Celebrity's Handling of their Millennium Sailing is SHAMEFUL!

[Pushka]

1 hour ago, NMTraveller said:

They can do this very quickly actually.  For our September Mediterranean Edge cruise they shuffled and changed the ports as we went along due to weather.  I am sure that the ports were given very little notice as we did not know from day to day where we were going.  We had some different ports and some scheduled ports on a different day.  The middle of our Edge cruise was all different than schedule.

 

The sooner that they make the decisions the more choice that are available.  

Yes but in this case it’s a shuffle of countries not just nearby ports. And multiple cruise ships not just Celebrity. 

Edited February 1, 2020 by Pushka

[txflood33]

27 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I think that the lesson from this is to purchase cancel for any reason cruise insurance.  I have not been doing this but I probably will start.

 

Celebrity seems rather slow to react/inform.  The ports that they will substitute will most likely be in cooler regions or not as popular or good as the original itinerary.

 

 

 

I 100% agree with the first sentence. I never really thought about it until our cruise in the Med. A woman fell in Santorini and broke her femur and had to be Medevaced to Athens. I bought it for this trip, but not cancel for any reason. 

 

Your last sentence is 100% subjective. This is my first trip to Asia so I am excited for most ports. I booked the trip for HK and Beijing so we are bummed to miss those. However, we still had Tokyo and Singapore on our list. Our Japan stops are almost identical temperature averages as what the rest of the trip would have already been. We also get 2 new stops that are an average 20-30 degrees warmer than the rest of the trip. I don't feel the stops are bad stops. Sure, there's Great Wall in Osaka, but there's also no Mt Fuji or sumo wrestling tournament in Shanghai. 

 

I have no issue with the way my particular cruise was handled. I can absolutely see how I may(probably would) be livid if I were on today's sailing or the 15th. Over a month out, and this issue was not the fault of X? I'm still getting a trip of a lifetime. You want to know what I'm not getting? High blood pressure from yelling about a company that won't fix their problem the exact way they want.

[TeeRick]

There is a Royal Caribbean corona virus policy that might also apply to all of their cruise lines.

 

Edited February 2, 2020 by TeeRick

[TeeRick]

Sorry,

 

Go to the Royal Caribbean blog website.

Edited February 2, 2020 by TeeRick

[4774Papa]

18 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

w - does this mean that if the FCC was for a regular verandah and one chooses a sailing where the pricing is not as expensive, generally, a suite can be the choice of cabin using the FCC?

 

Or, is it for same category of cabin only, as originally booked?

 

Thank you and bon voyage

We received a FCC for a cancelled Royal Caribbean cruise (same company owns Celebrity) and the certificate was in dollars that you could spend on any cruise within a year.   We found a cruise that was 15 months out, but they still allowed us to use it, with the proviso that if we cancelled that cruise, it was gone.  We did the new cruise of Norway and it was great.

[Globehoppers]

On 1/31/2020 at 2:15 PM, BelloMundo said:

SHAME FULL! March 14, 2020 Sailing on Celebrity Millennium. We were very much looking forward to taking this cruise of a lifetime, but not under the circumstance caused by the current health crisis, the Corona Virus.   Spoke to TA, Then Celebrity's One Touch Customer Service, on to Resolutions, no help. Celebrity REFUSES to make any changes, offer any options or edit any current adjustments to current itineraries to Point Zero China ports. Or simply waits until the last possible minute.   They just want to steal our hard earned money or force us to voluntarily go into a life threatening situation.   https://www.cruiselawnews.com/2020/01/articles/disease/coronavirus-celebrity-holland-america-line-and-seabourn-cruises-refuse-to-cancel-or-refund-cruises-to-china/   Celebrity pushes forward and refuses to give options to passengers booked on cruises docking in CONTAMINATED  China ports, putting all passengers in danger, taking our money without the benefit of the planned vacation and not being able to visit the promised ports.   Celebrity stance, of not providing custumers twit timely options, shows the lack of respect for our valuable vacation time and exposing us to Asia ports, considering the fluidity and fast moving spread of virus, Celebrity does not value their passengers safety.   We will not cruise Celebrity again. I may loose my $$$, but I will NEVER sail Celebrity again unless they make the right decision.   We offered to swap cruises for safer ports and were flatly refused.   Celebrity notified their February 1, 2020 cruise passengers yesterday, when many had already flown out, with a number of passengers connecting through Hong Kong being denied boarding in Singapore, due to last minute measures put in place at that port.   This is a health emergency!!! Shame Celebrity!

These types of rants should not be permitted on CC.  Ill informed at best.  

 

Coronavirus is NOT X's fault.  Cruise lines are responding as fast as they can.  This type of rant does nothing to help anyone or the cruise line.  This is a WHO world health emergency which is expanding faster than SARS.  

 

Cruise lines plan itineraries over two years out.  They are not easily changeable.  Things like port loading, time and distance to travel, security, stores (supplies), fuel costs and usage, etc must all be considered.  And other passengers must also be in the decision mix, especially if an embarkation/debarkation port is involved.

 

If this change was do to a security situation I doubt that it would generate such vehemence.  Several years ago we were caught in a change from embarking a cruise in Istanbul to Piraeus.  Not easy as flights and hotels were already booked.  Airlines, as they are dong now, permitted no-fee changes.  The cruise line offered to repay for the hotel costs and offered the option to move to another cruise.  Note that the security situation had been brewing for months to years.  Stuff happens.  The world is not pre-programmed to one set of conditions.

 

If anything, be mad at the Chinese for failing to respond faster to the outbreak.  Its a cultural and political thing - an unexpected change to the normality of life.

 

In this case many posters are right: make sure you have insurance that covers unexpected events and illnesses.

[waterbug123]

On 1/31/2020 at 5:01 PM, BelloMundo said:

 

we will not voluntarily place ourselves anywhere Asia under the current conditions.

 

Do you actually realize how big Asia is?   Saying you won't go anywhere in Asia is like saying "OMG "whatever" is happening in Seattle, we won't be safe in NYC!"

 

On 1/31/2020 at 5:19 PM, BelloMundo said:

 

making a swift decision is a no brainer, unless greed is a factor.

 

You just don't seem to get the fact that this is a situation that is evolving daily right now, and Celebrity's priority is dealing with CURRENT sailings.  There is a lot of shuffling to do in a short period of time.  There have been plenty of times when a company has made a knee jerk reaction to something and people have later said, "oh they could have waited a few days and this other alternative would have available...." but they reacted quickly to satisfy the people saying "OMG what are you going to do about this, answer us right this minute!"  Give Celebrity 5 minutes to catch their breath.

 

18 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Sorry, but anyone who thinks that there ISN'T a tremendous amount of work involved is either naive or has a complete lack of comprehension of what is entailed in developing multiple new itineraries to multiple new ports.

 

Exactly.  They are dealing with tens of thousands of pax on multiple ships, sailing multiple itineraries over a period of several months.  They have to deal with the pax, the ports, the airlines, hotels....lots of moving parts!!

 

16 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

They can do this very quickly actually.  For our September Mediterranean Edge cruise they shuffled and changed the ports as we went along due to weather. 

 

Apples and oranges.  You are talking about dealing with isolated ports during a single week.  Celebrity has the monumental task of making changes for tens of thousands of people in a huge part of the world over a period of several months at a minimum.

 

I find it interesting that the OP has not responded, that I recall, to the question of whether they had travel insurance.  So my guess is that no, they did not.  They are probably kicking themselves right now in anger, and projecting a good bit of that anger toward Celebrity.

[Bo1953]

24 minutes ago, Globehoppers said:

These types of rants should not be permitted on CC.  Ill informed at best.  

 

Coronavirus is NOT X's fault.  Cruise lines are responding as fast as they can.  This type of rant does nothing to help anyone or the cruise line.  This is a WHO world health emergency which is expanding faster than SARS.  

 

Cruise lines plan itineraries over two years out.  They are not easily changeable.  Things like port loading, time and distance to travel, security, stores (supplies), fuel costs and usage, etc must all be considered.  And other passengers must also be in the decision mix, especially if an embarkation/debarkation port is involved.

 

If this change was do to a security situation I doubt that it would generate such vehemence.  Several years ago we were caught in a change from embarking a cruise in Istanbul to Piraeus.  Not easy as flights and hotels were already booked.  Airlines, as they are dong now, permitted no-fee changes.  The cruise line offered to repay for the hotel costs and offered the option to move to another cruise.  Note that the security situation had been brewing for months to years.  Stuff happens.  The world is not pre-programmed to one set of conditions.

 

If anything, be mad at the Chinese for failing to respond faster to the outbreak.  Its a cultural and political thing - an unexpected change to the normality of life.

 

In this case many posters are right: make sure you have insurance that covers unexpected events and illnesses.

Thanks for the post and personal history on this.

 

It is all about Logistical Planning for the masses of passengers and unfortunately a few, quite a few passengers will be inconvenienced and/or upset.

 

Some of us will understand and take it in stride, while others of us cannot because of the in depth and detailed planning such a trip demands. Especially if one does not have the flexibility to take off for such a trip OR the ports which a sailing was booked will not be repeated soon enough.

 

X is caught in the middle.

 

These types of 'rants' can prove to be a Public Service to those of us who, to some degree, understand that anything go awry when traveling and to plan on having an enjoyable sailing regardless... because it is out of our control, in this instance!

 

bon voyage

Edited February 2, 2020 by Bo1953

[MarkusToe]

Upfront we know the New Route for the 02/29 sailing i was pissed because of the following

X denied boarding for pax transiting through HKG and our cruise was supposed to end there.... 

Now we go to Japan.... 

[LeeaAndPaul]

29 minutes ago, MarkusToe said:

Upfront we know the New Route for the 02/29 sailing i was pissed because of the following

X denied boarding for pax transiting through HKG and our cruise was supposed to end there.... 

Now we go to Japan.... 

Soon there might not be flights out of Hong Kong..... 

[Denny01]

16 hours ago, Pushka said:

Yes but in this case it’s a shuffle of countries not just nearby ports. And multiple cruise ships not just Celebrity. 

And changing a departure and arrival ports is a much bigger issue than a port of call. And along with that, take a look at a map of the Asian Pacific Coast and the ports that take large cruise ships and ones that a Cruise Line has existing contracts with, and the huge distances involved and you’ll understand this isn’t done quickly. 
 

As you can see from the posts here and if you read a few of the Roll Calls impacted, there are those such as the OP that demand immediate change and others torqued they are making changes. 
 

yup. Going to Japan in April 2021. Looking forward to it but realize there can be issues just as there could be heading to California and the whole place is burning down......at least according to some. 
 

But I realize it’s easy for me to be so rationale and calm....as my favorite nasal singer tuned, ‘it ain’t be babe, no no no, it ain’t me....’

 

den 

[MisterBill99]

3 hours ago, waterbug123 said:

 

I find it interesting that the OP has not responded, that I recall, to the question of whether they had travel insurance.  So my guess is that no, they did not.  They are probably kicking themselves right now in anger, and projecting a good bit of that anger toward Celebrity.

 

 

3 hours ago, Globehoppers said:

 

In this case many posters are right: make sure you have insurance that covers unexpected events and illnesses.

 

Don't worry, OP is still ranting in the roll call threads, even after being told that they're wrong.

 

As for insurance, it's not that simple.

 

I was on the 2/29 and 3/14 (strictly speaking I still am, but plan to cancel). I was flying to Singapore on Singapore Air, flying home from Shanghai on Delta. The latter was simple since Delta cancelled my flight so an easy refund. Singapore Air is not so easy. They are allowing you to cancel if you have a flight to China on the itinerary, but I bought a one-way ticket with them and not to China.  I bought my ticket thru Chase Travel (partially using points) and they called the airline for me on Friday. They were told that I would need to pay a $100 ticket change fee, but that they could contact the appeals department via email to see if they would waive it. But even if they do that, I would presumably need to book another flight immediately. I want to rebook to February or March but they are only selling tickets thru early January. So would I also need to change my flight a second time once the new flights became available and pay $100 per person then?

 

Travel insurance is NOT covering this. In theory, if Celebrity had cancelled my cruise, I might have been able to get the initial flight covered, but I am cancelling the revised cruises by personal choice. And the initial port (Singapore) did not change. I did not have "cancel for any reason" coverage because I didn't see the need for it since I am retired and would not need to cancel for work reasons. And even in that case I'd be out 25% if I used CFAR (which I guess is still better than 100%).

Edited February 2, 2020 by MisterBill99

[fragilek]

 In the uk I have never seen or heard of cancel for any reason insurance- I may be wrong, but not sure it exits in UK may be even not EU 

[NMTraveller]

9 minutes ago, fragilek said:

 In the uk I have never seen or heard of cancel for any reason insurance- I may be wrong, but not sure it exits in UK may be even not EU 

In the US we have it.  It is a an extra cost/rider to the base policy.

 

I never saw a reason for it until this post.  Many of the policies have coverage for work related reasons.

[anniegb]

15 minutes ago, fragilek said:

 In the uk I have never seen or heard of cancel for any reason insurance- I may be wrong, but not sure it exits in UK may be even not EU 

Neither have I.  I am curious what the premiums would be??

 

Annie

[fragilek]

I pay £450 now for 2 weeks worldwide cover including cruise excess £500 for pre-exsting cancelation, £75 for any other medical cancelation.  £350 21days EU including cruise  excess £300 for pre-existing cancel £75 for any other medical canelation.

 

Not sure I could justify any higher even for cancel for any reason

[anniegb]

5 minutes ago, fragilek said:

I pay £450 now for 2 weeks worldwide cover including cruise excess £500 for pre-exsting cancelation, £75 for any other medical cancelation.  £350 21days EU including cruise  excess £300 for pre-existing cancel £75 for any other medical canelation.

 

Not sure I could justify any higher even for cancel for any reason

I am over 65 and my basic travel insurance for Europe is free from my bank.  To extend to worldwide including North America costs me £40.  This is an annual policy and covers multiple trips normally to 31 days in length.  I have 1 pre-existing medical condition which is covered for free.  

[fragilek]

I'm 51 and almost un-insurable. For over 10 yrs  I have Lupus also Transverse Myelitis left me  weekend down left side so need a stick for walking.  The on new years day 2018 got Leukemia I have only found 3 places that would even give me a quote. So I sort of understand what they now charge me.  I just have to accept it if I want to go.

[anniegb]

10 minutes ago, fragilek said:

I'm 51 and almost un-insurable. For over 10 yrs  I have Lupus also Transverse Myelitis left me  weekend down left side so need a stick for walking.  The on new years day 2018 got Leukemia I have only found 3 places that would even give me a quote. So I sort of understand what they now charge me.  I just have to accept it if I want to go.

I tip my hat to you.

 

Good health and happy cruising to you.

 

Annie

[hcat]

There are also time frames with Cancel any reason. (US)

We get our ins just before final payment so doubtful it could cover.

 

After sev disappointments and mismashes, we how  usually cruise from US ports and try to fly SW Air which is easy to  adjust.   We have been lucky to have done  most of the far away cruises on our list, except  SA....and we are not very adventurous anyhow,.

 

There is always some stress and risk  associated with travel,  and nothing is a guaranteed! The more complex the trip...the more risk involved! We do the best with ins we can afford...all we can do!

[terrydtx]

5 hours ago, Globehoppers said:

These types of rants should not be permitted on CC.  Ill informed at best.  

 

Coronavirus is NOT X's fault.  Cruise lines are responding as fast as they can.  This type of rant does nothing to help anyone or the cruise line.  This is a WHO world health emergency which is expanding faster than SARS.  

 

Cruise lines plan itineraries over two years out.  They are not easily changeable.  Things like port loading, time and distance to travel, security, stores (supplies), fuel costs and usage, etc must all be considered.  And other passengers must also be in the decision mix, especially if an embarkation/debarkation port is involved.

 

If this change was do to a security situation I doubt that it would generate such vehemence.  Several years ago we were caught in a change from embarking a cruise in Istanbul to Piraeus.  Not easy as flights and hotels were already booked.  Airlines, as they are dong now, permitted no-fee changes.  The cruise line offered to repay for the hotel costs and offered the option to move to another cruise.  Note that the security situation had been brewing for months to years.  Stuff happens.  The world is not pre-programmed to one set of conditions.

 

If anything, be mad at the Chinese for failing to respond faster to the outbreak.  Its a cultural and political thing - an unexpected change to the normality of life.

 

In this case many posters are right: make sure you have insurance that covers unexpected events and illnesses.

Well stated, just way to much melodrama in this thread.

[TFLG]

Your chances of getting it are about the same as wining the lottery and something like 3% of those that get it die.  Over-reaction much?

[fragilek]

I hate when stats are quoted .  I got transverse myelitis more than once - what the chances- well wining the lottery twice would be greater - Then I got AML leukemia - whats the chances.  Don't quote stats at me that won't help🤣

 

All my family and friends have said if it gets to Scotland then they are not coming near me lol

Edited February 2, 2020 by fragilek

[TFLG]

6 minutes ago, fragilek said:

I hate when stats are quoted .  I got transverse myelitis more than once - what the chances- well wining the lottery twice would be greater - Then I got AML leukemia - whats the chances.  Don't quote stats at me that won't help🤣

 

All my family and friends have said if it gets to Scotland then they are not coming near me lol

 

Smart friends!  but the odds are still the odds, and yes someone wins the lotto every week.  I'm still waiting.

[yorky]

They are quoting a death rate of those infected as 2% or less on the news in the UK today which I believe is no higher than those that catch the flue virus. 

Edited February 2, 2020 by yorky