Tried Celebrity...not impressed!

[kc320]

Tranquil, am so sorry for your loss...I lost my husband 7 years ago to heart problems...let me say..every day continues to be a "learning" experience...thoughts & prayers as your's continues...

[yarlenna]

It seems to me that so often people draw conclusions about a cruise line based on one ship. Knowing how the RCI cruise experience can vary dramatically based on the class of ship that one books, I can't help but wonder if the classes of ships in other cruise lines might also greatly affect the experience. I certainly know, for example, that the cruise experience between an RCI Radiance class ship and Oasis have little in common. It would be hard to sail one or the other and draw much of a conclusion about RCI as a whole.

 

Going on a cruise is a treat. Yes, some are better than others. BUT when I pay for a cruise on a line that is better than average - I expect something special. We have cruised everything from Windjammer to Windstar - and our only "bad" cruise was Celebrity :( Yes, I know there are other classes of Celebrity ships, but why should I take the risk of another poor cruise when even Carnival gave me nothing other that great cruises.

[Tranquil Waters]

Tranquil, am so sorry for your loss...I lost my husband 7 years ago to heart problems...let me say..every day continues to be a "learning" experience...thoughts & prayers as your's continues...

 

Thanks to all for taking the time to share kind words and thoughts. They are very much appreciated.

[C Cruise Dude]

We are D+ with 269 points (23 Royal Cruises). We thought we'd give Celebrity a try with our Elite status. We just sailed Millenium for 5 days, and couldn't wait for the cruise to END. It was less than enjoyable. The MDR service was horrendous (food was good, but service really lacked). We waited 40 minutes the first night just for bread and our water glasses to be filled. The second night, we walked out and never returned to the dining room for the rest of the cruise! It was that bad. The loyalty ambassador (captain's club) was "snippy" with us on several occasions, and never even introduced herself during the Elite events. The crew NEVER smiled, and seemed very uptight. Even when trying to "loosen" them up, they wouldn't relax. Way too snooty/uptight. The evening buffet was NOTHING like the Windjammer. At the Windjammer, the evening food is different each night, and they even offer some of the MDR entrees. On Millenium, the buffet was EXACTLY the same EVERY night...stir fry, pasta, or sushi. Good at first, but boring after a while. The evening "social hour" is 5-7, while on Royal it's 5-8:30......much better to accommodate those with late dining! We usually aren't ready for the evening until 7 or so, but the social hour was already ending by then. Some things were nice, but overall, we are sticking with Royal Caribbean. Granted, many dedicated Celebrity passengers told us that this didn't seem like a typical sailing. But, we're happy staying with Royal.....(better discounts, too....balcony, coupon book, etc....).

 

Maybe there was problems with management and the crew. I noticed in your signature you sailed the Celebrity Century, what did you think of that cruise. I would try other ships, maybe longer sailings (7 days). IMHO. :D

[RoyalDiamond]

Maybe there was problems with management and the crew. I noticed in your signature you sailed the Celebrity Century, what did you think of that cruise. I would try other ships, maybe longer sailings (7 days). IMHO. :D

Truthfully, the Century was our second cruise ever. So, we didn't have much to compare to at that point. But, we don't remember it being bad. In fact, that's why we wanted to try Celebrity again...we really expected to like it. So, we've decided when we book Celebrity again, it will be at least a 7-night cruise and on a Solstice-class ship. I guess I'm not giving up on them yet.....

[Ocean Boy]

Going on a cruise is a treat. Yes, some are better than others. BUT when I pay for a cruise on a line that is better than average - I expect something special. We have cruised everything from Windjammer to Windstar - and our only "bad" cruise was Celebrity :( Yes, I know there are other classes of Celebrity ships, but why should I take the risk of another poor cruise when even Carnival gave me nothing other that great cruises.

 

Did I say somewhere that you should? Providing a subpar experience is a business risk. Even if it is not typical of the product that the business offers people will often times not give the business a second chance. That is the way life works.

[MikeNJ1109]

Maybe it's just us, but doesn't matter which cruise line we're on, as long as we are ON a cruise. We keep our expectations at a reasonable level ... is the cabin clean? Is the food adequate? Does the staff perform their duties as expected? If so, everything else for us is gravy.

 

We've sailed RCL and NCL over the years, and have always been very pleased with both lines -- they have always at met and exceeded our expectations.

 

Michael and Silke

 

"All I need is a tall ship, and a star to sail her by."

[teresa267]

My husband & I just got off of the Allure - the only thing we had to compare it to was our first cruise last year on the Solstice. We LOVED the Solstice.

 

When we got off of the Allure in September we wanted to go back on the Solstice. Not to say that the Allure was bad (I truly believe I would love any cruise) but to us, the food on the Solstice in the MDR was great (memorable). We did not have the same experience on the Allure except in the pay restaurants. There were several nights on the Solstice I could have licked :p my plate (it was that good). We never experienced that kind of food on the Allure - except Giovanni's. :D

 

One of the things that effected my experience on the Allure - I have severe asthma. We did not realize that smoking was allowed (almost everywhere) on the Allure. We had an oceanside balcony room - I could not even enjoy it. I questioned this prior to us booking & was told it should not be a problem that the cruise line always has rooms they can move me to - WRONG! When the ship is completely booked there are no rooms - and they don't care at that point in time. Entering the dining area for dinner was horrible. If we would have been seated where you first enter into the dining room - I would have never been able to eat dinner.

 

Please don't take this wrong - I am not getting on smokers or that cruises should be nonsmoking. Only wish that the smoking areas did not effect main entrances to venues or that people who do smoke actually used the areas that are assigned. Our ship was full of foreign travelers that really did not care where they smoked & walked freely about doing as they pleased. We may have gone the next week & would have not had the same problem - not sure but each cruise is different - it all depends on the people both workers and cruisers. There are some people that have medical conditions that smoking cause real problems for (unfortunately, I am one of those), some people just prefer not to smell it but either way - it should not be at every turn.

 

We are however booked on the Navigator of the Seas for this month. I am hoping we will have a better experience on it. ;)

 

The best part about it. . . . . . . we will be cruising and not at work! This is also the first time in over 25 years that my husband will be celebrating my birthday with me and not in the woods hunting. We are very blessed and thankful that God has provided us the means to be able to cruise when so many are out of work.

____________________________

 

Celebrity Solstice 10/10

Allure of the Seas 09/11

Navigator of the Seas 11/11