Misleading information

[Babr]

We have sailed only once on Celebrity, and it was a good experience. We'd like to return,but I've had some unsettling experiences with booking and pricing.

 

A year or so ago I saw an attractively priced suite guarantee after final payment. A Celebrity Suite was pictured. When I called to reserve, I was told that the guarantee was actually for an entry level suite cabin not a Celebrity Suite. So the price quoted was not for the cabin pictured. Furthermore, I was told that I could wait until a cabin was assigned, and if I didn't like it I could cancel. I was suspicious even though the information was coming from a Celebrity rep. I don't know of any cruise line that lets you cancel after final payment just because you don't like your cabin. I didn't book.

 

Today I got an email offering a choice of perks so I shopped around and found a cruise from Miami for about $960. This time I knew it would be an entry level suite, but when I clicked on the link to book, the price jumped to $1450. I called to ask the correct price and was told that the best available was actually over $1500. So why the lowball price when no cabin is available? I was told the website had not updated. Sorry. In this day and age, that is a lame excuse.

 

I can't help feeling mislead in both examples. So how do the rest of you book with confidence?

[CathyCruises]

A suite guarantee is just that--a guarantee that you will receive a suite, albeit possibly the lowest level--a sky suite. But of course you cannot cancel if you don't like your assignment--land based X reps are known to give bad info.

 

As to the current situation, I was closely following prices on a cruise I hoped to book. The initial price shown on the website often was different when I actually clicked on it to do a mock booking. We all know the website has issues and I personally just accept it--and deal with it. I never book until I get a price I'm happy with.

 

The good news is that once booked, the onboard experience is great!!!!

[PartyAllDaTyme]

I agree that the picture of the suite should be the lowest possibly available, unless they have a disclaimer along the lines of "Celebrity Suite pictured." or "Suite may differ from photo."

 

Wait until a cabin is assigned, and if you don't like it, you can cancel? Wow. If you're a Captain's Club member, they generally give better service than the typical Celebrity CSRs.

 

Never experienced the price jumping all over, but they should stand by what the website shows. Too bad that their website is known to have bugs. Possibly doing a screen capture could help.

[Lsimon]

I can see your points and disappointment. Bottom line is that some of their back room operations stink - both in terms of their web system and the accuracy of comments from the telephone CSR's. But this has little or nothing to do with the on board experience. Either the cruise is worth it to you or not once you get by the little booking aggravations. I wouldn't not book a cruise I wanted because of this if everything else was in line.

 

There are many times I've found a purchase was going to be different than what was advertised due to some error but once I had the facts I decided I wanted it anyways. Problems like this are not limited to Celebrity nor to cruise lines or travel. That is no excuse but it is life.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Larry, I'm going to disagree somewhat. It may not be intentional, but listing one price on the website initially and then charging a higher amount at checkout is bait and switch, as I see it. And what would have happened if the website showed $1450, the OP bit the bullet and booked it, and then found out the amount he was being charged was over $1500?

 

I wasn't able to find a cruise that had just a suite GTY, only Sky Suite GTY, so I can't verify the photo the OP saw and if there was any kind of disclaimer that this was not necessarily the lowest class suite you'd get. I assume there was no indication that this was a Celebrity Suite but you might only get a Sky Suite. I spent many years working at a local television station, and I know there are legal reasons for disclaimers in advertising-- you can't lead the customer to believe that this is what he's going to get if this is only something he MIGHT get without disclosing that fact.

[pris993]

We have been cruising a long time, get ads from a wide variety of cruise lines and travel agencies. One of the things I have noticed over the years is the pictures in ads don't mean a thing. Sometimes even the picture of the ship in the ad does not fit the ad.

 

I think you have learned an important less ref ads, you have to look at them very carefully, read the fine print, buyer beware. Would guess the same is true of web sites, I don't book cruises on line so don't have any direct experience. I do book airline tickets on line, one of the best examples of the airlines misleading buyers is adding taxes/fee in after the initial price quote. This is not allowed by the US govt for American carriers but their European partners are still allowed to do so, when buyers are purchasing a ticket involving a code share with a partner airline these surprise taxes and fees pop up. American carriers do promote these code shares, often these flights appear first in a listing of flights.

 

I ran into another issue on both Celebrity and Princess a year ago. We did two btb cruises one on Princess and one on Celebrity. On the Princess ship we purchased a bottle of wine one evening, signed off on the charge, only to find the price posted on our account was $20 more. I questioned the charge at Customer Service on board. I was told that the price had been adjusted upward because the wine list had an outdated price. This was done by the Bar Manager after we signed off on the purchase. Needless to say, we got the bill adjusted to the price that we had agreed to by signing for it. On Celebrity we were charged for drinks we never ordered in BLU. There was no signed slip for them. Our bill was adjusted for that as well. Don't know how this happened. We always check our account on board, mistakes are made.

[Redtravel]

Celebrity website is bizarre. Find a cruise that has attractive prices. When you click to book it and add your information like age, state, CC #, etc., the price changes. Add a promo code like 123GO and it increases. It can be very erratic. In some cases the price goes up. Sometimes it goes down. It is like playing cruise booking roulette. The only price is the final price. Using the website takes patience. Good luck.

[Minoushka]

I personally am tired of the website posting inaccurate prices .I received an email advertising a cruise at a very reasonable price but somehow I sould not get it when I clicked .i called please note the offer was sent at 6:30 am I responded at 8:30 ...i was told all cabins were sold ...somehow I doubted that .Then i was offered the same cruise for 300$ more .i debated but still booked

Well the next day the original offer came back on the web page ...Once again I called to switch ...For some odd reason I could not until they checked and called me back ...i did not trust the call back .....

Yes they finally did and did adjust the price but if I had not checked I would have paid the 300$ difference ...not right....and i was able to keep my original cabin

We had a store like this ..loads of advertising ...even if you got there when they opened they would have none of te items on sale in stock ...we call this a zellers ad ...celebrity seems to do that a lot .Other cruises i might be interested show one price ...usually a good one but clicking gets you a bigger one ..I call it false advertising what do you call it ???

[miched]

Any brochure or commerical for most travel products always show stuff that is misleading. A hotel will always show their best suite, cruise line will show people snorkeling, jet skiing, dining in their finest restaurant, drinking cocktails, having a massage, making it appear as if it is included.

 

 

🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[Bruin Steve]

I don't really look at any ad photos and read them as any sort of representation--they are just a picture. By definition, I know that a "Suite Guarantee" only guarantees you a Sky Suite or better...but the price is usually so good for a Sky Suite that it's worth taking...If I only wanted a higher level suite, I'd just book it...and pay the price...

 

As to "canceling" it after assignment, perhaps there was a misunderstanding...

IF you get the assignment PRIOR to final payment, of course you can cancel it...

If you get that assignment AFTER final payment, there are still several things you CAN do, including:

You can "cancel" the "guarantee" part of it--and change your assignment--by opting to switch to a higher category and rate--if available. Say you hoped to get a Celebrity Suite and were assigned that likely Sky Suite, and if Celebrity Suites are still available, you can change your booking to a Celebrity Suite rate and change cabins...

You can, if there are other cabins available in the category to which you have been assigned, call Celebrity and ask to be moved to another cabin within that assigned category.

 

Of course you can't just cancel in those final few days after final payment because you don't like the cabin...you didn't bargain for a "free option" excercisable up to sail date.

 

As to the website sometimes giving out prices in a general search only to find those rates unavailable when trying to book, yes, I think many of us have seen that--it's due to bugs in the computer sstem and not intentionally meant to be misleading...But, just to make sure, what I would do when that happens is to CALL directly...

Edited June 5, 2014 by Bruin Steve

[happy cruzer]

Maybe there is a short period of time for buyers remorse? Maybe the implication is that you could use that?

 

Also regarding the price changes, I know one travel site that shows the lowest rate offered which can be a senior rate or a resident rate that you might not qualify for and then you see the higher one.

 

Any way until you have it in writing with the fine print, you just can't be sure.

[Lsimon]

Larry, I'm going to disagree somewhat. It may not be intentional, but listing one price on the website initially and then charging a higher amount at checkout is bait and switch, as I see it. And what would have happened if the website showed $1450, the OP bit the bullet and booked it, and then found out the amount he was being charged was over $1500?...

 

You're probably right. I guess I was giving them the benefit of the doubt that it was simple technical incompetence vs. actual bait and switch. But as I said there is no good excuse for this.

 

It isn't limited to Celebrity. A few years ago we called another cruise line the day we got a brochure with a price including airfare for a cruise. Of course no cabins were available at that price and the available prices were much higher. Got another ad in the mail a month later with the same price. This was one of the lines considered an upscale luxury line although I can't remember which one now.

 

Unfortunately misleading advertising has become so prevalent in our society that I find it hard to get too upset anymore in most cases. Even when there isn't an attempt to bait and switch there is an awful lot of disconnects between the marketing department and reality at many businesses.

 

In the examples above I'd guess the issue with the photo is a marketing disconnect or an error and that the price issue may have been a bait and switch. Bait and switch is extremely common these days and businesses get around rules against it by heavily advertising a product which is available in very limited quantities.

Edited June 5, 2014 by Lsimon

[Babr]

Thanks for the feedback. Apparently, the price discrepancies are not uncommon.

 

As for the suite guarantee, perhaps the website has been redesigned since my experience to prevent that kind of misunderstanding. At the time, a W meant a suite guarantee, and it applied to all kinds of suites. I just didn't know that. The W was attached to the picture of a Celebrity Suite. I recognized it because that is the category we had on our first and only Celebrity cruise.

 

To me, there are fairly significant differences between the Sky Suites and the Celebrity and above suites. I got the impression that the quarantee was for a CS or better. To the uninitiated, it an easy mistake to make. Not everyone knows that the Celebrity website has quirks. As far as I'm concerned, browsing through a glossy travel brochure is not the same as booking a specific itinerary, date, and cabin. By the time I'm that far in the process, I expect to know what I'm getting. But I did know enough not to accept what the Customer Rep was telling me about cancellation.

 

I have always considered Celebrity to be a reputable company with a good product. I just don't understand why they would alienate their customers at the first point of contact. That is the opportunityy to win my business - not sucker punch me.

[C 2 C]

Is this for a Reflection cruise?

The prices last week were lower and may not have been updated when last month's special ended.

Well the prices have increased from yesterday.

When looking at Reflection for November, one price is listed but clicking on the desired cabin shows a higher price.

 

I am sure this will change during the day to update yesterday's special:

 

Edited June 5, 2014 by ~Cruisenut~

[sparky-elpaso]

Is this for a Reflection cruise?

The prices last week were lower and may not have been updated when last month's special ended.

 

Am I the only one who can see the notation next to the "lowest fare" - "Selections may cause Prices to change"?

 

The only way to show the price for each individual cruise would be to have a separate listing for each date and each itinerary. In which case people would complain that it takes too long to scroll down past all the listings for each date. :D