Lift and shift, shake and bake...and I'm very happy...

[Bruin Steve]

So, we had a great summer planned for 2020...We were set to fly to Milan in a couple of weeks from now to start a 10 day pre-cruise in Switzerland and the Cinque Terre...then do back-to-back cruises followed by a couple of nights in Rome, then home...

 

And, then, like with everyone else, Covid-19 hit...and decimated our plans.

 

We debated for a long while as to what to do...Cancel, recoup our money...and wait...Or accept a 125% FCC and try to rebook.  We were leading toward the latter, but, every time I checked prices, the deals on 2021 came nowhere close to the wonderful deal we had for 2020. 

 

We had great low prices, having booked 15 months early...plus, we had three great perks--drinks, gratuities and LOTS of onboard credit...In fact, since we renegotiated a couple of times, we had extra onboard credit thanks to some previously unheard of promotions.  And we had a really great midship Concierge class cabin, same one for both cruises.  And we had a REALLY good airfare booked via Celebrity Choice Air--including a nonstop LAX-FCO flight to get to Rome (once we decided to scrap the Switzerland plans and Milan flight).  But, with all that, reconstructing any of this was going to run a LOT more than 125%.

 

Then, Celebrity came up with the "Lift-and-Shift".  First thought was "Perfect".  But then, all of the restrictions and rules reared their ugly heads.  Our 2020 Itineraries were NOT being duplicated in 2021.  The two ports that were the major impetus for our booking were dropped from the itineraries.  And the structure of our back-to-back cruises without significant port duplication was upset as well.  And, one of the weeks we had booked a 7-night 2020 cruise for became an 8 night cruise in 2021. Later in the summer, there would be two cruises on two different ships which DID offer the two target ports (one on each cruise) and could be done "side-to-side"...but those would be a 9-night cruise followed by an 11-night cruise.

 

Our travel agent, basically, told us that the "Lift-and-Shift" was just not an option for us.  Didn't seem exactly fair.  People with simple 7-night bookings could easily do a lift-and-shift...but, those of us booking twice the number of nights couldn't have a similar reasonable option.  I called Celebrity and initially got a similar brick wall--I could just get my money back...Or, I could take a 125% FCC and book something I wanted--at whatever price and with whatever perks.  I was told I could maybe do what I want if I'd just give up my perks and move down to an OV cabin.

 

Of course, I don't give up easy...And, I eventually found myself the right contact at Celebrity (As we all know, or should know, some are better than others).  It wasn't easy.  Everyone at Celebrity is working from home...and, booking through a TA, my TA was working from home.  With all of the cancellations, rebookings and other issues, wait times to speak to anyone are long.  The people at Celebrity have to be extra-patient, the TAs have to put in lots of extra work.  Nothing is easy.  My advice to all of my fellow cruisers is to realize that--and be as NICE as possible...to your TA, to the people at Celebrity...show appreciation...and stay calm.  The Celebrity people are overworked.  Your TA is probably doing more work, taking more time and earning less commission...and NOTHING IS EASY.

 

None of us want to be in this current situation.  Celebrity wants to sell cruises and fill up ships.  TAs want to make bookings and earn commissions.  AND we all want to go on cruises again (of course, we also want it to be absolutely safe to do so).

 

Well, finally, I have it all worked out.  I was able to flat-out lift-and-shift one cruise.  I was able to actually move my other leg to a different itinerary on a different ship.  I got all of my perks applied, even my large amount of OBC.  Its all with no additional cost from what we were very happy paying for 2020.  I've got a great Concierge cabin on both ships. Instead of flying in and out of Rome, I'll be flying in to Barcelona and home from Venice (though I'll likely add back my planned Switzerland pre-cruise trip as a post-cruise--then fly home from Milan.  I won't get to stay in the same cabin for two legs, instead, we'll have to pack up and move to a hotel in Rome for two nights between cruises. But that's all okay.  This trip WILL be wonderful.

 

Of course, there is now an extra year of anticipation.  We just hope that the world returns to normal by then and we don't have to go through all of this again.

 

In the meanwhile, I have to thank (with all my heart) the great representative at Celebrity who worked through all of this and cleared the whole thing with corporate...and my travel agent--who put in extra hours working on re-booking all of the details and waiting on hold from her phone at home without the support of her usual office staff--for what, in normal times, should have been a closed file.

 

Now, let's let the doctors, scientists and pharmaceutical companies do their work (hopefully with a little extra government funding and less intrusion from the politicians) so we can all have a vaccine or dependable treatment and we can all get back to cruising...

[mason525]

Bruin Steve-

You have always offered great advice  on these boards and now is no different! Your attitude is wise. Have an Asian cruise in October that I'm going to try to L&S.

Thanks and happy(delayed) travels.

Meg

[MamaFej]

@Bruin Steve, that's great news, deserving of an 8-Clap! We also have a complicated, technically not Lift & Shift*-able trip planned for this year. My awesome TA worked his magic with his awesome Celebrity marketing person, and they are making it happen for us. I much prefer this year's itinerary, but it will be our first trip to Asia, so everything will be new to us anyway. We will tack on some land time to get to the places we'll miss, and maybe even add more.

 

Being polite, calm, and patient can go a long way!

 

* Lift & Shift, Shake & Bake, Slip & Slide, or as my TA calls it "Naked Twister."

 

.

[BEAV]

Excellent. Patience, perseverance, and as you said, being polite and courteous wins again. 

 

Congratulations!

[chemmo]

So pleased you have managed to get things sorted!

 

We love cruises that start and end in different ports, so easy to add two city breaks to your cruise and Barcelona and Venice are two of our favourites...

 

So agree with your attitude towards staff...So many people can be ‘grumpy’ to the people on the other end of the phone, almost acting as if it is their fault that holiday plans have gone to pieces. Nice to hear Celebrity will show some flexibility with lift and shift.

[catz0026]

great results with patience, congrats

[K12Guy]

On 6/8/2020 at 10:41 PM, chemmo said:

So agree with your attitude towards staff...So many people can be ‘grumpy’ to the people on the other end of the phone

ABSOLUTELY!

 

Thank you, so much, for that comment.

 

When Sharon and/or I call any of the support staff for any company we always apply the "If it was me" rule in the way we treat the folks on the other end of the line. And, we get that courtesy back so many times over and we almost always get a reasonable solution.