Millennium 1/8/06 to 1/22/06 - Don't shoot the messenger!

[shaq]

We are back from the Millennium 1/8/07 cruise sailing from Valpariso to Buenos Aires around Cape Horn. I would like to make public issues we believe Celebrity should address in their own best interests as well as those of their current and future passengers.

 

They are as follows:

 

(1) Our cabin, 8161, was clean but certainly needed to be refurbished as the bedspreads, the carpet and the draperies all displayed the affects of age and long term use.

 

(2) Our cabin stewart, Rolando, had one of the poorest attitudes I have every witnessed from anyone in the customer service industry. We asked for our mini-bar to be filled since it was empty when we boarded the ship. Our cabin stewart asked for our Sea-Pass sdo that he could refill the mini-bar. We refused to give him our card since you pay for things you consume from the mini-bar after you comsume them, not when the mini-bar is being filled. It took 3 days and 2 telephone calls to Guest Services to get the mini-bar semi-filled.

 

(3) We were in the second seating at table 503, located at the aft of the ship and overlooking the 1st floor of the dining room. It had a full view of the captain's table which was completely set up every night for him and his party. He never once showed up for dinner any night we were there, a fact acknowledged as usual by our excellent table wait staff. However, we ate in the Olympic Restaurant on 2 of the 3 formal nights when he may have eaten in the dining room. In my opinion, this is a snub to all passengers because he is the "top" PR man on the ship and should be out and about.

 

(4) We never saw the captain during the entire cruise.

 

(5) The stench of sewage permeated the area of the Emporium and the entrance halls leading to the theater from the first day to the last.

 

(6) From the start of the cruise until our arrival at Montevideo, every departure from and arrival in all ports (Valpariso, Puerto Montt, Puenta Arenas, Usuhuia and Montevideo) were late.

 

(7) The Mille did not stop at Port Stanley due to very bad seas and strong winds. Completely understandable as we were to be tendered.

 

(8) When we arrived at Puerto Madryn to dock, the sun was shining and a stiff wind was blowing. The ship slowed down but continued on. An announcement was made that the port had been closed because of high winds so we would continue on for an early arrival at Montevideo. Passengers on the ship who had made self arranged tours were informed by their shore contacts that the port had never been closed that day. FYI, the captain of the ship is no longer on the Mille.

 

(9) The food served in the main dining room was no where near the quality of food served on other Celebrity cruises.

 

(10) The soups were horrible. Our wait staff called them "boiled water".

 

(11) the dinner entres were less than exciting with few exceptions. A "real good" piece of beef such as a filet mignon was never offered. Celebrity calls the substitute filet of beef tenderloin. This was not a filet mignon. The lobster on the last night was tasteless.

 

(12) The breakfast omlett station which made exceptional "made to order" omletts and was in the aft of the ship, away from the buffet has now been closed. The buffet's omletts left much to be desired.

 

(13) The previously separated from the buffet pasta station provided excellent "made to order" pasta dishes. This too has been eliminated with the pasta??? station now incorporated into the buffet. The pasta served from the buffet was horrible.

 

(14) Celebrity publishes a daily newspaper which clearly lists the dress codes to be followed in all restaurants for that particular day. However, because of Celebrity's apparent extreme interest in their bottom line, the do not enforce their own dress codes for fear of driving passengers away. On the in-formal and formal nights we witnessed Celebrity allowing passengers into the main dining room dressed in shorts, jeans, T-shirts, sandals and sport pullovers. If Celebrity does not want to follow its own dress codes, then they should make all their cruises entirely casual.

 

(15) We were told the long waits experienced by passengers returning to the ship on tenders was because one of the tenders was inoperable. How can that be when a tender is also a life boat!

 

(16) Communications from the captain were always made by Simon, the CD, and were always too late to really be informative.

 

(17) Celebrity is very rapidly eroding its past solid customer base by not providing the things they say they offer. The bottom line wins as long as they can get some novice passengers.

 

(18) It appears the "word" is spreading because Celebrity is now offering several cruises which include shipboard credit AND free air. I'm sure the Celebrity is now realizing that it does cost more when you do not provide your clients with what they have paid for, both in profits and in operating expenses.

 

Remember, don't shoot the messenger. These are items we believe Celebrity should be addressing for the good of all.

 

Shaq

[florisdekort]

This was (once again) the cruise that missed 2 ports right? Reviews from both the Holiday cruise right before yours and the Cape Horn cruise after yours (that did made it into all ports) have been extremely positive... See http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=293376

 

Also, when I checked your previous postings via your profile, I noticed you were already sending complains to Celebrity before your cruise?

 

December 7:

Last week I emailed jbernheimer@rccl.com to report the problem. Todate I have NOT received an answer. Not a single word. Is this the way that Celebrity, a cruise line who supposedly treats one as a king and "prides itself" on its services handles major passenger complaints?

 

If that is the attiture with which you start a vacation, I kind of understand why you didn't seem to enjoy one single aspect of your cruise...

 

Sorry, but if people complain about 1 or 2 things, I like to thing that they have a point. If they complain about each and every aspect of the cruise, something else must be going on!

 

Best Regards,

Floris

[tbelian]

I would suggest to the op that people here an CC are smarter than what you think. See floris' comment above.

 

You (OP) are entitled to your opinion, and based upon your description of your experience I wouldn't expect you to be sailing Celebrity again. Best of luck with whatever line you choose.

[lysolqn]

I'm not shooting the messenger but the sheer number of complaints you list leads me to belive that,

a) you hit a really bad/off week which, unfortunately does happen from time to time,

b) you're expectations are unreasonable or,

c) you're difficult to please.

 

Frankly, I'm leaning toward b) and/or c) since some of your complaints seem a bit unreasonable, like,

(3) - Who cares if the captain shows up for dinner in the dining room?

(4) - Who cares whether or not the captain is visible during a cruise as long as he keeps the ship afloat and the passengers and crew safe?

(6) - Arrival/departure times are often dependent on things beyond the cruiseline's control.

(7) - Weather is always a factor when cruising.

(8) - I wouldn't necessarily rely on the word of "shore contacts" re why the ship didn't make it into port; there may have been factors about which they were not made aware.

(12) and (13) - What does the location of the omelette and pasta stations have to do with the quality of made to order omelettes and pasta dishes?

16) - On X cruises, it's usually the cruise director who makes the mid-day announcement. Sometimes he may turn the PA system over to the captain, sometimes not. Our experience is that some ship's captains talk too much and others have such a heavy accent, they're difficult to understand - either way, you lucked out. Besides, what's the big deal about the captain making the announcements?

 

I'd like to hear from some of your fellow passengers before I choose between a, b and c, above.

[wrp96]

Frankly, I stopped reading his complaints after reading "the captain didn't show up for dinner in the dining room." What a stupid complaint.

[slotaddict]

You know its funny, I have been on 12 cruises, I have never once seen the Captain at dinner, let alone even where his table was, it never occurred to me to be angry. Maybe I'll write Celebrity a letter and ask for a future cruise credit.

[albertiger]

maybe the Captain should complain to Celebrity that YOU didnt show up in the dining room for 2 or 3 nights! that is the silliest complaint ive ever read here!:rolleyes:

[Cinnamon Seahorse]

I had sailed the Millennium in 2000 and had a marvelous time. Various conflicts kept me from sailing her again until December 2004, this time with five others who had never sailed her.

 

I was embarrassed to have been the one to have chosen the ship. Our butler was worse than useless, and if we tried to contact anyone else for help they routed the call back to our butler. Guest services staff were rude and called us liars until three days later when Miami confirmed we were correct. No apology. The quality of the Olympic dining experience was down, but the price was up. Our Celebrity Suite lacked most of the promised suite amenities--flowers, robes, tote bag, etc.

 

It was disheartening to see how far the standards had slid. DH and I enjoy the suite life, but have vowed never to give Celebrity that kind of money again. We have sailed Celebrity since, when were were able to get a 4 night sailing out of our home town for $225. The experience on the Mercury last September was worth that price, especially considering the convenience.

 

Crappy experiences can and do happen, no matter how much love you have for the cruiseline or ship.

 

Happy sailing, Carla

[Andy]

You know its funny, I have been on 12 cruises, I have never once seen the Captain at dinner, let alone even where his table was, it never occurred to me to be angry. Maybe I'll write Celebrity a letter and ask for a future cruise credit.

 

Hi Slot !

 

Thanks for the best laugh of the day :)

[Cruise or Lose!]

(5) The stench of sewage permeated the area of the Emporium and the entrance halls leading to the theater from the first day to the last.

 

***

 

It should be noted that this problem only seems to occur on SOUTH AMERICAN itineraries where the ship experiences rough seas. I don't think it's justified at any time, but I think people should know that it would appear that this doesn't occur on all voyages.

 

If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me :D

[sdcruiser]

Shaq...

 

Get a life!! Some of your complaints you mention to Celebrity in this post will no doubt make the cruiseline personnel reviewing them laugh...it did me. For example, items 3), 4), 6), 7) and 16) are utterly ridiculous statements. I would bet that these items don't affect the quality of cruises for the large majority of cruisers out there. Item 18) only holds true for those sailings which don't sell well. Most all Celebrity and other cruise lines sailings are full, with capacity increasing year over year for all cruiselines, not just RCCL/Celebrity.

 

On each and every sailing we've been on (Total of 11 cruises on four lines), the Captain dines at the Captain's table on formal nights only. This is standard and something that shouldn't ruin one's dining experience. In fact, it may not even be the Captain at the table on those nights, but other high ranking officers of the ship, whom are chosen to dine at the table with fellow passengers.

 

Hope to not see you on future Celebrity cruises.

 

SDCruiser

[BTDookie]

I would rather the Captain attend to his duties if indeed seas are so rough that ports are being missed.

[Susan-M]

Shaq - I think you have some valid complaints. I won't criticize you for the ones that I'm not sure about because I wasn't on your cruise and therefore not in a position to judge. Next time you post complaints, don't say "Don't shoot the messenger" because as soon as some people read that, they get their ammunition out ;)

 

We were on Millennium for a Med cruise in Sept. and had a wonderful time - but it sounds like things have changed since she came back from Europe.... there have been a lot more complaints lately about Millennium.

 

We were in 8169 - the carpet needed cleaning, the bedspread needed replacing and the shower needed to have mold removed. Nothing we couldn't live with but it was quite noticeable & I thought they might have taken care of these things in drydock in November.

 

We also sat at a table 503 - I loved being next to the floor to ceiling glass windows and overlooking the Captain's table (which was occupied on some nights .... and our tablemates who have reached Elite status dined there one night, so we were able to wave to them :) )

 

The Captain our our cruise was Zisis Taramas and he was quite visible throughout the cruise.

 

We really enjoyed the dining room food, including the soups. We had delicious lobster and filet mignon .... maybe it's harder to provision the ship with good food in S.A. :confused: The omlette stations were great....too bad they've been eliminated.

 

We were lucky enough to have great weather and got into every port, with arrivals and departures on time to the minute ... I can understand the disappointment at missing the ports that you did, late arrivals, and frustration at long waits for tenders.

 

Thanks for sharing .... even when you knew that there would be little support. I like to hear both sides of the story and then pick out info that's important to me.

[newmexicoNita]

I am sure some of Shaq's complaint are legit as he is not a brand new poster like we sometimes see, but I also think something set him off and he found it necessary to start nip picking every little thing!! I too had to laugh about the captain not showing up: if I was invited to dine with Mr Captain, I might be a little unhappy if he didn't show, certainly disappointed, but what difference should it make to our poster. He didn't affect him in any way. I also doubt the crew referred to the soups as boiled water. OP may have complained, called it something like that and crew ageed to save a long discussion. Of course food is subjective and anyone who is truely honest knows the quality of food on all lines has gone down in the past 3 or 4 years. What we enjoyed in 2000 is not what we are getting today.

 

Shaq, you obviously will not cruise Celebrity again, i do hope you find a line or other form of vacation that will meet your needs. In the meanwhile don't let little hills become big mountains in your life; our lives are too short for that. The worst cruise has some positive aspects; a ship that is only about 4 or 5 years old hardly needs all new carpeting and drapes. Be real!!! NMnita

[lysolqn]

I think we may have scared Shaq away; perhaps he's re-thinking some of his complaints.

[Cinnamon Seahorse]

Hi Shaq! Regarding the room refurbishment and subsequent responses. I don't find in your OP where you suggested the entire ship needed to be refurbished, but rather that your particular room was in need. As for the ship being too young to need refurbishment, when we sailed the Millennium in 2004 they refurbished the Celebrity Suite next to ours while we were in port one day. We enjoyed watching it all--stashing of the furniture in the hallway, carpet removal and replacement, etc.

 

Stick to your guns as to what is important TO YOU. We've sailed 20+ cruises on seven cruise lines, and were disappointed enough with the cruises on two of those lines to decide not to sail with them again. That takes some doing, as we love cruising. Or maybe it's because we love cruising.

 

Cruise lines are all different in the type of atmosphere and level of service they provide. Every time I see a Celebrity ad I absolutely cringe--they're touting this high level of service and our 2004 sailing had some of the poorest service we've ever encountered.

 

We've got two cruises booked for this year (DH isn't paying any attention to my reminder that we sailed four times last year....), and I expect them both to be very different.

 

One of them is on what has been our favorite mass-market line, although we haven't sailed NCL since 2000. We're going into it expecting it to be fairly casual, but with no other expectations. NCL made the most sense in terms of itinerary and price. Price was a concern as there are several couples going, some of whom wouldn't be able to afford higher fares. Our first cruise was on NCL for our 10th anniversary, and we could only afford an inside with bunk beds! I guess part of our decision of what line for this sailing is sentiment.

 

Later this year we'll be sailing Crystal. We sailed them for the first time last year and sailed with them three times during the year. Amazing service, and much more traditional than the mass-market lines. Keep searching until you find a cruise line offering the experience you're looking for.

 

Carla

[sdcruiser]

I do agree that objective, and valid complaints should be voiced here at Cruise Critic as well as written in a letter directly to Celebrity. Maybe Shaq wanted to test out the waters here first, before submitting his final version to Celebrity. Not a bad idea if that was his intention.

 

SDCruiser

[dabear]

While some of the complaints were questionable, others are certainly valid. We just got off the 2/4 sailing on the COnnie (4th X cruise) and found the food in main dining room was not as good as last year, xcept for cds, the production shows were the exact same as last year and were before rather than after the late seating. We also did not get certain amenities in our sky suite altho service (xcept for rude sommilier ) was fine. Friends just came back from the Millie in SA and said similiar things as original poster. we've been on other lines and until this experience x was our favorite. Those posters who have not recently exerienced x cruises should perhaps listen and not defend based upon older experiences. We're now going to try Oceania. I truly hope that x takes these comments into serious consideration as they are not coming just from a few constant complainers!

[nu2sea]

I'm still stuck on:

(11) the dinner entres were less than exciting with few exceptions. A "real good" piece of beef such as a filet mignon was never offered. Celebrity calls the substitute filet of beef tenderloin. This was not a filet mignon. The lobster on the last night was tasteless.

 

And where, in your world, does a filet mignon come from? You do realize that the bacon is actually wrapped around a fillet of beef tenderloin, and does not grow there naturally?

 

You are unlikely to find enough filets cut from the narrowest point of a tenderloin to feed 2000 cruisers at a reasonable cost. So X calls it a filet of beef tenderloin. At least they are honest.

 

Some of your complaints, such as the above, sound so trivial that if there were any merit in any of them it gets lost in the clutter. Try to focus on the one or two most serious problems and stop listing incidental irritants. Otherwise you do come across as someone exceedingly difficult to please.

 

Which may not be the case...

 

Susan

[tbelian]

Those posters who have not recently exerienced x cruises should perhaps listen and not defend based upon older experiences.

 

How 'recent' would you consider recent? We cruised Celebrity within the last 4 months. I seriously doubt the decline in food quality and level of service that is being complained about happened that fast. And, going back a little while, I heard the same kind of things being complained about 'ever since RCL took over'. I think this is bunk. We have been on Celebrity ships both before, AND after the merger with RCL, and our experiences have always been up to or exceeding our expectation level. On M class ships, AND C-class ships.

[dabear]

tebelian: look at many other posters saying the same thing about a decline in food taste and quality. I don't expect the food to be the same as a fine dining restaurant, but perhaps my and others expectations are just higher than yours.

[tbelian]

tebelian: look at many other posters saying the same thing about a decline in food taste and quality. I don't expect the food to be the same as a fine dining restaurant, but perhaps my and others expectations are just higher than yours.

 

Sorry, I still have to take issue with that line of reasoning. I see just as many (if not more) posters ringing in on how everything was wonderful on their Celebrity cruise. One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch. Even a few rotten ones do not spoil the whole thing. They must be doing something right. Their ships are mostly sailing full, and prices are up. Even those with extremely high expectations cant seriously think that having a litany of problems like those represented hear can be expected to be taken completely seriously (the captain didnt come to dinner? boy that would sure ruin my cruise. filet mignon vs. filet of beef tenderloin ?.. yup, that's a huge cruise spoiler ... I still can't stop chuckling about Susan's take on that ... I'll have my filet of beef tenerloin without the bacon please!)...

 

We are all entitled to our opinions. At this point, my opinion is that I will continue to cruise Celebrity because it has worked 'for me' . Your mileage may vary. I have low expectations (but high self esteem....:D ).

[DaveFr]

As I read Shaq's message, I had the feeling that I had seen it before. I checked Shaq's past messages and found that on Feb. 5, 2006, he had posted a substantially similar list of complaints from his South American cruise in January. Shaq simply added a couple of complaints and observations to his earlier message.

 

We are back from the Millennium 1/8/07 cruise around Cape Horn and would like to mention issues we believe Celebrity should address in their own best interests as well as those of their current and future passengers.

 

They are as follows:

 

(1) Our cabin, 8161, was clean but certainly needed to be refurbished as the bedspreads, the carpet and the draperies all displayed the affects of age and use.

 

(2) Our cabin stewart, Rolando, had one of the poorest attitudes I have every witnessed from anyone in the customer service industry. We asked for our mini-bar to be filled since it was empty when we boarded the ship. The cabin stewart asked for our Sea-Pass which we refused to give him since you are supposed to pay for things you consume from the mini-bar when you comsume them. It took 3 days and 2 telephone calls to Guest Services to get the mini-bar filled.

 

(3) We were in the second seating at table 503 which is located at the aft of the ship and overlooked the 1st floor of the dining room. It had a full view of the captain's table which was completely set up every night for him and his party. He never once showed up for dinner, a fact acknowledged as usual by our excellent table wait staff. In my opinion this is a snub to all of the passengers because he is the "top" PR man on the ship and should be out and about.

 

(4) We never saw the captain walking about the ship during the entire cruise.

 

(5) The stench of sewage permeated the area of the Emporium and the entrance halls to the theater from the first day to the last.

 

(6) From the start of the cruise until our arrival at Montevideo, every departure from and arrival in all ports was late.

 

(7) The food served in the main dining room was no where near the quality of food served on other Celebrity cruises.

 

(8) Celebrity publishes a daily newspaper which clearly lists the dress codes to be followed in all restaurants for that particular day. However, because of Celebrity's apparent extreme interest in their bottom line, the do not enforce their own dress codes for fear of driving passengers away. On the in-formal and formal nights we saw how Celebrity allowed passengers into the main dining room dressed in shorts, jeans, T-shirts, sandals and sport pullovers. If Celebrity does not want to follow its own dress codes, then they should make all their cruises casual.

 

(9) We were told the long waits experienced by passengers returning to the ship on tenders was because one of the tenders was inoperable. How can that be when a tender is also a life boat!

 

(10) Communications from the captain were always made by Simon, the CD, and were always late.

 

Remember, don't shoot the messenger. These are items we believe Celebrity should be addressing for the good of all.

 

Shaq

While some of the complaints listed appear to be valid, when I see the same negative comments posted several times in separate messages, I wonder if the poster is on a mission to slam a company (Celebrity in this case) because of some perceived wrong done to the poster. The repeated complaints coupled with some silly complaints such as not seeing the Captain at dinner lead me to believe a mission to spread negative publicity about Celebrity may be what's happening here.

[Cruise or Lose!]

I don't go on a cruise for the food. I'm picky and cruising allows me to try new dishes in a relaxed atmosphere.

 

Most of the complaints revolved around the Captain. I don't happen to give a flying fig whether or not the Captain eats dinner at his own table. It's HIS table, not mine. I concentrate on the people I'm eating with, and have confidence that the ship is in good hands.

[USSFRef]

This was originally posted on 2/5 - why the re-post?