So Mad With Celebrity - Last Minute Change Dec 31

[charlielinda]

I'm sorry that this situation is occuring. I know you must be feeling awful. Since I'm one to always be prepared and know my options I would check to see what happens if you do miss the ship. I checked and there is a flight on Sunday from San Juan to Punta Cana (about an hour from the ship dock -- you should double check this) at 1:51 that arrives in the Dominion Republic at 2:52 and the flight costs a total of $225 per person. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed you don't have to use the information about!

 

As others have said . . . fly in the day before. I know it's not always feasible but . . . on our trip in October we flew out on Saturday for a Sunday sailing. Thank goodness we did -- our flight was seven hours late (we would have missed the ship) and they lost my luggage (which was found late that evening.

[cfprunner]

As near as I can tell, X is taking some heat here but as I see this, the Port Authority in San Juan is to blame.

 

X might have a written contract from the SJPA to leave at 11pm, and they might have thrown a big fit and even got the Gov. on the phone--however, they can't force the port to stay open.

 

What exactly should have X done?

[Schplinky]

There are posters who probably blame the Titanic on too many passengers standing on one side of the ship.

 

Celebrity could have confirmed the port times with the port sooner in the game or, if it did, it could have communicated with its customers sooner. It's not rocket science, unless you think Celebrity can do no wrong.

[MiataKath]

Hi,

 

One additional added thought with regard to arriving "on time" for the departure of the cruise ship.....

 

We take this one step further due to winter driving conditions in this part of PA (we fly out of Philly). We stay overnight at a hotel close to the Airport the night before our scheduled flight (which is always one day before the ship sails), just to be absolutely certain that we don't miss the boat!

 

It happened to us 4 years ago ---- Horizon sailed out of Tampa without us on her. We had a three and a half-day adventure to catch up to the ship. Most folks would have lost their minds, of that we are certain! (LOL). To us, we had the best time getting TO the ship!!

 

Enjoy your cruise,

 

Regards,

 

Don and Kathie

[cfprunner]

There are posters who probably blame the Titanic on too many passengers standing on one side of the ship.

 

Celebrity could have confirmed the port times with the port sooner in the game or, if it did, it could have communicated with its customers sooner. It's not rocket science, unless you think Celebrity can do no wrong.

You are correct, except, Celebrity might have confirmed with the Port Authority about New Years Eve numerous times and it might have been the Port Authority that just made the change this week.

 

On a side note, we once arrived to the ship as people where returning from the muster drill--now that is late!

[Schplinky]

 

On a side note, we once arrived to the ship as people where returning from the muster drill--now that is late!

 

wow! Did they make you do a make-up drill?

 

We noticed on our last cruise throughout the muster drill that folks were arriving.

[trcori]

I work in a business that is 24/7/365. We work nights, mornings, holidays, whatever it takes, because our customers expect our product every single day/night.

 

That said, let me also be a voice in the chorus of "here's a good reason not to fly in day-of, no matter what." If I had a flight booked to arrive less than 4 hours before sailaway (the original scenario here), I would be dying of an anxiety attack the whole time till I was safely on the ship.

 

Our next cruise will be the first one where I cannot fly out any earlier than the EVENING before. Flight times between here and Houston are weird, so at this point it looks like we're going to have to fly the red eye ... there is a 6 am flight the next day that is SUPPOSED to get to Houston around noon (our Galveston sailaway is 6 pm), but that is wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too close for me ... the redeye worries me enough, but at least if it is canceled, then there is still the chance of the 6 am.

 

To the OP, good luck! Hope it works out OK! -- TR

[canderson]

These people wouldn't want to work for me :mad: ..."we're open, the customers (X) need us to be open, you work OR there's the door"!!

Alas, Danno, it sounds like you haven't spent much time in Puerto Rico. It suffers big time from the mañana syndrome. Whether it be trying to get an electrician to explain why all of the lights keep burning out in your house (don't ask), or trying to get your car fixed by a gen-u-ine GM certified dealer, it's a real trial of patience. While I'd take the same approach you would, neither of us would have any employees after long.

[cfprunner]

If I am not mistaken, PR is on 'ISLAND TIME'

[horselady295]

As near as I can tell, X is taking some heat here but as I see this, the Port Authority in San Juan is to blame. What exactly should have X done?

 

How about assigning a Customer Service person Full Time for the next few days to assist those pax in adjusting their flight times if they are impacted by this last minute Port issue.

 

With the vast resources available to the cruise lines, I can't believe they cannot (will not) offer these pax some assistance besides telling them... "it should be alright"...

 

X's land-based operations dig their head in the sand whenever there's a problem... the answer is to hire more talent or retrain some of the talent they currently have to actually be useful in these situations. That would be treating your pax famously. They can do a better job of Customer Service and it starts from recognizing that EVERYONE is your customer.

 

Disagree that this is entirely the San Juan Port's fault... problems will occur in any business -- but it's how the company chooses to deal with the problem, how they communicate the problem to the customers, and how/whether they help resolve the issues or contribute to the problem --

that will separate this company from the others.

[Danno]

While I'd take the same approach you would, neither of us would have any employees after long.

 

It wouldn't matter...if I ran a business that poorly, I wouldn't need any employees...I wouldn't have any customers.

[gone_cruisin]

Celebrity could have confirmed the port times with the port sooner in the game or, if it did, it could have communicated with its customers sooner. It's not rocket science, unless you think Celebrity can do no wrong.

 

Everyone needs to remember where this is....Puerto Rico. Yes, they are very much on island time.

 

As for Celebrity checking earlier..........all I can say is that I would probably bet that the Port notified Celebrity at the last minute, leaving them holding bag. If you guys don't believe stuff like this happens, try this one on for size.............

 

Over Christmas there were several airports where the fueling companies decided to let their employees have the holiday off. I know this personally because we got a phone call Saturday evening asking that every flight have enough fuel to go back to the hub. So as the last flight of the night is leaving, people are scrambling to make sure it has enough fuel to return in the morning. Imagine arriving at the airport for your flight, only to be told it can't go because there is no fuel.

 

Last minute notices happen all the time and I'm sure Celebrity is doing the best they can to accomodate everyone.

[cfprunner]

How about assigning a Customer Service person Full Time for the next few days to assist those pax in adjusting their flight times if they are impacted by this last minute Port issue.

 

With the vast resources available to the cruise lines, I can't believe they cannot (will not) offer these pax some assistance besides telling them... "it should be alright"...

 

Let's look at this. The OP made her own airline reservations. Is it Celebrities job to change them? No, in fact they have no right to change them. The airline WON'T talk to them unless they are paying for the ticket.

 

The OP doesn't want to pay $1200 extra for a ticket to get there sooner (who would?) and I thinking Celebrity doesn't want to pay that either.

 

Bottom line is that it should be ok and if their is a problem, such as a 2 hour flight delay, I can't see how X is to blame. It seems even too late for a full refund in the form a credit to another future cruise, as you can't resale the cabin 24 hours before you sail.

 

The OP might get to the airport extra early as some airlines will put you on an earlier flight if their is plenty of space, without a ticket change fee.

[AirGorilla]

Let's look at this. The OP made her own airline reservations. Is it Celebrities job to change them? No, in fact they have no right to change them. The airline WON'T talk to them unless they are paying for the ticket.

 

The OP doesn't want to pay $1200 extra for a ticket to get there sooner (who would?) and I thinking Celebrity doesn't want to pay that either.

 

Bottom line is that it should be ok and if their is a problem, such as a 2 hour flight delay, I can't see how X is to blame. It seems even too late for a full refund in the form a credit to another future cruise, as you can't resale the cabin 24 hours before you sail.

 

The OP might get to the airport extra early as some airlines will put you on an earlier flight if their is plenty of space, without a ticket change fee.

 

Getting to the airport as early in the day as possible, and trying to get on an earlier flight is a great idea. Even if the airline charges a small fee for this, I think it is in the range of $50/person. It probably varies a little bit, depending upon the specific airline. I would pay this fee in a heartbeat, if I were the OP.

[newmexicoNita]

After hearing and reading a few stories about how Celebrity's customer service outside the ship is suffering these days' date=' I'll add this.

 

We are cruising out of San Juan on Constellation on New Years Eve. Yesterday, just 3 days prior to sailing, we are informed because the locals want to celebrate New Years, the cruise pier will close at 9:00pm and Connie will sail then. The original sailing time was 11:00pm. Our flights are booked to arrive at 7:15pm and now we have a huge problem. I talked to Celebrity's customer service today and they said "oh - you should be OK". They are making sure all their air clients are in San Juan by 7:45, they tell me their last bus transfer from the airport leaves at 8:00. Therefore, in theory, we should be OK. That however is cutting it WAY TOO close for my liking. They couldn't answer a lot of my questions, such as - the people on the bus transfers will obviously have no problem getting on last minute, but about us who have made our own travel arrangements? Will they be so accomodating when we arrive last minute? Will they enforce the 1 hour prior boarding rule? Their response - "well, we would think they would be accomodating in this situation". "They should be" isn't very promising! I have a horrible feeling we might be stranded in San Juan on New Years Eve through no fault of our own. We booked our flight to arrive 3 hours and 45 minutes before departure and now thanks to Celebrity, were worried sick.

 

I can hear all the - "you should have booked air with Celebrity" or "You should arrive the night before" or "4 hours prior isn't enough time" comments now.

 

The fact remains, changing a cruise ships departure time 3 days before sailing is pretty poor customer relations. They have sailed from this port for years and they shold have known this when they set the departure time.

 

Since it will cost $1200 to get an earlier flight.........wish us luck getting on a standby the day of to try and get in earlier.

 

I can assure you, Celebrity has gone from top of our list to bottom in a hurry. Their on board customer service has always been extraordinary, but their precruise service is suffering badly. Be warned.[/quote']I am usually a strong supporter of all cruise lines thinking many passengers are too picky, but this time you have every right to be upset. I am sure it will work out, the cruise will be wonderful and this will eventually just be a lost memory, but I certainly sympathize with on this one. We can all say you should have made your air through the cruise line and that may be true but to change the departure time at this late date seems very unfair. Someone did mention another reason for flying in early. I would agree with that, we always arrive a day or so prior to our cruise. Of course this week you would have paid as much for one night in a hotel as you did for your cruise: not quite.

[Highlander]

Vacations to Go is showing the departure for 9:30pm so you might get an extra 1/2 hour reprieve. Hope you make it. We are on the Constellation on Jan 14th but always fly in the day before. You can't always be sure of the weather in Toronto, Canada at this time of year or if there's a delay because of a mechanical problem with the aircraft.

Cheers,

[horselady295]

Te OP doesn't want to pay $1200 extra for a ticket to get there sooner (who would?) and I thinking Celebrity doesn't want to pay that either.

 

Disagree... my sister has worked for a wholesale travel broker for about 15 years. Her broker purchases blocks of tickets and hotel rooms at greatly reduced fares, and resells them to the "industry" often in the form of a travel package. She has mentioned at least one cruise line who actively purchases blocks from her company, so I know this is done. If you've purchased air/hotel directly from X, then you've probably noticed they have a short list of airlines and hotels for each port city.

 

It would not be cost-effective for X to contact the airlines every time a pax wanted to purchase air -- and if they do -- all I can say is -- WOW -- they could be making a lot more money working through a broker.

 

I realize that there are many staunch supporters of X who never find fault in anything the company does, but who tend to flame anyone who complains about a perceived injustice. These pax have every right to be upset with a last minute change in port departure time. Giving the circumstances, regardless of who's fault it is or isn't, Celebrity should be offering more assistance than telling them they will probably make the boat.

[hermang]

Last January we were on AOS out of San Juan. We deliberately flew down a day early and what we saved by booking our own air vs RCCL Cruise air was more than enough to pay for a hotel and dinner.

 

Having said that - we got a 12:30 flight from JFK arriving SJU at 5:30pm

It snowed day before and day of the flight but fortunately we were only delayed about an hour getting in to SJU.

 

The next day we boarded AOS and were talking to some passengers from Albany who TRIED to do the same thing - Flights were Cancelled due to snow and when they left the next day took 18 hrs ALB - SJU - Luggage met them in Aruba

 

At least 2 couples missed the ship because of ice in Atlanta and in their case they booked cruise air -RCCL put them up overnight in SJU and flew them to Aruba 2 days later.

 

Moral of the story - allow at least 12 hours especially in winter.

 

We're on the Connie on March 11 -m going down a day before even though we could probably fly in Saturday at noon.

[horselady295]

We fly in the night before as well. DH wants to go the same day from Phx to Galveston in April ... even though this is a short flight, I'm still inclined to get to Galveston the night before. The OP's scenario would be too stressful for me. It would take me the next 3 days to unwind after that travel day!

 

Unfortunately, you can never predict weather delays or mechanical issues which tend to have a domino effect... so I like to err on the side of arriving too early rather than too late...

 

I empathize with the OP and hope they are successful in changing their flight times. The departure day is stressful enough without the added pressure of such a tight arrival time.

[cfprunner]

These pax have every right to be upset with a last minute change in port departure time.

I couldn't agree more. Who changed the time and why?

 

PS: I wonder if she made it....hope she did!

[Char]

I couldn't agree more. Who changed the time and why?

 

PS: I wonder if she made it....hope she did!

I hope so, too. I looked at the archived Bridge cam and the ship moved out at about 9:15, so they left pretty much on time. The OP said the dock workers wanted to celebrate New Years Eve, so the ship couldn't stay till the original 11pm departure time....no one would be there to service the ship.

[2 P's on the Seas]

Yes - we made it!

 

Wheels down in SJU @ 7:25 - in our cabin by 8:10. There were no porters in the airport - guess they wanted to have New Years off too! It did indeed sail at 9:15 - with a LOT of suprised passengers on board wondering why we were leaving! I hope we didn't leave anyone behind - but I have a bad feeling we did.

 

This ship was scheduled to sail at 11:00 until 3 days prior. They tell you they close the entry one hour before departure. If you are willing to accept the risks of travelling the same day (which we are), then you had until 10:00 to get here. If you were at the embarkation point by 10:00 and couldn't get on - then Celebrity is responsible.

 

Yes - travelling the day of is risky, but you are allowed to choose to accept those risks. The bottom line is I have the right to arrive up to one hour before departure and Celebrity changed that last minute which isn't right. What also isn't right is to this point - they really don't seem to care that they did it.

 

Anyway - no more worrying, now we'll enjoy the cruise - even though they have also changed the itinerary and we aren't going where we booked to go. Sorry Celebrity, but I will think very hard before booking with you again.

[uktog]

glad your blood pressure is now reducing - enjpy your cruise

[mahdnc]

Great news! Now enjoy your cruise!!

[Andy]

Hi 2 P's !

 

I am so glad you made your Cruise. Now, stop worrying.... and have a GREAT time !

 

Enjoy your Cruise !