No reservation?

[phinn]

I just got off a 31-1/2 minute phone call with Celebrity and I am quite upset. Last week I booked a 10 night cruise on the Equinox. Today I went online and wanted to look at my reservation. The site says I don't have one. When I entered the information I was given over the phone when I booked this cruise, it says "You currently have no reservations". Then it offers me to add the reservation so I put in all the information that was given me, and then it says "cannot add reservation due to internal restrictions". So I call....first girl says, sorry you need website and transfers me to RCCL. She says, no, you have Celebrity reservation, transfers me back... this happened 4 (yes four) times. One girl at RCCL said "I never heard a ship called Equinox"!! Now I know it's a new Celebrity ship, but hellooooooo.

Okay, so when I start to hear my voice getting annoyed, they get me to a person who tells me I can't see it because I booked it online. I tell her no, I called and asked for specific cabin, she checks with supervisor and says nothing they can do. If I want, I can call from time to time and they will verbally give me info. Okay, so now I tell her, perhaps I need to cancel this and start another reservation. She says sorry, anything else I can help you with? Are you kidding? You have $450 of my hard earned money, and you want me to take your word? I calmed down and went back online under "My celebrity". Got to the online check-in and the summary there says.... Vacation total $0, Paid to Date $0, Balance Due $0. In my mind, they are not recognizing my reservation or deposit and I can't get comfortable with them telling me all is okay. In this computer age, you should be able to see a confirmed reservation. I am waiting to speak with my sister at this time and odds are, I'll be cancelling this cruise and booking another, most likely, NOT Celebrity and that disappoints me the most. Sorry, just had to vent.... thanks

[Mysticks1]

So sorry that you are having a problem. It might help to call back and ask immediately to speak to a supervisor. It seems ridiculous that you can't see a cruise that you booked directly with Celebrity. Have you asked them to email you a confirmation?

I booked my cruise online and decided to change cabins yesterday. I couldn't do it online but called reservations and they changed it for me. I logged out of "My Celebrity" and back in and my new cabin number showed immediately and they emailed me a new confirmation showing the new cabin number within a couple of minutes.

[ustal]

Ugh, sounds awful!

I had problems in the past where I couldn't see my reservations for an hour or so after anyone in Celebrity had looked at it - and if I phoned them to ask them about it, they couldn't see it if I had done anything with it in the last hour or so (even just logging in!)

 

If I were you, I'd definitely call back and make sure I got to speak to a supervisor - or if your sister is a very calm type of person, have her do it :) They really should be able to sort this out better than "nothing we can do, try calling back from time to time"...

 

Above all - try not to let it get to you. Imagine yourself on-board, with a glass of whatever you fancy, and a fabulous cruise ahead :cool:

[phinn]

Sorry, when she said to me "anything else I can do for you today"... my Irish side went up and the best thing I could have done was to hang up while I was ahead. To be honest, I want to speak with my sister first before I make any decision. Not being able to see where your money is does not make me feel good about a confirmation. If this is happening now, what will happen when we get closer. I don't want to have nightmares for 12 months of being denied boarding because I don't have a reservation. This is totally unacceptable for me and when I suggest that perhaps I should cancel, it was as if I had said, thanks for trying, oh well....

[Prada Cowboy]

I called in as well with a couple of questions and all I say they are IDIOTS in the call center! Most of them have never seen a ship or know something about it! This is more the frustrating!

[dutchess43]

I would call the captains club 1-800-760-0654 they seem to know more about what is going on. Make sure you get to speak to a supervisor.

[Sky Sweet]

Did you book the reservation online or by phone?

 

If you booked it online it should show, but if you booked it by phone it won't show on the my reservations section of their website unless you add it manually by putting in your reservation number.

 

In either case, you should have receive an e-mail confirmation of your reservation almost instantaneously. If you haven't received e-mail confirmation, you might want to check the spam section of your account. Sometimes important e-mail winds up in spam while junk mail gets through.

[phinn]

Okay, so calmly I call my sister and tell her the situation. She looks online and can't get in either. She tells me she will call them and get back to me. Within minutes she calls me back and tells me she went back online and it said no reservation.... then she attempts to add it and low and behold, it works! Now, all that frustration to me simply because the staff is either (a) not informed or (b) don't know who to give phone calls to regarding different situations. I'm sure someone at X went online in the computer area and did what was needed to avoid me cancelling. Celebrity, please get your act together! A poor trained staff can cause you to lose a lot more money than you realize. I nearly cancelled this reservation and went with another line which would have disappointed me as I was looking forward to this, and if I have my way, a lot more cruises down the road to consider. And shame on me, next time I will start at the top.

[CathyCruises]

We had a similar although not nearly so aggravating a situation. I booked a cruise for DSO and I, showed up fine. He made his own account on the website and tried to add it in, and we got the exact same message. We never worried about it because it showed on mine.

 

But the bottom line is, the call center staff is USELESS! Every time I hear someone on these boards say "Well, I called =X= and they told me. . ." some outrageously incorrect thing, I shudder. They are completely out to lunch and not worth a phone call, IMO. One person wrote in all upset because the person on the phone told her she could not have beer in her cabin!! How ridiculous! They must be minimum wage employees with the MOST minimal training. To say they've never heard of Equinox is absurd. But I don't blame them, I blame the company for the inadequate training and updating. I would LOVE to go down there and get them straightened out! Let me at 'em!!!

 

Cathy

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

First.... to the OP, I'm glad your situation was resolved.

 

Regarding this situation, I'd like to offer my advice to everyone :

 

If you ever see the following words at the Celebrity website: "cannot add reservation due to internal restrictions", PLEASE do not consider your reservation lost or canceled ! The odds are 99% that all is well. Over the many years, I've encountered this error message far too many times. There is a quirk in Celebrity's online system. Folks, it has been around for years. I've emailed Celebrity dozens of times, and yet.... it still exists. Why they cant resolve this is beyond me. In many cases, it has to do with Back to Back bookings, but not always.

 

If you ever see this message, and get worried..... Call Captains Club, and ask to speak with a Supervisor. You will save yourself a great deal of time and aggravation.

[JoyFrances]

Hi Gwenn

 

We wouldn't have wanted to lose you and your sister on our cruise. Glad it all got sorted out.

 

Joy

[phinn]

Hi Gwenn

 

We wouldn't have wanted to lose you and your sister on our cruise. Glad it all got sorted out.

 

Joy

It would have been a great disappointment to me as well. It just frustrates me being an office manager that someone cannot train their staff to answer correctly or at the very least direct them to the right place. Anyway, my sister is a lot calmer than me I guess, and I came to the right place. You guys always let people vent (my turn) and give good solid suggestions. Now I can look forward to this great cruise!

[Arwenmark]

Okay, so calmly I call my sister and tell her the situation. She looks online and can't get in either. She tells me she will call them and get back to me. Within minutes she calls me back and tells me she went back online and it said no reservation.... then she attempts to add it and low and behold, it works! Now, all that frustration to me simply because the staff is either (a) not informed or (b) don't know who to give phone calls to regarding different situations. I'm sure someone at X went online in the computer area and did what was needed to avoid me cancelling. Celebrity, please get your act together! A poor trained staff can cause you to lose a lot more money than you realize. I nearly cancelled this reservation and went with another line which would have disappointed me as I was looking forward to this, and if I have my way, a lot more cruises down the road to consider. And shame on me, next time I will start at the top.

 

 

No actually no one did anything. I just checked a reservation I made yesterday over the phone. Ironically for my sister and her husband and myself and my husband.

It comes up no reservation but after you enter the reservation number, as you say add it and up it comes.

I agree there website, software and explanations and directions leave a lot to be desired though. I hope there are no more glitches with your trip and that you both have a nice time.

[nothriver]

I too am glad you got thing sorted out.

 

I'm totally baffled by the online system. I have called on several occasions and been told they can't get into my reservation because I have gotten into it online within the last few hours. This is 2009 people, not 1989. Why on earth can't a rep at X be looking at my reservation at the same time I'm looking at it? They obviously have some serious issues with their outdated computer system. Now that I know, I just take a look at my reservation, make a list of questions, then call them a few hours later or the next day.

 

I'm sorry, but I needed to get that off my chest. It won't stop me from cruising Celebrity but I do make sure to print EVERTHING from X frequently becasue I do not trust their computers.

[Wine-O]

I booked an April 2009 T/A last March, and a November 2009 T/A last June. When I log in to "My Celebrity" they only have me listed for the Nov 2009 T/A, but when I go to "Online Check-in" they seem to know me and my reservation as I've been able to complete all the check-in process except Xpress Passes (too early). I've even talked with them to cancel my cruise air package, so they must know me. When I try to add the April 2009 T/A to "My Celebrity," I get the same error message: "cannot add reservation due to internal restrictions."

 

I'm not too worried.

[ustal]

nothriver, agreed 100%! It's so annoying, and really should be simple to fix from a computer perspective. If it's taught me anything, it's "don't phone Celebrity" though - so maybe that's what they want? :o

 

phinn, so glad your cruise is all ok - remember that the call center staff who don't know their aft veranda from their Michael's Club won't be on your cruise!! :D

[phinn]

phinn, so glad your cruise is all ok - remember that the call center staff who don't know their aft veranda from their Michael's Club won't be on your cruise!! :D

 

Thanks for the laugh, I needed that one.... and, I will be set to go on this cruise...This will NOT keep me from booking with Celebrity, but I will be sure to be on top of things, and now they know I will also....

[Nonna and Papa]

I have to agree that sometimes Celebrity's online system is frustrating. Last May, we booked a cruise for Febuary 2010. In October, we decided to add two more segments to make a B2B2B. We booked by phone through a travel agency. When I attempted to add the additional segments, I kept getting the same error message that due to an internal problem, our reservations couldn't be added at that time. I had our invoices from the TA so I knew we were booked.

 

I phoned Celebrity, who told me that they were having problems with their website and to give it a day. It actually took four days, but I was finally able to add our reservations to the Celebrity website.

 

Today, having some extra time on my hands, I decided to begin the online check in; just filling out our names and addresses. It's too early to make airline reservations, so I couldn't include that information. I also never add our credit card information this early, so I kept that portion blank, too. But yet I was able to print out our express passes! I was very surprised because I have never been able to print the passes this early, yet the information on the passes is all correct. At first I thought there might be confusion with the years, but that wasn't the case.

 

So I'm not sure what's happening, but being able to print those passes has renewed my excitement, and I've been researching in earnest today!!:

 

Mary

[The_Big_M]

nothriver, agreed 100%! It's so annoying, and really should be simple to fix from a computer perspective.

 

Although I've experienced other oddities with their system, and think it could do with an upgrade, I doubt that it is really simple to fix. For example, it could be that that same message comes up whenever a variety of different issues occur, and it's very hard to determine what those situations are after the event.

[monn_a]

we had the same problem, I could see everyone's cruise that was in our group for some reason but none of my fellow cruise mates could see their own...strange how that happens...Glad you got it resolved...

[scapel]

I just got off a 31-1/2 minute phone call with Celebrity and I am quite upset. Last week I booked a 10 night cruise on the Equinox. Today I went online and wanted to look at my reservation. The site says I don't have one. When I entered the information I was given over the phone when I booked this cruise, it says "You currently have no reservations". Then it offers me to add the reservation so I put in all the information that was given me, and then it says "cannot add reservation due to internal restrictions". So I call....first girl says, sorry you need website and transfers me to RCCL. She says, no, you have Celebrity reservation, transfers me back... this happened 4 (yes four) times. One girl at RCCL said "I never heard a ship called Equinox"!! Now I know it's a new Celebrity ship, but hellooooooo.

Okay, so when I start to hear my voice getting annoyed, they get me to a person who tells me I can't see it because I booked it online. I tell her no, I called and asked for specific cabin, she checks with supervisor and says nothing they can do. If I want, I can call from time to time and they will verbally give me info. Okay, so now I tell her, perhaps I need to cancel this and start another reservation. She says sorry, anything else I can help you with? Are you kidding? You have $450 of my hard earned money, and you want me to take your word? I calmed down and went back online under "My celebrity". Got to the online check-in and the summary there says.... Vacation total $0, Paid to Date $0, Balance Due $0. In my mind, they are not recognizing my reservation or deposit and I can't get comfortable with them telling me all is okay. In this computer age, you should be able to see a confirmed reservation. I am waiting to speak with my sister at this time and odds are, I'll be cancelling this cruise and booking another, most likely, NOT Celebrity and that disappoints me the most. Sorry, just had to vent.... thanks

 

That is why I use a good Travel Agent.

Unfortunately Celebrity reps on phone don't really have a clue what you are talking about. Neither do RCI reps. I have called Captain's club and C&A society and they don't know what goes on with the ships.

[librarylady19]

I totally agree - use a TA. It won't cost you anything, but will save alot of frustration! I had to cancel a cruise booked for 1/26 after I fell on ice and broke my elbow and TA handled everything with Celebrity and even offered to initiate my refund with TravelGuard.

I usually prefer online services, but in this case, I'm glad I paid attention to the tales of woe of dealing withthe Celebrity call center and found a TA in my community. Keep things local and support small businesses, and save yourself headaches too!

[Morris4me]

I just got off a 31-1/2 minute phone call with Celebrity and I am quite upset.

 

We had a similar problem. After many months of researching and decision making, we finally decided on the cruise and cabin we wanted. All I had to do was book it. Easy, right? Wrong! First I tried the "We'll Call You" link which is an email requesting a phone call from a rep. Never received a call. So, I tried to make the reservation online and had problems with the website. It wouldn't take the reservation. I decided to call Celebrity and do it that way. It took no less than 6 phone calls and transfers to various Celebrity/RCCL departments before I could finally book the cruise. I was irate by that time and fortunately, had a very understanding RCCL agent on the line. She booked the cruise, the cabin and also set up the account online for me. I believe it took about 24 hours for it to show up on line, but when it did, it was accurate.