PartyAllDaTyme

I am surprised that it has been 3 months and people are still unhappy.

I had been on a bit of a sabbatical from Cruise Critic and all things cruise-related-- I didn't learn about the changes until a few weeks ago.

A copy of the email I sent to X--

The prices for Post Cruise Alaska Cruisetour #10A seem a tad high. You may want to think about a price drop :-)

 

Seriously, something's wrong. The prices are showing $99,999 per person for everything that's not sold out. You need to fix this or the cruise will never sell. According to a report on Cruise Critic, it's been this way for two months!

 

No response necessary, I'm not planning on booking it-- just thought you should know. On second thought, I'll be happy with 10% of the revenue you would have lost on this cruise if the mistake had never been fixed-- contact me for information on how to remit payment :-)

Congratulations!:):):)

Corporate Guest Relations Department:1-800-256-6649

Or if you go to the bottom of the page on the website, look for Customer Support-Contact Us. There's an option for emailing under "Have a Post Cruise Question or Comment?" but I think it'll work for pre-cruise questions as well.

If you've cruised with Celebrity before, you could try Captain's Club at 1-800-760-0654, or email captainsclub@celebrity.com-- CC is often more helpful than the regular customer service idjits.

Final payment is generally not due until 75 days before the cruise, or about 11 weeks. Add, say, two weeks for the cruise, and the math says you'd be about 13 weeks along when final is due. If you're earlier than that, you can still get a full refund even if you paid in full.

Otherwise, disembarking early would seem to be a solution, but they can't sell it that way. This means it's on the books that you would be on the ship just into your 24th week. If it is physically possible, the ports might not allow it if, for example, you're on a Pacific Costal cruise and you want to get off in a US port-- that violates the Passenger Vessel Services Act.

Are the dates cast in stone? Maybe your doctor can revise the date by a couple of days, if there's the possibility conception actually may have occurred a couple of days after what you figure. Otherwise, I don't know if there is a solution.-- rules is rules, and there are liability issues involved. Much as they would like to accommodate you, their hands are tied.

I assume this is for a North American booking-- info for other travelers may be different

I still think they should have grandfathered any booked cruise into the point conversion. They were booked with the understanding that they would go so far toward advancement in the program. Yes, X is within their rights not to do so, terms and conditions subject to change, and all that, but a change that effectively moves someone backwards is not good. What does it cost them? There'll be one cruise in a few years where they only have to give me Select benefits instead of Elite, and one many years from now where I get Elite instead of Elite Plus bennies. I might get shorted on Zenith benefits for one cruise sometime around the turn of the next century.

I'm perfectly fine with needing more cruises to move on from here-- they have to draw the line somewhere and one of the goals is to make it more difficult to reach the higher levels. But that should be going forward, not pushing someone back. It's ironic that not allowing booked cruises to be included directly affects those who have shown their loyalty by actually booking another Celebrity cruise.

I don't book with X because of the Captain's Club benefits, nor will this have much impact on my decision to continue to book. It will have some impact, though. All other things being equal, at some point it could be the difference in staying with X and trying another cruise line.

You do get the corresponding class from RCI. (Ie Diamond on RCI is Elite on Celebrity)

Also Platinum or Emerald on RCI will equal Select on X, but that's it. Gold on RCI will not equal Classic on X; Diamond Plus will not equal Elite Plus; Pinnacle will not equal Zenith.

To summarize--

Platinum or Emerald on RCI equals Select on X

Diamond or better on RCI equals Elite on X

Select on X equals Platinum on RCI

Elite or better on X equals Diamond on RCI

And the points you earn for sailing one line will not affect your point total for the other line. And you have to register with the other line's loyalty program-- it's not automatic.

Here's a link to the Captain's Club Classic Members benefits page.

My pleasure! Happy sails to you!

So often we hear about the problems, but few bother to report that things went well. Your experience mirrors what I typically experience. YMMV.

Here's the link for the announced schedule. Per the future cruise sales agent on Summit a couple of weeks ago, TAs will be included with Europe, so Captain's Club members can begin booking the week of March 10th, everybody else March 17th.

I haven't been on the last cruise of any ship, but most of the crew will be reassigned to other Celebrity ships at the end of their tour-- it's not like they're all losing their jobs. I would think this is incentive enough for them to provide the usual standard of excellence in service.

Caribbean should be available for Captain's Club members the week of 3/17, everybody else 3/24/ Here's a link to the schedule.

With all deference to the coincerns of some who have posted hereon, I have a problem showing an excess of empathy for those who essentially cruise only to receive some nominal perks. Although we are elite, we never cruised for the purpose of attaining that status.

Agreed, but I didn't happen to see any posts from anyone who cruises ONLY to receive cruise points. But it's obviously an incentive, and in some cases could make the difference between someone booking a particular cruise or deciding in which class to cruise.

In my case, we were on the fence about booking a verandah cabin or paying a little extra to get a concierge cabin. The future sales agent pointed out that we'd get an extra cruise point, so we'd be that much closer to Elite. Now, we're still closer to Elite than we would have been had we not decided to take CC, but not as close as I was led to believe. I knew full well it was not a guarantee, terms and conditions subject to change, but it was one of the deciding factors for us.

I'm a little disappointed is all, not angry. Having Elite benefits one cruise earlier would not be a huge difference for us, but it's still a difference. Well, at least they didn't figure club points based on what we would have earned had the new system been in place originally, or we'd only have 112 points instead of 155.

Sometimes it's the little things that leave the most lasting impression.

 

If a company is going to offer a service (be it a celebratory cake or something else) then it should be provided, especially if the customer has met the requirements. If it is too much trouble, then perhaps Celebrity should just discontinue the practice, rather than adopt a hit-or-miss approach.

Spot on! Thank you.

For those who wouldn't mention their birthdays or would rather not have them acknowledged, fine. With the exception of marbo40, Celebrity will (or should) disregard it if you don't mention it. For those of us who get a little tickle out of such things, to offer to do it and then to not properly follow through, even with the help of a reminder, does leave one wondering. Let me restate that I could take a birthday cake or leave it, but as long as you're offering, I don't mind. Just please don't offer to do it and then make a hash of it.

BTW, I filled out a comment card about the birthday cake-- not the survey at the end of the cruise, but a "How are we doing?" card that we got around the second day-- a nice addition, IMHO. I described the hilarity with the birthday cake (the anniversary cake was still in the future), told the woman at Guest Services when I dropped the card off that I wasn't looking for anything in the way of compensation, just thought they'd like to know. I was told they'd offer something for the trouble, anyway. Nothing ever happened. I could have made a fuss and said, "Whatever happened to that 'something for the trouble'?" but I really didn't want anything in the first place, so why bother? I ultimately did get my freakin' cake, so I'm not out anything. But another example of setting up an expectation and then not properly following through.

On the Feb 9 sailing of Silhouette they served the full tails. My petite SO had 3 of them. She loves lobster. The staff didn't even question it, brought her 2 together then a 3rd after she had finished the first 2. It was well prepared and actually very tasty.

It's just a good thing that everyone doesn't indulge to that degree. I can maybe see an occasional extra tail, but if everybody asks for three or four, it could soon reach a point where either late diners are told, "Sorry, all gone", the cost gets passed on to everybody in the form of (slightly) higher cruise prices, or they just drop the lobster altogether.

My DW also loves her lobster, but understands this is a rather pricey item and restricts herself to one tail, figuring that much was rightly included in the overall cost of the cruise.

A company I worked for experimented with offering free coffee from the coffee machine. It was on the honor system-- the company would spring for the coffee as long as it wasn't abused. Well, coffee consumption tripled. We were soon back to paying for our own coffee.

Link to announcement at the top of the forum-- http://boards.cruisecritic.com/announcement.php?f=28&a=363

last year we were on the connie ta to amsterdam and my birthday was the day before the cruise ended. i was so hoping the waiters wouldn't bring a cake to me or sing to me as i hate that. someone on celebity must have noticed my birthdate as i sure never mentioned it on my booking and of course here come the waiters with a small chocolate birthday cake to our table with all the singing included.

Wow-- didn't indicate your special occasion and got one anyway, whereas I can't get a cake if I remind them the day before!:p I guess it all comes out even in the end. Maybe they took a look at my girth and thought they were doing me a kindness by withholding cake!:o

As I said, I could take it or leave it if I got birthday cake, but it was our DD's first cruise and I wanted her to see what fun it is to be cruising on your birthday, and how Celebrity's service is (usually) par excellence. I can't say I was disappointed, maybe just a little annoyed that this happened two birthdays in a row, and even after I went out of my way to give them a gentle reminder. I can't exactly say I felt like a Celebrity.

The anniversary cake was different. It was part of the Renewal of Vows ceremony, so I paid for that sucker. Only one such event on board, in the best restaurant on board, and they dropped the ball, somewhat. What I didn't mention was we told the maître d' about the cake before we were seated on the last night, it was written down for the waiter, and they still had trouble.

As i recall, under the old system you did not earn your points until the cruise was completed, irrespective as to when you booked same. If that has not changed, then what is the concern on the part of some? On the other hand, if that system has changed then possibly someone may have a valid complaint, depending upon the requirements of the new system.

The issue would be that when I booked our cruise, I did so with the expectation that at the end we would be 60% of our way to Elite status, not 51.7%, as long as I completed the cruise. The deal was, essentially, "Book this cruise and you'll have 6 cruise points once you finish." The change was made just after final payment was due, so we had no opportunity to decide that the new deal was unacceptable without losing a ton of money. Essentially, the rules changed in midgame.

I realize that, technically, X is within their rights to do this, but it does not mean I have to like it. I suspected changes were coming, but had I thought that the cruise wouldn't be grandfathered in, I may have thought twice about booking concierge vs. verandah, or even booking at all.

How much would it have cost them to have honored points from cruises already booked? It would mean that they would have to give their loyal customers that had proven their loyalty by booking one extra cruises' worth of tier benefits. Instead, at some point, for one cruise, I'll still be Select where I would have otherwise been Elite, and maybe I'll be Elite instead of Elite Plus for one cruise in the distant future. Big deal. Is the money they're saving worth antagonizing their customers?

It would depend on how much you would enjoy Aqua Class, dining in Blu, and so forth. If the C1 is on Deck 9, I would be tempted because of the proximity to the bar. Personally, I had a visit from the Upgrade Fairy changing us from an aft C1 to a Sky Suite, even after I had the booking marked, "No Upgrades". A quick call to my TA got the C1 back before they could assign it to someone else. We had fallen in love with that balcony before we had even seen it.

Last year on the Constellation the CD had a call out to all those that he "missed" that were celebrating a birthday. He said that he was sorry if any were left out because there were over 475 celebrating one. This on a ship that carries around 2200 passengers and a 5 day cruise. Then there are also those with anniversaries, honeymoons and etc.

 

Most passengers sailing are celebrating something even if it is waking up in the morning.

 

We don't mention our birthdays or anniversaries to anyone as we can celebrate by ourselves and enjoy the moment in peace without a lot of phony hoopla.

 

 

We don't expect perfection. JUST A DARN SIGHT LESS IMPERFECTION!

I get that with 475 people celebrating birthdays, errors happen. That's why I went to Guest Services the day before, in an effort to be helpful. If we had been inadvertently omitted from the list of those celebrating birthdays and anniversaries, I wanted to give them every chance of correcting the error before it happened. Maybe this threw things into a tizzy, I don't know. AFAIK, we were the only couple doing a Renewal of Vows ceremony, so I don't think it would be too hard to get that straight. Maybe it was because it's not done very often, I don't know.

I, too, am not a fan of phony hoopla, but doggone it, if I have phony hoopla coming, I expect to have my phony hoopla!

On Summit about a week ago, someone at our table ordered four lobster tails.

@Asixth....secret site? Hmmmm! I'm curious.

It's connected to a travel agency, so direct mention of it is verboten on Cruise Critic. When the search function is working, you may be able to glean it.

PS...We're are in AQ on deck 11 (1116). How much better than that can we possibly get?

Suite?:cool: PH?:cool::cool::cool: Still, I once turned down an upgrade to a suite to stay in an aft C1.

Party, welcome back! I was wondering where you were. Some posters names and pictures stick in your mind, and I always liked your posts - very polite and balanced (neither a cheerleader nor a 'complainer').

Thanks:)-- I kind of burned out on Cruise Critic for a while. Seemed like either it was the same questions being asked over and over again, or else questions I couldn't give an accurate answer to. A change in occupation factored in, as well as some health issues. But I'm back!

Our last cruise on Summit was fantastic! I will be back to X again and again-- they're our Number One choice for a cruise line! So my little whiny complaint should not be taken as a sign of great dissatisfaction or a warning to any perusing this board not to sail with Celebrity...

DW and I tend to sail in February to: 1) get out of the snow and cold, and 2) to celebrate my birthday and our anniversary, which are one day apart. And no, it's not true that she picked that date so I would have no excuse to forget the anniversary:p:rolleyes::D.

In 2011, we sailed Summit. I'm positive we indicated we'd be celebrating these two events, and on the particular days when we booked. On my birthday, nothing. No balloons, no cake, no waiters singing "Happy Birthday" in European accents. No, it didn't ruin my birthday, but I was a bit surprised. I didn't feel it was important enough to mention to anyone that it was a problem, just figured I'd mention it on the comment card. The next day, our anniversary, the birthday balloons showed up in the cabin. No other recognition for the anniversary. Oh, well, no big deal. Just left me wondering why they asked if we would be celebrating anything if they weren't going to even acknowledge it, or just on the wrong day.

Fast forward to this year, also on Summit. Remembering what happened before, I went to Guest Services the day before my birthday and reminded them of both the birthday the next day and the anniversary the day after that, just in case. That night, the waiter asked if I was celebrating a birthday. Told him no, that's tomorrow night. The next day, no balloons or card in the room, and when it came time for dessert, no mention of cake. I was going to let it go, but my DD asked, in a not-too-subtle hint, "So what does Celebrity do when someone has a birthday?" The waiter explained that they can bring out a small cake, but they need 24 hours notice. I then mentioned that I had given 18 months notice when I first booked, 36 hours notice at Guest Services, and 24 hours notice the night before. A cake was produced and waitstaff and maître d' serenaded me, in quite a bit less than the 24 hours it reportedly would take. I enjoyed it, but felt it was somewhat tarnished by practically having to beg for it.

On a related note, this year was our 30th anniversary. We opted for a Renewal of Vows ceremony, which included an anniversary cake and we were asked when and where we wanted it served. Since we were celebrating in Normandie that night, that seemed like the place. We were told the cake would be served for dessert. When the dessert menus were presented and no cake made its appearance, my DD asked, in a not-too-subtle hint, "So what does Celebrity do when someone has an anniversary?" It was explained to our waiter that we had an anniversary cake coming. Our poor waiter said he knew nothing about a cake, and offered to dance on the table as a means of making it up to us, which gave us all a chuckle, but there was no cake forthcoming. We ordered off the dessert menu. After stuffing the last of an excellent chocolate soufflé into my mouth, the cake arrived. We all made a gallant effort to have a piece (also excellent), but I felt like Mr. Creosote at the end of Monty Python's Meaning of Life:eek:. We had them wrap up the remaining portions of pieces and take back to the cabins to finish later. We made only a dent in the cake, and was told the rest would be available in the MDR for future nights. Of course we had to request it, but the last night it took them 25 minutes to produce it, making us very late for the Honeymoon/Anniversary celebration party that X threw. We arrived just in time to hear the CD finish his song and say, "Good night, everybody!"

I don't know if they do balloons anymore for birthdays. If they've replaced anniversary balloons with the Honeymoon/Anniversary celebration, that's definitely an improvement. Again, for the most part, we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise, the Renewal of Vows ceremony was wonderful, but I still feel that X could do a wee bit better with organizing and recognizing these special events, especially when they ask ahead of time if we have them occurring.

If nothing else, I hope I've amused you with our tale!

Sorry guys you need to be realistic.

The Captains Club is optional. When you sign up to join you sign that you agree to the terms and conditions. One of those terms is that they can vary the terms.

Celebrity have varied the terms because the economical facts are that they cannot afford to have as many on the higher status. By introducing the new system it will take longer to get to the higher status.

The new system still rewards loyalty just not on as generous terms as previously.

We cruise because we enjoy the cruise experience. Not to generate more loyalty points or become 'Elite'. I acknowledge that we would like to have the 'free perks' of the next status but lets be honest they are not actually free. We all pay for them in the overall cost.

I both agree and disagree. It's true that the terms and conditions state that they can modify the terms (or even end the program altogether) at any time. I also agree that they had to do something to cut down on the rapidly growing numbers of Elite cruisers. I had gone on record here as saying I would welcome such a change, even if that meant it would take me longer to reach Elite.

But a "promotion" that backfires by causing bad feelings can do more harm than good. It should be recognized that, for some, getting the cruise credits may have been a significant factor in booking the upcoming cruise with Celebrity and not going to a competitor. I think the proper way to have handled this was to give the equivalent club points (30 per what would have been a cruise credit) to any booking made prior to 11/23, or at least to those where it would make a difference in going up a level or not, as was the case for the OP.

Just to vent, the change means we will need three more cruises to reach Elite than we would have before the change, but if our last cruise had been worth 60 club points (equivalent of 2 cruise credits) instead of 35, it would have been only two more.

Is this sort of price fluctuation normal and is it just a case of buyer beware? It has left a sour taste and has us rethinking future holidays as we feel we've been ripped off to the tune of $1500.

I understand the frustration of missing out on a good price, but how would you be feeling if the price went up $1500 right after you booked? The attitude I take is that if I felt the price was fair and agreeable to me at the time I purchased the cruise, I have no grounds for complaint if the price goes down and I can't take advantage.

I'm not sure about the rules for Australia, but you may be able to at least upgrade to a cabin selling for the same or lesser price, or pay the difference to upgrade to a cabin selling for a bit more. My strategy is to look for price drops before final payment, where (for North Americans, at least) they will honor the lower price upon notification, and afterwards to look for possible upgrades.