Tote bags for CC cabins

[tarheelmjfan]

Since returning home from our 1st X cruise, I have found out that our room steward neglected to deliver several papers we were supposed to receive. We also didn't receive next day laundry. We didn't have an immediate need for it, so we didn't persue the matter. Now, I'm wondering about the tote bags given to guests in CC cabins. From what I've read on here, I'm not sure we got what we were supposed to. When we embarked, we had a blue bag w/ the X logo. We assumed that this was our bag for booking CC. From what I've recently read, it seems everyone gets the blue bag & the CC cabin bag is supposed to be in addition to that one. :confused: It's no big deal to us now. We have plenty of tote bags. I'm just making a mental note of the things we should have received, so we will know in the future. So, did we get the right bag or not? Thanks :)

[O2B@C]

On Mercury in July, my companion and I in a Concierge Class cabin each received (about halfway into the cruise) a very large tan zippered tote bag that folds into a small matching purse-like carrier. We did not get the blue bags in addition to those.

[elron]

If you are talking about the sage one, you should have been able to take that with you.

[Kay and Hal]

When we sailed Celebrity (CC) last year we received the blue tote bag and the large tan zippered tote bag that folds into a small matching purse-like carrier. The tan one fell apart the first day, it was worthless so we threw it away. We still have the blue one however, and I've used it on two trips to the beach this year.

[tarheelmjfan]

Thanks for the quick responses. :) It's the tan bag that we didn't get. Oh well, now I know. I'm glad it was our 1st time on X & we didn't know how inefficient our room steward was, until we got home. :p

[Offtune Angel]

I never thought I'd weigh in on this issue, because it seemed so trivial when it was happening to us, but, now it seems we weren't the only ones. Here's what happened to us...

 

Being a dot the i's and cross the t's kind of person, before we left for our 28 day Millennium adventure last October I printed out two lists from the Celebrity website. On one side of a sheet of paper was the list of Captains Club information. The other side contained the list of Concierge Class amenities.

If it hadn't been for that Concierge Class list, I would never have known about (or received) the fresh flowers, the pillow menu, the canapes, the special breakfast menu, the leather card carrier, the priority passes for tenders, the special towels, the tan tote bags and a host of other 'perks'. For some reason our cabin attendant wasn't efficient at being a Concierge Class attendant. (His assistant was great, though).

It got to be more than a bit of an embarrassing nuisance to request each item, more than once, when they should have automatically occurred as part of the Concierge Class package. It seemed so petty to have to eventually bring the omissions to the attention of Guest Relations, the Assistant Concierge and, as a result of their intervention, the Assistant, then the Chief Housekeeper. I know, it seems trivial, but the little touches are what separates Celebrity from the run-of-the-mill.

We found out on the second last day of the second of our B2B cruises that, with the exception of one other couple, we were the only ones in our group of over 65 people who had this issue. Turns out the other couple who were not receiving the benefits of the Concierge Class did not have the same Cabin Attendant as we did.

Now, it seems that tarheelmjfan had a similar situation. Perhaps, Celebrity needs to re-educate some of the Concierge Class cabin attendants.

We were on Millennium October 24, 2004 and November 3, 2004. Tarheelmjfan, what cruise were you on?

 

BTW, since we were on two cruises, we ended up with two tan vinyl tote bags as well as the two blue cloth tote bags. We have no complaints about the vinyl bags -- they have been worth their weight (and then some in gold). They've stood up to three flights, over stuffing, and, lately, weekly trips to the laundromat -- stuffed to the gills.

[tarheelmjfan]

We were on Infinity, June 9th. Looks like I should have taken the Concierge Class list with us too. There's a few more things you listed that we didn't receive. Obviously, all room stewards weren't created equally. :rolleyes:

[Cinnamon Seahorse]

Okay, so I'm not nuts. I've been pretty peeved at Celebrity since our Millennium sailing last December. :(

 

We were in a Celebrity Suite, and eagerly anticipated the perks. NONE of which we received--no flowers, no tote bag, nothing. Yes, we had a butler, but couldn't really consider him an amenity. Not only did he not know "how we took our tea," even careful requests for items as simple as crackers seemed to be too much. And if we tried to go elsewhere for assistance, everything was routed back to him. AAAAACK!

 

The first missing item we asked about wasn't related to our suite, though. Three couples (one suite, two CC staterooms) traveling together were given gifts of wine by our travel agent. None of us received the wine, and when we asked we were treated like we were trying to scam the cruise line. Finally, the next to the last day they confirmed there had been an error. So we wound up with all three bottles of wine at dinner that night, with only four wine drinkers.

 

We didn't even bother asking about the other suite amenities, given the poor treatment we received from everyone we dealt with on the wine issue.

 

We did, though, receive an invitation to a "special" tea in the Olympic restaurant. The primary purpose seemed to be to hawk expensive champagne. :confused:

 

Upon returning home, we sent a detailed letter to Celebrity. To which we received a response advising they were sorry we didn't get our "CC" amenities. Not the point at all, since we'd been in a suite....

 

You'll note below that we'll be back on Celebrity in a little over a month. Surprises the hell out of me :eek: , too, as we didn't plan to return. However, a special of $225 per person for a 4-night cruise round-trip out of our hometown was too good to pass up. We are, however, sailing in an inside stateroom. Never again will we pay the big bucks to Celebrity and set ourselves up for this kind of disappointment.

 

The December sailing was especially troublesome as I'd enjoyed a very nice cruise on the Millennium in 2000. And embarassing, as I'd convinced two other couples to join us for a "great" time. Ouch!

 

Again, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who is annoyed at the absence of publicized special features. Yes, little things will go wrong. But, geez, usually SOMETHING goes right.

 

And while I've basically given up on Celebrity, I'm certainly not giving up on cruising!

 

Happy sailing (with all promised amenities!), Carla

[montgomeryfamily]

Pamperme, were you on the port or starboard side? Although we sailed in April, I'm wondering if we had the same butler?

[tarheelmjfan]

Sorry, you had such a bad experience. :( As I said in my original post, we didn't even realize what we were missing out on until we got home. That probably eased the sting a bit. None of it was a big deal to us, as we had an AFT CC & I would gladly trade all the extra amenities for this cabin. I agree that some of the attendants probably need a refresher course in what each level offers though. We have booked 3 X cruises, since returning home. We'll happily sail with them again & again, but will be a little better informed of what to expect from now on. :o Our next cruise will be in an FO. At least, we won't know what we're missing. :D

[mikiew]

The tote bags are not what they used to be. They are kind of paper like. We left ours in the cabin. You didn't miss much.

[Char]

The tote bags are not what they used to be. They are kind of paper like. We left ours in the cabin. You didn't miss much.

Hey Mikie :D

 

The tote bags for the CC cabins are made of a strong vinyl and have a full zipper as well as a smaller purse type bag that snaps into the larger bag to hold your small personal items. This smaller bag is also the carrying case for the folded up big bag. The "paper like" totes are the standard totes in every cabin. I have lots of the regular bags and they have been pretty durable for me. I also have a number of the CC bags that I haven't worn out either! :p

[Cinnamon Seahorse]

Hi Kathy! We were on the starboard side, and our butler was George. Nice smile, but either completely out of his element, or completely inept. Either way, it spelled big disappointment. Our next suite experience will be on the NCL Dawn, and we're eager for that. Our suite experiences on NCL have always FAR exceeded our expectations. Let the pampering begin! Carla

[montgomeryfamily]

Well, we were port, with a different butler. So I don't know if it makes you feel any better than you wouldn't have done any better if your cabin was on the other side of the ship or not. :) Obviously they need some more butler training onth Millie. Hope you have a great experience on the Dawn. :)

[Duanerice1]

We have been lucky so far, but I did have to ask for a few things.

 

A way around this is to print out the amenities list and hang it on the closet door in plain sight and cross off items as you receive them. Just a subtle hint.

 

I agree, none of these items by themselves are biggies. it is the whole package that makes the CC class special.

Enjoy,

Duane

[AFT_LOVER]

as so much as not there for the folks. Problem was "nothing was delivered to Dover". Sofas had no pillows, pillow menu wasn't available, and other items. Our Steward had hours that didn't conform to ours. If we wanted dinner on the balcony, it was room service not him. He told us he was NOT A BUTLER! The first formal night he pitched my gown bag with special hanger for a sleeveless gown. So we ended up with the Housekeeping Mgr as our Steward & that was premiere service! He had 2 Celebrity suit bags sewn together to be a gown bag. So it is a collector item.

 

The blue tote bags made of handi wipe material was good for getting a bottle at the duty free shop, but we tried to put stuff in it to take to the beach & it ripped. The leather type big tote in a purse, that was a neat surprise on the bed when I thought a guest forgot their purse. It has held up to many trips we've been on both cruise & land & now we have 2. Will we be getting 3 & 4? No express tender passes, the express debarkations was 3 hours for us in the cinema with no continental breakfast as the card sent to us stated. Reason? We were to be gone by 9AM not Noon.

 

But we still had a great time............. with good people cruising as well as working on Connie.

[dszrew]

I'm wondering about these tote bags as well...

 

When we arrived, there was a blue bag in the closet that looks like a book bag, fairly sturdy blue cloth with the big X.

 

Never got any other bag, so we assumed this bag was the one that comes with the CC cabins.

 

Now my credit card has extra charges on it that occured between 11pm the night before leaving and the day we get home. I'm guessing I'm being charged for this bag we took as it certainly doesn't sound like the CC tote bag being described. I"ll have to wait 2 weeks to know what the extra charges are, but this is my guess...

[Susan-M]

Just came off the Millennium (cc cabin) and had to ask for several of the CC amenities. Our cabin steward was still in training so I didn't complain, and she was very quick to respond to our requests. When I asked for the tote bag (about 3/4's of the way into our trip) she brought one of each...we left the blue one and kept the tan one that folds up into a purse-type bag. Still haven't used it so can't comment on the quality, but it looks sturdy.

[Leela]

Wow, I thought I was the only one who had problems with getting everything on the CC list. In April 2004, Mom & I cruised on Century. We didn't realize until we got back and started reading these boards how many advertised amenities were never mentioned or delivered to us.

 

Our "fresh flowers" consisted of a rose in a vase in the bathroom, and an orchid in a vase on the nightstand. These were not replaced during the cruise, either -- as the rose turned brown, the cabin attendant just picked off the old petals. We never got our canapes, either, nor did we see a pillow menu. Our fresh fruit bowl was never replenished, either, and in fact started rotting during the cruise. I thought the lack of attention to detail was "just us" but from these comments here it seems the CC service has been a bit uneven throughout the fleet.

 

That said, I'd book CC again, just for the pillow-top mattress. I've been on two X cruises since that first one on Century, both times in suites, and the pillow-top mattresses they put in the CC cabins is soooo much more comfortable that I'm willing to pay up to $100 more per person per week to get it. It's not a good relaxing vacation if I can't get a good night's sleep, after all.

 

The other two times we've cruised X has been once in a Horizon Suite (Horizon) and once in a Sky Suite (Mercury). Both times we got everything as advertised, and even a little bit more. If it wasn't for the fact that we had lame dented thin mattresses in the suites both times, I'd stay with the suites for the extra space -- but when I take the price versus hurting back while sleeping trade-off into account, I'll go with CC. But next time I'm bringing the CC amenities list, and if the amenities do not live up to what is advertised, then I'm complaining to that Assistant Chief Housekeeper who I tip every trip but have no idea who they are or what they do.

[Blazerboy]

I don't like to think of myself as a complainer, but I had to laugh at this thread. We just sailed on the Infinity in late August in CC, and had make several trips to guest relations to get these amenities. I'd assumed it was because they'd made our cabin a CC recently, and that the steward wasn't used to providing the extras. A least that's what he hinted.

 

After several trips, we did get Alstramerium(sp?) in that multiple section vase, and one rose that did keel over on day three. We liked the daily changing of the towels, if only to guess what color was next, and we got the robes, although I have to say, I didn't know that they said 'Concierge Class' on the pocket until someone pointed it out at the Aqua Spa cafe. Sort of tacky, IMO, and I was a little embarrassed to wear them after that.

 

Our friends did tease us about the CC robes so, recently, we found some slippers left over from a Virgin Atlantic flight that say 'suite' on the left slipper and something like 'life' on the other, with the Virgin logo only on the 'life' slipper- we were going to just bring the two 'suite' ones and then, while wearing them on our next cruise, ask our friends why THEY didn't get special slippers to announce their status to other cruisers!

 

We also got the leather-ish key holder, and the invitations to the special tea, as well as some coupons. We did ask for extra pillows and got them, but no pillow menu.

 

I did chuckle that we also received a menu for all the concierge amenities, and what it would cost if we wanted to buy them. ??? $30. for that glass and plastic cotton ball holder. :confused: I surmised that the prices were merely a deterent for those who might want to pilfer.

 

We were told about the tote, and that it would be delivered before we got off, but we never got it. So we were cleaning out the attic last weekend, and stubbled across two of them still in their wrappers form the last trip. Guess the ship staff knew that and kept theirs!:rolleyes:

 

Everyone here is right- it isn't the actual items for the most part, it's that the cruise line boasts of them, and so you expect them, and then feel a little silly when you complain about not getting them, because no individual thing is that important:

 

"My rose died in my bathroom, and I want a new one now!!!!"

 

"Sir, maybe it was the 'air quality' in the bathroom...":eek:

 

We never took the complaints futher, because we asked if we could trade in the Captain's Club/Concierge Class champagne (can't remember why we got that bottle) for some white wine, and the steward brought the wine but left the champagne, and never charged us. So I figure no tote/free white wine, I'm ahead of the game.

 

Funny, because, on board, I commented on the service being better on this last trip. I hope that maybe it was a confluence of unfortunate things, and, by next Spring, they'll have their act together, so I don't have to think about it...and can just relax and enjoy the cruise. Who wants to spend time worrying if you got what you paid for! Here's hoping!

 

But sure glad you're all here to listen to the petty laundry list, so I can seem magnanimous on the ship, and say that I never focus on the petty details...:D

 

Andrew

[dmk]

MACOP:

 

We also received the leather type tote in a purse, while in CC. I wasn't sure if it was because of the CC cabin or Elite status. Can anybody clarify that for me....just curious. I thought it was a neat, useful gift.

[tarheelmjfan]

Glad to see Freddy wasn't the only subpar cabin steward. We didn't get a pillow menu either, but we didn't have a problem with the ones we had. The only thing that I really would have liked to have gotten, but didn't, was the nicer tote. It sounds very nice, & would be good to carry on a plane as a personal bag. I agree, the towels are great!

[cruisinjudy]

I would not describe our CC mattress as pillow top. It was foam and thin. We were on deck seven so maybe they hadn't replaced them yet? It was certainly nothing like the matresses on HAL! We had CC deck nine when it was first started and it seems like we did have a nice mattress on that cruise. But we never saw the sofa pillows or pillow menu on that crise and we did see them on this cruise. Inconsistency is certainly the word.

[pooh1bear43113]

We've received 4 of the really nice tan folding totes over the last coupel of years....however, on one cruise we received a lovely blue and white (heavy weight) backpack with "X" logo on it. It's really nice, too. Has anyone else received one of these?

 

The navy-blue light weight bags that are in the closet in all the cabins are okay to keep folded up in my beach bag or purse - for those just in case purchases - but I wouldn't want to put too much in one of them.

 

We've (knock on wood here:D ) never had a problem getting the extra "amenities" associated with CC on X. However, the only things worth anything as far as we are concerned are the Pillow Menu (we ask for it as soon as we meet the steward) and the extra padding on the mattress - makes the bed (almost) comfortable.

 

Forget the afternoon snacks - I always request that they replace/substitute those awful things with a selection of cheeses and crackers instead - and so far (again knocking on wood) each afternoon we've received the cheese selection rather than those awful unidentifiable thingies. When returning from those long shore excursions, I don't have to worry how long the cheese plate has been setting in the cabin - but the shrimp - that's another thing!

 

There is always a bottle of bubbly on ice waiting in the cabin - and in fact, I requested extra champagne glasses at the start of one of our cruises - and lo and behold! They delivered a second bottle of bubbly along with the extra glasses at no charge.

 

Prority tendering tickets are nice - but we don't often use them.

 

Flowers are okay - but that flexible thingie they put on the vanity just takes up room and ends up outside on the veranda table (too many times it's taken a slide when the waters have been rough - only to ruin anything I might have left on the vanity surface.)

 

We cruised in RCL in a D2 category cabin last December (and will repeat again this December) and were shocked that there were so few amenities - other than a neat little cosmetic bag (C&A I guess).....no extra special soaps or shampoos, lotions, Q-tips, cotton balls, breath mints, etc. These are the things we just started taking for granted on Celebrity when booking CC.

[AFT_LOVER]

from Connie & Infinity & wonder if we get #3 on Summit in November or if they are giving new items. The 2 leatherlike bags are great, used for carrying toiletries to high value items with us, and our are far from falling apart. Very clever when not in use it folds into the "purse" which I use for makeup & DH uses it for shaving items. The handiwipe blue bag was good for excursions for bring back magnets & such. But we left it behind as it was very cheap.

 

When we sailed Celebrity (CC) last year we received the blue tote bag and the large tan zippered tote bag that folds into a small matching purse-like carrier. The tan one fell apart the first day, it was worthless so we threw it away. We still have the blue one however, and I've used it on two trips to the beach this year.