Cruise reservation cancelled - need advice

[cyclenut]

Wow. What a story. Thanks for sharing. We have never found a TA we are happy with but are now trying Costco as they offer so many financial benefits. I'm surprised that you received such a headache from Celebrity as they are also a RCCL company but it sounds like you have an awesome outcome. You will love having the balcony in Alaska. The open deck can get quite crowded at times and there is so much to see in Alaska since you really are close to land a substantial part of the time. I think in the end you will be very happy to have spent the extra money.

Enjoy your Alaska vacation!!

 

[ronandannette]

Final Update - We will be sailing on the Celebrity Solstice. Ultimately Celebrity refused to cancel our booking without incurring a substantial penalty ($1,000). I did escalate this to their resolutions department but their take was that the TA who made the original mistake needed to fix the problem. So, we ended up canceling our RCCL Explorer of the Seas reservation and the TA provided us with a full refund. Although Celebrity did refuse to cancel the reservation, and the overall reservation is costing us more than our original booking, they were willing to "rebook" our reservation. By doing so, we were able to change our reservation from one standard balcony cabin to two concierge balcony cabins for an additional $400. While still disappointed (and poorer) due to this experience, we are happy to be going to Alaska and are excited to try Celebrity for the first time.

Cory, I must say you are an extremely forbearing person, and an absolute dream as a customer. Most of us here would have raised holy heck with that TA for their colossal mistake and not stopped until a completely satisfactory resolution was offered. I'm with others here who think you were owed much more than you got.

That said, your patient and mild temperament likely allows you to enjoy life a lot more than people who are "tighter wound" and I predict you'll have a fantastic trip - you deserve it! All the best to you and your family.

 

[nkereina]

I did have a question for my own future information--do TAs have different final payment due dates compared to Royal Carribbean?

This will vary by TA. As PP mentioned, many will make your final payment date earlier than its due to the vendor to ensure both you and the TA make the payment on time and to allow time to deal with any issues. I know that AAA will also make your final payment date earlier than the vendor's final payment date and this is so that if you pay cash or check, they have time to cut their own check or use a corporate card to make your final payment.