Back from first Celebrity cruise.

[Dorset Cruiser]

Just back from our first Celebrity cruise and was wondering if it was common practice to take home the umbrella provided in Concierge and above cabins - the man in front of us at airport checkin had certainly taken his :). Our steward had removed anything we might have walked off with on the previous evening, ie fruit plate, leather notepad, binoculars and umbrella 😉

 

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Edited October 15, 2014 by Dorset Cruiser

[Andy]

Just back from our first Celebrity cruise and was wondering if it was common practice to take home the umbrella provided in Concierge and above cabins - the man in front of us at airport checkin had certainly taken his :). Our steward had removed anything we might have walked off with on the previous evening, ie fruit plate, leather notepad, binoculars and umbrella

 

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Hi Dorset Cruiser,

 

The umbrella is not complimentary - nor are the other items you've mentioned. It's for use while on your cruise, and is to be left in your cabin at the end of the sailing. I believe it's stated somewhere in your cabin, that you will be charged if you take it.

 

Hope this helps !

Edited October 15, 2014 by Host Andy

[Dorset Cruiser]

Would not dream of taking any of the items in the cabin. P&O also have binoculars, umbrella, atlas in cabins for use on cruises but I would never take anything home. We even left the pen in the cabin this time and the complimentary sparkling wine. They had exchanged it for a bottle of disgusting red wine which went straight down the sink but still left the sparkling for us - we cannot drink sparkling wine though. I expect the man in front of us had other things in his many cases though 😉

 

Bit disappointed with no flowers in cabin all cruise and the canapes were on par with the red wine. After 2 days we asked for no more, please 😱

[dwhe]

- the man in front of us at airport checkin had certainly taken his :).

 

I believe you can buy the umbrellas, and some of the other things that are in room, from the shop.

Edited October 15, 2014 by dwhe

[Lsimon]

The only item given in the Concierge Class cabins that is yours to take is the tote bag and the small leather seapass holder.

 

The cabin amenities which list the umbrella and binoculars specifically say that your cabin includes "the use" of these items. There is usually a card or notice someplace in the cabin explaining the charge that will be made for these, and other items, if you remove them and do not return them.

[hcat]

Did you enjoy your first Celebrity cruise?

Edited October 15, 2014 by hcat

[hulamoon]

I have never noticed a sea pass holder. Lol I remember reading about them once.

[Dorset Cruiser]

We did take the bag and cardholder 😄

 

The jury is out on what we really thought of Celebrity but at the moment we are feeling a little disappointed. After 30 cruises on other lines and after constantly hearing how good Celebrity are, we thought that the level of service was not there. The ship itself (Constellation) seemed very bland and impersonal and the food quality in the main was not good. Room service breakfast and the Seaview were both bad. We ate one evening in Seaview and that was only so-so but room service dinner one night when I was full of cold was very good. Vegetable servings were minute as were the size of the buffet desserts. I know you can fill aplate up but to me it looks penny-pinching. I would much rather have one normal sized serving.

 

Tuscan Grill was superb but then it should be with a bill, including an inexpensive bottle of wine, of over $109.

 

We did get a bargain price Concierge cabin but without the drinks package included and we found the drinks prices were a bit excessive but we are not big drinkers so it did not bother us that much.

 

Did not do ship excursions but they were expensive. Missed my Princess Elite free internet and laundry - Celebrity offered a stuff a bag deal one day for $59 (?) but laundry bags were near impossible to get hold of from our room steward 😉

 

The entertainment on board was excellent with the best dancers and singers we have seen on a ship and the main acts were very good.

 

The Black Sea itinerary was different but not really to our taste but we enjoyed the Greek ports and Kusadasi and Istanbul. The other two Turkish ports visited were a bit of a waste for us but probably not for others.

 

We gave Celebrity a try but not sure if we will do another. We seem to be steering more towards the British cruiselines lately as the food selections are more to our liking, but I never say 'never again' 😄

[hcat]

Thanks for the update...we are scheduled for Connie in Jan to the Carib so your comments are helpful

 

We have noticed that many cruisers are trying Celebrity for the first time after being loyal to other lines, and are curious about what drew them to try Celebrity, Price, itin, ship, perks recommendations, ?????

 

And of course curious if they enjoyed the experience and would cruise on X again......

[Dorset Cruiser]

Thanks for the update...we are scheduled for Connie in Jan to the Carib so your comments are helpful

 

We have noticed that many cruisers are trying Celebrity for the first time after being loyal to other lines, and are curious about what drew them to try Celebrity, Price, itin, ship, perks recommendations, ?????

 

And of course curious if they enjoyed the experience and would cruise on X again......

 

We saw what we thought was a bargain price for a concierge cabin, cruise only, at £700 each. We added flights at £300 each and tnought it a good deal for 12 days on an untried but highly recommended cruiseline

to an area where we had never travelled. Always willing to try new cruiselines 😄

 

Have said we will probably not cruise Celebrity again but, who knows 😄

 

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[lola2013]

Our group of 11 did our first Celebrity in the Mediterranean last October. We chose Celebrity based on the itinerary, price and recommendations of friends. The 1-2-3GO and Concierge upgrade happened after we booked, and we were obviously thrilled with the additional perks. We were never disappointed in anything about the ship or any part of the trip. In fact, we came home and cancelled our Royal Princess sailing for next February and switched to Equinox. I am even going to be in the same stateroom. I, too, love Princess and all the benefits (especially the laundry room on each deck), but Royal was getting less than favorable reviews. We also have booked Solstice Honolulu to Vancouver for 2016. I cannot wait to return to Equinox in February.

As for the gentleman leaving the ship with the umbrella, he either let his steward know he was taking it and was billed accordingly...or will have an unpleasant surprise when he gets home. As the others have mentioned, it is in your cabin as a courtesy to be used during the voyage. If it goes home with you, you will pay for it.

[TeaBag]

Thank you for posting, Dorset Cruiser. I'm sorry you did not totally enjoy your cruise. If you do give Celebrity another chance, perhaps you should try the Eclipse which is an S class ship and newer than Constellation. All the S class ships are lovely but I mention Eclipse because she is home ported in Southampton for half of the year.

 

I agree that the perks gained for loyalty make a difference, so we would miss these too if we sailed with another cruise line.

[Dorset Cruiser]

Would never sail any of the new big ships, whatever line they sailed for. Much prefer 2000 or less passengers. Our next cruise is 47 days at the end of January 2015 on P&O Arcadia for part of her world cruise - after that, who knows? Might give cruising a little break, but we have said that before on more than one occasion 😉

 

 

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[Christine Frances]

Would never sail any of the new big ships, whatever line they sailed for. Much prefer 2000 or less passengers. Our next cruise is 47 days at the end of January 2015 on P&O Arcadia for part of her world cruise - after that, who knows? Might give cruising a little break, but we have said that before on more than one occasion 😉

 

 

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I see from your signature that you have sailed the large Princess ships, Golden, Ruby etc. The Ruby holds more passengers than the S Class:confused: and is a smaller ship. The S Class have great pax/space ratios.

[boblin]

I would also urge you to try an S class Celebrity ship. Have done an Eclipse Baltic departure out of Southampton. Wonderful! I think you'd be happy with these ships. Check out some pics of them. Contemporary, light filled, fabulous bathrooms.

[Queen of Oakville]

Thanks for the update...we are scheduled for Connie in Jan to the Carib so your comments are helpful

 

We have noticed that many cruisers are trying Celebrity for the first time after being loyal to other lines, and are curious about what drew them to try Celebrity, Price, itin, ship, perks recommendations, ?????

 

And of course curious if they enjoyed the experience and would cruise on X again......

 

I think for us ... we're at a point where we've split our loyalty over so many lines that we need to pick one. We hated Princess and Carnival. Royal has been good to us, but after Oasis, I was feeling very "herded" and didn't feel like I had a luxury vacation. We did a land holiday earlier this year but did not pick a good resort. We chose our upcoming celebrity cruise based on price and promotion, definitely not itinerary. If we don't love this next cruise, we'll probably take a break from cruising, but who knows?

[Dorset Cruiser]

I see from your signature that you have sailed the large Princess ships, Golden, Ruby etc. The Ruby holds more passengers than the S Class:confused: and is a smaller ship. The S Class have great pax/space ratios.

 

By big ships I mean the new Royal and Regal Princess and the Britannia. The ships you mention are average size but I really liked my one cruise on Ocean Princess, one of the smallest ones. Shoukd have said 3000 or less passengers.

 

 

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Edited October 15, 2014 by Dorset Cruiser

[srpilo]

I'll just add..

We pretty much gave up on Celebrity after more than 15 cruises, until the S-Class came on-line. The M-Class ships are our absolute least favorite ships in all of our almost 60 cruises, and doubt we even sail one free now .. So personally I think the OP might prefer a S-class if he/she give's one a try, we did :)

 

 

Srpilo

[cynbar]

We sail a couple of different lines to avoid getting bored with the same menus, shows, activities over and over again. Celebrity is one of our favorites, we were on a Med cruise on Reflection in January in May and will be back on Reflection in the Caribbean in January. But I remember feeling let down after my 1st Celebrity cruise. Some cruisers on these boards are so enthusiastic about their favorite line that they describe everything as fantastic and exceptional, all the time. Personally, I think they may be setting expectations too high. We genuinely like Celebrity but have not found a cruise line yet that is perfect in every way. Dorset Cruiser, I hope you give Celebrity another try, maybe on the S class next time which I do agree is a cut above the M class. It's not perfect, but it does put forth a nice vacation.

[d4m]

We did take the bag and cardholder

 

The ship itself (Constellation) seemed very bland and impersonal and the food quality in the main was not good.

 

 

Do you, by chance, remember who the Chef was onboard the Constellation? I ask only because we were on the Spring TA and found the food fabulous! I am beginning to think that Chef Gavin is the reason, since he has been Chef on Equinox too the last two times we sailed on her. Wonder if Chef Gavin is on Connie now or someone else. Perhaps it makes a big difference who the chef is.

 

Thanks for your honest opinion about your cruise. We are back to te S class after our recent M class and surely prefer the larger ships.

[hcat]

I think for us ... we're at a point where we've split our loyalty over so many lines that we need to pick one. We hated Princess and Carnival. Royal has been good to us, but after Oasis, I was feeling very "herded" and didn't feel like I had a luxury vacation. We did a land holiday earlier this year but did not pick a good resort. We chose our upcoming celebrity cruise based on price and promotion, definitely not itinerary. If we don't love this next cruise, we'll probably take a break from cruising, but who knows?

 

We mostly cruise with Celebrity but do go over to Royal C (Radiance class) & once to QM 2.. We also tried an all inclusive at Concierge Level and really enjoyed it...but cruising is our go to vacation,

 

Most recently we tried Oasis...not our cup of tea...herded is a good description...and no true luxury...Modern or otherwise...Happy to be back to Celebrity...next up Reflection, then Connie., both in AQ with Blu...

[miched]

Reminds me of the local college basketball coach that told his players that when they go on road trips he didn't want them to take any of the towels and etc. because they are a class college and if they take anything it should be the TVs.

 

Hqppy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅