Another Carny tries X post

[rjrpar]

A 5 day cruise is not the best way to judge any cruise line. That being said, Carnival, RCCL, Princess, and X are much more alike than different. Food and entertainment are very similar (and subjective) but the atmosphere on each line is more of a differentiator.

[gimletgal]

I really hate to see the short cruise "bashing". I love the longer cruises, and the majority of my sailings have been 14 nights.

 

Having said that, I have also been on the 5 night cruises on both Millie & Connie and am going again this April. I have not experienced these shorter cruises not "being held to the same level as the longer ones". Yes, the crowd is a little different, but the cruise experience has been the same. Service & staff is still great. I have had good times on both and have met some really nice people. To characterize short cruises as being undesirable or "cheapo" is not really fair to either the future guests or the cruise line.

[Oville]

I really hate to see the short cruise "bashing". I love the longer cruises, and the majority of my sailings have been 14 nights.

 

Having said that, I have also been on the 5 night cruises on both Millie & Connie and am going again this April. I have not experienced these shorter cruises not "being held to the same level as the longer ones". Yes, the crowd is a little different, but the cruise experience has been the same. Service & staff is still great. I have had good times on both and have met some really nice people. To characterize short cruises as being undesirable or "cheapo" is not really fair to either the future guests or the cruise line.

 

I can't agree with you more. We've done a number of these five day cruises over the last four years. This cruise was different because a TA with numerous franchises booked many group cabins during the 123 promo last year. There were 650-700 TAs, families and friends who were not your typical Celebrity cruisers. People were loud and drunk by the muster and things did not get better. Someone who was part of the group referred to this cruise as a "boss cruise". The advertising for this particular travel agency was everywhere

including selling their product at dinner, the agency name on t-shirts, lanyards, polo shirts.....

 

My guess is all these folks had a great time and enjoyed the 123 promo drink packages and good for them. For the most part they were a jovial group. However they were not your average Celebrity cruisers.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Oville

[wallie5446]

I really hate to see the short cruise "bashing".

To characterize short cruises as being undesirable or "cheapo" is not really fair to either the future guests or the cruise line.

 

But there is the hard part, quite a few 'new to Celebrity' folks are doing these shorter lower cost sailing to see if X will be a good fit for them. They come away with the feeling that there is nothing different, so why start from scratch with a new line.

[Oville]

But there is the hard part, quite a few 'new to Celebrity' folks are doing these shorter lower cost sailing to see if X will be a good fit for them. They come away with the feeling that there is nothing different, so why start from scratch with a new line.

 

I think this cruise was quite unique. Have you taken many of these short cruises? They may not be exactly like 14 day cruises, but do give a bit of a sense what Celebrity is like.

 

Also, not all and probably a minority book these 5 days at reduced prices. We sure don't.

[wallie5446]

I think this cruise was quite unique. Have you taken many of these short cruises? They may not be exactly like 14 day cruises, but do give a bit of a sense what Celebrity is like.

 

Also, not all and probably a minority book these 5 days at reduced prices. We sure don't.

 

No we have not, but we have cruised X since 1994, and if all is in line where we will book next. We are not the future of Celebrity, but if there is nothing different, why would someone start at the bottom of the reward ladder with another line that offers nothing different.

[Oville]

No we have not, but we have cruised X since 1994, and if all is in line where we will book next. We are not the future of Celebrity, but if there is nothing different, why would someone start at the bottom of the reward ladder with another line that offers nothing different.

 

I'm confused on your point. In my various posts above I've tried to explain that this cruise was not the usual experience one has on a 5 day cruise on Celebrity.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Oville

[Azulann]

Orville,

I was on the same cruise and you are right. It was atypical group of guests. Service was the same, high standard, and love Captain Tasos.

I will never book a cruise for only five days, and never book a cruise that has a group of 700 folks who were part of a group of TA's friends and family. It was a booze cruise in many ways for many of them.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Azulann

[20pluscruises]

Orville,

I was on the same cruise and you are right. It was atypical group of guests. Service was the same, high standard, and love Captain Tasos.

I will never book a cruise for only five days, and never book a cruise that has a group of 700 folks who were part of a group of TA's friends and family. It was a booze cruise in many ways for many of them.

 

How do you find out the group of 700 were booked? ....before you book a cruise is there a way to know for certain there is no large group on board? Thanks!

[jaybird from SC]

We're just off the Jan. 20-25 Constellation Western Caribbean cruise and had a different experience than some other recent posters. We had a great time and have no real complaints but wanted to warn people not to expect a world of difference. There was a lot we thought would be better than Carnival that wasn't.

 

Mainly we were disappointed in the activities and MDR food, and somewhat in the entertainment.

 

No. 1, we expected some legitimate "enrichment" offerings such as we saw on Princess on our one cruise with them, but there's not much on the daily activity list other than the same old trivia, art auctions and bingo stuff. The same shopping talks, where some self-important "shopping expert" pretends to have twisted arms to have gotten you incredible deals at Diamonds International and tries to lead you like a droid through some map of allowable stores. It's insulting, whether you're on Celebrity, Carnival or any other line. On Princess, they offered a crash course in Spanish on a Mexican Riviera cruise. I expected something here like a Mayan culture talk on the way to Cozumel or something on Key West authors on the way there. But there was nothing educational unless you count dance lessons or a 15-minute galley tour where most of the people couldn't hear anything.

 

Not one dish in the main dining room was remarkable. We only had a five night cruise, so we didn't try everything on the cruise line's menu, but nothing we had was memorable (a couple fish dishes came close), and a few things were pretty disappointing. The formal night, rumored to be among the best menus, was just another night.

 

The production shows in the main theater were among the best we've seen, but little else caught our interest in the entertainment offerings. Admittedly, this is partly our fault for not sampling more things late at night. The live music we did hear was nothing special. We did enjoy the comic who took the main stage one night, but thought the "illusionist" was a disappointment.

 

There were some obvious plusses on Celebrity, like lack of promotional pitches on the PA and excellent service in the MDR. And I'll bet I was offered sparkling wine a couple times a day.

 

But you won't get away from the chair hogs and buffet brutes (both male and female). You won't avoid the loud-mouth drunks just by switching from Carnival to Celebrity. At least that was our opinion based on one five-night cruise.

 

Jim

We have never expeienced "loud mouth drunks" on any Celebrity cruise and we like the laid back relaxation....don't care for the party type atmosphere. Sorry you had a bad experience. Hope you give Celebrity another chance....

[Oz_Steve]

Carnival's MDR food is actually quite good. On our last cruise, most nights that the food was good enough that I would have eaten more if I was able to do so (comfortably). Even the nights where the food was not spectacular, it was better than average. I certainly never went hungry. But Carnival is previewing this "new menu" (with less choices) and its getting mixed reviews, so we will see if that becomes a regular thing.

 

But I was hoping that Celebrity's food would be a step above Carnival's, even though I think Carnival's is very good. We are AQ so we will be dining in Blu, hopefully that will push the dining experience a little more. We are paying quite a bit more for the two of us this 5 day cruise than we did for three people for 7 days on Carnival. Granted we have a premium drink package and prepaid grats (thanks to our TA) and a balcony in AQ class, so its going to be more.

 

OP I am glad to hear that you liked the production shows. Carnival's entertainment was so so to me. I am not sure how I feel about the new (playlist?) shows that they started introducing with the 2.0. The techno graphics are kind of neat, but the show itself was not as interesting. We did not even stay for the whole thing.

 

We had an Aqua balcony (Room 1610) with a premium drink package on the Solstice recently (12 night cruise) and it was fantastic. Blu is great and the Molecular and Martini Bars are both great. Add in Cellar Masters, Café Baccio, the nightclub, the bar at the front (I forget its name) and one night in each of the specialty restaurants and your holiday is made.

[wallie5446]

I'm confused on your point. In my various posts above I've tried to explain that this cruise was not the usual experience one has on a 5 day cruise on Celebrity.

 

Over the years we have been on the same page about X and we are here also. We who sail X often know this was not a normal Celebrity sailing. But the cruisers who are new to X do not, they think it is the 'normal' and go, Meh! What are all the long timers talking about. I too hope they give X another try.

[Azulann]

20pluscruises,

I learned about this group from the roll call. Some of the organizers of this group posted the link to their web site. Learned to stay away from the Mast Bar during the day and the Martini Bar in early evening because they were so crowded.

[stormynow]

Over the years we have been on the same page about X and we are here also. We who sail X often know this was not a normal Celebrity sailing. But the cruisers who are new to X do not, they think it is the 'normal' and go, Meh! What are all the long timers talking about. I too hope they give X another try.

I do too "hope they give X another try" because I will be on some other cruise lines.

[20pluscruises]

20pluscruises,

I learned about this group from the roll call. Some of the organizers of this group posted the link to their web site. Learned to stay away from the Mast Bar during the day and the Martini Bar in early evening because they were so crowded.

 

Would you have been able to find out this information before booking a cruise? That would be a big help.

 

We were also on a cruise with a very large group, and many evenings before dinner venues were open to only this group. Frustrating, as the better entertainment was in the closed venues. Also, the whole vibe on the ship was weird. Almost felt like WE were intruding on their ship / party...and the looks from the group if we dare sit at the martini bar and take THIEIR seats before they showed up.

Edited January 28, 2014 by 20pluscruises

[jasbo49]

Greetings. OP here, just hoping to tidy up a few things:

 

1. Some seem to be inferring we had a "bad cruise" or a negative experience. As I said in the first post, "We had a great time and have no real complaints." Maybe this is a good place to note a few more positives I didn't mention at first. The service was excellent or close to it everywhere. Captain Tasos was a pleasure, very accessible and full of good humor. Everything was very clean, including the public restrooms (cloth towels to dry your hands). Real ice cream made on the ship available in buffet area. The Oceanview café (the buffet) was a little upgrade from Carnival's, but it was the same tasteless powdered scrambled eggs in the morning. Grab all the bacon you want, though.

 

2. I think we can all agree that a short cruise is going to be a little different, but the food should be no less remarkable on a 5-day than on a TransAtlantic. The "enrichment" offerings might be a little less ambitious, but shouldn't be scuttled entirely if they're trying to woo us with a taste of Celebrity. So I look at these as things that can't blamed on the duration of the cruise. They simply aren't the step up my wife and I had expected.

 

3. I didn't want to make too big an issue of the large group that was aboard, because that was atypical and probably not under Celebrity's control. And it didn't ruin our cruise. But for the record, the Cruise Fools, as they call themselves, did have a few real buffoons in their ranks along with plenty of regular folks. I heard several reports of them sitting around the pool tag-teaming booze and Red Bull and bragging about being banned by Carnival. And some of the hollering off the balconies in Cozumel had to be heard to be believed.

 

As for whether we'll be back, I don't know. I'm not opposed to cruising Celebrity again if the price is right, but I think this 5-day taster kind of missed its chance to hook us, and apparently some other people.

 

Jim

[kelz66]

I was also on that cruise with a small group of friends. We mainly hung out at the aft outdoor bar and not the main pool area. Mostly for the quiet and the ability to catch up with cruise friends we have not seen in a while. We never saw any of the nonsense others saw, but I did see some of the after affects of single individuals searching for their cabins...LOL

 

That being said, we found the food and the food choices amazing compared to Carnival. The buffet alone is better than Carnivals MDR. although, Carnival is revamping it's MDR menu.

 

We loved the grill station at the rear of the buffet that would grill a ribeye or NY strip to order.

They also offered kabobs, jerk chicken and jerk pork on other nights.

 

The beer & wine station at the front of the buffet was not a bad touch either.

all of the choices there blew away Carnivals bland offerings.

 

We did a group dinner one night in Oceanliners and loved it. We will definitely be going back again. :D

[jasbo49]

The buffet alone is better than Carnivals MDR. although, Carnival is revamping it's MDR menu.

 

We loved the grill station at the rear of the buffet that would grill a ribeye or NY strip to order.

They also offered kabobs, jerk chicken and jerk pork on other nights.:D

 

Hope you'll allow me to cherry-pick a few things to respond to.

 

Yes, the buffet was better than Carnival's, but I don't think it was better than Carnival's MDR. It sounds like you might have eaten at the buffet most nights and may have more familiarity with their dinner buffet. That would mean you ate fewer meals in the Celebrity MDR and are maybe less versed on their food. The MDR food was my disappointment. Again, it wasn't bad, just not as good as I expected.

 

The kabobs offered in the buffet's grill station were my wife's favorite meal of the trip, a fine compliment to the buffet but a sorry commentary on the MDR, where we ate four of our five dinners. I can't imagine the head chef likes it that people are going to the buffet for their most memorable meals.

 

Jim

[grampasgrumpy]

I was also on that cruise with a small group of friends. We mainly hung out at the aft outdoor bar and not the main pool area. Mostly for the quiet and the ability to catch up with cruise friends we have not seen in a while. We never saw any of the nonsense others saw, but I did see some of the after affects of single individuals searching for their cabins...LOL

 

That being said, we found the food and the food choices amazing compared to Carnival. The buffet alone is better than Carnivals MDR. although, Carnival is revamping it's MDR menu.

 

We loved the grill station at the rear of the buffet that would grill a ribeye or NY strip to order.

They also offered kabobs, jerk chicken and jerk pork on other nights.

 

The beer & wine station at the front of the buffet was not a bad touch either.

all of the choices there blew away Carnivals bland offerings.

 

We did a group dinner one night in Oceanliners and loved it. We will definitely be going back again. :D

Glad to read this as my wife and I will be on the Constellation in 7 short weeks! We are looking forward to a change after 12 cruises on Carnival (including the one I met my wife on so Carnival can't be all bad! ;)) and one cruise on NCL. We are hoping for a slightly more relaxed atmosphere so we can just "chill" for a few days.