First, welcome to FT!

Last year I had a similar problem on a domestic itinerary. It priced out as a B fare on the CO.com web site but they decided to ticket it as a deeply discounted one. It sounds like the fare category listed was a large part of your decision to purchase. I suggest you call Continental and ask them to fix the problem. If you were using the CO.com web site then make sure to call the CO.com support line. You should be polite but insistent as it will likely take some amount of convincing. They obviously have a problem with their system, but that should not be your problem.