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Celebrity Cruise - Bungled Reservations

Celebrity • Denied boarding - visa problems • Mechanical problems • Bungled reservations --- News • Cruise Lines Agree To Refund $21 Million In Fuel Surcharges

Cynthia of Joppa MD (1/10/04):
Ship: Celebrity Constellation, Departure Date: 12 Dec 03 Sail Date: 13 Dec 03. The following is a copy of the letter sent to the cruise line 1/5/04 detailing our experience:

My husband and I have been taking a cruise the week before Christmas every year for the last seven years. We booked this year’s cruise on October 7th through BJ’s Travel. We have previously sailed on Carnival, Norwegian and Princess. We were so excited to be sailing on Celebrity. Previously, we have cruised out of San Juan several times but have never had an opportunity to see Puerto Rico. So, we wanted to see the island before we cruised. My husband explained this to the travel agent and booked an early morning, direct flight to San Juan the day before our cruise was to depart so we would arrive by noon and could spend the afternoon exploring some of Puerto Rico. For this arrangement, we agreed to pay an air deviation fee and booked the air and hotel (at a higher rate then could be obtained online) through Celebrity because of the Celebrity guarantee.

Shortly after booking our vacation package in October we received a Passenger Invoice and Confirmation from the travel agent (BJ’s Travel). The Passenger Invoice and Confirmation explained that travel documents would be received no later than Friday December 5th. Everything appeared to be in order and we were all set to have our most memorable pre-Christmas cruise vacation to date. On Monday December 8th I called BJ’s Travel because we had not received our travel documents. Initially, the representative said that Celebrity did not send documents because there was an unpaid air deviation fee of $100.00 and required a credit card to correct this. Without reviewing the Passenger Invoice and Confirmation, I reluctantly gave my credit card information and stated that I did not understand why this was not included in the total charges in October or why it took my call at this late date to discover this. It made no sense to me and she had no answers.

After hanging up with the travel agent, I retrieved and reviewed the Passenger Invoice and Confirmation and found that the air deviation fee was included in the charges to our credit card on October 7th. I called the travel agent back and stated my findings. She agreed that I was correct and Celebrity had made a mistake. She said that the card had already been refunded the overpayment. (After receiving a new itinerary/confirmation by email, I found that this was actually charged and credited twice that day). The representative said she had no idea what happened on Celebrity’s end (with the initial charges and lack of travel documents) and explained that our credit card information was given directly to Celebrity to charge our card on October 7th. The records indicate that the charges were completed on October 7th. She assured me that she has spoken with Celebrity and everything was fine. She said we needed only to arrive at the airport 1 ½ to 2 hours prior to departure, proceed as if it was e-ticketed, our travel documents would be waiting for us and everything would be in order.

She gave me the telephone number to American Airlines so we could get seating reserved and call 24 hours prior to departure for any changes. She was very pleasant and wished us a wonderful vacation. I called AA and got our seats assigned. On Friday December 12th we arrived at the airport just after 5:00 a.m. and proceeded to the e-ticket check in. The computer indicated that I needed to speak with the AA agent. The agent asked me for our travel documents. I explained that we had not received the documents and why. She asked if I had ticket numbers. I showed her the Passenger Invoice and Confirmation and explained I did not have ticket numbers. She explained that the records indicated that ticket numbers were not issued because Celebrity had not paid for the airfare and suggested that I call them. There was nothing that she could do.

Fortunately, (or so I thought) I had printed the contact information page from Celebrity’s website. But I learned that there is no one to call until 8:00 a.m. (Our plane departure was 7:20 a.m.). I called BJ’s Travel. They did have a representative there. But she too had no way of reaching Celebrity until after 8:00 a.m. She could only suggest that we go and have breakfast and wait for her to call me before 9:00 a.m. (remember it is only 5:15 or so in the morning!) She tried to console me, saying Celebrity would correct this and treat us well. Please understand that at this point I am frantic, upset, angry and trying to calm my husband down. I asked the AA agent how much would it cost for me to pay for the tickets (thinking I could seek reimbursement from Celebrity). She said it would be $1300 per person because of the late date and without the cruise line discount. Out of the question! So we waited.

At 8:00 a.m. I called Celebrity and explained what had occurred. The representative simply apologized and said he could put us on a plane on US Air later that morning to Charlotte, then change planes and arrive in San Juan after 5:00 pm. This is not what we agreed to. In fact, we would not have booked this arrangement, as it would be a complete waste of money for us. We would lose the full afternoon in San Juan. A waste of the hotel reservation and our pre-cruise plans knowing embarkation would begin around 1:00 p.m. I asked if he could simply put us on a direct flight the next morning and cancel our hotel, refunding the hotel and air deviation fee. I did not think this was an unreasonable request. He said he could book the flight but could not agree to any refund. He only handled air. We would need to speak with Customer Service. (Great, one-person cannot resolve this!)

He confirmed my concern that, while on hold with customer service, we could potentially lose our seats on that afternoon flight arrangement only to have customer service reject my request for refund. I initially decided to take a chance and had him transfer me to customer service. I became frustrated and anxious at the seemingly long hold. While on hold, the BJ’s travel agent called and I disconnected from customer service. She had gotten the same air arrangements from Celebrity (departing later on US Air with a change of planes in Charlotte.) She said Celebrity would likely give us a minimum of a $100 shipboard credit and suggested that I take this arrangement. I explained why I was completely disappointed in this arrangement. After all, this was not a mechanical problem or weather related problem. This had not been outside of Celebrity’s control. I felt that refunding the air deviation fee was the bare minimum owed to us and it should be refunded to our credit card. I felt we should not be forced to spend it on the ship, giving it right back to Celebrity.

I even explained this to the travel agent, telling her that we rarely drink and did not anticipate booking any tours. We have visited these islands many times and knew where we wanted to go. She assured me that Celebrity would treat us well and that everything would certainly go smoothly. At this point, we could not even feel comfortable that we even had our cabin on the ship. We were under tremendous stress and aggravation. We reluctantly agreed to the late air arrangements with the change in Charlotte but voiced our tremendous dissatisfaction. We were disappointed that we would not be flying American Airlines, with more legroom (as my husband has very long legs).

Upon boarding the US Air flight (which was overbooked), we were seated in front of the rear bulkhead, in seats that do not recline. Due to the crowded flight our carry-on bags needed to be placed under the seats in front, leaving little room for our feet. This arrangement required my husband’s knees to be painfully jammed into the seat back in front of him (and this is before the occupant reclined on him). Additionally, changing planes brought on new worries of lost luggage. Upon arrival in San Juan, we anxiously waited for our luggage. Hurray! It did arrive. (Finally, something had gone right.) We found the representative for the transfer to the hotel. He asked for our transfer papers from our travel documents. Again, we explained that we had none. He insisted that he needed them. After some arguing, he agreed to take us to the hotel.

The arguing over the transfer/travel documents brought on more anxiety and aggravation. Do we even have a room reservation? Has it been paid for? Upon arrival at the hotel I went to check in. Of course, the front desk clerk needed our travel documents! After standing around waiting for the hotel representative to speak with a supervisor and then call and speak to Celebrity we finally got checked in and went to our room. The time was now after 6:00 p.m.

After finding difficulty at every step of our travel, I decided to spend more of my “vacation” on the phone with Celebrity seeking better assurance that things will be better tomorrow. Finally, my husband and I went to dinner and then to bed. It was a long, painful and exhausting day. The next day we showered, dressed and repacked our luggage. At this point, my husband now has “thrown out” his back. I believe it was brought on (at least in part) by the added stress of our travel ordeal. I went to the front desk to check out while my husband tended to our transfer to the ship only to realize that we have no Celebrity luggage tags. Again, he is asked for our transfers from our travel documents. Again, more long explanations. A hotel representative fashioned luggage tags that simply had “CS” and our cabin number. This did not leave me feeling comfortable. Consider all of the “assurances” that we have received since booking this vacation.

We went to the terminal and waited for embarkation. The Celebrity representative asked for our travel documents and again, a long explanation was required. Finally, we boarded the ship. My husband retired to the cabin to nurse his back pain. I explored the ship. Our room was terrific. The ship was wonderful. The cruise itself was quite nice. The ship was, by far, the nicest ship we have sailed on. (After all, it is almost brand new) The onboard staff was very nice, too. Given all of the wonderful things I had previously heard about Celebrity, I expected to be treated better. All of our anxiety, frustration, disappointment and anger could have been avoided if Celebrity handled our reservations and payment properly in October and our travel documents shipped.

A second opportunity to get everything right presented itself when I called on December 8th. That is (at least) two opportunities for Celebrity to get it right. Instead, our vacation was overshadowed by two days of travel hell. We still needed to worry over ship transfer to the airport and air arrangements to get home. Understand, at this point, Celebrity assurances did little to instill confidence. The next day the Pursers’ office called to say that Celebrity had given us a ship credit of $100.00 as refund of our air deviation fee and nothing else would be extended. Gee, thanks Celebrity! Forgive me if I sound ungrateful. But as I stated earlier, I feel that refund was owed to us anyway. Celebrity dropped the ball. Our air arrangements/pre-cruise package was supposed to be guaranteed. If we were not going to arrive until the evening, we did not want to come a day early. It cost us an additional $418.00 to be jerked around for two days.

So, contrary to your television advertisements, we did not feel like we were “treated famously”. In addition to our annual cruising we are fortunate enough to typically travel an additional 2-3 vacations per year. We have experienced mechanical problems, missed ports of call and weather delays. We understand these things happen. We have even had an unsatisfactory room/cabin or two. Never in all of our travels have we been subjected to this degree of incompetence. Never have we had so little done to make up for what clearly is human errors on the part of the vendor. Carnival, NCL and Princess have never “screwed-up” this badly with us. Any small issues that did arise in our previous travels were handled promptly, professionally and beyond expectation.

On the evening prior to debarkation, I went to the Purser’s office to iron out our transfer to the airport. Again, I was assured there would be no problem. After debarkation we went to the transfer area and were asked for our transfer papers. Again, we explained that we never received our travel documents. The man said that without transfer papers, we would need to take a taxi. It was extremely busy and he did not entertain our argument/explanation. In disgust and exasperation we took a taxi to the airport. We boarded our flight home, remarkably, without a hitch.

Given all that happened during our vacation, we no longer have any realistic expectation that RCCL/Celebrity will offer any refund to us. Although, we feel we are due a refund of $418.00 for our wasted hotel stay/air deviation fee (and tremendous stress and anxiety). We feel the shipboard credit was not a refund. It cost the cruise line mere pennies on the dollar for a few drinks and a couple of t-shirts. We are immensely disappointed in this experience to date. We are not sure we will ever cruise RCCL/Celebrity in the future. If we do, I do not believe we will entrust any other travel arrangements to the cruise line. Additionally, I would like to suggest a twenty-four hour a day travel emergency telephone number (that real people answer) should be established and listed in travel documents and posted on the website (for those of us that do not receive documents).

After completing this letter, I have received my Mastercard card statement. It shows the erroneous $100.00 charge on December 8th was never refunded. I must now begin a dispute through my credit card issuer.

Isudas of Parsippany NJ (10/2/03):
During the period July 12-19, my wife and I booked a Celebrity Cruise Horizon to Bermuda through Liberty Travel. Before booking we precisely requested that we will take this cruise from New York only if we have a clear ocean view and we paid the price accordingly. We clearly emphazied that we are taking this cruise only for relaxation and view from our cabin since I cannot move around too much due to my health condition and we are not for parties or carnival or anything else on the cruise.

Despite all these particular requests, to our surprise when we entered our cabin we had a window which was completely obstructed with a huge lifeboat and we couldn't see anything. Time and money spent for this purpose was completely ruined. Immediately, I took the receipt and showed it the Assistant Director of the cruise and she said she can't do anything since we bought the tickets through Liberty Travel.

Immediately, I made the complaint by e-mail from cruise to Liberty Travels and after coming back to New Jersey, I called them several times and visited their office once to see the Manager but she is telling that it is not their responsibility but of Celebrity. So I wrote a complaint to Celebrity few weeks ago but there is no response from any of these two responsible-reputed companies. Both of them are ignoring genuine consumers like us.

We spent $2,014.70 for this useless trip.

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