What I don't LIke. Nothing wrong with being Critical!

[tbelian]

its just a phreakin' message board people.

 

 

Something I have said many many times (speicifically 'its just words on a message board').

 

Just remember this philosophy runs in both directions.

 

Take things with COPIOUS amounts of salt. We aren't solving world wide problems here, or creating them for that matter.

[BADBUOY]

I've yet to sail Celebrity however I do drop by once in a while to learn and read personal reviews. I can honestly tell you that this entire thread is a conplete insult to everyone involved just in the fact that it's gone on this long.

 

It's really time to say goodbye to this Seinfeld theme - A thread without a purpose.

 

Buddy

[L11]

Nanna, first of all, I am so sorry to hear about the cancellation of your cruise on 3/27. Even though I think Celebrity has been generous in their compensation, the letdown must be awful. I don't think any of us would like being in that position.

 

As to the thread as a whole, I don't think it needs to be negative, though I have no idea what its original intent was. Before booking with Celebrity the first time (I had never ever HEARD of Celebrity before i found these boards), i wanted to know what to expect. I wanted to know what people found to be both positive and negative. For example if i read on the "What I like' thread that the poster loved the hairy legs and hairy chest contests, I would think twice about that cruise. If I read on the 'What I Don't Like' thread that the poster disliked the quiet atmosphere and traditional dining, that would be a POSITIVE for me in making my choice.

 

As long as the post is specific about the nature of the problem, why bash them for it? That's what I don't get. I have never had a totally bad cruise, but I have never had a perfect cruise either. The key is CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Remember, Celebrity does read these boards and they need feedback too.

 

OK. Enough ranting. Back to work. Have to earn $$ to pay for my next cruise!

 

Linda

[cechase]

In May of 2004 we cruised on Century in a Royal Suite - primarily because the asst. housekeeper during our cruise on Mercury several months earlier had raved about Century and in particularly her staff. We loved our cruise - and the staff was just wonderful. We were all over the vessel, had the time of our life, and did not see anything but a wonderful, clean, spic and span vessel. We had no complaints at all - just great memories about our cruise and the condition of this elegant lady.

 

Starting on this board in October, we started to see very very negative comments about Century. Posters were saying that they would never sail on Century - never sail on Celebrity again. There were horror stories about the buffets, lousy food, dirty cabins, mold, etc. Surprising those posters, and the posters on this thread have commented negatively about the condition of the vessel, but never about the staff on Celebrity vessels. That is interesting, because we have always found that our experience is greatly enhanced by the staff, smiles, good mornings, and prompt and happy service.

 

So, with all of these bad things being said about Century, we again sailed on her in late February and again in a Royal suite. Upon boarding, we noticed that her public areas were clean, and all of the bright work was literally shining. Our cabin was immaculate - but we noticed that in the marble floor of our bathroom, there were some marks on the marble. We inquired about that, and was informed that it was caused by nail polish remover and/or perfume which was spilled on the marble and despite attempts to remove could not be removed. DID THIS SPOIL OUR CRUISE? Of course not.

 

There were only two other things that we noticed on this much maligned vessel. In a heavily trafficed area, right next to a metal separator, we did notice that the carpet was frayed. Oh my! Because of the reviews, we proceeded to see if we could find another area of frayed carpet, and after 30 minutes were unsuccessful. Now, when it comes to the toilet paper holders - they have that little metal thing that comes down over the roll. Well, when you pull the metal cover up to get the toilet paper, the roll now and then rolls out onto to the floor. How disconcerting - although my dear Nedra solved that problem by putting the roll of toilet paper over the vertical metal handle of the johnny mop container sitting next to the toilet. Voila! No more rolls of toilet paper rolling around on the deck.

 

Did we have a really great cruise - absolutely yes! And the staff if graded by us would get an A+. From Manuel our asst. steward, who was ever smiling and gracious and always there when we needed him, to our wonderful butler Lawrence, who helped us when the Absolute ran out in our suite, to Erol Gray, our fabulous bartender, to all of the happy and wonderful staff - they made it a memorable trip.

 

Now, the negative comments are being made about Mercury - and guess what? We are booked on her for a 11 day cruise in January. How do you figure that someone would do that, after hearing about how she is almost sinking and needs to get into a drydock immediately.

[sammiedawg]

To the last poster, I posted negative comments about the Century in December, my complaints were 100% true about the physical plant and a failed CDC inspection. I never criticized any staff members on board the ship although I was critical of the customer service department prior to sailing. ( we wanted to transfer off this ship onto something that had passed inspection and we got hardline no's ). We're not difficult customers but we expect a physical plant in good condition and basic sanitation. Everyone on board was polite and friendly, but hospitality is their business and is a basic expectation I dont think I have to comment on. I did make a comment that food and service in the dining room were excellent as was the comedian and the poolside band. My most basic expectations is that the physical plant should be in excellent condition. Our cabin condition was similiar to an airport Holiday Inn we once got on Priceline, shabby and stained. . . Please dont demean other people's experiences because you were in a royal suite with a butler , you didnt see the stained carpet upholstery and nasty bathroom fixtures in our cabin. you maybe didnt see the filthy dirty worn shabby carpet poolside and the open decks forward. Did you notice the stained worn upholstery in the buffet area? Did you step on the loose floorboards going up and down the steps, I dont remember if it was the front of the back of the ship where the boards were so loose. Did you see the black smoke pouring out of the smokestacks when the ship was tendered in port, so much smoke that the ship smelled like it was on fire. did your telephone work- most days ours did not. Did your alarm feature on your phone work- ours did not work at all. If you reported cabin issues did anyone come to inspect- we reported our issues immediately and we were never informed that anyone came to inspect. The Concierge did get a message to us that she wanted to talk to us, I spoke with her, she was polite and well trained but our cabin remained stained and shabby. No offers to move us out to another cabin. Maybe because we were first timers on Celebrity they didnt really care if we were happy or not.

[teegeezfun]

come on ya lil' knucklehead ma bell, you, too, libramitch, lois, all the rest of ya...ready? OoooHHHH.

 

I'm sorry for anything personal i said about one and all.

 

(i still think this thread is a good idea. think about it, if all the complainers and disatisfied cruises post here, on this particular thread, as many are in fact doing, you people won't have to read it on other threads.)

[cechase]

Wow! I should mention that Sammiedawg was the principal person who feed the threads during October and November and as she says in December. Perhaps she should just let it go - but by the venom spewed above - I guess not.

 

I should mention in support of Celebrity and Century, that their reinspection by CDC resulted in a 97.

[sunpsyche]

What a lovely post! Your reminisces of the Century parallel my own. A purely relaxing and pampering experience! (Even though I've never had a suite ). The ambiance and the service are truly outstanding. Not perfect...but nothing is.

[sammiedawg]

I dont think I posted on this board prior to my December sailing other than to ask a question or two about Celebrity. No prior experience with Celebrity. Other posters apparently noticed the issues before me.

[Petoonya]

As long as the post is specific about the nature of the problem, why bash them for it? That's what I don't get. I have never had a totally bad cruise, but I have never had a perfect cruise either. The key is CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Remember, Celebrity does read these boards and they need feedback too.

 

Linda

 

YAY Linda!!!

 

You say it so well! :)

 

I am still feeling badly for the airline pilot from a few weeks ago who related the story of his upgrade problem. Someone advised him that they would have saved their expectation of a comp upgrade for "a more serious problem". He was just relating an experience and not making a request for anyone to minimize his problem by making comparisons. He signed off and as far as I can see did not come back.

 

I love Celebrity and have not had an experience that would be worthy of fussing about. But if I DID, this would not be the place I would want to express it. I would not want to have to justify, explain, defend my integrity or rationalize my behavior.

 

Wouldn't it be great if this Celebrity board were just like a table for eight in the dining room....where everyone can freely express their opinions but everyone is genial and respectful? (I know thats not always the case in the dining room but you get the general idea.) If someone says something that really offends while dining, you just excuse yourself...or in this case, ignore the post...

 

I know...it's not a perfect world. :(

[tbelian]

.

 

What exactly do you expect to be accomplished by your continued posting here regarding this ship? it is quite obvious that the situation you describe no longer exists on the Century based on subsequent posts from people who sailed after you did. You have a crusade going, but its going nowehere.

 

Please explain your objectives at this point in time?

 

ps. I am not suggesting that what you say happened, didn't happen, I'm only saying that, since then, conditions on this ship have apparently improved significantly.

[Lois R]

Tbelian, your comments are so right on the mark. After sailing her last week, she looked BEAUTIFUL to me:)

 

Sammiedawg, I will continually disagree with your comments about CENTURY. I am not saying your cruise wasn't dissapointing~after reading all your comments we are aware that you had a terrible time and as you posted some time ago, you would have been embarrassed to be sailing with friends on her.

 

I sailed Hal in Sept and didn't have a great time. But I don't continue to go back to that board and bash them. I just choose not to participate on that forum anymore.

[bob278]

Here's my take on this.

 

Criticism and being negative are not necessarily the same thing. An honest observation/opinion without editorializing is often a good thing as it provides information and a chance for improvement. It does not deserve ridicule.

 

By the same token, once that observation is made, constant repetition is unnecessary and moves from criticism to negativism (I hate that word - it sounds so pretentious, but don't know how else to make the point). That is more subject to strong responses, and properly so.

 

I have no doubt sammiedawg saw and experienced what was reported. I also don't doubt that most of the problems are corrected and it's time to let that one go.

 

In my mind, blind support of a product is no better than blind criticism. But all opinions should be taken as just that - opinions.

 

I really don't like the name of this site as it does imply (and maybe even invite) more criticism (of ships, companies and, unfortunately even each other). I would much rather belong to an organization with a more positive name such as Addict, Fanatic or what have you. But this is the best place I've found so I'll deal with those things I'm not crazy about because the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

 

OK. Soapbox is back in the basement.

[DeRon]

OK, I'll weigh in here too. The sort of posts I like reading are not always the "aint life great" comments. It's good to hear some negatives too just as a balance and some of the best reviews I have read include the negatives as well as the positives and the overall picture comes out as the poster being true and honest. It is the ones that turn into a rant that really turn me off. I just don't feel I can really learn much from them, especially if the story from the poster is hearsay.

 

Phil

I don't know Phil, but I seem to agree with most everything he says.

 

A couple of observations here of my own. I am "fairly" new to the Celebrity boards. Usually spent all my time (before the big website conversion) on the Princess boards. It seems like there is more disagreements and negativity over here for some reason. And I am not talking about a negative review. I am talking about personal cuts and name calling on threads. I have received these myself.

 

I never have trouble with someone telling me something that is negative to watch out for. I don't see these comments as "obnoxious" or "sad".

 

Overall, I think I agree with the original poster's points. There is nothing wrong with stating your opinion on here. If you don't agree with something, leave it alone, or simply state "That wasn't my experience". I think the original poster of this thread has received unnecesssary criticism (and negativity) for being negative, which ironically is the OP's point. The people that are angry because of negativity on the boards should re-look at their posts in this thread. "You are that man!"

 

I am going on the Millennium in April. When I come back I will tell you all the good (and there will be tons) and the bad (hopefully not much). No matter what, it is going to be a great cruise. And if I do point out things that aren't perfect, it will not mean that I hate Celebrity.

 

No need to attack a poster (including this thread).

 

BTW...Isn't this site called Cruise "Critic"??

[cechase]

What a lovely post! Your reminisces of the Century parallel my own. A purely relaxing and pampering experience! (Even though I've never had a suite ). The ambiance and the service are truly outstanding. Not perfect...but nothing is.

 

Thank you sunpsyche - I am blushing! But you are right - and others who have been on this lovely lady seem to agree with us. There are "chair hogs" on all ships, and some conduct by pax which could upset some people, but we don't let things like that affect our enjoyment of meeting new and interesting people, wonderful staff, and having a great time.