Celebrity ... do you want my money or not .... !

[groryjm]

After much deliberation (and much help from these boards) I decided to upgrade our included promotional offered classic beverage package to a premium package. last Friday and Saturday I phoned a few times to try to enable the upgrade, at a cost of course, but failed to connect to an agent. I would have done this online but despite their "wonderful " website such an upgrade is only possible by phone or on board.

 

Today I tried again and after 93 Minutes I managed to connect to a celebrity agent and re leave myself of the required £181 pounds to purchase the said upgrade.

 

Now fortunately for me I know the local Weybridge number for Celebrity's UK office and the call only cost me my included minutes. If however I had not known this number I would have been stuck with their UK 0844 number. A number which my service provider (giffgaff) would charge me 12p a minute for the privilege of using. about £5 of this, had I used that number, would have gone as call profit to Celebrity.

 

Should I really have to pay nearly £12 and spend almost an hour and a half in order to pay an upgrade cost?

 

 

[jayoldschool]

Why waste your time? Get on the ship, go to a bar, order a drink and relax. While there, tell the bartender to upgrade you.

[jelayne]

So much easier to upgrade on the ship, any bartender can do it and will be happy to. as they get rewarded for selling upgrades.

[Cruise Raider]

So much easier to upgrade on the ship, any bartender can do it and will be happy to. as they get rewarded for selling upgrades.

 

It is!!!!

Plus, now you only have to pay the difference between the price of a drink and the classic package limit ($9). We actually found it saved us so much money not to upgrade our packages by just paying the upcharge. Our drinks generally incurred a $1 - $2 charge if they were more than the inclusions of the classic package.

[shipshape sam]

Why waste your time? Get on the ship, go to a bar, order a drink and relax. While there, tell the bartender to upgrade you.

 

I would agree, but you would think someone would answer the phone!

[PoppyandNana]

It is!!!!

Plus, now you only have to pay the difference between the price of a drink and the classic package limit ($9). We actually found it saved us so much money not to upgrade our packages by just paying the upcharge. Our drinks generally incurred a $1 - $2 charge if they were more than the inclusions of the classic package.

 

Are you sure? On our last cruise I had to pay the full cost of a Grey Goose, not the difference between.

[Cruise Raider]

Are you sure? On our last cruise I had to pay the full cost of a Grey Goose, not the difference between.

 

When was your last cruise? They started rolling this out incrementally across all ships starting (I believe) earlier this year. It was implemented on the Solstice in April (if I recall correctly) and was in place when we went on a cruise in May on her.

It is not available at every bar onboard but was in place at the Passport Bar, the Ensemble Lounge, Cellar Masters, the dining rooms, Cafe Al Baccio, the Sunset Bar and the Oceanview Bar. I know it wasn't available at the pool bar, though. Not sure about the Martini Bar and cannot remember if it applied in the casino bar.

[fshagan]

A number which my service provider (giffgaff) would charge me 12p a minute for the privilege of using. about £5 of this, had I used that number, would have gone as call profit to Celebrity.

 

 

I know a lot of things work differently in the UK, but here in America the phone company makes the "call profit" not the company you are calling. Unless "call profit" means something else over there.

[groryjm]

I know a lot of things work differently in the UK, but here in America the phone company makes the "call profit" not the company you are calling. Unless "call profit" means something else over there.

 

from ofcom (UK phone regulator) website.....

"The cost of calling 0843, 0844 and 0845 numbers is made up of two parts: an access chargegoing to your phone company, and aservice chargeset by the organisation you are calling."

From giffgaff (the phone company i use) website...

"Numbers starting 084, 087, 09, 118. The call cost will be our Access Charge plus the Service Charge of the company being called. More info - 25p per minute + Service Charge"

From Celebrity UKs website....

"If you are interested in booking a cruise with Celebrity Cruises please call us on 0844 493 2043* and speak to a cruise specialist today.

*Calls cost 7 pence per minute plus your network access charge."

So if I had been using Celebrity's recommended number my charge to the phone company would be £30.08 of which £6.58 would have gone dirrectly to Celebrity :eek:

I know I could upgrade on board and I know it might posssibly be cheaper not to upgrade and sign a slip for the difference every time but I prefer not to do either and have everything (well almost) covered when I arrive on board. I did use a number (1932 834300) that I could use within my included minutes but my gripe is that Celebrity see it as acceptable that a customer waits on a premium rate number for over an hour to speak to a customer rep.

Edited August 1, 2017 by groryjm
No

[grapau27]

I would agree, but you would think someone would answer the phone!

I agree but if they are making money from these calls!!.

Most places now seem to have 0844 or 0845 numbers but some do offer 0345 if you ask.

 

Sent from my Kestrel using Forums mobile app

[grapau27]

I know a lot of things work differently in the UK, but here in America the phone company makes the "call profit" not the company you are calling. Unless "call profit" means something else over there.

A lot of companies use 0844 and 0845 in the UK and they get a percentage of the price.

 

Sent from my Kestrel using Forums mobile app

[excitedofharpenden]

So if I had been using Celebrity's recommended number my charge to the phone company would be £30.08 of which £6.58 would have gone dirrectly to Celebrity :eek:

I know I could upgrade on board and I know it might posssibly be cheaper not to upgrade and sign a slip for the difference every time but I prefer not to do either and have everything (well almost) covered when I arrive on board. I did use a number (1932 834300) my gripe is that Celebrity see it as acceptable that a customer waits on a premium rate number for over an hour to speak to a customer rep.

What you don't know is if that 0844 number is routed differently to the geographic number that you used and in using it would you have received a quicker response time. I agree with others though. Why waste 93 minutes on the phone and then further time here posting about it when you could do it on the ship? I actually like doing it that way. The bartenders onboard are very happy to sell you an upgrade because it goes against their name.

 

Phil

[groryjm]

What you don't know is if that 0844 number is routed differently to the geographic number that you used and in using it would you have received a quicker response time......

 

Not strictly true. And I did try the 084 number a few times but gave up after about 15 minutes each time in order to try again at a hopefully less busy time of day. Even 15 minutes on a premium rate number is wrong in my opinion. Especially when Celebrity are making 7p a minute while their customers wait.

 

....... As for choosing to do it in advance rather than on board that is my choice.

[sollyman]

There are always free numbers for Celebrity UK out there but you have to look for them.

 

0800 0182525 was working 2 mins ago and there are others.

 

If you get the postcard type mailings from Celebrity re new promotions etc they invariably have a free number.

[sollyman]

Greg

 

What makes you think you cannot upgrade beveridge packages on-line?.....you most certainly can.

 

There is even a flag in the cruise planner saying I am elligible for drinks upgrade.

 

It is currently priced at £9.09 and you can use any OBC you might have to pay for it.

 

Despite complaints I have found the new web site to work almost perfectly...although it is not intuitive, and it takes a few minutes to learn your way around.

[shipshape sam]

I agree but if they are making money from these calls!!.

Most places now seem to have 0844 or 0845 numbers but some do offer 0345 if you ask.

 

Sent from my Kestrel using Forums mobile app

 

So are you suggesting they purposely don't answer the phone. I would think even if they get paid, it is on 'connected time. I guess I read the OP's post wrong.

[jojo1966]

Greg

 

What makes you think you cannot upgrade beveridge packages on-line?.....you most certainly can.

 

There is even a flag in the cruise planner saying I am elligible for drinks upgrade.

 

It is currently priced at £9.09 and you can use any OBC you might have to pay for it.

 

Despite complaints I have found the new web site to work almost perfectly...although it is not intuitive, and it takes a few minutes to learn your way around.

 

was going to say the same - I have banner on my booking too - I even went in and added it to my basket as I contemplated upgrading- and it let me get as far as payment - before I chickened out and decided not to bother

[sollyman]

Thanks for confirming Jojo.

 

If anybody needs step by step guidance on how to navigate to the "right" place id be happy to provide.

[Fish Lover]

 

from ofcom (UK phone regulator) website.....

"The cost of calling 0843, 0844 and 0845 numbers is made up of two parts: an access chargegoing to your phone company, and aservice chargeset by the organisation you are calling."

From giffgaff (the phone company i use) website...

"Numbers starting 084, 087, 09, 118. The call cost will be our Access Charge plus the Service Charge of the company being called. More info - 25p per minute + Service Charge"

From Celebrity UKs website....

"If you are interested in booking a cruise with Celebrity Cruises please call us on 0844 493 2043* and speak to a cruise specialist today.

*Calls cost 7 pence per minute plus your network access charge."

So if I had been using Celebrity's recommended number my charge to the phone company would be £30.08 of which £6.58 would have gone dirrectly to Celebrity :eek:

I know I could upgrade on board and I know it might posssibly be cheaper not to upgrade and sign a slip for the difference every time but I prefer not to do either and have everything (well almost) covered when I arrive on board. I did use a number (1932 834300) that I could use within my included minutes but my gripe is that Celebrity see it as acceptable that a customer waits on a premium rate number for over an hour to speak to a customer rep.

 

Seems to me that you were fairly warned that there was a cost involved in using that number. Further, if I understood you correctly, you didn't use that number but rather called another "no charge" number. Did it occur to you that by doing that you might be the very last call they would take, and in fact give priority to answering the costly number first?

[FiggyWig]

I phoned the 0844 number today...'only' took 7 minutes to connect...but hey - I was calling from a work phone with a headset ..am I bothered ?...my main annoyance is the CONSTANTLY repeated recording explaining just what you can experience with Celebrity 😝

[misprint]

I was interested in seeing how much the upgrade from classic to premium was and so checked out the website. I have the classic package perk but it is not even showing on the site. I have had several celebrity emails suggesting I should purchase a package. I find it frustrating that the 'perk' does not show. It is on my invoice though so I will be taking that onboard with me.

 

I sympathise with anyone who is trying to organise via the website. I have tried to check out the excursions and keep being offered excursions to places we are not even calling at.

 

I understand that some people can find their way around easily but this has not been the case as far as I am concerned unfortunately.

[Cruise Raider]

I was interested in seeing how much the upgrade from classic to premium was and so checked out the website. I have the classic package perk but it is not even showing on the site. I have had several celebrity emails suggesting I should purchase a package. I find it frustrating that the 'perk' does not show. It is on my invoice though so I will be taking that onboard with me.

 

I sympathise with anyone who is trying to organise via the website. I have tried to check out the excursions and keep being offered excursions to places we are not even calling at.

 

I understand that some people can find their way around easily but this has not been the case as far as I am concerned unfortunately.

 

I have never seen it listed on My Celebrity page when it has been included as a free perk with my booking ... but then if on my invoice, it has always been listed on my key card. My first time getting the package as a perk, I was concerned with this but now I am not. I do always take a copy of my invoice but never had to prove anything.

The upgrade cost is $10 per day per person with 18% gratuity, so $11.80. It is prorated if you purchase it a few days into the cruise (not so on all cruise lines) but then there is a cut off point on which you can purchase the package or upgrade. All purchases are for the remainder of the cruise ... you probably already knew that, though.

[fshagan]

 

From Celebrity UKs website....

"If you are interested in booking a cruise with Celebrity Cruises please call us on 0844 493 2043* and speak to a cruise specialist today.

*Calls cost 7 pence per minute plus your network access charge."

So if I had been using Celebrity's recommended number my charge to the phone company would be £30.08 of which £6.58 would have gone dirrectly to Celebrity :eek:

 

Wow! The only companies that do that here in the states are porn companies. :o

 

Or so I've been told.

[rslrhu]

Greg

 

What makes you think you cannot upgrade beveridge packages on-line?.....you most certainly can.

 

There is even a flag in the cruise planner saying I am elligible for drinks upgrade.

 

It is currently priced at £9.09 and you can use any OBC you might have to pay for it.

 

Despite complaints I have found the new web site to work almost perfectly...although it is not intuitive, and it takes a few minutes to learn your way around.

 

Not in all cases - I called to find out about upgrading because it didn't show on the website, and the guy had to enable it at his end before I could see the banner.