Advice needed re: booking FV cabin as a couple

[juzzab]

Hi!

 

Our TA is giving us the run around :(

 

DH & I booked an FV for the Millie November Westbound transat in April. We would have expected a letter with our booking ref by now, but we haven't had anything as yet. So DH rang the TA & they can't find any trace of our booking :eek:

 

After being passed from one person to another, they have finally told us that we haven't been booked because X will only allow FVs to be booked by a group of 5. They have also offered us a basic 2A cabin for a cheaper price, & tried to say they are similar cabins (but with a slightly smaller balcony).

 

Being upset about the whole thing, I rang X in the UK & posing a random question 'Would they book a couple in an FV?' & getting the answer 'Yes if it was available', I'm confused :confused:

 

So my question to you is this:~

 

Have you ever booked an FV for two people?

 

& my secondary question is:~

 

is my TA BSing me? ;)

 

Many thanks in advance for any replies &/or support :)

[wesp]

We were in 9199, an FV, on the recent eastbound transat on the Constellation. I booked the cabin on line and never had a problem.

 

Wesley

[skyview851]

My DH & I tried to book an FV for next year while we were on a Millie cruise this year. We were also told that you had to have 5 people to qualify. The interesting thing is, we were in an FV during that cruise with only 4 people in the cabin. There is NO WAY you could put 5 people in one of those cabins unless 2 of them were small children.

[canderson]

Hi!

 

Our TA is giving us the run around :(

 

DH & I booked an FV for the Millie November Westbound transat in April. We would have expected a letter with our booking ref by now, but we haven't had anything as yet. So DH rang the TA & they can't find any trace of our booking :eek:

That's NOT a good sign.

 

After being passed from one person to another, they have finally told us that we haven't been booked because X will only allow FVs to be booked by a group of 5. They have also offered us a basic 2A cabin for a cheaper price, & tried to say they are similar cabins (but with a slightly smaller balcony).

First, the proscription against booking for less than 5 is clearly a seasonal thing. Too many of us have booked as couples to let that generalization go unchallenged. However, Celebrity seems sticky about this if you are sailing during periods of time when school is out. Since you are specifying a westbound November transit, I can only assume you mean that you're saling November 14 trans-Atlantic. Since that cruise includes the Thanksgiving holiday, I suppose that might have been the issue, but one would not think that families would have kids out of school from 14 November to 28 November. I'd check with them directly. I think you've been misled.

 

As for a 2A being even REMOTELY equivalent to a FV on the Millennium -- whoever told you that is either badly misinformed or giving you the hose job of a lifetime. If it is your TA, get new one!!! The 2A cabins are 170 square feet inside, and have a veranda of 38 square feet (barely big enough to turn round on). The FV cabins are 271 square feet of cabins space, and have over 200 square foot verandas. If you're curious to see what one looks like, check the link below in my signature line.

 

Being upset about the whole thing, I rang X in the UK & posing a random question 'Would they book a couple in an FV?' & getting the answer 'Yes if it was available', I'm confused :confused:

Can't say I blame you.

 

So my question to you is this:~

 

Have you ever booked an FV for two people?

 

& my secondary question is:~

 

is my TA BSing me? ;)

Yes, it is possible if you're not caught in the wrong period of time, and from your other statements, your TA is either BS'ing you or is the worst informed agent for Celebrity I've run across yet.

[Ma Bell]

We've been in FVs many times with two people, but things have changed and for the 2006 cruises they are really enforcing the 5 person rule. As the cruise draws nearer and the FVs are not booked, they will open up to fewer occupants.

[wv4891]

Well here is the old FV question again!!!! It seems at times you can book and at other times you cannot book the FV with only 2 people ( nothing new here right???). Now, as to my very recent experience, on the Summit cruise of April 11 -22, my wife and I were staying in a corner FV (yeap, just the two of us). While on the ship I booked a future cruise for 03/19/2006 on the Infinity, South America to FLL. The Future Cruise Sales Manager on the ship tried to book me into a corner FV, which showed available. She was unable to do so and had to email the Celebrity Home office in Miami. She was told that Celebrity's policy for a FV was that in order to book it there had to be 5 people (where have we heard this stuff before???). I was unable to book the FV. So what does all this mean???? Nothing, as you can probably still get a FV with only 2 people, depending on who your TA is interfacing with in Celebrity, and which way the sun and the moon are alined. Just be aware that Celebrity can bump you out of this FV at any time, even after final payment has been made. Also, there are only two sofas in the FV (and I don't think you can have both made into beds at the same time, although I did not try it to see), in addition to the bed and only one bathroom. So I also can not see how 5 people could live comfortably in this cabin, unless you are extremely easy going and on valium!!!:rolleyes:

[Ma Bell]

Bill,

 

I agree completely. Can't imagine five people in any cabin with one bathroom, unless it's in the woods.:)

[wv4891]

Joan,

 

 

I have enough trouble sharing the bathroom with my wife. I can't imagine doing it with even more thrown into the mix!!!!:eek:

[juzzab]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. I guess my TA isn't one of the chosen ones ;)

 

But then again with their 'knowledge' who could be surprised? :p

 

Guess I should remove the Millennium ticker from my siggie eh? :rolleyes:

[hajekfam]

Hi!

 

Our TA is giving us the run around :(

 

DH & I booked an FV for the Millie November Westbound transat in April. We would have expected a letter with our booking ref by now, but we haven't had anything as yet. So DH rang the TA & they can't find any trace of our booking :eek:

 

After being passed from one person to another, they have finally told us that we haven't been booked because X will only allow FVs to be booked by a group of 5. They have also offered us a basic 2A cabin for a cheaper price, & tried to say they are similar cabins (but with a slightly smaller balcony).

 

Being upset about the whole thing, I rang X in the UK & posing a random question 'Would they book a couple in an FV?' & getting the answer 'Yes if it was available', I'm confused :confused:

 

So my question to you is this:~

 

Have you ever booked an FV for two people?

 

& my secondary question is:~

 

is my TA BSing me? ;)

 

Many thanks in advance for any replies &/or support :)

 

 

You booked in April for a FV cabin for the Millie trans 11/18/05? Since I have been booked on this transatlantic since the day bookings opened (back around July when the trans was originally scheduled for 11/6), I have been monitoring prices on the Celebrity website. The FV cabins were sold out within weeks of the first day bookings were available. When they changed the date back in Oct or Nov 2004, some did open as people cancelled, but those cabins were quickly rebooked.

Did you select a cabin number when you booked? I have never booked a cruise by requesting a category without immediately knowing my cabin number.

I can't believe that any FV were available in April - unless they were being held by your TA. If not, I wonder if your TA had put you on a waiting list for one of those cabins. I check Celebrity's website at least 2 times or more a week since I booked, watching the prices and (since they changed our cruises once) now for date or itinerary changes . I have not seen a FV available at all.

If you do decide to do this cruise, please join our roll call

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=99908&page=1&pp=25

[juzzab]

You booked in April for a FV cabin for the Millie trans 11/18/05?

Yes, correct :)

 

 

Did you select a cabin number when you booked? I have never booked a cruise by requesting a category without immediately knowing my cabin number.

Yes we selected 8168, & I never attempt to book a cruise without knowing a preferred selection of cabin numbers that are available according to the cruise company's website.

 

 

I can't believe that any FV were available in April - unless they were being held by your TA. If not, I wonder if your TA had put you on a waiting list for one of those cabins.

Having booked 8168, we requested to be put on waitlist for a corner FV.

 

 

I check Celebrity's website at least 2 times or more a week since I booked, watching the prices and (since they changed our cruises once) now for date or itinerary changes . I have not seen a FV available at all.

What can I say, I checked availability online with X & on Travelocity. My TA also confirmed this cabin was available & we jumped in there straight away. (Or so we were lead to believe.)

 

Thanks for your response :)

 

My main gripe is that our TA said we were definitely booked & only when we have chased them up for a booking number, have they come up with this excuse, rather than admit that they never booked us on the cruise (which in my opinion is what happened) :rolleyes:

[canderson]

Thanks to everyone who took the time to reply. I guess my TA isn't one of the chosen ones ;)

 

But then again with their 'knowledge' who could be surprised? :p

 

Guess I should remove the Millennium ticker from my siggie eh? :rolleyes:

I wouldn't go that far just yet. See if you can land a CC cabin. There may be no aft cabins left, but it's a good bit more space than a Cat2 and will cost you less than you'd planned to spend on the FV. If your TA didn't actually book the cruise, but took your deposit, and the price has gone up on CC cabins, be sure to let them know you expect them to eat the difference for being such dolts. You want the CC at the price available when you booked the FV.

[scapel]

My wife and I have booked the FV cabins twice. My last communication with my TA seems to indicate that they have changed the category to CC on these cabins. They still may want to book it with more than two people since they get to sell that space. Now if they can’t sell it they will of course sell it to just 2. I don’t know how long they hold out before selling it to just two, but it seems that Celebrity is doing well enough to hold out for more than two people in the old FV cabins.

[hajekfam]

Wow - I can't believe that a FV showed up in April - If you say it was available, I guess it showed up on a day I didn't check. Prices have been holding steady for a while so I don't check every day. With the number of these cabins in scarce supply - they do go quickly. I know that the middle cabins between the those 4 FVs are CC class. Again, being in limited supply, they do go quickly.

I didn't doubt your word, I just inferred from your original post that you booked by category - not by a specific cabin. There are some people who do that and let their TA pick out the cabin.

Your TA should have received confirmation with a confirmation number within a short period of time for that cabin and deifinitely by the time the deposit was secured. did you charge your deposit and did it show up on charge card (provided it occured during your last billing cycle)? If not, I think your TA dropped the ball.

I'm sorry you missed out on that cabin. If you're willing to settle for a different cabin, you might want to book the cruise and then asked to be wait listed for an aft cabin. Some may open up at final payment.

[excitedofharpenden]

I read from a good source on these boards that wef 1st May FVs can only be reserved if you have at least three named passengers. They are obviously coveted cabins and book quickly. I can see where Celebrity are coming from if this is the case. As I understand it, the 'F' in FV stands for Family and have a room divide that would make them ideal if you were travelling with children or more than one family. Maybe Celebrity will keep them in their inventory right up to sailing and then allocate them if they are unused to a lucky 'upgrade'.

 

Phil

[canderson]

My wife and I have booked the FV cabins twice. My last communication with my TA seems to indicate that they have changed the category to CC on these cabins.

If it were allowed, it would be great to actually see the names of TAs being quoted on this board. On another, a TA in the UK advises a client that a Cat2 is more or less equivalent to a FV. Here, that FV has been changed to CC. Before we start saying mean things about your TA, please verify "seems to indicate" from your TA means that he/she actually believes this to be the case. When they start offering FV cabins for CC prices, there will be riots in the streets trying to book them!

 

Frankly, as we pay more for the FV, it would be nice to get CC services there as well, but that's not how it works (so far). It's a funny kind of "in betweener".

[wv4891]

To back up what the previous poster said. As of April 11 -22 on the Summit, the FV class cabins have not been upgraded to the CC offerings. I know as I stayed in a corner FV.

 

 

 

My wife and I have booked the FV cabins twice. My last communication with my TA seems to indicate that they have changed the category to CC on these cabins. They still may want to book it with more than two people since they get to sell that space. Now if they can’t sell it they will of course sell it to just 2. I don’t know how long they hold out before selling it to just two, but it seems that Celebrity is doing well enough to hold out for more than two people in the old FV cabins.