What I hate about an X cruise...

[Al_Frescoe]

Lack of communication between departments onboard is a sore spot with me. For example, the refrigerator in our cabin went on the fritz on about day 4 of our 10 night cruise. I told our cabin steward and he said he would take care of it. 3 days later it still did not work. I asked the steward and he swore he reported it, but he also said that it would be better if I went to guest relations personally because "they don't pay attention to us" (his words). In my opinion, if a crew member is trying to get something done for a guest, no matter what position the crew member works at, all departments should take note and act accordingly. I certainly don't blame my cabin steward for this, I blame the so-called higher departments (maintenience, guest relations). Incidents like this should not happen, in my opinion.

 

The toast situation at the breakfast buffet. Why in the world can't they get a toaster that works with one pass? We were on the Century recently and everyone had to let their bread go through the toaster at least twice and since the toast is the last station, well my eggs were usually cold by the time I sat down. This does not seem like rocket science to me ... :p

 

Skål

 

Al

[Tatka]

I would prefer:

 

1) Bigger/better/open longer solarium pools on Century class ships (like on RCCL Vision class)

 

2) Better fresh juice selection available longer hours (like on HAL)

 

3) Better in-cabin free movie selection. (On RCCL and HAL there were 2 new movies every day)

 

4) Sushi hours not at the same time as dinner... (Sushi was wonderful, but who can eat it after the dinner, or before?)

 

5) Possibility to stay in your cabin until your color/# called during disembarkation. (like on HAL)

[Desertbelle]

All good points Tatka.

 

Especially the Sushi hours...how much nicer it would be if Sushi was at mid-afternnoon, like around 4 PM.

 

When we were on the Millennium we had late dinner, so having a little sushi and a drink at 6 pm was great. But this cruise my parents are joining us and they prefer early dinner, which is when they serve sushi. :mad: We've been thinking we will have to skip dinner a couple of nights in order to enjoy some sushi.

[hajekfam]

The toast situation at the breakfast buffet. Why in the world can't they get a toaster that works with one pass? We were on the Century recently and everyone had to let their bread go through the toaster at least twice and since the toast is the last station, well my eggs were usually cold by the time I sat down. This does not seem like rocket science to me ... :p

 

Wish Celeb had a buffet station (at least with the hot accompaniments such as hash browns, ham, bacon, sausage, corned beef hash) set up for those at the omelet station. Hate having to stand in line to get my omelet and then stand in line to get the bacon, hash browns, etc. No matter what order you do it in - buffet for the extras and then omelet station or the reverse, something is cold on your plate. When hubby and I do the buffet together, one gets the eggs from the omelet station and the other does the buffet for the extras. People give us strange looks because we are juggling two plates on our trays but at least we get hot food. But if either goes for breakfast alone - we know that we will have some cold food.

[TechKnowBabble]

Last time I joined in one of your posts just saying what I didnt like and having a bit of fun - I got torched ..........

So I just wanted to say all cruise lines are wonderful (even if I haven't been on them all) and I have no complaints at all about anything (just a personal opinion - I like the Celebrity art work - and I probably would like art work on all the other ships on all the other lines too!

Is that OK with everyone?

Tony

 

I don't know....can you prove you a professional art critic? ;) just playing...no torching here

[Tatka]

All good points Tatka.

 

Especially the Sushi hours...how much nicer it would be if Sushi was at mid-afternnoon, like around 4 PM.

 

When we were on the Millennium we had late dinner, so having a little sushi and a drink at 6 pm was great. But this cruise my parents are joining us and they prefer early dinner, which is when they serve sushi. :mad: We've been thinking we will have to skip dinner a couple of nights in order to enjoy some sushi.

 

My advice... We had early dinner on Mercury. So we would eat at 6:15... and then 10 minutes before 10 PM we would go to the Sushi bar and take out some sushi, to eat in our cabin with the drinks :D . No wonder I ganed 7 lbs on that cruise. ;)

[Desertbelle]

My advice... We had early dinner on Mercury. So we would eat at 6:15... and then 10 minutes before 10 PM we would go to the Sushi bar and take out some sushi, to eat in our cabin with the drinks :D . No wonder I ganed 7 lbs on that cruise. ;)

 

LOL...but aren't they wonderful pounds?? :p

 

Good idea.....I didn't know sushi was opened that late. For some reason I thought it was only for a couple of hours. I sure hope the sushi bar is open until 10 on the Century......I would love sushi for dessert!!

[macmax]

Wish Celeb had a buffet station (at least with the hot accompaniments such as hash browns, ham, bacon, sausage, corned beef hash) set up for those at the omelet station. Hate having to stand in line to get my omelet and then stand in line to get the bacon, hash browns, etc. No matter what order you do it in - buffet for the extras and then omelet station or the reverse, something is cold on your plate. When hubby and I do the buffet together, one gets the eggs from the omelet station and the other does the buffet for the extras. People give us strange looks because we are juggling two plates on our trays but at least we get hot food. But if either goes for breakfast alone - we know that we will have some cold food.

I agree. It was one of the few things that we thought could stand improvement on the Summit.....like;

X (& RCCL) could learn from Princess on how to hold a muster drill. On Princess, the passengers assemble in an air conditioned theatre where they are given safety instructions etc. as opposed to lining up 6 deep on deck usually in the hot sun.

 

The disembarkation procedure was better handled on HAL and Princess as well.

 

Oh yea, no vinegar available for my french fries either.:eek:

[canderson]

Hate having to stand in line to get my omelet and then stand in line to get the bacon, hash browns, etc. No matter what order you do it in - buffet for the extras and then omelet station or the reverse, something is cold on your plate.

Come to think of it, same problems with the waffles next door, too.

[Blazerboy]

I hate when you have to cancel a cruise!:mad: Celebrity really shoud do something about that!;)

 

(Just found out I have to reschedule a cruise that was with a bunch of CC'ers in 2007)

 

Andrew

[lel5344]

OK, I'm a first-time Celebrity Cruiser, so my list isn't very long.

 

I dislike having to pay for my shore excursions in advance instead of having them added to my room charges. We prefer to keep our money as long as we can.

 

I dislike the fact that we didn't get a free upgrade (even though we I got a terrific deal on our stateroom). After all, I think first time Celebrity cruisers should get the free upgrades as an enticement to return. (I suspect their are some seasoned travellers out there who will disagree with me...)

 

I dislike the fact that our plane leaves Chicago at 7AM on Sunday (instead of the 9AM that was originally scheduled). OK...so we didn't book through Celebrity and it's not Celebrity's fault...I can still complain, can't I?

 

I dislike the fact that we probably won't have the time or opportunity to spend as much time as we'd like with the wonderful folks we have met here on Cruise Critic.

 

And I really dislike the fact that we still have 2+ more weeks to go before our cruise!

[mechcc]

You know the art is awful when...a Velvet Elvis would be a welcome sight.

 

LOL on that one. Gotta say this is a much more fun thread and makes a first time X cruiser feel a little more comfortable about our choice.

 

Danno - if we ever sail together - the first round is on me.

 

To everyone else - Fill out those comment cards and tell them you like X the way it is and the traditional dining is the greatest. HAL is doing a test of open seating next week and the only conclusion is that alot of people asked for it on comment cards.

 

As for what I don't like about X - don't know since I haven't been there yet. Well yes there is - they didn't give me the cruise free or give me an upgrade on the day I booked.

[poetic license]

Good thing this thread doesn't exist on the HAL board, or it would be inundated with 500 posts in 15 minutes!

 

The reason they are "experimenting" with open seating on HAL, conveniently timed for next week, and for the Oosterdam, is because HAL has booked SEVERAL huge groups, back to back. The result? Individuals who booked a year or more in advance with confirmed late-seating dining times are being told only now that they are ALL being moved, wholesale, to early seating. Here is the thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=243487

 

I'd be as mad as a wet hen if I knew a group that constituted 60% of ship capacity was going to overrun the cruise I was on. Not only would a group of this size impact dining, but you can bet every other aspect of the voyage, from land tours to the amount of time it takes to tender ashore.

 

So from that perspective, I have no complaints about X. :-)

 

PS: This is a great thread! You have a lot of grace to start it, Danno, after the fiasco with the "other" thread. I raise my glass to you.

 

Happy Trails,

[swigso]

There are some witty and amusing people who tread these boards,

I think that is why we all have such a good time sailing with X.

 

 

Do you think that Celebrity is fooling us and the art works on board the M class ships are not really that valuable ,

 

would they do that ??

 

Also I heard that another line sailed around a storm cloud so that the passengers would not get wet, this was a complaint (real) made on Summit.

 

despite all these things I think that I will continue to sail with X.

[becca23]

I would prefer:

 

1) Bigger/better/open longer solarium pools on Century class ships (like on RCCL Vision class)

 

2) Better fresh juice selection available longer hours (like on HAL)

 

3) Better in-cabin free movie selection. (On RCCL and HAL there were 2 new movies every day)

 

4) Sushi hours not at the same time as dinner... (Sushi was wonderful, but who can eat it after the dinner, or before?)

 

5) Possibility to stay in your cabin until your color/# called during disembarkation. (like on HAL)

Thank you for your great ideas111

Other posts...Some very funny

Becky & David

[Lois R]

Hi, this is an FYI......you never have to buy your excursions in advance.

Where did you hear that?

There are always "live hours" at the Excursion Desk and people are always

there. It is not "a must" to purchase anything early.

 

"I dislike having to pay for my shore excursions in advance instead of having them added to my room charges. We prefer to keep our money as long as we can."

[canderson]

Hi, this is an FYI......you never have to buy your excursions in advance.

Where did you hear that?

Could just be a concern that a particular excursion might get sold out. I've never been impressed with the idea that they hold your cash that way, either.

 

As to the Excursion Desk -- it can be a real zoo, even with the other options that are now available. The on-screen option from your cabin is a lot saner.

[Lois R]

Canderson,:) thanks for the clarification. I forgot about purchasing them

from your cabin.

 

So, there are 2 ways to book them from the ship. It still provides

a service while on board if you don't like doing it in advance.

[Danno]

Danno - if we ever sail together - the first round is on me.

 

 

Really!! Thanks!! Earlier in this thread people were chipping in to buy a rope to keel haul me :eek: . (edit...opps, that was the other thread, sorry...I haven't had any threats of injury on this thread yet)

 

It had finally evolved into a fun thread (with a serious undertone...are you listening X??)...gotta have some fun, even if hoping to make a point.

[Danno]

I dislike the fact that we didn't get a free upgrade (even though we I got a terrific deal on our stateroom). After all, I think first time Celebrity cruisers should get the free upgrades as an enticement to return. (I suspect their are some seasoned travellers out there who will disagree with me...)

 

Twelve cruises and I have seen one minor upgrade...I, for one, would be a bit upset if I found out my table mate, a first timer, was awarded a considerable upgrade, while I was not...upgrades are dangerous ground for cruise lines. I think they have the potential to lose as many clients as they gain.

 

Some cruise lines play the "upgrade game"....it's just a shell game.

 

 

I would REALLY prefer a system where you get what you paid for...no more, no less.

[judie43]

Minor complaint...the bathrooms steamed up so bad on the Summit that the moisture even built up under the plastic cap on my hairr mousse...not that it was a big problem,I only dropped slippery wet items on my bare feet a few times...I just dont ever remember that happening on any other ship to that extent.

I was very surprised that we could not purchase liquor on board and pay a fee to take it to our cabin,yet when we bought some take home tequila on shore,assuming they would hold it until the last night,they let us take it to our cabin....(that is not a complaint,just an observation)

[drk]

Here's another small one that I don't think I've seen posted yet. During a 7 day or longer cruise we usually like to have dinner on the buffet deck rather than the dining room once or twice. X is the only line of the 4 that we sail that requires reservations for this. The main reason that we enjoy using this alternative is to get away from the scheduled dining and have a more relaxed evening. It is surprisingly difficult to get the time you want and then they want to charge a nuisance fee of $2 for the servers. This is one area that HAL and even Carnival just does better .

[lel5344]

I understand that we can book our shore excursions on board, but there seemed to be a possibility of a couple of particular excursions filling up early. So we bit the bullet and paid for them as soon as they were available.

 

On our previous cruises on NCL, we have been able to book early on line and pay for them as part of our onboard charges.

 

If that's our only legitimate complaint, we'll certainly live with it.

[C 2 C]

I agree, Celebrity flunked Art 101... and what's with that big fat lady near the spa pool... who needs to be reminded of caloric intake?

 

2) lack of communication... While on the Sick Zenith sailing this year there was no clarification from anyone about the severity of the norwalk infection... We had also sailed on HAL's Veendam during the outbreak there in January and had daily updates (not to mention several rounds of free drinks). On Zenith, staff just repeatedly coated elevators and glass with more disinfectant that stained clothes.

 

3) lack of laundry facilities. When cruising for extended periods of time.. (We like B2Bs lasting up to 4 weeks as on Summit in Nov.) It would be nice to have access to laundry facilities as on Princess and HAL's older ships. Despite some who insist they don't cook, why should they wash their own while on holidays... some of us do our own even when cruising.... not to mention the interdiction of irons....

 

4) Perks for multi cruisers... I have never had an upgrade even after 30 weeks of X cruising. But I love Princess for their free internet and laundry... not to mention specialty coffees...

 

5) resent X treating me so well that I'm obsessed... I can't get enough of their "mistreatment":D

[KevBew]

I love the onboard experience of X without a doubt. I have no love whatsoever for the ya-ya's at corporate. They are the most useless bunch of monkeys you will ever have to deal with. Whether it's a complaint about a past cruise, a question about an upcoming cruise or just a request in general they can't help you. You get put into phone purgatory (automatic phone response systems), or you get Mr. or Mrs. Very Cranky. If that were to change I would have no complaints about X and I wouldn't respond to threads like these.;)