What has happened to exceptional service

[TxnAquarian]

Don't fear - Celebrity is great. We switched from sailing the "luxury" lines to Celebrity and Azamara and haven't looked back. We have loved all of our Celebrity cruises and have had almost nothing but excellent, genuine service. The one or two times we have experienced a problem, they have bent over backwards to accommodate us. You'll have a great time. Some people on here just choose to be miserable and shout loudly. Have a great cruise!

 

 

Michael

[rjrpar]

Just the fact that service has been inconsistent is an indication that it has slipped a notch. With the decrease in some service personnel, this is not really surprising.

[hypercafe]

We were on the Summit in May. We had the all in promotion and all was great. Ate in Blu and buffet. Thought food and service was great, liked the shows. I would not worry.

 

Sent from my SM-T320 using Forums mobile app

[tenspot48]

I have been reading so many bad reviews about the cruising experiences on Celebrity. My wife and I always have enjoyed this line. We are taking our next cruise in November and I hope we get better service than what I have been reading about. Please share any new reviews for the Reflection.:)

 

 

We were on the Reflection this past April..TA from Miami to Rome-16 nights and the six of us thought the service was very good. If you have any specific questions or concerns, I will be happy to try and answer them.

[SantaFeFan]

Just the fact that service has been inconsistent is an indication that it has slipped a notch. With the decrease in some service personnel, this is not really surprising.

 

I have yet to encounter routinely inconsistent service levels, so I challenge that "fact". Service levels as a whole have always matched or been above expectations. Admittingly, we have had some service personnel who were better than others, but that inconsistency also goes for my own family as well. Does that mean that my family has also slipped a notch as well? Hmmmm, perhaps we are just becoming more crotchety as we age. :D

Edited June 17, 2015 by SantaFeFan

[janewe]

The Constellation has a great crew and we had outstanding service from start to finish. We are sailing her again in November and I would be surprised if it's not the same.

I agree, we sailed on the Conny last December, loved the ambiance in the Dining room. Food and service were great. We had zero complaints, the whole Cruise was memorable.

[sloopsailor]

I have yet to encounter routinely inconsistent service levels, so I challenge that "fact". Service levels as a whole have always matched or been above expectations. Admittingly, we have had some service personnel who were better than others, but that inconsistency also goes for my own family as well. Does that mean that my family has also slipped a notch as well? Hmmmm, perhaps we are just becoming more crotchety as we age. :D

 

I'm with you on this. I tend to be a "glass half full" kind of guy who regularly observes high levels of service on my cruises, where some people who are "glass half empty" types only see a deterioration.

Edited June 17, 2015 by sloopsailor

[keesar]

As for the Reflection, we have noticed service a notch or two below what we have experienced on other ships. I believe it is due to the increased responsibilities due to cutbacks. For instance, the Activities Staff is down to one from five. Stateroom attendants have more rooms to prepare. So it is no surprise we saw some changes in service. The staff that is on board work really hard and are to be commended. Still a good experience.

[ECCruise]

Nowhere in their own description does it say "A place where cruisers come to complain" and "A place to criticize cruise lines". :rolleyes:

 

 

 

Or perhaps it isn't that the service level has deteriorated, but that you are so familiar with the product that you are no longer impressed with the same level of service as you have always been getting. "Familiarity breeds contempt", as the old proverb goes:

 

Phrase of familiarity

 

Proverb

Extensive knowledge of or close association with someone or something leads to a loss of respect for them or it.

 

Sorry, but anyone who can't distinguish the change in service levels over the past 15 years is asleep. Like I said, I don't consider it bad, necessarily, but it is definitely different. If I considered it sub-standard, I wouldn't have all the cruises I have booked. As far as your "close association...leads to loss of respect", Celebrity certainly isn't the only cruise line we sail with, so we do have a bit of comparison.

 

But trust me, I can judge the service I receive, not your interpretation of my impressions. Please do not try to think for me. I've been in service industries too long and spent nearly 2 years on cruise ships to not be able to distinguish different levels of service.

Edited June 17, 2015 by ECCruise

[sloopsailor]

Sorry, but anyone who can't distinguish the change in service levels over the past 15 years is asleep. Like I said, I don't consider it bad, necessarily, but it is definitely different. If I considered it sub-standard, I wouldn't have all the cruises I have booked. As far as your "close association...leads to loss of respect", Celebrity certainly isn't the only cruise line we sail with, so we do have a bit of comparison.

 

But trust me, I can judge the service I receive, not your interpretation of my impressions. Please do not try to think for me. I've been in service industries too long and spent nearly 2 years on cruise ships to not be able to distinguish different levels of service.

 

The $64,000 question is: Are we paying as much now as we did 15 years ago for comparable cabins and amenities with inflation considered? Based on my years of cruising, we are getting a bargain compared to what was available 15 years ago, so I refuse to complain that service levels have dropped while at the same time happily taking advantage of the significantly lower costs for my cruises today. I can't have it both ways. If I wanted to maintain those same service levels I would need to move to the higher end cruise lines, and pay much more for that same level of service.

 

I have no complaints about the service I am now getting.

Edited June 17, 2015 by sloopsailor

[AtleeH]

We finished a cruise to the western Caribbean in Jan 2015 on board the Silhouette. Except for debarkation, every thing about the cruise was very, very good or better.

 

What could go wrong, did go wrong on debarkation. From the terminal crew putting a marked bag in the wrong place to tearing off the very flimsy tag off. Once we got all our luggage together, the entire ship was in line in front of us. We had asked to leave in the first wave since we needed to get our dog out of the local kennel, and the ship's crew had granted us that wish.

 

We asked the Celebrity employee who seemed to be in charge of the terminal where the Silhouette luggage was being picked up. He was rude and refused to do anything for us.

 

Fortunately, my wife spotted the Silhouette's Guest Relations Manager, Ms Julie Sherrington. Ms. Sherrington immediately helped us get through the lines and in the customs line and then out of the terminal. I sang her praises in the written portion of the on line survey we filled out.

[royalcruz]

I've been cruising for over 20 yrs, about 18 with Celebrity. The service quality on all of the lines I've sailed has dropped somewhat, especially in the dining room. However, I don't feel that this has made any difference in my enjoyment, and in fact other things have improved.

[hillsprint]

I am with most in trying to take a balanced view of all the reviews that appear on CC. In the past we have had excellent cruising with Celebrity, and I trust my upcoming cruise on the Reflection that will continue to be the case.

 

However, that said, the recent string of reviews since the Reflection returned to the Med in 2015 seem to have one constant complaint regarding the temperature of the food. Again this is subjective one man's hot is another's tepid, but I look forward to further reviews hoping this was just a glitch at the start of a new season.

 

X is a great product, let's all wish that it stays that way ;)

[BosoxI]

This site is named Cruise Critic. Look up

 

 

In general I'd say that the service on X and other middle of the road lines is a lot better than the manners of some of the passengers. I often wonder how people who never say "please, may I, or thank you" who place an order with a gruff "gimme a beer", who don't even know how to hold a knife and fork properly can complain about service.

 

Yes , there are legitimate complaints about service on occasion, but it's a wonder how more people don't wind up with a drink in their lap for the way they treat the staff.

[phoenix_dream]

Sorry, but anyone who can't distinguish the change in service levels over the past 15 years is asleep. Like I said, I don't consider it bad, necessarily, but it is definitely different. If I considered it sub-standard, I wouldn't have all the cruises I have booked. As far as your "close association...leads to loss of respect", Celebrity certainly isn't the only cruise line we sail with, so we do have a bit of comparison.

 

But trust me, I can judge the service I receive, not your interpretation of my impressions. Please do not try to think for me. I've been in service industries too long and spent nearly 2 years on cruise ships to not be able to distinguish different levels of service.

 

It is interesting also that if you post comments about problems you encounter on your cruises you are a complainer, entitled, never satisfied, glass half empty and on and on and on. Hey, maybe, just maybe, you are posting accurate representations of what happened. Those who have cruised Celebrity for years and years like we have, definitely note a decline in many areas. Overall, we still choose Celebrity for many reasons as it remains a step above all the other mid-level cruise lines in our opinion. Newcomers to Celebrity would never notice the difference and would in all likelihood be very satisfied with the product. But when I post reviews or comments, I will continue to be honest about what I experienced. And for the record, I am neither a negative person, an entitled person, nor a glass half empty person. But I have experienced an excellent product from Celebrity, and I will continue to provide feedback both good and bad on what I experience in the future despite the name-calling when I do so if I post other than Celebrity cheerleader comments.

[ladylemondrop]

We were on Reflection in March. The service was wonderful. :)

 

And the waffles? :D

[wallie5446]

I have been reading so many bad reviews about the cruising experiences on Celebrity. My wife and I always have enjoyed this line. We are taking our next cruise in November and I hope we get better service than what I have been reading about. Please share any new reviews for the Reflection.:)

 

We sailed the Reflection Nov 2013 so it has been a while. Last Nov we ere on the Equinox simply due to the 11 day route. If my wife said it once, she said it a dozen times a day, "I sure do miss the Reflection".

 

Was the Equinox bad? No, we are booked for the 10 day route this year. But there was just that little something about Reflection that has made it our favorite ship in 25+ years. If it were on a longer route we would book in a 'nano second' :D EW

[Orator]

This is the second time this OP started a thread like this and failed to come back to respond. Perhaps they will return and respond to comments?

 

It's the exceptional service that keeps me coming back to Celebrity.

[curtdesilets]

To put all this in our perspective.

 

We've sailed on =X= about 20 times over the last 14 years, the last being in May on Solstice.

 

I would still consider Celebrity's service to be above the other main-stream lines (which Celebrity is) but not up to the level of more premium lines, which would be expected due to pricing.

 

The caveat, though, is (and I think is responsible for at least a good portion of the "complaining" some of you seem to see) is that the difference in service level from our first cruise to our last is quite considerable. From the style and level of service in the MDR (and even more so in the one specialty restaurant per ship back then), the sight of numerous waiters lined up in the buffet waiting to carry your tray and find you a table, the more genuine feeling of connection between staff and passenger (as opposed to the canned "how was your day?" and "EXCELLENT!" in response to most any question)--there is definitely a different feel.

 

Is it worse? No, not in our estimation but we can clearly see how it could be construed that way in someone else's view. It definitely, though, is different, and if you have only be sailing on Celebrity for the last 5 or 6 years (or even considerably less) you don't have the comparison that some have....and you may consider their analysis "whining" or "complaining" when it truly may not be that at all.

 

We still enjoy Celebrity, as our cruising history shows, and will continue to sail them (about 60 days booked) so it hasn't been enough to cause us to bolt, but there are times that we do miss the "old days" ;)

 

You Nailed It.

 

We are exactly the same on this point. My wife and I had our first cruise in 2001 on the brand new Infinity, which went on to win the Conde Naste Award for best Large ship several years in a row. We absolutely adored Celebrity in the early 2000's. The Celebrity Experience was far different in 2001 from where it is today.

 

But we just got off the Solstice a couple weeks ago, and for the most part, the service was still there. We had just as many "Good Morning" greetings as we did in 2001. Our Stateroom Attendants were exceptionally good. The ship was very very clean. This despite industry wide cost cutting.

 

There were noticeable drop offs, like the general food quality and yes no one offered to carry my wife's plate to her chair as they used to do. The String Quartet's are gone, as are the "fancy" Formal Nights, but there's still a lot of pluses.

 

We still had a 4 star experience, and it is still very good value for your dollar.

[Hlitner]

We have been on our share of X cruises (Elite Plus) and have generally experienced excellent service, very good cruise line cuisine, and a lot of fun. We have also had some negative experiences (some of which we have posted) but these have been the rare exception. The nature of many bloggers is to post the negative things that stick in one's mind, and not bother to post things like, "Just returned from two weeks on the Eclipse and everything was normal."

 

Do we pay attention to negative posts (on any of the cruise boards)? Yes and we are always looking for specific trends which would raise our own alarm. But one has to carefully analyze negative (and positive posts) which can even involve looking at the poster's previous posts. There are some folks who are just negative about everything and others who are constant Cheerleaders.

 

We will admit that some recent posts have us a little concerned. We have two 14 day Eclipse cruises booking in Aqua, which we enjoy because of Blu. But there has been a recent trend of very negative posts about Blu, and some of these posters have a lot of credibility. Our personal experience with Blu is that it does seem to really be dependent on the then current Blu Chef. So we are hoping that the current situation is being noticed by X and they will make suitable adjustments.

 

Hank

[Texed]

And the waffles? :D

 

I have to admit, not as good as they normally are. It seems something was missing from the recipe. But, maybe it was just my taster messed up. :D

[LF2C]

I have been reading so many bad reviews about the cruising experiences on Celebrity. My wife and I always have enjoyed this line. We are taking our next cruise in November and I hope we get better service than what I have been reading about. Please share any new reviews for the Reflection.:)

 

As a number of people have said, celebrity service is still generally exceptional in the market place, but the market has changed. Cruising is no longer just for the elite and all the major cruise lines are competing for our business.

We find that Celebrity meets and usually exceeds our expectations and we are very happy to continue booking with them as long as they have the itineraries we want.

I get the impression that there is a lot of snobbery amongst some cruise passengers, especially those who've cruised for many years. You only have to read some of the reasons people complain to realise how petty some people can be.

[Ma Bell]

It's very simple. The individual servers are still wonderful but they don't have the time or the direction to provide the same type of service that they used to. It's still very good but a different level. Most people sailing today wouldn't know the difference. I don't think it's anything to complain about, it's just a different era of cruising.

Edited June 17, 2015 by Ma Bell

[TeaBag]

I have to admit, not as good as they normally are. It seems something was missing from the recipe. But, maybe it was just my taster messed up. :D

The waffles on our Eclipse cruise last week were already made and heaped up in a soggy mess. DH didn't bother to ask for fresh ones, as it seemed a waste with so many already cooked. Of course, they were not as good. They are tucked away by themselves around a corner, so I don't think many people find them?

[TomTN]

I have been reading so many bad reviews about the cruising experiences on Celebrity. My wife and I always have enjoyed this line. We are taking our next cruise in November and I hope we get better service than what I have been reading about. Please share any new reviews for the Reflection.:)

 

Had to deal with ATT, Comcast, Macy's, your state/fed gov't, (fill in blank)?

 

No such thing as customer service.

 

OTOH, when I read these boards I get depressed and get the idea that the service on X will be horrible.

 

It is not. In fact, we are always amazed at how good the service is, especially by the folks who take care of the cabins.:)