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Lift and Shift - any exceptions?


MSTEG
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There are a few posts here stating that Celebrity has made individual exceptions to their current published policy regarding the number of cruise days required for a Lift and Shift match. Is this really true, hearsay or just wishful thinking?

Can anyone confirm that they actually had this happen to them for a specific Celebrity cruise?

My particular situation is a direct booked 17 day cruise in Sept 2020 from Hawaii to Australia on Solstice. They only similiar itinerary cruise in 2021 or 2022 is 18 days.  I was told verbally by Celebrity phone reps that Lift and Shift would not apply because of the one extra day.  😩 

I really want to take advantage of the Lift and Shift program but I need some evidence to challenge this with Celebrity. 

I know I could wait them out until they eventually cancel the 2020 Sept cruise (highly likely) and have 125% FCC but that might not happen until after 30 June when my large final payment is due. In that case I would have given them more $$ then I am willing to put at risk.

Any reply?

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I was doing a September 25th/October/ to Nov, 2020  B2B2B transpacific cruise (1st) followed by a 2 week cruise to ports in Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam, ending in Singapore, followed by ports in Japan, Thailand, Vietnam.  I was able to do the Lift and Shift on the transpacific cruise even though it starts 15 days earlier than this year, but could not use it on the next cruise. While it was the same length, the ports were all in Japan except one port in South Korea.  My cruises were on the Eclipse, but the Millennium was also over in Asia.  Next year it is only the Solstice in Asia.  The Best of Japan middle cruise was the itinerary that the Millennium was doing this year. Because the itinerary was so different, they would not honor the Lift and Shift even though it was the same number of days. I was OK with this as I really did not want to do the Best of Japan anyway.  We booked the last Alaska cruise before the transpacific and also the transpacific cruise.  Lift and shift for the TP, even though I changed room categories and thus had to pay the prevailing rate.  For the Alaska one they did apply the deposit from the middle B2B2B cruise that was cancelled.  We will get a future cruise certificate for the last cruise that was cancelled.  This was all done before final payment, so just deposits were in question. 

 

I know this does not answer your question, but I feel that this may be a case-by-case experience and I would recommend you just ask for what you want and see what happens.

 

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Did you read thru the recents posts on the a Cruise With Confidence- Enhanced Thread?  While I haven’t followed it closely there are others posting that they were not successful in moving to a sailing with more days.  

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OP, Celebrity's published  policy says that the two cruises have to be of the same duration; you've been told directly by Celebrity over the phone that you couldn't because of the extra day; and there are multiple posters who have stated that they were turned down because of the difference in the length of the cruise. I think that it's time to accept that the answer is "NO" and move on.

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Before you move on, talk to them about paying for the extra day. It took several phone calls and several supervisors, but eventually that was granted in my case. I moved from an 11 day to a 12 day, and I will pay for the extra day.

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1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

Before you move on, talk to them about paying for the extra day. It took several phone calls and several supervisors, but eventually that was granted in my case. I moved from an 11 day to a 12 day, and I will pay for the extra day.

Now THAT is helpful information. Thank you.

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Multiple people on our 10 night Equinox cruise in Sept were able to Lift&Shift to the 9 night next year since they are only doing 9 & 12 during that timeframe.   TA who handled the transaction said they didn't even question it.   I had a great senior rate and 3 different OBC's from Celebrity and that was all carried over.  Even after the loss of a day my rate/day is one of the lowest I've had in years.  1/2 the prevailing rates on the 2021 cruise.   I was going to cancel as final payment was to be in a couple weeks, so I'm glad this came along as it was killing me to give up the rate.

 

I think there is a very high percentage of sailings which don't qualify due to changes in the length of itinerary or changes from S class to E class ships.   I think they should have identified at least 1 cruise a year out for each sailing this year where they would be willing to protect the fare.  Then at least everyone would have had an opportunity to use the program.

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We were denied moving from an 8 day Alaskan sailing to a 9 day.  We said, the only other option is going down a day and we'd rather go up a day, we told them we would pay for the extra night.  The rep was happy with that....and however much time later, came back on the line with the new amount for the extra night.  We were very pleased.  Tell them you will pay for that extra night - we were more than happy to do that.

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We were denied moving from an 8 day Alaskan sailing to a 9 day.  We said, the only other option is going down a day and we'd rather go up a day, we told them we would pay for the extra night.  The rep was happy with that....and however much time later, came back on the line with the new amount for the extra night.  We were very pleased.  Tell them you will pay for that extra night - we were more than happy to do that.

We offered to pay for extra night and was still denied.


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15 minutes ago, vermonter16 said:

We were denied moving from an 8 day Alaskan sailing to a 9 day.  We said, the only other option is going down a day and we'd rather go up a day, we told them we would pay for the extra night.  The rep was happy with that....and however much time later, came back on the line with the new amount for the extra night.  We were very pleased.  Tell them you will pay for that extra night - we were more than happy to do that.

 

7 minutes ago, sn2792 said:


We offered to pay for extra night and was still denied.


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Typical Celebrity inconsistency. While most have been unsuccessful, a small number have been able to switch to the longer itinerary by paying for the extra night(s). 

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I just went from an original 11 night down to a 9 night. Exact same itinerary wasn't available in 2021. Closest itinerary was on the Edge. They declined that due to stipulation that class of ship must match (or be smaller class). Resolution desk offered me this 9 night, same itinerary , minus one port and one sea day. They gave me the same category of room and reduced price. Price was a daily average of my original sailing minus 2 days. My OBC was transferred also. I was very happy with this offer as I was afraid Nov. 2020 was too early to sail. I appreciate Celebrity working with it's clientele while dealing with world state of affairs.

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Reading these things already makes my blood boil. It's absolutely grotesque denying someone who already had a huge inconvenience a different itinerary because it's one extra day.

 

Then they should cancel their crap and give people their money back immediately.

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15 hours ago, mailmama said:

I just went from an original 11 night down to a 9 night. Exact same itinerary wasn't available in 2021. Closest itinerary was on the Edge. They declined that due to stipulation that class of ship must match (or be smaller class). Resolution desk offered me this 9 night, same itinerary , minus one port and one sea day. They gave me the same category of room and reduced price. Price was a daily average of my original sailing minus 2 days. My OBC was transferred also. I was very happy with this offer as I was afraid Nov. 2020 was too early to sail. I appreciate Celebrity working with it's clientele while dealing with world state of affairs.


What number did you call for the Resolution Department?

 

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1 hour ago, Di22 said:


What number did you call for the Resolution Department?

 

Just went online to Celebrity's website and looked up "contact us". Called the 800 #.  A gentleman answered and looked at problem of switching with no exact same itinerary. He then contacted Resolutions dept. and they all worked out a satisfactory solution. It was about an hour total phone conversation but worth it to us.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just got off the phone with my TA. We have an 11 day beginning January 25, 2021 to the ABC Islands on the Reflection. There is an 11 day, exact same itinerary beginning  January 24, 2022 on the Edge. The TA is telling me Celebrity said we can only change to the Constellation on the 24th which is the same amount of days BUT not the same itinerary. I am totally confused as the last thing I saw was the class of ship did not have to be the same. If anyone has a clue what the heck this means please let me know. Meanwhile, I plan to call the TA and hopefully speak with another agent who can explain this to me. 

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15 minutes ago, Mading said:

Just got off the phone with my TA. We have an 11 day beginning January 25, 2021 to the ABC Islands on the Reflection. There is an 11 day, exact same itinerary beginning  January 24, 2022 on the Edge. The TA is telling me Celebrity said we can only change to the Constellation on the 24th which is the same amount of days BUT not the same itinerary. I am totally confused as the last thing I saw was the class of ship did not have to be the same. If anyone has a clue what the heck this means please let me know. Meanwhile, I plan to call the TA and hopefully speak with another agent who can explain this to me. 

From the Celebrity FAQ (https://www.celebritycruises.com/ca/travel-alert/frequently-asked-questions):

 

Existing bookings and new bookings made May 6, 2020 through August 1, 2020, are eligible to be rescheduled to the following cruise year at the initial price and/or promotion when selecting an alternative sailing of the same itinerary type, ship series, stateroom category, and voyage length within four weeks of the original sail date. The ship series must be the same for Edge Series, Flora and Xpedition, however, Millennium Series and Solstice Series are interchangeable. Only guests originally booked on a Christmas or New Years’ Holiday sailing may move to a Christmas or New Years’ Holiday sailing the following year.

The decision to adjust a current booking to the following cruise year must be made by August 1, 2020, this includes rescheduling a 2021 sailing to a 2022 sailing through May 4, 2022. If rescheduling within the penalty period of the original sailing date, penalties will be carried over to the new booking should the new booking be canceled later. You may only reschedule a sailing once. Guests booked on sailings suspended  between June 12 and July 31, 2020 have until June 10th to reschedule their voyage for the following year at the original price and promotion.

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We offered to pay for extra night and was still denied.


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Third time is the charm. I called my TA to cancel my October cruise since there wasn’t an equivalent cruise next year. This time he got my 11 day moved to a 12 day with no added dollars for the extra day. We are happy since we had quite a bit of onboard credit and 4 perks that we were able to keep.


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12 hours ago, sn2792 said:


Third time is the charm. I called my TA to cancel my October cruise since there wasn’t an equivalent cruise next year. This time he got my 11 day moved to a 12 day with no added dollars for the extra day. We are happy since we had quite a bit of onboard credit and 4 perks that we were able to keep.


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Persistence is the name of the game! The inconsistencies in Celebrity's administration of any policy are not new.

I'm very happy for you.

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12 hours ago, sn2792 said:


Third time is the charm. I called my TA to cancel my October cruise since there wasn’t an equivalent cruise next year. This time he got my 11 day moved to a 12 day with no added dollars for the extra day. We are happy since we had quite a bit of onboard credit and 4 perks that we were able to keep.


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Well done, that’s a great result, I’m currently in the same battle with X and getting nowhere, in fact they’re making me feel like an inconvenience, I’ve been told I can keep a $200 obc that they claim was from a previous complaint, that’s absolutely untrue it was a goodwill gesture when the price went down, I’m staying polite but I wish they’d just cancel our cruise, give me my deposit back and I’ll go elsewhere 😡😡😡

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28 minutes ago, Lolou127 said:

Well done, that’s a great result, I’m currently in the same battle with X and getting nowhere, in fact they’re making me feel like an inconvenience, I’ve been told I can keep a $200 obc that they claim was from a previous complaint, that’s absolutely untrue it was a goodwill gesture when the price went down, I’m staying polite but I wish they’d just cancel our cruise, give me my deposit back and I’ll go elsewhere 😡😡😡

 

What are you trying to lift and shift to? 

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