garardo

Thanks for the comments. We take all of them for what they are worth. We wish you the best. We live in a world of opinion. Other peoples opinions should be respected and not diminished. 

La prosima volta

1 hour ago, cruising sister said:

We were on the Eclipse for 30 days last March. We found the food in the MDR and service marginal at best. Some nights we were waiting and waiting for service. We found the Ocean View Cafe surprisingly good. We had tons of fun but can see where there is room for improvement. We will be on the Solstice for a month this coming March and have lots of OBC and will try some of the specialty restaurants. I have never felt the need to pay extra for a meal  before but after our Eclipse experience we will be trying it out for sure.  Everyone cruises for their unique experience and I feel people have been a bit harsh with their comments. We too have had many health challenges including cancer and look forward to what we like about cruising and still feel it is ok to speak up if we don’t like something. 

Thanks for the kind post. Quality on  food and service on Celebrity is following their market trends. Guests today do not understand what Foie Gras or a Bearnaise sauce is. The days of white glove service are gone. Even in the specialty venues things have changed.  Many of today's guests  are younger and generally do not have the  appreciation of  fine food.  

 

 

18 hours ago, freddie said:

I enthusiastically agree with your first statement quoted above.   The sort of thing with which I cannot agree (other than with a gun placed to my temple) is that a waiter should be expected to know which Hungarian dessert wine you might prefer with your French apple pie.   That is simply pretentious.  

Although I haven't sailed on Oceania, I have cruised extensively on its "big sister" line, Regent.   I predict that you will not find a lot of members of management on Oceania (many of whom come from Regent) who are eager to be "educated" by someone of your esteemed background in food service.   

Perhaps I was not clear in my review. "the Sommelier could offer a glass of late harvest Tokay and describe the flavor profile of the wine. That would be an up sell." It is a simple task to have the Sommeliers know a few basics on wine/food pairing. I am not looking to educate. Am looking to enjoy my experience and learn.

Just now, fragilek said:

why  if past experiences were so good did you feel the need to speak with the maitre d to request hot food hot and the cold food cold before any meal on this cruise?

I have made the same request on all cruises and gotten an " absolutely" from the Maitre d' each time.  

43 minutes ago, varoo said:

 

When I started reading this,  I thought that it was satire -- written tongue-in-cheek.

 

It is hard to believe that anyone would actually book a cruise on a mass market cruise line with such ridiculously unrealistic expectations.

 

 

 

My expectations were  based on past experiences.  Can you give me a better way?

15 minutes ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Never saw so many staff quoted by name.  Seems only ships officers op didn't demand an audience with were captain and chief engineer.  Lucky for them Infinity enjoyed smooth sailing or they would have been called to account as well.  

 Is asking to talk with an officer "demanding" ?

1 hour ago, KAE27 said:

 

I'll admit I skimmed. 😉

 

Note this dining expert also consistently spelled it "dinning."

Hey, I never said I got an "A" in spelling. I find it very refreshing that you are so kind to point out all of my small short comings. 

 

Thanks. I will try harder.

5 hours ago, misterkevin said:

I'm surprised that you did have so many things to appreciate about your experience on Celebrity: 

• excellent cabin attendants who fix virtually anything from your shirt button to your daily Riedel stemware to the beds, head, and telephone.
• accommodating managers who meet with you to address your concerns as you discover them
• a nearly universal desire to please across the spectrum of service

What also surprised me was how specific your requests around dining were given that you were just in a standard veranda 2C. While I don't have 20 years of experience with Celebrity to see how these requests may have been more completely met in the past, my experience cruising in Aqua class and suites tells me that your needs would be much better addressed by paying more in the current Celebrity environment. You sound reasonable, but also demanding. Unfortunately, the platform in a standard veranda cabin isn't designed to meet your needs .

 

9 hours ago, billslowsky said:

The bloat of the OP's manifesto will likely cause it to be delegated downward... and downward... and downward.

 

Management has no time to sift through this overwritten rant and - if they don't simply laugh it off - might someday read a summary written by an office intern.

 

Get to the point.  

Perhaps you missed the parts of absolute praise I expressed for many of the wonderful crew members who made our cruise more bearable. Is being positive being a rant? 

 

Thanks for your opinion.

 

8 minutes ago, STIguy said:

Since when is Pizza Hut a chain of fine Italian restaurants?

What is the significance of this post? 

9 hours ago, BigAl94 said:

I fear your expectations far outweigh reality. You will never get that level of service or standard of food on a mass level cruise ship.

I must kindly disagree with you. On our last cruise, or any others we had, we did not experience any of the issues we did on this one. It is normal for us to dine at the specialty venues frequently but on our last cruise, the MDR was exceptional. 

Thanks for your opinion 

27 minutes ago, Ginnyfyr said:

Is certified Sommelier code for certified pain in the ass? I stopped reading when the author, clearly a highly trained expert in wine, misspelled Riedel (aka Reidle); sounds like I missed some funny stuff! Kudos to those of you who stuck it out till the end!

Thanks for the post.  My humble apologizes for the misspelling. My German is not 100%  I was relying on Word to much.

I am a Certified Sommelier but not a Master of wine or a Master Sommelier. Those are the true highly trained people.

 

2 minutes ago, toohod said:

Wants Celebrity to change, but doesn’t realize that he himself may need to change his ridiculous expectations outside the norm of most passengers.  
 

Had a feeling reading this post we weren't talking about a one time thing.  If you want a chuckle, check out OPs history—he may have met with every manager in the history of Celebrity.  
 

Again, I highly recommend a yacht—Opus One at 60 degrees, all bread removed from the yacht, lemons cut in perfect proportion to ensure top notch service for a guest of your stature—Italian trained savant of food and wine and a cruise employees biggest pain in the butt customer. 
 

I pity the upcoming Oceania cruise staff. 

Thanks for the post.

Yes, over the years we have been sailing Celebrity we have had the privilege to meet several wonderful officers. The vast majority of the past cruises have been  way better then this one. I do not believe we are having ridiculous expectations in going on the excursion that we booked,  not having to wait 40 minutes for a glass of wine or having hot food hot. It is not beyond the reach of the front waiter to deliver or meals in the correct order. 

 

Thanks 

7 minutes ago, mom says said:

If the OP actually sent this to Celebrity HQ, kudos to the employee who manages to read through this epic, and I hope they put in for overtime.

 

Given the OPs exquisitely high and demanding (dare I say unrealistic) standards, I think it's time for him to move over to the luxury lines. Even they seem destined to disappoint.

 

2 questions for the OP:

1. If you wife was disabled due to post operative recovery, why didn't you ask for a wheelchair at embarkation? An attendant could have wheeled her on board instead of standing and walking.

2. Why on God's Green Earth would you put your carry on bag containing meds and valuables with the rest of your luggage? Madness! That bag should never leave your side. You're lucky that they were able to return it to you. If the meds and jewellery weren't of value, then what was the point of expressly mentioning it? 

 

My Bad. Wife is recovering and wanting to do things on her own. You know how that is. Just trying to make life as good as possible for her and stay within her desires. The disappointments that we had were caused by simple communication short falls that Celebrity needs to be aware of.  

8 minutes ago, freddie said:

I must admit that I agree with K12Guy that the OP seems to have spent most of the cruise finding things about which to complain.   He has managed to comingle a few genuinely valid matters of concern with many extremely trivial kvetches. 

I am not by the remotest sense a cheerleader for X, as we will be taking our first cruise on X in September; but I am an experienced cruiser on small luxury ships.   It is evident to me that the OP would have been as dissatisfied with the service on Seabourn or Regent as he was on X.   Frankly, the notion that he expected the waitstaff in a huge dining room to remember his remarkably detailed preferences for dining is simply preposterous and unrealistic. 

It does appear that "poser" (or, more likely in this case, "poseur") does sadly apply.   The whole post seems to be more of a boastful declaration of his own expertise than a reasonable critique of the service on the ship.

Indeed, if I were in X management, I would send this poster a box of brochures from cruising on the competition, in the firm hope that he would take his little game of culinary one-upmanship to another line.   With some pax, there really is a point of diminishing returns, no? 

Thanks for the opinion.

I do not think it is unrealistic to want a glass of wine delivered in under 10 minutes. I also  believe that celebrity should be aware of my  experience so they understand my view. 

 

Thanks 

11 minutes ago, DogLover said:

This makes no sense. As a seasoned cruiser, I find it difficult to believe you put a bag with medication and jewelry out for pick up. If it were a "carry-on" then you would keep it with you AT ALL TIMES, especially with valuables and medicine!

 

Time for you to "jump ship" and cruise Regent, Crystal or Seabourn ... true LUXURY lines that will appreciate your station in life.

Thanks for the post. You are right on the carry-on. The jewelry was costume and the meds were  not prescription. Still, it is a disappointment. We have been sailing Celebrity because we thought we knew what to expect. Next Cruise is with Oceania to Barcelona. 

13 minutes ago, K12Guy said:

He did? How did he have time to enjoy the cruise with all of the critical evaluation he supposedly did with every element of every particle of the cruise? I would have been so busy napping and watching water on the balcony I wouldn't know if my wife was able to flush the toilet, much less have an uncomfortable twin bed.

 

I will also guess the Dom Perignon  probably was likely one degree too cold. Not to his taste.

Please understand that this post is NOT negative. It is simply a set of observations made so Celebrity can improve. We did enjoy the cruise but not as much as others we have been on. Celebrity seems to be pinching pennies. 

It is my belief that all food and beverage should be served the best way to optimize flavor. Should a beer be served warm?  

Thanks for the posts. 

Dear Celebrity

Infinity 11-9-2019 east bound Panama

The intent of this letter is not meant to complain but to comment so Celebrity can become even better.

A bit of history.

My wife Ingrid and I have been sailing Celebrity for over 20 years. We do not remember how many cruises. The comments that I make will not be from your average guest. I am a certified Sommelier and a Chef with 2 years training in Italy working in over half of the regions. We owned a chain of Italian restaurants for years with an unforgiving passion for guest satisfaction, and complete guest hospitality. I apologize however, due to one of our pieces of luggage missing from the ship, I do not have all of my notes. Ingrid is recovering from total hip and knee surgery and is disabled.

Embarkation

We arrived at the pier early and waited for the embarkation to begin. Because Ingrid is handicapped, I asked one of the attendants to tell us when embarkation would begin so she would not have to stand in line too long. We were not informed until I looked at a long line forming.  Luckily, the usual Celebrity efficiency happened and we were in our cabin in 30 minutes.    That is Celebrity.

Cabin 6075

Knowing that Infinity was due to dry dock soon we had some apprehension going into this cruise about the condition of the ship. I had read some reviews on cruise critic that were not positive. We were pleasantly surprised. Sure there was some wear and tear but everything was clean and in good repair.

It was a great idea to replace the “do not disturb” cards that fall off with the magnetic “Deep Sleep” cards. The Pay per view movies at $14.95 were offered in multiple languages.  That is Celebrity.

Anaceli was our stateroom attendant. Words are not enough to tell you how absolutely fantastic she was. She loves her profession and it shows. When we unpacked, one of my shirts was stained with a leaking bottle. She took the shirt put it in the laundry bag and we had it back the next day. The two twin beds were very uncomfortable but she did her best to make them better. The flusher valve was hard for Ingrid to push. It was replaced that afternoon. The phone did not work correctly and was replaced with in a few hours. I had a button come loose from a favorite shirt. Anaceli had it repaired the same day. We brought some champagne with us to enjoy in the cabin while watching the sunset. I requested Riedle glasses and got them. We were given clean glasses every day. Always a heartfelt greeting when we saw her in the hall. Ingrid felt total affection for her and felt like she was a family member. That is Celebrity. The only opportunities were the noisy AC, very large difference in volume on the TV, no pen or paper at the desk and very few free movies.

 

 

MDR

As is my custom, I immediately go to the MDR and check in. Assistant maître d, Jowett was at the desk. The information he had for us was incorrect. He had select dinning with a table of 8. We reserved on line early dinning and a table for 2. He made the changes and put the table number on the slip. I then asked him to please to give our service team a few requests. No bread served, a bottle of Pellegrino water at the table, sliced lemons for the water and all of our hot food hot and cold food cold. He wrote it all down in a small note book. During this encounter, he never engaged me. It seemed as though I was a bother to him.  When we came to the table none of our requests had been carried out and there was not even a chair for my wife. It took over 10 minutes and having to ask 3 crew members to get the sparkling water we had requested and another crew member to get the sliced lemon.

Our waiter came to the table shortly after we arrived and presented us with the menus. They were old, tattered and torn. 5 minutes later He came to the table and said “are you ready to order” with no greeting or review of the menu. He was serving an 11 top and 3 deuces. He seemed very rushed. The 11 top seemed to overwhelm him. One night we were in the middle of placing our order and he stopped and went to the 11 top returning to us 10 minutes later. We are very specific on our orders and the in the order they are to be served.  We would order a plate of prosciutto as an amuse bouche and get no side plates to split it to. We wanted to enjoy the amuse bouche before the appetizer but that did not happen. I wanted the cold appetizer before the hot but it would be reversed. Sometimes not even getting the second appetizer. This made it impossible to enjoy the correct wine with the correct food. 

For the first few nights we did not know who our Asst. Maître d’ was. It looked like we had the honor having Dhinesh. He was engaging and seemed to care. As it turned out I think we had Jowett. Every night he would come from behind me and ask if everything was OK.

Ingrid loves shrimp cocktails and likes 2 of them. This was an every night order. Sometimes she would get both of them sometimes we had to ask for the second one. Sometimes they came on separate plates. Once they came on the same plate. As the cruise progressed he was more engaging. We were talking with him about cheese and crackers and out of the blue we had a plate of them on our table when we arrived for dinner. That is Celebrity. After we placed our order with him and told him about the no bread thing. We were impressed that because I asked for no bread the croutons on the salad had been removed.

He seems to wants to learn. He showed us a book he is studying about food and wine.

Our Sommelier was pleasant and served all of the wine in the correct professional way. He too seemed rushed. I was told he was serving 20 tables. On our first night it took him 15 min to bring the first glass of wine.  I understand that serving a 1,000 guests is difficult. At our restaurants guests had something to drink in 3 minutes.

I enjoy having different wines with the different courses I order. Because I was not totally familiar with the flavor profiles of each dish, I would ask for some assistance. For the most part he could not make good recommendations or even know where the wines specifically were from or what the veritietals were. When I would ask information like do you have a great Pinot Noir he could not point it out on the wine list without fumbling through the pages. On more than one occasion I had not finished my Sauvignon Blanc when I was poured a wonderful glass of Decoy Cabernet sauvignon. I ended up drinking my Sauvignon Blanc with the vegetables and the Cabernet sauvignon with the steak.

We were a bit disappointed so I went down to Guest Relations and asked if the F&B director Martin was available. He came to meet me right away. I was impressed. I expressed to him our opportunities. Moving forward, most of the requests I made were fulfilled with the exception of food temperature. The next day I ran into him and thanked him and mentioned how great the Macadamia nut cookies were but they did not seem to be available at Café Bacio. Every day for the remainder of the cruise, Howard, our back waiter delivered 5 cookies. 4 for us and 1 for Anaceli our Stateroom attendant.  That is Celebrity.

I had the opportunity to spend a few months on the Ca Del Bosco estate and working in the cellar with Cellar Master Brian Larky. I developed a love for quality sparkling wine. I would normally start each meal with a Champagne but I do not remember the name. A few days into the cruise I saw on the Cellar Masters wine list the Perrier Jouet brut champagne by the glass. We had the Premier beverage package and price was not a deterrent. If I would have known about the Perrier Jouet I would have ordered it. If he had known it was available he could have offered it and had an up sell making more money for him and the ship. The second night he offered and poured my Perrier Jouet From a ½ empty bottle it was flat. Instead of having him go out of his way with a fresh bottle of Perrier Jouet I told him a glass of Domaine Carneros Brut would be good. Instead I got the house Champagne. On the second to last night I ordered a bottle of Moscato and a glass of Perrier Jouet from him and it took 21 minutes.

     I do not recall when we first met our back waiter but there was an air of confidence, calm, and dignity. His name is Howard Rendico . He was on top of our needs. For Howard, this is not just a job this is something he loves to do. His service comes from the heart. It is his profession. I always have an espresso at the end of my meal. It must be correctly prepared with the crema so I can do my resentin with the grappa. The espresso was perfectly prepared and served at the minute. Fantastic. That is Celebrity. 

Because I always give credit where it is due, I asked to talk to the maître d'hôtel tell her how much I appreciate what she does. I asked three different MDR staff members on three different occasions. All to no avail. We owned a chain of restaurants for years. If a guest wanted to talk to me and I was not at that restaurant, my staff would call me. If I could not come over to talk to the guest face to face immediately I would have my staff bring the phone to the guest so at least I could talk to them. If I was close to the restaurant, I would drive over to do the face to face and listen to them. When she arrived, I was really upset. It seemed to me that she was avoiding us. I was confrontational that it took three requests and she responded with excuses and reasons why she did not come over the first time. When a guest has an issue you never give an excuse. During our conversation, she interrupted our conversation with several calls coming in on her phone. I found that insulting and rude. I could understand 1 but not several. I would think that the technology is available to tell the incoming caller that she is with a guest and will call them right back instead of interrupting. In the end the problem was a systemic communication problem.

Luggage tags

Every cruise we have been on we had the Celebrity luggage tags mailed to us. I went on line and requested them on Oct 14 and waited the 10 days. We did not receive them so I called and was told that an error had been made and they would try to get them to us before the cruise date. I asked to have the delivery expedited and was informed that was not possible. When an error is made, it needs to be corrected ASAP and not make the guest have and concern.

Concierge

As is custom, we always go to the Concierge to get our boarding pass for the flight home. I did not have my daily with me so I went to the Capitan’s club desk and was told that the Concierge  would open at 4:00. I went and waited for 20 minutes and no one came. I went to guest services and was told she would open at 4:30. At 5:10 she arrived. That is unacceptable. All she needed to do was send some up to the desk and inform the 10 or so guests waiting for her. She did apologize and made an excuse for being late. She took care of my boarding pass and had it delivered to our cabin.

 

Excursions

The crocodile tour was fun, educational and beautiful. The part that shocked the both of us was the amount of pollution in the river. Over whelming. 

We booked this cruise about 18 months ago and had been talking about the jungle Canopy tour in Colon since then. Because Ingrid is having a bit of a hard time getting around we felt this would be great. We go down to the theater, I present our ticket and get our excursion sticker. They call our number and head to the bus. I give our ticket to Nico our excursion host and we are off. He was talking a lot about Panama City so I was confused. The bus stopped for a restroom break so I asked him where we were going. The Panama old city walking tour. You have no idea how completely devastated we were.  There was nothing we could do but go through with the tour. Ingrid limping along trying her best to navigate by the holes in the 24” side walk and down stairs and me trying to support her both emotionally and physically. When we got back to the ship we were both exhausted and disappointed. I requested a meeting with Rodrigo the Guest relations manager. I told him what had happened and said he would talk to the shore excursion desk when they opened at 4:00. At 4:10 I got a call from a young lady that was very hard to understand. I tried to explain what occurred and we wanted to be credited for the tour we did not take but she was going to charge us for the tour we did not book. About 5 minutes later I get another call from a young man. I did not want to go over the story again. I came down to the shore excursion desk and explained the story again and explained that we wanted credit for the excursion and a $100 credit for the aggravation. He said he was not authorized to do that and would talk to his supervisor. She would not do it. I asked to talk to her but ended up talking to Ben Meadows the Destination Concierge. He apologized profusely and comped another excursion we had coming up. Even though I had to talk to 4 staff members and there was some resolution, Ingrid is still very disappointed and hurt that she was not able to go on an excursion she had waited 18 months for. For Ingrid the Cartagena horse tour was the best. She loves haggling with the vendors and the architecture of old Cartagena was impressive.   

Meeting with Exec Chef Lama.

Because I have an insatiable appetite for all things food I met with the Chef. He knew a few of the crew members I had met in the past. He worked under Chef Pasqual. He told me that Pasqual lost a lot of weight and looks great. We talked for about 20 minutes and he answered all of my questions. It was a great after noon.  That is Celebrity. 

Beverage Service

Based on this cruise I feel the Sommelier team would benefit greatly from more training. They need to be more familiar with all of the beverages on the ship and where to locate them. When the staff has more product knowledge they can up sell. If a guest orders a Tarte Tatin, the Sommelier could offer a glass of late harvest Tokay and describe the flavor profile of the wine. That would be an up sell. There also needs to be more communication from management to the staff about inventory levels of all products. One night I had to choose 3 different beers before they had the one I wanted, having to wait 15 minutes.

In my opinion on this cruise either the Sommeliers were covering too large of a station or our Sommelier needed more coaching. One evening at the Ocean View we waited 40 minutes for a glass of wine. That is unacceptable.

I found that the technical parts of the wine service were generally good especially the proper opening on bubbly wine. I never heard a bottle pop. That is Celebrity. 

The Cellar Master Sanjay was absolutely wonderful and helped make our cruise more bearable. He would stop by our table every night and help with our wine service and chat for a while. We ordered a bottle of 2007 Cote Rotie and the cork was bad. He removed it perfectly.  That is Celebrity. 

I try to attend all of the wine events. I find them informative and they keep my mind fresh on all things vino. Fernando was especially entertaining. That is Celebrity.  The only issue was the glasses at the food and wine pairing were extremely spotted.

In my opinion it would be a great idea if all of the Sommeliers had access to a data base containing all information, like grape varietal, fermentation method and area of production. That way they could look it up on their POS instead of looking for the Cellar Master.

Café Bacio and Gelateria

We frequent this venue 3 to 4 times a day to get a cookie, cappuccino, or espresso. We found the staff to be friendly. We enjoy having our Cappuccino pre mixed with sugar and the staff did a perfect job even without me asking. That is Celebrity.   It would be a plus if a napkin and sugar were offered without having to ask. On our last cruise the biscotti served with the coffee were a ½” thick. Now they are less than 1/4'”.  A special high five to Isadora the snack attendant at the Gelateria. She was kind, smiling, engaging, and professional and made the best fresh waffle cones. That is Celebrity. 

 

 

Tuscan Grill

The first night we always dine in a specialty restaurant.

We pre booked the reservation on line. I went early to make sure everything was correct and asked to have no bread and the bottle of Pellegrino at the table with the sliced lemon and a red rose at the table for Ingrid. Everything was perfect.  Tuscan grill is great.  Bogdan, the Maître d’ was friendly and engaging. When I asked him where the restroom was he walked me to the door. Yasar waited on us like we were his only table.  It was different to have fresh basil or Rosemary offered for the olive oil. I was in heaven. I had the Dry aged New York and Ingrid had, contrary to my recommendation, the Chicken parmigiana. If you enjoy more an American Italian dish it was good. We order the Pappardelle Ragu every time. It is so good is should be illegal because it is additive.  Ingrid loves a shrimp cocktail. It was not on the menu but we asked anyway. A double. It was perfectly presented on the plate. I was disappointed that the homemade limoncello is no longer allowed.  I always order a glass of Jacopo Poli Grappa di Torcolato to end my meal. I was very pleased that I could still get it. I cannot even find it here in Las Vegas.  That is Celebrity.  The only regret we have is after our tour fiasco we were too exhausted to visit again.  

The next night I ordered the grappa in the MDR and it came cold and tasted a bit different. I did not mention it but ran into Martin again and mentioned to him that according to Jacopo it is incorrect to serve that grappa at 38 degrees but about 59 is correct. I had the opportunity years ago to have dinner with Jacopo. We talked about proper temperature and I was told too cold would it be like serving a very fine Grand Champagne cognac chilled. As it turned out I was not served the Poli grappa but the house brand.

 

Guest Relations

In all of our cruises, the Guest Relations staff have been exemplary and this cruise was awesome. Special thanks to Rosana Chua. The guest relations director Rodrigo went out of his way to help. I asked if he had a DVD about how ships are repaired in dry dock. He could not find it but gave us a bottle of wine instead.

Sushi on 5

Ingrid loves Sushi so on our last night, we went to Sushi on 5. Great service, Good Sake list, and unusual desserts. It showed service when my napkin was refolded when I left the table to use the restroom.  That is Celebrity.  The only opportunity was rather annoying when the door to the kitchen was opened and the light came into my eyes.

 

Cuisine

These notes are just from memory because I do not have my Luggage

Cold soggy fried shrimp on the noodle soup in Sushi on 5

I question the authenticity of the green color on the Pistachio Cream Brule in Tuscan grill. Pistachios do not emit green color.

The sautéed broccoli with garlic was simply broccoli with browned garlic chips not broccoli sautéed with garlic.

Tarte Tatin was excellent. That is Celebrity

Beef wellington a perfect Med Rare but the crust was soggy.

I was impressed with the Gravlax at the Ocean view. That is Celebrity

Cannelloni crust so soggy I could not eat it.

Seared Branzino outstanding.  That is Celebrity.

The pork leg was over cooked and dry.

All of the cakes we tried looked fantastic but the cake was dry and course.

The crab cakes were very bready. Not like the ones at the Tuscan grill.

As the trip progressed the ripeness of the melons regressed. One night we ordered Prosciutto and melon. The melon was actually crunchy

 

I mentioned to Chef Lama the quality and consistency of all the sauces. I told him his saucier should get a raise.

I was very disheartened when I saw a Barolo braised Beef dish on the menu. Where I come from if you use a specific name for your dish it must contain a majority of that ingredient. Barolo is a wine but also the name of a town. It could be misleading that the dish is braised in the wine which is unlikely because of the price. Perhaps it was referring to the method common to the town of Barolo. There was a Prosciutto di Parma on the menu. I asked Chef about Parma ham and was told that all of the prosciutto now comes from Canada not Italy.

The Pazanella was more of a green salad with dry croutons. Nothing like the real thing.

 

 

 

Ocean View Café

We do not normally go to the Ocean view a lot but thought we would this time given that the menu in the MDR is rather limited for breakfast and lunch. One day a server gave us some a scoop of mango sorbet. It was fantastic.  That is Celebrity. 

Every night there is a feature station. One night Tira mi Su and another Risotto. There were many others but I do not recall. The risotto was surprisingly good and the baklava could not have been better.  That is Celebrity.  It was kind of hidden towards to back but the grill station excellent.  That is Celebrity. We love pickled Herring. One day we could not find it. We asked and even though it was not on display that day we got some. That is Celebrity.   We went to get a chocolate mousse and there were only service spoons no teaspoons. When I asked for a teaspoon, I was told they are over at the coffee station. There is a beverage card on the table. If you are not looking at it in detail you will miss that it actually folds open to display other selections of beverages. Some of the food was either not labeled correctly or with no label at all. Wooden stir sticks were given to stir our cappuccino and no teaspoons were given in the silverware rollups. It was difficult to reach some of the food with the spoons and some of the tongs were very small and hard to close. The one night we went here we were greeted by a lady that unfortunately could not speak English We wanted some cranberry juice, a bottle of Pellegrino and a glass of wine. I walked round the café looking for a sommelier we could order from. It took 40 minutes.   

 

 

Aqua Spa Café

We were pleased to see that all of the selections were handed to each guest. I look forward to seeing that at the Ocean View. I do remember the day when you could get an egg white omelet or grilled salmon made to order. Sorry to see it go.

 

Other stuff

One thing that always impressed us was the restroom attendant. They would keep everything impeccable and hand you a cloth towel to dry your hands. I saw them only once.

I totally understand that Celebrity has the fortune of having Staff members from all over the world and I applaud you for that. A major opportunity I see is the inability of the staff to either clearly communicate to the guest or the other way around. This is an opportunity, and perhaps a bit more vetting or coaching this could be mitigated.

We had the Celebrity shuttle cancelled for $32.  The cab charged us only $27.

Missing Baggage

As directed, we put all of our luggage out at 8:30pm. We had to change our flight plans and would miss the flight if we waited for the shuttle. I had the bags brought up to Guest Relations but one was lost. It was our carry on with medications and jewelry. I even went down to the luggage sorting area with Victoria who by the way was Fantastic. It could not be found.

I was able to call Carrie from the Capitan’s club. She was able to give us all of the steps needed to get our missing bag back to us. That is Celebrity. It was located the next day. I was rather shocked that there was going to be a charge of over $20 to have it shipped. Carrie took care of that too. It is wrong that there would be even a thought of charging a guest for someone else’s error.

 

 

 

Excuses

Call me old school. When a guest has a legitimate concern and addresses it to management, the management must listen and apologize. The guest is not interested in why the problem happened, they only want immediate resolution.    DO NOT MAKE EXCUSES

We always prefer a table for 2. The reason is I am a Certified Sommelier and we end up with the Cellar Master, Food and Beverage Director, and others visiting our table. We find that some of the 2 tops are only inches away from each other. I do not like to intrude in the space of other guests when we get visitors. Our plan is to patrol the MDR when we board and look for more of a secluded table  and request that table for the rest of the trip.   Would it help secure our table selection with a tip to the Maitre di. If so how much would be appropriate? 

We were in a veranda on deck 8. I noticed that most of the wood railings below were in pretty poor shape. I ran into one of the engineers and asked him. He told me that when the ship is taking on guests and the cabins are empty, they will usually take off railings that need work and replace them with refinished ones.

Our little round table was on it's last legs so I asked our cabin attendant to see what could be done. He took the table down to engineering and we had it back in 2 days brand new. That is Celebrity!

Please understand that I only become annoyed when procedures that are in place are not followed. Waiting 35 min for a drink is a bit annoying. All other observations that I mentioned are just that observations. It is impossible for me not to see them after 55 plus years in the hospitality industry. As I said in the review, the goal is to help Celebrity and praise the staff that did a great job.

Just a quick story. Years ago we were on the Constellation. The cabin smelled of mildew. Our home had just been floored with 8 inches of water a week earlier. We got everything repaired but I was still very concerned about some damage that we missed. We did not sleep that night :rolleyes:because of the worry. The cabin attendant did his best to resolve the issue. We were at a cocktail gathering and I met the chief of house keeping. He asked how everything was so I told him. He immediately sent a crew to the cabin to assess the issue. He asked us what our plans were for the next day. We were going on a 4 hour excursion. During that time Bathroom tile, Carpet and ceiling tile were replaced. They found a lot of mildew. We were very happy. Everything was perfect.

The next night we had dinner with a few of the ships officers, one of them being the director of guest relations. He apologized for the issue. I asked him what is the most difficult part of your job. He said solving a problem that is not there. He said that one day a guest came into his office and was very upset that all of the plate ware was from China. After dinner he told me to come to his office tomorrow. I figured he was going to give us a $100 or so off our sea pass account. We were shocked when he gave us 2 $1000 certificates to sail Celebrity again. That is Celebrity!

We look forward to your wonderful review.

To make our review I bring my phone and scribble down words that will help me remember the good things. I do hate bring my phone though.

Thank you for the kind words. I am hardly an expert. More of a student driven to learn more.

Pleasebear with us for this will be a rather lengthy and detailed review.

Afew words about us and the purpose of this review. We are in our late 60’sandhave been on more cruises then we can remember starting in the early 70’s. I ama retired Restaurant owner, Certified Sommelier and Italian trained chef. Forthe past many years we have only sailed Celebrity. We do this because we knowwhat quality to expect. The purpose of the review is to praise the wonderfulcrew members that made our voyage so wonderful and point out a fewopportunities so Celebrity can be even better.

Embarkation

Wegot up at 3:00am to make the 6:00am flight to LAX. With a 1 hour layover wewere on our way to Honolulu. On the last 3 or so cruises, there has beenCelebrity staff with a sign directing us to a free shuttle. Not this time. We had to arrange for a shuttlelast minute at the airport to the cruise pierfor $32. The issue was not about the money but the lack of communicationbetween my booking agent, Celebrity and myself. We were not informed that ashuttle had to be prearranged.

Whenour bags were taken off the shuttle, I handed them over to a porter and he putthem on a conveyer. We then went to get checked in. We are Elite and my Brideis a bit handicapped. The whole process from off the shuttle to on the shipmaybe 20 minutes. Awesome. That is Celebrity!

Wehad been up for ever and my Bride was at the end of her rope. We snuck into ourroom before everything was officially open. I went to the Aqua Spa Café to getus a bite to eat and take it back to the cabin. The server behind the countersaw that I was trying to balance 4 plates and offered to pack everything on toa tray for me to carry. That is Celebrity!

I gother situated in the cabin and I went to do my confirmation thing. I went toMurano to check on the reservation. We always do Murano the first night becauseyou can get a 30% discount on the cover charge.

Thereservation was OK. I then requested a specific table and a red rose for my Bride.I have made these same requests numerus times on other cruises. I was alwaystold “Yes sir, of course”. This time I heard “We will see what we can do” NotCelebrity.

Ithen went to the MDR to check on our dinner table. We had just cruised on theSummit and our 2 top position was terrible. The area where our table was to be wasoccupied by a group so I could not see it. I was reassured by a staff memberthat all of the 2 top tables on the “S” class ships were well located.

Murano

Ourreservation for Murano was for 6:00. We were taken by a server to the wrongtable and I had to redirect him.

OurChef de Rang, Olikeno, was right there pulling out our chairs. When I checkedon the reservation, I had requested that we would not be having any bread andbutter and the table was set accordingly. Because I am kind of a wine guy Ichatted with or Sommelier about the correct wine and food pairings. As iscustom I enjoyed a glass of Colin Champagne. The Creamy Maine Lobster Bisque, could have been warmer, Diver Scallop WellingtonStyle, the puff pastry was soggy, and fillet of sole Veronique prepared tableside. The sole was to die for but the vegetable garnish was cold. My Bride had SmokedSalmon & Peekytoe Crab Parfait, Young Spinach & Frisée Salad and Steakand lobster Medium rare but not with the cream sauce just a white wine sauce.Everything was awesome. It was hot and tasty. The potato vegetable garnish wasnot.

Afew nights later we went back to Murano I ordered the Heirloom Tomato &Buffalo Mozzarella Salad for my Bride. I understand that tomatoes are out ofseason and are not truly vine ripe but they could have been better. Thedescription did not say anything about onions on the menu. She hates onions.She was not a happy camper. She then had the sole and she is not much of asauce girl she said no when it was offered. She was not thrilled with the dish.I flagged down our Chef de Rang Olikeno and the sauce was there literally in ablink of an eye. My Bride was pleased as punch. The only other opportunity thatevening was the giggling female Comis De Rang. Servers at Denny’s can giggle toa guest. NOT at Murano. Not Celebrity.

Onanother night they were super busy like crazy. I have not seen seamlessteamwork like this in years. It as if every server knows what is needed atevery table in the room. Olikeno was busy doing some table side preparation andhe could not even see us to know if we were ready for our next course. It waswith the sharp eye of Veeshesh the Comis de Rang, our meals came out withperfect timing. Thatis Celebrity!

Onthe first night, Olikeno mentioned that if there was anything that we wouldlike to have prepared that was not on the menu just ask and we will see if itcan be made.

I amcertain they could do a great job on French cuisine but not Italian. Stick withthe menu. It is awesome.

Wehave been coming to Murano before it was Murano. They called it the S.S. UnitedStates on the Infinity. Back when they had a piano player and Cesare salad donetable side. I understand that times have changed but it would be wonderful ifthey would wheel the cheese cart over to the table and bring back the smalltower of chocolates and pastries. Now there are only 4 or 5 little bites ofchocolate on a plate.

Afterwe had had our rather challenging 1st diner in the MDR we went toMurano to change our reservations. I told our Maître d’ in Murano Arif of ourexperience and he invited us to come and join him for a glass of Champagne andsome dessert after the show with his compliments. That is Celebrity!

State room

Aftera good night’s sleep, I had a chance to chat with Krishun our room attendant. Iasked to have the refrigerator emptied and to have extra bath towels. I alsomentioned that the round table on the veranda was in very poor shape. Heremoved the table and replaced one of the chairs that had a tear in it and emptiedthe refrigerator while we were at diner. Krishun did an outstanding job atcleaning the room and was extremely flexible on cleaning when we were gone. Oneday while he was off duty, he came and opened our door for us as I hadforgotten the key. It took engineering a few days to repair the table but itcame back looking good as new. A great guy.

My Bridewas coming down the hall with 2 bags in her hands and Krishun took the bags andopened the door to the cabin.

Iwas impressed with the wood railing on our veranda. It looked brand new. Iasked one of the engineers how they repainted the railings and was told thatthey take off sections while the ship is embarking new guests and change themwith refinished ones. That isCelebrity!

Ittook me a while to understand how the light switches work. There are about 5 ofthem.

Aftera few nights we learned that the TV swings out from the wall so you can view itwhen in bed.

Itwould be great if the TV worked all of the time. We would be enjoying one ofthe free movies on demand and the TV would stop working. This happened a fewtimes so I called Guest relation and it was repaired.

Wecould hear the phone ringing and conversations from the cabin next door. Therewas a time when there were Q-tips and cotton balls in the bathroom. Now youhave to ask for them and you get a small plastic package with 2 Q-tips, a smallnail file and a cotton ball.

Thereis a great amount of storage in your room. We only had to ask Krishun for a fewextra hangers.

Ourfirst night at sea was really rough. We were really rocking and rolling. Whenwe got to our cabin we noticed that 2 bottles of Pellegrino were given to us asa gift from Jimmy and put on our table.

About3:00am we heard a crash as the bottles fell off the table hit the floor andbroke. I guess they got rocked too much. Krishun was right there first thing inthe morning to clean up.

MDR

Wehad early seating in the MDR. Jimmy was our front waiter,

Vamanwas the Assistant Waiter and Yuska was the Sommelier. Jimmy has been on cruiseships for a while. Starting out as a dishwasher. I asked him how he likedCelebrity and he said the staff is treated better than the other line. We werevery impressed that with some exception the three of them worked well as a team.Jimmy was extremely professional yet engaging. Every request we made he handledto perfection. When we were in the Murano, they offer thin slices of lemon withthe bottled water. This seemed to eliminate the seeds. When we were in the MDRthe first night the lemons were in wedges causing lots of seeds in the water.We mentioned the lemons and the bread opportunity to Jimmy and every day goingforward, everything was 100%. That is Celebrity!

Wehad a lunch in the OVC and I ordered two small bottles of Pellegrino and handedover my card. Much to our amazement the water came with a plate of slices oflemon. I asked Jimmy about this and he told me that he has the ability to putnotes for other servers about our needs. That is Celebrity!

Yuskais a young Sommelier seemed to be a bit timid and nervous waiting on aCertified Sommelier. I ordered a glass of Colin Champagne before dinner. Theycould not find it. After waiting too long, I ordered another lesser qualityChampagne and it could not be found either. So I ordered a California sparklingwine. They found it but it was not at proper temperature. I was fuming. Thisservice was not acceptable and not Celebrity standards. Yuska was besidehimself and extremely upset. None of this was his fault. All in all during thecruise there were 5-6 times that I ordered odd ball wines and they did not knowwhere they were. We ordered for diner what Jimmy recommended. I had thePancetta crusted Pork loin and a glass of wine that would pair well. The porkcame and the loin was wrapped in a layer of bread. Not a bit of Pancetta to beseen. I was not happy. To make a long story, after a lengthy chat with the MDR SousChef, Sinisa the Cellar Master and Nenad the Assistant Maître D’, everything wasresolved, or so I thought. I enjoy a very unique after dinner drink that I hadjust had the night prior in Murano.

It couldnot be found either. I waited 35 min. Not Celebrity.

Thenext night in the MDR we had a new Sommelier. A nice girl with great service. Aslight opportunity was the 2 dirty glasses that were given to me. I guessmanagement did not want any more issues with Yuska however the problem wassystemic and not with Yuska. We chatted with Sinisa the Cellar Master and hadYuska reassigned to our table for the rest of the cruise. We did not feel itcorrect he should be penalized. He was awesome. Great guy! He even made a greatwine pairing recommendation. The Cellar master Sinisa would chat every time weran into each other on the ship. He gave us a very unique bottle of Malvazija Istarskafrom Croatia that we shared with friends and our service staff.

Sinisareally knew his stuff. I went to the premier $50 tasting and there were tonesof questions. He answered every one of them right on the money. As an addedevent he sabered a bottle of Champagne.

Goodjob Sinisa. That is Celebrity!

Wedined in the MDR more nights. One night I had Yuska order our dinner and pairit with the correct wine. He did real well. The only opportunity is theEscargot. The wine pairing was perfect but it appears to me that every year thesnails get smaller. Everything was top drawer. Jimmy and Yusak recommended thebraised veal and it was some of the best I have ever had. Yuska recommended aPinot Noir from Argentina. Excellent. That is Celebrity!

Ifyou love a Risotto, you have to have the mushroom risotto in the MDR. I am arisotto master. I ordered it along with my entrée thinking that it would not beto my liking. I finished it and asked for a piece of bread to clean the plate.Awesome. That is Celebrity!

ThenI had to stuff myself with my second entrée. Isn’t life terrible?

Therealways seems to be a communication opportunity between table servers and thebeverage servers. I enjoy an espresso after my meal and like it done 100%correctly with the light brown creama that forms on the top. I told Jimmy andthen had to repeat myself to the beverage girl. The worst part is that I got amacchiato not an espresso. Not Celebrity

Ocean View Cafe

Consideringwe live in the buffet capital of the world, we try to stay away from them. Wedid how ever find the Ocean View Café (OVC) quite nice. The tables were alwaysbeing cleaned and for the most part the beverage service was quite good. Theonly opportunity was that we could not get a full bottle of Pellegrino. Onlythe small ones. There was a large variety of selection with food from differentparts of the world featured daily.

Beingpicky, it was rather inconvenient to have to go to 3 other tables to track downsome Splenda. This was true in the MDR and the OVC. Not Celebrity.

Ifyou do not see something you like just ask and they will see if they can get itfor you. My Bride loves pineapple but there was never any on display. Seek andyou shall receive. She got it every time. That is Celebrity!

Tuscan Grill

Wewere originally scheduled to have dinner at Murano the last night but at thelast minute changed our mind to try a bit of Italy. We have dined at Tuscangrill many many times in the past and never had an outstanding experience. Ihad mentioned to the hostess when I made the reservation that we are veryinformed guests and would enjoy a service staff that would be able to pleaseus. We cannot tell you how great the experience was. I do not know the words.JP was our front waiter. He was knowledgeable, professional, engaging andfunny. Our sliced lemons followed us to Tuscan grill thanks to Yuska.

Thefood was piping hot and served in the proper order. Alister was our Sommelier.He is a friend of Yuska and knew about our needs. He even gave us a glass or aunique red from southern Italy to have with the pork belly. Sorry I forgot thename of the wine. I was impressed that a ½ finished bottle of wine wasdelivered to us. That is Celebrity!

Theonly miss step was that the Maître D’ never stopped by to say hello.

Gelateria

Withour Elite status we each get a scoop of gelato. I enjoy the pistachio. Thefirst one had no flavor and not even one nut. I mentioned this to the attendanta few days later. She apologized and gave me another on the house. That isCelebrity!

Room service

Weordered it once. As the years pass I notice that there are more up charges foritems from room service. $7.00 for steak and eggs, $5.50 for a quality hot tea.

Wegot a call from room service about 30 minutes prior confirming that they wouldbe charging for the tea and the steak. Everything was good and as hot as couldbe expected.

Café Bacio

My Brideloves Café Bacio. We go there 2-3 times a day for Cappuccino or some of theirgreat tea. The Biscotti are always a treat. I would say of the 30 or so timeswe went there they had the biscotti maybe ½ the time. We also found itinteresting that we had to ask for sugar.

TheYellow high back chairs are beautiful to look at however they take up so muchroom you cannot slide them back far enough to comfortably get to you table.

Onewould think that on a cruise to Hawaii Macadamia nut cookies would always beavailable. They were on a few days however they were baked too crisp. NotCelebrity

Elite taste

Formany years we have attended the free wine 101 tasting class for Elite members.We have never been impressed. The Sommeliers did not even properly explain howto properly taste wine. On this cruise we were extremely impressed with Victorthe Sommelier in Laminae. He was the most knowledgeable Sommelier on the ship.He was also the only Certified Sommelier on the ship. Great Job Victor. Thatis Celebrity!

Mast grill

Doto some inclement weather the outdoor grill was not open every day. They wouldmove it to the OVC. When they are not too busy they can put the burger bun onthe grill to toast it a bit but are not able to when they are swamped. Goodburgers. I recommend you order one right off the grill. Juicy.

Excursions

Wetook the Hop on Hop off trolley in Honolulu and was really good. We took theGreen line. It takes about 70 minutes. You can hop off at any location alongthe way like a restaurant and the trolley will pick you up again in about 30min. The tickets are $25 if you buy them there but you have to find a way fromthe ship to the depot.

Wealso took the Volcano vineyards tour in Hilo. It took about 45 min up the mountain.For me I found it very interesting for their vinification methods and differentfruits and grapes they used. The most exciting part was after the tasting. Iwas talking with the wine maker when a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit us. We bothran to the winery to assess any damage. He was lucky.

Thesignage for where you get on the bus was very poor. We waited by the excursionpick up sign for 20 minutes before we were rounded up to board the bus. We werethe last ones on the bus and had to sit apart from each other.

Shopping on board

My Bridesaid that the selection of goods was not as good as the last trip. We love toshop for jewelry.

Becareful. If you purchase expensive stuff, the shop will tell you it is dutyfree. That is not true. If you put the charge on your sea pass card you willpay duty for any purchase over $800 when you leave the ship. You can put thecharge on your own credit card and lie to customs if you want. Do not pay anyattention to the price on the piece you are interested in. We were looking at afew watches and were able to get the price reduced by 30%.

Debarkation

Celebritymakes it as easy as possible. Being Elite, we wait in the Tuscan Grill for ournumber to be called. They offer coffee and a few pastries while we waited. We were number 22 because we had a lateflight. We went to guest relations and purchased a shuttle from the cruise portto the airport. $30 a head. Ouch! There is no Uber or Lyft in Vancouver. Westood in line for 45 minutes waiting for the bus. The bus ride took 45 minutes. Total time fromship to airport was 3 hours.

Therestrooms were packed with lines out the door during debarkation. On all othertimes there was an attendant cleaning the restroom and as always the cottonhand towels. This time there was no attendant and no hand towels.

Guest Relations

Oneof the most underappreciated departments is Guest relations. They have to knoweverything about everything. They have to deal with angry guests from all overthe world in many different languages. They have to do this with a smile. Imust commend Petra.

Kristythe Captains club hostess was another great asset. I normally have Conciergeprint our boarding passes. Kristy was Awesome. She was going on break but tookcare of me any way. It was a lengthy process because of the air line. I did notknow that I needed my credit card so she waited for me to get it.

Officers

Wemake it a point to talk to the officers on the ship.

CemalOzcelik Food and Beverage Director

MariusRestaurant Operations Manager

Wehave known Cemal for over 10 years and he is the best of the best Food and BeverageDirectors.

Ichatted with Cemal and Marius about most of the concerns I mentioned and sothey could address them.

SinisaMicetic Guest Relations Manager

Ihave always enjoyed talking with the Guest Relations Manager. They are probablythe best listeners on the ship. They are problem solvers. I did not pose andopportunities. I just wanted to say hello and we got sharing crazy stories for½ hour.

Odds and ends

Weare kind of old school and to not like to see tattoos on the hands of servers.

Althoughthe wine lists were issued in January of 2018, they were torn, stained andcreased.

Wewould like to see cotton napkins be used throughout the ship. The polyesterones don’t cut it for us.

Thereare real orchids in the restrooms and at the entrance to the specialty venues.What a nice touch.

Wewent to a show and I ordered a beverage with a twist of lemon. I got a wedge oflime. When I enquired I was told they were out of lemon twists.

On our last cruise we had the opportunity to chat with our server for a few minutes and we asked him why he serves in Murano and not the MDR. He said that even though he might make more money in the MDR he really enjoys serving and that the MDR is to get them in and get them out type of service. He wants to cater more to his guests and show them what professional service with a great attitude is all about.

 

I do not know if the tips are pooled in Murano or not. I will tell you that if they are not, the Sommelier makes a killing at his 18%. We never get out of Murano with a wine bill under $200.

 

We remember going to the SS United States for dinner for $30 a head and they had a harp player.

The menu has changed a bit over the years. One of the dishes I remember was the Sauteed Foie Gras with a ginger glaze. To have that with a glass of Sauternes was a bit of heaven.

 

garardo