How could Celebrity Improve?

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I recently asked why some of you favored Celebrity as one of your favorite cruise lines, and the answers were very engaging. While still keeping it's unique experience, in what ways could Celebrity improve?

 

We haven't sailed on Celebrity yet, and don't know any criticisms other than devotees of other lines who are looking for a different experience altogether. This question goes out to Celebrity cruisers only.

[Lsimon]

One of the pitfalls of being able to cruise frequently (once or twice a year in our case) is that you end up comparing cruises to each other. This sometimes leads to complaining about things you'd be raving about if it was your first cruise experience. It would be great if every aspect of a cruise had the very best experience of that particular aspect from among the many Celebrity cruises we've taken but that expectation would be a bit too much to expect - or is it?

 

With that perspective, I'd say there are several areas I'd like to see improved and most of them, except the first two and the last one, relate to areas where we've seen a decline or inconsistency in relation to prior cruises:

 

1. Food in the MDR - I think the food on Celebrity is great. But I'd like to see it even better. This is an area where Celebrity could really distance themselves more from the other mass cruise lines with a little more effort, especially given the higher cruise prices we've seen over the past year or so. It also always seems like the best menu items are grouped together on certain nights where it is hard to make a decision while on other nights none of the menu options is very appealing. I'd love to see some great options every night.

 

2. Customer service - Regular ongoing service on Celebrity ships is great. But occasionally we'll read of situations where a mishap occurs to one cruiser or a whole shipload and Celebrity really falls apart by mistreating these people and often causing them to bear extra costs due to Celebrity's fault. I recognize that such unusual situations tend to get reported on forums like this, and noticed, much quicker than comments about good service, but it is still disturbing to see this. There are also often clear issues with Celebrity's land based services including CSR's answering the phones who give incorrect information and web site problems that cause confusion and frustration.

 

3. Entertainment - This is probably a prime example of an area a first time cruiser would love and a frequent past cruiser might find disappointing. We fell in love with Celebrity on our first two cruises largely due to really fantastic island party bands that played great party and Caribbean music and equally great acoustical guitarists/singers playing pop/rock songs on the aft bar. There was also a wide range of other lounge musicians on board including a harpist, piano bar player, classical quartet, ballroom dance band and more. In recent years the quality and consistency of these groups has declined and the number of musicians on board has declined as well. I've also always felt that a good number of the main theater shows could be improved. We've seen so many terrible acts there, and a lack of variety, that we seldom go to the shows any longer.

 

4. Staffing - Over the years we've seen a reduction in the number of service staff on board including stateroom attendants, dining room waiters and sommeliers. While the staff continue to do a fantastic job they are spread a bit thinner so they can not be quite as attentive as they have been in the past.

 

5. Walking space - this is a personal item for me and one that has no short term fix. I enjoy daily walks for exercise. Celebrity does not have any ships that have a wrap around promenade deck where one can do laps around the ship and they no longer have any long walking/jogging tracks on their ships. The M class ships used to have nice long paths on the top deck but these were shortened when they added additional staterooms during the last round of refurbishments. The M class and S class ships now have a short walking path on the level above the pool but this area is crowded with lounge chairs and shared people enjoying the pool area and sunning which makes it difficult to get an exercise walk.

 

6. Monitor and control chair hogging around the pool and in popular deck chair areas like the Solstice Deck. This is a classic problem on cruises and resort areas with a pool. A couple extra personal assigned to this task with a system designed to control the hogs would make a world of difference.

 

These are the items that come to mind immediately.

[Orator]

You nebedto asks your question in a slightly different way: How can Celebrity improve without negatively affected their bottom line?" Yheir profit margins are lower than the competition and that has been a concern.

1. Develop an efficient, user friendly web site.

2. To prove training of Representatives

3. Make a decision on the Loyalty program.

Edited November 10, 2013 by Orator

[Havi2000]

I absolutely agree with Lsimon on the walking track situation! On the Equinox, there were "runners" on the "track" on one of the busiest decks on the ship, while the "lawn" on deck 15 is basically empty?? People were walking with food and drinks coming from the buffet while those exercising were weaving and dodging....unreal! We however stayed out of the way perched at the Mast Bar....

 

I was also disappointed with too many of the daily activities having charges associated with them. I was so looking forward to Rosetta Stone for example, only to find out there was a fee. Spin class fees? Really.

 

Our other irritation was the lack of variety on the buffet from lunch to dinner. Not much change other than sushi in the evening.

 

None of the above in anyway kept us from booking the same cruise this year however. We're pretty flexible, not big drinkers at all, but love the premium beverage package, which also helped make up for the negatives. I so love that freshly squeezed orange juice every day!

[MicCanberra]

I agree with most of the comments above (some don't affect me at all). I would also add that training in communication skills for when something doesn't go to plan.

For example, when everything isgoing ok, the staff all do their respective jobs well and they are a well oiled machine. When something goes awry, then there is a big breakdown in communication as they do not know how to handle the slightest change in circumstance and cannot/will not make an executive decision. When this happens everything is in limbo with guests kept in the dark until the issue is resolved. Thankfully, most things run to plan.:D

[Host Jazzbeau]

Celebrity has 14 menus and every cruise starts with #1 and runs through them in order. It would be more interesting if every other cruise started with #8.

 

But it would be even better if the menus reflected the part of the world you were sailing in.

 

And it would be really great if the chef had the authority to buy provisions locally for those local-color menu items.

 

[in fact, it would be great if the Hotel Director had some authority to do anything other than blame everything on Miami ;)]

[islandchick]

There will always be differences between ships on food and service, however the one thing l feel that should be changed across the board is the laziness in menu planning.

I am tired of having the same menu on every ship I take through Celebrity. They should and easily could have some items added based on itinerary for both MDR and specialty. It would be easy to do and would make a huge difference for people who frequently cruise, not to mention that it is fun to have new regional cuisines to try.

[fleckle]

It would be great if they would provide room service breakfast as an option on the last day.

 

That is when everyone is rushing to get dressed, finish packing and get off the ship. Some even need to go to Guest Relations to settle billing errors or other last minute matters.

 

If you want to have breakfast that morning you need to waste time going to and from the dining room or buffet and waste more time when you get there waiting to get your food.

 

It is always a zoo as the hallways are congested with people rushing in opposite directions going to and fro, in addition to the people with their luggage who are trying to get off the ship.

 

We found disembarkation mornings handled in a much more orderly and relaxing way on HAL ships where you can have room service breakfast delivered to you and can remain in your cabin until your time to disembark.

 

For the most part, we prefer Celebrity to HAL, but this is one area that HAL handles much better than Celebrity.

 

Edited November 11, 2013 by fleckle

[buchhalm]

What Lsimon said. Top comments! Apart from the chair hogging. We never had too much of a problem finding a spot and the towel removers were very active.

 

One area that could do with improvement is that they could change the ever repeated itineraries in the Mediterranean. year after year after year they seem to the samo old loops with little or no variation. whilst Naples, Venice and Rome (Civi) etc are for sure nice for first and perhaps secnd time cruiseres, after the 3rd stop in Naples it is getting boring.

Why not Spain (and it's islands) - Portugal (and its islands) and THAT side of the Med for a change?

:-)

 

Oh, and enforce the flippin' dress codes!

[welshfamily]

Lsimon makes excellent points.

 

however I am with buchhalm, please Celebrity introduce some different ports in the Med. we can not find a cruise in July or August that actually goes to a port that we have not already been to. We have been on just 6 Med. cruises.

To be fair I think Celebrity has started to realised this as two Equinox cruises have been chartered out this summer are those with ports different to the norm.

 

I also would like to see new production shows. The Solstice is still showing the same main production shows which launched her in 2008 and the Eclipse 2010. The Reflection show this summer was almost the same show as the other two Solstice class ships we have been on.

 

I too would like to see the menus mixed up/ changed a bit.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

One of the pitfalls of being able to cruise frequently (once or twice a year in our case) is that you end up comparing cruises to each other. This sometimes leads to complaining about things you'd be raving about if it was your first cruise experience. It would be great if every aspect of a cruise had the very best experience of that particular aspect from among the many Celebrity cruises we've taken but that expectation would be a bit too much to expect - or is it?

 

I know what you mean, because we've only been on one cruise so far, and loved just about everything. Our expectations were that of a 2 star floating hotel and restaurant, like a Best Western with attached Deny's, so we were ecstatic with the food, service, and entertainment. After trying RCL, Celebrity, and HAL, our perception of Carnival could very well change.

 

I've also read comments from people who started cruising in the 80's, who are disappointed with the cutbacks over the years. I don't blame them, even though I like the current pricing for myself. 5 day cruises starting at $900 in 1991? Yikes that's expensive even without inflation! Though when your favorite restaurant cuts their quality in half, even if they knock the price in half to match it, you're not going to be satisfied...

Edited November 11, 2013 by Stateroom_Sailor

[MicCanberra]

I know what you mean, because we've only been on one cruise so far, and loved just about everything. Our expectations were that of a 2 star floating hotel and restaurant, like a Best Western with attached Deny's, so we were ecstatic with the food, service, and entertainment. After trying RCL, Celebrity, and HAL, our perception of Carnival could very well change.

 

I've also read comments from people who started cruising in the 80's, who are disappointed with the cutbacks over the years. I don't blame them, even though I like the current pricing for myself. 5 day cruises starting at $900 in 1991? Yikes that's expensive even without inflation! Though when your favorite restaurant cuts their quality in half, even if they knock the price in half to match it, you're not going to be satisfied...

 

It is true that the pricing has remained quite static for the last 20-30 years however, I do not think the service has deteriorated to the same degree as the staff wages have increased in that same time period.:D

[Chicago Boy]

One of the pitfalls of being able to cruise frequently (once or twice a year in our case) is that you end up comparing cruises to each other. This sometimes leads to complaining about things you'd be raving about if it was your first cruise experience. It would be great if every aspect of a cruise had the very best experience of that particular aspect from among the many Celebrity cruises we've taken but that expectation would be a bit too much to expect - or is it?

 

With that perspective, I'd say there are several areas I'd like to see improved and most of them, except the first two and the last one, relate to areas where we've seen a decline or inconsistency in relation to prior cruises:

 

1. Food in the MDR - I think the food on Celebrity is great. But I'd like to see it even better. This is an area where Celebrity could really distance themselves more from the other mass cruise lines with a little more effort, especially given the higher cruise prices we've seen over the past year or so. It also always seems like the best menu items are grouped together on certain nights where it is hard to make a decision while on other nights none of the menu options is very appealing. I'd love to see some great options every night.

 

2. Customer service - Regular ongoing service on Celebrity ships is great. But occasionally we'll read of situations where a mishap occurs to one cruiser or a whole shipload and Celebrity really falls apart by mistreating these people and often causing them to bear extra costs due to Celebrity's fault. I recognize that such unusual situations tend to get reported on forums like this, and noticed, much quicker than comments about good service, but it is still disturbing to see this. There are also often clear issues with Celebrity's land based services including CSR's answering the phones who give incorrect information and web site problems that cause confusion and frustration.

 

3. Entertainment - This is probably a prime example of an area a first time cruiser would love and a frequent past cruiser might find disappointing. We fell in love with Celebrity on our first two cruises largely due to really fantastic island party bands that played great party and Caribbean music and equally great acoustical guitarists/singers playing pop/rock songs on the aft bar. There was also a wide range of other lounge musicians on board including a harpist, piano bar player, classical quartet, ballroom dance band and more. In recent years the quality and consistency of these groups has declined and the number of musicians on board has declined as well. I've also always felt that a good number of the main theater shows could be improved. We've seen so many terrible acts there, and a lack of variety, that we seldom go to the shows any longer.

 

4. Staffing - Over the years we've seen a reduction in the number of service staff on board including stateroom attendants, dining room waiters and sommeliers. While the staff continue to do a fantastic job they are spread a bit thinner so they can not be quite as attentive as they have been in the past.

 

5. Walking space - this is a personal item for me and one that has no short term fix. I enjoy daily walks for exercise. Celebrity does not have any ships that have a wrap around promenade deck where one can do laps around the ship and they no longer have any long walking/jogging tracks on their ships. The M class ships used to have nice long paths on the top deck but these were shortened when they added additional staterooms during the last round of refurbishments. The M class and S class ships now have a short walking path on the level above the pool but this area is crowded with lounge chairs and shared people enjoying the pool area and sunning which makes it difficult to get an exercise walk.

 

6. Monitor and control chair hogging around the pool and in popular deck chair areas like the Solstice Deck. This is a classic problem on cruises and resort areas with a pool. A couple extra personal assigned to this task with a system designed to control the hogs would make a world of difference.

 

These are the items that come to mind immediately.

 

 

All in all I think Celebrity offers a great cruise experience in their price range. We have sailed with some of the luxe lines at considerably greater cost and didn't think things were all that much better. I think we need to keep in mind Celebrity, at least in my opinion, is a "premium" cruise line and not a "luxe" one. Nothing is perfect and there have been occasions when we have had an issue. When we brought it to Celebrity's attention it was fixed immediately with no questions asked. Two weeks from today we board the Equinox in Barcelona for their Trans Atlantic to Fort Lauderdale. Love the cruise and love the ship. Will the cruise be absolutely perfect? Probably not but it doesn't matter. We are blessed to do what we do.

[Lsimon]

....But it would be even better if the menus reflected the part of the world you were sailing in.

 

And it would be really great if the chef had the authority to buy provisions locally for those local-color menu items...

 

This is a really good one. This was one of my overall complaints about cruises that I'd just about forgot about. Celebrity does this a little but not consistently. For example on our first Med cruise they had a Greek Buffet dinner out on deck the night we were in Santorini. I've also seen "Caribbean' day and a few other themed menus in the buffet for lunch. But I don't think they do these things consistently. Also, while the occasional lunch themes are nice the lunch buffet food usually isn't quite as nice as the dinner food and it would be nice to see a few regional items on the dinner menu on itineraries that sail in one region for months at a time.

 

A big one that I had a hard time understanding was the lack of fresh local fish seeing we were on a ship stopping at local ports. I now realize the logistics of this are difficult but there are some places where this could be done. For example, why not fresh salmon and halibut in Alaska? I've only been on one Alaskan cruise and that was years ago on Princess and they had these but I've heard Celebrity does not. I'd love to see some sort of fresh fish in the caribbean too, even if it was only offered in the specialty restaurants due to lower volume. That would give us a real reason to head there!

[dkjretired]

I have a couple of suggestions re: Captains Club. I would like to see them bring the cabin upgrade into the 21st. century, literally. Currently the CC upgrade is inside to inside and outside to outside. This upgrade is one of the first perks in CC and was developed before ships had veranda's, CC cabins and Aqua class cabins.

 

Would also like to see Captains Club operate more like the land based casinos affinity clubs and perhaps associate themselves with a casino. I received three free cruises on NCL in the past three years from Atlantic City casinos. Even if they didn't partner with a casino getting points or whatever for purchases on board, using them for spa treatments, etc would be excellent.

[odysee]

Love Celebrity and all of our cruises have been good ones. We don't sweat the small stuff as long as the overall experience is very satisfactory.

However after about 9 X cruises on S ships in last 5 years, I am getting a bit tired of the same shows, the repeating menues, the same activities.

And I agree with previous posts, a bit of local colour should be brought on board. Except when ashore on port days, you can not tell which part of the world the ship is cruising in. Which is a big pity.

Edited November 11, 2013 by odysee

[akowilm]

Maybe some 6 night itineraries for those of us that get 1 week of vacation at a time. I get 6 weeks a year, but can only take them in 7 day increments. I am allowed one 8 day per year for my annual 7 night cruise. 6 nights would give many of us that are still in the work force a lot more opportunity to cruise. I would choose a 6 night on Celebrity over any all-inclusive every time!

[Lsimon]

I thought of one other thing that has been a pet peeve of mine over the years.

 

The port shopping scheme and similar scam like marketing on board the ships.

 

I realize that it is always tough to give up an income source but it just seems completely out of character for an otherwise classy cruise line to have these dishonest marketing schemes on board.

 

I have no problem with having a port marketing program on board. I do have a problem with the fact that it is disguised and represented as a service in the best interest of passengers while concealing the fact that it is paid advertising. Most cruisers that have been on more than one or two cruises quickly understand that the port talks, "recommend" stores, and the shopping "consultant" are just a paid advertising program. But new cruisers, and those who are a bit more naive, get caught in the scam.

 

Alaska has recently cracked down on this practice and now requires the port marketing operations to disclose that these programs are paid advertising. It would improve my impression of the ethics of the cruise lines if they took this step wherever they sail.

 

There are other marketing activities on board that approach this level including the way some art auctions are conducted, the heavy selling pressure that occasionally goes on in the spas and classes and lectures that are really just sales events.

 

A big improvement would be to make these marketing operations more consumer friendly and transparent.

Edited November 11, 2013 by Lsimon

[4774Papa]

Just a few items,

 

1) Prefer more straightforward pricing of cruises, instead of inflating prices and offering huge rebates or free drink packages.

2) More cycle machines in the fitness center. Also, make sure the broken ones are repaired quickly.

3) We have found that Celebrity seems to repeat the same production shows over and over, sometimes for years. Prefer new shows.

4) Also, like the idea of offering menu choices related to the area of the World of the cruise.

[Aquahound]

I think Celebrity is an excellent cruise line, but if I had to choose something to make them perfect, it would be the following 2 things...

 

1. Maintain ships a little better. It may be just my experience, but on both Solstice cruises, they never cleaned our balcony glass. Furthermore, Millennium was in pretty sad shape in June. It's like they weren't even trying to keep her looking nice.

 

2. Itineraries. Take a look at Princess and HAL's more exotic itineraries and make an attempt to compete.

 

Nitpicking stuff (except Millennium).

[scotslizzy]

Inlcude the cost of the speciality restuarants in the price (like Oceania ) and allow everyne the opportunity to eat in them all once .

 

Change the shows as if you have sailed with Celebrity a number of times there is a great deal of repetition .

 

Allow the chefs to be a little more adventurous with the menus (same items repeated on each ship).

 

Room service should include soem of the items from the speciality restuarants .

 

Bring back the lobster bisque to the MDR .

 

Reduce the cost of the excursions - some of them are a ridiculous price.

 

 

Scotslizzy

[happy cruzer]

Solstice class ships are nice but...

 

My major pet peeve is the running track that goes through the deck area above the pool. Folks walk four abreast and block the track. Many move their deck chairs to a sunny spot that just happens to be on the track.

 

On sunny sea days there is not enough deck chair area, area to run or area to walk, it just does not work.

[BrendaJ]

I agree with much said above. We keep sailing Celebrity because we enjoy the service and beautiful ships, and think we get good value for the money. If my first cruise had been on Celebrity, I would absolutely have been blown away by the fabulous experience and would never have considered a land vacation again.

 

However, having sailed the same Celebrity ships and similar itineraries so many times, I'm getting rather jaded. I also realize that, in order to compete in the market, they need to keep up-front prices reasonable, and make their money with other things that may grate on those of us who started cruising in the 80's or 90's, when the on-board revenue-generating schemes were minimal or at least less in-your-face.

 

• More variety in production shows
  
• More sommeliers to reflect the increased volume of business due to drink packages
  
• Chair hog management - a simple system using two coloured flags would make it easy for pool butlers to see which chairs had not been occupied for a set amount of time
  
• Food and drink reflecting the part of the world you're in. There is revenue to be made selling regional drinks, and regional food wouldn't necessarily even have to be bought in the port, but at least made using regional recipes
  

 

All that being said, we obviously are happy enough with what we're getting that we're not looking at other lines, except when Celebrity does not have the itinerary we're looking for. If they would have an immersive cruise in French Polynesia, we wouldn't have to try the Paul Gauguin for our anniversary.

[surebeatssailing]

I echo the comments about regional food choices in the MDR.

I truly miss the Promanade deck on HAL as it is great for early morning jogging . This will not change on Celebrity because of the ship design so I jog on deck 5 on S class ships & run back & forth for 3 miles in the early morning.

I rarely go to the shows anymore because they are too predictable although a cruise on the Infinity in March had outstanding entertainment.

Other than HAL & Celebrity I have not cruised on any other lines so I really am not as experienced as many posters even after 13 cruises.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I thought of one other thing that has been a pet peeve of mine over the years.

 

The port shopping scheme and similar scam like marketing on board the ships.

 

I agree. While I am glad that RCL dropped Park West Gallery over Dali/Ali/Peter Max forgeries, these port shopping schemes need to go. On Carnival, we were even advised to INVEST in Tanzanite at $200 for the cheapest carat, only to find it for $100 at Macy's in the States. I met a guy who put a good chunk of his savings into this scam, and was already having buyer's regret before even knowing the facts. I don't know if RCL allows that level of deceit, but you might as well have people selling snake oil and pyramid schemes right on the ship!

Edited November 11, 2013 by Stateroom_Sailor