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What Happened To April TA 2015 On Reflection


happy 2 b cruising
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April 11, 2015 TA on the Reflection has disappeared from the website, it has also disappeared from other online sites also. I called the Captain's Club and got a very vague maybe it is sold out. Had my travel agent call Celebrity directly to see if a limited amount of cabins were still available and the response was for him to be transferred three different times with no results given to him that made any sense. This cruise is seven months away. I am really concerned they maybe pulling this for a Charter! I would really like to know what is going on. Would appreciate your thoughts, thanks.

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Just curious-- why would you be "concerned" Celebrity was pulling this for a Charter? Whether a charter or just sold out I am a little unsure of why that would cause any concern...

 

Well, if it is a charter you wouldn't be able to take your cruise, so I guess that would be a concern.

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If it were all sold out, it would normally show on the website. I've seen numerous cruises sold out one day, then cabins available a few days later.

 

That particular TA is a Pied Piper cruise. Maybe that group took over the entire ship. :confused:

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If it were all sold out, it would normally show on the website. I've seen numerous cruises sold out one day, then cabins available a few days later.

 

That particular TA is a Pied Piper cruise. Maybe that group took over the entire ship. :confused:

 

Pied Piper doesn't do full charters. I've done two (wonderful) TAs with Pied Piper, and there's no way they have enough folks interested enough in a crossing to fill up a TA.

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If it were all sold out, it would normally show on the website. I've seen numerous cruises sold out one day, then cabins available a few days later.

 

That particular TA is a Pied Piper cruise. Maybe that group took over the entire ship. :confused:

 

Would that be like pirates?:D

I can't imagine a group large enough to charter a TA? When you throw in the desire to visit the other continent you are looking at about 3 weeks of travel. A luxury(time wise) for many.

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After questioning my TA this morning, he just called to say he finally had gotten through to Celebrity and was told they had removed it to do an "inventory update." Everything is still on according to what they told him. Let's hope it is the truth!

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It's just a group, sold to as many folks who want to join them, just as other travel companies put other affinity groups together.

 

As I noted above, I've sailed with Pied Piper twice. These are group bookings, not charters. (Both of my Pied Piper sailings were TAs, each with about three dozen in the group. :) )

 

A group of 36 or 48 would not be a problem but if it is group of 1000 ( of any affinity group) I think you would feel like an outsider on that cruise especially with that many Sea days

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Sorry, but that is NOT a charter. Pied Piper puts gay and lesbian *groups* on cruises, they do not charter the ship. It's just a group, sold to as many folks who want to join them, just as other travel companies put other affinity groups together.

 

As I noted above, I've sailed with Pied Piper twice. These are group bookings, not charters. (Both of my Pied Piper sailings were TAs, each with about three dozen in the group. I wish there were enough interest among gay and lesbian cruisers to have a full charter of an S-class ship for a TA! :) )

 

Agreed... It is not a Full Charter (as off Celebrity's Books for other Pax)

 

What it is tho is a designated "Group Charter"... Whereby a Group has taken a block of cabins

 

Believe that is what HCAT meant with Reply # 14. There has been some past posts about this... That many Pax believe that when this happens Cruise lines should make that clear to all Pax, so if they want they can choose another Sailing

 

There is no obligation for Celebrity to do this... And some say it would not make good business sense

 

So for now Cruisers should make a point of checking for themselves if a cruise they re planning to take is also a Group Charter (this can be done by GOOGLE, and also this website = http://themecruisefinder.com/ )

 

--- --- ---

 

Based on Reply # 12 by DEENKID, and the "Inventory Update" comment... I am guessing that Celebrity is checking in with Pied Piper to get actual numbers on what has been sold (vs On Hold) so that Celebrity can better determine the distribution of available cabins (because until people actually book, inventory in all categories needs to remain available for bookings made by those not in the Group. Not knowing puts Celebrity in the position of selling on their website cabins that don't exist ... Or not being able to adjust prices based on demand... Rise or Fall in prices. All would be good reasons to pull the cruise from the website for sale to others... They need to get their facts straight first on actual inventory)

 

Cheers!

Edited by Sloop-JohnB
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:confused:

After questioning my TA this morning, he just called to say he finally had gotten through to Celebrity and was told they had removed it to do an "inventory update." Everything is still on according to what they told him. Let's hope it is the truth!

 

When you have airfare, hotels etc. already booked it would be really nice to know what is going on regarding your vacation plans. Thank - you all for your replies, please keep me posted with any updates, thanks.

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Agreed... It is not a Full Charter (as off Celebrity's Books for other Pax)

 

What it is tho is a designated "Group Charter"... Whereby a Group has taken a block of cabins

 

Believe that is what HCAT meant with Reply # 14. There has been some past posts about this... That many Pax believe that when this happens Cruise lines should make that clear to all Pax, so if they want they can choose another Sailing

 

There is no obligation for Celebrity to do this... And some say it would not make good business sense

 

So for now Cruisers should make a point of checking for themselves if a cruise they re planning to take is also a Group Charter (this can be done by GOOGLE, and also this website = http://themecruisefinder.com/ )

 

--- --- ---

 

Based on Reply # 12 by DEENKID, and the "Inventory Update" comment... I am guessing that Celebrity is checking in with Pied Piper to get actual numbers on what has been sold (vs On Hold) so that Celebrity can better determine the distribution of available cabins (because until people actually book, inventory in all categories needs to remain available for bookings made by those not in the Group. Not knowing puts Celebrity in the position of selling on their website cabins that don't exist ... Or not being able to adjust prices based on demand... Rise or Fall in prices. All would be good reasons to pull the cruise from the website for sale to others... They need to get their facts straight first on actual inventory)

 

Cheers!

 

I"m sorry, but you are totally misinformed as to how Pied Piper works. It's not a charter, full or otherwise. No blocks of cabins are reserved or held by them. If you want to sail as part of the group, you tell them what cabin you would like, just as you'd pick a cabin directly with Celebrity or with your personal TA. There's no "Pied Piper block of cabins."

 

Whatever Celebrity is doing now with this TA, it's not because of "checking" with Pied Piper.

 

Time to shut down that misinformation.

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Sloop John B

 

Actually my only point was that if OP is losing their booking, the earlier they find out the easier it would be to make other plans...esp for a TA where airline must be booked too. We once got bumped for a full charter and luckily managed to salvage airline and hotel by finding another ship.,, went from Millie to Mercury which became our fav ship!

 

seems however from other posts that PP is not a group that charters a ship but a travel agency...and that OP is not in danger of being bumped for a charter

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A couple years ago we booked a cruise on Princess that was about a year away. Got a great room and price. When it got to about 9 months away and we were about to get airline tickets, I checked on the website but the cruise wasn't listed. I called our TA and she called Princess. They had chartered the whole ship to a group but didn't advise any of the booked passengers!! We were never contacted by Princess. It had been taken off the "market" about a month before we realized it. I was so mad. Who knows when they would have gotten around to informing us. :rolleyes:

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Our 14 day TP on Millennium from Shanghai to Vancouver last April was cancelled because of a charter. That was after I had made all my travel arrangements but it was still many months out. After X told us that the ship was no longer available and to make other arrangements, they then came back about a month later and offered the TP cruise in May from Japan:eek: This was all due to a charter by a Chinese group who decided they only wanted a 14 day charter. It was all very confusing and for about a month we could not get a straight answer from X as to whether or not the ship was sailing from Shanghai in April. I had to rearrange all my travel and then book a flight from Shanghai to Tokyo at my expense. Charters always seem to take precedence.

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