Linking reservations on a Celebrity cruise issue

[Brewster]

Hi,

I'm a experienced cruiser and this is a new one for me. My family (8 people/4 separate cabins) made a reservation on the Celebrity Apex in January 24 at the same time with the same travel agent. 3 of the reservations are booked in a balcony class and the other one is an OV room. Celebrity's site will only let us link 3 out of the 4 reservations together and states that we can't link the OV reservation since the cabin is in a different booking class. I tried to get this rectified via Celebrity but they said they could not help me and I have to go through the agent. The agent says that this policy is correct and has not been that helpful with the issue at all.  I am trying to reserve meals/specialty restaurants with all 4 reservations and I am not able to do so (and the agent is having difficulty as well). Is this situation legitimate? Do we need to switch agents? Again, I have traveled with many different Cruise lines (including Celebrity previously) and have never experienced anything like this before.  This is the first time I am using this particualr agent so I have no experience to judge if this agency is really trying here. It's for my 2 in laws 80th BDAY celebrations and would really like to work out this issue before we get on the ship if possible. Any suggestions? Thanks. 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Brewster

[westvillagemom]

This exact issue happened to our group of 10. We were able to link 4 reservations, but not the 5th. We tried everything but couldn't get it taken care of before boarding. We went to the restaurants as soon as we arrived on the ship, and they were able to fix it so that we could all dine together. They were very helpful, and it all worked out.

[bigbenboys]

Make the reservations for the specialty restaurants all around the same time. Once onboard got to the specialty restaurants and give the maitre d everyone's cabin number. Tell the maitre d about the 80th BDAY celebrations. They might do something extra for your group. I want to say 8 years ago our TA was able to reserve a table for 10 for us 11 in the select section of the MDR.

[paulh84]

I believe if the three cabins are booked under a group rate and the OV isn't, that is the issue. What are you trying to accomplish by having them all connected? Dinner reservations? 

[Brewster]

Thanks all for the replies/suggestions. Yes, it's for dinner reservations. We're concerned since we're a large party of 8 and due to the "non linking" of the reservations, it's been difficult in trying to reserve the main dining options/specialty restaurants (which we tend to do before getting on board). It's a little surprising that Celebrity's technology appears to be quite antiquated and either the Celebrity personnel or our TA is able to address it adequately. It's also a special BDay cruise with my older in laws so I was trying to get everything set before we got on board. It's a "first world" problem but it's annoying that it can not get fixed nonetheless. 

[OriginalBoat]

Have you tried the app?  I had trouble linking some rooms on the website, but I used the app and went to "Reserve Now" and down to "+Add Guest."  After the first time I did that, there were linked on the website as well.

[StillLooking4Adventure]

I have been able to link 5 reservations except in one instance.  That instance is when one party used a different agent. I don't know if the class of booking matters too, since we have always been in the same class. 

 

Here is what really disappoints me. Right now we have 8 people in 4 separate reservations linked. If we want to make, and pay for, a specialty dining reservation it wont use each individuals on file credit card or OBC. One person has to pay for all unless I sign on under each persons account and make each reservation separately and make four reservations for 2. I did this for an upcoming cruise for dinner on the Magic Carpet.  I figured I would link when I board.

 

The other issue that disappoints me is not being able to bid on cabin upgrades with another couple we travel with. If only one of us were to win our bid to upgrade to Agua or Suite, we couldn't dine together,  so we never bother trying.