Disappointing Cruise...Who can I contact?

[NHcruiserguy]

Just ended my cruise on the Silhouette and was extremely disappointed. There was a LARGE special interest group on the ship taking up more than 50% of the cabins. Bars were blocked, pools were reserved...it was incredibly uncomfortable. If I had been given notice of a group this large being booked, I would have changed my ship/week. But because I was not able to do so, I had a miserable experience.

 

Who can I get in touch with that can address my concerns?

[Redtravel]

Cruises sell to everyone...including large groups. If you don't want to sail with those groups, ask ahead of booking. It has happened to me. Cruise ships are so big that the large group usually is not bad. Or next time, rent a private yacht!

[wallie5446]

Send an Email to Mr Bailey. There are 2-3 assigned to read an respond very quickly.

[wallie5446]

Cruises sell to everyone...including large groups. If you don't want to sail with those groups, ask ahead of booking. It has happened to me. Cruise ships are so big that the large group usually is not bad. Or next time, rent a private yacht!

 

No need for that, you were not there and have no idea how disruptive the group was.

[vulcan1971]

No need for that, you were not there and have no idea how disruptive the group was.

 

 

Agreed.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 6 Plus on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network using Tapatalk Pro

[ECCruise]

Cruises sell to everyone...including large groups. If you don't want to sail with those groups, ask ahead of booking. It has happened to me. Cruise ships are so big that the large group usually is not bad. Or next time, rent a private yacht!

 

Asking ahead won't work. They will not tell you, unless you have someone "inside" who will give you the straight scoop. Not sure how big the large group you sailed with was, or if they dominated much of the ship, which has happened to us.

[chrishb]

How was the group like that the cruise was so disappointing?

[Sloop-JohnB]

Just ended my cruise on the Silhouette and was extremely disappointed. There was a LARGE special interest group on the ship taking up more than 50% of the cabins. Bars were blocked, pools were reserved...it was incredibly uncomfortable. If I had been given notice of a group this large being booked, I would have changed my ship/week. But because I was not able to do so, I had a miserable experience.

 

Who can I get in touch with that can address my concerns?

 

Hi NHCRUISEGUY,

 

I see this is your first post on Cruise Critic... So a big welcome

 

You have every right to complain as a paying Customer if you feel you did not receive the product as advertised

 

But you should be aware that Celebrity equally has every right to sell off the cabins on their cruise as they choose to

 

Group Cruises is part of the industry... Be they where a group charters the entire ship (very expensive / less common) ... OR thru a Travel Agency they organize to book a block of cabins

 

Yes it can be inconvenient if the Group cruising is very large, or has many events that take over otherwise public areas on the ship (essentially making them non available to other Paxs)

 

Truth is as things stand now in the cruise industry...

 

If you wish to cruise on sailings where there are no booked in groups, then it is UP TO YOU / your responsibility as a cruiser to search those sailings out (easy enough to do, just GOOGLE the ship & sailing date to see if any TA Agency is organizing a group or theme... Website Themecruisefinder.com is also helpful in this regard)... And not the Cruise Line to reveal info on their Passenger Lists

 

Research is a very important part of cruise / vacation planning (and part of the reason WHY websites like Cruise Critic and her sister website TripAdvisor are so popular / successful)

 

I never travel anymore without referring to either of these websites and asking pertinent Questions (fortunately for you and this issue ... Group Bookings need lots of lead time to organize... So you won't find yourself on a cruise with a large group booked in you did not know about come Final Payment Date)

 

Hope this helps,

 

Cheers!

Ps... I am guessing you were on the recent Pied Piper's Sailing on The Silhouette (Nov 30th to Dec 7th).

Edited December 8, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB

[NHcruiserguy]

How do I get hold of Mr. Bailey?

[Turtles06]

 

Yes it can be inconvenient if the Group cruising is very large, or has many events that take over otherwise public areas on the ship (essentially making them non available to other Paxs)

 

Truth is as things stand now in the cruise industry...

 

If you wish to cruise on sailings where there are no booked in groups, then it is UP TO YOU / your responsibility as a cruiser to search those sailings out (easy enough to do, just GOOGLE the ship & sailing date to see if any TA Agency is organizing a group or theme... Website Themecruisefinder.com is also helpful in this regard)... And not the Cruise Line to reveal info on their Passenger Lists

 

Research is a very important part of cruise / vacation planning (and part of the reason WHY websites like Cruise Critic and her sister website TripAdvisor are so popular / successful)

 

 

I totally disagree with you that this is the potential customer's burden to find out. Yes, sometimes one can get lucky through a search and learn whether a group is booked on a particular cruise, but there's no fool proof way for the public to do it or to know for sure. The entity that knows for sure, however, is the cruise line. There is a true disparity in knowledge and resources here.

 

And when a group is SO large that public venues on the ship are closed off to other pax not in that group, I think that's a real problem, no matter what the group is.

[cruising_Bif]

Just ended my cruise on the Silhouette and was extremely disappointed. There was a LARGE special interest group on the ship taking up more than 50% of the cabins. Bars were blocked, pools were reserved...it was incredibly uncomfortable. If I had been given notice of a group this large being booked, I would have changed my ship/week. But because I was not able to do so, I had a miserable experience.

 

How was the rest of your experience (i.e. food, entertainment, etc.)?

[LegalE2010]

Disruptive? Really? Could you explain how you believe the Pied Piper group was disruptive? I was on the same ship and although there were some private functions held by the PP group, I did not at all feel excluded from the ship because of their presence. Their functions moved from space to space - one time being on the pool deck, another in Quasar, another in Sky Lounge, etc. My husband and I were still able to enjoy the ship thoroughly, and had quite a nice babymoon :) I have a feeling, OP, that you have some ideological differences with the PP group that are causing you to feel "disrupted," and I imagine that Celebrity will not care how you felt in this case. In the future, if you want to know if a large group is booked on a cruise you plan to sail on, you should probably join the roll call for that sailing here on Cruise Critic. The fact that PP was going to be on this ship has been public knowledge in our roll call for well over six months, so a little due diligence on your part would have saved you the "headache" of having to be tolerant of others.

 

Now if you DO want to complain about the trip being disrupted, might I suggest you take issue with the fact that the propulsion issues ACTUALLY affected the trip? The shortened port times, late arrival into Labadee, etc., were truly disappointing, especially given that Celebrity has known about this issue for months and is not managing to fix it until January. We were quite disappointed by a cancelled tour in Cozumel, shortened alternative tour, and the extremely short port time in Labadee.

[GWM907]

Send an e mail to contactmichael@celebrity.com

The representatives there are very responsive.

[chrishb]

Disruptive? Really? Could you explain how you believe the Pied Piper group was disruptive? I was on the same ship and although there were some private functions held by the PP group, I did not at all feel excluded from the ship because of their presence. Their functions moved from space to space - one time being on the pool deck, another in Quasar, another in Sky Lounge, etc. My husband and I were still able to enjoy the ship thoroughly, and had quite a nice babymoon :) I have a feeling, OP, that you have some ideological differences with the PP group that are causing you to feel "disrupted," and I imagine that Celebrity will not care how you felt in this case. In the future, if you want to know if a large group is booked on a cruise you plan to sail on, you should probably join the roll call for that sailing here on Cruise Critic. The fact that PP was going to be on this ship has been public knowledge in our roll call for well over six months, so a little due diligence on your part would have saved you the "headache" of having to be tolerant of others.

 

Now if you DO want to complain about the trip being disrupted, might I suggest you take issue with the fact that the propulsion issues ACTUALLY affected the trip? The shortened port times, late arrival into Labadee, etc., were truly disappointing, especially given that Celebrity has known about this issue for months and is not managing to fix it until January. We were quite disappointed by a cancelled tour in Cozumel, shortened alternative tour, and the extremely short port time in Labadee.

 

Sorry, to hear that also your cruise was affected by the propulsion issues. How long were your actual port times and what did Celebrity said as reason?

[shipshape sam]

I have sailed on a couple of cruises where there were large groups also sailing.

 

I have had the fun and non-opportunity to utilize some facilities when they would have been in prime time use. I have been excluded from a pool for about 2 hours when the group was having their own belly flop contest (male and female), then a large bar area was reserved for the whole evening (one night only)

 

Not sure how you get around this as I/anyone can be excluded if Celebrity, for example decides to sponsor an activity at the pool, etc.

 

At this point, I think it is somewhat hit or miss and you cannot fully get away from this as Group bookings are big business.

 

Finally, I can go elsewhere, another cruise line or even land based vacation and still no guarantee of full access to public areas at times I might want to use them.

 

So....... I go with an open mind and try to be flexible.

 

I too wish cruise lines would tell us, but then they know many cruisers would cancel that particular sailing.

Edited December 8, 2014 by shipshape sam

[gsb]

We had many of them on our last cruise.

We thought they added to the entertainment.

Seemed to be a very nice,courteous, and funloving group.;)

Edited December 8, 2014 by gsb

[Sloop-JohnB]

I totally disagree with you that this is the potential customer's burden to find out. Yes, sometimes one can get lucky through a search and learn whether a group is booked on a particular cruise, but there's no fool proof way for the public to do it or to know for sure. The entity that knows for sure, however, is the cruise line. There is a true disparity in knowledge and resources here.

 

And when a group is SO large that public venues on the ship are closed off to other pax not in that group, I think that's a real problem, no matter what the group is.

 

Hi TURTLES06,

 

I hear you...

 

But I feel you highlighted the wrong part of my post. You should have focused on the statement before the one you quoted:

 

 

Truth is as things stand now in the cruise industry...

 

If you wish to cruise on sailings where there are no booked in groups, then it is UP TO YOU / your responsibility as a cruiser to search those sailings out (easy enough to do, just GOOGLE the ship & sailing date to see if any TA Agency is organizing a group or theme... Website Themecruisefinder.com is also helpful in this regard)... And not the Cruise Line to reveal info on their Passenger Lists

 

[/Quote]

 

This Group Booking issue as been addressed often in the past on CC. As it stands NOW the Cruise Industry is under no obligation to reveal exactly WHO their Customers are.

 

Just like any other industry.

 

Infact, some would argue... That to do so would be a breach of privacy (and I agree)

 

So at least for now, if a Cruise Pax is concerned enough about this issue (Finding themselves on a Cruise highly booked by a Group) then it s up to the Cruiser to do their research

 

Fortunately, with the Internet, finding out that info is relatively easy.

 

And for the record (for the OP and anyone else new to this issue)

 

Group Bookngs are very much part of the bread & butter of the Cruise Business these days. ALL Mainstream Cruise Lines welcome Group Bookings that come on a Wide Variety of topics & interests (again check out Themecruisefinder.com )

 

The issue for many isn't so much the Group Bookings as it is HOW BIG is the Group on the cruise they have booked...

 

Large Groups for sure can change the tone of the cruise.

 

Which is WHY I believe Cruisers should do a bit of research in this regard when booking a cruise.

 

The OP would no doubt have known about the large group on his cruise if he had done a simple GOOGLE or discovered / posted on CC sooner and joined in on his Roll Call.

 

The Cruise Lines may not have to reveal this info... But it is easily found on The Internet

 

Cheers!

Edited December 8, 2014 by Sloop-JohnB

[RickT]

To the OP, while I fully understand your concern and desire to complain, what are you hoping to achieve? Other than an apology or perhaps even a small future credit I suspect there won't be much benefit from complaining.

 

If you have been on these boards for a while (or have searched) you will read that it is not uncommon to have large groups and many times these groups will take over various bars/areas.

 

Unless the groups are disruptive or otherwise causing a disturbance there really isn't much you can do.

 

Good luck with whatever you do. While I agree it would be nice if cruiselines posted information on any large group you probably won't ever see that. Best you can do is good your particular cruise and see if any group sailing pop up in the search.

[Jane2357]

Welcome to Cruise Critic NHcruiserguy. Let's all be kind and listen to what he is saying and stop trying to read more into then there is. I too would be very disappointed if I went on a cruise to find that over 50% of the ship was with 1 group. This causes venues that are closed to non group guests and can make one feel unwelcome. Let's be constructive in our comments so that we can help him prevent such a situation in the future.

[Scott2.0]

I have a feeling, OP, that you have some ideological differences with the PP group that are causing you to feel "disrupted," and I imagine that Celebrity will not care how you felt in this case.

 

I suspect that that's EXACTLY it. I bet if it were a different group the OP wouldn't have been so "disappointed".

[stevenr597]

Cruises sell to everyone...including large groups. If you don't want to sail with those groups, ask ahead of booking. It has happened to me. Cruise ships are so big that the large group usually is not bad. Or next time, rent a private yacht!

 

Whether I am on a cruise, in a plane or dining in a restaurant, large groups can, at times, take up most of the service and deprive the other paying customers of decent or quality service. With that being said, I do feel that the above quote was in poor taste. If one cannot give a dignified answer, simply don't answer.

[blueboro]

We had this happen on another line 2 years ago. Fortunately we found out before hand that a large group would take over about half of the cabins. The cruise line would tell us nothing so we canceled and booked a cruise with Celebrity. There is a site called something like theme cruise finder that sometimes can help. I always go to this now before paying final payment.

[RDC1]

I do not book any cruise that contains a large group. Large to me means more than 5% of the ship passenger load. Such groups, no matter what they are, tend to lock up various portions of the ship for their activities and influence the feeling on the ship. When I say any group I do mean any political, sports, lifestyle, religious, etc.

 

I was on a recent cruise to Alaska and one of the best areas on the ship for viewing glaciers was blocked off for a groups use while we were near the glacier.

Edited December 8, 2014 by RDC1

[OCruisers]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

There's really no way to know in advance for sure if there will be a large group on your ship on Celebrity or any other cruise line. :o

LuLu

[Cruising89143]

OP I can understand your frustrations of having a large group on board but don't expect Celebrity to do anything. Unfortunately cruise lines do not tell you when groups are booked on board regardless of size and this can and does happen on most if not all cruise lines.

 

As has been suggested, Google the name of your ship and sail date. It's luck of the draw but sometimes it will bring up a group who may be booked on that particular cruise. I have been on ships where large groups were on board and yes there were times that lounges were closed off for private functions but we were able to find another lounge to enjoy.