Excellent Cruise aboard Eclipse but never again !

[mickey89]

We really enjoyed our recent cruise (21 Feb- 6 March) aboard the Eclipse until the latter days. This was our third consecutive cruise on the same itinerary, great ports of call and overall blessed with excellent weather. Celebrity do offer a slick operation with excellent standards and service. How could you not enjoy all that pampering and also have the drinks package...............

 

Too make the cruise really standout there are two adjustments I believe Celebrity need to reconsider :-

1. Sunbed HOGGING has returned with a vengeance with little sign of intervention.

2. SMOKING - the assigned smoking areas were overflowing and their smoke drifted far and wide affecting many more people than intended.

 

The above is really irrelevant to me as we have decided never to sail Celebrity again. The reason being that we had a FIRE on our balcony caused by a lighted cigarette being thrown overboard by some inconsiderate idiot. Fortunately the balcony door was closed and the damage was minimal. Although a serious incident which should be classified as a Near-Miss, it was regarded by the Guest Relations Manager as "not serious". Celebrity's follow-up actions were a disgrace, I was stonewalled on every occasion. Point-blank refusal to speak to Captain or Senior Officer, denied accesss to incident report, denied access to CCTV which was said too be available, in effect every reasonable request was a - NO, we need to speak to Miami. When I requested that they contact Miami, point-blank refusal. They were determined to a keep the incident quiet from all guests which regretfully they succeeded.

 

Celebrity's classification of this incident is appalling especially knowing that a similar incident lead to serious injuries/damage aboard the Star Princesss not that long ago. Consequently it is with great regret I have cancelled all future cruises and will revert to land-based holidays until they take Smoking At Sea seriously.

Edited March 8, 2016 by mickey89

[memoak]

You will probably never sail again if you are asking for ships to be totally non-smoking. Almost every main stream cruise line has the same smoking policies as Celebrity. Holland America still allows smoking on balconies - most of the rest allow smoking in designated areas, I doubt that this will ever change. At least I hope it does not let's be inclusive not exclusive

[cpj]

You are just one person and you are not going to change anything. About 95 percent of customers are happy with Celebrity limited smoking policy. Even if they tried a smoke free ship it would not work. There still would be someone cheating. What did u want Celebrity to do give u a free cruise. It's obvious you wanted something. Also it was never determined what cause the fire on Star princess. Yours is your opinion but not fact.

Edited March 8, 2016 by cpj

[KirkNC]

You are just one person and you are not going to change anything. About 95 percent of customers are happy with Celebrity limited smoking policy. Even if they tried a smoke free ship it would not work. There still would be someone cheating. What did u want Celebrity to do give u a free cruise. It's obvious you wanted something. Also it was never determined what cause the fire on Star princess. Yours is your opinion but not fact.

 

Yea the balcony may have just burst into flame all on its own :rolleyes:

[KirkNC]

We really enjoyed our recent cruise (21 Feb- 6 March) aboard the Eclipse until the latter days. This was our third consecutive cruise on the same itinerary, great ports of call and overall blessed with excellent weather. Celebrity do offer a slick operation with excellent standards and service. How could you not enjoy all that pampering and also have the drinks package...............

 

Too make the cruise really standout there are two adjustments I believe Celebrity need to reconsider :-

1. Sunbed HOGGING has returned with a vengeance with little sign of intervention.

2. SMOKING - the assigned smoking areas were overflowing and their smoke drifted far and wide affecting many more people than intended.

 

The above is really irrelevant to me as we have decided never to sail Celebrity again. The reason being that we had a FIRE on our balcony caused by a lighted cigarette being thrown overboard by some inconsiderate idiot. Fortunately the balcony door was closed and the damage was minimal. Although a serious incident which should be classified as a Near-Miss, it was regarded by the Guest Relations Manager as "not serious". Celebrity's follow-up actions were a disgrace, I was stonewalled on every occasion. Point-blank refusal to speak to Captain or Senior Officer, denied accesss to incident report, denied access to CCTV which was said too be available, in effect every reasonable request was a - NO, we need to speak to Miami. When I requested that they contact Miami, point-blank refusal. They were determined to a keep the incident quiet from all guests which regretfully they succeeded.

 

Celebrity's classification of this incident is appalling especially knowing that a similar incident lead to serious injuries/damage aboard the Star Princesss not that long ago. Consequently it is with great regret I have cancelled all future cruises and will revert to land-based holidays until they take Smoking At Sea seriously.

 

I understand your concern. We one time had a balcony overlooking a lifeboat. There were multiple "butts" all over the life boat cover. I pointed it out to our steward but nothing was done.

[SetU2]

There could be a total ban on smoking and this could still happen. The more you crack down, the more it would force a person to sneak that cigarette, maybe in more dangerous ways. I'm guessing the OP understands that and my read is that they are more upset with the investigation, or lack thereof, as to the guilty culprit.

 

You'd be just as frustrated with most, if not all, landslide investigations. Victims are rarely going to be given as much information as they would like, and often for good reasons. I certainly understand your frustration but people charged with investigating incidents like these have to follow certain laws and procedures.

 

Now saying it was minor incident was just stupid. Fire on a ship is an incredibly serious event and should never be trivialized.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Alsmez]

 

The above is really irrelevant to me as we have decided never to sail Celebrity again. The reason being that we had a FIRE on our balcony caused by a lighted cigarette being thrown overboard by some inconsiderate idiot. Fortunately the balcony door was closed and the damage was minimal. Although a serious incident which should be classified as a Near-Miss, it was regarded by the Guest Relations Manager as "not serious". Celebrity's follow-up actions were a disgrace, I was stonewalled on every occasion. Point-blank refusal to speak to Captain or Senior Officer, denied accesss to incident report, denied access to CCTV which was said too be available, in effect every reasonable request was a - NO, we need to speak to Miami. When I requested that they contact Miami, point-blank refusal. They were determined to a keep the incident quiet from all guests which regretfully they succeeded.

 

Celebrity's classification of this incident is appalling especially knowing that a similar incident lead to serious injuries/damage aboard the Star Princesss not that long ago. Consequently it is with great regret I have cancelled all future cruises and will revert to land-based holidays until they take Smoking At Sea seriously.

 

While I agree with the others that you will never entirely eliminate smoking, I also agree with the OP that Celebrity could have done a better job with customer relations regarding this issue. If this had been my balcony, I would have wanted to speak to the captain or another senior official as well, and I would have wanted the idiot who caused the fire removed from the ship or at least moved far, far away from my room.

[20pluscruises]

I will agree with the lounge chair hogs. Was terrible on the Reflection. Along with the diaper clad babies in the pool. Even after mentioning it to the the pool staff and security AND they clearly saw several of us taking photos and videos... they still refused to do a thing about the situation.

 

Seems there is always some idiot smoking on the balcony late at night. Almost impossible for Celebrity to catch them in the act. I've tried "one" Hal cruise and much prefer Celebrity's smoking policy.

[Keith1010]

So sorry to hear about this.

 

I understand your frustration and it probably is time to move on.

 

There are other options out there when it comes to cruising.

 

Keith

[cpj]

Yea the balcony may have just burst into flame all on its own :rolleyes:

 

What do u suggest Celebrity do. Put cameras on every balcony.

[Keith1010]

What do u suggest Celebrity do. Put cameras on every balcony.

 

Further reduce the areas where smoking is permitted.

 

Keith

[mrsgoggins]

Your annoyance re the balcony fire is totally justified and lack of any decent response to a potentially serious situation is absolutely dire. I do hope you will follow up with Miami and better still, take to social media (not sure if Twitter will be blanked out!)

 

What I do not understand are the 'snippy' responses to a reasonable post such as yours :rolleyes:

[Flafun888]

You are just one person and you are not going to change anything.

 

Really? History books are filled with people who have proven quite the contrary.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Flafun888

[DaisyFire]

Further reduce the areas where smoking is permitted.

 

Keith

 

:confused: But the incident in question happened in an area where smoking is already NOT permitted.

 

And the other complaint from the OP (overcrowded smoking areas and billowing smoke) actually seems to support perhaps the need for more smoking areas - rather than less - although it may just be a factor of the number of smokers on board for each cruise. I expect that the number will vary to a degree and so capacity in the designated areas may be sufficient much of the time - but not always.

 

There is some technology that could help reduce the smoke from being such a nuisance. Does anyone know if Celebrity uses any of the smokeless ash trays or special ventilation for the smoking areas?

[Lsimon]

Further reduce the areas where smoking is permitted.

 

Keith

 

I originally posted that:

I don't think that would reduce the number of smokers or the amount of smoke. It also might induce more to

sneak one

on their balcony.

But I guess it might help if they eliminated the smoking area by the pool which sometimes interferes with other guests and expanded/added outdoor areas further from popular guest hangouts.

 

:confused: ...Does anyone know if Celebrity uses any of the smokeless ash trays or special ventilation for the smoking areas?

 

The smoking areas are all outdoors so the ventilation is as good as it gets. However a few of them are in areas close to popular non-smoking areas such as a portion of the pool area where even outdoors the smoke can drift a bit before dissipating.

 

It's been a while since my last cruise but I recall only seeing regular ashtrays - along with other smokers using anything handy (such as a pop can or beer can) for ashes if there wasn't an ashtray handy in a smoking area.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Lsimon

[cruzeluver]

I do understand the OP's frustration and I would have been frustrated as well., especially if I felt the concern was not being taken seriously. However, it is too much to expect access to incident reports or to view security cameras. And what Celebrity does or does not do to any violators is between the line and those passengers as well.

[crusinthrough]

What would talking to the Capitan, another Senior Officer or seeing the report do? I understand your frustration and issue but I don't understand why you needed to be more involved in the investigation. If you were on the balcony at the time or the fire entered your room or any of your belongings were damaged that is a different story.

Otherwise report the incident as you did and take the issue up with Miami.

[Lsimon]

I do understand the OP's frustration and I would have been frustrated as well., especially if I felt the concern was not being taken seriously. However, it is too much to expect access to incident reports or to view security cameras. And what Celebrity does or does not do to any violators is between the line and those passengers as well.

 

This is a great point and expresses my thoughts that I was thinking of posting before I saw this. Celebrity will do their own investigation and not allow the passenger to do their own nor participate in Celebrity's investigation. Likewise Celebrity isn't likely to present the results of their investigation to another passenger.

 

However, while we don't know what was said to the OP, it does appear that they could have done more to calm them and reassure them that action was being taken.

[MommaBear55]

Your annoyance re the balcony fire is totally justified and lack of any decent response to a potentially serious situation is absolutely dire. I do hope you will follow up with Miami and better still, take to social media (not sure if Twitter will be blanked out!)

:

 

I agree as well. It seems like Celebrity's response to a fire was lackadaisical at best. Fire at sea, as seen by Princess and the Grandeur fires is very frightening and potentially life threatening.

 

OP, I would encourage you to continue to bring this to management's attention. I do not think they owe it to you to show you security videos etc, but you do need to be heard.

 

I do not think changing the smoking policy would have stopped thus incident, because any respectful smoker wouldn't be throwing their butts around. Rules don't change stupidity.

[Marelaine]

"I was stonewalled on every occasion. Point-blank refusal to speak to Captain or Senior Officer, denied accesss to incident report, denied access to CCTV which was said too be available, in effect every reasonable request was a - NO, we need to speak to Miami. When I requested that they contact Miami, point-blank refusal." Posted by Mickey89

 

It's terrible that you were left with the impression that the fire on your balcony wasn't taken seriously. However, no passenger should have access to confidential information or access to CCTV, especially during an active investigation. It would have been nice if an officer had agreed to speak with you and assure you they have dealt with the situation.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Marelaine
crediting quote

[JFontaine]

The Captain should have done what is done on 'spring break cruises' - announce that anyone violating the smoking policy, including smoking on balconies - will be removed at the next port. It might have dissuaded the original idiot from doing it again. And reminded the rest of the ship not to leave towels or clothes on the balcony, or the door open when you aren't there.

[Fouremco]

What would talking to the Capitan, another Senior Officer or seeing the report do? I understand your frustration and issue but I don't understand why you needed to be more involved in the investigation. If you were on the balcony at the time or the fire entered your room or any of your belongings were damaged that is a different story.

Otherwise report the incident as you did and take the issue up with Miami.

As the GRM apparently viewed this as a non-issue, talking to the Captain or another senior officer might have resulted in the fire being taken more seriously. I can't imagine any ship's officer not taking a fire aboard as a serious incident worthy of investigation.

 

Personally, I think it's refreshing to see someone becoming involved and not accepting the brush off. Far too many people turn there backs on situations instead of taking steps to help rectify a situation. Personal financial loss should not be the sole criterion as you seem to suggest.

[jsf]

While I agree with the OP could someone explain what on the balcony is flamable, I thought it was steel decking and metal chairs.

[bEwAbG]

As the GRM apparently viewed this as a non-issue, talking to the Captain or another senior officer might have resulted in the fire being taken more seriously. I can't imagine any ship's officer not taking a fire aboard as a serious incident worthy of investigation.

 

Personally, I think it's refreshing to see someone becoming involved and not accepting the brush off. Far too many people turn there backs on situations instead of taking steps to help rectify a situation. Personal financial loss should not be the sole criterion as you seem to suggest.

 

Sorry, but someone who demands to see CCTV footage so they can conduct their own investigation (to what end?) is far past being reasonable. For all we know, OP was assured that an investigation was happening but just didn’t like the limited info he was given. Maybe the crew spoke with the offending person or maybe the investigation turned up that they couldn’t figure out who tossed the butt but they redoubled their efforts to watch that area or maybe there was someone standing in the smoking section who accidentally dropped their cigarette? There could be a million things that were done or a million reasons why the cigarette ended up where it ended up (and we're only hearing one side of the story). Bottom line is the cruise line doesn’t owe anyone a detailed explanation as to what it did or didn’t find out. Considering that we are talking about a “near-miss” at best, I’m not sure why any escalation was warranted. What could be done at that point to rectify what happened? Toss everyone off the ship at the next port?

[Jane2357]

:eek: I would be a nervous wreck if I found my balcony partially burnt. What kind of total idiot throws their lit cigs overboard? A very dangerous situation. Thank goodness the OP didn't have anything on the balcony that would have helped fuel the fire.

 

Reading this I never got the feeling that the OP was out to get anything - other than to know that the cruise line was taking this seriously. While many of us wish for a smoke free cruise - I doubt they will ever take it that far.

 

OP - go to the Celebrity Facebook page and post your story - it may get someone's attention there.

Edited March 8, 2016 by Jane2357