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

[Cruise a holic]

Quick background on us: partnered couple in our 40s (what appears to be X's target audience these days), long-time X loyalists -- now Elite status. Our first sailings were on the darling Horizon and we were a fan from day one.

 

Fast forward 15 years later and we find ourselves really missing a lot of what compelled our loyalty to the Celebrity brand in the first place. While we had an excellent cruise experience this past week on Constellation, some of the magic was definitely missing. Here are some of our observations:

 

- 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.

 

- Gone are the clever specialty cocktail menus everywhere. Remember all the amazing cocktail menus in each venue? Well, they're 95% gone. The ones remaining are boiled down to 2 or 3 pages and are not much more than the essentials.

 

- I suspect that with the new PICK YOUR PERK campaign, X may have renegotiated the compensation packages for bar employees. I say this because, for the FIRST TIME EVER ON ANY CRUISE, we witnessed several (about a half dozen) bartenders who were visibly angry throughout our sailing. No smiling, no thank you -- slamming bottles and appearing completely overwhelmed. This didn't do much to enhance our experience.

 

- I see that the volume of music has been a topic of much discussion here. We hadn't seen these postings until today, but we certainly concur that the volume (at times) was unacceptable. In fact, we chose to leave the pool one afternoon at sea because the band's volume was simply ear-splitting. It was ridiculous and in no way enjoyable for us. I surely miss the days of Caribbean steel drums.

 

- We were a little apprehensive that on a short sailing at spring break time, this might be a little too much of a BOOZE CRUISE for some, but the few that were heavy imbibers mostly kept to themselves and didn't get too out of control. With that said, we did have an upsetting experience in the Martini Bar one night before dinner. A middle aged couple sitting on the other side of the bar had clearly over-consumed. The female began using foul language in a loud voice and the man next to her just laughed at her. In short order, she couldn't hold her head up any longer (yep, that tanked) and it clunked on the bar -- where it sat for the next fifteen (!!!!!!!) minutes. The bartenders simply acted as if she wasn't there instead of taking responsibility to call security to escort her away (for her own safety and also as a courtesy to the rest of us trying to enjoy our last night of the sailing). In the end, I stepped away from the bar to call security myself and when I returned to the bar, she had just vomited all over herself. This was inexcusable for a number of reasons, but the bartenders showed a true lack of professional responsibility that night.

 

- Our Captains Club host was inept. Sorry, I try to get along with everyone and I don't like to complain, but he acted silly much of the time and didn't convey a sense of true professionalism. Heretofore, every single Captains Club host (and, before that, Social Hostess) we'd encountered were at the top of their game. On this sailing, one of the few events offered for Elites was the behind the stage tour -- we wanted to do that again, but the event was a full THIRTY MINUTES DELAYED (while we all sat there waiting) since the port shopping guide was long-winded with her presentation. No apologies or show of concern whatsoever from our CC Host. He just kept throwing his hands in the air. What a shame.

 

Now, on the good side, we still had a very enjoyable sailing. AQ was very comfortable and dining in BLU, as always, was a real highlight. We found the Connie to be in great shape and would sail on her again tomorrow.

 

The point of my post here isn't to be overly negative, but to share my disappointment in some of the recent changes we're finding on X. I suspect their brand management team feels that it's necessary to continue to evolve to attract tomorrow's customer (and they're not wrong about that), but I'd submit that some of these changes make the brand less attractive to those of us they're targetting.

 

Sorry you had some issues. But regarding the Captains Club Hostess, we had a poor hostess in January on the Silhouette. She seemed to only spend time with a couple who were very frequent cruisers and ignored others, who could potentially be frequent cruises. We did however, love the bar staff at the Martini and Molecular bars. The pool bars were busy, but we waited our turn, albiet perhaps too long and were served without any problem.

 

The staff all around the Silhouette were top notch. I also recently sailed on the Summit, and the staff, from the captain down were great! We are booked again on the Silhouette (hope a new CC hostess), the Summit and the Eclipse.

 

I know people might have some "niggles" but overall Celebrity has a great product.

 

I am sure that the newbies will truly enjoy their cruise!

Edited March 15, 2014 by Cruise a holic

[USVI-4-me]

That's correct. Once they see your seapass card with the package indicated on it they don't print a receipt. Just another of the nice things about the package....:)

 

How do bartenders/servers calculate the number of drinks served for their tips?

 

-Marisa

[cle-guy]

For me the simplest way to determine waitstaff at bars, is how many are at martini?

 

My current sailing there were 4 behind the bar at peak periods and 3 circulating the floor and multiple staff running dirty and clean barware. Off peak there was always at least 2 behind the bar plus the staff to run barware.

 

How many would there have been back in the day when the bars were better staffed?

 

I will say on all my sailings the one comment I always have is the barstaff seem to be unable to multi task. Like I think they should take my card run the charge and make the drink and bring the drink and bill to sign. Instead it's take order make drink bring drink, take card run sale take signed slip then find another customer to help.

 

I have a hard time believing most of the bar staff could really work a real bar off a ship due to this lack of multitasking ability.

[keithm]

Fair comment, but this was absolutely not the case. The headcount of beverage waitstaff was easily less than half of what we'd seen before -- perhaps just about a third. It was a stunning change from all of our X cruises before.

 

And, our fears of being overrun with college spring breakers proved to be unfounded -- I'd guess there were fewer than 30 college aged passengers on this sailing.

Up to Jan.25'th trip, we always did Cunard. That Jan.trip(aboard the Eclipse) was fantastic. We saw no staff cutbacks(which are becomming common place on Cunard)The food, everything was fantastic. Only in the Grills does Cunard have no peers. Then again for $5k(and up)the Grills do need to be that special. We plan on hopefully booking the same trip next winter. Though we've been to all these islands, getting away for 2 weeks from the winter is worth it!

[BosoxI]

Sorry you had some issues. But regarding the Captains Club Hostess, we had a poor hostess in January on the Silhouette. She seemed to only spend time with a couple who were very frequent cruisers and ignored others, who could potentially be frequent cruises.

We are booked again on the Silhouette (hope a new CC hostess), the Summit and the Eclipse

 

 

There must have been a CC change after your cruise. On our Silhouette voyage in February the CC Host was all over the place, talking to anyone who would listen. Hope he's on your ship.

[Cruise a holic]

There must have been a CC change after your cruise. On our Silhouette voyage in February the CC Host was all over the place, talking to anyone who would listen. Hope he's on your ship.

 

 

Great news as we are packing now for our cruise next week!

 

Thanks

[DianeMMHH]

Just an observation about loud music.........

 

We were in Puerto Rico aboard the Explorer of the Seas, which was docked, when the Summit sail out of the harbor. The music was so loud that you could hear it clearly on our Aft Balcony! I was incredulous that this music was coming from a Celebrity Ship! I though perhaps the wind was favorable to waft the sound across the harbor to our deck. Then, the Jewel of the Seas sailed past and out of the harbor. I could not hear the music at all yet we could see the folks in the deck partying! Huh?

Edited March 16, 2014 by DianeMMHH

[BosoxI]

Gee, I don't even remember being on your aft balcony :)

[cle-guy]

Just an observation about loud music.........

 

We were in Puerto Rico aboard the Explorer of the Seas, which was docked, when the Summit sail out of the harbor. The music was so loud that you could hear it clearly on our Aft Balcony! I was incredulous that this music was coming from a Celebrity Ship! I though perhaps the wind was favorable to waft the sound across the harbor to our deck. Then, the Jewel of the Seas sailed past and out of the harbor. I could not hear the music at all yet we could see the folks in the deck partying! Huh?

 

IF this was the March 8th sailing of the Summit, it was a charter (I was on it) and they brought in their own sound systems and speakers etc. for the pool parties and such.

 

Having been following these threads, I used a decibel meter throughout the cruise, and most readings were at 87-89 when in full swing be that from the big speakers or the celebrity ceiling speakers, I only 2 times got readings above 90. See OSHA table that follows, which allows employees 8 hours of continuous work at 90 decibels. Rock concerts are listed at 120 dB.

 

I assume the professional speakers put out sound thats of better quality and carries farther without increasing the decibels.

 

From my research, some sample decibel ratings are:

 

Near total silence - 0 dB

A whisper - 15 dB

Normal conversation - 60 dB (my airplane was at 67 flying down)

A lawnmower - 90 dB

A car horn - 110 dB

A rock concert or a jet engine - 120 dB

A gunshot or firecracker - 140 dB

 

ANd OSHA Regulations provide this table for workers exposed to loud sound:

 

TABLE G-16 - PERMISSIBLE NOISE EXPOSURES (1)

______________________________________________________________

|

Duration per day, hours | Sound level dBA slow response

____________________________|_________________________________

|

8...........................| 90

6...........................| 92

4...........................| 95

3...........................| 97

2...........................| 100

1 1/2 ......................| 102

1...........................| 105

1/2 ........................| 110

1/4 or less................| 115

____________________________|________________________________

Footnote(1) When the daily noise exposure is composed of two or

more periods of noise exposure of different levels, their combined

effect should be considered, rather than the individual effect of

each. If the sum of the following fractions: C(1)/T(1) + C(2)/T(2)

C(n)/T(n) exceeds unity, then, the mixed exposure should be

considered to exceed the limit value. Cn indicates the total time of

exposure at a specified noise level, and Tn indicates the total time

of exposure permitted at that level. Exposure to impulsive or impact

noise should not exceed 140 dB peak sound pressure level.

[508cruiser]

We were also on this cruise and I must say it was the most disappointing Celebrity cruise of the 7 we've done.

 

The backstage tour delay was unbelievable - and no apology from the capts club host, Bruce. Several people left in frustration before the tour.

 

Got this amazing letter in the cabin on 2nd day saying we would miss the muster drill in Istanbul??? and needed to attend another (we didn't miss the drill).

 

Then there were the newsletter mess ups: item about the Blue (sic) restaurant and another day about the Med. seafood risotto that didn't hit the MDR menu that day.

 

And the volume level of the DJs in the lounges was deafening; much better suited to the pool area or the disco.

 

When I complained to Guest Services about these things and my disappointment the person's eyes got wide and she scanned the Blu(e) item and was madly typing an email to "those who needed to know immediately."

 

We love Celebrity but the lack of attention to detail on this sailing of the Constellation was flabbergasting and I would not book of this ship again.

 

I hope this is not the Celebrity of the future...

[jakenashleysmom]

We were also on this cruise and I must say it was the most disappointing Celebrity cruise of the 7 we've done.

 

The backstage tour delay was unbelievable - and no apology from the capts club host, Bruce. Several people left in frustration before the tour.

 

Got this amazing letter in the cabin on 2nd day saying we would miss the muster drill in Istanbul??? and needed to attend another (we didn't miss the drill).

 

Then there were the newsletter mess ups: item about the Blue (sic) restaurant and another day about the Med. seafood risotto that didn't hit the MDR menu that day.

 

And the volume level of the DJs in the lounges was deafening; much better suited to the pool area or the disco.

 

When I complained to Guest Services about these things and my disappointment the person's eyes got wide and she scanned the Blu(e) item and was madly typing an email to "those who needed to know immediately."

 

We love Celebrity but the lack of attention to detail on this sailing of the Constellation was flabbergasting and I would not book of this ship again.

 

I hope this is not the Celebrity of the future...

 

Late backstage tour, mixup about muster and no seafood risotto makes for a disappointing cruise? Sorry folks, but I am just not getting it.......:confused:

[chamima]

Late backstage tour, mixup about muster and no seafood risotto makes for a disappointing cruise? Sorry folks, but I am just not getting it.......:confused:

 

I wasn't on this cruise but was on another that was disappointing and I think when you try to find details to explain what went wrong you somehow lose the whole sense of "just not right" that permeated everything.

[jakenashleysmom]

Understood...I guess. I tend to be a "half full" type of person, so unless there is some blaring problems with the entire ship and or its staff I think I could make the best of it. I do understand things are not like they used to be, all over this world, and agree cruising isn't what it used to be. I just keep reading posts hoping (not really) to see something that would make ME feel disappointment, but I dont see that ever. I will let you all know next week!

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

[Iamthesea]

Are you planning on posting from the ship? I will be on the cruise after yours.

[booze brothers]

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 think you review was great. Not one sided, just told it as you saw it.

 

We'll be on the Reflection soon, first Celebrity cruise is over 20 years. I was happy to read you comments.

[stormynow]

Agree with Scott. Was on the Constellation Jan 20, 14. Had another booked for Mar 31, 14. Cancelled soon as returned from the Jan cruise. If want a CCL experience, will sail on CCL.

[Gracie115]

Agree with Scott. Was on the Constellation Jan 20, 14. Had another booked for Mar 31, 14. Cancelled soon as returned from the Jan cruise. If want a CCL experience, will sail on CCL.

 

As someone who took a 3 nighter on CCL a few years ago I can ASSURE you that the Connie is so much better there is no comparison. We were on her in December and had a wonderful time..... No, it's not the same experience as a 7, 10, 14 night cruise on X, but it's a heck of a lot better than a 3-5 night CCL cruise....

Edited March 18, 2014 by Gracie115

[uktog]

There must have been a CC change after your cruise. On our Silhouette voyage in February the CC Host was all over the place, talking to anyone who would listen. Hope he's on your ship.

 

Chandru left Silhouette last Sunday and is now on Reflection, Donna has returned as hostess

[Cruise a holic]

Chandru left Silhouette last Sunday and is now on Reflection, Donna has returned as hostess

 

Hopefully she will be better on this cruise! We have had so many great hosts/hostess including Ti Ann , Lionel and Gabby to name the top host/hostess.

 

Looking forward to the cruise!

[Tagsalong]

Several are associating the drink package to a reduction in crew/bar staff. More likely it is a result of the 43 cabins add to deck 11. That's 86 more passengers and ,therefore, 86 less crew members. This is germane to the Connie and not other ships that have not added extra cabins during rebuilds.

 

We were on the Constellation in February for a 9 night B2B. The reduction in servers in the bars, dining room and elite party was noticeable. After getting off the Connie we went immediately over to the Century and the contrast was obvious to us. The Century service was what we have always expected from Celebrity. The elite party had more servers than passengers on the first night.

 

Also experienced the "Art Of Noise" factor on the Connie, ie. Miami DJ music (?) everywhere. The Century had not yet converted over to this new =X= Modern Luxury theme. Talked to CD Richard on the Century and he said they were gearing up to start the Miami DJ on the next cruise - too bad.

 

We then went over to RCI Legend of the Seas where we get a "meal with an officer". During this meal I broached the subject of the ships putting on new cabins when being refitted/revitalized and how it might affect crew size. Our officer (I never name names to protect the innocent/guilty) said that SOLAS, and the Coast Guard, do regulate the number of humans that are allowed to sail on the cruise ships and the companies must reduce staff if they add passenger counts to a ship. This is obviously what has happened on the Connie.

 

On Royal Caribbean ships that have added cabins, our officer said they were reducing crew staff in the hidden areas (non-public areas) of the ship by innovatively eliminating, or optimizing, some of the labor intensive jobs. This is why some food items have been eliminated - to reduce bakers and cooks.

Edited March 18, 2014 by Tagsalong

[uktog]

But Silhouette has the same number of cabins as before but a manager onboard confirmed he had less staff than a year ago in his department. I assume the same applies to the bar - how they expect fewer staff to serve more orders with the number maxing the use of their packages surprises me.

 

One thing I did notice in the Cafe, the direct supervision of staff was less evident. Tables were not being cleared quickly however staff were often standing around chatting or slowly walking passed tables with dirty dishes on them but doing nothing. It almost felt like some (not all) were on a work to rule (or were so tired they were zombies) and a supervisor would have picked that up

[cle-guy]

 

We then went over to RCI Legend of the Seas where we get a "meal with an officer". During this meal I broached the subject of the ships putting on new cabins when being refitted/revitalized and how it might affect crew size. Our officer (I never name names to protect the innocent/guilty) said that SOLAS, and the Coast Guard, do regulate the number of humans that are allowed to sail on the cruise ships and the companies must reduce staff if they add passenger counts to a ship. This is obviously what has happened on the Connie.

 

 

I'd need to see specific details on this to believe it. Surely the officer was speaking in general terms not knowing the specific body count on the CONNIE and its SOLAS certification.

 

The 86 passengers added did not mean 86 crew members were booted. Ships have capacity controls for sure, and SOLAS even allows for higher occupancy, and ships rarely actually sail at full occupancy given some cabins are singles where they are counted as doubles. And X ships have more available seats in lifeboats and rafts and other life saving methods available than there are bodies on the ship at any time.

 

Crew sail in cabins not used by passengers, so do you think there are really 43 empty crew cabins down below?

 

I agree that if the total body count exceeds SOLAS standards, crew level needs adjusted, but to make that conclusion, one must first know for a fact that the ship was already at 100% occupancy per SOLAS.

 

If anyone dos a bridge tour, someplace up there they have it written down exactly the passenger and crew count for the specific sailing, one should observe those figures and report to determine for a fact what the current crew counts are.

[antsnanny]

Oh, this makes me sad to read! As the OP, please know that this was NOT AT ALL my intention. Please go back and reread what I've written. I'm a long time loyalist just bemoaning some recent changes with some long-standing traditions, but I also stated that we had a truly delightful cruise and that I'd do it all again tomorrow.

 

Celebrity is a little like HAL in that, as brands, they've both made real efforts to preserve some of the long-standing traditions that made travelling by ship special -- especially nice food, guests that enjoy being dressy, gracious service, and subdued, artful environments. I think the reality is that while a great deal of us deeply value these traits, the economic reality may be that tomorrow's core customer may not see these as important as we. Time marches on and things evolve. They must. Celebrity is a business and, as such, it has a responsibility to fine tune its offerings to attract tomorrow's customer while not alienating today's.

 

That was the thrust of my posting here. I gave specifics so that long time X fans (like me!) would understand the specifics of my recent experience, but I suspect that they'll all tell you that you're going to have a fabulous time on *ANY* Celebrity ship. They're all beautiful and still our very favorite.

 

I totally understood you and I felt your review was fair. I have been thinking that since so many people are drinking for free with the promotion that the level of service for drinks would go down but I also think that Spring Break had to add to the problem on your particular cruise. I also speculated that some people will drink to excess simply because there not paying for the drinks, honestly I anticipated things like this happening. The story about the lady at the bar who was past drunk to the point of getting sick all over the place leads me to a problem I see with all cruise lines now, they don't want to make the customer mad so they no longer follow their own policies, its the same thing with children running around without supervision, none of the lines dare to reprimand the parents for that. In the case of children without supervision, this leads to even larger problems. In your case the bartender should have called security but we have all seen the videos on youtube of security officers on cruise ships trying to get a drunk person behave! : ) I believe the cruise lines need to enforce their own policies on drinking but at the same time they can't change people, some people are just jerks..

Like you, we have been cruising Celebrity a long time now, our first was on the Zenith to Bermuda. I too love the brand but agree they are letting things slip a bit, I hope Celebrity is paying attention to these boards, I have read so many posts about the music being too loud, perhaps they'll listen…

We have two Celebrity cruise booked this year with the drink package, I expect them to be great cruises but like you I remember what use to be and wish we had that back!

[antsnanny]

I'd need to see specific details on this to believe it. Surely the officer was speaking in general terms not knowing the specific body count on the CONNIE and its SOLAS certification.

 

The 86 passengers added did not mean 86 crew members were booted. Ships have capacity controls for sure, and SOLAS even allows for higher occupancy, and ships rarely actually sail at full occupancy given some cabins are singles where they are counted as doubles. And X ships have more available seats in lifeboats and rafts and other life saving methods available than there are bodies on the ship at any time.

 

Crew sail in cabins not used by passengers, so do you think there are really 43 empty crew cabins down below?

 

I agree that if the total body count exceeds SOLAS standards, crew level needs adjusted, but to make that conclusion, one must first know for a fact that the ship was already at 100% occupancy per SOLAS.

 

If anyone dos a bridge tour, someplace up there they have it written down exactly the passenger and crew count for the specific sailing, one should observe those figures and report to determine for a fact what the current crew counts are.

 

Well said!

[Iamthesea]

Chandru left Silhouette last Sunday and is now on Reflection, Donna has returned as hostess

 

so is Donna now on the Connie? I am confused by your statement. if so, what is Donna's last name...where did she come from.

 

Several are associating the drink package to a reduction in crew/bar staff. More likely it is a result of the 43 cabins add to deck 11. That's 86 more passengers and ,therefore, 86 less crew members. This is germane to the Connie and not other ships that have not added extra cabins during rebuilds.

 

We were on the Constellation in February for a 9 night B2B. The reduction in servers in the bars, dining room and elite party was noticeable. After getting off the Connie we went immediately over to the Century and the contrast was obvious to us. The Century service was what we have always expected from Celebrity. The elite party had more servers than passengers on the first night.

 

Also experienced the "Art Of Noise" factor on the Connie, ie. Miami DJ music (?) everywhere. The Century had not yet converted over to this new =X= Modern Luxury theme. Talked to CD Richard on the Century and he said they were gearing up to start the Miami DJ on the next cruise - too bad.

 

We then went over to RCI Legend of the Seas where we get a "meal with an officer". During this meal I broached the subject of the ships putting on new cabins when being refitted/revitalized and how it might affect crew size. Our officer (I never name names to protect the innocent/guilty) said that SOLAS, and the Coast Guard, do regulate the number of humans that are allowed to sail on the cruise ships and the companies must reduce staff if they add passenger counts to a ship. This is obviously what has happened on the Connie.

 

On Royal Caribbean ships that have added cabins, our officer said they were reducing crew staff in the hidden areas (non-public areas) of the ship by innovatively eliminating, or optimizing, some of the labor intensive jobs. This is why some food items have been eliminated - to reduce bakers and cooks.

 

Interesting. My bet is that some college students booked 4 to an inside room (not knowing about the free drink package) and also 4 to OV cabins (thinking they could share the free package) therefore uping the passenger ratio. Most of the time during regular sailing (outside of spring break and summer cruises) the Inside staterooms are booked for 2.