Not fair customer service

[leor18]

My wife and I decided to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary on the Baltic / Northern Europe cruise.

We were looking forward to it with great anticipation, especially because we had a great experience with Celebrity Cruises last year on the “Reflection”. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case this time. From day one we suffered from cigarette smoke from the stateroom/balcony next door and on a ship where smoking is prohibited everywhere except for the designated area. Our complaints to “Guest Services” were met with promises to fix this problem. This continued for 5 days. We even had a night shift supervisor in our cabin in the middle of the night because my wife was choking from smoke and he caught our neighbor smoking on the balcony at 1:30 in the morning. Only on the sixth day of the cruise they somehow managed to stop our neighbor from smoking on the veranda. When I demanded compensation for the suffering and discomfort we experienced, “Guest Services” offered us a $75.00 per person compensation. I expressed my shock to such a low value they put on the discomfort of the passengers and they “graciously” increased this compensation to $100.00 ($20.00 per day).

I said that we are not satisfied with this amount and that I would raise this issue with the corporate office after we get home. I did write an email and after about 10 days I got a call from Celebrity and they said that the “Guest Services” on the ship were very generous and that they would not offer us any additional compensation. To which I responded that in this case this was our last cruise on Celebrity and that we’ll also avoid their sister company Royal Caribbean in the future.

Looks like Celebrity doesn’t care about the comfort of their passengers and retaining a loyal customer base isn’t something they care about.

[JKHawaii]

This is just too silly to merit a thoughtful response .................. I'll let the other posters speak for me.

 

Have a nice day!

[WestLakeGirl]

We wish you luck on whatever other lines you choose to cruise on

[Orator]

First time poster who demands more compensation. Enough said.

Edited August 12, 2014 by Orator

[cruisestitch]

As you know, leor18, Celebrity does not ask customers to sign a pledge agreeing to abide by the rules. They make rules, and some passengers choose to ignore them. The fact that they were willing to give you anything at all shows that they do care about customers. Along with others, I wish you well on whatever cruise lines you choose to sail with in the future.

[BBsails]

You demanded compensation for the suffering and discomfort? Just a guess, but asking politely may have resulted in a more favorable response from the rep at Guest Services. This suggestion is applicable to a wide range of situations in your life.

[jasm8449]

Just for a moment though, can we speak to why Celebrity guest services did not take immediate and decisive action when the OP first complained? I'd be very unhappy if I could not use my balcony that I paid for and expected to enjoy without being bothered by smoke. It's why I don't choose a balcony over the designated smoking area.

 

What is the recommended course of action if a passenger has a legitimate complaint and is not getting the appropriate and timely response from Guest Services?

[fortinweb]

If you think that other cruise lines would have handled it better, keep dreaming. No one has a more restrictive, or more policed, smoking policy as does Celebrity. I consider it generous that they gave you $200 for your occasional discomfort. It's not as if you were out on your balcony the entire time, or your stateroom was totally uninhabitable. Yes, I would have been disappointed. But, until they actually caught the offender, unfortunately it was your word against the neighbor's. The fact that the problem stopped immediately after the supervisor could identity the smoker for certain proves that they did all that they could.

 

And I also think that your statement "... my wife was choking from smoke ..... on the balcony at 1:30 in the morning." to be so exaggerated as to be unbelievable. Choking from smoke at 1:30 in the morning? Really? Weren't you aware that your balcony door can be closed at all hours of the day and night? If she was "choking", she should have been inside on the phone complaining to customer service, not out on the balcony choking!!!!

 

Sheesh!!!! Talk about melodramatics! :rolleyes:

 

I'm a person who absolutely hates cigarette smoke with a passion and even I have a hard time sympathizing with your complaint.

Edited August 12, 2014 by fortinweb

[Karynanne]

I feel that Celebrity was extremely generous with you. But I would have handled this issue differently. No demands, but kindly asking that they make sure that the people in the next cabin followed the "no smoking policy", and followed-up on that.

[Tiggertastic]

$100 that was a good figure, especially when you consider the length of time people spend in their cabins. Should have snapped their hands off. The cruise line can't babysit people all the time

 

Sorry you had a bad time

[SWORRUB1]

I hate smoking, my Dad died because of it.

 

However how can Celebrity be blamed for the actions of a Customer?

 

I always find it sad that people think it is their right to smoke regardless of the discomfort it creates for other people.

[Cindy]

When I demanded compensation for the suffering and discomfort we experienced, “Guest Services” offered us a $75.00 per person compensation. I expressed my shock to such a low value they put on the discomfort of the passengers and they “graciously” increased this compensation to $100.00 ($20.00 per day).

 

You demanded compensation? Whatever happened to discussing a problem in a civilized manner? If your approach was as you made it sound, and you demanded compensation, I think you should be counting your lucky stars that you were given anything at all.

[Honeybearhollow]

I think $100 was very adequate compensation, but I think it should not have taken Celebrity 5 days to get the smoking stopped.

[cle-guy]

Compensation was FAR more than adequate. Frankly, this is a situation I don't think any compensation is due.

 

X takes smoking complaints seriously. A friend of mine decided rules didn't apply to him and smoked on his veranda. Housekeeper found his butts in a glass.

 

He returned to his cabin to find a letter from the HD telling him that this was his first warning. 2nd time he was caught would be a $250 fine, 3rd time, he would be disembarked at the next port of call.

 

In this case the line had actual physical evidence - the butts in a glass. Perhaps in yours all they had was your word against their word, and who are they to call the other guest a liar absent physical evidence. They likely spoke to the guest who said "wasn't me". 'He said She said' never results in a winner unfortunately.

 

The night the supervisor told them to stop smoking when he caught them, was likely warning 1, 2nd time they likely billed the sea pass account $250 which was when the smoking stopped on Day 6.

 

Sometimes we have to deal with poor neighbors, and not blame someone else for a 3rd party's actions. Celebrity seems to have done all that could really be done to me.

[elena7seas]

I hate smoking, my Dad died because of it.

 

However how can Celebrity be blamed for the actions of a Customer?

 

I always find it sad that people think it is their right to smoke regardless of the discomfort it creates for other people.

 

Second hand smoke is extremely troubling to some people.

 

Celebrity has a clearly-stated smoking policy and I think it is up to them to come down hard on those who think they can just ignore the rules. Celebrity has the tools, they just have to enforce them on a three-strikes-you're-out basis:

 

1. a serious warning

2. a significant fine applied to their onboard account

3. being put off the ship.

 

Part of the cruise contract that we sign should be a very clear acceptance of these terms. Frankly, if they get everyone to sign a clearly-worded cruise contract on the subject of smoking, Celebrity should be able to go straight to #2 at the first infraction.

 

If Celebrity had to pay the client the difference between an ocean view cabin and whatever the passenger paid for their balcony cabin, for the number of days they were deprived of their balcony, I think they would ramp up their enforcement game in a hurry. After all, if you can't go out on your balcony because of the smokers next door, what you have, in effect, is an ocean view cabin.

[Orator]

Compensation was FAR more than adequate. Frankly, this is a situation I don't think any compensation is due.

 

X takes smoking complaints seriously. A friend of mine decided rules didn't apply to him and smoked on his veranda. Housekeeper found his butts in a glass.

 

He returned to his cabin to find a letter from the HD telling him that this was his first warning. 2nd time he was caught would be a $250 fine, 3rd time, he would be disembarked at the next port of call.

 

In this case the line had actual physical evidence - the butts in a glass. Perhaps in yours all they had was your word against their word, and who are they to call the other guest a liar absent physical evidence. They likely spoke to the guest who said "wasn't me". 'He said She said' never results in a winner unfortunately.

 

The night the supervisor told them to stop smoking when he caught them, was likely warning 1, 2nd time they likely billed the sea pass account $250 which was when the smoking stopped on Day 6.

 

Sometimes we have to deal with poor neighbors, and not blame someone else for a 3rd party's actions. Celebrity seems to have done all that could really be done to me.

 

This has happened on one of my cruises as well. The OP really doesn't know when and how Celebrity responded to their initial call. It is quite possible that they may have responded fairly quickly and the smoker simply didn't take warning seriously and continued to smoke. In my case it took about two days for the problem to end. I did not even politely ask for or want compensation. Now, the people playing very loud music after 1:00 am....

[cbr663]

@leor18, I am curious - what amount of compensation were you hoping? What amount do you think is reasonable?

[Big_G]

How about a link to the review of the great time you had last year on Reflection? :rolleyes:

[culinarc]

My wife and I decided to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary on the Baltic / Northern Europe cruise.

We were looking forward to it with great anticipation, especially because we had a great experience with Celebrity Cruises last year on the “Reflection”. Unfortunately this wasn’t the case this time. From day one we suffered from cigarette smoke from the stateroom/balcony next door and on a ship where smoking is prohibited everywhere except for the designated area. Our complaints to “Guest Services” were met with promises to fix this problem. This continued for 5 days. We even had a night shift supervisor in our cabin in the middle of the night because my wife was choking from smoke and he caught our neighbor smoking on the balcony at 1:30 in the morning. Only on the sixth day of the cruise they somehow managed to stop our neighbor from smoking on the veranda. When I demanded compensation for the suffering and discomfort we experienced, “Guest Services” offered us a $75.00 per person compensation. I expressed my shock to such a low value they put on the discomfort of the passengers and they “graciously” increased this compensation to $100.00 ($20.00 per day).

I said that we are not satisfied with this amount and that I would raise this issue with the corporate office after we get home. I did write an email and after about 10 days I got a call from Celebrity and they said that the “Guest Services” on the ship were very generous and that they would not offer us any additional compensation. To which I responded that in this case this was our last cruise on Celebrity and that we’ll also avoid their sister company Royal Caribbean in the future.

Looks like Celebrity doesn’t care about the comfort of their passengers and retaining a loyal customer base isn’t something they care about.

 

Welcome to cruise critic! I think you should just stop cruising now. BTW I would have taken the $200.00.

[Sloop-JohnB]

On a similar note we too had an inconsiderate nearby neighbour smoking on their Balcony a few times on our first Celebrity / Solstice Cruise in 2012

 

We reported same to Guest Services on at least two occasions. They came up checked out what was happening... It took several reports / occasions BEFORE satisfaction came... Cause they literally had to "see" / catch this guy in the act (and he was one cagey dude).

 

When they did finally catch him... They either warned him or fined him as per Celebrity's Smoking Policy... As we evidently were not the only ones complaining. (believe the fine was $ 250 US). At any rate, whatever went on between him & Guest Services was enough for him to stop.

 

I always assumed that It was the Ship's right to do so... Because it is no doubt in the Cruise Contract that we all sign

 

BUT as I said... The key was they actually had to "see" him break policy

 

In our case we didn't get any compensation... In reality we were not looking for any... Just for the arrogant SOB to respect the rules

 

In your case I'd be VERY satisfied with the offer of $ 100 each ($ 200) for the inconvenience in so much as the cruise line can only fine him $ 250 for breaking the rule (said to apply to Room Cleaning)

 

If you are / were looking for more (or a FREE Cruise :rolleyes:) you are seriously barking up the wrong tree

 

Sure you were done wrong by the "I think I am above the rules arrogant smoker" but NOT by Celebrity IMO

 

Cheers!

 

Ps... I get your balcony experience was compromised, but not around the clock 24/7. So sorry, don't think you were entitiled to oddles of compensation in that when it comes to cruise pricing a balcony generally isn't worth awhole lot vs a non-balcony. And as far as smoke in your cabin at 1:30 AM... Lol, you have a door... You could have / should have closed it when you were sleeping (in truth you broke the rule there... That info is well publicized in every cabin).

Edited August 12, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB

[wwcruisers]

Curt -- it's good to hear first (or close second) hand confirmations that X does enforce their smoking policy.:cool:

 

The only time we ever encountered a smoking scofflaw was on our first X Cruise. We had literally been "smoked off" our last RC balcony -- a big part of why we decided to try Celebrity. We had a top-deck aft balcony on Solstice -- which had a pretty good view of the balconies below. I thought I smelled smoke out there a couple of times, but couldn't tell where it was coming from. The last night of the cruise, we had friends out on our balcony, and all of us started smelling smoke, nearby. I loudly said something like: Wonder who doesn't know that you can't smoke on the balcony, on this ship? :confused: We heard a chair shift on the balcony directly below us. Then, a woman then walked out to the railing, stood there and lit up -- where everyone could see her! :eek: My DH went inside and called the GR desk. A few minutes later, the woman disappeared from view (slamming the door as she went), and we enjoyed the rest of the evening on our smoke-free balcony. :cool:

 

So, my thoughts about the OP's post are:

-- X should have put a stop to the smoking sooner -- especially if they knew the specific location of the offender(s).

-- The compensation offered was more than adequate. I agree with the "catch more flies with honey" approach, when dealing with the folks at Guest Relations, on matters like this.

Edited August 12, 2014 by wwcruisers

[BBsails]

You demanded compensation? Whatever happened to discussing a problem in a civilized manner? If your approach was as you made it sound, and you demanded compensation, I think you should be counting your lucky stars that you were given anything at all.

 

Great minds, Cindy. I posted this a little earlier:

You demanded compensation for the suffering and discomfort? Just a guess, but asking politely may have resulted in a more favorable response from the rep at Guest Services. This suggestion is applicable to a wide range of situations in your life.

 

Betsy

[Cindy]

You demanded compensation? Whatever happened to discussing a problem in a civilized manner? If your approach was as you made it sound, and you demanded compensation, I think you should be counting your lucky stars that you were given anything at all.

 

Great minds, Cindy. I posted this a little earlier:

You demanded compensation for the suffering and discomfort? Just a guess, but asking politely may have resulted in a more favorable response from the rep at Guest Services. This suggestion is applicable to a wide range of situations in your life.

 

Betsy

 

Great minds...:D

 

I'm also one who doesn't think everything that goes wrong on a ship is compensable. We had a balcony that was unusable for much of our last cruise due to an insect infestation, but we didn't demand compensation, or even ask for it. Don't get me wrong, we spoke with guest services several times, and they followed up as well as sent wine, and corporate offered us a very small OBC on our next cruise for the inconvenience. I doubt the outcome would have been different even if I had made demands!:eek:

Edited August 12, 2014 by Cindy

[Fouremco]

Second hand smoke is extremely troubling to some people.

 

Celebrity has a clearly-stated smoking policy and I think it is up to them to come down hard on those who think they can just ignore the rules. Celebrity has the tools, they just have to enforce them on a three-strikes-you're-out basis:

 

1. a serious warning

2. a significant fine applied to their onboard account

3. being put off the ship.

 

Part of the cruise contract that we sign should be a very clear acceptance of these terms. Frankly, if they get everyone to sign a clearly-worded cruise contract on the subject of smoking, Celebrity should be able to go straight to #2 at the first infraction.

 

If Celebrity had to pay the client the difference between an ocean view cabin and whatever the passenger paid for their balcony cabin, for the number of days they were deprived of their balcony, I think they would ramp up their enforcement game in a hurry. After all, if you can't go out on your balcony because of the smokers next door, what you have, in effect, is an ocean view cabin.

We were smoked off our balcony on a three-week HAL cruise in 2013 and decided never again. We then moved over to Celebrity, in large part because of its smoking policy and the belief that it was properly and promptly enforced. Consequently, while the OP might have been better off negotiating than demanding, I can certainly understand why he'd be very frustrated and possibly less inclined to take a calm and collected approach after five smoke-filled days.

 

I also think he was due some form of compensation, and I think that elena7seas has provided a novel but quite workable formula for arriving at an equitable amount.

[WestLakeGirl]

Wonder if the OP was trying to sleep with the balcony does open. Isn't that a violation in itself?