Celebrity Cruises Customer Experience Sucks! What Happens When Business Places Profits Before People.

When loyal cruisers hit the iceberg of customer service. A tale of lost voyages, lost loyalty, and the saga of one couple’s adventure on the high seas…

Given this is a serious and frustrating issue relating to the terrible customer experience provided by Celebrity Cruises, I thought I’d use a bit of levity to share the story and impacts.

Once upon a time, in the vast expanse of the cruise ship universe, there existed a couple with hearts full of hope, ready to embark on another seafaring adventure. As avid cruisers, this wasn’t their first time at sea. And it certainly wasn’t their first voyage with Celebrity Cruises. This one was special. It was to be their 14th wedding anniversary celebration, a momentous occasion marked by the renewal of their vows in the storied land of Israel. Little did they know, this journey would turn into a scary and frustrating experience filled with emotion and customer experience fails, leaving them feeling more like characters in a dark comedy than honored guests on a luxury cruise liner.

Their tale begins with a cruise itinerary promising sun-drenched shores and once-in-a-lifetime experiences. But, oh, the treacherous tides of fate had other plans! In this case, actual treacherous activities occurred offshore while they were onboard, impacting their journey. As they began the second day of their journey, they soon discovered that the voyage they had so eagerly anticipated had taken an unexpected detour.

A terrorist attack took place in Israel, the next port where they were due to dock. While their cruise ship was stopped offshore, the anxiety onboard increased. Concern arose over the horrible events themselves and those impacted on land. Concerns arose over what impacts this meant for their long-anticipated vacation onboard. And what options would be available to them. As it turns out, Celebrity Cruises provided no options. However, they did make massive changes to the itinerary. The ports of call had shifted, and the once-anticipated experiences of the Holy Land and the culture and history of Egypt were both replaced by humdrum destinations they had already explored. Can Celebrity Cruises control external events? No. Can Celebrity Cruises control the customer experience they provide? Yes.

Here’s where the dark comedy begins. Sure. A cruise line can make itinerary changes. Especially for the safety of their guests. That’s not so much the big issue for our couple. It’s about how Celebrity Cruises communicated and managed the situation. The couple was provided with zero options supported by Celebrity Cruises to aid them in disembarking early, to perhaps return on a better day to experience their dream trip. The couple had two options. Be miserable, anxious, and angry, or try and make the best of what they can and deal with the terrible customer experience when they return home. They choose the latter.

Eager to partake in excursions that would give them some sort of distraction, entertainment, learning, or adventure, they found themselves stifled. The excursion sign-ups were more elusive than the Loch Ness Monster, vanishing into the abyss of the night while they dreamt of ancient wonders they would not get to experience. The new excursions were limited and made available to guests for a short time at odd hours. In the morning, they scavenged for leftover tours like seagulls at a picnic. And alas, they secured just one new one, as if finding a diamond in a pile of pebbles.

But the sad hilarity didn’t stop there. The ship, a grand vessel filled with all the amenities one could desire, began to run out of everyday essentials faster than a five-year-old devours a bag of candy. Gatorade? Gone! It was as if the ship had hosted a “hydration Olympics,” and Gatorade was the gold medal. Food, boring and repetitive. Favorite wines, gone.

As the voyage continued, anxiety permeated the air. The terrible events onshore plagued the minds of guests. Some with family and friends trapped on land. Loyal patrons, once merry and carefree, now resembled detectives in a nail-biting thriller, deciphering clues and signals from the ship’s crew as to what changes would hit them next and what was really going on. Where was the reassurance, the soothing words, the trusty lifebuoy of communication, the options and actions for those who didn’t want to remain onboard? Oh, that’s right, there was none.

Our lovable duo (they have their moments), in their quest for an acceptable and empathetic resolution, reached out to the powers that be onboard, hoping for a glimmer of understanding. But instead, they found themselves locked in a game of policy ping-pong. It’s like, hello, have you considered a future cruise credit? Something, anything, any type of acknowledgment and offer of apology and understanding of the impacts of these events. And the poor way they were handled by Celebrity Cruises. Nope! It was like talking to a Magic 8-Ball. Instead of answers, they received a swirling sea of more incongruence and uncertainty. “Sorry, we can’t help you. These events are beyond our control” “It’s against our policy to…” Aware the crew onboard was just towing the party line and doing what they were told by corporate, the duo decided to follow up with Celebrity Cruises once they returned from their voyage of the unexpected.

And so, the couple turned to the highest authority in the land of customer service: the elusive Executive Office. With a heavy heart and looking for a sigh of relief, they hoped for a resolution that would make them laugh, cry tears of understanding and thanks, and stay loyal customers for years to come. After all, isn’t empathy, understanding, and compromise with a dash of levity, the best medicine for resolving customer experience failures and keeping loyal customers?

In the end, it’s a tale filled with many more chuckles and head-scratching moments. And some tears. Our couple’s request is simple: not “free money” but a genuine and empathetic apology, and reasonable financial resolution, a gesture of goodwill from the cruise line they’ve come to love. Not being left adrift in the sea of corporate policy lingo and condescending commentary. Sadly, so far that seems to be as elusive as Willy Wonka’s golden ticket. And so for now, the curtain falls on this cruise caper. Let’s hope this quirky seafaring adventure finds its happy ending and that this dark comedy of customer experience errors ends on a positive note. Only time will tell, and, we hope, it will tell a tale of a fair and reasonable resolution.

Oh, and for those who appreciate a bit more verbose context. Below are some of the specific details of this comedy of errors, shared with and ignored by Celebrity Cruises.

This cruise carries a major cost difference as opposed to the ports we were rerouted to in the Mediterranean. Upwards of 30% per some sailings we’ve seen. That huge cost difference doesn’t even account for the expense of airfare.
This was a very special vacation for us. We were celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary and planned on a vow renewal in Israel. That experience was ruined. Not just because of the sad events that occurred but also because of how we were treated by Celebrity Cruises. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for us, and even when world events are more stable in the region it’s not as if this cruise is offered each year. We’ve only seen it offered about 3 to 5 or so and not on a new ship, until Apex.
The scheduled itinerary required maxing out on vacation days off work. Given the destination, anniversary timing, and how rarely the route is offered, we were willing to do that for the original experience. Taking all those days off this time of year and losing money from work to go to ports we had already been to, is something we would’ve chosen not to do.
We sailed a few years back and did almost the same route. Despite the beauty of destinations, the only new ports for us were Bodrum and Rhodes. 2. If we wanted to see those ports we would’ve paid for the cheaper cruise. This redundancy in destinations not only made for a lousy trip but also a boring one.
Even if we did want to try and see and do things at the rerouted ports, unless awake at 1am, all excursions were limited and sold out almost immediately via the app. No announcement was made to book when they became available. No alert notifications via the app. We were lucky to get one. And we don’t risk non-Celebrity excursions as we prefer to have no issues with getting back to the ship. Though refunds for excursions to ports that were rerouted were provided, that has nothing to do with the other limited remaining options and poor process of communication.
In addition to limited excursions, the ship also ran out of many things. Things as simple as Gatorade. Wine. Food items. Dining became redundant.
No options, supported by Celebrity, were offered in Cyprus (the first port we were rerouted) to help get guests home who wanted to end their cruise early. Celebrity should have offered an option to assist any guests who felt unsafe or simply wanted to disembark to sail another day. We may have chosen this option. We looked into some independent options and the cost differences would have been excessive adding to our already poor experience.
Despite the stellar crew, some of whom we even tipped above and beyond for trying to remain attentive to guests and keep things calm and enjoyable, the anxiety level onboard was palpable. We chatted with many other guests who regardless of being rerouted were still having safety concerns. This heightened level of anxiety onboard negatively impacted the trip. We sail with Celebrity to see the world and relax. Not be stuck on a ship where massive anxiety causes the opposite regardless of being rerouted.
Luckily, we had WiFi to contact with worried family. Celebrity issued no public press release we could find that told people on land, and emergency contacts of guests which are in our reservation details, what changes were being made etc. Guests onboard also never received any notification from Celebrity Corporate. And when calling customer service and speaking to guest relations, we were given the standard script. That sent the message Celebrity as a company, minus safety, was not at all concerned about providing the exceptional customer experience we have become accustomed to receiving.
In speaking with other guests, family, and friends on land, we were informed that those who had our itinerary booked on future cruises were offered options we were not. The option for a refund or application of the cruise fare to a future booking was not offered to us but was to those who had yet to depart. That may be policy, but it’s a bit ridiculous. Those who have yet to sail get multiple options and or refunds and we can’t even get a reasonable response and resolution. We were impacted more than them as we were already onboard!

So…what can you learn about customer experience from this sordid tale?

Don’t be greedy.

Put people before profit.

Don’t give customers the party line.

Appreciate loyalty.

Look at the big picture.

Promptly mitigate customer concerns with a fair resolution.

Optics matter.

Or you may end up the subject of someone’s article and interviews about the poor customer service they received from your brand.

About Scott Span, MSOD, CSM, ACC: is CEO at Tolero Solutions. As a people strategist, leadership coach, and change and transformation specialist, his work is focused on people. Through his consulting and training work, he supports clients to survive and thrive through change and transition and create people-focused cultures and a great employee experience. Through his coaching work, he supports people willing to dig deeper to identify and overcome what’s holding them back, change behaviors, accelerate performance, and achieve their goals.

_______________________________________________________________________