My wife and I cruised the Mediterranean on the Celebrity Galaxy June 20-30, 2008. Up front, let me say the cruise was truly incredible: Great itinerary, fantastic shore excursions and, of course, the usual Celebrity opulence and almost superhuman service by a dedicated and well-trained staff.
The problem? This was out third Celebrity cruise, so we are members of Celebrity’s loyalty program, the Captain’s Club. If membership in the program is supposed to mean anything, the question we asked ourselves was this: How did we end up in arguably the worst stateroom (ocean-view) on the ship? Fourth deck, right up front next to a door leading to a staff area, smaller than the square footage expected, noisy (especially if the ship was docking at 4 am) and on the lowest level available for paying customers.
Whatever the explanation, the undeniable reality is that customers with no “loyalty” to the cruise line enjoyed immensely better accommodation than stateroom 4001.
Here’s how it came about: Because of an Encore Vacations promotion which supposedly gave us a bit of a price break, we were given an ocean-view guarantee with no specific stateroom but with reference to a likely upgrade and a permanent stateroom assigned one month before the sailing date.
When it became apparent that we were permanently assigned to 4001, I communicated by email with Captain’s Club representative Constance Wood, who simply cited policy. The short version was that Celebrity had no obligation to give us an upgrade. By the end of our communications, it was apparent Ms. Wood was becoming irritated with me; I, mutually, was becoming irritated with euphemistic phrases like “We apologize for your disappointment”. I began to suspect that if Ms. Wood ever communicated with the Galaxy, it would be to suggest they ignore any request for a change, but that’s probably my paranoia.
On actually seeing the stateroom, I visited the Captain’s Club desk on the Galaxy. I was unable to see the club hostess, Daniella, but spoke to her boss, who told me there was nothing they could do about the situation because the ship was fully booked. Towards the end of the cruise, having been struck four times by the staff door opening suddenly while we were entering or leaving 4001, far too much noise and the frustration of cramped quarters, I wrote a letter and dropped it off at the Captain’s Club desk to let them know they had two unhappy customers and acknowledging they couldn’t do anything about it.
To her credit, Daniella met with us at her earliest opportunity; she was very charming and professional except in her declaration that we should have made her aware of the situation earlier. (Remember, my communications with Ms. Wood and visit to the Captain’s Club desk on Day 1?) Later, we received a phone call from one Patricia, manager of such services but it was obvious she was making sure all her staff had covered the bases.
The basic question of how third-time customers signed on the loyalty program ended up in the worst possible pick of accommodation couldn’t be addressed by anyone involved.
I will add to this the fact that on our first two Celebrity cruises, we received great stateroom upgrades to the eighth and ninth decks and with balconies. Our first such cruise failed to make it to two of its promised ports, a fact that sent numerous clients away determined never to spent money with Celebrity; we felt Celebrity handled that situation so well that we were willing to try them again (based on generous vouchers for a follow-up cruise and cash injections into our onboard account).
For the cruise consumer, the lesson is that your loyalty program is probably a one-way street when it comes to the final step; if a competing cruise line is offering a similar deal to your chosen line, don’t rely on loyalty. For example, friends who took a similar cruise and booked only with ocean-view guarantee ended up with balcony accommodation on Oceania Cruises despite having paid a two-for-one price.
It may well be that kind of comparison that will serve you best when booking.
