Disappointed with Celebrity Silhouette Jan 26/18 - Feb4/18

[paulh84]

I'm sure Captain Peppas did the best he could. We were on the Jan 26th cruise and missed our entire first stop because of weather. So a 2 hour delay is very lucky considering.

 

We hit severe weather and by the 2nd sea day at 10am we were already running 7 hours behind.

 

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We also had a number of passengers miss the ship in Fort Lauderdale who joined in San Juan. I’m sure they were trying their hardest to get there and avoid skipping the stop all together, but the wind and waves were pretty rough.

 

 

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[Bytor62]

I’m happy to see that you had a great experience! Was your wonderful wait staff in the MDR?

 

Yes the MDR, 8:30 seating. Really can't say enough about them.

[jhs205]

We were on the 2/3 Silhouette sailing. Disappointed in level of staff friendliness and service in general, especially in Blu. Entertainment was lackluster. Sailed on Summit 6 months ago, and service & entertainment was outstanding so not jumping to conclusion that Celebrity in general is going downhill. At least I hope not!

 

 

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[Jleegb]

It always makes me sad when someone gets "depressed" because of things they read on a public message board. Your cruise is a long ways off and you should be looking forward to it instead of getting bummed. I've sailed Celebrity for years and if you go back and read my reviews, you'll see I'm always honest about the good and the bad of any cruise. We've had plenty of great cruises and others that have been less than stellar.

 

There is no question that many of the things described in this thread are true. Staff cutbacks and cost cutting have been seen in the cruise industry and Celebrity continuously now for some time. I've seen this across all mass-market lines (Celebrity, RCCL, Princess, HAL, Carnival). We can cruise Celebrity now for less than we did five years ago. Something has to give when the cost of cruising has been essentially the same (or less) for years.

 

We had a great cruise on Solstice last summer in Alaska and sail Silhouette in a couple of weeks. I know before I get onboard that the experience won't be the same as it was 10 - 15 years ago. But we still cruise to get away and relax. For the most part, we love Celebrity's crew.

 

Like so many things, it's about expectations. I'll write an honest review when we return. I can comfortably say that no matter what happens in the next two years before you sail, that Celebrity should still be a step up from Carnival. I hope you can start looking forward to your cruise again!

We did a TransAtlantic on the Silhouette in Aril 2017 and had a great experience, Equinox in January of 2018. Granted we are new cruisers but the value to us was stellar, Concierge and Aqua classes. Transatlantic coming up April on the 15th and it is again on the Silhouette and we are looking forward to another wonderful cruise, love the captain and the crew always seem to be in a great mood. Cabin attendant brought us extra pillows and blankets for the crossing and there was nothing we ask for that he did not do his best to deliver. I think fellow cruisers, who have cruised multiple times, might get a little jaded from previous experiences and I know they have seen better economic times but we think the value is outstanding. $300 dollars a day seems like a great deal for Aqua Class to Europe, food and lodging. Anyway, we are excited about more cruises with Celebrity and hope that we do not get to annoyed with the service or food. Thanks to all for the comments though.

[Silkroad]

Yes the MDR, 8:30 seating. Really can't say enough about them.

 

Thanks for your reply:) We sail on her in June, and we’re booked for Select Dining. The early fixed seating is way too early for us, and the late seating can be problematic on a port intensive itinerary such as ours, but you’ve got me considering late seating again. DH and I are not ones to dash in, bolt our food and race out when we dine, and the last time we had late seating (on our first cruise) our table of six routinely left the dining room no earlier than 10:30. Of course, Celebrity served more courses back then, and one of the others at our table often ordered two starters.

[Tiggertastic]

Unfortunately the standard on our reflection cruise left me underwhelmed. It doesn’t put me off celebrity but there were too many combinations of things wrong. Mdr poor service and cold food delivered 3 times, cruise director lacking, no parties in sky bar that we usually get but 3 silent discos and terrible service at sunset bar and mast bar with lots of ‘no we don’t have any diet soda, wine, can’t make you that drink even if you do tell me what’s in it’, cabin door being left open by steward and nowhere to be seen. Things happen but we too had too many things happen. Hoping next one better.

 

 

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[Silkroad]

Unfortunately the standard on our reflection cruise left me underwhelmed. It doesn’t put me off celebrity but there were too many combinations of things wrong. Mdr poor service and cold food delivered 3 times, cruise director lacking, no parties in sky bar that we usually get but 3 silent discos and terrible service at sunset bar and mast bar with lots of ‘no we don’t have any diet soda, wine, can’t make you that drink even if you do tell me what’s in it’, cabin door being left open by steward and nowhere to be seen. Things happen but we too had too many things happen. Hoping next one better.

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That sounds terrible. I would be furious about the cabin door! We were on Reflection last April, and it was one of our best cruise experiences, though we didn’t have great service in Sunset Bar either. I know there have been many crew changes since then, but I had hoped we’d have another great experience when we board her later this year. Was your cruise during the holidays?

[helen haywood]

Could you elaborate on what you mean by terrible service at the Sunset Bar?

 

 

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[PhD-iva]

If you go on the Oceania message boards, many people are complaining about the decline in food and service. I think this problem is across the board.

 

 

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I spend a lot of time on the Oceania message boards. My impression is that there are more complaints about a decline in the quality of product and service on Celebrity than on Oceania. However, perhaps I am mistaken.

My DH and I have sailed three times on Celebrity, and we have a July 2018 sailing booked on Millennium. In June 2016 we sailed on our first Oceania cruise in the Baltics with an overnight in St. Petersburg. Now Oceania is my favorite cruise line. The food is much better in my opinion both in the main dining room and especially in the Oceanview cafe.

I expect that part of the appeal for me is that I have found I prefer to cruise on a smaller ship. My DH does not value the type of evening entertainment offered on Celebrity (which I think is v good), so the lack of extensive production shows like those available on Celebrity is not a disadvantage to us.

Truth be told, I would rather sail on Celebrity than not sail at all.

 

 

 

 

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[movie buff]

This is a very interesting thread. Lots of different input and experiences. I have sailed on many different lines. The two lines I have sailed most are Celebrity and Crystal. Crystal has much smaller ships less people and as they say you get what you pay for. The big difference is I can sail in a suite on Celebrity for what I have to pay Crystal in just a standard outside cabin. I like Celebrity very much but on a different level than Crystal. I know what to expect with the Celebrity product and am fine with it. It is not perfect but still good. I expect perfection with Crystal but you can find the same complaints about how the service has decreased in some areas on Crystal.

I really can not say I have had any problems with what Celebrity delivers for service. In fact I am amazed at the level of service they do provide with the larger ships and passenger counts that exceed 2000 people. Some people are upset with the way Celebrity prices the cruise far in advance then discounts most of the time after final payments are made. In my opinion they now way over price the cruises far in advance and they only end up selling maybe half of the ship. Then are forced with reducing prices to fill it up after the final payment date. You can really find bargains then. That is when I book. I understand that is not a option for many because you need to plan ahead. That is what Celebrity and other cruise lines hope for. I have given up planning ahead and just book my vacation time dates to lock in a time frame. Then go shopping around for deals on different cruise lines closer in when you find what are considered bargains. Celebrity sometimes has the best deals close in. It is all a game you need to play if you want to try and save money. Or if you have plenty of money just buy what you want and pick out the perfect cabin location and forget what the future price reduction might be.

[travelberlin]

Unfortunately declining value seems to be an issue on all brands of the Royal Caribbean family. Increasing prices with diminishing services are not rare anymore.

What Celebrity is concerned, our last cruise was with the Equinox to New Orleans for the Jazz festival last year. We have enjoyed it very much. In our case, I think it helps that we have not decided to stick just to one cruise line. We are finding new companies that meet our expectations.

Ivi