Should we cancel? Getting worried with so many "X service has gone downhill" posts...

[Marelaine]

I love Silhouette and her sister ships. I think some of the complainers have been around so long they have become jaded.

[ChucktownSteve]

I'll bet that a lot of the negative posts you've read probably had more to do with comparing Celebrity of past to Celebrity of today. However even though I've posted negative comments myself, Celebrity is probably still better than RCL and Carnival or perhaps other mass market lines. It's just that what used to be a large gap has narrowed in several people's opinion. But only you can determine whether Celebrity is for you. If not, then try another line until you find the one you prefer.

[aquanaut1]

We have switched back to celebrity after years on rc .

Love it , everything has been fabulous , don't believe everything you read in these cc boards . It's like trip advisor ... if you digest all the feedback on there you'd never go anywhere .

 

 

 

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[2ndtimelucky]

You have booked so you must try, we booked a cruise with Royal Caribbean and really disliked it, luckily the ports were amazing. we did vow cruising wasn't for us....however we spotted a short cruise on Celebrity a few years later so we thought we would give it a go , and here we are 4 cruises later....we are a family of 3 and we all love it, our 10 year old much prefers Celebrity kids club even though RCCL offer the all singing and dancing experience . When we go on holiday its about spending time together having some sunshine , seeing different places . We use the MDR and last cruise we used the buffet quite a lot as there indian and thai food is amazing ,sitting outside in the evenings most nights on our own . Food has always been to a really good standard , some nights outstanding. Its a lovely atmosphere there are some things that don't quite hit the spot but don,t you have that on holidays ,

We have only been on the eclipse as its to of southampton, but it always kept so clean , staff are lovely and very hard working, the rooms are lovely ,

hope you go and enjoy

[aquanaut1]

You have booked so you must try, we booked a cruise with Royal Caribbean and really disliked it, luckily the ports were amazing. we did vow cruising wasn't for us....however we spotted a short cruise on Celebrity a few years later so we thought we would give it a go , and here we are 4 cruises later....we are a family of 3 and we all love it, our 10 year old much prefers Celebrity kids club even though RCCL offer the all singing and dancing experience . When we go on holiday its about spending time together having some sunshine , seeing different places . We use the MDR and last cruise we used the buffet quite a lot as there indian and thai food is amazing ,sitting outside in the evenings most nights on our own . Food has always been to a really good standard , some nights outstanding. Its a lovely atmosphere there are some things that don't quite hit the spot but don,t you have that on holidays ,

We have only been on the eclipse as its to of southampton, but it always kept so clean , staff are lovely and very hard working, the rooms are lovely ,

hope you go and enjoy

 

 

Ditto !!!

My kids love celebrity kids club more than rc.

And we sail eclipse ex Southampton and it's fabulous xx going this year again we live it so much .. you?

 

 

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[hcat]

Dear OP

Do not cancel..enjoy Silhouette.

We'll be on her again in Jan 2018.

She is an excellent choice, esp compared to your Monarch cruise...

[TeaBag]

Silhouette is our favorite ship.

Don't miss the Lawn Club Grill. Enjoy your cruise and find out for yourself what is good and what is not so good, in your opinion, as that is all that matters.

[Cruizen Susan]

I agree with the other posts here about the quality of Celebrity being the best of the large cruiselines. No cruise is "perfect" there is always a glitch or two.

 

Remember that the nature of this site is to be critical, after all it's called CruiseCRITIC. I laugh to myself that the most critical of posters, return to the Celebrity forum time and time again, with many having over 5,000 posts. I wonder why they keep returning and keep sailing on Celebrity if it's so bad? ;)

 

I have literally heard first world complaints such as "the waiter does not offer me fresh ground pepper anymore" or the bread basket in the MDR is no longer warm like it used to be" I could go on and on. So take the criticisms with a grain of salt, many of those negative nellies WISH they were able to cruise Celebrity more often:D

 

Enjoy your cruise! I promise you will!

[ArkansasCruiser73]

Here is my take on Celebrity for what it is worth. We have had a mix of cruise experiences since 2011. Our trip a year and a half ago on Constellation was perfect. I could not have had a better time. Our trip last November on Summit was a mix of good and bad. From that perspective you could say there was a decline. In my view it was a different ship and like a hotel you will have varied experiences across the chain. It also appeared that trip the staff seemed to be recovering from the previous voyage. Just like weather varies, so will the staff and related experiences. Overall, the trips I have taken since 2011 have all been worthwhile and memorable in some way. In my opinion the quality in 2000 and 2004 on Century were higher quality. There are noticeable changes since that time, but are consistent with changes across the industry. I will continue to cruise with celebrity as long as I find value for my money.

 

 

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[villauk]

I wouldn't worry about the service going downhill. After reading some of the recent threads, I'd be more concerned that I actually made the sailing - what with ships being up for sale, pax getting bumped from sailings (not just their cabins) and the round of charters obviously starting again (just read a post about Reflection being chartered again next summer and cruises being cancelled and rescheduled), poor service is the least of your worries :eek:. Apart from all that, Silhouette is a lovely ship :).

[Mr. Click]

In the past three years we have been on the Silhouette twice, the Millennium twice, the Solstice once, before that it was the Equinox and the Summit and we are booked on the Constellation this coming fall. See the trend? Yes, some things have changed but all in all the trips have all been great.

[schlu1dm]

I was worried before our Cruise back in February with all of the negative things I was reading here about the service on Celebrity going downhill. I have been on 3 Celebrity cruises and this last one in February on the Reflection was the best service we have had in any of our cruises ever. We have had suites, concierge class, and this past was Aqua Class. I would not hesitate to because of the comments.

[Zoedokey]

I'm more concerned now about getting bumped off the ship that I booked a year ago than the experience we will get on board. The bumping issue has me rattled.

 

 

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[4774Papa]

We started cruises with Celebrity in December 2011 and have done 9 cruises on five different ships. We have cruised the Caribbean, South America, Europe (Black Sea, MED, British Isles), TransAtlantics, and Asia. We have not noticed a decline in food quality or service.

 

Some things have changed, like the end of cruise brunch in the MDR was eliminated, prices have gone up too much with these darn attached drink packages, but we still love X.

[Texed]

We were on Silhouette in March. We were very pleased. :)

[TFLG]

What didn't you like about your Royal Caribbean cruise? Some things between the two lines are very similar other things are quite different. Tell us what you didn't like about Royal and maybe you can get some useful feedback as opposed to 100 posts just cheerleading about Celebrity (I like Celebrity, but I also like Royal).

[cynbar]

We sailed Silhouette in January and loved her, she is now our favorite Celebrity ship. On all the S class, you will find beautiful, modern ships with good service and an elegant ambiance. Everything in January was not perfect, but it never has been on any of our vacations, and it did not detract from our vacation. In my experience, many of the complaints you see are from longtime cruisers who do not understand that cruising has changed over the years (for all the mainstream lines) and therefore expectations must be different. In the "old" days, everyone had traditional dining and service was stellar because everyone was on the same schedule. But cruisers today want more flexibility, and times have changed. I still think that cruising is a great value and a fun experience, hopefully the OP will enjoy this cruise more than the first.

[karena1]

Hello,

 

New to X, but am getting increasingly concerned with so many posts about the quality of service going downhill. We're sailing on Silhouette in December.

 

Our only other cruise was a disappointing initiation on the Monarch of the Seas (RCCL) about 7 years ago. It has taken this long for us to consider cruising again. We were told by an industry-insider (afterward, of course) that we were on RCCL's "training ship," and that our poor experience was unusual for the line as a whole. Yet...

 

Up until I started reading here, I was under the impression that Celebrity was one of the better lines, and our experience here would be much improved over our other cruise.

 

But reading so much about service decline, food decline, poor staff attitudes, etc. has me quite concerned we're going to be left very disappointed here as well. DH may swear off cruising forever if we have a repeat of the Monarch debacle.

 

Any thoughts? Due to work constraints, we are limited in how and when we can get away, so the longer cruises on the premium lines aren't an option for us just yet.

 

 

Take reviews with a grain of salt. Some people will complain about ANYTHING! We love Celebrity, thought Silhouette was gorgeous, hubby thought food was outstanding. Go try it for yourself and form your own opinions.

[aml3679]

Do not cancel! Celebrity has top notch service and the staff work very hard but some people are hard to please no matter what you do. On board the Equinox and having our best vacation ever.

[NordicPrince]

Contrary to what one poster had stated, the Monarch of the Seas was 72,000 tons or thereabout and held about 2,700 passengers when it was built in 1992. The Silhouette, on the other hand is about 122,000 tons but amazingly has about the same passenger capacity of 2800. So right away you are getting about 60 percent more ship to enjoy. The cabins are roomier and there are more balcony staterooms to enjoy on Silhouette. The S-class ships are very tastefully decorated and classy. We have been on several RCI cruises. We enjoyed them all, but IMHO Celebrity is just that one step above. We have been on 2 of the S-class ships (Equinox 3x) and Reflection (with DD's and SO;s plus DW) and are booked on Eclipse for next year. I for one cannot understand the negativity at all. But then again, I don't stay in suites, I rarely stay in balconys and mostly stay in insides so I don't feel like I am "entitled" to being waited on hand and foot by paying so much. Give you an example. On our last 10 day Equinox cruise our online travel agency offered a bargain price of $7300 for a list $14,000 suite. We paid 1\7th of that p\p for a great inside on deck 9 and had a great time. If I paid that suite price and something went wrong I would be very upset too. IMO people have lost the core enjoyment of being on a ship in the first place. And don't talk about the old days without any perspective. In 1990 we paid $1800 p\p for a 7 day cruise to Bermuda in a very small ocean view cabin where the beds were fixed separately to the cabin floor and if you faced each other your knees touched. You did get midnight buffet every night but food was not available all day in a large buffet, just by room service. Also the ship had no stabilizers and half the ship got terribly sea sick coming home. BTW Monarch no longer sails for RCL but was transferred to the European Pullmantur division of RCI. The standards are little less in that division compared to other mainstream lines.

Bottom line: I don't see how ANYONE can be disappointed in a Celebrity cruise. Not a loyalist, just a realist.

[obxgirl]

We are Elite class on Celebrity and still love the line. We will be on a B2B starting on April 29 and cannot wait. We have never had a problem that we felt was big enough to share with others except for one bad disembarkation in Bayonne that actually resulted from a port problem. Go and enjoy.

[merinski]

Hello,

 

New to X, but am getting increasingly concerned with so many posts about the quality of service going downhill. We're sailing on Silhouette in December.

 

Our only other cruise was a disappointing initiation on the Monarch of the Seas (RCCL) about 7 years ago. It has taken this long for us to consider cruising again. We were told by an industry-insider (afterward, of course) that we were on RCCL's "training ship," and that our poor experience was unusual for the line as a whole. Yet...

 

Up until I started reading here, I was under the impression that Celebrity was one of the better lines, and our experience here would be much improved over our other cruise.

 

But reading so much about service decline, food decline, poor staff attitudes, etc. has me quite concerned we're going to be left very disappointed here as well. DH may swear off cruising forever if we have a repeat of the Monarch debacle.

 

Any thoughts? Due to work constraints, we are limited in how and when we can get away, so the longer cruises on the premium lines aren't an option for us just yet.

 

We didn't like RC either, but Celebrity is great! We have been on the Mercury, which is gone now, and Equinox and are booked for the Solstice. We love Celebrity! The food is good, entertainment and service is good. No comparison to RC . IMHO

[keithm]

Hello,

 

New to X, but am getting increasingly concerned with so many posts about the quality of service going downhill. We're sailing on Silhouette in December.

 

Our only other cruise was a disappointing initiation on the Monarch of the Seas (RCCL) about 7 years ago. It has taken this long for us to consider cruising again. We were told by an industry-insider (afterward, of course) that we were on RCCL's "training ship," and that our poor experience was unusual for the line as a whole. Yet...

 

Up until I started reading here, I was under the impression that Celebrity was one of the better lines, and our experience here would be much improved over our other cruise.

 

But reading so much about service decline, food decline, poor staff attitudes, etc. has me quite concerned we're going to be left very disappointed here as well. DH may swear off cruising forever if we have a repeat of the Monarch debacle.

 

Any thoughts? Due to work constraints, we are limited in how and when we can get away, so the longer cruises on the premium lines aren't an option for us just yet.

Although I complained the food was not up to recent standards on our Eclipse 14 day trip(Jan.22)Which was justified, by the way, we still booked for next Jan. on the Eclipse again(Jan.21 this time)I'm also looking to the Reflection in 2019 for a similar trip. The Eclipse will now be stationed in South America, so we'll look to the Reflection. We still find the staff very good to exceptional & the islands a great time. So overall, I still think you get a relaxing cruise. Princess is quite similar, but avoid SuperBowl week, as it was really nasty that first week.

[rain_bowbrite]

Contrary to what one poster had stated, the Monarch of the Seas was 72,000 tons... [\quote]

 

Thanks for the ship tonnage correction NordicPrince I realized after it was wrong after the edit time limit had passed. The 42k tons in my post was from a quick google search.

 

Mainly just wanted to point out to the OP that tonnage versus passenger capacity does make a difference in cruise enjoyment. At least it has in my cruising experience. 😉

[ralphd]

:cool: From the silent majority - everything is good on Celebrity!