Celebrity cancelled our Cruise...what do I do??

[fleckle]

There are two issues here as I see it: the auto cancellation when final payment wasn't made and Celebrity's response to the situation.

 

On the first issue, I sympathize but I see this plain and simple as the OP's fault. While most cruise lines may send a reminder as a courtesy, they're under no obligation to do so. I generally do receive notifications from Celebrity, but I still have reminders on my calendars two and again one week before final payment is due. I also make the payment a few days before the due date, just to make sure that there aren't any issues

Whenever I book a cruise, the invoice that I receive clearly shows the final payment due date, plus the penalty dates and amounts.

 

Additionally, I can look at the reservation in my Celebrity account and that also shows the final payment due date and the penalty dates

(unless I give the reservation to a TA).

 

Just as others here have posted, I also mark the final payment due date on my calendars.

 

If I fail to pay my bills on time, I have nobody to blame but myself.

 

Being human, we all make mistakes and we all have distractions in our lives.

I would not blame the cruise line for my own negligence if I somehow forgot to make the payment on time, although I would be appreciative if they showed some sympathy under such circumstances.

 

 

On the second issue, I fully understand why they cancelled, but I believe that Celebrity is being unnecessarily hard nosed on the issue. It's obvious that the OP made an honest mistake and Celebrity should honour the original booking IMO. They have no legal requirement to do so, of course, but this is pretty shabby treatment of a customer who has simply made a mistake.

I fully agree with this, especially since the cabin is still available.

 

Even though the company is under no obligation to do so, it would be a very nice goodwill gesture if they were to reinstate the booking at the original price.

 

[cruisequeen4ever]

I feel very badly for you. I get so worried about missing final payment and don't rely on anyone else to remind me. Putting a reminder in my phone is most helpful. It would be nice if Celebrity offered a goodwill rate adjustment to you; good luck!

[Cuizer2]

Wow , I'm shocked that your rate has more then doubled . :eek: I wonder how often that happens .

 

I've been booked on very popular cruises and I have seen the rate double between the time I booked and the time of final payment more than once. It does happen.

[Snit13]

I have been booking directly with Celebrity Certified Vacation Planners since 2007. We have cruises 14 and 15 booked for February 2016. The payment due dates are on my calendar. In addition I always receive reminders from Celebrity like the one posted previously. I know one payment is due Dec. 3 and the other is due Dec.27 and you can bet your bottom dollar I will call and pay a day or two in advance.

 

You can't as an adult blame Celebrity for your failure to monitor your bills due and pay them on time. As has been suggested, monitor their website (such as it is) daily and then make your decision as to what is best for you. As Cle posts extremely valuable information, you might want to follow his posts. He shares excellent advice.

 

I still won't follow his advice for using TA's as have tried that twice. Not for me.

[az_tchr]

Sad that when you book directly with the cruise line they make more money since they don't have to pay the agent commission, they don't give you any perks and they can't be bothered to follow up on final payment. :rolleyes:

 

Seems pretty harsh to cancel a booking when they have had your money without even a phone call or an e-mail.

 

I'd keep fighting!!

 

Agree with Cle-Guy. Emails get both lost and put into a SPAM folder. If I make a reservation it is MY responsibility to pay my bill on time or accept the consequence. Depending on an email is sort of like depending on the weather report that it will not rain. Sometimes works and sometimes not. It seems this reservation was very important to you and thus it seems you should have taken it upon yourself to make sure everything was in order.

[ChucktownSteve]

If I sent an email to your home and I have a receipt that it was opened by someone at your home, the burden of proving you didn't receive it is yours, not mine. As I said, it is the same as a certified letter. The certified receipt proves you received the letter, not that you read it.

 

All of my email programs are set to not send a received or read receipt. So how does that figure into your hypothesis?

 

Additionally a USPS "certified" receipt is hand signed by the person who also prints their name and shows a picture ID.

 

And one more thing, how do you prove a negative? That you didn't receive an email.

[DirtyDawg]

First thing, OP keep on trying to get this resolved with Celebrity. Good Luck.

 

Second thing, We have never used the deposit/final payment feature for a cruise. We always paid in full at the time of booking. We have always booked within 6 months of sailing so it was never a big deal to pay up front. I always assumed that if we ever paid a deposit we could simply tick a box saying to charge our credit card on the final payment date and be done with it. Everything from our Hydro (electricity), gas, cell phones, land lines, cable, etc gets charged automatically to our credit card. They all send out emails beforehand so we can audit the charges but after that it is all automatic.

 

I don't know why I'm surprised that RCL and Celebrity can't do this in 2015. I know the IT department is living in the past. But I am. Oh well, you do learn something new every day.

Edited November 15, 2015 by DirtyDawg

[Cuizer2]

All of my email programs are set to not send a received or read receipt. So how does that figure into your hypothesis?

 

Additionally a USPS "certified" receipt is hand signed by the person who also prints their name and shows a picture ID.

 

And one more thing, how do you prove a negative? That you didn't receive an email.

 

If I don't have an email receipt I don't have an email receipt.

 

I don't know if there is any similar law for email, but with US mail there is a rebuttal presumption that you received the letter. Perhaps some court will rule on how email messages will be viewed.

 

A certified letter can be refused - proving that it was not received. How do you deal with that?

[Christine Frances]

First thing, OP keep on trying to get this resolved with Celebrity. Good Luck.

 

Second thing, We have never used the deposit/final payment feature for a cruise. We always paid in full at the time of booking. We have always booked within 6 months of sailing so it was never a big deal to pay up front. I always assumed that if we ever paid a deposit we could simply tick a box saying to charge our credit card on the final payment date and be done with it. Everything from our Hydro (electricity), gas, cell phones, land lines, cable, etc gets charged automatically to our credit card. They all send out emails beforehand so we can audit the charges but after that it is all automatic.

 

I don't know why I'm surprised that RCL and Celebrity can't do this in 2015. I know the IT department is living in the past. But I am. Oh well, you do learn something new every day.

 

Even my fabulous TA will not automatically charge my card unless I verbally give him the go ahead. Too many things could be incorrect or changed ie using a different card, expiry date changed

We also have our Hydro charged directly to our card but occasionally we miss notifying someone when we get a new expiry date and we get a call weeks later requesting the info. That would be put us in the same boat (so to speak) as the OP with a cancelled cruise.

[ChucktownSteve]

If I don't have an email receipt I don't have an email receipt.

 

I don't know if there is any similar law for email, but with US mail there is a rebuttal presumption that you received the letter. Perhaps some court will rule on how email messages will be viewed.

 

A certified letter can be refused - proving that it was not received. How do you deal with that?

 

Sorry this is off topic from OP. I do wish them luck trying to get their original booking reinstated.

 

Now back to your question...a refused certified letter does not protect you from the contents as some people may believe. If a certified letter is sent to the last known address and returned, that is considered sufficient notice under the law and does not relieve the potential recipient of their obligation. But that is not relevant to the OP's current circumstance.

[Cuizer2]

Sorry this is off topic from OP. I do wish them luck trying to get their original booking reinstated.

 

Now back to your question...a refused certified letter does not protect you from the contents as some people may believe. If a certified letter is sent to the last known address and returned, that is considered sufficient notice under the law and does not relieve the potential recipient of their obligation. But that is not relevant to the OP's current circumstance.

 

So, if Royal Caribbean had sent the OP a certified letter, are you saying the OP would be legally required to make the final payment.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Cuizer2

[DirtyDawg]

Even my fabulous TA will not automatically charge my card unless I verbally give him the go ahead. Too many things could be incorrect or changed ie using a different card, expiry date changed

We also have our Hydro charged directly to our card but occasionally we miss notifying someone when we get a new expiry date and we get a call weeks later requesting the info. That would be put us in the same boat (so to speak) as the OP with a cancelled cruise.

 

Of course thing can and do happen. If they do you just deal with it. But if X won't call or email (regularly), why in this day and age, do they not have an auto charge feature so you can give your approval? Oh well, I will just pay up front until X does or I start earning more serious change on my chequing (or savings) account. ;)

[rubydoobydoo]

From what I understand although it is entirely the OPs responsibility to pay on time, Celebrity are saying that they did send 2 reminder emails but they are not, able to find the record of those, how do they know if they can't find the record ?

 

I think as a gesture of goodwill they could honor the original booking but they are not obliged to, they obviously would rather run the risk of losing you as a customer.

 

You could try to go higher and see if you find a sympathetic ear

 

It's a real shame it happened but you will most likely have to mark it down to experience and chances are you will be prepared for final payment next time as you will have learnt from this

[Fouremco]

First thing, OP keep on trying to get this resolved with Celebrity. Good Luck.

 

Second thing, We have never used the deposit/final payment feature for a cruise. We always paid in full at the time of booking. We have always booked within 6 months of sailing so it was never a big deal to pay up front. I always assumed that if we ever paid a deposit we could simply tick a box saying to charge our credit card on the final payment date and be done with it. Everything from our Hydro (electricity), gas, cell phones, land lines, cable, etc gets charged automatically to our credit card. They all send out emails beforehand so we can audit the charges but after that it is all automatic.

 

I don't know why I'm surprised that RCL and Celebrity can't do this in 2015. I know the IT department is living in the past. But I am. Oh well, you do learn something new every day.

Apples and oranges. With your utilities, you are paying for services that you have already received. There's no changing your mind and opting out. With Celebrity, the would-be passenger can opt out at any time prior to final payment date, either proactively by informing Celebrity and requesting a return of deposit, or by simply not making final payment.

[bEwAbG]

Today's email programs allow you to request delivery confirmation. It shows what day and time the person opened the email. That is just as good as sending a certified letter.

 

 

If I sent an email to your home and I have a receipt that it was opened by someone at your home, the burden of proving you didn't receive it is yours, not mine. As I said, it is the same as a certified letter. The certified receipt proves you received the letter, not that you read it.

 

The two forms of receipt offer the same value for each of the two DIFFERENT forms of communication. Neither offers proof that the mail was read. Both offer proof that it was received.

 

I’m puzzled why you keep harping on email read receipts when you already note the biggest issue with them is that they don’t provide proof of anything except delivery to another email exchange.

 

Certified mail carries weight in the law because it’s administered by a government entity. An email read receipt depends on a variety of factors subject to the whims of the programmers of the multitudes of email platforms out there. Not all email programs even have the ability to send read receipts. Everyone I know has set our office program to automatically and always not send a receipt because read receipts are typically used by the “I see you got my email” types.

 

That said, what does any of this have to do with anything? The company is asserting they sent reminder emails. The OP says she didn’t receive them. The OP also says Celebrity is only seeing emails from months earlier—not the last minute reminders. So if they had these read receipts (assuming OP had email configured to provide them), then maybe that would mean something, but I’m not sure exactly what. If anything, I think Celebrity should consider that maybe something went wrong in their system given their recent history with IT issues and give the OP consideration for that (again, noting that it would be a gesture of goodwill versus a legal requirement since the burden was on the OP to provide payment on time).

Edited November 15, 2015 by bEwAbG

[Cuizer2]

I’m puzzled why you keep harping on email read receipts when you already note the biggest issue with them is that they don’t provide proof of anything except delivery to another email exchange.

 

Because you can't get a certified receipt for email. If you choose email it is the only option.

[dogsambam]

OP- what ever happened with this. Did you resolve?