LGW59

49 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Cliff notes: Zeus to the rescue. 

 

Brace: I’m here to deliver another pretty substantial blow. You don’t need to tuck your head between your legs  or anything that dramatic, but you may want to brace yourself. This one cuts deep because it was my work around for the limited buffet.
 

I finished the game up on the rooftop and headed back to my room. It was after 8:00 pm and I had been soaking up the salty air since 8:00 am. I didn’t have enough energy/motivation to put on my walking shoes and do a few laps let alone take on the task of a shower, make up, heels, and patience (not to mention the challenge of squeezing my  day 8 cruise body into my day 1 fancy LBD.) 
 

I had a brilliant idea!!! Just brilliant. Sometimes I amaze myself.  I could order room service and have formal night dinner delivered to the room for $9.95 (plus gratuity).  I was thrilled at my cunning solution to my laziness. Lamb chops on the balcony in my pjs. Sounds like a great plan, right?
 

Wrong. 
 

Room service only delivers items from the limited room service menu. I pleaded my case pretty strongly. Reminded the kind man that I could order from the dining room last trip, discussed that I wasn’t up for a long evening in the dining room and wanted to just relax on my balcony, explained that the buffet is very limit. Didn’t matter. Nothing worked They no long deliver anything that isn’t listed on room service menu. Period. 

 

For the first time this cruise I was genuinely disappointed. I feel like celebrity keeps missing easy solutions to the cutbacks which wouldn’t cost much, nor take much effort. In my case, they missed an actual revenue generator.

 

Those of us who don’t want to do the formal dance could pay $9.95 for the privilege of eating MDR food, in the attire of our choice, in the comforts of our stateroom. Celebrity gets $10 and we get to avoid the long, drawn out, experience which is typical of a MDR. Nope. Not happening.

 

I took that irritating lil piece of information and turned it into some positive motivation to slap on a hoodie, change into my tennis shoes, and meet my 7 mile a day goal by doing laps on 11. According to my Fitbit I even got in 44 minutes of hard cardio. Sometimes that happens when I’m ticked. Sometimes I eat chocolate cake instead. 
 

After I crushed it,  I marched my somewhat sweaty, shorts wearing, pony tail, no make up, hoodie girl self into the buffet. My plan was to make up something easy to take back to the cabin and call it a night. I was disappointing. Tonight’s buffet was especially lame and I was getting hangry. 
 

And then I met Zeus, almighty God of the oceanview cafe. Otherwise known as the mAitreD. 

 

I was taking photos of the buffet and two “higher ups” were standing close. I asked if the veal was the same veal being served in the MDR this evening. One of the men (later identified as Zeus-God it the Oceanview Cafe) reminded me that veal wasn’t on tonight’s menu. At which time I remembered it was lamb not veal and said I was disappointed I could not order room service off the MDR menu. I explained I tried to order the lamb to be delivered, but was shot down. He apologized for the change in policy and INSISTED I allow him to fetch Lamb from the MDR for me. 
 

I tried to refuse. I really don’t like special treatment, nor do I need to be fussed over but Zeus wasn’t taking no for an answer. He did ask that I “shhhhh” so I sat outside at the sunset bar which was practically empty. It took a few minutes but Nelson (one of my favorite workers in the ocean view cafe) appeared with the goods. The golden Lamb, and boy was it melt in your mouth fabulous. 

 

So my disappointment was made whole by excellent staff who truly went the extra mile. Again.
 

Here I sit, Eating delicious lamp chops, in my completely inappropriate chic night attire, while sitting outside at the sunset grill, sipping sangria and enjoying a cool ocean breeze and a star filled sky. Couldn’t make this up if I tried. 

Not going to lie, still a bit disappointed in the decision to limit room service, but the night was saved and this is yet another example of why I believe crew trumps food. 
 

 

 

Love your writing style, attitude and resourcefulness and especially your sense of humor

9 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

Take care of your kids.  Don’t put them across the hall.  Pick a cabin that can accommodate 4 people. Eat with your kids, not in Blu.  If you want a cabin for yourself, bring a nanny to take care of your kids. If not, cruising isn’t appropriate for you.

Did you actually read his posts?

2 minutes ago, davekathy said:

Sooner than what you thought. 😂

😂😂😂😂

19 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Bet there’s a thread somewhere criticising the standard of coffee on Celebrity, just off to look……..

you ambulance chaser you!

19 minutes ago, Keys Kathy said:

I wish someone would post the contact info for LLP. I would perfer they fix things BEFORE I get on Feb 3rd.

 

LLP contact info has been posted on so many threads here, I've lost count, but do not fret, I have a feeling your wish will soon come true on this very thread

10 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

calling terrydtx, calling terrydtx....this one's for you

19 minutes ago, ABoatNerd said:

Excellent post.

What I find wonderful about your post is your obvious critical thinking and ability to make course changes based on analysis.  An "obedient consumer" you are not. Well done indeed. 

Blind obedience is a dangerous thing for people and many consumers operate this way. Corporations often rely on the "obedient consumer". Depending upon what % of passengers Celebrity thinks are "obedient consumers", drives their business decisions. In Celebrity's case they know many of their longer time customers have abandoned them for the premium lines (myself included) so they are honing in on the new customer who of course, has limited to 0 knowledge of the previous Celebrity product and who are younger and more likely to react to fluff entertainment, gadgets, find "fast food" ok and not question the nickel and diming, because it is all new and exciting.

My career was in marketing and in our corporate boardroom was a gigantic sign with the words "obedient consumer".

I compliment you in your analysis and wish you happy sailing on any of the many cruise lines out there. Always put yourself first.

 

 

2 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Good stuff. I’m retiring from this thread, getting tedious. Off to eat some tilapia, turkey, sirloin, and chicken nuggets, and soggy pizza. My favourites.

good luck trying to find a bag of chips to go with that turkey sandwich

3 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

I may need to check that out.

9 minutes ago, yknot13 said:

Royal looks superior to X on their main dining room options

Back to Royal we go

Good luck because apparently the Park Cafe on one of their luxurious amusement parks ships is no longer offering potato chips and they got a nice long thread on their boards about the travesty.

3 minutes ago, RichYak said:

There's nothing arbitrary about it. "Sailings embarking after January 1" has been reported in plenty of responses from F&B crew on board as well as from callbacks from corporate. To refer to it as arbitrary negates an otherwise legitimate point you are trying to make.

But here's the rub, from what I'm seeing, many folks are saying they are having a wonderful experience, both from currently live posts and recently completed, all after jan. 1  I'm not suggesting everything is roses and daffodils, I'm just suggesting that from what I have been reading, the ship is not sinking. 

2 minutes ago, sptrout said:

We have not tried the Boulud Chicken mainly based on many negative comments on CC. However, we did go to Le Vogage last week and it was outstanding, The food was great and the service was over the top. We lost track how many servers and others stopped at our table to make sure that evergthing was great. 

 

Funny thing though at Le Voyage they excepted our request to use wines from our Premium Package, no arugment, At Eden they were very insistant that we buy wine from their wine list (by the bottle with 20% discount). They may have relented, but we got tired of aruging and just bought ta low cost bottle on their wine list. We drink wine on osscasion, but cannot tell the difference detween a $25 bottle and a $100 bottle. 

 

Bottomeline, it costs condsierable less to dine at Le Voyage than it did at Eden. No comparsion between the food and service; Le Voyage won handsdown. We will be in Le Voyage during our next Beyoud cruise.

based on many negative comments on CC.  Good lord if I based what I was or was not going to do based on this, I'd probably never leave my damn cabin.

11 minutes ago, horseymike said:

this situation has been implemented with very short notice.The situation Going forward is the issue.

So because one can only get a drink from a specific bar they won't take the cruise???  Not sure what you are even saying.

4 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

My experience doesn't count (see #940).  If I lived in Florida I could do a very-last-minute X cruise this afternoon or tomorrow and provide some legitimate complaints... maybe.

See now you're getting it.  If one has actually cruised and has a real on-board experience like you, your opinion does not matter, it's the guy watching YouTube vloggers in his boxers that REALLY knows what's going on!  I won't post about my 2 weeks on the Edge this past November because it was before the CC posters established arbitrary rule.  Now carry on naysayers...

23 hours ago, suec12 said:

Saw a news item about RCL and Carnival making changes to their everyday menus including not having escargot and French onion soup available every evening - not sure if this was going to be on Celebrity. So are these currently still be offered on the Celebrity ships? Thanks!

you saw a news item or did you see one of those YouTube cruise ranters who embellish everything?

15 minutes ago, Cruzinforpeace*** said:

So they “doctored” the video.  Really? Come on.  Are you from the Celebrity “misinformation” Department?

“doctored”  hmmm you have this in quotes responding to my post, I don't see where I used that word at anywhere there...talk about doctored!  Really? Come on.   

10 minutes ago, Cruzinforpeace*** said:

So they “doctored” the video.  Really? Come on.  Are you from the Celebrity “misinformation” Department?

No, I'm from the government and I'm here to help

1 minute ago, Cruzinforpeace*** said:

I guess you didn’t view the video in the beginning of this thread.

You guess wrong.  That is a typical YouTube travel "expert" with their click bait videos, they get paid on the number of clicks...so you just go click click away

3 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Seems to me that most (not all) of the very recent or currently cruising, have been saying the overall experience on board has been good or better.  There are actually some really good positive and balanced reviews running right now on this, good positive stuff.  Lots of the shall we say whining, seems to be from people planning to cruise in the coming months, waxing on and on about this better stop, they better have this yada yada yada.  It is good entertainment though hearing all knickers in a twist uproar.  

See this post #938 proves my point, an ACTUAL cruiser having a good experience, much more valid than some guy in his living room whining on and on about what he heard on some internet forum, but again those folks have provided hours of free entertainment.  Thank you @d9704011

Seems to me that most (not all) of the very recent or currently cruising, have been saying the overall experience on board has been good or better.  There are actually some really good positive and balanced reviews running right now on this, good positive stuff.  Lots of the shall we say whining, seems to be from people planning to cruise in the coming months, waxing on and on about this better stop, they better have this yada yada yada.  It is good entertainment though hearing all knickers in a twist uproar.  

4 minutes ago, mpdog42 said:

Chicken Nuggets.....Celebrity I salute your Top Notch Dining!!!🙄🙄

Hey it's a buffet, what you're expecting talapia?

5 minutes ago, karmamule said:

We’ll be boarding Apex tomorrow and are looking forward to trying the pizza for ourselves! 😊

SInce your from Boston I can say it ain't like Santarpios, but it definitely isn't horrible

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

Caesar salad is available every night. I've ordered it most nights.

But no croutons, right?

5 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Cliff notes- the key is zero expectations. 
 

Those along for the ride- I’ve traveled to the Dominican Republic on land vacations 8 times. Six to Punta Cana, once to LaRomana, and I spent two lovely weeks at the Riu right here in Puerta Plata. 
 

Needless to say, I had no desire to leave the confines of the port area alone. Don’t get me wrong, I’m from Detroit and can navigate a project as good as anyone, but i draw the line at non-potable water AND fist-fighting for the opportunity to braid my hair (it’s pretty long and apparently fetches a large bounty). 

I spent a good deal of time in town with my hubby. That was enough for me. I really caution a solo lady taking on the area alone unless you can still throw down. I can still throw my back out. Doesn’t count.

 

Anyway. Tanio Bay is much like Costa Maya. An entire plethora of activities designed and built solely to capture the cruise ship dollar. It’s like a mini all-inclusive but you have to pay for drinks. That takes the ‘all’ out of the inclusive concept but you get the idea. 
 

They have done a nice job with a plethora of shops, bars, cool sitting areas, a man made beach and a gigantic pool with swim up bar. They don’t charge for any of the comfy loungers (yet) and it looks like there is a lazy River in construction.

 

All that was cool and all, but I was blown away by the monkey habitat. So much FUN!! More than the cats in San Juan and we all know how much I love them. I’ll be visiting those monkeys each and every trip back to these coordinates. 
 

I’m always very hesitant to support outfits like this. The dolphin/sea lion encounter in Punta Cana has a well documented history of mistreating the animals (as do many activities like that). 

Side note- if you really want to swim with dolphins I recommend the national rehabilitation center in Honduras. They bring in injured dolphins and mend their health. The dolphins are released and often choose to stay in the protected cove even though they are free. Or you can come visit me in Maui where truly wild spinners will approach out of pure curiosity. Of course, they don’t  kiss on command so you’ll miss the photo op.
 

Anyway (again)- after a nice conversation with one of the guides. I was convinced they do as good of a job as any in terms of taking care of the monkeys. The habitat was clean, spacious, and the monkeys and guides appear to have a loving symbiotic relationship. At the very least, I hope some of my $25 goes toward monkey treats.
 

The whole thing lasts 30-45 minutes with education about spider monkeys and lots of cautions. The monkeys are master picketers. I had to leave everything behind before entering the habitat except my prescription sunglasses and cell phone. Absolutely no jewelry (i had left my wedding ring locked up in the safe because this wasn’t my first rodeo in Puerta Plata). Men had to zip up their wallets and were warned that the monkeys can undo buttons and zippers. Velcro pockets are mere child’s play. 

We were also taught how to interact with the monkeys. They don’t like kisses, but welcome petting (sooo soft). We were warned not to grab the monkeys or risk being bit. One lady did get a little knick in her skin but no blood was drawn. 
 

So here comes the super fun part. Remember I said I could bring in my cell phone? Well little did the guide know, but my nieces bejeweled my case at Christmas. The monkeys went wild for my case! I had more monkeys climbing all over me than I could count. One lady took a photo of me with 13 monkeys perched  on my shoulders, hands, arms, and on-top of my head. Didn’t matter where I went in the habitat, the monkeys followed. Little ol me turned into a realtime pied piper of monkey world. 
 

What great fun. Btw, you can visit monkey world on a tour from the cruise for $$$$ or just walk 1/2 a block and pay $25 at the counter. Bonus is your group in the habitat area will be smaller in numbers so more one on one monkey time (or just being in a bejeweled phone case). 

I give the port day with zero expectations a solid 10 (if you’re a fellow monkey lover). Came back to ship, took a shower (because, well, they are monkeys), hooked up with some new friends for drinks and great conversation. They all went to the 2 hour dinner version. Instead i had dinner here- out side at the sunset bar and i havent yet moved because the weather is perfect, the breeze is cool,  the wake sounds lovely, and they keep refilling my sangria glass. 
 

Life. is. Good. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This!!!!!!

1 hour ago, randomcruise said:

Anyone who doesn't want to read the complaints here can easily just skip over this thread.  Or they can troll it if they wish, as many are currently doing.

stop complaining