Anyone get an extension on final payment date, ever?

[Elusive_Cruiser]

I am waiting for the results of a medical procedure, which will come in this Wednesday.  My final payment date for February cruise is on Tuesday.    I really do not want to cancel this cruise, but just need a few days to see where this diagnosis is going.  Has anyone got an extension on their final payment date for medical reasons?

 

I do intend to call Celebrity tomorrow, but just wondering what my chances may be.  And, yes, I've already considered all the insurance issues, so not looking for advice in that regard. 🙂

 

Thanks in advance for any and all sage responses!

 

Patricia

[Iamthesea]

Yes, we did not too long ago for the same reason. 

 

Though I worked with a TA that required the deposit a few weeks earlier than Celebrity did. We extended the final out 2 weeks.

 

It would be worth a try to call Celebrity.  They don't want to lose your booking. 😉

 

Good luck and all the best for satisfying results from your test.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Iamthesea

[Elusive_Cruiser]

23 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Yes, we did not too long ago for the same reason. 

 

Though I worked with a TA that required the deposit a few weeks earlier than Celebrity did. We extended the final out 2 weeks.

 

It would be worth a try to call Celebrity.  They don't want to lose your booking. 😉

 

Good luck and all the best for satisfying results from your test.

THANK YOU!!!  My thought (as I tend to overthink these things) is that they would like to release my cabin, on a sold out cruise, as they can make $$ over what we paid, almost 2 years ago.  

 

 

[Northern Aurora]

To our dear OP: We were on one situation in which we cancelled a cruise (a parent was diagnosed with a serious illness and indeed did die from that illness about nine months later) and then another situation in which my husband was having some rather "interesting" problems (in his case stomach cancer was fairly quickly ruled out but it turned out that he had an irritated upper IG tract so for several weeks we were in a state of uncertainty).  Even though our travel insurance covered all our costs when my Mom was diagnosed with bone cancer the work of going through the paperwork -- right when you really don't have much free time on your hands because of what you are dealing with regarding medical appointments and so forth -- when we had the uncertainty of my husband's situation we just transferred our reservations (they were a B2B) to other sailings.   It was much easier to transfer those reservations than going through the paperwork (i.e., obtaining letters from physicians and so forth).  Just an idea. 

[NantahalaCruiser]

1 hour ago, Iamthesea said:

Yes, we did not too long ago for the same reason. 

 

Though I worked with a TA that required the deposit a few weeks earlier than Celebrity did. We extended the final out 2 weeks.

 

It would be worth a try to call Celebrity.  They don't want to lose your booking. 😉

 

 Good luck and all the best for satisfying results from your test.

For the OP's sake, just wondering if you extended just the TA's final date or both the TA's and Celebrity's final payment date?

 

And to Patricia - all the best wishes.

[upwarduk]

If you take the transfer of cruise route you may be charged a transfer fee of £75 p.p.

[jelayne]

I have never paid a fee to transfer a cruise.  Is this something that is common in the UK or a charge from a TA?

[laslomas]

I know the £75 fee for a change is in the T&C for the UK, possibly not in North America though.

[BosoxI]

This is a timely posting for me.  My sister gets the results of tests this afternoon.  I pray that they will be good but if not, I must be with her, as she is a childless widow in a distant town.  We have fully paid B2Bs next month on the Silhouette.  I doubt they would allow a transfer even for two Elite+ customers.  But we also have an Oceania booked in March 2019 and a seven day Edge in April.  Other booked cruises are so distant that they pose no problem.  I feel selfish for worrying about cruises when my dear sister's health is in question, but I can't help being concerned.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We were suppose to sail with friends, their 1st cruise.  The told us about a week before final payment that they were cancelling.  I figured they were well traveled enough to know they had to cancel with Celebrity, nope they never notified Celebrity.  About a week after final payment the CVP we all booked with contacted me to know if I knew why friends had not made final payment, she had called and emailed them several times.  Celebrity held the booking for a week before cancelling their cruise.  This was in a RS.

Call Celebrity and you hopefully will be able to get a one or two day extension.

[Iamthesea]

10 hours ago, NantahalaCruiser said:

For the OP's sake, just wondering if you extended just the TA's final date or both the TA's and Celebrity's final payment date?

 

And to Patricia - all the best wishes.

The cruise was held until Celebrity's final payment date, but I feel that my TA could have worked out an extension, if needed.  Her company is one of Celebrity"s largest travel agents.  As CHEZMARYLOU and I say, it never hurts to call for an extension.  😉

Edited November 16, 2018 by Iamthesea

[Elusive_Cruiser]

UPDATE: 

I've spoken with Celebrity.  The initial answer was 'no', we cannot give an extension.  She then suggested I split the final payment between multiple credit cards!  I told her that it was not for financial reasons, but rather medical, that I was waiting for results from some tests.  She again said that no, they could not give an extension.  I then told her to go ahead, and cancel the cruise.  Lo and behold, she puts me on hold while she checked with her supervisor.  I've got a 4-day extension.  Thank you Celebrity!

 

[CHEZMARYLOU]

Glad you were able to get the extension and hope things work out for you.  I suspect Celebrity is not anxious to release another cabin after final payment to be sold at a discount.  Also, I understand some countries have a 30 day prior payment date so 4 additional days is not a stretch for Celebrity.

[Elusive_Cruiser]

ANOTHER UPDATE: 

I did, in fact, need to cancel this cruise.  Nothing life-threatening, but treatments will be on-going during cruise time.  So I called into Celebrity to go ahead and cancel, and got told that they themselves could not cancel, as I would lose my deposit (despite the fact that I did not do the final payment).  They gave me the email address to contact, and said I had to submit a medical certificate.  I should've known I'd need this, but contacted my doctor and got it and sent it in.  I received an email from Celebrity, confirming the refund of my deposit:

Thank you for sending the requested documentation. Your reservation for the RF 02/18/19 has been cancelled.
As a one time goodwill gesture we will issue a full refund. Please allow 7-10 business for the refund to process.
Thank you for choosing Celebrity Cruises and Happy Holidays.

So, everything worked out fine - I just had to jump through a couple of hoops, and not sure why this is a 'one time goodwill gesture'!!  I was going to cancel, and was convinced not to!

 

 

[chemmo]

Sincere best wishes for a speedy recovery and a return to cruising soon Elusive Cruiser!

 

I would think the ‘one time goodwill’ gesture is their ‘get out of jail card’ incase others (without your special circumstances) expect extensions/refunds past final payment date.

 

We have in recent years had to ‘swap’ cruises twice for medical issues and on both occasions have found Celebrity very helpful. We did at the same time need to cancel a non refundable hotel room too which was below insurance excess cost. Out of politeness we telephoned the hotel to let them know that we would not be using our booking owing to a medical issue. We were really surprised when they offered to transfer our booking at no cost to the night before the next cruise we had booked. As someone else said, always worth a phone call...

 

In the U.K. there is an administration charge of £75 for the first two guests on a booking to make a change (room, sail date, passenger, full cruise...). However, if you are Elite or above you can make one change free of charge. As many insurance companies have an excess above this amount it can be cheaper to ‘swap’ rather than cancel a cruise. 

[Elusive_Cruiser]

Since we actually have 3 more upcoming cruises booked, I suppose I should've asked to just have my deposit transferred!  I think that may have been simpler.  Oh well.  No harm, no foul.  Thank you for your kind words.  I will be cruising again December, 2019!

 

[cruise kitty]

23 hours ago, Elusive_Cruiser said:

Since we actually have 3 more upcoming cruises booked, I suppose I should've asked to just have my deposit transferred!  I think that may have been simpler.  Oh well.  No harm, no foul.  Thank you for your kind words.  I will be cruising again December, 2019!

 

 

I've watched this thread with great interest, I'm so glad to hear that it all worked out for you & that you'll be cruising again soon.  Thanks for updating us & happy sails next year :)

[Elusive_Cruiser]

6 minutes ago, cruise kitty said:

 

I've watched this thread with great interest, I'm so glad to hear that it all worked out for you & that you'll be cruising again soon.  Thanks for updating us & happy sails next year 🙂

 

Thank you cruise kitty!  Hopefully my experience with this helps others in the same situation. It truly is sad, however, having to cancel a cruise that is only a few months away!  We've booked the identical cruise for Dec/19, so not all is lost!  Will be doing the same excursions we'd planned for this one. 

 

That said, I am also blessed that my medical condition was caught so early and is therefore so treatable (breast cancer). Ladies over 40 out there... make sure you get your mammograms every year.  If left undiagnosed for a period of time, this would have had a very different outcome.  I'm looking forward to many more years of cruising!

 

Patricia

[abbydancer2003]

6 hours ago, Elusive_Cruiser said:

 

 

That said, I am also blessed that my medical condition was caught so early and is therefore so treatable (breast cancer). Ladies over 40 out there... make sure you get your mammograms every year.  If left undiagnosed for a period of time, this would have had a very different outcome.  I'm looking forward to many more years of cruising!

 

Patricia

Best of luck with your treatment, and I'm glad it was caught early.  My sister had a stage 1 tumor 20 years ago.  She had a reoccurance over the summer, and is now going through several months of chemo, followed by mastectomy (same breast).  The good news is that the chemo is to shrink the tumor, as they don't think it spread.  So the mastectomy will be the end of it.  So I echo what Patricia said about mammograms.  Don't skip them.

 

BTW, her first was found in her baseline mammo at 35 years old.

[chemmo]

6 hours ago, Elusive_Cruiser said:

 

Thank you cruise kitty!  Hopefully my experience with this helps others in the same situation. It truly is sad, however, having to cancel a cruise that is only a few months away!  We've booked the identical cruise for Dec/19, so not all is lost!  Will be doing the same excursions we'd planned for this one. 

 

That said, I am also blessed that my medical condition was caught so early and is therefore so treatable (breast cancer). Ladies over 40 out there... make sure you get your mammograms every year.  If left undiagnosed for a period of time, this would have had a very different outcome.  I'm looking forward to many more years of cruising!

 

Patricia

 

Patricia, sincere best wishes that your treatment goes well and you are back cruising again before you know it!

[hancock]

Ladies and Gentlemen (men get breast cancer too), don't forget to check your breasts manually.  Don't rely on mammos.  Had my first mammo at 39....negative.  Three months later I found a small lump.  It was cancer.  Had a mastectomy.  I am 32 years cancer free. 

Patricia, wishing you a quick return to good health.