Celebrity is Ruining My Wedding..We need help!

[caviargal]

Its a little late for that the wedding is planned - the cruise was sort of booked and they have been let down. Celebrity should have advised them of what was going on and then offered to let them firm up any bookings up to the original 20 right then and there. Why is everybody here so defensive of Celebrity sticking it to these people. Wedding planning is supposed to be fun and not stressful.

 

I doubt the Century, as someone suggested, would be an option as you would now have to get everybody to fly down to Florida rather than drive to the port..

 

Yes, the departure port is a possible issue.

 

I don't think people are being defensive of X in this case. They honored the deposited space per the group policy. If you book a group, it is your responsibility to understand the policies fully as these days, ships get chartered, sailings get cancelled and things happen.

 

I understand that she is upset but how can a cruise line be expected to hold a cabin without a deposit? In this case, I have to side with X. If you were booked as an individual on that sailing, I am certain you would have expected your booking to be honored above one with no deposit and no names. They have to protect clients who made a commitment first and foremost.

 

JMHO

[Texed]

I'm not trying to put the blame on X, .

 

Wrong! You always try to blame Celebrity.:rolleyes:

[63galaxie]

When you block group space on Celebrity, your first recall of unsold space is 90 days from opening the group. If you had 20 cabins and only deposited 8, they would only let you keep 8 cabins for another 60 days.

 

That's the best case scenario for groups. However, any cruiseline may recall undeposited group space at any time.

 

Did you book directly through Celebrity, or an agent.

 

Many of us who are agents are facing just what you are. At this point, you go on the cruise abd those who didn't deposit right away (shame on them) can fly to Bermuda for the wedding.

 

I'm not quite sure I understand why you said "shame on them." The people who held cabins were under the impression they had time before they had to put down a deposit.

 

Why "shame" someone?

[caviargal]

I'm not quite sure I understand why you said "shame on them." The people who held cabins were under the impression they had time before they had to put down a deposit.

 

Why "shame" someone?

 

If they were under that impression, it is because they did not read their group agreement where the Ts and Cs are clearly stated.

[bububr]

We returned from an absolutely wonderful cruise to Alaska in September. It was a trip to celebrate a number of anniversaries, including john and my tenth, along with my parents 43rd and his parents 50th. This cruise had been booked/planned almost two years in advance with a huge group saying they were going.....well instead of the deposits (which are fully refundable BTW ) a large number of people were convinced that they could go cheaper by waiting...we did tell them that X would honor lower rates, to no avail.....at departure time there were only 13 of us out of about 27.

 

Most were upset the prices increased, some were surprised they had made a deposit, but never paid the balance.

 

In the end, those who were there and planned well had a great time. those who never paid the balance lost their deposits and hate X, and those who waited for the price to go down...well, they should have listened to me.

 

Dave:eek:

[Drew B]

If they were under that impression, it is because they did not read their group agreement where the Ts and Cs are clearly stated.

 

You are certainly right from a legal perspective. However, if somebody is booking 30 cabins for a wedding, it would be nice if somebody (preferably somebody from the cruiseline if they booked directly) could walk them through the various requirements. There should be no misunderstandings, and they shouldn't be expected to get all their information from a contract written in legal-ese...

[ocngypz]

I'm not quite sure I understand why you said "shame on them." The people who held cabins were under the impression they had time before they had to put down a deposit.

 

Why "shame" someone?

 

There's not a cabin - either individual or group booking which is confirmed unless there is a deposit. Cruiselines may recall group space at any time.

Terms and conditions ar VERY CLEARLY spelled out.

 

When I am working on destination weddings, I tell all participants that they should not commit to the bride and groom unless they are prepared to pay their deposits with the betrothed. Wedding participants who lag in paying deposits have the most frequent cancellation rates... over 90% when final payment time comes. That is really not fair to the bride and groom at all!!

[slotaddict]

Love that ship going to say goodbye to her on the 2 night to nowhere in October.:D

[slotaddict]

:) To clarify, the Dawn will sail out of NY through Fall 2007.

 

June 2007 sailing on the Dawn is a definite option.

 

And, yes, she IS a grand ship!

 

I stand corrected (again):eek:

[bermudabride5]

My travel agent (which is a one man show, she works out of her home) spoke with her Celebrity rep today, and she does feel very bad for our situation. She was able to come up with 4 rooms for us at the same cost as the Zenith. The rep required us to have people place their deposits today. At first, my Fiance & I thought it was great, it was just enough rooms for the wedding party. When we started calling people telling them they had to book today we began to feel it's not fair to our friends that they need to rush into booking when they were originally told they had to December. We are in are late 20's to early 30's, so our friends are having baby's, buying homes and having weddings of their own, so we began to feel this was not fair to them. Plus, we had a good amount of other friends and family that wanted to join us on the trip. How do you send Save the Date information out with all the details and now say theirs no room for you. We just were not having a good feeling about the entire thing...and who wants to think that when you talking about your special day...your wedding day. We live in the Philadelphia area, so we are looking into NCL Crown that leaves from Philly on June 10. The itinerary is the same except for its a 6 day cruise leaving a Sun rather than Sat. We much rather give our money to NCL than to Celebrity for the way we were treated. I am giving a very shortened version of what we went thought with Celebrity. Such as 4-5 hrs worth of phone calls, being told everyone is fine and we still have rooms on hold to only have the ones previously booked prior to the swop . They certainly will not be getting my business or anyone else I knows business any time soon. Instead of worrying about getting more upscale ships I think they need to work on their customer service. At this point we are looking at the cruise as transportation to our wedding. What is everyone's thought's on NCL Crown? We appreciate all the response and help you all have been. It's been a tough few days dealing with this situation :o

[Drew B]

There's not a cabin - either individual or group booking which is confirmed unless there is a deposit. Cruiselines may recall group space at any time.

Terms and conditions ar VERY CLEARLY spelled out.

 

 

Well, the OP thought the rooms were on hold till 12/27 and that her guests had plenty of time to book. Perhaps it is not so VERY CLEAR after all!

 

Should she have understood the terms and conditions? Probably. However, a company with good customer service would help explain these things to somebody booking 20 CABINS FOR HER WEDDING! You're a travel agent - you understand how these things work. To lay people, it is not such common knowledge.

[dkjretired]

Well, the OP thought the rooms were on hold till 12/27 and that her guests had plenty of time to book. Perhaps it is not so VERY CLEAR after all!

 

Should she have understood the terms and conditions? Probably. However, a company with good customer service would help explain these things to somebody booking 20 CABINS FOR HER WEDDING! You're a travel agent - you understand how these things work. To lay people, it is not such common knowledge.

 

Not Celebrity's place to explain it, that is the job of the TA. In most cases the cruiseline won't even talk to the cruiser but refer them to the TA to prevent situations like this.

[KroozFoolz]

We live in the Philadelphia area, so we are looking into NCL Crown that leaves from Philly on June 10. The itinerary is the same except for its a 6 day cruise leaving a Sun rather than Sat. At this point we are looking at the cruise as transportation to our wedding. What is everyone's thought's on NCL Crown? We appreciate all the response and help you all have been. It's been a tough few days dealing with this situation :o

 

You might get more response to that question on the NCL section of the message boards. Here is some information/reviews on NCL Crown. Hope this helps.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=164

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/getreviews.cfm?action=ship&ShipID=164

[Drew B]

Not Celebrity's place to explain it, that is the job of the TA. In most cases the cruiseline won't even talk to the cruiser but refer them to the TA to prevent situations like this.

 

That's right. Prior to her last post (which she posted while I was composing MY last post), I hadn't noticed anything about her having a TA. I assumed, as did several others in this thread, that she had booked directly since she was dealing with the aftermath directly.

 

Now I wonder if X even knew it was a wedding situation...

[bilgeboyPa]

To the OP...I need to ask..Is this your first cruise? If so, you have a really bad TA.She is, IMOHO,giving you bad advise here. I have never heard of any cruise line holding cabins for over a month WITHOUT some deposit. The standard rate from my experience is $500 per cabin.I have made these sort of arraingements myself for a wedding for friends of mine.X will put a courtesy hold for 24 hours, put after that, your out of luck. You have to re-book again.

I feel really bad for you. A wedding is such a special day, but you aren't booking a hotel room here. Even they need a credit card for them to hold the res. You have too look at X's side. If they held cabins for months at a time with no deposit, they would be sailing a lot of half empty ships.

I suggest you find a REAL TA that has experirnce in this kind of thing.

 

I REALLY hope it all works out....but at least it won't happen again. You got an education about how cruises sorta work.

 

Good Luck

 

Jeff

[smeyer418]

:) To clarify, the Dawn will sail out of NY through Fall 2007.

 

June 2007 sailing on the Dawn is a definite option.

 

And, yes, she IS a grand ship!

 

The Dawn only goes to bermuda for one day. The NCL Majesty out of Boston and the NCL Crown out of either NY or Phily are the alternatives to Bermuda for more than one day. Is the empress of the seas also doing Bemuda out of Phily?

[wrp96]

The Dawn only goes to bermuda for one day. The NCL Majesty out of Boston and the NCL Crown out of either NY or Phily are the alternatives to Bermuda for more than one day. Is the empress of the seas also doing Bemuda out of Phily?

 

In June she's doing Bermuda out of Norfolk, and then moving up to Philly in July.

[caviargal]

To the OP...I need to ask..Is this your first cruise? If so, you have a really bad TA.She is, IMOHO,giving you bad advise here. I have never heard of any cruise line holding cabins for over a month WITHOUT some deposit. The standard rate from my experience is $500 per cabin.I have made these sort of arraingements myself for a wedding for friends of mine.X will put a courtesy hold for 24 hours, put after that, your out of luck. You have to re-book again

 

This is not a case of individual bookings, but a group. The rules are very different all the way around and what you describe is not what applies.

 

If she did use a TA, the TA did nothing wrong unless shse did not explain the policy to the OP. The cruise line sets the policy and it is up to the consumer to understand what she is booking.

[osiebosie]

When we cruised this past summer on the Carnival Glory, there was a wedding that was held on the ship before the ship set sail. They had the service, partied, and then most everyone got off of the ship.

 

Can you do this?

 

We were on a cruise a few years ago with a wedding party, who were getting married at the one and only port we were going to. But, due to ship problems, we didn't make the port. They had family and friends already waiting at the port when we realized the ship wouldn't make it.

 

At least you do have some time to try to fix this. I am so sorry you are having to go through this for such an important day in your life. Hopefully, in a few years, you can look back on all of this with a smile. Hopefully.

 

Shay

[caviargal]

When we cruised this past summer on the Carnival Glory, there was a wedding that was held on the ship before the ship set sail. They had the service, partied, and then most everyone got off of the ship.

 

Can you do this?.

 

Shay

 

I tried to arrange this with X for my upcoming wedding in 2 weeks but they would not allow anyone not sailing onboard for a reception. I ended up planning it independently in Key West on a port day. Everyone that will attend is sailing with us but that was not the orignal plan which is why we made the plans we did, since X made it impossible to do otherwise and we did not want friends who travelled to Key West to not have a great meal and champagne with us to celebrate.

 

From my experience, since we were not willing to book through Celebrity Weddings at their astronomical mark up (we are doing the same thing at the same venue with a nicer reception, much nicer flowers, etc. for 60% less), they will do NOTHING to assist a passenger, even though we have spent over 15,000 on cabins. Their customer service was horrendous when trying to get the simplest questions answered.

 

Since this bride was also making plans on her own, X does not care.

 

We recognize there is always some possibility that the ship will not dock, with weather odds are very good and the worst that can happen is that we have a friend travelling with us marry us onboard. We will only loose site fee and flowers, a risk we feel we are willing to take.

 

Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing!

 

JMRE.

[Moeve]

I have to agree about "read the fine print" BUT X knew there were alot of cabins out there under group contracts before they traded ships and the least they could have done was to call up the group coordinator - in this case the bride & groom and tell them they were pulling all cabins not under deposit within 24Hrs. That would have made much happier clients.

 

Then again that would have however given RCCL an overbooked ship - still there are always people out there willing to trade for other dates.....at a price off course and this is where the RCI bean counters have screwed up.... Instead of spending a bit on onboard credits (which cost them less than face value) and have happier clients they have completly p---ed off a whole lot of paying passengers who now take ALL there money elsewhere and are not likely to come back at all. Over and above that p--ed off passenger do a whole lot more damage by word of mouth than passengers who feel like they have made a deal....even though they have had their plans changed.

[EGG]

At first, my Fiance & I thought it was great, it was just enough rooms for the wedding party. When we started calling people telling them they had to book today we began to feel it's not fair to our friends that they need to rush into booking when they were originally told they had to December. We are in are late 20's to early 30's, so our friends are having baby's, buying homes and having weddings of their own, so we began to feel this was not fair to them. Plus, we had a good amount of other friends and family that wanted to join us on the trip. :o

 

I know destination weddings are the rage, but judging by your statement that your friends are having babies, buying homes and having weddings on their own, maybe this cruise idea is not such a good one, unless the bride and groom are paying for it. Maybe forcing your guests to pay for a cruise is not fair to them.

 

Just out of curiosity, does the bride and groom get a very discounted rate or a free room if they have a large enough group book?

 

At this point, before you book another destination wedding, maybe you should ask your wedding party honestly whether they can afford this wedding cruise or if they prefer a local wedding. Those who can afford it will join you on your honeymoon.

 

Personally, my son is getting fed up with all the destination weddings he is being invited to. He is overextended in vacation time because he not only is being invited to destination weddings, but bachelor parties in Las Vegas, etc.

 

We had friends whose son was getting married in Puerto Rico. The girl decided to back out at the last minute. It made for a less than interesting family vacation Since so much was paid for, most people went.

 

No matter where or when you get married, something will go wrong. If you learn how to take these things in your stride you will have a much happier life.

 

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. I am sure it will be beautiful no matter where it is.

 

 

 

On another note, I cannot understand why RCI did the ship switch to a smaller and more expensive ship with so many prebooked rooms at lower rates. Why didn't they wait for the new booking season. It seems like bad business to me.

[Smmessineo]

Thanks EGG. You took the words right out of my mouth. I feel terrible for the OP's situation, but my thoughts through this whole thread have been that perhaps the cruise wedding is a burden for some of these guests and that's why they couldn't get deposits in.

The BIG EVENT phenomenon isn't everyone's cup of tea. I've watched my teenage daughters' cash get depleted going to huge Sweet 16 parties for friends, and gone to weddings where I've felt obligated to give more money than my whole wedding day cost!

I do think the TA bears blame for not knowing or warning the OP of the risks involved in group holds.

[dkjretired]

I tried to arrange this with X for my upcoming wedding in 2 weeks but they would not allow anyone not sailing onboard for a reception. I ended up planning it independently in Key West on a port day. Everyone that will attend is sailing with us but that was not the orignal plan which is why we made the plans we did, since X made it impossible to do otherwise and we did not want friends who travelled to Key West to not have a great meal and champagne with us to celebrate.

 

From my experience, since we were not willing to book through Celebrity Weddings at their astronomical mark up (we are doing the same thing at the same venue with a nicer reception, much nicer flowers, etc. for 60% less), they will do NOTHING to assist a passenger, even though we have spent over 15,000 on cabins. Their customer service was horrendous when trying to get the simplest questions answered.

 

Since this bride was also making plans on her own, X does not care.

 

We recognize there is always some possibility that the ship will not dock, with weather odds are very good and the worst that can happen is that we have a friend travelling with us marry us onboard. We will only loose site fee and flowers, a risk we feel we are willing to take.

 

Hopefully, it will be smooth sailing!

 

JMRE.

 

I am so surprised at what you said about your wedding. Almost every Celebrity cruise I have been on there was a wedding reception on board prior to sailing. I even spoke to a couple of the grooms about the wedding while on the cruise. Maybe some new type of security regulation although I do remember a recent post from someone who said she had a wedding booked on board. I'll see if I can find it.

[caviargal]

I am so surprised at what you said about your wedding. Almost every Celebrity cruise I have been on there was a wedding reception on board prior to sailing. I even spoke to a couple of the grooms about the wedding while on the cruise. Maybe some new type of security regulation although I do remember a recent post from someone who said she had a wedding booked on board. I'll see if I can find it.

 

I tried every which way with X on this as they made my life so much more difficult by not allowing friends to join us on board and have a catered reception on board. They said it was no longer possible. Perhaps if I had been willing to pay thousands more to book their all inclusve package the answer would have been different but how can justify their answer based on security issues (which they did) as people not sailing should be either allowed or not allowed if that is the real issue. I think the real issue is that X was not going to settle for part of the revenue, they wanted all, so they ended up with none.

 

They also made my life hell about flowers and eventually US Customs fixed that problem for me (they lied about this as well).

 

I talked to several different departments and got the same answer from each but I am also aware that info can be inconsistent. I just got tired of being jerked around by X and did it myself.