Wow! Celebrity really stepped up!

[lawgirl]

So, our last cruise was on the Solstice and had many, many issues. I wrote a review and won't detail them. Hopefully they were limited to that one particular cruise. However, i was very frustrated, as that was a very pricey cruise to Hawaii.

 

Anyhow, PRIOR to that Solstice Hawaii cruise, I booked two potential cruises for this Christmas....husband wanted to sail on our favorite line, Royal Caribbean. I wanted to take advantage of the Celebrity free beverage package. So, we booked both cruises, knowing we would cancel one.

 

After the Solstice issues, of course, we were going to cancel the X Christmas cruise and not sail on X again. However, before doing so, I wrote to X about the Solstice issues. No response. so, i wrote an extended letter to my TA about all the Solstice issues. My TA really stepped up! She contacted X for me repeatedly. (I wish I could give her the shout out she deserves, but the CC rules do not permit naming the TA).

 

After her intervention, X called me and listened.... then, they gave me a nice future cruise credit to apply to my Christmas cruise on the Equinox, asking that we give them one more try. I agreed. I was impressed by their willingness to listen and try to make us happy customers.

 

I realize X is the same company as RCI, but still, X wanted to retain us and not see us sail on another line, even their sister company. So, we are giving them another try. I think it is rare for a company to really respond to issues. Maybe (probably) it was our TAs intervention, but kudos to X for their response. I am really looking forward to The Equinox and a great experience this time.

[Tony UK]

Thanks for posting this. We too had issues sailing on the Solstice last year, and we were concerned too as we had 2 cruises booked for this year for my 60th birthday (june) and our ruby wedding September).

 

We went on Infinity in May and the sailing reinstated my love of Celebrity. Great crew, great service and a ship in pretty good shape. We are now looking forward to September on the Eclipse.

 

I couldn't put my finger on what it was about the Solstice.......but leave it behind you and look forward to your next cruise.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for posting this.

 

Keith

[miched]

I didn't t read your review but will look for it.

 

Our first cruise on X was on the Solstice in AQ. Our best cruise ever. Our next cruise was on the Silhouette also in AQ. It started out with some issues and there was one elderly lady that sailed numerous times on X was so mad that she's said that if she coulld she would jump off the ship and swim back and at the first port her and her husband were leaving and never sailing on X again. After the 2nd day things improved and the cruise became enjoyable and looking back the issues were minor. After that we sailed on 2 other cruise lines where we are their Platinum members and have since been on 6 more X cruises. No matter how bad it may seem the other lines aren't much better. It does get frustrating when X doesn't live up to past experiences. I guess that is why when we sail on the lower level lines much isn't expected so it isn't that much of a disappointment.

 

I know many will also ask about who the officers are and many criticize them about it but we have found that the same ship with a different staff does make a difference. And the same can be applied about the type of cabin and location.

 

The biggest plus for us on X is the restricted no smoking policy. It doesn't t take too long on other ships to realize how nice that is.

[Tiggertastic]

I wish I'd have thought to let X know about the troubles we had with our cruise on the Silhouette, everything was a 2 to 3 hour queue from waiting for a table in Blu to tendering. Maybe we would have had a discount offered.

[shipshape sam]

So, our last cruise was on the Solstice and had many, many issues. I wrote a review and won't detail them. Hopefully they were limited to that one particular cruise. However, i was very frustrated, as that was a very pricey cruise to Hawaii.

 

Anyhow, PRIOR to that Solstice Hawaii cruise, I booked two potential cruises for this Christmas....husband wanted to sail on our favorite line, Royal Caribbean. I wanted to take advantage of the Celebrity free beverage package. So, we booked both cruises, knowing we would cancel one.

 

After the Solstice issues, of course, we were going to cancel the X Christmas cruise and not sail on X again. However, before doing so, I wrote to X about the Solstice issues. No response. so, i wrote an extended letter to my TA about all the Solstice issues. My TA really stepped up! She contacted X for me repeatedly. (I wish I could give her the shout out she deserves, but the CC rules do not permit naming the TA).

 

After her intervention, X called me and listened.... then, they gave me a nice future cruise credit to apply to my Christmas cruise on the Equinox, asking that we give them one more try. I agreed. I was impressed by their willingness to listen and try to make us happy customers.

 

I realize X is the same company as RCI, but still, X wanted to retain us and not see us sail on another line, even their sister company. So, we are giving them another try. I think it is rare for a company to really respond to issues. Maybe (probably) it was our TAs intervention, but kudos to X for their response. I am really looking forward to The Equinox and a great experience this time.

 

I am a little confused. You are really impressed by Celebrity's willingness to listen to you?! You wrote them and the blew you off. They seemed to listen to your TA

 

I am glad that Celebrity did step up though. I don't hold your opinion that it is rare for companies to respond to issues. The really great companies respond automatically on their own and for sure when a customer writes them.

 

I view Celebrity and Royal as very good companies who seem to be hit or miss with the customer responses. For sure, we are getting filtered stories, so we do not know all the facts/details. So some stories of disappointment maybe not fully explained, but I am not going to be a judge of how someone perceives the issues/situation as that is reality to them (and in my case - me).

 

For my part, Celebrity has stepped up when I have written them, so I give them every credit for their response to me.

 

Hope you have a GREAT cruise! :)

[mcrcruiser]

Since life is far from perfect ,we should expect from time to time issues in our sailing lives;). We have done 57 cruises & 3 more soon . Yes ,we had isssues with X from time to time ;however ,I simply call their corporate office on only justifiable & important issues . We have gotten very good service & when it was their fault ,we were awarded OBCs on them :D.

 

We are very loyal to both Celebrity & RCL cruises because of their customer service back up ;but ,also because imo they have the best product on the market for the main stream cruise lines :D. We will experience The Queen Mary 2 next year (6 star line ) only because Celebrity nor RCCL ships do not do the typical 7 day voyage (all sea days )from Southampton to Brooklyn :o:D

[jacketwatch]

So, our last cruise was on the Solstice and had many, many issues. I wrote a review and won't detail them. Hopefully they were limited to that one particular cruise. However, i was very frustrated, as that was a very pricey cruise to Hawaii.

 

Anyhow, PRIOR to that Solstice Hawaii cruise, I booked two potential cruises for this Christmas....husband wanted to sail on our favorite line, Royal Caribbean. I wanted to take advantage of the Celebrity free beverage package. So, we booked both cruises, knowing we would cancel one.

 

After the Solstice issues, of course, we were going to cancel the X Christmas cruise and not sail on X again. However, before doing so, I wrote to X about the Solstice issues. No response. so, i wrote an extended letter to my TA about all the Solstice issues. My TA really stepped up! She contacted X for me repeatedly. (I wish I could give her the shout out she deserves, but the CC rules do not permit naming the TA).

 

After her intervention, X called me and listened.... then, they gave me a nice future cruise credit to apply to my Christmas cruise on the Equinox, asking that we give them one more try. I agreed. I was impressed by their willingness to listen and try to make us happy customers.

 

I realize X is the same company as RCI, but still, X wanted to retain us and not see us sail on another line, even their sister company. So, we are giving them another try. I think it is rare for a company to really respond to issues. Maybe (probably) it was our TAs intervention, but kudos to X for their response. I am really looking forward to The Equinox and a great experience this time.

Thank you for posting your experience. Our experience with X parallels yours. Our 1st X cruise was the Connie in 2011 and we had some issues on board in one area. I must say most everything else was very good. However my letter went unanswered as well so I called and lets just say the CS I received was substandard.b Initially it was like "don't bother me." Finally after going up the ladder a few times I got hold of a rep who knew that good CS means not being penny wise and pound foolish so she offerd a generous OBC which of course ensured that we would return. Interestingly she realized that we ere really low balled and as it turned out she is the supervisor of Mr. low baller so I'll bet he got his butt chewed out which frankly he deserved. So last Oct. we did return and it was on the Equinox and this was the best cruise we have ever taken. The CD told us that of all the X ships the Equinox gets the best reviews so I think you will have a great time!!

Cheers, Larry :)

[RickT]

Nice to hear.

 

I had a problem with a Princess cruise (the cabin next to ours was occupied by three young boys (all under the age of 12 who were extremely noisy) while their parents were somewhere else. This clearly broke one of the main rules regarding children alone in a cabin) and brought it to the attention of Princess while on the ship (they did nothing).

 

When I got back I spoke with my TA and she suggested a detailed letter to Princess. Princess read the letter, contacted me to apologize for the issue but did not offer anything further. I've not cruised with them since.

 

What's that they say about it costing more to get a new customer than to keep an existing customer happy?

[drarill]

thanks for posting your experience. :)

[KirkNC]

Kudos to your TA!