Just off Constellation -- so many changes with the X brand

[scott in maine]

Ha, ha, maybe your glass isn't completely half empty;) but please learn a lesson from this. Yes, cruising isn't what it used to be but don't spoil it for those newbies to a certain line. It never hurts to emphasize the plusses and point out a few negatives if you indeed had a "delightful" cruise.

 

This comment comes across, frankly, as an insult to me. As the OP, I implore you to go back and REREAD my intial posting. I think I was very balanced in my report - I wasn't inflammatory in any way and gave an honest review of our sailing just a few days ago. I made the point on more than one occasion that our overall experience was very strong and that I'd look forward to doing it all over again. I don't appreciate the misguided mini-lecture.

 

I stand fully behind my commentary in the first post since it's wholly true. Again, for the record, let me state that the point of my posting in the first place was to state that some of the little things that had always differentiated X from the competition had slipped away somewhat in our view. It was these things that initially drew us to X and caused us to be super-loyal for all these years. A newbie wouldn't necessarily miss these components, but long time X loyalists surely will.

 

I appreciate constructive feedback and robust debates, but I don't appreciate misinterpretations of what I was offering to the CC community.

[stones902]

The OP and others on this thread have noted something we noticed in the cruise industry (at least in our RCI experience) for several years, they have cut back on the number of bar staff and servers from years past. It seemed that these guys were everywhere all the time asking if you wanted a drink. Half of the time now we just end up walking to the bar ourselves. Not something that hurts our overall experience but certainly a concession towards the "bottom line".

 

I would add that we have noticed live bands hours (both near the pool and in other venues) have been the victim of cutbacks. It wasn't uncommon to have 4 or 5 piece steel pan bands playing a good portion of the day near the pool and also at sailaway. Nowdays, you seem to get a DJ more often than not or one guy playing tracks on an Apple computer with another guy playing guitar singing.

 

I suppose a sign of the times. Sigh.....

[amyr]

 

- Significant reduction in cocktail waitstaff in all venues. Remember when these folks were everywhere at the pool, the Rendezvous Lounge, in the theater pre-show by the dozens? Well, no longer. The precious few who we saw looked overwhelmed and overworked. I think this is a direct result of the decision to go forward with the PICK YOUR PERK promotion whereby the majority of passengers have a beverage package. When this wasn't the case, X had every reason to aggressively push beverage purchases, but now, they have every incentive to reduce consumption.

 

 

We noticed this as well last year, both on a short Connie cruise and a transatlantic a month or so later. Nearly impossible to get a drink (alcoholic or otherwise) anywhere during the day. The only bars open at all were at the pool and in the buffet, and you pretty much had to go stand in line. Daytime indoor activities like trivia, bingo, etc., were all held in closed venues with no wait service - you had to BYOB. We also tried our old trick of trying to find a favorite bartender and tipping early, but when the Martini Bar finally opened pre-dinner, it was inundated. Couldn't get near it. We were hoping that since we didn't have a beverage package they would recognize us as extra income, but it was not to be.

 

In contrast, we just returned from a South American cruise on Princess, which we don't like as well (mostly because of their food), and it was night and day. We couldn't sit down anywhere without a waiter materializing at our table, much like Celebrity used to be. Of course, Princess is starting to roll out beverage packages, so the same may well happen over there, at least if they start offering them for 'free' like Celebrity does in the 'PICK YOUR PERK' campaign. Such a shame.

[Soccrmom65]

Have they added this to the Constellation?

[chamima]

If Celebrity really has cut the bar staff because of the uptick in Bar Packages, that is not a good thing, and comes off as a little bit "darker" than a pure business decision. Since Celebrity monitors these boards, maybe they will get the hint, and how will they know if it's not brought up?

 

Anyway, having done bar packages twice before on Celebrity, this is what I do: I generally choose two or three "favorite" bartenders and make sure to tip them. I also do this with the restaurant drinks server on the first night. I generally do not have a problem with getting good service. And, by the way, I always tip ship bartenders beyond the 15% that is added automatically, no matter what cruise line.

 

No matter what, very much looking forward to my Connie cruise in 2 days. With two exceptions, all of my cruises have been good cruises.

 

I tried this on our recent cruise on the Eclipse after seemingly NONE of the (few) servers circulating around the pool could get my drink order right.

I usually drink a Seabreeze (vodka, grapefruit and cranberry juice) but then switched to just vodka and grapefruit juice in an attempt to get it correct.

On a two week cruise not one single server that walked around the pool gave me what I asked for. I had my husband taste them to see if I was imagining it - I wasn't!

I had the drink package so just threw out the drinks.

Anyways, I started just going to the pool bar myself to get my drinks and tipping in cash. The drinks were always correct but only one bartender ever remembered me. That extra tip didn't matter at all .

 

 

Quote:" The precious few who we saw looked overwhelmed and overworked."

Scott -

Unfortunately I have to agree with you.

We noticed it in Blu as well. :(

Edited March 12, 2014 by chamima

[Gracie115]

Have they added this to the Constellation?

 

NO, Connie has Tuscan Grill...thankfully....SO MUCH better than Qsine

[h20cruzer]

Well I have to put my 2 cents in too. We did the TA on the Connie in November. We are big Martini bar people. For the number of people at the bar there is not enough waitstaff.

There wasnot what I would call a bar back, the person who make sure there are glassses, runs for missing items ect. At times there were no bartenders at the bar, because there were running for more glasses, or wine or booze. The bar waiters were scarce, if I sat at a table for sure I would be without a drink, I learned very quickly to get my drink from the bartender. For elite happy hour it got even worse, people shoving tickets in the bartenders faces, hollering for what they wanted. I dont blame the bartenders, I think they are over worke and stressed.

In the restaurant I always asked our server for a barwaiter. I did not wait till I would see one and try to catch their attention. I also make it know the the server in the dining room, I will probably order drinks every night, so if they could just please show up so I can order.

I agree with a lot of other posters that there seemed to be more staff available in the past. I have even offered to help the bartender when they were busy, that got a good laugh. Lastly I think a please and thank you to the bartender goes a long wait. I try to treat them the way I want to be treated.

Norma

[cruzinlisa]

Thanks for your observations OP. I have not been on Celebrity yet (2 1/2 weeks), but I have been on 4 other cruises on Carnival. I understand what you mean about little cuts, especially service positions. I work for the government so I know how it goes to do more with less and then have them trim and trim a little more. I imagine it is frustrating, hopefully we do not encounter any overstressed staff later this month. I can deal with the issues with drink service. I have been to plenty of crowded bars in my day (I am not that far removed from my 20s :D) and I have notice on Carnival it seems like drink servers are non existent, so it won't be all that different. For my purposes I am just hoping that Celebrity is a step up from Carnival and the moderate priced AIs that we have been to. I don't expect a tiara or anything, but we are paying a good amount for this cruise so I do have expectations. Fortunately I do not have too many expectations, so hopefully they will exceed them. :D

[Iamthesea]

I say they are no problem, but I never expected to see 1. a coed from South Carolina stone drunk and flipping someone the bird on the very first day. So much for Southern gentility. Forget any dress code' The evening meals, even in Aqua, have people dressed in ripped jeans and collarless shirts. Finally, 2. the A1 cabins on the eleventh deck are blessed with the odor of whatever is the most pungent food being served in the buffet on deck 10. Keep your cabin door closed tightly to avoid it. On the bright side, the Connie is the first X ship to 3. allow passengers to sign on the internet without having to march down to the I Lounge. Unfortunately, wouldn't you know I had trouble and needed to seek help, but DW got right on. This is a big plus, and one of the good things Princess has been doing for years.

 

1. Was the coed from South Carolina, or a school in SC? What school? Being from SC myself, we have noticed a great deal of Northerners enrolling in our colleges. This is not to say that a true southerner would not get out of hand when alcohol is involved, however. :rolleyes:

To the OP about the woman passing out at the bar and then throwing up... that's just gross! I sure hope we don't have that experience in a couple of weeks.

2. This is the first that I have heard about food smells near the A1's. Which stateroom are you in? Do the smells get into the cabin when the balcony door is not opened? We have 1132 on a cruise in May.

3. Please explain how this is done? I would love to skip having to go to the Internet Café to sign on with my iPad.

Speaking of music and the steel drum bands...Red, Red, Wine just started playing on my stereo. I sure am going to miss that music onboard. :(

I hope that Celebrity is listening! I would not mind paying more if cruising would go back to the way they were.

[Ma Bell]

delete

Edited March 12, 2014 by Ma Bell

[Ma Bell]

If you do have to go to the internet cafe it will only be to sign up and after that you can sign in and use it in your cabin.

[Oville]

This comment comes across, frankly, as an insult to me. As the OP, I implore you to go back and REREAD my intial posting. I think I was very balanced in my report - I wasn't inflammatory in any way and gave an honest review of our sailing just a few days ago. I made the point on more than one occasion that our overall experience was very strong and that I'd look forward to doing it all over again. I don't appreciate the misguided mini-lecture..

 

I was commenting on my previous post and making light of myself. The first post was in reply to someone who was regretting booking a Celebrity cruise do to comments made on this thread.

[Andy]

NO, Connie has Tuscan Grill...thankfully....SO MUCH better than Qsine

 

I agree Gracie. We enjoyed Qsine, but for us, its more of a been there, done that experience. We like Tuscan much better, but that's subjective.

[richstowe]

Hi Scott

We were on your cruise and believe we saw you in Blu (which I wasn't thrilled with ).

This was just our second Celebrity cruise and while we enjoyed ourselves, the memory of a near perfect cruise on the Summit last year made this one pale in comparison.

In the different strokes department, we really were impressed with the bar service.

This was our first cruise with a drink package and found the staff very helpful especially as we only had the standard drink package.

They steered us to what was covered without being snotty about it (except for the female Sommelier in Blu).

I noticed that the bar staff were busy but they were very polite and professional to us.

In short, bar service was one area that we had no issues with.

 

 

Ha, ha, maybe your glass isn't completely half empty;) but please learn a lesson from this. Yes, cruising isn't what it used to be but don't spoil it for those newbies to a certain line. It never hurts to emphasize the pluses and point out a few negatives if you indeed had a "delightful" cruise.

This is Cruise Critic not Cruise Cheerleader.

OP is under no obligation to cater to the fears of jocelysue or anyone else.

[Iamthesea]

If you do have to go to the internet cafe it will only be to sign up and after that you can sign in and use it in your cabin.

 

Done this several times. I would like to avoid going there to sign up. Always a line and something I would rather not have to do on a short cruise.

 

Can anyone just off the Connie tell us who is onboard? Captain, CD, Social Hostess?

[chamima]

If you do have to go to the internet cafe it will only be to sign up and after that you can sign in and use it in your cabin.

 

It has been reported that, like Princess, you can now sign up for the internet from your cabin.

Much easier than waiting in line at the Internet Cafe.

[richstowe]

Can anyone just off the Connie tell us who is onboard? Captain, CD, Social Hostess?

The CD was a Brit who went by the name J C . This was his last cruise before going on break.

For better or worse (mostly better) ,he was separated at birth from Ricky Gervais.

The activity director, Mark seemed good. He and J C were great on their morning TV show.

The Captain was Nikolas Christodoulakis who was a very very active presence on the ship.

He was very active but I must confess his very thick accent threw me.

[scott in maine]

Hi Scott

We were on your cruise and believe we saw you in Blu (which I wasn't thrilled with ).

This was just our second Celebrity cruise and while we enjoyed ourselves, the memory of a near perfect cruise on the Summit last year made this one pale in comparison.

 

Fantastic, richstowe! We met so many great folks on this short sailing -- many of whom we'll keep in contact with!

 

And, I'm pleased to hear that your experience with the barstaff was unlike mine. To be clear, I wouldn't say that my overall experience with bar service was lousy, but it was so substantially less than what it had *ALWAYS* been before. You must understand that on every other X cruise we've enjoyed, the table service attendants in EVERY SINGLE VENUE were practically falling all over us to take drink orders. Any long time X cruisers will immediately confirm this. There was something really nice about choosing a perfect table or seat and knowing that within 60 seconds, someone would be there to take drink orders.

 

In the grand scheme of life, we should all be wise enough to remember that such issues are quite minor. However, it was many of these little extras on X that we loved first 15+ years ago that have kept us coming back time and time again. I think it's fair to lament some changes while also recognizing that all things will change.

[MattInFLL]

Jakensshleysmom - generally with the package you will not even see a bar slip. Sometimes you will see one and sometimes you won't. So I just carry an awful lot of singles and five dollar bills with me and I tip cash on each drink unless it's a situation where I want to give maybe five or $10 to someone such as the dining room waiter. Being pleasant and generous to service people has always worked for me. But then again I once was a service person. And I understand the importance of tips. And I'm also Irish so I tend to get along with bartenders. :) since you also understand the bartending business, I trust you will have no problems.

[maxsales]

This comment comes across, frankly, as an insult to me. As the OP, I implore you to go back and REREAD my intial posting. I think I was very balanced in my report - I wasn't inflammatory in any way and gave an honest review of our sailing just a few days ago. I made the point on more than one occasion that our overall experience was very strong and that I'd look forward to doing it all over again. I don't appreciate the misguided mini-lecture.

 

I stand fully behind my commentary in the first post since it's wholly true. Again, for the record, let me state that the point of my posting in the first place was to state that some of the little things that had always differentiated X from the competition had slipped away somewhat in our view. It was these things that initially drew us to X and caused us to be super-loyal for all these years. A newbie wouldn't necessarily miss these components, but long time X loyalists surely will.

 

I appreciate constructive feedback and robust debates, but I don't appreciate misinterpretations of what I was offering to the CC community.

 

I don't know how you can say your comments are wholly true when they are your subjective opinion. We just completed our 19th cruise on Celebrity, the Equinox in Feb and I couldn't disagree with you more.

 

The ship, staff, food and service were the best ever. That is my subjective opinion. Others may disagree and I have no problem with that.

 

However, it seems like there are those out there that constantly bemoan the passing of the old Celebrity. To which I say read their marketing slogan, "Modern luxury". If you are not into modern then possible Cunard is a good alternative as they appear to be firmly stuck in the past.

[Ma Bell]

It has been reported that, like Princess, you can now sign up for the internet from your cabin.

Much easier than waiting in line at the Internet Cafe.

 

That's why I said "if" you have to go. Also, if you already know how to sign up, you don't have to wait if there's a computer open.

[KKB]

Constellation, just off today.

 

FABULOUS cruise, feel Celebrity does things just a bit better than other mass market lines. Made a dummy booking for March 2016 (Caribbean March dates not open yet) for my 50th bday--able to get free drink package plus OBC.

 

We did notice the lack of bar servers---never before have we seen bartenders also serve as servers (doing both jobs at the same time) But we had some wonderful servers/bartenders & we really enjoyed the drink package. And we're those drinks strong!

 

We LOVED BLU--AQ surely spoiled us. Our courses were never less than very good, typically excellent. We generally went with the waiters (John) recommendations & he did not lead us astray! Being from NE we r picky about steaks & I typically avoid them on cruises. But the filet was outstanding!

We were in 1104; occasionally noticed garlic/food smells in hall near elevator, but not unpleasant. We arrived daily between 6 & 7, never waited.

 

Enjoyed the energy of spring breakers; only once at muster did a group of young men offend us with their conversation better suited for a sports bar...

 

Smallest ship we have been on & we noticed much fewer crowds; but it was more difficult to get our beloved TX hold me game going in evenings.

 

This rivals our Allure cruise as a fav--but 5 days is too short!

[cruisinelsewhere]

However, it seems like there are those out there that constantly bemoan the passing of the old Celebrity. To which I say read their marketing slogan, "Modern luxury". If you are not into modern then possible Cunard is a good alternative as they appear to be firmly stuck in the past.

 

I have recently sailed Constellation (2/22) and have cruised many Celebrity ships starting with Zenith in 1995 when I was in my early 30's. I have been reading, with interest, the posts about noise, diminished service, dress codes and the like. Of course there have been changes...without change there is no growth. I am thinking about changing my upcoming Reflection cruise to the Summit.....I think I like the ambiance of the M-class vessels (something I had almost forgotten while sailing S-class since Solstice was built). I truly like the Celebrity product for the combination of amenities at the very reasonable price point. It has been hard for me to quantify my feelings about my personal experiences onboard over the years

My point I guess is that I prefer the more traditional cruising of old but wholly embrace today's product. For me... "Exceeding Expectations" was a far better experience than "Modern Luxury".....which of course has indeed lessened the luxury.

[4774Papa]

Jakensshleysmom - generally with the package you will not even see a bar slip. Sometimes you will see one and sometimes you won't. So I just carry an awful lot of singles and five dollar bills with me and I tip cash on each drink unless it's a situation where I want to give maybe five or $10 to someone such as the dining room waiter. Being pleasant and generous to service people has always worked for me. But then again I once was a service person. And I understand the importance of tips. And I'm also Irish so I tend to get along with bartenders. :) since you also understand the bartending business, I trust you will have no problems.

I totally agree. I like to add a small cash tip for the wait staff, especially when we go to the Celebrity Elite Happy Hour, where no tips are automatically added. I get great service.

 

Another point, I notices a poster complained about having trouble during the day ordering a drink. Perhaps that is why we haven't had a problem with ordering, we generally don't imbibe until about 5PM, except for perhaps a beer at lunch.

[NLH Arizona]

My point I guess is that I prefer the more traditional cruising of old but wholly embrace today's product. For me... "Exceeding Expectations" was a far better experience than "Modern Luxury".....which of course has indeed lessened the luxury.

Depends on what luxury means to each individual, as to if they feel Modern Luxury has indeed lessened the luxury. Edited March 13, 2014 by NLH Arizona