Celebrity not taking responsibility for their actions

[upwarduk]

Celebrity: Take responsibility for your actions

 

We signed up for a cruise on Celebrity’s Century’s April 5th sailing going from Dubai, through the Suez Canal to Rome. Exactly one week after booking the cruise Celebrity notified our Travel Agent------that the sailing was being cancelled and redeployed. The new itinerary was one night shorter and was going to Singapore with 4 stops in India. We told our travel agent to cancel our booking because we wanted Europe not Asia and we had no desire to see the ports in India. Nine alternative sailings were offered at the lowest available rate but they were Asian itineraries as well.

 

Imagine our surprise when the travel agent explained that the $3,374 airfare charge would NOT be refunded. We booked the air through Celebrity, and their subsidiary ChoiceAir was the one refusing the refund. The travel agent appealed our case to both Celebrity and ChoiceAir but our claim was flat out rejected. I tried calling Celebrity Customer Service Department myself but they just forwarded my call to Choice Air who continued to stonewall me on the issue.

 

We are Captains Club Elite Tier cruisers. We did not cancel for our own convenience; Celebrity cancelled the cruise and substituted an itinerary so completely different that it was unusable for us. And they did it within a week of our booking! I can’t believe that (what we thought was) an upstanding cruise line could refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. My advice: choose another cruise line.

 

We too were on the same sailing.

We hadn't paid our air fare in full as you seem to have done, we paid £77p.p 'surcharge' as we were flying out a week earlier.

We have changed our sailing to one on the Eclipse, out of Southampton on 25Th July '15.

Our TA informed me that the £77 x2 would just go as extra deposit. Unfortunately, I cannot check this, as yet I haven't been sent the new paper work, although the new booking is on the Celebrity Web Site.

 

I wonder if this is a country thing, I know that we have different Terms & Conditions in the UK and that we are ATOL protected, which is 'insurance' when things go wrong.

Edited September 13, 2014 by Host Walt
TA name removed at request of bobnpaty

[johhnnyt]

Celebrity: Take responsibility for your actions

 

We signed up for a cruise on Celebrity’s Century’s April 5th sailing going from Dubai, through the Suez Canal to Rome. Exactly one week after booking the cruise Celebrity notified our Travel Agent that the sailing was being cancelled and redeployed. The new itinerary was one night shorter and was going to Singapore with 4 stops in India. We told our travel agent to cancel our booking because we wanted Europe not Asia and we had no desire to see the ports in India. Nine alternative sailings were offered at the lowest available rate but they were Asian itineraries as well.

 

Imagine our surprise when the travel agent explained that the $3,374 airfare charge would NOT be refunded. We booked the air through Celebrity, and their subsidiary ChoiceAir was the one refusing the refund. The travel agent appealed our case to both Celebrity and ChoiceAir but our claim was flat out rejected. I tried calling Celebrity Customer Service Department myself but they just forwarded my call to Choice Air who continued to stonewall me on the issue.

 

We are Captains Club Elite Tier cruisers. We did not cancel for our own convenience; Celebrity cancelled the cruise and substituted an itinerary so completely different that it was unusable for us. And they did it within a week of our booking! I can’t believe that (what we thought was) an upstanding cruise line could refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. My advice: choose another cruise line.

 

 

If you are unable to get it resolved, Just a suggestion, but I would call or write Troy Martin, he is Director, Air/Sea & Travel Services Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.

and is overall in charge of the Choice Air for RCCL/Celebrity/Azamara etc, he was really helpful to me when an issue arose a few years back

 

Email me and I'll send you his contact information (his office number/mobile/email) John if they don't refund your account

Edited September 13, 2014 by Host Walt
TA name removed at request of bobnpaty

[Orator]

Celebrity Cruises posted that they will look into it. Some might be drawing conclusions with only partial information. I've said this before, but will repeat here: In my experience in cases similar to the one reported by the OP Celebrity has gone the extra mile to satisfy customers. Be calm and give them an opportunity to investigate the situation and respond.

[johhnnyt]

Celebrity Cruises posted that they will look into it. Some might be drawing conclusions with only partial information. I've said this before, but will repeat here: In my experience in cases similar to the one reported by the OP Celebrity has gone the extra mile to satisfy customers. Be calm and give them an opportunity to investigate the situation and respond.

 

Sometimes just a matter of talking to the person that understands the issue

Edited September 11, 2014 by johhnnyt

[richstowe]

Celebrity Cruises posted that they will look into it. Some might be drawing conclusions with only partial information. I've said this before, but will repeat here: In my experience in cases similar to the one reported by the OP Celebrity has gone the extra mile to satisfy customers. Be calm and give them an opportunity to investigate the situation and respond.

Orator ,as usual your advice is sound and realize your post was not directed to the OP.

Taking the OP at their words

"Imagine our surprise when the travel agent explained thatthe $3,374 airfare charge would NOT be refunded. We booked the air through Celebrity, and their subsidiary ChoiceAir was the one refusing the refund. The travel agent appealed our case to both Celebrity and ChoiceAir but our claim was flat out rejected. I tried calling Celebrity Customer Service Department myself but they just forwarded my call to Choice Air who continued to stonewall me on the issue."

it does appear that they did "give them an opportunity to investigate the situation and respond"

and to be blunt, they were blown-off by Celebrity. Perhaps now the situation will be handled correctly.

Edited September 13, 2014 by Host Walt
TA name removed at request of bobnpaty

[ghstudio]

I agree with Orator...I'm confident that Celebrity will ultimately do the right thing....with appropriate prodding. As I pointed out in my previous post, it's almost impossible to protect yourself against losing your airfare if the cruise is cancelled, other than through the cruise line volunteering to reimburse you.

 

It does sound like the OP did the right steps and like any insurance company, celebrity hid behind the small print and said no. That's generally the first response. The OP then did the next right thing which is posting here.

 

Hopefully, it will be resolved pretty quickly.

[smtcan]

I posted earlier on this thread about my dissatisfaction with getting no notice of the cancellation from Celebrity. I just received a very apologetic phone call as a result of my Email to Michael Bayley's office and a promise that the caller would deal personally with any changes I want to make.

 

I hope the OP gets a similar satisfactory result.

 

Sheila

[XSWABBY]

I posted earlier on this thread about my dissatisfaction with getting no notice of the cancellation from Celebrity. I just received a very apologetic phone call as a result of my Email to Michael Bayley's office and a promise that the caller would deal personally with any changes I want to make.

 

I hope the OP gets a similar satisfactory result.

 

Sheila

 

I received the same phone call and was offered to be able to re-book another cruise with the OBC but only airfare change not cancellation fees to be refunded up to $300p/p. Did not book through Choice Air.

The Sept. 17 date could be extended for re-booking.

I was also told that the cruise was not cancelled but redeployed. Wonder what difference this makes in the fine print.

Edited September 11, 2014 by XSWABBY

[woldridge]

We are in the same situation, as we booked the same cruise as part of a B2B2B cruise. We booked air through Choice Air and we have cancelled all three cruises. The day after the announcement of the cancelled cruise, our TA spent a good part of the day trying to get a refund from Choice Air. As of today, we still have no resolution of this issue. However, my TA went on vacation the next day after working on this, and will not return until Sunday. She will be back at it with Celebrity next Monday. I am following this thread closely as it represents a huge loss to us if Celebrity does not make us whole.

 

Celebrity's website originally stated the following as part of announcement:

 

Airfare

Guests that booked air transportation through Celebrity Cruises will receive a full refund.

We will assist those guests that did not purchase air transportation through Celebrity Cruises by paying for their airline change fee, up to $300 per person.

We ask that these guests please send a copy of the receipt for the change fee, along with a brief note explaining that they were booked on the April 5, 2015, sailing of Celebrity Century to the following address: Celebrity Cruises, Customer Service, 1050 Caribbean Way, Miami, FL 33132-2096.

 

Celebrity limited out time to change reservations to September 17th. That deadline is fast approaching. We have been loyal to Celebrity and will probably continue to be as I love their product, but I will be very unhappy if I lose $3100 because they cancelled the cruise and substituted an much less desirable different cruise.

 

Barb

[bobnpaty]

We are in the same situation, as we booked the same cruise as part of a B2B2B cruise. We booked air through Choice Air and we have cancelled all three cruises. The day after the announcement of the cancelled cruise, our TA spent a good part of the day trying to get a refund from Choice Air. As of today, we still have no resolution of this issue. However, my TA went on vacation the next day after working on this, and will not return until Sunday. She will be back at it with Celebrity next Monday. I am following this thread closely as it represents a huge loss to us if Celebrity does not make us whole.

 

Celebrity's website originally stated the following as part of announcement:

 

Airfare

Guests that booked air transportation through Celebrity Cruises will receive a full refund.

We will assist those guests that did not purchase air transportation through Celebrity Cruises by paying for their airline change fee, up to $300 per person.

We ask that these guests please send a copy of the receipt for the change fee, along with a brief note explaining that they were booked on the April 5, 2015, sailing of Celebrity Century to the following address: Celebrity Cruises, Customer Service, 1050 Caribbean Way, Miami, FL 33132-2096.

 

Celebrity limited out time to change reservations to September 17th. That deadline is fast approaching. We have been loyal to Celebrity and will probably continue to be as I love their product, but I will be very unhappy if I lose $3100 because they cancelled the cruise and substituted an much less desirable different cruise.

 

Barb

 

Because the name of a travel agent was included in the original post, this thread was pulled and resubmitted under a different title. See http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100600&page=2. The issue has apparently been resolved since my travel agent told me that Celebrity/ChoiceAir will give me a full refund.

[woldridge]

Because the name of a travel agent was included in the original post, this thread was pulled and resubmitted under a different title. See http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100600&page=2. The issue has apparently been resolved since my travel agent told me that Celebrity/ChoiceAir will give me a full refund.

 

Thanks for letting me know you have a resolution. I still do not, but it is looking more promising.

 

Barb

[Jade13]

Have you tried calling this number, which Celebrity set up to handle questions regarding this cancellation:

 

"Guests and Travel Agents with specific questions are welcome to call 1-888-283-7275."

 

and this is the statement posted by Celebrity here on Cruise Critic:

 

"Airfare

 

Guests that booked air transportation through Celebrity Cruises will receive a full refund.

 

We will assist those guests that did not purchase air transportation through Celebrity Cruises by paying for their airline change fee, up to $300 per person.

We ask that these guests please send a copy of the receipt for the change fee, along with a brief note explaining that they were booked on the April 5, 2015, sailing of Celebrity Century to the following address: Celebrity Cruises, Customer Service, 1050 Caribbean Way, Miami, FL 33132-2096."

 

This assumes that someone has already found another cruise or vacation and was able and willing to change their airfare. It isn't always so simple and in addition one can only rebook on the same airline and still has to pay any increases in the airfare.

 

One question I have for the OP is whether they purchased travel insurance (or purchased it yet), as they should be covered under cancelations but of course at that point I would want the cruise line to pay for my non-refundable travel insurance (Sometimes the insurance can be moved to another cruise or vacation, but in that case you cannot make a claim).

[wallie5446]

Celebrity: Take responsibility for your actions

 

We signed up for a cruise on Celebrity’s Century’s April 5th sailing going from Dubai, through the Suez Canal to Rome. Exactly one week after booking the cruise Celebrity notified our Travel Agent that the sailing was being cancelled and redeployed. The new itinerary was one night shorter and was going to Singapore with 4 stops in India. We told our travel agent to cancel our booking because we wanted Europe not Asia and we had no desire to see the ports in India. Nine alternative sailings were offered at the lowest available rate but they were Asian itineraries as well.

 

Imagine our surprise when the travel agent explained that the $3,374 airfare charge would NOT be refunded. We booked the air through Celebrity, and their subsidiary ChoiceAir was the one refusing the refund. The travel agent appealed our case to both Celebrity and ChoiceAir but our claim was flat out rejected. I tried calling Celebrity Customer Service Department myself but they just forwarded my call to Choice Air who continued to stonewall me on the issue.

 

We are Captains Club Elite Tier cruisers. We did not cancel for our own convenience; Celebrity cancelled the cruise and substituted an itinerary so completely different that it was unusable for us. And they did it within a week of our booking! I can’t believe that (what we thought was) an upstanding cruise line could refuse to take responsibility for their own actions. My advice: choose another cruise line.

 

Because the name of a travel agent was included in the original post, this thread was pulled and resubmitted under a different title. See http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100600&page=2. The issue has apparently been resolved since my travel agent told me that Celebrity/ChoiceAir will give me a full refund.

 

At this time everything is handled and in order, correct?

[Andy]

If you are unable to get it resolved, Just a suggestion, but I would call or write Troy Martin, he is Director, Air/Sea & Travel Services Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.

and is overall in charge of the Choice Air for RCCL/Celebrity/Azamara etc, he was really helpful to me when an issue arose a few years back

 

Email me and I'll send you his contact information (his office number/mobile/email) John if they don't refund your account

 

Sadly, Mr Martin left RCCL some time ago.

[smtcan]

I received the same phone call and was offered to be able to re-book another cruise with the OBC but only airfare change not cancellation fees to be refunded up to $300p/p. Did not book through Choice Air.

The Sept. 17 date could be extended for re-booking.

I was also told that the cruise was not cancelled but redeployed. Wonder what difference this makes in the fine print.

 

We were comparatively lucky in that we had not booked our air travel when the cruise was 'redeployed'. We had booked with the old Passages offer, so as well as the $200 we had $300 OBC for that, together with only $100 deposit. We were able to transfer this to the Constellation 'Three Continents TA' in November 2015. While this may not prove to be our best choice, it locks in our benefits until final payment, which is almost a year away. We were offered the opportunity to extend re-booking, but decided to deal with it asap. We are still looking forward to the first two cruises of what was to be our first B2B2B.

 

I am wishing everyone affected by this fiasco a satisfactory resolution to their problems.

 

Sheila

[C-Dragons]

We are in the same situation, as we booked the same cruise as part of a B2B2B cruise. We booked air through Choice Air and we have cancelled all three cruises. The day after the announcement of the cancelled cruise, our TA spent a good part of the day trying to get a refund from Choice Air. As of today, we still have no resolution of this issue. However, my TA went on vacation the next day after working on this, and will not return until Sunday. She will be back at it with Celebrity next Monday. I am following this thread closely as it represents a huge loss to us if Celebrity does not make us whole.

 

Celebrity's website originally stated the following as part of announcement:

 

Airfare

Guests that booked air transportation through Celebrity Cruises will receive a full refund.

We will assist those guests that did not purchase air transportation through Celebrity Cruises by paying for their airline change fee, up to $300 per person.

We ask that these guests please send a copy of the receipt for the change fee, along with a brief note explaining that they were booked on the April 5, 2015, sailing of Celebrity Century to the following address: Celebrity Cruises, Customer Service, 1050 Caribbean Way, Miami, FL 33132-2096.

 

Celebrity limited out time to change reservations to September 17th. That deadline is fast approaching. We have been loyal to Celebrity and will probably continue to be as I love their product, but I will be very unhappy if I lose $3100 because they cancelled the cruise and substituted an much less desirable different cruise.

 

Barb

We use the same TA. I haven't been able to get in touch with her, thanks for letting me know her situation.

I am concerned though, as we have air change fees which need to be reimbursed and I have been working on getting receipts from the airline (don't know why this has been an ordeal too). I cannot find any info stating a deadline for submission of these airline fees, does anyone know if it is also Sept. 17?

[Hlitner]

We have previously posted on this topic and are always very critical of the cruise lines. Passengers booked this cruise in good faith based on an offering of the cruise line. The cruise line then voluntarily cancelled the cruise (this is not an act of God, Force Mejeure, etc) and basically said to those who did book in good faith, &^% You! The fact that they are offering to pay airline change fees is a small thing..since they are end dating the offer forcing these abandoned customers to quickly make a decision for which they may not be prepared. At the very least the change fee reimbursement offer should not be end dated until a more reasonable period of time! And the proper thing is that the cruise line should refund the entire airfare or the cancellation fees!

 

We just cannot find any basis for being nice to the cruise line in this situation. If cruise lines choose to Charter cruises within 11 months of a sailing (when the airlines have opened up ticket sales) they should bear the full burden of any loss encountered by anyone who books their cruise. If X (or any other cruise line) wants to do Charters inside of 11 months then they should simply not even accept bookings for that cruise until they have made a determination that the cruise is a "go." There is no excuse for the cruise lines doing these late Charters other then pure Greed! And their attitude to the passengers who have booked far in advance (often very loyal customers) is without any redeeming merit.

 

Hank

[Oville]

Hank, it wasn't a charter, the revised the itinerary.

[blindrid]

If they indeed booked a non-refundable fare through Choice Air, they may not be able to get a refund. However, they can pay a change fee ($300) and hold the credit with Choice Air until booking a new flight. Celebrity will reimburse the $300.

If they have travel insurance it may reimburse them for a portion (or all) of the airfare if they choose to abandon the "credit" with Choice Air. It just depends on the terms of their travel insurance.

I am sure this is frustrating but their TA should have explained it all before booking their air tickets.

 

I would question why a travel insurance carrier would cover this. It's on Celebrity.

[johhnnyt]

Sadly, Mr Martin left RCCL some time ago.

 

You're Right

I forgot Nick Hafner moved into the new position Vice President, Air/Sea after Troy left for Miami Air International

[RickT]

There are three threads started by the O/P which may or may not include those that were removed (my guess is the one(s) that were removed were not part of this as you usually have no way to see a thread that was removed o there were probably more than three threads total at one time).

 

In the thread copied below, the O/P mentions that his/her TA has been contacted with a promise of a full refund but won't confirm until they have their money back. Hopefully they will confirm this shortly to close this thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100600&page=2

 

Who knows what went wrong here. Was it incompetence on the part of Celebrity/Choice Air? Was it simple miscommunication? Who knows. Glad the results are OK.

 

But a comment to the O/P, no need to open up multiple threads about the same topic just to get your point across http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100565 (again, the three active threads do not include the one(s) that were pulled). Keeping comments to one thread ensures everyone gets the same message/comments and things stay on topic.

Edited September 14, 2014 by RickT

[woldridge]

There are three threads started by the O/P which may or may not include those that were removed (my guess is the one(s) that were removed were not part of this as you usually have no way to see a thread that was removed o there were probably more than three threads total at one time).

 

In the thread copied below, the O/P mentions that his/her TA has been contacted with a promise of a full refund but won't confirm until they have their money back. Hopefully they will confirm this shortly to close this thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100600&page=2

 

Who knows what went wrong here. Was it incompetence on the part of Celebrity/Choice Air? Was it simple miscommunication? Who knows. Glad the results are OK.

 

But a comment to the O/P, no need to open up multiple threads about the same topic just to get your point across http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100565 (again, the three active threads do not include the one(s) that were pulled). Keeping comments to one thread ensures everyone gets the same message/comments and things stay on topic.

 

The original poster has not seen any reimbursement yet. Communication from Celebrity today is still denying reimbursement for airfare booked through Choice Air. See post #35 here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100600&page=2

 

This is still not over.

[NLH Arizona]

The original poster has not seen any reimbursement yet. Communication from Celebrity today is still denying reimbursement for airfare booked through Choice Air. See post #35 here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100600&page=2

 

This is still not over.

Correct me if I'm wrong, didn't the OP say yesterday (see post #35 of this thread) that his TA confirmed that he would be given a refund by Celebrity/Choice Air (it takes a few days for a refund to hit a credit card, especially since yesterday was Saturday). I also belive the OP said that he would let us know when he gets the refund, in one of the threads about this issue. Edited September 14, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[Sloop-JohnB]

There are three threads started by the O/P which may or may not include those that were removed (my guess is the one(s) that were removed were not part of this as you usually have no way to see a thread that was removed o there were probably more than three threads total at one time).

 

In the thread copied below, the O/P mentions that his/her TA has been contacted with a promise of a full refund but won't confirm until they have their money back. Hopefully they will confirm this shortly to close this thread.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100600&page=2

 

Who knows what went wrong here. Was it incompetence on the part of Celebrity/Choice Air? Was it simple miscommunication? Who knows. Glad the results are OK.

 

But a comment to the O/P, no need to open up multiple threads about the same topic just to get your point across http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2100565 (again, the three active threads do not include the one(s) that were pulled). Keeping comments to one thread ensures everyone gets the same message/comments and things stay on topic.

 

100% Agree

 

As much as I believe that there has been perhaps an injustice, and that Celebrity should be held accountable... Multiple posts (aka bombing the board) is not the way to endear others to the cause... Or get resolution IMO

 

I said this to the OP - BOBNPATY when they cut & paste their original posting for the 2nd & 3rd times

 

In fact, I suggested more than once that the greatest power of CC can be found in collectively coming together as like minded posters / cruisers

 

And although this topic is relative to all that cruise with CC untl you guys & gals get resolution... And let us all know the outcome

 

Perhaps the best place to gather / organize is on the Roll Call for this now cancelled cruise

 

I still believe / suggest this

 

As it stands now you all are all over the map, and the CC Boards (some info here, some there, some elsewhere)

 

There is power in numbers...

 

Go back to the Roll Call, regroup and present as a common front, not just lone Customers.

 

I wish you all the best...

 

When it is all over... Come back & post an update here on the main boards.

 

Cheers!

 

Ps... WOLDRIDGE Reply # 35 in the link you have given is your own case (unresolved), whereas Reply # 35 in the thread you are reading now is from the OP - BOBNPATY where he says he has come to an agreement with Celebrity / Choice Air

Edited September 14, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB

[RickT]

Correct me if I'm wrong, didn't the OP say yesterday (see post #35 of this thread) that his TA confirmed that he would be given a refund by Celebrity/Choice Air (it takes a few days for a refund to hit a credit card, especially since yesterday was Saturday). I also belive the OP said that he would let us know when he gets the refund, in one of the threads about this issue.

 

It's also on post #23 and here is the link. Again, multiple threads/posts/etc... my head hurts.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=44087058&postcount=23

 

The post states:

 

"Just received word from my travel agent that Celebrity has agreed to refund my airfare in full. This came as a surprise to both of us because Celebrity had again refused reimbursement in a conversation with her earlier this morning. I will make a final statement and close this thread as soon as the credit has been processed to my account. Thank you all for weighing in on this issue. "

Edited September 14, 2014 by RickT