HELP, FUTURE CRUISE CRUISE LATER

[FeelingCruisy]

On the phone with Celebrity.  We purchased 2 future cruise later certificates at $100 each while onboard Celebrity a few weeks ago.  We tried to use them today on the phone, holding, she's saying because it was 2 individual $100 each with different numbers, she can only book each one of us onto separate reservations.  ??? 

Is this true?? Why would future cruise lady onboard booked us separate certificates when we are cruising together?  Suggestions? Help?!!

Edited January 4, 2023 by FeelingCruisy

[signe63]

We booked a Cruise some time ago, only using one certificate for the two of us. Was told the certificates were refundable, but living in Denmark they are not, we later found out. But one certificate pr. cruise, for us at least. Booking was a bit of a hazzle, as the salesperson did not know anything about how to handle it………

[LB_NJ]

Try calling back and ask for a supervisor.  These days I find that at best, only one out of three agents know what they are doing.

[bigbenboys]

I got 3 certificates on our last cruise. I had my TA book a cruise with one of our certificates the other day. I did not ask my TA, but I saw a charge of $100 on my CC. I think your total deposit will be $200. The certificates should be good for 1 year.

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

37 minutes ago, FeelingCruisy said:

On the phone with Celebrity.  We purchased 2 future cruise later certificates at $100 each while onboard Celebrity a few weeks ago.  We tried to use them today on the phone, holding, she's saying because it was 2 individual $100 each with different numbers, she can only book each one of us onto separate reservations.  ??? 

Is this true?? Why would future cruise lady onboard booked us separate certificates when we are cruising together?  Suggestions? Help?!!

The agent you spoke to is somewhat right and I suppose the Future Cruise staff didn't explain clearly to you how the certificates work.  You should be able to add a second person to the booking using just one of the certificates, but you will likely have to pay their (the second person's) deposit to do so. 

 

I don't think they are going to allow the deposit paid towards the second certificate to be transferred to the other.  At least the deposit on the second certificate is fully refundable after 1 year.

 

I would call in again and ask to speak with a supervisor or have one call you back.  They might convert the second certificate to a paid deposit for the second guest if you explain what happened.  It does sound like an accounting mess as each certificate is treated as its own booking.  It's a shame they didn't explain this to you properly onboard.

[kabmab]

There seems to be much confusion over future cruise deposits/certificates made onboard by X.  We paid $200 in future cruise deposits for two of us while cruising in September on the Apex.  We were given a Celebrity form listing name, date, amount paid and confirmation number.  Our credit card was charged that day.  Booking a cruise two days ago, our TA was told no record of deposit.  We provided confirmation number and photo along with credit card charge.   X denied saying confirmation number and our paper was not the certificate number they required, but that was only paper we were given.  After much back and forth our TA was able to get the full amount of onboard credit due.  Bait and switch?  Not a good way to do business.

[FeelingCruisy]

Ours was resolved by supervisor and they made it sound like they were doing us a favor.  The future cruise lady booked us 2 separate 100 each, with 2 individual reservation numbers.  So by doing so, each one of us can only book a single cruise, or combine with a different name, but then you don't get the shipboard credit for the 2nd name added (and of course a higher deposit if you're booking non refundable.   Supervisor added the 100 from one reservation onto the other reservation so ended up with one reservation with $200 deposit.   So we can proceed.  But she had to made it clear this was an exception and a one off.   But while on the ship, the lady who sold us these 2 $100 future cruise credit actually also booked us for another cruise in 2024, us together under one cabin.   Why on earth she then sold us these  FCC and made 2 separate $100 each reservations is beyond me.   

Anyway, you're right.  There's absolutely no proof beyond the paperwork they gave you.   Did your TA figure out why they couldn't locate your names in the first place?  Anyway,  it was so complicated booking with Celebrity.  Believe it or not, 2 hours 45 mins to book this, waited for over an hour for the supervisor and with their system erroring continuosly, it literally took almost 3 hours to make a reservation.  I'm sure this is a one off, but anyway, all good now 

Edited January 5, 2023 by FeelingCruisy

[FeelingCruisy]

After reading all the replies, I'm even more confused now.   So when we buy these $100 FCC onboard, and if you are a couple traveling together, can they issue $100 x 2 under ONE name for future use?  (I know they can do that if you're actually booking a cruise which we also did)  I just assume the other FCC I bought could be joined to one reservation when we are ready to book, which clearly is not possible in my case before the supervisor intervened)

Edited January 5, 2023 by FeelingCruisy

[FeelingCruisy]

10 hours ago, bigbenboys said:

I got 3 certificates on our last cruise. I had my TA book a cruise with one of our certificates the other day. I did not ask my TA, but I saw a charge of $100 on my CC. I think your total deposit will be $200. The certificates should be good for 1 year.

So you could only use 1 ($100) certificate towards the cruise and paid additional $100 deposit for the second name added for a non refundable cruise?  And ended up the bonus credit from 1 certificate?  She told us that deposit would be $100 that is from the certificate but will have to pay $450 for the second name added.

Edited January 5, 2023 by FeelingCruisy

[mpdog42]

How about just not buying anymore of these FCC?

[bigbenboys]

11 hours ago, FeelingCruisy said:

So you could only use 1 ($100) certificate towards the cruise and paid additional $100 deposit for the second name added for a non refundable cruise?  And ended up the bonus credit from 1 certificate?  She told us that deposit would be $100 that is from the certificate but will have to pay $450 for the second name added.

I had my TA book a Celebrity Suite for us last month. My reservation has a total of $200 deposit. Quote is from my TA.

"Celebrity required a additional $100 – they said that your certificate number xxxxxx had only 1 guest (Richard) and $100 so they needed to add Randy plus $100.

Please confirm that your certificate has only a $100 deposit on it."

 

In the past I have upped to a full deposit to get additional benefits from Celebrity.

[paulh84]

16 hours ago, kabmab said:

There seems to be much confusion over future cruise deposits/certificates made onboard by X.  We paid $200 in future cruise deposits for two of us while cruising in September on the Apex.  We were given a Celebrity form listing name, date, amount paid and confirmation number.  Our credit card was charged that day.  Booking a cruise two days ago, our TA was told no record of deposit.  We provided confirmation number and photo along with credit card charge.   X denied saying confirmation number and our paper was not the certificate number they required, but that was only paper we were given.  After much back and forth our TA was able to get the full amount of onboard credit due.  Bait and switch?  Not a good way to do business.

 

If you purchased the FCC in September you are way past the 30 days to transfer to a TA anyway?

 

I always just pick up a paper form, fill it out, and drop it in the box. Never had any confusion at all. 

[Ken the cruiser]

I know this doesn't help now, but that's why we just book a cruise as far out as possible, say Apr or May 2025, with a refundable deposit which is usually just $200 for both of us, when booked onboard. Later we can change the date, itinerary and ship to any cruise we like better and keep the OBC we got for booking it onboard (usually around $300).

 

We never saw any positive advantage to buying one of these FCL certificates onboard. But the important thing to remember is the booking has to be refundable in order to change it to a completely different cruise.

Edited January 5, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[paulh84]

2 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I know this doesn't help now, but that's why we just book a cruise as far out as possible, say Apr or May 2025, with a refundable deposit which is usually just $200 for both of us, when booked onboard. Later we can change the date, itinerary and ship to any cruise we like better and keep the OBC applied we got for booking it onboard (usually around $300).

 

We never saw any positive advantage to buying one of these FCL certificates onboard. But the important thing to remember is the booking has to be refundable in order to change it to a completely different cruise.

 

I do the Cruise Later cert because it takes 2 minutes to fill out. You don't have to waste time sitting with a rep to book a dummy cruise. Just wait until I get home and do it myself. 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, paulh84 said:

 

I do the Cruise Later cert because it takes 2 minutes to fill out. You don't have to waste time sitting with a rep to book a dummy cruise. Just wait until I get home and do it myself. 

If I might ask, how long do you have to actually book a cruise with a FCL certificate before the OBC booking perk expires?

Edited January 5, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[paulh84]

4 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, how long do you have to actually book a cruise with a FCL certificate before the OBC booking perk expires?

 

My last one I did in September definitely said 90 days to get the extra OBC with an automatic refund after 1 year if a sail date isn't picked. But I saw a form that was perhaps more recent that said 1 year. 

[bigbenboys]

10 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

If I might ask, how long do you have to actually book a cruise with a FCL certificate before the OBC booking perk expires?

You now have 1 year to book a cruise with your certificate. Or get your money back.

 

Edited January 5, 2023 by bigbenboys
added photo

[Ken the cruiser]

4 minutes ago, paulh84 said:

 

My last one I did in September definitely said 90 days to get the extra OBC with an automatic refund after 1 year if a sail date isn't picked. But I saw a form that was perhaps more recent that said 1 year. 

And that's why we book a "dummy" cruise, as we never lose the OBC unless we actually cancel the dummy cruise. If nothing else, we just rebook it on a cruise even farther down the line. But, that usually never happens as we like cruising with Celebrity. In fact, we'll be going on our dummy B2B cruises this coming April which we originally booked way back when.

[Lastdance]

I bought one onboard in November; one certificate for $200.  When I called to use it on a TP that was just released, I was told that it was "not valid for a TP".  I asked for a supervisor, as the agent was not willing to do this.  Of course it could be used for the TP, so I booked the cruise at a NRD rate. I am not paying $1,000 extra for the cruise that is in an SV, making the cruise price well over $10,000.  I really want to do AUS/NZ in 2024, but the airfare is crazy, not to mention the insurance.

Edited January 5, 2023 by Lastdance

[peanut head]

We, also, had issues with the FCL certificate.  We tend to book directly with Celebrity to make sure we get what we want and what we see listed and then transfer it to the big box store for their shop card credit.  I paid for my FCL (1 certificate for 2) in October and was told "you have 18  months in which you can book your next cruise and get the extra OBC--no strings attached."  

 

What I wasn't told was that Celebrity considers the date you put your FCL deposit down as your actual booking date.  When I booked my 2024 TA in December with Celebrity for the 2 of us there seemed to be no problem.  A few days later, when I tried to transfer the booking to the big box store, we were informed it was past the 30 days when transfers were permissible.  I persevered and had the issue escalated and after 3 phone calls (and 3 hours) to Celebrity the transfer was permitted.

 

In the future, I don't think I will book a FCL and wait, but will book it right there and then on the ship or not at all.  What should have been easy peasy was downright frustrating. 

 

Caveat emptor.  

[bigbenboys]

When buying the FCL I would have told Celebrity that I want the certificates to go to my TA. I looked at my reservation and yes it has a booking date of 10 Nov 2022. The issue date is 12 Dec 2022.

[FeelingCruisy]

5 hours ago, paulh84 said:

 

If you purchased the FCC in September you are way past the 30 days to transfer to a TA anyway?

 

I always just pick up a paper form, fill it out, and drop it in the box. Never had any confusion at all. 

We just got it in December.   Also when transfering I was told it's not when you get your blank $100 FCC when you purchased it on the ship, the countdown starts after you turned the blank reservation to an actual reservation.  Good idea though, I would just fill it up to $200 and put two names under the same form.   First time doing it, didn't know better

[FeelingCruisy]

5 hours ago, peanut head said:

We, also, had issues with the FCL certificate.  We tend to book directly with Celebrity to make sure we get what we want and what we see listed and then transfer it to the big box store for their shop card credit.  I paid for my FCL (1 certificate for 2) in October and was told "you have 18  months in which you can book your next cruise and get the extra OBC--no strings attached."  

 

What I wasn't told was that Celebrity considers the date you put your FCL deposit down as your actual booking date.  When I booked my 2024 TA in December with Celebrity for the 2 of us there seemed to be no problem.  A few days later, when I tried to transfer the booking to the big box store, we were informed it was past the 30 days when transfers were permissible.  I persevered and had the issue escalated and after 3 phone calls (and 3 hours) to Celebrity the transfer was permitted.

 

In the future, I don't think I will book a FCL and wait, but will book it right there and then on the ship or not at all.  What should have been easy peasy was downright frustrating. 

 

Caveat emptor.  

When I called them yesterday about transfer , we were told that the countdown starts after you transfer the blank reservation number to an actual.   And we couldn't do it because it has to take 48 hours after booking before you can do it.   He also doesn't seem to know much as he was just reading it off some instruction book.  Will update tomorrow to see if we can actually transfer