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

[mii]

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

 

Good question??? Also while we are on this subject the OP stated that the pasta bar was not opened during I would presume at lunch. I just looked on my sheet that I keep with times of dining and the pasta bar does not open until 3:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m. On the Infinity we had the pasta bar but it was in the AFT of the ship but not where the buffet was. I am hoping that someone who has been on these sister ships can verify that.

 

Marilyn

[dabear]

I clearly am not out on a mission to slam X and as my original post said, some of the complaints were silly (capt absent at dinner filet vs filet of beef tenderloin) but others could and do have some credibility. Some people think fast food is great. As far as ships sailing full at higher costs, that is based on past reputation and also could be last minute wholesaling which does occur on all lines). Pam Am, eastern and TWA at one time were great, but things including quality declined. I believe that I have reasonable expectations and high self esteem. Accept what you want. ps , the pasta bar was opened as advertised on Connie and the sushi was just fine.

[wolfganghowell]

We were fortunate to dine at the Captains' Table on our RCI November cruise. However, the Staff Captain joined us not the Captain. I guess I should expect a shipboard credit now.

 

I have been on Millie twice and am looking forward to returning to her in 45 days. I am concerned about the reports of sewage smell but will pack air freshener - we had a few whiffs of sewage on our November cruise too.

 

In 8 cruises, I have not seen the captain every time either. I have no expectation of seeing him. Usually when we have it has been at an organized ship event for Captains Club/Crown & Anchor. It seems to be a no win situation - if he is seen wandering about the ship being "The PR Man", how many times do you suppose he hears "Who's driving the ship?" Boy, I bet he can't hear that one often enough!

 

I'm confused about the whole omelette station subject. That is one thing X really prides itself on - the made to order omelette. I think that one can easily be answered by a thread asking the direct question.

 

As for the mini bar issue, this might be attributed to a simple language barrier issue. If you had something specific you wanted in your mini bar, you might have simply asked for it. I seem to recall that the attendant is indeed financially responsible for the mini bar so if you asked for "everything" rather than "2 bottles of water and Snickers bar", it might be reasonable that he asked for the card. I can't see how this became such an ordeal other than a language issue.

 

As for food - each person is different. I've heard nothing but immense praise for the soups and appetizers with various responses on entrees.

 

I hope the OP filled out their passenger survey and I hope that X takes their surveys seriously.

 

The OP may be sincere in their complaints but it might be more acceptable to also list a few things that were positive.

[ocngypz]

Captain hosts the table on one formal night.. normally the first. Then other officers host the table.. sometimes late.. sometimes early.

 

Good thing the Captain didn't do the mid-day announcements! Chances are you would not have understood him!!

[dabear]

really don't care if I see the captain during dinner or for that matter, during the cruise. It just isn't a relevant consideration. It's more important for the capt to make sure of a safe and secure ship. Please refer to my 2/4/06 mini review of the Connie, which I believe you will conclude has both positive and negative comments and we did submit the survey.

[Blazerboy]

Well, it's a win-win for me. On the one hand, Op may indeed sow the seeds of discontent, and cabins will become cheaper, due to lack of demand.:) But, to be fair, maybe OP's complaints (the real ones) WILL spur Celebrity to fix some things. And then I am the beneficiary of that, too!:D

 

And I'll leave it at that.

 

Andrew

[nu2sea]

Well, it's a win-win for me. On the one hand, Op may indeed sow the seeds of discontent, and cabins will become cheaper, due to lack of demand.:) But, to be fair, maybe OP's complaints (the real ones) WILL spur Celebrity to fix some things. And then I am the beneficiary of that, too!:D

 

And I'll leave it at that.

 

Andrew

 

Andrew, you are the eternal optomist! Really love that lemonade don't you?:)

 

Susan

[Blazerboy]

All the better for making me pucker up!:D

 

Andrew

[Susan-M]

Well, it's a win-win for me. On the one hand, Op may indeed sow the seeds of discontent, and cabins will become cheaper, due to lack of demand.:) But, to be fair, maybe OP's complaints (the real ones) WILL spur Celebrity to fix some things. And then I am the beneficiary of that, too!:D

 

And I'll leave it at that.

 

Andrew

 

If cabins become cheaper we can look forward to even more budget cuts .... and more "tales of woe" from disgruntled cruisers. I agree with your second point.... but not sure how they can make improvements with the cut-throat competition that they are faced with.

[poetic license]

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

 

Perhaps the OP did not receive the amount of attention s/he was seeking? Or the responses they hoped for?

 

As other posters have said, most of the 'problems' were non-problems at best.

 

The OP does have a point about the need for soft goods replacement, though. This is one area where Celebrity is VERY weak, and goes far too long between replacements. Of course ships are going to get a lot of wear and tear, as there are over 2000 passengers and a 1000 crew members on them every single day of the year. The crew does everything humanly possible to make the ship sparkle, but even they are human. ;) Celebrity needs to realize that their super-crews cannot work miracles with worn out softgoods, no matter how hard they try. That said, the wear and tear on them won't RUIN a cruise for me, but rather make me wonder how much HQ cares about it's sterling reputation and their own fleet.

 

Cheers,

[Susan-M]

Perhaps the OP did not receive the amount of attention s/he was seeking? Or the responses they hoped for?

 

I think his earlier post was part of another thread.... and perhaps he thought it deserved more attention .... he's entitled to repost if he wants (at least I haven't noticed any rules to the contrary.)

 

 

As other posters have said, most of the 'problems' were non-problems at best.

They were problems to the OP - do the other posters' opinions count more?

[BSeaBob]

**Bang**:D

 

oops

[Susan-M]

**Bang**:D

 

oops

 

You weren't supposed to shoot the messenger!! :D

[Blazerboy]

Bob!:eek: How could you?

 

Susan, while tongue in cheek in my post, I do have to write that, as much as I sing kumbayah around campfires, as much as I participate in emotional support groups in the workplace, as much as I have studied EST, Macrobiotics, and tofu recipes 101, as much as I live the groovey, let-it-be California lifestyle, I can be snarky enough to say that:

 

"The Captain not dining in the dining room, at another table, on another floor, except maybe those three night one doesn't dine there, but it's still an insult" is pretty much the poster child for a "non-problem."

 

The devil made me do it!:o

 

Andrew

[poetic license]

They were problems to the OP - do the other posters' opinions count more?

 

No, but this is a board for soliciting opinions, comments, and seeking answers to questions. If the OP wants only the opinions of those who may agree with him/her, then boy oh boy, this is the wrong place to be. ;)

 

I agree with several other respondants that I don't consider the visibility of the Captain nor his dining habits nor his lack of his personal PA announcements nor late times into/out of ports as true 'problems'. I bet you don't either. :D

 

Cheers,

[Susan-M]

OK....I agree that some (maybe many) of the things the OP mentions wouldn't faze me - .... but I'm not about to defend Celebrity as if it were my "firstborn" the way some people do :)

[poetic license]

[quote name='Susan-M']OK....I agree that some (maybe many) of the things the OP mentions wouldn't faze me - .... but I'm not about to defend Celebrity as if it were my "firstborn" the way some people do :)[/quote]

Me either, Susan. I'll high five you on that one! ;)

[dileep]

[quote name='shaq'](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.
[/quote]

We were on the Jan 22 cruise and the same Captain hit all ports. We we got to Puerto Madryn, we asked our private tour operator and they told us that they had 70 mph winds on the day you were supposed to dock. Your captain may have decided that it was unsafe to attempt to dock!

He took us into the Falklands even though the seas were somewhat rough. They set the tenders out for 15-20 minutes to see if it was safe to start debarking passengers. They decided to do so but announced that the tenders would travel slower than usual.

The Captain left towards the end as part of a normal rotation. And by the way, the new captain on the Feb 5 sailing decided to skip the Falklands based on a forecast of gale force winds that did not materialize!!!

[quote name='shaq'](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.

Shaq[/quote]

On our cruise, there was one open with Anthony from Jamaica doing the cooking on the port side. There was another omelet station on the starboard side half way down the aisle that I did not use.

I am sorry that you had all these unpleasant experiences. We had a fantastic time!!!!

[RickandAnne]

I've noticed that food quality isn't always perfect, but I still gain 5 to 8 pounds a cruise. I've noticed that there might some signs of age in the cabins, but I still sleep well. I've found rust on the veranda, but I still enjoy being outdoors. And as weird as this may sound, we even sat at table 503 on our last cruise and noticed the captain's table unused for most of the time, but it didn't set me off my appetite (we just figured he didn't eat at both sittings). I even lost track of the omelet station, but I found it on the other side.

I guess I just never realized how lousy a time I was having.:D

Rick

[dabear]

thank you susan m: I will strongly defend my first born and for that matter my second and third. On the other hand people are permitted to give their honest opinions, good or bad on these boards. I hope the readers can detect those few posters that constantly slam cruise lines. On the other hand, many of us imho are trying to give a fair and unbias op of our experiences. X was and may still be our favorite line, however, we and others have experienced similiar disappointments on recent cruises and have made comments to forwarn others and hope that x reads and corrects them. If others want to blindly defend x, perhaps they should get a new pair of non rose colored glasses and they probably still think that Nixon was innocent.

[sdcruiser]

Honest, reasonable opinions are great feedback for fellow passengers and the Cruiselines. However, half of the OP's list of items are utterly ridiculous. The OP seems to be an experienced cruiser, not a first timer. Therefore, it would seem to me that the comments made about the Captain and being late in the ports should be expected and not mentioned, at least here. Comments about food quality, cabin service, wear and tear, etc, are reasonable complaints people have and are something Celebrity can address and fix.

Also, was there nothing about the cruise the OP liked? Seems they didn't see any good whatsoever from the cruise. Maybe they need their own personal cruiseline with the highest expectations possible.

SDCruiser

[cechase]

I tend to disregard reviews like the op's post when there is not a single positive experience posted in the review.

I usually post a review here after each of our Celebrity cruises, and while I have mentioned some negative comments, I have always had many positive comments to post, and each of our five Celebrity experiences have been overall a wonderful cruise.

On our Galaxy cruise last Oct., and our Mercury cruise this Jan., we felt that the quality of the food in the dining room was a notch down what we have experienced on Century two times. But, except for waiter and asst. waiter problems on Mercury, we found the ships to be in wonderful shape, wonderful, happy and very helpful staff, and on Mercury the best ever butler, cabin steward and asst. cabin steward to be the best team that we had ever experienced.

Am sure that the op would be happier on another line so just drop it and move on rather than make multiple posts. Next time, isn't there at least one thing that made your cruise experience just that much better?

[prosenbl]

We had dinner with Captain Karatzas and his lovely wife in the Main Dining room of the Millenium on the 12/23 trip prior to yours. This is a permanent post for him unless he is on vacation. What do you mean when you say "he is no longer on the ship"?

[dileep]

[quote name='prosenbl']We had dinner with Captain Karatzas and his lovely wife in the Main Dining room of the Millenium on the 12/23 trip prior to yours. This is a permanent post for him unless he is on vacation. What do you mean when you say "he is no longer on the ship"?[/quote]

He left the ship quietly in early February (Feb 3 in Puerto Montt, I think) on his regular vacation. There was no announcement. Just that the noon announcements were made by the CD Simon and his asst the next 2 days.

[flatwallet]

I still haven't figured out why this is titled "Don't shoot the messenger". Who is the messenger?????:confused: