Birthday Candles????

[Redtravel]

Are birthday candles a thing of the past?

 

Yesterday was my husband's birthday. We celebrated in NYC, eating out all of our meals. Every place that we went, I told them that it was a birthday. Each place told me that they would do "something." Nothing!!!! Not even a candle. In one restaurant, the waitress asked me in advance to order dessert that could hold a candle. It came without a candle. When we got home last night, my husband got email from Celebrity with birthday wishes. His response was....."nice, but how about some candles or some OBC on my next cruise." We are sailing on the Summit on Sunday. Can we get a cake with a candle???

[cruisestitch]

Cake, probably. A candle would be iffy. True, they occasionally do have real candles in some locations, but because of the fire hazards, there are fewer and fewer each year. Lately the only ones I have seen are well protected within glass votive holders. Haven't seen any free-standing cake candles in a long time.

[Andy]

Are birthday candles a thing of the past?

 

Yesterday was my husband's birthday. We celebrated in NYC, eating out all of our meals. Every place that we went, I told them that it was a birthday. Each place told me that they would do "something." Nothing!!!! Not even a candle. In one restaurant, the waitress asked me in advance to order dessert that could hold a candle. It came without a candle. When we got home last night, my husband got email from Celebrity with birthday wishes. His response was....."nice, but how about some candles or some OBC on my next cruise." We are sailing on the Summit on Sunday. Can we get a cake with a candle???

 

Hi Redtravel,

 

If you ask, I believe they will accomodate. However, they will only put 1 candle on the cake, and light it tableside, immediately before singing happy birthday. It may not perfect for everyone, but, I totally understand that Celebrity must take all safety precautions.

 

Hope this helps, and have a wonderful cruise !

Edited May 8, 2014 by Host Andy

[Cruise Junky]

Hi Redtravel,

 

If you ask, I believe they will accomodate. However, they will only put 1 candle on the cake, and light it tableside, immediately before singing happy birthday. It may not perfect for everyone, but, I totally understand that Celebrity must take all safety precautions.

 

Hope this helps, and have a wonderful cruise !

 

This was my experience this week in Tuscan Grille

[Lsimon]

... my husband got email from Celebrity with birthday wishes. His response was....."nice, but how about some candles or some OBC on my next cruise." ...

 

They'll do a birthday cake with a candle in any of the dining areas on request. If you mention it to them early, or in advance of the cruise, don't count on anyone remembering when it comes time for the birthday celebration - be sure to mention it to the waiters at dinner in case they didn't get, or forgot, the message.

 

OBC: Celebrity actually did this a couple years ago but it was a big flop in my opinion and a lot of people here on Cruise Critic griped about it. It was for $50 OBC that was not combinable with any other promotional offer or discount. Since Celebrity frequently has offers worth more than $50 the birthday OBC offer was pretty meaningless.

Edited May 8, 2014 by Lsimon

[thebutlerdidit]

Hi Redtravel,

 

If you ask, I believe they will accomodate. However, they will only put 1 candle on the cake, and light it tableside, immediately before singing happy birthday.

 

They sing Happy Birthday? I just may have to remove my special occasion from my booking.

[Glendakayself]

They still do the OBC, and it is still $50. Just had an offer last week. I prefer keeping the OBC and discount we already have!

[Andy]

They sing Happy Birthday? I just may have to remove my special occasion from my booking.

 

Yes they do sing ! Of course, if you dont want them to sing, a word with your waiter will resolve that. I feel it's very kind of Celebrity employees to make the effort.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

They sing Happy Birthday? I just may have to remove my special occasion from my booking.

 

You haven't lived until you've had a team of waiters, for whom English is not their first language, sing "Hoppy Birs-day to Juuu...":):p:D

 

Our experience with candles on last cruise on Summit-- 30th anniversary, we opted for the Renewal of Vows package. Options include bringing an anniversary candle with you. You have to provide the anniversary candle, but Celebrity provides the tapers for the couple to ceremonially light the candle with. Once aboard and speaking with the activities director about the details, she said that she had never heard of candles being used or approved of by Miami, but if we really wanted to, she'd go out at our first port of call to purchase some tapers for us.

 

When it came time for the ceremony, she told us she didn't have to go out shopping-- she located some from Normandie. When the time came, the tapers were lit, we lit the anniversary candle, and I then announced, "Now, in the interest of safety, we're gonna make a wish and blow before we burn down Michael's Club!" All had a good laugh, including Captain Leo. Flames were present for a total of about 30 seconds.

 

After we got home, I reread the info from the Celebrity wedding staff. It did say that candles were allowed, but that they could not be lit.

 

As far as getting a cake, candles or no, I've had some problems despite filling out the online information about special events. On one, my birthday was ignored on the day, but I got a card the next day. That next day also was our anniversary, which we had also indicated as a special event, but that was ignored completely. Still a great cruise.

 

On our last, remembering the previous snafus, I stopped by Guest Services Sunday morning to remind them we had a birthday coming up on Monday and anniversary coming up on Tuesday. That night, the maitre d' asked if I was celebrating a birthday-- told him no, that's tomorrow night. The night of my birthday, nothing. We asked about it and were told they can provide a cake but need 24 hours notice. I explained having notified via website, at Guest Services, and with maitre d' the day before, and a cake was somehow miraculously produced. I won't even go into what happened with the special anniversary cake we received with the renewal of vows ceremony-- that was even more confusing.

 

It's really a small thing. It didn't cause me to question my decision to book or to continute to book with X, but it is a bit irritating. It's rather implied that they will give you a little recognition, then bollox it up. Makes you wonder about attention to detail in other areas.

 

Edit-- oh, yeah, the birthday cake had a couple of small candles that we took with us in case we needed them to light the anniversary candle.

Edited May 8, 2014 by PartyAllDaTyme

[Crazy Cruzer]

You haven't lived until you've had a team of waiters, for whom English is not their first language, sing "Hoppy Birs-day to Juuu...":):p:D..

 

I always thought it was "Hoppy Bird Day two ewes"

Edited May 8, 2014 by Crazy Cruzer

[sergeant655]

Cake, probably. A candle would be iffy. True, they occasionally do have real candles in some locations, but because of the fire hazards, there are fewer and fewer each year. Lately the only ones I have seen are well protected within glass votive holders. Haven't seen any free-standing cake candles in a long time.

 

The candles in the holders are electronic bulbs that flicker. They are orangey in colour. They also have blue ones for formal nights. The ceiling glows blue on formal nights

[miched]

Many places have stopped the practice of candles on cakes because of global warming. :D

 

I often wonder what cause the glaciers to recede from the middle of the USA thousands of years ago.

 

🎂

[WestLakeGirl]

Yes there are mostly battery operated votives but you still do see real votive candles once in a while.

[Flipper133]

Thought I might add a few words of congrats. to the people at Celebrity Captains Club.

 

I had occasion to communicate with them about my membership status, and whilst that was being fixed (well done) I received an email from them saying that they had noted that my wife's birthday would be during our next cruise (on Solstice). They asked if I wanted to have this noted on our booking, and if I wanted a cake or something provided one evening.

 

Apparently I (or at least my TA) had not made any note about my wife's birthday when we did the booking originally, and I was quite impressed by the way that the Celebrity staff brought this to my attention.

 

I see many gripes about Celebrity Miami on these forums, but from my limited experience I would like to give them a thumbs up. :)

 

Perhaps they treat Aussies a bit differently :o

 

cheers

Edited May 9, 2014 by Flipper133

[ghstudio]

Thought I might add a few words of congrats. to the people at Celebrity Captains Club.

 

I had occasion to communicate with them about my membership status, and whilst that was being fixed (well done) I received an email from them saying that they had noted that my wife's birthday would be during our next cruise (on Solstice). They asked if I wanted to have this noted on our booking, and if I wanted a cake or something provided one evening.

 

Apparently I (or at least my TA) had not made any note about my wife's birthday when we did the booking originally, and I was quite impressed by the way that the Celebrity staff brought this to my attention.

 

I see many gripes about Celebrity Miami on these forums, but from my limited experience I would like to give them a thumbs up. :)

 

Perhaps they treat Aussies a bit differently :o

 

cheers

 

Hopefully that actually translates to something happening on the ship.

[Caribbean Chris]

I also want to commend Celebrity. We celebrated our 33rd anniversary last year on Century to Hawaii, and chose that night to dine in Murano. We did not ask for a cake, etc but when we returned to our room, we had a leather-type folding photo frame, about 12" square, with a photo of Century (glad to have it now that she's leaving.) Also a split of good champagne and a note from the Captain's Club hostess.

 

It was a nice surprise and memento of that lovely cruise. I added our formal night dining photo to the other panel of the leather portfolio, and smile when I look at it.

[Redtravel]

My TA said that he would inform Celebrity. On my most recent cruise 14 nights on the Eclipse, I ate in the MDR every night. I never saw or heard any birthday cakes....or singing. In fact, we sat with a nice couple who celebrated their 50th anniversary during the cruise. Their anniversary just came and went. We were happy to have our own celebration with them. Sadly, the gentleman died a few nights later on the cruise. Unfortunately, their hope of a gala celebration went by without any recognition from the cruise line. Celebrity did send his widow all the photos that were taken of them. Maybe, I will bring my own candles...and sing.

[Lsimon]

My TA said that he would inform Celebrity. On my most recent cruise 14 nights on the Eclipse, I ate in the MDR every night. I never saw or heard any birthday cakes....or singing. ..

 

That is why I recommend mentioning this to your waiter, and even reminding them after dinner. Such things do not always get communicated down the line and not always remembered by the busy waiters. Do not presume it will automatically happen once it is "noted on your reservation" or even if you mention it to the maître d' or guest relations in advance of the day.

Edited May 10, 2014 by Lsimon

[Redtravel]

Returned from the Summit yesterday. No birthday cake or candles. I mentioned it to the Captains Club hostess. We are elite. She rudely responded that my husband was NOT on her list.....

 

And refused to do anything. I was quite angry at her attitude. Next year we will celebrate someplace else.

[cruisestitch]

There is no excuse for rudeness. Did you escalate this while on the ship? Did you take the advice if previous posters and tell your waiter?

Edited May 19, 2014 by cruisestitch

[meatloafsfan]

If you want a birthday cake, you can order it on the Celebrity Website.

 

My dad's 66th birthday is on the first day of our November cruise. I plan on pre-ordering him the Tirimisu cake to celebrate.

 

I can see them bringing you a piece of cake and singing, but if you want a whole cake, pay for it. In my cruise experiences, I've always had to pre-order and pay if we wanted a full cake (Carnival, Royal, Disney).

Edited May 20, 2014 by meatloafsfan

[rubydoobydoo]

You get an individual chocolate cake with 2 candles normally, We did for birthday and anniversary

 

 

 

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Edited May 20, 2014 by rubydoobydoo

[Redtravel]

As an elite cruiser, I have celebrated many birthdays on cruiseshs. In fact, I have pictures from Celebroty cruises of the cale with candles. We were on the Summit 2 years ago to celebrate my husband's birthday. I have a nice picture of him with the cake, the candle, and the choris. He had a smile. He loved it. Usually if I have a request, the Captains Club host is my go to. Unfortunately, tne Captains Club hosgess on the Summit was rude. Her response was so unlike anything that I have ever experienced on any ship. She sent her message loud and clear. I will not request anything again. I am seriously rethinking my booking for January. It is not on the Summit. If it were, I would cancel.

[Lsimon]

If you want a birthday cake, you can order it on the Celebrity Website.

 

My dad's 66th birthday is on the first day of our November cruise. I plan on pre-ordering him the Tirimisu cake to celebrate.

 

I can see them bringing you a piece of cake and singing, but if you want a whole cake, pay for it. In my cruise experiences, I've always had to pre-order and pay if we wanted a full cake (Carnival, Royal, Disney).

 

In my experience there has never been a charge for a whole cake. We've never had to pay for one. We have had to remind the maître d' or waiters.