say they had started the refund process. So 🤞🤞

22 hours ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

Have you seen any prices ? Wonder what happens if you paid in full and the 30% FJC means the total is less than already paid 

My UK TA ( who knew nothing about this until we contacted them this afternoon) said this 

From what I am advised the FCC is based on 30% of your current £xxxx and you have 30 days to transfer to any new booking with full refund of any unused amount.  You don’t have to pay in full if you just want to book with deposit.  You can select ANY Explora Journey, not just the replacement voyage. All other JEC (OBC) will remain as per the original booking

Just to add our TA was on her way to a cruise holiday, her company had had no contact from Explora but within an hour she had called them, emailed us and a refund was being processed back onto the CC. And she still had time to post photos on her FB sitting on hotel balcony with a glass of champagne😀

Thank you 

Well I’ve now ploughed my way through the survey by dint of using the Concierge laptop! It seems Apple devices don’t like the site’s security or lack of and won’t connect. 
 

Abysmal waste of time, just reinforcing how divorced from the frontline Os back offices are! 

On 7/29/2023 at 7:18 PM, Harters said:

Just wondering if O generally uses a particular airline for flights between Miami and the UK.

 

TIA

I think what you are asking about is why the deduction for doing your own flights is so low when compared with the cost of flights you have checked online?

We are booked on a cruise out of Fort Lauderdale next year, not withO, saw the price of the cruise lines flights and decided to look for our own.  Couldn’t match cruise lines price, then I asked ourTA  and she got us the exact flights we had looked at MAN-LHR-MIA on Virgin for almost exactly half the price we could book ourselves. She told us these are special cruise flight prices. 

We noticed on here that the end of cruise review is now online and advertised in Currents.

I looked out for the announcement which came about two days ago and have been trying to access the site since then without any success. 
 

Neither my husband or I have been able to get past the login page.  Hooding your date of birth from the drop down menu is practically impossible, then you need a password press login and after several minutes an error message about a time out. 
 

Surely O aren’t trying to stop us possibly commenting adversely??