Beware of cabin switching

[excitedofharpenden]

I am most definitely not one who compalins readily. However if the issue is not sorted out at the first (maybe second) time of asking and it is causing me hassle that is when I'd move this up the line. Sadly this is an example of the poor service that can be experienced when going to Customer Services on the ship. They don't really think of the issue from the point of view of the passenger. It's just another problem for them to solve. From my own point of view there comes a point when it needs escalating up the line and a request to meet with the Hotel Director or someone in his office would be my course of action if not remedied elsewhere. I am sure if he/she were to be involved you'd get that token "sorry" rather than being fobbed off.

 

Another thing that came to mind. If I'd been those in the non-wheelchair accessible cabin and someone was good enough to move for me they'd get a bottle of champagne in their cabin from me for the trouble.

 

Phil

[DocJohnB]

I respectfully disagree with you; not every unpleasant, unfair, undeserving and/or aggravating thing that happens to us merits compensation. What X owes the OP now is a quick and complete resolution to the issue of its demand that he make good on charges not incurred by him or his wife. The easiest way to accomplish that is for the OP to work through his credit card company, assuming he settled his account with a credit card. The entitlement mindset that X owes him something for his troubles is outrageous. What does American Express, Mastercard, Visa, et. al. owe someone when an error appears on someone's monthly bill? The answer is nothing other than the correction of that error. Why hold the cruise line to a higher standard? Stuff happens. Deal with it.

 

While, in essence, I agree with you regarding the "entitlement mindset", I also believe there are exceptions to almost everything. This happens to be one of those cases. Except for being absolutely gracious people (the DID NOT have to switch cabins), the OP and SO did nothing wrong, yet their cruise became one hassle after the other. It was the inability of Celebrity to make "correct" changes (via their IT department on board) to all concerned that led to all the problems. After the problems cropped up, Celebrity needed to fix "it" and they apparently did not. I agree with others a quick "fix", an apology and some on the spot compensation was called for. (If indeed the Captains table invite was that compensation they should be informed of that (I don't think it was though.)) Hopefully a carefully worded letter to Celebrity will "get rid of" the 6 month post cruise billing fiasco.

 

I have stated many times over the years on these boards that Customer Service is the weakest link in the whole cruise industry and it is an industry wide problem.

[excitedofharpenden]

One experience comes to mind. I was flying Virgin Atlantic and got to my seat noticing the one next door had a "Do not use" sticker over the TV screen. The lady then sat at the seat and was not happy there was no in-flight entertainment. She was offered a portable DVD, but I said I was happy to swap seats. It was a night flight and I had my iPod loaded with movies and songs and that is all I really need. The lady was very grateful as was the flight attendant. Got to the end of the flight and the attendant came over with a very nice bottle of wine to say thanks. She owned the issue, showed her gratitude for me helping out and what could have been an inconvenience was turned into a postive. Seems really easy, but it doesn't always happen like that.

 

Phil

[JennAngel9]

I was just telling DH that Virgin Atlantic stewardesses are the standard of customer service to which all people in the travel industry should hold themselves! In fairness, I have only flown upper class (in part because VA bumped me, a non-frequent flyer on a miles + money ticket (!!!) from Premium Economy to UC) but, in their own words the flight attendants were "lovely" and also "brilliant"-- unlike some of the surly AA and even Cathay b-class flight attendants I have dealt with who seem to think I am interrupting them when requesting a drink or that my tray be cleared....

 

Anyway, it was not my goal to jack this thread, I meant to chime in and say that customer service in the cruise industry is truly awful. In some (unimportant in the grand scheme of things) ways, I have been a unlucky cruiser, randomly assigned to some wonky staterooms, and I've learned that the majority of crew members on board just don't have the interest/capacity to fix major issues. My husband summarized their attitude as "you've got a problem? so sue me" -- but said in much politer tones. To give credit where it is due, the best on board issue resolution we have ever experienced was with NCL-- unfortunately, freestyle (a.k.a. nickel 'n dime style) wasn't really for us.

[CLEMM]

I agree, customer service is the problem. I admit I have only cruised Celebrity so have no basis for comparison, but it does seem in my limited experience that customer service issues arise over very easily avoidable circumstances, such as those with the OP. In my case, my children had purchased an anniversay package for my DH and me, unbeknown to us. When we boarded the ship we had a message that this package had been purchased along with 2 new robes. There was not however any idication that there was more to the package. So when champagne arrived later in the trip along with chocolate covered strawberries we were pleasantly surprised. On the next to last day of the trip we called home and thanked our children for their generous gift to which they responded "can't wait to see the photo". Long story short, an 8x10 photo of us was supposed to be included but we didn't know that. We had already purchased one of the 8x10's so we went to customer service and asked that they simply credit us for that photo since it was now too late to get another one as the last formal night was over. Keep in mind they failed to tell us the photo was included in the package and we had already made the purchase. Well anyway they refused. Said they could not give us a credit but they would arrange for us to immediatly have our photo taken. We were in casual clothes and everything was packed. I couldn't believe it. 3, yes 3 different people told us the same thing as we escalated it up the chain. Finally an officer of some sort agreed to credit us. Such a simple solution we thought, and yet bad feelings at the end of the cruise is what Customer Service was originally willing to settle for. A shame really.

[FinelyCruising]

One experience comes to mind. I was flying Virgin Atlantic and got to my seat noticing the one next door had a "Do not use" sticker over the TV screen. The lady then sat at the seat and was not happy there was no in-flight entertainment. She was offered a portable DVD, but I said I was happy to swap seats. It was a night flight and I had my iPod loaded with movies and songs and that is all I really need. The lady was very grateful as was the flight attendant. Got to the end of the flight and the attendant came over with a very nice bottle of wine to say thanks. She owned the issue, showed her gratitude for me helping out and what could have been an inconvenience was turned into a postive. Seems really easy, but it doesn't always happen like that.

 

Phil

 

Phil that was very kind of you to do, and showed a lot of class on the part of the airline.