Currently on the Edge in the Retreat and being told we do not have a drinks package?

[HMR74]

my line of thought is there are two Celebrity businesses.

 The first is the front office and administration et al

the second is the actual cruise business.

 

Once you get past the administrative side, and you do have to read all the paperwork you get to see if its what you signed up for, then, once you board the ships, its a different and excellent experience.

 

I have a b2b2b booked and the invoices for the 3 are different in structure-the end product is what I signed up for,  but 3 different routes. They need help with their administrative software is my conclusion.

One of the curisis is set up for refundable only, teh other two offer non refundable but the "discount" offered is not proportionate, eg, on one I get a 1400 discount on a 900 deposit, and the other I get a 400 discount on a 900 deposit. But on the one with no  non refundable, teh telephone person helping me game me a price that was equivalent to a 1100 discount but I get the refundable coding.

 

Gives me a headache.

I won't care because the quality of the cruise is remembered far after the  price is forgotten. I just want a clean check in and afterwards my wife keeps repeating it was a great cruise (apparently even with me)

 

 

 

 

 

[HMR74]

36 minutes ago, kearney said:

I may have 'spoken' too soon... over night seems like we have made a u-turn... now threads on St Petersburg cruises, gas surcharges starting to popup.... guess we are going from on crisis to another. As Betty Davis said  in All About Eve... "hold on it's going to be a bumpy night"

Last I looked at a 2022 contract, the fuel  surcharge kicked in at something  like $80  per barrel and we were above that before this latest issue.

 

do not forget food costs which have been going up since mid year 2021. Just meat, poultry, fish, produce and dairy and of course transportation. Here is a hot pece of news, aluminum is up 3x over a year ago so if they have canned food on board, thats another cost increase.

 

I just hope they have a good inventory of computer chips on board. And Booze.

[Bo1953]

1 minute ago, HMR74 said:

Last I looked at a 2022 contract, the fuel  surcharge kicked in at something  like $80  per barrel and we were above that before this latest issue.

 

do not forget food costs which have been going up since mid year 2021. Just meat, poultry, fish, produce and dairy and of course transportation. Here is a hot pece of news, aluminum is up 3x over a year ago so if they have canned food on board, thats another cost increase.

 

I just hope they have a good inventory of computer chips on board. And Booze.

Sounds like a good trade off to me!!!

 

Cheers and bon voyage

[HMR74]

2 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Sounds like a good trade off to me!!!

 

Cheers and bon voyage

I would have used more of a gold coloring  for the and Booze, closer to the color of beer and Crown Royal. Can't find the color for the Reisling I drink, almost clear.  LOL

[kearney]

18 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Sounds like a good trade off to me!!!

 

Cheers and bon voyage

Well let us hope there is no booze surcharge.... or vodka shortage

[HMR74]

6 minutes ago, kearney said:

Well let us hope there is no booze surcharge.... or vodka shortage

3 years ago we were on Infinity for a Spring TA and they sent out an e mail they were sold out on wine packages because  they had no room to store more wine.

 

How can they not have room to store booze?

[emmas gran]

This thread has deviated a little but where is the OP??

[JamieLogical]

Just now, emmas gran said:

This thread has deviated a little but where is the OP??

 

Still on his cruise, I assume...

[LGW59]

6 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

This thread has deviated a little but where is the OP??

Maybe we should rename it Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego...

[PTC DAWG]

16 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Still on his cruise, I assume...

Avoiding his Bride...if I was him, and wanted drinks, I would have just ponied up on board..

[Lena11033]

Derailing a bit here just want to say thank you to those that said to call (no not the OP). I have my first ever cruise in the summer and yes I did read everything but I purchased in Nov and never got an invoice so got a little worried, 5 mins on the phone and all is good. Next time will save a PDF before I hit the buy button!

[mfs2k]

51 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

This thread has deviated a little but where is the OP??

Enjoying a cruise. and I'm more than a little bit jealous.  Mine is in 244 days.

I need another vacation sooner. 

Edited February 24, 2022 by mfs2k

[HMR74]

43 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

Derailing a bit here just want to say thank you to those that said to call (no not the OP). I have my first ever cruise in the summer and yes I did read everything but I purchased in Nov and never got an invoice so got a little worried, 5 mins on the phone and all is good. Next time will save a PDF before I hit the buy button!

FWIW and this happened on Royal using a TA, the price dropped and I have 4 cabins booked and they were together.

I got the  price decrease and new invoices (Royal and X use the same software) -I looked at the first 3 invoices and all was ok so I did not  look at the 4th invoice--two months later another price decrease, and new invoices the next day,  and I looked at all four and to my dismay, one of the cabins changed (4 cabins for the  family all in a row where we could open the partitions on balcony) and the  one that changed was booked by somene else.

 

It took 3 weeks but Royal got it fixed by asking the party if they would flip with us and they did.

 

What I learned is you have to look at EVERYTHING well before you sail to make sure it was what  you signed up for.

 

 

 

Edited February 24, 2022 by HMR74

[cdn_tbird]

6 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

The notification was a lack of some icons across the top of the screen?

No, it wasn't the lack of icons. It was the fact that the summary of what you were about to commit thousands of dollars to displayed on the page in plain language and not cryptic codes didn't list the drink package, wi-fi, etc...

[HMR74]

14 minutes ago, cdn_tbird said:

No, it wasn't the lack of icons. It was the fact that the summary of what you were about to commit thousands of dollars to displayed on the page in plain language and not cryptic codes didn't list the drink package, wi-fi, etc...

If the topic is how does X present the info for the purchase price, back many years ago, 3 to be exact, teh price was the basic cruise with a fare that was refundabe. Now its prices at th enon refundabe fare., so when you think about what you paid last time vs now, you need a spreadsheet to compare the all included et al.

 

I use a website that keeps track of fare changes and they send out a fare change for X that now is a non guaranteed cabin or does not incl the grats, or drinks or internet.Which makes it messy, and then add in the ala carte internet which was 200PP for 16 days 2 years ago but is now 400 or 500 for 14 days, which forces one back into indulge package.

 

 

[Lastdance]

6 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

Agree

My initial response came from reading about several people who commented on another site that several crew members they met were from Ukraine and one from Russia.  The discussion was about how they felt about their family and friends concerning what was happening in Ukraine.  Being a world traveler and educator teaching contemporary world cultures, I made that comment from my perspective.  it was a general comment, one not made to a specific individual.  In no way was I trying to say that anyone should not enjoy their life because of world events, but just mentioning it to be respective and have concern for crew members.  Why am I here?  I am a member just like you.  I decided to explain my reasoning behind my comment to clarify.  Of course I have many cruises booked and hope to enjoy all of them, hoping that others do the same.  I guess my comment was okay because it was not removed from this thread.

[mfs2k]

8 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

My initial response came from reading about several people who commented on another site that several crew members they met were from Ukraine and one from Russia.  The discussion was about how they felt about their family and friends concerning what was happening in Ukraine.  Being a world traveler and educator teaching contemporary world cultures, I made that comment from my perspective.  it was a general comment, one not made to a specific individual.  In no way was I trying to say that anyone should not enjoy their life because of world events, but just mentioning it to be respective and have concern for crew members.  Why am I here?  I am a member just like you.  I decided to explain my reasoning behind my comment to clarify.  Of course I have many cruises booked and hope to enjoy all of them, hoping that others do the same.  I guess my comment was okay because it was not removed from this thread.

I understand. I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s understandable to feel so much in life is frivolous when there’s so many very stark and serious things happening now. Many of us need to escape the seriousness for a while. I remember posts after 9/11 when people were upset some were discussing cruising after so many perished. 
it’s ok and normal to think about both serious topics and ones that seem inconsequential by comparison. 

[Sp429]

On 2/23/2022 at 10:39 PM, PuraVida3000 said:

I’d love to hear how this turns out. That seems really odd

I was told I would get a call back in 24-48 hours, and that didn't happen. I called back and was told the Supervisor was on vacation. The agent I spoke to said that the sales department (I booked directly with Celebrity) tells people untrue things all the time to get people to book. Lesson learned. At first, the agent said we would automatically have access to Retreat and Luminae (since we are booked in a suite). Then he said, oh wait, the promo you booked (Simply Sail) that even though you are in a suite, you won't have access to Retreat or Luminae.  When I go on the website and do a mock booking for the same promo, it says there is access. I didn't take a screen shot on the web when I booked, because I trusted the Celebrity agent to tell the truth. She said I had access. Another lesson learned as I will book myself on the web in the future so I can see things for myself and take screen shots. This is my 32nd cruise (several on Celebrity) and have never had a problem. 

[HMR74]

7 minutes ago, Sp429 said:

I was told I would get a call back in 24-48 hours, and that didn't happen. I called back and was told the Supervisor was on vacation. The agent I spoke to said that the sales department (I booked directly with Celebrity) tells people untrue things all the time to get people to book. Lesson learned. At first, the agent said we would automatically have access to Retreat and Luminae (since we are booked in a suite). Then he said, oh wait, the promo you booked (Simply Sail) that even though you are in a suite, you won't have access to Retreat or Luminae.  When I go on the website and do a mock booking for the same promo, it says there is access. I didn't take a screen shot on the web when I booked, because I trusted the Celebrity agent to tell the truth. She said I had access. Another lesson learned as I will book myself on the web in the future so I can see things for myself and take screen shots. This is my 32nd cruise (several on Celebrity) and have never had a problem. 

the running joke in my family, whether X or RCL is call 7 times and see what answer appears the most. The problems is for RCL, when I finally get to someone and start explaining the issue, they cut me off saying they cannot hear me , and X it can take a long time to just get thru.

 

Covid is causing problems, as they do not have sufficient staff and the staff they have are not trained completely and many have language communication issues. I do nto know any way around it under these circumstances.

 

 

both are better than American Air, where last week the wait time was 7 hours. But I received an apology e mail from American.

[kwokpot]

45 minutes ago, Sp429 said:

I was told I would get a call back in 24-48 hours, and that didn't happen. I called back and was told the Supervisor was on vacation. The agent I spoke to said that the sales department (I booked directly with Celebrity) tells people untrue things all the time to get people to book. Lesson learned. At first, the agent said we would automatically have access to Retreat and Luminae (since we are booked in a suite). Then he said, oh wait, the promo you booked (Simply Sail) that even though you are in a suite, you won't have access to Retreat or Luminae.  When I go on the website and do a mock booking for the same promo, it says there is access. I didn't take a screen shot on the web when I booked, because I trusted the Celebrity agent to tell the truth. She said I had access. Another lesson learned as I will book myself on the web in the future so I can see things for myself and take screen shots. This is my 32nd cruise (several on Celebrity) and have never had a problem. 

That makes no sense and is incorrect. Simply  Sail Rate would mean that a drink package, gratuities,and wi-fi are NOT included.  Retreat access and Luminae are an integral part of the Retreat Class cabins starting with A Sky Suite and above. 

[Sp429]

1 minute ago, kwokpot said:

That makes no sense and is incorrect. Simply  Sail Rate would mean that a drink package, gratuities,and wi-fi are NOT included.  Retreat access and Luminae are an integral part of the Retreat Class cabins starting with A Sky Suite and above. 

I agree. I now have had 2 agents say otherwise. We will see when we get on the ship! 

[Bo1953]

20 hours ago, emmas gran said:

This thread has deviated a little but where is the OP??

Most likely at The Retreat bar ...

 

Cheers and bon voyage

[zitsky]

43 minutes ago, Sp429 said:

I agree. I now have had 2 agents say otherwise. We will see when we get on the ship! 

Didn’t you say that you did a mock booking and it showed access?  We’ll print it out then?!  It should help you, right?

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, Sp429 said:

I was told I would get a call back in 24-48 hours, and that didn't happen. I called back and was told the Supervisor was on vacation. The agent I spoke to said that the sales department (I booked directly with Celebrity) tells people untrue things all the time to get people to book. Lesson learned. At first, the agent said we would automatically have access to Retreat and Luminae (since we are booked in a suite). Then he said, oh wait, the promo you booked (Simply Sail) that even though you are in a suite, you won't have access to Retreat or Luminae.  When I go on the website and do a mock booking for the same promo, it says there is access. I didn't take a screen shot on the web when I booked, because I trusted the Celebrity agent to tell the truth. She said I had access. Another lesson learned as I will book myself on the web in the future so I can see things for myself and take screen shots. This is my 32nd cruise (several on Celebrity) and have never had a problem. 

Did you not, eventually, get a copy of your reservation???

 

All pertinent info will be there... if not, it can be ordered via phone without much human interaction to find out what you do or do not have.

 

bon voyage

[LGW59]

39 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Most likely at The Retreat bar ...

 

Cheers and bon voyage

but paying for his drinks...