gizmodog

Just got home today from a very very different Celebrity cruise. First let me say, I am elite plus so I am not a newbie with celebrity, secondly I love cruising and even though this was not the cruising style I am use to I enjoyed myself just being on the ocean and enjoying the wind, weather and sounds of the sea. now…..the ship is clean, the staff try, but whatever has happened to this cruise line in a year is hard to understand. the buffet is drastically cut back in the evening, no pasta bar, but there is a stir fry area, there are breads and cheeses, dessert choices, fruit, salad bar and a station with food of the evening. That is it. Pizza is always available in the back, which I love. I ate twice in the buffet for dinner, had stir fry each night and ate pizza quite a bit for lunch or a snack. Drinks were terrible the number of fru fru blended drinks I got, BBC, DIRTY MONKEY, MIAMI VICE, PINA COLADA, more than half of them were undrinkable. Not blended enough, not smooth and creamy, no drinks were ever made the same which makes me wonder if the bartenders were ever trained. The number of servers in the pool area was not able to keep up with the number of people at the pool. now the biggie, the main dining rooms. There was never a steak on the menu for all 10 nights other than the always available sirloin. No filet, no rib eye, no prime rib. The beef choices were short ribs, beef bourginonne, which was like having stew, I like stew, but I do expect a little more on a cruise. There was lots of pork, lamb, a pasta choice each night, black cod in one of the restaurants, other than that not even much seafood. my big disappointment was the stale breadsticks (which I love and look forward to) and do I even want to mention the lobster? These lobster were so small they looked like they would be illegal to keep if caught. Mine was served upside down with the shell showing, the meat was tough and no melted butter was offered to sprinkle on the lobster. It was served with a pile of rice pilaf and broccoli. We never had enough butter at our table of 6. No coffee was ever offered after dinner, not once! We were informed a charge of 16.99 plus 18% gratuity would be charged if we wanted another lobster….who would??? Desserts were for the most part good, the bananas foster tasted like old bananas that probably should have been thrown out so they used them for dessert, plus they were not nice sliced bananas they were one banana cut in fours, you were served two of those 4.. I really don’t know what else to say, did I go hungry? no. Did I enjoy my dinners? Not really, I’m very saddened as to what has happened to what was my favorite cruise line We leave in a month for Antartica on the Infinity and I can say my usual excitement is just not there, I’m sure I will love the scenery and the thrill of being somewhere I’ve never been but 14 days of this food and service is not my idea of a celebrity cruise.

We just today got off the edge, no prime rib, no steaks other than the everyday sirloin. Lots of pork, very limited fish, lots of short ribs that tasted like chuck roast, and some lamb. Really not like cruising of old (2022 and before) service is lacking, really a disappointment. Did I enjoy my cruise? Of course because I just like cruising. No excellent grades for Celebrity anymore from me though. drinks were hit and miss, no two were ever made the same, I don’t know how to explain it other the just saying it’s nothing to rave about anymore. Makes me sad.

I am on the edge right now. There is a 9.95 delivery fee for room service, but..there is more then continental for free. Cereal, coffee, fruit, danish, yogurt, muffins, croissants, milk, juice, the 9.95 is basically for a cooked breakfast. All dinner and lunch there seems to be a charge. I am a long time celebrity cruiser and will probably not book with celebrity again not because of the restaurant fee but everything else that is so noticeably cut back. I am sure 1st time cruisers are enjoying this cruise as the don’t know any different, maybe that is celebrity’s wishes I don’t know, the dining room experience is so downgraded but the rooftop grill was great. service has been pretty bad in the dining room also.

Yes

This has gotten way off topic i keep going back to the original topic of anyone on edge can confirm cutbacks and nobody seems to be answering that particular question.

If these service changes and charges are implemented, and there is really no acceptable excuse, they will never change, there will always be more. Sad really, all of the people making excuses for them I applaud their positivity but sadly, I don’t buy any of them. I know the CEO and other higher ups are making their bonuses and the staff and the guests are paying for it. I dont know the solution I will just, like most,have to sit back and see what actually happens.

I agree with the original poster, I too feel that what I booked is no longer what I am getting with all these added surprises that are not good. We shall wait and see I guess.

I am

I love cruising and celebrity has always been my line of choice, but I will have to see, have 4 cruises booked and if the cutbacks are too much, I have had my eye on Oceania for awhile. I cannot understand a cruise line charging extra when it has always been all included other than specialty dining, and alcohol. I just don’t like all these surprises. We shall see. Raise prices again to cover these added prices so not to worry about it while on the ship. Makes them to me look like a lower class ship. Charges are not enough to break the bank, but I will not use them, and the sad thing is, if people are ok with them they will not go away and there will be more in the future.

Agree, rather nervous as I think this has been my most expensive cruise to date with airfare and sailing. Hate to pay so much for a disappointing cruise, although seeing Antartica is my husbands dream. I will try to think positive, we do have a sunset veranda so that is a plus if the cabin is not too shabby, hate shower curtains, but they’re better then no shower at all!

Thank you for the review of dining. Ocean view at dinner it is being said has been cut back to hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza and salad bar, wondering what you observed. also do you feel the ship is looking old? Thoughts on your cabin. glad you are having fun, really enjoying your post.

May I ask your thoughts on the ship? Also is the evening buffet cut quite a bit in food? Is there a room service fee?

We will be on the edge in a week and to say I’m disappointed is an understatement. we would eat dinner in the OV a couple times a cruise just to remove ourselves from dressing for dinner and to have more of a casual dinner. this along with all the other cut backs I’m not really understanding, especially since I have just been told by an employee of another cruise line that their CEO made a 13 MILLION dollar bonus this year, and the employees themselves have been cut in a lot of areas. It is rather disgusting that the employees and guests are the ones sacrificing. I’m sure this post too will be removed from the boards!

Sorry I am not very “techy” I had always planned to answer just wasn’t very quick at it, I was not ignoring it. Water under the dam.

Will you address when you can if there is a $9.95 delivery room service fee on the Infinity? Also if the burgers at the mast bar are still complimentary. I will be on her next month and am reading all sorts of stuff that celebrity is supposedly imposing. Would love to hear from someone actually on the ship.

I didn’t ignore your request, I have a hard time finding menus, when I finally found it I found no prices, the wording did concern me. I do have the rooms service at $9.95 per delivery on this cruise though my apex cruise in a week does not say that yet.

Hope you are right, charge per item sounds like whatever item you order, it then says beverages not included, I like your way of thinking. I’m just not trusting celebrity these days, thanks

I just posted another photo of what appears to be a charge in the mast grill for our February Antartica cruise. It showed up on the app when I looked up the cruise. Something weird is going on

So excited to hear about the ship

Anyone else have a problem in the last couple days? Cannot sign in or do anything, opens and is frozen. Happening on safari, chrome, and their app.

Makes no sense , not the least bit interested

I’m sure they are both very nice, well, I know celebrity is. Anyway, celebrity is just a lot easier. Hal seems to make things complicated, even with the 15 drink limit, it’s plenty, but I just don’t get it. anyway, like I said before looking forward to the suite experience in HAL, just know I’ll still be paying a lot once on board.

HAL IS JUST TOO COMPLICATED

Pricing changes on Celebrity as well as all other ships, I currently have a sky suite booked on their new ship and it was same price as the Neptune yet with tips, drinks, wi fi, they also have a dedicated dining room for suite guests and a lounge where their is no additional charge for drinks and food. Not to mention their new retreat area for suite guests. I just feel for the money, Holland should include some sort of perk for their higher end suites. I’m normally not a suite person, have only been in one 5 times out of 30 cruises, but weighing perks, celebrity gives way more than Holland. I didn’t know when booking my Neptune this was the case, I’m still quite excited about the HAL cruise but sadly disappointed at the lack of perks for having a suite.