Sascol

2 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Did you call your cabin attendant, we have always had a card with there phone number to call them if we had any problems.  We also look for them in the hallway to tell them we are leaving the cabin on a sea day so they know they can come in. 

We did not. Not important today since we opted to stay in the cabin but the point is we should not have to. 

Far from the most important thing but PPV has not been an option at all on this trip. Previous trips with similar itineraries have had this but this time not so. 
 

What would I do to resolve the issues?  Not my place to say. Certainly a large cruise line has staffing models that can be used to calculate crew needed for passengers expected. At some point if those projections are out of whack, booking should be stopped to prevent exactly what we are seeing. 

On Beyond as we speak. Rough seas so staying in the cabin today to relax. We’ve had some issues on this trip which I will outline below.  This is not to slam Celebrity.  We are elite plus so we have sailed them many times including our last 4-5 annual cruises but there are some WAY out of the norm issues being experienced  on this sailing that need to be addressed.  In no particular order…

The ship is SUBSTANTIALLY overbooked for the number of staff employed. Some examples would be sitting in the martini bar area to get a drink. 15 minutes to get a server that I had to flag down myself then once the order was placed, another 20 minutes to get the drinks. This was not a one  time thing and it is happening at multiple bars/lounges. 
 

As mentioned earlier, I am in my cabin today.  Came back in at 1pm to find the cabin not cleaned for the day. It is a bit after 4 now and it has still not been attended to.  
 

PREMIUM internet which we paid for at times is as slow as dial up. No way to stream a movie for the last few days for more than a few minutes at a time. Talked to guest services, they are looking to see if we can be credited. He admitted it is horribly slow. 

Outside of specialty restaurants, service suffers.  Slow service, cold food, items forgotten. 
 

Tried to call for room service…waited for 10 minutes, nobody picked up phone. 
 

No pay per view movies on the TV at all.  Would have been nice today especially. Last time not only did we have PPV options but we could stream our devices to the TV to watch movies.  Not on this cruise. Also no way to order room service on the TV as I seem to remember having the ability to doin the past. 

We have been patient but this is not improving as the trip progresses. I hate to say any of this but felt the need to do so. On vacation we try to stay positive but this is just a little to much to be a good value for the money we paid this time. Sad to see. 
 

On Beyond now, sitting in Eden as we speak. We too  had a long wait times for dining at least one evening (1st night).  We had reservations but they were over an hour behind schedule but because this was the 1st night, somewhat understandable. We offered some grace, however since then while we have been seated quickly, service has still been slow. We ate in Cyprus on night two.  Same deal.  Of the four of us several meals had to be sent back because they were not hot. Finally got replacement meals, also not hot and waitress never followed up. We left the food mainly untouched. For my lunch in Eden today I ordered a sandwich at the counter which took 15 minutes to prepare.  
 

The main issues we have had all revolve around bar wait times and lack of table service for drinks. Very few people circulating and when they do finally get to you, long wait to get drinks. Our room steward advised that he has 18 rooms assigned to him. He said the norm is usually 14 rooms. Generally speaking a lot of the staff just seems to be very inexperienced.

Specialty restaurants (Le Voyage and Roof top grill) have been an exception to all of this and have been excellent. 
 

None of this of course has ruined the vacation but they need to get their act together soon. 
 

This needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. The passengers are seasoned Celebrity cruisers, as are we and many are losing their patience and voicing a number of complaints.

I have streamed Netflix/prime/etc. both on a European cruise and on a Caribbean cruise.  I just log in just as I would at home...no issues.

 Love the martini bar but the ensemble lounge has a cool vibe both pre and post dinner.  Never our first thought go to, but always glad we did when we’re there. 

Don’t be hating on Bermuda for looking out for their citizens to keep them healthy. 

Based on the e-mail recv'd from Celebrity, Bermuda is out "Due to regulations in Bermuda, which would have hindered our guest experience". This impacts the dates of some of the other ports as well so be on the lookout for this if you have any excursions/plans booked on your own.

On 8/20/2022 at 6:07 PM, MixerDave said:

I am confused - how can one test be more positive than another - either you test positive or you don't!  Also what does wearing a mask in a car do?

it’s kind of like being a little pregnant. 

We'll be on the Oct 12th Beyond Transatlantic sailing.  Anything we can look at to get a general idea of the capacity scheduled for this particular sailing?  I know there are some folks here that are good at that kind of stuff.  Don't mind either way...just curious.  

We have considered in the past adding a 3-4 night trip either before or after a 7-night cruise just to extend the cruise out but have opted never to do that for the very reasons being discussed above.  

Awesome - thank you.

We are on the Beyond's Transatlantic sailing in October.  We were able to go through the check in process online this weekend.  During that process we got a pop up message that stated ALL GUESTS MUST BE VACCINATED for this sailing.   We are vaxxed but are wondering if this info is generic and current or if this particular itinerary actually does require vaccination?  The ship stops in Bermuda which may have something to do with this OR it could be just a generic, non applicable note on Celebrity's website.  Thanks in advance.  

Why is this so hard?  One easy solution that I can’t say here.  

Pure speculation at this point. Lots can change especially as Covid  likely becomes more intense as fall approaches and more people gather indoors. 

1 hour ago, jwlane said:

Yes---although check-in functionality is the same in both.

Spotty??

I have the Celebrity app on my device.  As the cruise approaches I s/b able to pick my boarding time via the app...I should not need to log onto the Celebrity website.  is this correct?

Phone/app for your service provider. .

Food is excellent. I wish a few nights of the cruise they’d do this as a dinner option instead of the cartoon chef. 

15 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Actually S-class has 52 sq ft verandas (real balconies) and the IVs are 42 square feet.  The problem with the IVs is they are a long strip vs a more square shape.  Try laying down at all angles in the box.  I bet you can't do it.  The skinny strip box in the video just looks ridiculously small.  It is just ridiculous.

 

Did Carnival design this?

 

Heres to large real balconies for everyone 🍷

I always knew width was more important than length!😉

3 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Also the box is rather small and uninviting.  Not  something that I would choose.  The balconies have plenty of space in them.  They are good for people who spend large amounts of time on the balcony.  Why spend large amounts of time in a small box?  

 

We have been on 25+ cruises w/ balconies.  While I do not have specific measurements, the bulk of the balconies we have had (including on Celebrity ships) have really been no larger than the area provided in the 'small box' you are referencing.

1 hour ago, bEwAbG said:

Not really a topic specific to the Celebrity board.  There is a help forum for general Cruise Critic questions.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2845320-what’s-“rare”-mean-in-some-of-the-names-here/

 

 

Agreed. I only use the Celebrity board so I was not sure if it was elsewhere. After reading up on it, it now seems like a silly descriptor. That’s the best they coul come up with?

39 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

I saw that, too.  As you probably know, that date itself is misleading for you and I as it doesn't represent a true joining date.  Cruise Critic migrated to a new community platform in Apr/May 2000.  Our "join dates" and post counts in the old platform did not transfer over. I think many of us that were active on the old platform have different joining dates in today's system because you had to manually re-register (it wasn't automatic when the new system went live).

 

If you were a Cruise Critic member in the old platform and had a minimum of 5,000 credited posts , you were given the member title of "Charter Member - 5,000+ Club" in the new platform.  But I think that is the extent of the recognition for having participated in the old Cruise Critic system.

 

Unfortunately this is where the late @dkjretired would normally chime in and add more information to this story.

I’d guess maybe late 1998 for me?  Just a guess though. 

8 minutes ago, wrk2cruise said:

Have done a "Live From" thread.

Thanks for the info but how does 'rare' apply to that? 

I see this on profiles in this forum.  It's some kind of badge.  What does it mean???