Celebrity Did Respond - Here it is

[vabeach522]

For those who asked that we post when/if we received a reply.

 

This is a follow-on to the thread "Infinity - wrote on the Panama Canal Wall!" that was on-going last month. I added this to the end of the old thread, but it seemed to get lost. Wanted to make sure folks were aware that we did get an answer from Celebrity. Sometimes you always wonder if anything was actually received.

 

Immediately below is the letter that we sent to Celebrity. This same letter was sent to both Mr. Richard Fain, CEO and Mr. Jack L. Williams, President and COO. Our letter was sent on Jan 24, 2005:

 

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We would like to bring a matter to your attention that occurred during our sailing on the Celebrity Ship, Infinity, Panama Canal Cruise, leaving San Diego on December 20, 2004.

 

During Infinity’s transit through the canal, several adult occupants in the port side Penthouse cabin placed graffiti on the wall of the canal while the ship was in the last lock before reaching the Atlantic side of the canal. When we reported this behavior to the guest relations staff, we felt their response and that of the senior concierge, Mr. Alex Cole, were outrageous.

 

As a sanity check, we posted the facts of the issue on the cruisecritic bulletin board to get feedback. For the most part, those that responded seemed to agree that it was a travesty that anyone would vandalize the canal. Further, it would appear the consensus is with us that the response of the staff was inadequate, cavalier and patently offensive.

 

This was our first cruise with Celebrity. We had heard such wonderful things about the line and were anxious to experience it ourselves. This incident certainly left a very bad taste and with several other postings on the various computer bulletin boards from others about passengers being subjected to rude comments and inappropriate behavior by crew members on several Celebrity ships, we are hesitant to repeat.

 

Perhaps you can address the issue and explain the inaction and the offensive remarks of those that represent you in senior positions on the Infinity. Hopefully, this feeling toward passengers is limited to this ship and not the entire fleet?

 

We are enclosing the pictures that we took of the vandalism and the jumping between penthouse antics. Additionally, I am enclosing the posting thread from the cruisecritic bulletin board that contains the comments made to us by Mr. Cole.

 

Thank you for your time. We appreciate any response you may provide to us.

 

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Below is the response we received from Celebrity today:

 

"Thank you for writing to Mr. Fain's office regarding your recent sailing. Your correspondence has been directed to my attention to personally contact you to discuss your concerns."

 

"We regret that the unruly behavior of some of our gusts affected your expectations for an upscale, peaceful, and quiet stay onboard. Though we are unable to have an effective influence on the actions of our guests, we do strive in attempting to handle each individual situation as it arises. We regret that in the separate instances you reported, they were not handled professionally. Our staff is trained to handle these situations discreetely and as rapidly as possible. In most circumstances, our guests respect the property of Celebrity Cruises and the value of their safety during their stay; unfortulately, there are instances when people are just not as considerate as we would like them to be. We sincerely regret that your expectations in this situation were not met."

 

"We would like to reiterate that the situations described in your letter and photos are not behaviors our staff and dedicated guests are accustomed to; therefore, a copy of your letter has been forward to the Captains of all our ships, so they can take precautions when cruising the inside canal passage. As we cannot control the negative feedback of other guests' postings on a web site, we can only strive to make every sailing orchestrated with the intent of providing our guests with the highest standard of service possible and the most memorable vacation experience."As our employees continuously strive to make these service standards a reality and their vacation a valuable memory, we must keep in mind that, unfortunately, the value of a perfect cruise is not important to all of the guests that sail with Celebrity Cruises."

 

"As we value your loyalty to Celebrity Cruises, we would like to thank you for bringing these important issues to our attention. We hope to have an opportunity of welcoming you back onboard on of our ships in the near future."

 

//s// Faye Miles Corporate Guest Relations

[Shaco]

I too witnessed vandalism aboard a Celebrity ship. We were on Horizon last November when I saw two teens burn the wood railing with a cigarrette. They thought the smoke from the burning railing to be quite funny. I immediately told a nearby Celebrity staff member about the incident while the kids were still engaged with their fun. The staff member replied there was nothing he could do, that the guests can do anything they like. Then he walked away. Pretty sad, huh?

[Richard Stein]

I too recently received a letter from Faye Miles. She seems to get to write letters for him. With Celebrity getting a new president, Jack Williams is now the CEO of both lines. Address your future letters to Dan Hanrahan, New President, Celebrity Cruise lines. Thanks for sharing.