Might be done with Celebrity/ beware the upgrade

[WonderMan3]

1 minute ago, davekathy said:

You assuming.  It's very clear to me what the OP said. 

 

No kidding. 

It can be read either way so you also assume.

[Mr. Click]

Since the supervisor has made it clear that it is just too bad going to the Captains CLub is not likely to help.  I have never had a major issue with Celebrity but when dealing with other big corporations I have gone to the CEO's office when other things have failed.  CEOs do not like unhappy customers.  If you want to go that route be brief and direct.

Primary Contact
Lisa Lutoff-Perlo
President and CEO
1050 Caribbean Way
Miami, FL 33132
lLutoff-Perlo@celebritycruises.com

[davekathy]

2 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

It can be read either way so you also assume.

Come on man. That's a stretch, on your part. Crystal clear what OP said.

[WonderMan3]

Just now, davekathy said:

Come on man. That's a stretch, on your part. Crystal clear what OP said.

Done discussing this with you. Go argue with someone else.
 

[davekathy]

9 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

Done discussing this with you. Go argue with someone else.
 

Chill out. Not agreeing with everything you said doesn't mean I was arguing with you or you with me. At least I didn't take it that way. ✌️

Edited December 9, 2021 by davekathy

[cruiser61262]

Let me clear this up.   The Supervisor said it was my fault for getting off the phone without a cabin number.  I feel that my only fault was trusting the Celebrity call center guy.  I am sorry for being naive in my belief that Celebrity valued me as a customer.  My rose colored glasses have been removed.  For those of you defending Celebrity for how I was treated , I wish you well and hope that someday you are not put in this situation.  I know that some people just get off by being contrary so I don’t take their comments too seriously.

UPDATE:

Yesterday I was reached out to by a representative from the CEO’s office and they asked if they could call me to discuss what happened.  I am unavailable today, but hopefully we will touch base tomorrow. Like I’ve stated, I don’t want any extra perks and I don’t want to be upgraded to a cabin I didn’t pay for….what I want is a little respect and acknowledgment that what they did to me was wrong and I want to be reassured that I am wrong  in thinking that this is their new business model.  

[RICCruisers]

@cruiser61262Rooting for you to have your issue resolved to your satisfaction after your upcoming phone call. 

[michaeljc70]

Sorry about your issue. I met someone on the Apex last month that booked an Aqua Class room because they use the AquaSpa  a lot. They were upgraded to Retreat....which meant they had to pay for the AquaSpa that was included with their booked room.  

[Birdnutty]

OP, I would've been pissed as hell too.  It does appear that Celebrity messed up and is trying to cover up a bit.  I hope your issue gets resolved in a way that makes you happy.

 

I read through the pages quickly, so I don't know if this was suggested yet, but when you speak with whoever, mention that your issue has been a topic of discussion on Cruisecritic.  A single passenger's lament is hardly even an annoyance to them sometimes, regardless of loyalty.  But when it's brought to light on a forum like this with so many readers, that's bad press.  And they don't really like bad press.

[Lady Arwen]

What I find most disturbing, are the number of CC members who have no empathy whatsoever for the OP.  Is it necessary to treat people this way?  The OP was merely sharing her recent experience with  Celebrity and her frustration at how she was treated.  If you saw the situation in a different light, then just explain how you  came to that conclusion.  Period. There was no need to keep reiterating that she was to blame and how incredibly smart you are to never let this happen to you.  Please try to be kind.

[royalcruz]

I hope that you get a good result and will come back and share. Maybe the executive office will be able to find the recording. I hate that people are telling you that you should have known better.  Whether it is your first booking or your 50th, it is the rep's responsibility to give you correct info in the moment it is being given.  Telling you they are technically booking a guarantee, but that it's not really a guarantee, was likely an error,  because they likely didn't have the authority to see your booking through to the point of assigning a room. They asked you to trust them to do something they couldn't do, with your booking and your money on the line.  

[Pizzasteve]

It might save some time to share a link to this thread, which clearly describes the issue.  We loved our recent cruise on Celeb,  after a horrible set of experiences with the call center on a number of issues.  The crew of the ship were flawless, and made up for the horrible sales team.  I hope you have a great experience as well. We were returning customers after 20 years of no cruising, but now retired in our 50s with tons of money to spend. We expected to be a high value customer they would value (booked FV at fairly good rate), and the ship crew sure expressed it, but the sales team didnt. 

 

I suspect that the US based sales and customer service organizations are poorly run or are in a shambles due to covid disruptions or cost cutting (used to advise large companies in that space for the top advisory firms), while the international operations team understand how critical we are to their livelihood and show it.  The US job market has lots of better options for high performing staff right now than the cruise industry.  Just a fact, so likely they have lost good employees to other industries.  The office of the CEO is likely dealing with this and a lot of other challenges, so have some sympathy for them as well.  Also, lots of cost and revenue challenges, stock in the trash bin lately.   Good luck.

Edited December 9, 2021 by Pizzasteve

[TeeRick]

19 hours ago, cruiser61262 said:

In January 2020 I booked a port hole verandah cabin on the Apex for April on 2022.  I booked this because my husband and I did not like the infinite veranda when we sailed the Edge.  I felt that this might be some semblance of a traditional veranda without the expense of a sunset veranda.  About 3 months ago I started having second thoughts about this and called Celebrity to see if there were any Sunset Verandas available for our sailing and the gentleman on the phone said that a block of rooms had been returned by a travel agent and there were some available.  He stated that because they had just been returned he could not give me a cabin number but that they were available.  He stated that it would go in as a "Sunset Veranda Guarantee" until the room was assigned.  I specifically told him that I did not want to switch to a Guarantee because I would lose all my perks.  He stated that I would not lose them because there was a room and it was just how it had to go into the system.  He told me that Celebrity would contact me with the room number.  I agreed to the new price and my port hole veranda reservation was cancelled. Celebrity never contacted me with the cabin number.  I logged into my account the other day to see if the room had been assigned yet.  They gave me an Obstructed View Infinite Verandah room on deck 6!!  I called them and they tried to tell me that there were no longer Sunset Veranda rooms available and this was an Upgrade from the Sunset Veranda.  Do they think I am an idiot?  They gave me a cheaper category.  I asked to speak to a supervisor.  To make a long story short, the Supervisor actually listened to the tape of my phone call and basically stated that what I told her occurred was true but  I should not have gotten off the phone without a cabin number so it was my fault.  She said that the call center person I interacted with would be sent for further training.   She did state that when I upgraded they had changed my cabin to a nonrefundable deposit but they would refund me all my money if I wanted to cancel.  Thanks for nothing Celebrity.  I think I am done with you.  After all the changes to Captain's Club benefits my Elite perks are about as good as the paper they are written on.  I sent an email to Celebrity and am waiting for a reply.  I have until January to get my refund.  Does not look good.... this is not the Fantasy/Celebrity cruise line that use to value loyalty.  Thanks for letting me vent!

You should definitely vent.  You were treated unfairly and the follow up was unacceptable.

[Homosassa]

18 hours ago, davekathy said:

I never new Celebrity was a fantasy cruise line. 😂 

Quick history lesson:

 

Chandris Cruiseline (Greek Chi (X) on smokestack) broke into two divisions: Fantasy (cheap cruises to compete with Carnival) and Celebrity (upscale to compete with HAL, Princess, and Royal Caribbean).

 

In the end of the 1990s, Chandris closed Fantasy and sold Celebrity to Royal Caribbean. The Chi still is the logo on the Cekebrity smokestack. 

 

Royal Caribbean now had the problem of having two brands geared to the same market demographic: upper middle class that enjoy superb service and a quiet relaxing cruise experience.

 

The solution was to go down-market with the Royal Caribbean brand and starting in the 2000s, the emphasis sifted to  being a competitor with Carnival and the phasing out of the small ships and the upscale cruising experience. It was hoped that the old clientele would migrate to Celebrity. 

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, cruiser61262 said:

Let me clear this up.   The Supervisor said it was my fault for getting off the phone without a cabin number.  I feel that my only fault was trusting the Celebrity call center guy.  I am sorry for being naive in my belief that Celebrity valued me as a customer.  My rose colored glasses have been removed.

How do you get a stateroom number on a guarantee? Totally agree with you for trusting someone over a phone conversation. Do you have a paper trail? The way I see it you should have four invoices. 1st, your original, 2nd your cancelled original, 3rd your new invoice showing you paid for a SV guarantee and 4th, the most recent invoice showing your new stateroom that you didn't pay for, and everything associated with the booking. With these documents you should have Celebrity backed in a corner. You have a contract. My unsolicited advise is get it in writing. With computers and smart phones there's no reason not to get everything in writing to establish a paper trail. 

 

I hope this all works out for you. At least you still have the option of telling Celebrity to stuff it and especially if you have that in writing that the supervisor said that when you upgraded they had changed my cabin to a nonrefundable deposit but they would refund me all my money if I wanted to cancel.  

 

BTW for the record, I am not a Celebrity cheerleader. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by davekathy

[davekathy]

2 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

Quick history lesson:

 

Chandris Cruiseline (Greek Chi (X) on smokestack) broke into two divisions: Fantasy (cheap cruises to compete with Carnival) and Celebrity (upscale to compete with HAL, Princess, and Royal Caribbean).

 

In the end of the 1990s, Chandris closed Fantasy and sold Celebrity to Royal Caribbean. The Chi still is the logo on the Cekebrity smokestack. 

 

Royal Caribbean now had the problem of having two brands geared to the same market demographic: upper middle class that enjoy superb service and a quiet relaxing cruise experience.

 

The solution was to go down-market with the Royal Caribbean brand and starting in the 2000s, the emphasis sifted to  being a competitor with Carnival and the phasing out of the small ships and the upscale cruising experience. It was hoped that the old clientele would migrate to Celebrity. 

Thanks for the history lesson concerning Fantasy. I knew all the other history. Our second cruise was in 1994 on the Celebrity Zenith. 

[jagoffee]

5 hours ago, cruiser61262 said:

Let me clear this up.   The Supervisor said it was my fault for getting off the phone without a cabin number.  I feel that my only fault was trusting the Celebrity call center guy.  I am sorry for being naive in my belief that Celebrity valued me as a customer.  My rose colored glasses have been removed.  For those of you defending Celebrity for how I was treated , I wish you well and hope that someday you are not put in this situation.  I know that some people just get off by being contrary so I don’t take their comments too seriously.

UPDATE:

Yesterday I was reached out to by a representative from the CEO’s office and they asked if they could call me to discuss what happened.  I am unavailable today, but hopefully we will touch base tomorrow. Like I’ve stated, I don’t want any extra perks and I don’t want to be upgraded to a cabin I didn’t pay for….what I want is a little respect and acknowledgment that what they did to me was wrong and I want to be reassured that I am wrong  in thinking that this is their new business model.  

Good luck.  Does your invoice/booking actually say Sunset Veranda GTY?  If yes, I cannot imagine that you would not be successful.  

[wrk2cruise]

@cruiser61262 I'm glad my suggestion worked out for you and you have been connected with the group who will try to make this right for you.  Again please come back and let us know how it works out.

 

 

[zitsky]

When you book directly with Celebrity, do you get a booking confirmation?  Wouldn't that help to know cabin type?

 

I just did a booking yesterday for a specific category and cabin with a TA and today I logged in to X.com where I can confirm what I requested. 

Edited December 9, 2021 by zitsky

[cdn_tbird]

7 hours ago, cruiser61262 said:

Let me clear this up.   The Supervisor said it was my fault for getting off the phone without a cabin number.  I feel that my only fault was trusting the Celebrity call center guy.  I am sorry for being naive in my belief that Celebrity valued me as a customer.  My rose colored glasses have been removed.  For those of you defending Celebrity for how I was treated , I wish you well and hope that someday you are not put in this situation.  I know that some people just get off by being contrary so I don’t take their comments too seriously.

UPDATE:

Yesterday I was reached out to by a representative from the CEO’s office and they asked if they could call me to discuss what happened.  I am unavailable today, but hopefully we will touch base tomorrow. Like I’ve stated, I don’t want any extra perks and I don’t want to be upgraded to a cabin I didn’t pay for….what I want is a little respect and acknowledgment that what they did to me was wrong and I want to be reassured that I am wrong  in thinking that this is their new business model.  

Hoping things get straightened out you come to a resolution that makes you whole. Mistakes happen, how they are resolved is the important part IMHO.

 

We had one issue arise when a cruise we were booked on got chartered. The options that we were given weren't to our liking. Two cruises were itineraries that we had recently done, and the other only had cabins directly under high traffic areas and with my wife being an extremely light sleeper would have been a nightmare. I simply countered with a different cruise that we'd be happy with and because it was a longer cruise offered to pay a little extra. The person I was dealing with agreed to the cruise we asked for in the same class of cabin we originally had, but actually gave it to us for a little less than our original cruise price.

 

I'm a firm believer that good can come out of bad.

Edited December 9, 2021 by cdn_tbird

[TeaBag]

I definitely sympathise with you, cruiser.  You have been the victim of personnel not properly trained.  I really think this is another "gift" of COVID.  The good people have left or been let go and been replaced by people who will tell you the first thing that comes into their minds, correct or incorrect.  I don't know why some on this thread are saying you rolled the dice.  You were told you had to book a GUARANTEE because the cabins had not yet been freed up for booking by number.

I also agree with the poster who told you they should assign you to a suite for all your grief over this booking.  Planning a cruise should be fun not a headache.

We have been sailing with Celebrity for almost 30 years too and I am getting fed up.  Hate those 2 hour waits on the phone and don't even get me started on their web site.

I am really looking forward to your post about how they have resolved this mess and I wish you the best cruise ever.

[FlamingJune1967]

15 hours ago, chucknmarilyn said:

This is probably irrelevant to you now but technically an Infinite Veranda is an upgrade from a Sunset Veranda. Maybe not in popularity with some but on the pricing structure.

no it is not.  I've been looking for Edge class cruises in 2022 and SV are priced Higher than IV.  In some cases substantially more.  That is disappointing because I booked my upcoming December Criuse in an SV and it was actually cheaper than an IV.  I guess Celebrity is catching on.  What upsets me is that they keep churning out these boats with Infinite Verandas - Not looking good for my future cruising with Celebrity. 

[WonderMan3]

8 hours ago, cruiser61262 said:

Let me clear this up.   The Supervisor said it was my fault for getting off the phone without a cabin number.  I feel that my only fault was trusting the Celebrity call center guy.  I am sorry for being naive in my belief that Celebrity valued me as a customer.  My rose colored glasses have been removed.  For those of you defending Celebrity for how I was treated , I wish you well and hope that someday you are not put in this situation.  I know that some people just get off by being contrary so I don’t take their comments too seriously.

UPDATE:

Yesterday I was reached out to by a representative from the CEO’s office and they asked if they could call me to discuss what happened.  I am unavailable today, but hopefully we will touch base tomorrow. Like I’ve stated, I don’t want any extra perks and I don’t want to be upgraded to a cabin I didn’t pay for….what I want is a little respect and acknowledgment that what they did to me was wrong and I want to be reassured that I am wrong  in thinking that this is their new business model.  

Thanks for the update! Happy to hear that Celebrity is listening to your concerns and plans to follow up with you. Clearly they know they erred and want to make it right with you. Hopefully this has a satisfactory resolution for you. So sorry that some here have chosen to blame you for mistakes caused by a poorly trained booking agent. Please continue to share any updates with us. 🙂

[sasset]

I had an issue several years ago. Can't recall the specifics but it bothered me enough to email Lisa Ludoff-Perlo. I got a response from an 'Executive Assistant' who was assigned to look into my issue. A couple of emails back and forth and it was resolved to my satisfaction.

 

Good luck.

17 hours ago, RICCruisers said:

I can’t quite see where all of you are saying they rolled the dice. The OP got off the phone knowing they would be assigned an SV. Being assigned an obstructed view IV never crossed their mind. According to the OP they have been sailing with X for 30 years. Call me naive, but the OP trusted X to live up to what they promised. The best way for X to make their mistake up to the OP is to give them an upgrade to a suite. It’s really hard reading the comments from know it all cynics and X apologists who come up with cutesy phrases like “Rolling the Dice”. The OP never imagined a company like X would ever treat a customer either new or repeat in such a shabby manner. 

Agree. The 'dice roll' was for an SV Guarantee. That means that category or higher. 

[wrk2cruise]

I was going to argue with @WonderMan and others that Infinite Veranda was in fact an upgrade but I went to look an I was wrong.  Categories are listed from lowest bottom right to highest on upper left in these displays.   That said the next category up from SV would be Concierge Class which I believe are all Infinite Veranda style staterooms (without balcony) although I would hope none would be obstructed.

 

For those saying the OP should be upgrade to a suite, well that's just not going to happen.