My Booked Cruise Has Disappeared

[Jetswdo]

I just put down a deposit for 9 night May 2017 Solstice sailing "Ultimate Alaska"--This one starts in Vancouver and ends in Seattle. How likely for the one different from the regular 7 night sailings on Solstice Alaska is it to turn to a charter cruise?

[cruising in mn]

hcat, thank you for all the info. I did look at other cruises right away. I guess I'll give it a few weeks and check again. I'm not feeling wam and fuzzy about X at the moment. One has no idea once they book if they are really going. Do they do this on other cruise lines?

 

So sorry to hear about this. I have actually had experience with this! Two times in fact. Once it was a maintenance issue, where my 7 night had to be cut to 6 for dry dock (the following cruise had to be cancelled all together) I was given a generous on board credit, and offer to pay for a hotel for the one night missed, and offer to help with airfare if needed. They paid for our room, which was $250 a night.

Next was this coming Jan (2017) I booked in May of 2015 a cruise on the Summit and they called me a couple months ago telling me it had been privately chartered so we could not go. They offered to move me to another sailing, and give me all my current perks, along with a guarantee same category or higher room at no charge. They were very good about it.

I'd say if it was something you couldn't go on (ie fully chartered), they would tell you as soon as they know that. My cruise last May was probly 70% chartered and we still went never heard anything about it.

I know its your first time on X and that stinks to worry about it, but they have always taken very good care of their passengers. Its a WONDERFUL cruise line. I know its easy to say, but I'd wait and see.

Also your insurance you bought outside of X, explain to them what happened, depending on who they are, they could be very easy to work with as well.

Did you work with an agent? If so, ask them to follow up on your behalf. I am an agent and sometimes if you book with an agent they only talk to the agent. But if you book direct with X, then they will talk to you.

Please keep us posted. Paws crossed it all works out for you.

Edited March 21, 2016 by cruising in mn

[cruising in mn]

I'm curious if it is unusual for a 10 day cruise to be taken out of inventory for either a charter or group booking. Particularly one accommodating almost 3000 guests?

 

Not unusual. Happens at least once a year. Just because its taken OOS, doesnt mean they have 3000 People on board. They pay for the entire ship, and bring as many as they want. I'm certain there is a substantial discount for buying out the ship especially since they have to re-accommodate many displaced cruisers and all that that entails when doing so.

[VivianK]

So sorry to hear about this. I have actually had experience with this! Two times in fact. Once it was a maintenance issue, where my 7 night had to be cut to 6 for dry dock (the following cruise had to be cancelled all together) I was given a generous on board credit, and offer to pay for a hotel for the one night missed, and offer to help with airfare if needed. They paid for our room, which was $250 a night.

Next was this coming Jan (2017) I booked in May of 2015 a cruise on the Summit and they called me a couple months ago telling me it had been privately chartered so we could not go. They offered to move me to another sailing, and give me all my current perks, along with a guarantee same category or higher room at no charge. They were very good about it.

I'd say if it was something you couldn't go on (ie fully chartered), they would tell you as soon as they know that. My cruise last May was probly 70% chartered and we still went never heard anything about it.

I know its your first time on X and that stinks to worry about it, but they have always taken very good care of their passengers. Its a WONDERFUL cruise line. I know its easy to say, but I'd wait and see.

Also your insurance you bought outside of X, explain to them what happened, depending on who they are, they could be very easy to work with as well.

Did you work with an agent? If so, ask them to follow up on your behalf. I am an agent and sometimes if you book with an agent they only talk to the agent. But if you book direct with X, then they will talk to you.

Please keep us posted. Paws crossed it all works out for you.

 

Thank you for your vote of confidence. It's actually our 6th Celebrity cruise and know nothing more than earlier in the week. We are deciding on another cruise in October round trip Barcelona which will take in some of the ports on the 9/4/17 Silhouette. Always thought more ideal weather in September, but " it is what it is!"

[clojacks]

When I asked our TA how long it might take before we hear or see anything, she said there is no way to know. Sometimes, it is very soon, sometimes it can be a couple of months.

[clojacks]

VivianK, wondering if you have heard anything about our cruise that has disappeared?

[VivianK]

No, I haven't. My husband called customer service and when the lady checked she said it definitely had not been chartered. Yet, still not back for reservations. Maybe large convention group is booking and they want to see how many bookings they get. This is only a guess. Any news on your end?

[clojacks]

I haven't either. I did see this morning that the US TA I use only had 5 category of cabins listed, and a C3 was only a little bit more than the 2C we paid for.

[villauk]

The Equinox sailings haven't reappeared either :confused:.

 

Vivian,

 

If it is a large convention group, I'd do a search to read posts of past pax's experiences - some are favourable, others are not (areas being blocked off for private functions etc.).

[VivianK]

Villauk, Thanks for your interest and advice. How would I know which past sailings had large conventions booked on them?

I can't imagine feeling positive about this set of circumstances!

[clojacks]

The Equinox sailings haven't reappeared either :confused:.

 

Vivian,

 

If it is a large convention group, I'd do a search to read posts of past pax's experiences - some are favourable, others are not (areas being blocked off for private functions etc.).

 

Personally, i want nothing to do with a cruising that has been group sold!

[VivianK]

My husband called our TA and they called the revenue dept of X. No luck! Nobody knows what's happening and if they do they're not telling. I'm just about ready to "jump ship."

[villauk]

Villauk, Thanks for your interest and advice. How would I know which past sailings had large conventions booked on them?

I can't imagine feeling positive about this set of circumstances!

 

Vivian,

 

There are some different experiences on the thread below for part charter groups - some positive and others commenting on blocked areas within ships for group activities etc. ;).

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2135857&highlight=part+charter

[VivianK]

Thank you for the link VILLAUK! Doesn't look like I would like to be on the ship with a huge group booking!

[clojacks]

Thank you for the link VILLAUK! Doesn't look like I would like to be on the ship with a huge group booking!

 

I believe I read that thread, or a similar one, some time ago and probably was one of the reasons I decided that under 95% of the circumstances, I want no part of a group sailing. Not because of the demographics of the group, but because of the possibility that at certain times I won't have access to the ship that I booked.

[VivianK]

Clojacks, it's so puzzling that your TA is the only one that is still selling the trip. There are other large TA's that have dropped it.

We've scoured the cruise lines and come up with a few alternatives. Even if the cruise does come back on, chances are there will be a large group booking which they won't explain in detail to the existing passengers already booked. We've already seen their sense of "transparency."

[az_tchr]

clojacks - This is a response to you and not the OP. As for not wanting to travel with a large group. On my upcoming TA cruise there are over 400 members of Cruise Critic. We have organized all sorts of events. But thought you might want to know that other than the first get together, Celebrity will not reserve anything other than the general meeting room unless you have a truly huge group and our 400 people was not sufficient to reserve anything.

[clojacks]

az_tchr... Celebrity might not let them reserve anything, but that doesn't mean a huge group wouldn't set up their own activities that would limit what others could do. BTW, the way Celebrity is handling this makes it feel like something different than a group getting together on CC and all booking the same cruise. What pi55es me off is that Celebrity was selling these on board when we booked, but it appears that they weren't selling them across anywhere else at the same time. And because I used my deposit for the upcoming back to back that I just booked, and used that OBC on the cruise I was just on, I now face that deposit being non-refundable IF I decide I don't want to do these back to back if Celebrity does something to make them now unattractive to me, AND I don't find anything I want to substitute as a back to back.

[Karynanne]

clojacks - This is a response to you and not the OP. As for not wanting to travel with a large group. On my upcoming TA cruise there are over 400 members of Cruise Critic. We have organized all sorts of events. But thought you might want to know that other than the first get together, Celebrity will not reserve anything other than the general meeting room unless you have a truly huge group and our 400 people was not sufficient to reserve anything.

 

 

The big difference between those that post on CC, and various group sailings, is that CC members do not book their cabins as a group. Most "organized group" sailings are booked through a specific agency.

[excitedofharpenden]

clojacks - This is a response to you and not the OP. As for not wanting to travel with a large group. On my upcoming TA cruise there are over 400 members of Cruise Critic. We have organized all sorts of events. But thought you might want to know that other than the first get together, Celebrity will not reserve anything other than the general meeting room unless you have a truly huge group and our 400 people was not sufficient to reserve anything.

 

And I have my own feelings on large CC groups with all the organised events. I run for the hills. It's nice I guess for people to meet for games and the like, but some of the group dinners and meetings in my view go way over the top and call for demands of staff on the ship to sort things out for them. DYKWIA? springs to mind.

 

Phil

[clojacks]

I decided to give the Captains Club number a call this morning and see what kind of convoluted info I would receive. I got a pleasant, and seemingly sympathetic enough, rep on the line who told I wanted as close to the real story as she could give. I gave her the full run down of how I booked this cruise, and the following one from Barcelona on to Rome while onboard the Infinity a month ago and when I got home, it was no longer for sale. She started trying to track down as much info as she could from looking up her screens, and when she was pretty unsuccessful figuring out why it wasn't showing, she put me on hold to see what she could find out. When she came back on, she said that from what she found out, it appears the Revenue Department took it off line to do an "Inventory Management" of remaining unsold cabin categories, etc. before making a decision to reopen it for sale and at what pricing. She said usually, it takes a week for RD to return it to inventory, and when I told her that this has been off the books for at least 3 weeks, she got kind of quiet for a second as I don't think she knew what to say. She suggested if it is still off the books in a couple of weeks that I call back to see if she can dig deeper.

[VivianK]

Thank you for the update Clojacks! My husband never heard back from the Revenue department.

I don't think I mentioned it, but we were going to go to Iceland on the way to Amsterdam and stop over for several days. Icelandaire does this with in combination with Amsterdam and then from Barcelona we were to fly to London(spend a few days) so we could again use Icelandaire home. Most of the other trips we are looking out we are Rome round trip or Barcelona round trip. Icelandaire doesn't fly to either! A unique itinerary, which is why we chose it.

Maybe a river cruise...LOL!

[clojacks]

Thank you for the update Clojacks! My husband never heard back from the Revenue department.

I don't think I mentioned it, but we were going to go to Iceland on the way to Amsterdam and stop over for several days. Icelandaire does this with in combination with Amsterdam and then from Barcelona we were to fly to London(spend a few days) so we could again use Icelandaire home. Most of the other trips we are looking out we are Rome round trip or Barcelona round trip. Icelandaire doesn't fly to either! A unique itinerary, which is why we chose it.

Maybe a river cruise...LOL!

 

Good Morning VivianK. I was just curious if you ever received a callback from Celebrity or followed up on your husbands contact yet?

[VivianK]

We did not get a call back- no surprises there!!! I think it's pointless to keep calling, they're obviously not going to reveal anything until they are good and ready. I would definitely have let you know if I heard anything. Pretty frustrating! Well, enjoy your weekend.

[clojacks]

Looks like I'll be making a call to Celebrity tomorrow morning. For the past 5 weeks, the cruise we booked while onboard the Infinity in very early March, has been pulled from the Celebrity website, but has remained for sale through our online TA. This morning, it is no longer available on our TA's site either. My guess is, that isn't a good sign. Extremely disappointed as we had booked it as an 18 day back to back from Amsterdam to Rome with a change of cruise in Barcelona and with overnights in Lisbon and Iziba.....

Edited April 17, 2016 by clojacks