Beware of Celebrity

[Christine Frances]

That's odd. How would they know several days in advance and not know prior to embarkation?

We sign away all our rights when we have to check that box on any cruise line contract when we do our online check in.

Have had to pay in advance several times and fortunately everything worked out.

So sorry you missed your excursion, OP. If you ever get the opportunity to return, get a guidebook and ride the vaporetto on your own. Lots of fun and you see a lot when you plan out your route in advance....for cheap.

 

Sounds to me like a port/reserved berth issue in Venice.

[MMOMOM]

This is all very interesting. We are going on our first Med Cruise next May with Royal Caribbean and I have already booked a Private Tour for Rome and the Vatican as well as an Amalfi Coast Tour ending in Sorrento and the driver bringing us to the Ferry to go back to Naples to meet the ship. After much research, we chose a company that comes highly recommended with great reviews, and both tours are paid for in Euros directly to the driver at the time of tour. They did not ask for credit card info on the Amalfi Coast tour, but they also request that if the time of arrival or port changes, to call them. On the Rome tour however, they did ask for credit card info, but DID NOT charge card. They did say tho, if we cancel less than 10 days out they will charge the card. However, if the ship is late or does not come into Port for whatever reason, they WILL NOT charge the card. They also requested if there is a change that we call them. It's the same company so I have no idea why they took the credit card info for one tour and not the other. I booked the one with no credit card info first, so I don't think it's a case of they have the info anyway. Now I may be naïve, but judging from the reviews and recommendations, I feel confident we are in good hands and all will go off as planned. I would name the tour company, but don't think I can on this board, but it's on Trip Advisor. :) But .... when all is said and done I will let people know! :)

[cruisestitch]

It's not against the rules to post the name here.

[hcat]

Sorry for O Ps experience but not "beware Celeb" ..good for all of us to learn from this experience.

 

That's why we take ship sponsored excursions in most ports....to avoid issues when itin changes, sea days changed b/c med emergency on bd caused ship to return to Port first day out, bus broke down in Costa Rica, roads washed out in Hawaii, ship could not get into port in Jamaica, Costa Maya due to wind and sea conditions, traffic snarls almost any place..

 

also much easier generally to cancel excursions thru cruise line as we learned when a British Isles cruise had to be cancelled for family med emergency...esp with currency conversions etc,, also essential to have trip insurance!

 

Pvt excursions may be more personal and sometimes cost effective but less worries overall going w/ the cruiseline..

[Us Two]

I'ts true re the ship will make a free call to a tour op when they cannot make that port.

We were supposed to dock in Madeira but the dock workers were planning a stike so the port was changed to Gibralter. Well I wasfirst very dissapointed, then I hurried to guest relations and explained we had a private tour booked. now this was 24 hrs before we would meet the tour. The girl at the desk akked foe the tour comp phone # which I had on me, and she got him on the line and handed the phone to me andi I explained the situation and he assured me there would be no charge as we were not at fault. Thought that was very kind of the guest relations.

[Christine Frances]

Most of us don't have the time and/or money to do all that traveling. it has nothing to do with being sheltered.

 

Also, it goes against every grain of my being to send someone cash before hand for goods or services before they are received, especially if they are in a foreign country. I think I would opt out of those tours and book with the cruise line.

 

That is a shame. The top Tour Companies in Vietnam are well known, (Smile & Zoom eg) and they provide small, very informative personal tours. You pay for your cruise before you go:confused: Anything you buy online you pay first. You just have to do your research.

[hihilo]

Right on, Blueboro + Cruising Chick + akowilm~~~~

Refusing to pre-pay /ahead of time, with pvt. companies is sensible + wise.

I am finding a LOT of resistance to this common sense approach, as I

work with, + e mail + try to set up / join small tour groups with fellow cruise passengers on 2 upcoming cruises,

25 AUG, Constellation out of Amsterdam, &

6 SEPT, Constellation our of Amsterdam.

I am hearing "" The WONDERFUL pvt. tour company only has

credit card services is (City A), --- not (City B)-- blah blah blah

so we all Have To Pre-Pay.""

~~~Well, N O T M E ~~~~~

[Orator]

Wonder if this is just another case of an OP venting and then seeing the reaction decides not to respond. I'd be interest in knowing their reaction and if they have reevaluated their initial position.

[MMOMOM]

It's not against the rules to post the name here.

 

Oh okay, I thought it was .... well then, it's APTours. Aside from doing a lot of research on my own, I read several reviews, etc. So, we're hoping first of all that nothing happens and we can dock as planned, but if so, that it will all work out okay. It sounds like a great company and the tours sound wonderful. They pretty much let you do what you want to do, change things if you want, etc., and people rave about the drivers. They are very prompt, professional and informative with all the emailing we've done back and forth so far. We're really looking forward to it. Good to read further down here on posts that the Cruise line will make the call to them, if necessary .... that was another thing I hadn't thought of, was international calling since when cruising I always just put my phone in airplane mode and forget it for the time I'm on 'vacation'! :)

[Christine Frances]

Right on, Blueboro + Cruising Chick + akowilm~~~~

Refusing to pre-pay /ahead of time, with pvt. companies is sensible + wise.

I am finding a LOT of resistance to this common sense approach, as I

work with, + e mail + try to set up / join small tour groups with fellow cruise passengers on 2 upcoming cruises,

25 AUG, Constellation out of Amsterdam, &

6 SEPT, Constellation our of Amsterdam.

I am hearing "" The WONDERFUL pvt. tour company only has

credit card services is (City A), --- not (City B)-- blah blah blah

so we all Have To Pre-Pay.""

~~~Well, N O T M E ~~~~~

 

Why not?:confused:

[Nanatravel]

We booked a shore excursion in Venice for the morning of our arrival in Venice. A few days before arrival in Venice the Silhouette captain announced we would not make port at the advertised 9 AM arrival, but now at 12 noon. In fact we didn't disembark in Venice until after 1PM!!!!!

So, everyone who had booked the better shore excursions with private companies in the AM was ostensibly out all of their money unless they could get the tour operator to give them a refund on extremely short notice. BEWARE OF CELEBRITY and their listed itineraries.

 

When I wrote to Celebrity and asked them what they would do to compensate those who lost money this was their response.

 

"However, as indicated in our Cruise Ticket Contract, Celebrity Cruises reserves the right to change or alter the itinerary, including arrival and departure times at various ports of call. As such, we must respectfully decline your request for compensation in this matter. We regret any disappointment this may cause."

 

Forewarned is fair warned----BEWARE!!!!!!!

 

Kkon; 1st. You signed (checked off) the spot where you said you read the "small print" on your Celebrity cruising contract. Obviously you missed a few lines or did not understand the text. 2nd. when making Private vendor tour reservations, one must always be prepared for the alternative arrangements and NEVER pay in advance. This is a learning curve for you and no way reflects this cruise line, Cruise Critic (a social media web site) or the tour vendor.

 

As you gain cruising experience on other cruise lines and to destinations, hopefully you will become more seasoned in traveling and not so quick to blame others.

[FortyNinerLiz]

Sorry - This is "no beware of Celebrity." "This is beware of booking tours independently." If you book your shore tours through Celebrity or on any other cruise line you will be refunded 100% of the tour price if the ship is delayed or port cancelled. This happen to be on HAL and they automatically credited my ship board account when my port stop in Mexico was cancelled. If you book a tour independently then it is your financial responsibility if the ship is late or port cancelled. Some independent tour companies will refund you money if you can't make your tour (at no fault to you) so you should always check that up front before booking. I'm really sorry you didn't know that. Is a hard lesson to learn. Your cruise ticket is very specific that port stops and arrival/departure times can not be guaranteed and there is no compensation to the passenger if that occurs. Here is your cruise contract that you accepted when you boarded the ship:

 

6. CANCELLATION, DEVIATION OR SUBSTITUTION BY CARRIER:

Carrier may for any reason at any time and without prior notice, cancel, advance, postpone or deviate from any scheduled sailing, port of call, destination, lodging or any activity on or off the Vessel, or substitute another vessel or port of call, destination, lodging or activity. Carrier shall not be liable for any claim whatsoever by Passenger, including but not limited to loss, compensation or refund, by reason of such cancellation, advancement, postponement, substitution or deviation. In connection with a Cruise Tour, Carrier has the same right to cancel, advance, postpone or deviate from any scheduled activity, departure or destination, or substitute another rail car, bus, destination or lodging or other component of the Cruise Tour. Carrier shall not be liable for any claim by Passenger whatsoever, including but not limited to loss, compensation or refund, by reason of such cancellation, advancement, postponement, substitution or deviation. By way of example, and not limitation, Carrier may, without liability, deviate from any scheduled sailing and may otherwise land Passenger and her property at any port if Carrier believes that the voyage or any Passenger or property may be hindered or adversely affected as a result of hostilities, blockages, prevailing weather conditions, labor conflicts, strikes onboard or ashore, breakdown of Vessel, congestion, docking difficulties, medical or life saving emergencies or any other cause whatsoever.

 

Amen!!! Well said!!!! We always book tours through Celebrity and we have always gotten refunds or rescheduled as appropriate. It is more expensive, but worth the money!

[Texed]

in some countries like Viet Nam, not only do you have to pay in advance, but you have to pay in cash.

 

Did they take MPC? :p

[NLH Arizona]

But Celebrity changed the itinerary, letting passengers make calls is simply good customer service.

Did the OP say they were offered a free phone call, if so I missed that in his post.

[CruisingChick]

That is a shame. The top Tour Companies in Vietnam are well known, (Smile & Zoom eg) and they provide small, very informative personal tours. You pay for your cruise before you go:confused: Anything you buy online you pay first. You just have to do your research.

 

I pay with a credit card that offers me protection and insurance for those purchases, not with cash (as ghstudio mentioned in his post). We do not even use debit cards or PayPal (to may problems and account was hacked twice). We only use Major Credit Cards for all our purchases.

[WestLakeGirl]

Lets look at an analogy. You buy tickets for a concert. There's a huge thunderstorm and flash flood, then a bridge out and a long detour and you will miss the concert. You paid for the tickets, there's no refund, no exchange. So, do you think to yourself "beware of Symphony Hall"?

 

Stuff happens. Not always good stuff.

[KirkNC]

This is not that uncommon on any line. It's is parting of cruising.

[need2bespoiled]

All I can think is that an airline representative would just laugh at this compensation request. If the airline got her in 4 hours late, causing her something much bigger than missing a tour, say missing a cruise, they still wouldn't compensate her. If she booked the airfare through the cruise line, they _may_ help, but the airline would probably do nothing.

 

Why should the cruise lines be any different?

 

While I agree with everyone who brought up the points about pre-payment and refunds for delays, to the OP: did you have insurance?

 

Happy sailing,

Jenna

[Cindy]

Any tour provider who relies on cruise business and holds customers financially liable for a ship not making port won't have much cruise business to rely on!

 

Right on, Blueboro + Cruising Chick + akowilm~~~~

Refusing to pre-pay /ahead of time, with pvt. companies is sensible + wise.

I am finding a LOT of resistance to this common sense approach, as I

work with, + e mail + try to set up / join small tour groups with fellow cruise passengers on 2 upcoming cruises,

25 AUG, Constellation out of Amsterdam, &

6 SEPT, Constellation our of Amsterdam.

I am hearing "" The WONDERFUL pvt. tour company only has

credit card services is (City A), --- not (City B)-- blah blah blah

so we all Have To Pre-Pay.""

~~~Well, N O T M E ~~~~~

 

We just took the same cruise you're taking on August 25th. We took private tours in Amsterdam, Warnemunde, Helsinki, Tallinn, and St. Petersburg. We did not have to pay for any tours in advance, and only one of the providers even required a deposit. I think you need to spend some more time researching to find out who the major tour providers are that are universally praised, and choose one of them.

[Cruising89143]

Any tour provider who relies on cruise business and holds customers financially liable for a ship not making port won't have much cruise business to rely on!

 

 

 

We just took the same cruise you're taking on August 25th. We took private tours in Amsterdam, Warnemunde, Helsinki, Tallinn, and St. Petersburg. We did not have to pay for any tours in advance, and only one of the providers even required a deposit. I think you need to spend some more time researching to find out who the major tour providers are that are universally praised, and choose one of them.

 

Cindy, not to change the subject but how was your first X cruise? I think you returned when I was aboard the a Equinox. May have missed your comments.

[NLH Arizona]

Amen!!! Well said!!!! We always book tours through Celebrity and we have always gotten refunds or rescheduled as appropriate. It is more expensive, but worth the money!

I also always book my shore excursion through the cruise line for three reasons.

 

1. If we miss a port or are late and the excursion can't wait, I'll get my money back.
   
2. If the shore excursion isn't what was advertised (like one on Crystal), the cruise line will make an adjustment in the cost of the excursion.
   
3. The ship will never leave me, if we don't get back in time.
   

The extra money I pay the cruise line versus a private company is worth it for the peace of mind I get.

[SPacificbound]

Bottom line:

 

Book with the cruise line and if something goes wrong and they can't make the port in time, they refund your money.

 

Book private tour and it may be less expensive, but if you have paid up front you may be out of luck, as OP is learning.

 

Only pay private operators in advance if you are willing to gamble.

[Cindy]

Cindy, not to change the subject but how was your first X cruise? I think you returned when I was aboard the a Equinox. May have missed your comments.

 

It was wonderful! I'm still planning to write a review, but I've been busy and I had tons of pictures to go through before I could start. Hopefully next week!

[Pushka]

That situation is very common. We missed our tour in Shanghai because of fog. It could just as easily have been mechanical. We don't blame the cruise line (not Celebrity btw) and this is simply the risk you take.

 

We received our deposit back in full from the private tour people.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Pushka
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[NEARING 100 CRUISES]

Just off the Oasis. We were 3 and a half hours late to St. Thomas. Each cabin was given $175 OBC and $75 for each extra person in a room. I thought that was very generous. Jerry