turning46

Our experience was the opposite. We had a quick, efficient disembarkment. Lines appeared daunting but moved quickly. A long line of folks waiting for taxis was handled nicely by taxi employees who kept the queue orderly and moving briskly.

I was worried, because I'd read other reviews that mirrored the OP's experience - I guess it really does change from day to day.

Not excellent advice nor is it correct for every situation. In Alaska, if you take the White Pass RR or rent a car and head across the border into the Youkon, you must have your passport to renter the US.

The best advice is, know where you are going and what is needed.

You are absolutely correct. I was addressing where one only needs a "photo ID" to get back on the ship; I should have been more clear.

Excelllent advice! We had to take our seapasses and a picture ID when we left the ship at some ports.

Deciding that our drivers' licenses were less valuable than our passports, we opted to take the drivers' licenses and leave the passports on board. Those poor people!

I agree that there are minimum levels of care/attention/service expected, and I can understand feeling let down or frustrated when these are not met.

What I can't understand is how people can see crew members obviously working hard, and get still get angry that their needs are not being met. They are doing the best they can!

I guess I tend to feel sorry for the workers - after all, virtually every other part of our day as a guest on the ship is going to be awesome. Theirs - not so much. A perfect example is the poor, harried Il Bacio worker I mentioned in my review. I felt so bad for the guy, but other passengers were rudely shoving their drinks back at him: "I ordered a vanilla latte, not a white chocolate latte!" Okay, yeah, he got it wrong - do you need to be a jerk about it? He's working his hinder off behind that counter!

As long as the staff is working to meet passengers' needs, and I will cut them huge amounts of slack. People make mistakes, people can't be everywhere at one time, and people have feelings!

I know! Ours is a hard, hard lot. LOL.

I forgot to mention how cool it was that the Liquid Chef himself, Junior Merino, was on board mixing drinks. I overheard him talking with another passenger about how he does one stint a year on Celebrity. His Tanned Russian was "dessert" on more than on occasion on this cruise!

Link to part I:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2026837

And part II:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2027329

So, if anyone is still with me, I believe I left off after Jamaica. Still in good spirits despite a semi-disastrous excursion, H and I returned to our ship for an evening of fun and relaxation. One of the things I love about cruising is that it is essentially "date night" every night: we dress for dinner (nothing fancy, just change from our shorts or sundresses into a nicer dress or skirt/blouse for me and cabana type shirt and chinos for H), listen to live music or catch a show, dance, enjoy wine or cocktails. It's lovely, and a nice way for us to rekindle.

If I recall correctly, tonight's show was "Knight Magic" and we just loved it. The show had some big set piece type magic, and some upclose sleight of hand, too. We are magic fans, and I thought this person had a lot of talent, esp in the sleight of hand. How DID he do that?! They were cute, too: a husband and wife team out of Vegas with energy to spare.

On to Labadee, Haiti, which surprised me by being one of the best days of the cruise. The leased property is absolutely gorgeous, with soft sandy beaches, walk-right-in crystal clear water, and plenty of loungers. The barbecue lunch was just so-so, but that was more than enough. We ate grilled burgers on a gorgeous beach, rum punches in hand. What's not to love? Paradise, and I hated to leave.

The only part that wasn't paradise was the easily-avoided "craft market" area, where the vendors were almost unbelievably aggressive. Like I said, though, that is easy to avoid and it is even possible to get souvenirs there without going into the craft market area and shopping instead at the general market in the central area.

Formal night was that night, and it was lovely to see so many people looking so fine. Here's another time the A group annoyed me a bit: they chose to have a "70s party" on that night, so mingling among the tuxes and gowns were folks in goofy Afro wigs and loud bell-bottom/hippie outfits. It just seemed tacky to me. And I'm usually good humored! I swear!

I rolled my eyes a bit, I confess, but then I reminded myself that when I first starting reading the "formal night" threads, I vowed not to let how anyone else dresses affect how I feel, so I let it go. (Except maybe I didn't, because here I am complaining about it. Oops.)

I think that evening's show was the Cirque de Soleil-ish show. Not really my cup of tea, but again the singers and dancers gave it their all. There were aerial acts, but only one real aerialist, a guest performer who was amazing. She obviously worked her craft/art for a long time and was expert at it. Not so much with the two male dancers who also did an aerial stint in the show. They were new at this, one could tell, and I was nervous the entire time they were in the air.

The next day was a relaxing, fun sea day spent mostly in the solarium or at the top deck. Too soon, it was time to pack and fill out customs forms. We had a lovely last night and a relaxing breakfast in Blu on the last day. We were spending a day in florida before heading home, so we opted to be among the last off the ship. We spent most of that time in the Il Bacio area, sipping lattes and people watching. One note on Il Bacio: the one employee who seemed the most harassed, harried, and unhappy was the poor guy pulling espresso there. I don't know if he was new, or just not terribly well suited for the job, but I really felt for him as he fell behind, got orders wrong, and was too-often rudely treated by guests. I hope he either gets the hang of it or gets put into another, lower-stress position soon.

Overall, we loved our cruise. I'm already secretly checking out future sailings. I'd be happy to answer any questions! Thanks for reading.

We were on during the same span they were, and had the same conclusion. Not only did service not live up to Celebrity's standards, it failed to meet the standards of any of our 15 sailings among 5 separate lines. Finding several others that had similar experiences, so this is no surprise. Many of you do tend to be a bit defensive to harsh criticism, but from the perspective of a previously loyal X'er, the cut backs are putting too much strain on staff and service is not what it used to be.

I find this really interesting. Do you mean you found a marked difference between week 1 and week 2? Or do you mean that service was not up to par for the entire two week period? From last week's cruise, I do agree that the staff is overextended in many areas.

Actually, I'm still looking for those really, really extremely well dressed, awesomely fit, fantastic looking gentlemen that are in every brochure.

Sorry, my H got off the ship last week!

How could the cruise change so drastically?

That seems really strange to me, too, given it's the same ship, the same (mostly) staff, the same management team . . . I hope OP gives more of an explanation.

LOL. You must be Canadian to have kept up such a positive attitude.

Ha. Not Canadian, but a Wisconsinite. Close enough?

Here is the link to Part I (which I named badly, forgetting to put in the name of the ship):

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2026837

Onto Part II: There's not much to add to the overall experience I've already described on the ship - sea days and evenings we spent reading, relaxing in the solarium or near the lawn, sipping drinks, working out, playing trivia, and taking naps. We are boring! But this is our idea of a nice vacation.

We tried breakfast at Blu on this day, and decided it was one of the highlights of being in the Aqua class. So relaxed, delicious breads and pastries being delivered, fresh juices, and a nice quiet start to the day. Dinners at Blu took a decided upturn when we were seated in Milorad's section - he and his assistant were delightful, extremely attentive, and we asked to be seated in his section every night thereafter.

Our first port stop was Cozumel, Mexico, and I had booked a "day of romance" at Mr. Sanchos Beach Club as a birthday gift for my H. I had wanted to book a cabana, anyway because we are pasty Midwesterners and need to stay out of the direct sun. I needn't have worried - there were tons of available shaded tables and loungers at Mr. Sanchos (at least on the all-inclusive side, which is where we were). I'd say the $55/pp all you care to eat and drink special is worth the $$, but the $200/couple romance pkg with the guaranteed cabana and massage may not be worth the extra money. I thought the 30-minute massage was heavenly, but I don't know how much it would have cost to just add that in ala carte.

Anyway, the drinks were kind of weak, but they kept coming, the food was actually very good, and the sea was delightful - walk-right-in warm with gentle waves. My handy swim-shirt covered my arms and shoulders and back, so I was able to stay in the water for as long as I wanted. Too soon, it was time to leave to catch the ship.

We did do a bit of shopping in the seaport area, and the vendors were very aggressive. My H was quite uncomfortable (it doesn't bother me as much) and we left that area feeling a bit tensed up from teh encounters. However, I did get a new silver wedding band, as I'd lost my original wedding band last year ziplining.

I don't remember the exact order of the entertainment, but I think tonight's show was a Broadway tribute. I loved it, because I love to see the young, talented singers and dancers being able to showcase their talent. I noted that the dancers, esp., were doing some pretty complicated choreography and each one was giving it his/her all - full extensions, complete rotations, the works. I was impressed!

The next day we unfortunately had to skip Grand Cayman Island due to rought seas and unsafe tendering conditions. I was quite disappointed, because I really wanted to try snorkeling and I wanted to see the stingrays, too. But as is often noted on these boards: if there is a "must-see" destination, book a land vacation there. I guess this gives me a handy excuse to do just that!

This unexpected sea day was the only one that really felt crowded on the ship. There were so many people packed into the Ensemble lounge for trivia that we couldn't even get a seat, much less a cocktail. My guess is that the A group didn't have any scheduled seminars for that day, so they were mixing among the rest of the guests? Maybe. Or maybe people were just milling about more than usual. In any event, we still found places to sit and enjoy the lovely ocean breezes.

The next day we landed in Jamaica. We decided to try a snorkel/beach excursion. Not such a great idea, as it turns out! Jamaica was hot and the seaport area was busy, but not overly crowded. I feared the vendors there would be aggressive, but they were very mellow. We bought a couple of bottles of rum cream as a gift to the people watching our dog while we vacationed.

A group of us got walked to the excursion boat, a smallish two-decker. We sat inside and the delightful tour guide started to distribute equipment as we set on our bouncy, jouncy way. We had absolutely no idea what we were doing, but luckily some fellow voyagers gave us some tips and we got suited up. At the site, the waves were fairly significant, but we hopped into the warm water and tried our best to snorkel at a large reef.

I never did get the hang of it - the waves were pretty strong, and my mask filled with water every time I put my head in the water. But! The view of the reef was incredible. I'd never seen anything like it, so I would just hold my breath and stick my face in to view as long as I could. After not too many minutes, we all looked up to see a HUGE wave coming toward us all - it scattered everyone and we all came up spluttering just in time to see another HUGE wave crashing over us. At that point, the guide made us all get back in the boat - snorkel time was over.

Barfing time had just begun! At least 7-10 people were sick on the ride to the beach, including my H. People were, uh, letting go over the side of the boat, and while I didn't get sick, I felt a bit green. Almost everyone felt better by the time we hit the small, rather disappointing beach. So we trundled out, and started to make our way wading around the beach area just in time to encounter . . . . sea urchins! Dozens and dozens and dozens of them, just waiting in the seagrass to launch their spines into our tender feet and ankles! This was just getting better and better.

Finally it was time to go and I tried to remember the best parts: rocking gently in the swelling waves that weren't strong enough to knock me over, and the amazing view of something I had never seen in my life. Those two things made up for the rest, in my view. Even H, after he had recovered from being sick, said it was overall a good experience.

More later!

deleted - made separate post

We just came off of the Reflection and they actually closed Michaels Club and turned it into a private lounge. . Not sure if it's closed on all ships or just the reflection, but we were really bummed.

 

 

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On last week's Silhouette, it was also a "private lounge." Presumably for suite guests, of which there seemed to be only a few taking advantage of their private lounge at any given time.

Ooops! Yes, the Silhouette. I buried that in the 4th paragraph down; is there any way to edit my title to add that in?

Enjoying your report! Do you recall The Cruise Director's name? Where was your room?

I hear you regarding trivia! We love playing, but there are always some who think they know all the answers & question everything. I love the hosts who tell all at the beginning, that there is only one right answer; the one they have! We've had those who deduct points for arguing; that usually stops them in their tracks!

Keep it coming! We'll be on board the TA next week.

Thanks! The cruise director was named Damien, he was from Canada, and H swore he must be using amphetamines because he was UP all the time! He had a big personality, and we enjoyed it immensely.

Our room was 1645, waaaay aft, which is fine by us, on the 11th deck. I kept the weight gain at a minimum :rolleyes: by taking the elevator only twice during the week and walking back to our room. The room was great, except for a sticky closet door, and being way back, it was very quiet.

I really, really wish I could remember the name of the Brit who called Trivia. He was understatedly hilarious.

That's really horrible. My next cruise is Mediterranean, I will be off ship most of the day every day, so it may not hit me there. But I am one of those people who participates in many things on-board and gets to know the cruise staff. Having just two people is going to leave a lot of dead time on board.

Well, maybe, but probably (hopefully!) not. Another poster said that the budget was to stay, but the X employees will be gone (hopefully moving to other employment opportunities). That could simply mean that outside contractors will be brought in to provide art lessons, cooking lessons, what have you. Or, as on our cruise, the wonderful dancers could lead dance lessons in different styles. Maybe some of the staff could lead mixology or even towel-animal folding classes.

In other words, although the staff is being cut to 2 positions, that doesn't mean that there will only be two people offering the activities. I hope that's true, anyway!

I really hope others on this same voyage write reviews, because it's always interesting to read other perspectives on the same cruise. Anyway, here's the start of my review:

Being risk-adverse, H and I flew into Fort Lauderdale the day before our sailing. Day of embarkation, we took a taxi to the ship and were able to get in line (we'd been able to upgrade to Aqua Class inexpensively, so we had priority embarkation), check in, and be aboard the ship sipping sparkling wine within minutes. The "regular" line was longer, but seemed to be moving briskly and efficiently.

Once aboard, we were greeted by smiling and friendly staff. This was a continuous theme for us, although these folks are working VERY hard (more on that later). How they manage to muster up a smile and friendly greeting hour after hour, I will never know. Huge kudos to the staff from me.

H and I walked around the beautiful ship: Silhouette is truly lovely. Sleek and elegant, with lots of clean lines and glass. Some folks prefer a more baroque style, but we found the Silhouette's style very appealing. The ship fairly gleamed, too.

We headed to the buffet, which was crowded as expected, but not terribly so. There wasn't a rude or pushy or grabby person in sight - our fellow passengers were, almost without exception, friendly and smiling. We're all vacationing on a beautiful ship into beautiful places, what's not to smile about?

We did have to the "you sit, I'll go get food" dance, as seating was at a premium, but it wasn't long before we found a place and we both thoroughly enjoyed our lunches. Salad ingredients were fresh and varied, and the Indian food (throughout the entire trip) was interesting and delicious. We remembered the Indian selections from our last cruise, and they were always good. We enjoyed an appropriately fruity and exotic cocktail, and awaited our rooms and muster.

Muster was rather silly, with people crammed into a small place to view a video no one can really see or hear. But if was over quickly, and we did meet a lovely couple there, whom we dubbed "Mr. and Mrs. Muster" for the rest of the cruise. The Musters were an older couple, extremely charming and gracious; I wish we'd been able to chat with them more often. As was typical of our last cruise, these ships are just small enough to run into the same folks regularly throughout the ship, but not so small as to have the same people all up in your grill all the time. ;)

Our room was spacious and beautifully clean. Sylvestre, the room attendant, was terrific. The room was kept lovely, linens and towels changed out, he even accommodated our request for a cheese plate to replace the usual AQ hors d'ouevres. We found the old joke about "you get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, you come back and your bed is made" to be only a slight exaggeration.

In AQ, you get an offer for 50% off a specialty restaurant the first night. We took advantage and ate at Murano. Oh my. Deliciousness! The table side lobster dish was over-the-top rich, as was the chocolate souffle. We had the premium bev package, and were able to pair each course to a lovely glass of wine. We highly recommend Murano (esp. at half off).

Entertainment that night was the "5 Tenors of Rock." These were 5 young men from a musical theater background who put together a rock vocalist act. They were great: just a hoot, with a lot of talent and energy. The show was a little cheesy, but I like cheese. I am from Wisconsin, after all. ;)

A few more delicious cocktails, and we were done for the night.

The next day was a sea day, and the first formal night. During the day we played trivia and took a dance lesson. Trivia was a lot of fun, but you'd think they were giving out diamond necklaces as prizes, the way some people acted. Still, the trivia hosts were terrific, and we went several times. Mostly, though, we just relaxed and sipped our cocktails.

It may be because we prefer not to sit in the sun, but we were always able to find lounges available. My favorite place on the ship is the solarium: breezy but warm, out of the direct sun, but with whirlpools and a warm, underused pool. My H discovered his favorite thing to do was to float in the pool, gliding back and forth like the world's largest, most content otter.

Formal night was lovely, with many tuxedos and lots of glamourous dresses. And what could be more adorable then the children in their fancy wear? There were more children on board than we expected, but they were all very well behaved and well supervised, as far as we could see. Of course, we did spend a lot of time in the solarium, but we never observed children racing around or shouting or anything. They were cute!

Before I wrap up Part I (I know, I'm a windbag), a word about service and about crowding, which were the only possible negatives on this sailing.

Service: the crew did their level best. I've rarely seen such a cheerful and hardworking bunch. However, they were outgunned in several venues, including many of the bars, in the main dining room, and at the coffee bar. I think X may be being penny wise and pound foolish by not hiring more people at these posts. The staff was TERRIFIC, but they were stretched thin.

Crowding: There was a VERY large group of travel agents aboard. Most of the time during the days, they were at seminars in teh specialty restaurants. However, when they were finished or on break, they tended to travel in large herds. They were a friendly, gregarious bunch, but wherever they went, only they could be there, because they took over the place.

This was especially true at Il Bacio, and especially especially true at the Molecular Bar. Both are popular places, so it's typical and expected to have to wait behind a few people throughout the day. But whenever the A group was there, suddenly you'd be behind 30-40 people with no prospect of service or a seat any time soon.

Luckily, there were plenty of OTHER places to go, but their presence did limit everyone else's access to certain venues throughout the cruise.

I'll write more about the next days, but I've already gone on quite enough. I'll be happy to answer any questions!

"We're just off the Silhouette and there were only 3 days they ran out

of Limes. We're they really out? ...or was the bartender too busy (or too lazy) to get them?"

That's not really fair. The bartenders can't just leave their post to go looking for limes (or any other ingredient). The bar areas are stocked by others (kitchen staff?), and once the bars open, the bartenders don't leave their very busy posts. It is unreasonable, imo, to expect the bartender to run off to another bar or to the kitchen for a restock. Not his job, and he'd probably get in trouble for even trying it.

This replacement "brunch" was an utter disgrace, no plates, no cutlery, no glasses, less than stellar choices ( the "sushi" was simply awful the whole trip) cost cutting and more cost cutting by a previously premium line that is sinking fast into mediocracy.

 

Spoke to several other regular Belgian Celebrity cruisers. ( elite and elite plus) They just came back from a Panama Transit. They had it with Celebrity and will spend their Euros elsewhere until quality is restored, and so will we.

Huh. And yet the previous poster found it pleasant and fun. Guess it just goes to show you can't please all the people all the time!

Just finished a lovely, lively, relaxing and gorgeous 7-day western Caribbean trip. Lovely ship, gracious and hard-working staff, some crowding issues due to a large group on board, excellent entertainment, terrific food and plenty of limes!

I'll write more when I get home tomorrow, but overall: another fabulous X cruise!

I won't miss it. Our first cruise was last year, it was lovely and the sculptures and presentation were impressive, but frankly: same food, just different platters!

I can see that it's a big time-sink for the staff, so I'll happily let it go.

Great review! I only wish you'd sailed west Caribbean, as we are doing soon, do I could get your perspective on the ports of call!

I haven't received an upsell call. I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but I did, twice, call my TA when I saw that prices had dropped for my cruise after final payment. The first time I got us moved, at no charge, from a C3 to a C2 level cabin. The second time I got us moved to AQ for $200.

I figured the worst they could say was no, and I was pleased to receive the upgrades. It may well be that I could have gotten the exact same (or better) deal if I'd just waited to book, however.

Loved your review; thanks!

This "contract" is hopelessly one-sided and these sorts of agreements have been found to be abusive.

I believe somewhere in there they reserve the right to take your kidneys.:p

You are being ridiculous. The contract quite clearly states that they can only take your kidneys in order to recoup their costs if you exceed the drinks package limit. Be educated, people!