Is The Website Working Better Yet ??

[gek]

It's taken me two weeks to develop a workable strategy to navigate this mess. Logging in through the Australian website is a waste of time and I've only got it to work reliably using Google Chrome. The post by fshagan summarises the process pretty well.

[Luvcrusn]

I just renewed my US passport and went into My Profile to update the information. It asks for City of Issue. I opened the passport book to the appropriate page to look and there was no City of Issue listed. I then looked at my old one and there was also no field for City of Issue. I thought it must be Philadelphia PA since that's where I mailed it to for renewal. Thats also what I had entered last time. Just to be certain I called the passport agency and asked where to find it. The answer was surprising. On the bottom of the pages with the picture there are 2 lines of numbers, letters and symbols. They had me count from one end of the bottom row and read them 2 numbers, then they looked it up and told me it was Charleston SC. I asked about my husband's and his was from Portsmouth NH. My question is without calling the US Passport agency, no one would know where the passport was issued, so why does Celebrity ask this question? Also, I had entered Philadelphia, PA for our last passports which was also incorrect and went on many cruises over the previous 10 years and it never mattered other energy came up as a problem.

[mmacdcc]

I just renewed my US passport and went into My Profile to update the information. It asks for City of Issue. I opened the passport book to the appropriate page to look and there was no City of Issue listed. I then looked at my old one and there was also no field for City of Issue. I thought it must be Philadelphia PA since that's where I mailed it to for renewal. Thats also what I had entered last time. Just to be certain I called the passport agency and asked where to find it. The answer was surprising. On the bottom of the pages with the picture there are 2 lines of numbers, letters and symbols. They had me count from one end of the bottom row and read them 2 numbers, then they looked it up and told me it was Charleston SC. I asked about my husband's and his was from Portsmouth NH. My question is without calling the US Passport agency, no one would know where the passport was issued, so why does Celebrity ask this question? Also, I had entered Philadelphia, PA for our last passports which was also incorrect and went on many cruises over the previous 10 years and it never mattered other energy came up as a problem.

 

I wrote them about that passport info - it's so stupid I wonder if whoever put it together has ever SEEN a passport.

 

They ask for country 3 times. The list of countries is WRONG - Puerto Rico isn't a country. Guam isn't a country. US Virgin Islands isn't a country (you'd think the US would be a clue...). They also have it in alpha order - I really don't think they get many cruisers from Afghanistan, but I could be wrong.

 

What difference is it what city it's issued from? Why ask for country 3 times? I really think somebody took a mailing address template, changed a few fields, made everything required info, and said it was done.

 

Well, it's not. It's WRONG. And of all the things on the site, this would be the EASIEST to change. So they should fix it NOW.

[gerelmx]

 

 

Celebrity DOES NOT HAVE a mobile app. Many are programming errors that worry the Passenger. I have 3 reservations: the web acts in a different way with each reservation. Being retired from Computer Engineering I do not understand what is going on. You talk to them on the phone for a fix and they tell you: As you booked to a TA we can not do anything please give a call to your travel agent.

 

 

 

The sea is going to be rough.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Hopefully things will be better at the beginning of next year when I MAY be booking an excursion in St Petersburg.

 

I would highly recommend you book a private excursion in St. Petersburg. Small group, you'll see more, no standing in lines, no big bus with people who are always late getting back to the bus. Any of the groups that offer tours in St. Petersburg will be fine, Alla, Denrus, etc. Check the ports of call boards.

[upwarduk]

I am looking at all options with various tour operators.

[fshagan]

Celebrity DOES NOT HAVE a mobile app.

 

Exactly. My point was not that they were creating a separate mobile app, but that they aren't doing that. No one is making an app for their website, as the website itself must be mobile.

 

The site is absolutely gorgeous on mobile phones. They still have a lot to iron out, to be sure, but the mobile version looks like it has higher contrast than the desktop version (one of my pet peeves is that so many designers violate the web accessibility guidelines by having contrast rations below 7:1). The images are beautiful. The flow of the home page makes sense although I would put the log in link at the TOP of the hamburger menu instead of the bottom. Searching the site for the "Connections Party" returned the right result, and entering information to look for a party based on ship name, and sailing date works great.

 

I could make a list of about 100 things to change on the mobile version, just like everyone here could join in with me on a list for the desktop version. But it's obvious they are designing for desktop, and mobile, and the new SSL requirements coming up, and ...

 

I think combining the various domains they used to use and making the site mobile, and using Accenture, led them to believe this would be easier than it really is. Accenture "rescued" the US government from their health exchange website debacle but obviously is having trouble meeting X's needs (either with their own in-house team or whoever they recommended to do this site).

 

I'm not defending them ... even if everything was absolutely perfect from a technical standpoint it would be a disaster if the target audience can't use it. And most people can't use the site as well as I can, so it's a massive fail. (The only reason I'm an exception is that I work for a software company in a position that is the interface between backend, frontend and client experience).

[2theship]

This morning I did our online check-in for an October cruise with no problems. We have just renewed our passports so the numbers needed to be updated. I've had plenty of problems with the Celebrity website in the past so I was pleased to see how smoothly it all worked.

[Ma Bell]

With all the posts on the new website lately I have really hesitated to post thinking I might put a hex on myself but I've had no problems at all and, although there probably could be a few less steps for some of the operations, I have found it easy to navigate and the visuals and graphics are lovely. Like anything else it just takes a little experimenting and getting used to.

[hcat]

Sorry, but being gorgeous and having lovely visuals and graphics are not a substitute for one being able to search for cruises, look at Port info, browse and book excursions, book dining, review their cruise info, etc

 

It remains truly dysfunctional....

[Ma Bell]

Sorry, but being gorgeous and having lovely visuals and graphics are not a substitute for one being able to search for cruises, look at Port info, browse and book excursions, book dining, review their cruise info, etc

 

It remains truly dysfunctional....

 

I've honestly had no problem doing any of those things for my October cruise.

[Mr&MrsBee]

Sorry, but being gorgeous and having lovely visuals and graphics are not a substitute for one being able to search for cruises, look at Port info, browse and book excursions, book dining, review their cruise info, etc

 

It remains truly dysfunctional....

 

I agree along with many others.

[hcat]

Can someone let me know what system works best,.and how to browse excursions for caribbean cruises by ports, for exampl? Whatever I do I get Alaska..or a series of Carib ports but no way to browse by port.

 

I have samsung smart phone and tablet android ...and windows prof 7, chrome browser on home computer,..

 

We are set now for next 2 cruises and hope by next one it'll get easier..

[Ma Bell]

Just go to the website then go to the drop down menu in the upper left, click on shore excursions and then overview and there will be a bar that says see all excursions. They're right there.

[Ma Bell]

Can someone let me know what system works best,.and how to browse excursions for caribbean cruises by ports, for exampl? Whatever I do I get Alaska..or a series of Carib ports but no way to browse by port.

 

I have samsung smart phone and tablet android ...and windows prof 7, chrome browser on home computer,..

 

We are set now for next 2 cruises and hope by next one it'll get easier..

 

Just go to the website then go to the drop down menu in the upper left, click on shore excursions and then overview and there will be a bar that says see all excursions. They're right there.

[Luvcrusn]

I've honestly had no problem doing any of those things for my October cruise.

 

You've obviously been blessed. I've had beverage packages disappear and had to call to get them put back. I've had inaccurate information on my reservation itinerary and some is incomplete. I've had the Check In time in Fort Lauderdale for a Caribbean cruise show up as 8:30 AM PST. Now, when I click on Before Boarding is shows Check in location and USA. While trying to purchase shore excursions I've had the site freeze up my computer using 4 different browsers on 2 computers and a tablet using in private browsing with deleted cookies and cache. When you go to FAQ it tells you to go to My Celebrity to do certain functions. That doesn't exist on the new site. When I am logged in and go to My Reservations, then Manage My Reservation a box appears in red that tells me to complete the primary guest information. When I try to do that it won't allow me to do anything and there is no Edit button. I tried to update my insurance policy number with the policy for my upcoming cruise. Even though it displays the number for my previous policy which consists of numbers, letters, numbers, when I try entering the new policy in the same format a box pops up telling me I can enter numbers only. The site may be lovely, but it is far from functional. Perhaps you live in a fortunate universe where you've been successful with this new site, but not everyone has. It's not fair to assume that the problem is the person trying to use the site doesn't know what they are doing. On the old site (which was not pretty and not great) I simply logged in and it went to My Celebrity displaying my reservations. On the new site (although beautiful) I log in and then go to a Log In Page and have to do it again. I then have to click on My Reservations, then Manage My Reservations.

 

To search for a cruise previously I'd enter the dates, ship and destination I wanted to sail and the results appeared. Now I enter the dates and destination, then refine, then the ship, then offers, then senior, then state, then click my state (since it's not Alabama), then Loyalty, then my number and the results appear. It will say how many results there are, but only show about 5 or 6 to a page. If I click on see and itinerary (the map doesn't show how long we're in a port) it only shows 5 days at a time and I have to scroll though. If I want to go back to the page with the results list, it won't let me and I have to start over completely. That's the reality I've had. I have spoken at length to IT management several times and shown them the problems I'm having. They were not aware of some of the problems I've pointed out. That is completely mystifying to me. Some of the problems I've pointed out they thought were already fixed, but realized that the problems still exist when they went step by step with me.

[Ma Bell]

You've obviously been blessed. I've had beverage packages disappear and had to call to get them put back. I've had inaccurate information on my reservation itinerary and some is incomplete. I've had the Check In time in Fort Lauderdale for a Caribbean cruise show up as 8:30 AM PST. Now, when I click on Before Boarding is shows Check in location and USA. While trying to purchase shore excursions I've had the site freeze up my computer using 4 different browsers on 2 computers and a tablet using in private browsing with deleted cookies and cache. When you go to FAQ it tells you to go to My Celebrity to do certain functions. That doesn't exist on the new site. When I am logged in and go to My Reservations, then Manage My Reservation a box appears in red that tells me to complete the primary guest information. When I try to do that it won't allow me to do anything and there is no Edit button. I tried to update my insurance policy number with the policy for my upcoming cruise. Even though it displays the number for my previous policy which consists of numbers, letters, numbers, when I try entering the new policy in the same format a box pops up telling me I can enter numbers only. The site may be lovely, but it is far from functional. Perhaps you live in a fortunate universe where you've been successful with this new site, but not everyone has. It's not fair to assume that the problem is the person trying to use the site doesn't know what they are doing. On the old site (which was not pretty and not great) I simply logged in and it went to My Celebrity displaying my reservations. On the new site (although beautiful) I log in and then go to a Log In Page and have to do it again. I then have to click on My Reservations, then Manage My Reservations.

 

To search for a cruise previously I'd enter the dates, ship and destination I wanted to sail and the results appeared. Now I enter the dates and destination, then refine, then the ship, then offers, then senior, then state, then click my state (since it's not Alabama), then Loyalty, then my number and the results appear. It will say how many results there are, but only show about 5 or 6 to a page. If I click on see and itinerary (the map doesn't show how long we're in a port) it only shows 5 days at a time and I have to scroll though. If I want to go back to the page with the results list, it won't let me and I have to start over completely. That's the reality I've had. I have spoken at length to IT management several times and shown them the problems I'm having. They were not aware of some of the problems I've pointed out. That is completely mystifying to me. Some of the problems I've pointed out they thought were already fixed, but realized that the problems still exist when they went step by step with me.

 

I believe you, I just haven't had a problem yet and I've looked at all kinds of possibilities.

[Luvcrusn]

I believe you, I just haven't had a problem yet and I've looked at all kinds of possibilities.

 

I highly recommend that you buy lottery tickets and stop wasting your incredible good fortune on the X website!;p:D

[hcat]

Just go to the website then go to the drop down menu in the upper left, click on shore excursions and then overview and there will be a bar that says see all excursions. They're right there.

Thanks sounds easy enough..i will try it later today..although i think I tried this route before.....

[fleckle]

It would be useful if the people who say they are having no problem with the new system would state in detail exactly what hardware and software they are using to access it,

instead of merely claiming that it works correctly for them without providing any further information.

[aquidneck1]

Mine was working perfectly until 3 days ago. Now I can access my trip planner but as soon as I click on excursions, I go back to the main page and then am locked out of my trip planner for 20 minutes. Windows PC using Chrome. I can see my history including beverage package and previously purchased excursions.

[sandancer]

I've been trying to book an excursion for the past 24 hours. Used both iPad and laptop. Entered my cc info 3 times now and still nothing. As soon as I click on submit payment it just buffers and makes no progress. I am SO frustrated.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Ma Bell]

It would be useful if the people who say they are having no problem with the new system would state in detail exactly what hardware and software they are using to access it,

instead of merely claiming that it works correctly for them without providing any further information.

 

Google Chrome, HP desktop. I-Pad

[Alec2435]

I really don’t think this is a hardware question by any means, I think the differences in experience are varying by 2 factors: one is the normality and simplicity of the reservation and two is the use of the site. So to elaborate on one, it seems the site has many more issues with reservations that diverge even the slightest from the “norm” ( which I would right now define as a person who booked online via celebrity, a single 2 person reservation with no linking, just the standard online promo and nothing beyond that). So people here on CC who may have a TA or got some special elite discounts or whatnot may be having more issues with the site. I think linked reservations may also be a real source of issues as are minors in a separate room at least for me. On the second point I think the website also has a lot of issues for people who use every minute aspect of it as opposed to more general users. I’m not saying it’s wrong to expect full functionality there, just that it may help explain why some people don’t have issues. What I mean by this is some people update their passport information inside the captains club pages and not just in the check in function, whereas most user never enter the info there and never get problems with that page asking for issue city. Another similar thing is how when I use the site, I’ll go through almost every page in the cruise planner and end up getting many broken links but a normal user may not care about many of the more obscure pages and buttons I reach that end up breaking things.

 

Again this is just my theory and in no way a critique of power users rather a possible reasoning for the variance in experience.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Sammigar]

Went to book our excursions yesterday. Unable to access the cruise planner from my reservation, I called Celebrity to find out how to access excursions now. It turns out that now, you actually leave your reservation to go into the cruise planner and the first thing it asks you for is reservation number. Of course, I didn't know it and the person I was talking to seemed incredulous that I didn't know it, but she looked it up for me. Write those reservation numbers down folks!

 

Using Windows 10 Laptop. Google Chrome browser.

Edited July 30, 2017 by Sammigar