Kudos to Celebrity for Luggage Assistance

[moneeman]

We recently cruised on Beyond with another couple, embarking in Barcelona.  We chose a direct flight (driving 5 hours to get to it), while our friends flew a different airline via connecting flights.  As fate would have it, the first flight was delayed and they missed their connection. They were diverted to another airline where they flew to New Jersey (from Florida) where they missed that flight because (unknown to them) they were only on standby for the international leg.  When they finally made it to Barcelona the next day, predictably their luggage was nowhere to be found.  After spending hours in the lost luggage line, they resorted to buying a couple of outfits at a local mall, expecting to get their luggage in a couple of days.  Well, their luggage never came.  I could write much more about what they did to get by, but the point of this post is what Celebrity did.

 

Our friends were having zero luck even getting the airline to answer the phone after hours on hold.  They mentioned this to the Retreat Concierge, who said "we would be happy to help!"  It wasn't Celebrity's problem, but they jumped right in.  While they ultimately were not able to get the luggage delivered, they WERE able to actually speak regularly with the airline and to get a few updates.  The luggage eventually made it to Barcelona, but the Barcelona crew would not send it to the ship...go figure.  Celebrity also provided amenity kits, several t-shirts, and free laundry all cruise long.  They also finally got Barcelona to send the luggage back to Florida so our friends would at least get their belongings back.  Finally, on the last day of the cruise Celebrity told our friends that they were giving them $795 FCC each for their inconvenience.  I was floored by this because Celebrity had no role in the fiasco.  Our friends did enjoy the cruise, and they plan to "burn these clothes" that they wore the entire cruise in the near future.  Kudos to Celebrity for helping them have a great cruise, despite the circumstances!

[Silent Penguin]

43 minutes ago, moneeman said:

We recently cruised on Beyond with another couple, embarking in Barcelona.  We chose a direct flight (driving 5 hours to get to it), while our friends flew a different airline via connecting flights.  As fate would have it, the first flight was delayed and they missed their connection. They were diverted to another airline where they flew to New Jersey (from Florida) where they missed that flight because (unknown to them) they were only on standby for the international leg.  When they finally made it to Barcelona the next day, predictably their luggage was nowhere to be found.  After spending hours in the lost luggage line, they resorted to buying a couple of outfits at a local mall, expecting to get their luggage in a couple of days.  Well, their luggage never came.  I could write much more about what they did to get by, but the point of this post is what Celebrity did.

 

Our friends were having zero luck even getting the airline to answer the phone after hours on hold.  They mentioned this to the Retreat Concierge, who said "we would be happy to help!"  It wasn't Celebrity's problem, but they jumped right in.  While they ultimately were not able to get the luggage delivered, they WERE able to actually speak regularly with the airline and to get a few updates.  The luggage eventually made it to Barcelona, but the Barcelona crew would not send it to the ship...go figure.  Celebrity also provided amenity kits, several t-shirts, and free laundry all cruise long.  They also finally got Barcelona to send the luggage back to Florida so our friends would at least get their belongings back.  Finally, on the last day of the cruise Celebrity told our friends that they were giving them $795 FCC each for their inconvenience.  I was floored by this because Celebrity had no role in the fiasco.  Our friends did enjoy the cruise, and they plan to "burn these clothes" that they wore the entire cruise in the near future.  Kudos to Celebrity for helping them have a great cruise, despite the circumstances!

Wow!  Thank you for sharing this!  

[jelayne]

Thanks for sharing  we have found Celebrity do go the extra mile.

[MarKay525]

This is great that Celebrity went the extra mile, but I would venture to guess that it had less to do with "corporate" Celebrity policies and more to do with the ship culture that is fostered by Capt. Kate on Beyond. She seems to be about service - not a position taken by all captains.

[LGW59]

4 minutes ago, MarKay525 said:

This is great that Celebrity went the extra mile, but I would venture to guess that it had less to do with "corporate" Celebrity policies and more to do with the ship culture that is fostered by Capt. Kate on Beyond. She seems to be about service - not a position taken by all captains.

Does it really matter, no need to venture to guess, it happened, good job Celebrity WHOEVER it was and perhaps that "corporate" culture trickles down just a wee bit.  

[cyntil8ing]

This is exactly what travel insurance is for. I would have been shopping in every port!

 

Kudos for Celebrity for helping out.