wahwah1

On 12/1/2023 at 3:20 PM, davela2 said:

We just got back from there.  I hired a taxi ahead of time with Pattaya Express.  Was about $60 to our hotel in Bangkok.  Super easy to work with.  Do not wait until you arrive to get a taxi!  The ship will also provide transport but only to the city center, then you still have to get to your hotel

Hello, just want to confirm you had no issues with Pattaya Express picking you from Laem Chabang cruise port to bangkok.. I saw this company is cheaper but less reviews, so just want to confirm.

Thank you.

On 5/15/2023 at 3:45 PM, Lotso88 said:

Wondering if anyone received their $500 usd per person for their non refundable expenses from celebrity? How is it paid out? 

 

Thanks 

Not yet..

1 hour ago, pmarrsouth said:

 

But I do wonder if this part messed you up here (booking directly with X and then moving to TA). 

I booked directly with Celebrity and didn't transfer and still got cancelled. The only thing that is positive is I could called celebrity directly and got all my options and made the changes ASAP without dealing with the TA as the middle man.

It's bad that they didn't reveal the issues ASAP if they know it in Aug 2022. If they told us earlier, I wouldn't purchase any flights as it's impossible to purchase flights more than a year in advance.

Now I'm stuck with the flights and flying from north america to japan is way more than $500 USD.

26 minutes ago, Lotso88 said:

Today my parents found out that their first cruise from YVR to Japan is also cancelled.

 

Yikes, I thought cancellation is over, never thought YVR to Japan is affected.

It's unfortunate for those who are affected, but at the very least you were offered an upgrade.

2 minutes ago, kathynorth said:

It’s interesting that your next week cruise is also oversold in certain cabin levels. Several of the South America cruises last Jan/Feb also had oversold cabin assignments. I’m wondering if the cruiseline changed the booking algorithm due to all the last minute Covid cancellations, then didn’t adjust them when these cancellations slowed down. I realize this Japan situation is likely due to ship change and not Covid, but failure to recognize changes in booking patterns seems to be a constant.

Interesting. It appears it's not only Japan, but Japan itinerary affected the most due to changes to smaller ship.

I think balcony+ cabins are affected the most, at least for Millennium class (my next sailing is also Millennium class). Someone from rollcall next week confirmed he's in concierge while I'm in family balcony.  I think there is only a small amount oversold next week because it's voluntary.

6 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Your next week sailing was oversold....?  and your Oct. 12, '23 was also oversold?  I thought the problem was isolated to Japan cruises....not?  I'm starting to wonder if Nov. '23 cruise will be affected.

Yes. My next week cabin is oversold. Celebrity agent didn't know about it when I called, but the roll call confirmed quite a few people received the email and their TA confirmed. I booked directly with Celebrity. 

18 minutes ago, Larasmum said:

WOW!!   You are having terrible luck with Celebrity!    I hope you stayed on your cruise next week and will have a wonderful time.  You've already given more than enough to Celebrity.    I'm sailing Holland America next week - first time.

Enjoy your HAL cruise next week! I've sailed with HAL, it should be good!

I'm still on the cruise next week, declined the downgrade offer and kept my cabin. 

After this, I may explore/consider other cruiselines. Just way too many overbooking issues within a few days.

11 minutes ago, Larasmum said:

Thank you.    September wouldn't work for us.   At this point, they have all lost faith in Celebrity and are all worried that there is nothing to stop Celebrity from just doing the same thing again next year.  They are done ... taking the cash refund.

I get what you mean, I'm sailing next week with Celebrity and I received an email that my cabin is oversold but this time they sent a voluntary survey. That email was sent 2 days after I L&S the japan cruise.

7 hours ago, Larasmum said:

My appeal to keep the other three family cabins on the ship for our October 24 sailing was through the Executive Office.    I wasn't getting any response from the phone number provided other than "it has been escalated" and "these things take time".  I had two calls from the Executive Office - one to acknowledge my email and that they were having the Resolutions Department review our case, and the second to tell me that there were no options to keep the three cancelled reservations onboard.   They did offer the option of doing a lift and shift for all six cabins to a future cruise - but October 6, 2024 was not available unless we wanted to "downgrade" our current V2 cabins.   No more lift and shifts for us ... three cabins will sail this year, three are cancelled for refund. 

They should offered you Sept 2024 as an option too. I was booked on Oct 12 2023 V2 cabin and when took the L&S option, Oct 6 2024 only had V1 and V3 left and said I had to downgrade to V3 for Oct 6 or choose another sailing in Sept 2024. I know Sept weather is l rainier than Oct, but an alternative was given.

1 hour ago, pmarrsouth said:

Going on my previous (3) L&S experiences with X, you initially get a full receipt without perks etc on it. Then within a few days (maybe 7) you should receive an updated invoice from them that includes everything you had previously. I think another department has to do it, hence the delay. You might have to reach out to them if you do not get it within a week

Thank you.  I was told by celebrity I won't be receiving anything. Perhaps I won't call the redeployment hotline and try the regular hotline.

I have received the lift and shift confirmation for Sept 12, 2024. My only comment was my 3 perks codes were not added to my booking confirmation. I called back and was reassured that it was a manual booking so they will not be able to send me a confirmation with those codes. There is a note written by a supervisor which cannot be override and mentioned i do have all the perks. The outstanding item is the uncertainty when I will get my non-refundable fees up to $500. I sent the documentations over, but I forgot to ask timeline.

I hope there will be no issues in the future of getting the few perks or being cancelled again. I noticed most TA letters on this forum got the Sept 24, Oct 6 and Oct18 options. If there are 1000 passengers choosing L&S option (difference between solstice and millie), I'm sure those selected sailings will be full soon.

1 hour ago, raananh said:

This is exactly what we discuss now: all those whose October 2023 cruise was "oversold" are now not(!) able to S&L to an October 2024 cruise ... because the 2024 cruises are full. 

I was on Oct 12 2023 sailing and got shifted to Sept 12, 2024. I was V2 and when I got shifted on Monday, they said V2 sold out for Oct 6, 2023, so they offered me Sept 12, 2024. FYI, I booked directly with Celebrity and they noticed Oct 6 is U/A and the next Oct sailing is a different sailing (11 Nights), so they gave me more selections (all Sept 2024 sailings).

17 minutes ago, maryann2 said:

Hope this is a false alarm.

Somebody said the email is legit 😭 and clicked the link.. basically to 1) downgrade 2) cancel or just answer a survey.

2 minutes ago, maryann2 said:

Hope this is a false alarm.

Celebrity agent said only Celebrity Millie from Japan is oversold, though another person from roll call said he received the same email.

I couldn't take it no more if I have to cancel two 2023 cruises in 2 days, and one sailing leaving next week.

I'm so paranoid, I am suppose to head to Celebrity Summit next week and I received an oversold email on the correct date/ship/my sailing. But it's not from a Celebrity email.

33 minutes ago, Judy Arthur said:

 

The $500 is meant only to recover some of your own money lost on non-refundable airfare or other travel-related expense for this cancelled trip,  a spit in the bucket for some.   

28 minutes ago, dlh015 said:

So they couldn't even get the letter right...or the agent has relayed bad information...or both.

 

Fabulous...just fabulous...

Correct. Unless the agent told me incorrect information, since my letter is faulty in the first place, you may not even get any compensation of some non-refundable expenses, if you decided to do nothing. But check your letter or with an agent to confirm.

2 hours ago, Larasmum said:

At this time, our cancelled cabins will take the refund on May 1 unless a miracle occurs before then.   They do not trust staying with Celebrity anymore ... 

My letter doesn't have the May 1st deadline because it only stated the automatic downgrade from V to OV. However, when I called celebrity, an agent told me if I don't confirm by May 1, they will automatically cancel me with no compensation. It was verbal so I don't know if your letter states whether it is automatically cancel with $450 FCC and $500, or just cancellation with nothing.

53 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

 A quick check of an online big box TA shows there are a lot of empty cabins listed for sale on these Japan cruises at a much higher price. 

Check the specific cabin category. E.g. if you booked a V2 verandah, they won't give you V1 verandah even though they are both balconies.

As I mentioned, if you paid for V2 previously and if they only have V1 or V3 left, you either downgrade to V3, or pay the difference of V1 and your V2 at prevailing price, or choose a different sailing.

Hope this helps! I was dealing with this mess yesterday and seen a lot of the posted letters only gave 3 options, so availabilities could be limited.

Also, for those who are considering lift and shift, I suggest to do it ASAP as Celebrity wouldn't assign you a higher cabin category, unless you pay for the difference at prevailing rate. I prefer Oct 6 2024 sailing (original Oct 12 2023) but I was told my cabin is U/A unless I downgrade to obstructed balcony or choose another sailing in Sept.

According to TA located in Canada, he said 80% of his clients are affected on celebrity millie for the affected duration. However, that agency is not large and most of his bookings are decent/good prices. The information is on youtube but it's in Cantonese. I recalled he mentioned a few hundreds of bookings are affected, but I don't know all the few hundred bookings is only from that agency.

47 minutes ago, southwestie said:

I have booked via a large uk  agency. So still hopeful

Tip of the day: consider booking via large agency than directly with the cruiseline!  

5 hours ago, anniegb said:

No worries.

 

Good luck today - keep us posted.

 

Annie

I got lift and shift to mid sept 2024 sailing (from mid oct 2023). The Oct 6 sailing only has obstructed balcony left (mine is unobstructed). I understand sept is super rainy season, but still better traveling in oceanview. 

32 minutes ago, southwestie said:

Oh. That's not good.. so you booked a balcony  on gty. And you have an OV. Still on gty or a cabin number.  Your still on the cruise.

 

Yet there are still concierge  cabins. They sould have upgraded you

Almost. I booked an assigned balcony cabin (not GTY) and selected a high deck room. The balcony cabin # is still attached to my reservation.

They had 3 triple oceanview left on Friday located on deck 2 (2 cabins) and one cabin on deck 3. 

There is no access to know the inventory on the ship. I heard the first agent said they still have conceirge left after chatting with her for long time prior sending me to the escalation line.

The second agent has access to assign cabins, but for my particular case, she could only assign me oceanview and reviewed my other alternatives (e.g. cancel / shift and lift). Since I haven't discussed with my parents on the options, I said I will call back within 1 hr before they close.

After 1 hr, I called back, the third agent told me for any changes, they will need a backend agent. She told me I only got 1 downgrade option per my letter and she cannot go by the notes on my reservation. (My letter is downgrade from balcony to oceanview with $700 OBC).

My understanding is the option is set and they cannot deviate from it. No matter whether the compensation is fair or not. 

If you check the pricing for triple balcony with 3 perks vs oceanview with 3 perks, you will understand the difference is $1900 cad in oct 2024. They only offered $700 OBC and not even a reduction to my fare.  I can tell you a triple balcony fare is more than a double balcony fare for the 1 stateroom and now celebrity wants to keep the triple balcony fare for a triple oceanview room.

5 hours ago, southwestie said:

Well that is bad. You have been upgraded.

That's a downgrade. Assigned balcony to GTY oceanview.

Thanks anniegb for responding.

23 minutes ago, southwestie said:

My TA thinks. Usa guarantee  bookings are most likely  to be cancelled.  

FYI, i got assigned cabin and booked a specific category (e.g. not guarenteed) and still got bumped out.