Not to pile on, but it’s bad…

[cwayne]

3 hours ago, weregoingcruising said:

I'm positive I was happy on my last cruise.

I know we were!! Jan 23-Feb 3 on the Constellation  and odds are really good that we will be on our next one!!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 18, 2023 by cwayne

[weregoingcruising]

26 minutes ago, cwayne said:

I know we were!! Jan 23-Feb 3 on the Constellation  and odds are really good that we will be on our next one!!

 

 

 

 

 

We will also because we will find things that make us happy. 

[goofysmom99]

I'm delighted to be on the Summit where the things I enjoy most when cruising are mostly 8, 9, or 10 out of 10.  I have noticed a few rough edges on some crew.   Last night had to get dressed and head out into the hallway after midnight to find the person making a seriously loud racket for the second night in a row.  It was a guy with a mop in the stairwell that's just a few feet forward of the penthouse. He had the door open and trays and dishes were crashing, doors slamming from the kitchen two floors down.  He was playing music loudly on his phone, too.  

 

 Room service has been excellent.  I think they may have upped their game a bit since there's a charge now.  This morning someone called just as I received my breakfast to see if everything was ok and quickly remade my eggs (they were over easy rather than medium = uncooked egg white) which came lickety-split on a burn-your-fingers hot plate.  

 

As I sit here typing in al Bacio, think I'll scan-in the comment QR code and write some room service and crewmember attaboys and then add the noise complaint so someone else can handle it tonight.  Except for that, great cruise and no complaints about food so far.  Have not been up to OVC at dinnertime, though.  Will do that next week so I can get pix.

[Texed]

Ruth, thanks for posting.  😊

[NMTraveller]

On 2/17/2023 at 8:51 AM, bigbenboys said:

What we were doing instead. January we did a land vacation to an inclusive resorts in Playacar, Mexico. April going to Las Vegas to see Patti LuPone. June to see friends living in Turks and Caicos. Dec we will visit friends in England for Christmas.

I'm hoping 2024 will be a better year for Celebrity.

If you are going to see other shows in Las Vegas such as O make sure that you book early.  They fill up fast.

[morfred]

5 hours ago, weregoingcruising said:

We will also because we will find things that make us happy. 

I am not paying big bucks to "find things", they should be finding me.

[weregoingcruising]

22 minutes ago, morfred said:

I am not paying big bucks to "find things", they should be finding me.

I hope they find you so you won't be on the ship unhappy.

Happy cruising to you.

[morfred]

27 minutes ago, weregoingcruising said:

I hope they find you so you won't be on the ship unhappy.

Happy cruising to you.

Oh you do not have to worry that I will be unhappy on the ship. A cruiseline that wants to make ME happy will find me! There's more than one you know.

[Georgia_Peaches]

On 2/17/2023 at 5:52 PM, Married90 said:

I have seen it time and time again over the past month when a person bucks the trend and states a positive comment they get slammed

Yes!...and don't you dare say you like the meatloaf lest you get accused of not knowing what good food really is...😂  Can't help myself!  Love meatloaf and if they served it as meatloaf sandwich leftovers the next day in the OVC, I'd eat that too!  

 

Seriously, though.  I do understand the concern regarding using cheaper cuts of meat and fish.  The gripe is valid, IMO.

[cwayne]

47 minutes ago, morfred said:

Oh you do not have to worry that I will be unhappy on the ship. A cruiseline that wants to make ME happy will find me! There's more than one you know.

Lol!!!

[BermudaBound2014]

8 hours ago, cwayne said:

I know we were!! Jan 23-Feb 3 on the Constellation  and odds are really good that we will be on our next one!!

 

 

 

 

 

I sailed Jan 13-23 on Connie and fell in love with the ship and crew too. Would love to sail her again, even with the food cuts. 

[cwayne]

8 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

I sailed Jan 13-23 on Connie and fell in love with the ship and crew too. Would love to sail her again, even with the food cuts. 

Lol! They didn't cut enough...I still gained over 3lbs. We had a great time and met some really fun people who we may never cross paths with again but whom we will never forget and will always wish them smooth sailings. What we ate is long gone and forgotten but the laughs and the stories never leave you!

Monika

Edited February 19, 2023 by cwayne

[HMR74]

8 hours ago, kidz_rn said:

Just disembarked from Beyond last week. Ship sailed at 100% capacity. X appears to be heading toward profit nirvana, not bankruptcy liquidation.

How can you tell that just by looking at 100% capacity? 
 

RCL consolidated just saw its interest cost increase from 400 mil a year to 1.6 billion a year.  That chews up a lot of profit. Back in 2019 RCL consolidated when it was running 10 billion in sales and capacity was 104%, earned 2 billion of profit before interest. 
 

just remember, the number 1 goal of a business is to make money. Everything else is tied to ways to make money like keeping  customers happy.

[luv4cruises]

On 2/11/2023 at 7:20 PM, OysterD said:

Can I ask what exactly was worse 'in literally every way'?

 

You mentioned food and not enough staff but that was all. Ships being crowded isn't a bad thing, you can't expect them to sail half full forever more or else they'll go bankrupt. 

 

What was so terrible about the food and what was so terrible about service? And was there anything else or was your statement about everything being worse just hyperbole?

 

I'll ignore the covid comment because that's nothing to do with Celebrity and was just speculation on your behalf. In December half the people I know, including myself, had a cough, but none us had covid. We all just had a variety of colds, flus and chest infections. Such is life. 

The fact that Prime Rib, Beef Wellington, better cuts of beef, a second tiny lobster tail have disappeared from the MDR menu. Entree selections are reduced, charge for room service- I would agree that Celebrity is no longer a premium cruise line. All of this was revealed to many of us after Jan 1 as a surprise -long after we had booked future cruises. So many of us had booked one product and will receive a lesser one.  To me that is a typical bait and switch, snd not the respectful treatment of their guests I would expect from Celebrity. Making excuses for Celebrity due to Covid losses doesn’t excuse them from notifying their guests and especially their pre booked guests of the unexpected changes. Celebrity can do better.

[luv4cruises]

9 minutes ago, luv4cruises said:

The fact that Prime Rib, Beef Wellington, better cuts of beef, a second tiny lobster tail have disappeared from the MDR menu. Entree selections are reduced, charge for room service- I would agree that Celebrity is no longer a premium cruise line. All of this was revealed to many of us after Jan 1 as a surprise -long after we had booked future cruises. So many of us had booked one product and will receive a lesser one.  To me that is a typical bait and switch, snd not the respectful treatment of their guests I would expect from Celebrity. Making excuses for Celebrity due to Covid losses doesn’t excuse them from not notifying their guests and especially their pre booked guests of the unexpected changes. Celebrity can do better.

 

[ivanidea]

I'm currently on the Connie, since Monday 13th February.

My observations and experiences are:

Lesser in room breakfast menu, with a charge for what used to be free.  No big deal since we prefer to dine in Blu, but object to paying for the convenience on the days we may need it.

Service in Blu is mostly good, with one isolated incident where we were sat for 30 minutes before the Maitre D came up to ask if we needed the sun blinds adjusting.  We told him how long we had been waiting, and soon received service.  Hopefully just an isolated incident.

One morning, due to an early excursion, we went to the buffet for breakfast.  There was no English bacon available.  One of the staff members was surprised, and went to look for some, only to be told there was none left (at least for the morning buffet).  The quality of the croissants were poor too compared to Blu.  I can't comment on the MDR breakfast though.

Minor inconveniences, and not likely to prevent me from booking another cruise with Celebrity (yet).

A bigger issue though, is the computerised tills have not been updated for the current drinks packages.  The premium package covers drinks up to $17, yet we receive a charge for any drink over $15, which means we have to go to guest services to get it removed, which takes over 24 hours.  This is a pain, and should be easily fixed, especially after 2 months since the price increase.

I can't fault any of the staff on board, and the food quality has been good, although disappointed to see that the buffet is back to self service.  I felt much safer when staff members served the food.

At least the muster drill is still virtual.

In the big scheme, my rant is little, and hasn't affected my enjoyment of the cruise, or prevent me from booking another one.

Appropriate feedback has been or will be given to Celebrity at the appropriate time.

[goofysmom99]

Finally made it up to OVC tonight on Summit.  The place was busy.  The open stations were all at the back, futher back than the aft elevators.  Stir fry, pasta station, grill station.  Every station was busy, busy, especially stir fry.  I had to ask many people if I could get by just to grab a photo.  I have to admit I was expecting to be disappointed but happy to say I was not.  I think they may have found a happy medium.

Pasta station.  GF spaghetti carbonara is pretty good.

Stir fry

And some of the others.

 

I took a lot of pix but there were people in most so won't be posting them.  The place was crowded at 6:30.

 

 

[JeanieC,Aston]

On 2/13/2023 at 9:14 AM, wineoclock said:

We will be in AQ in May but are usually in a suite. Can no longer justify higher fares now we are both retired. I’m sure we will notice a difference.

 

The difference being I won’t have cooked the food, served or washed the dishes. I won’t have cleaned the bathroom or made the bed. That alone makes me a happy customer. 
 

However if price is right we will try a move up bid - if we succeed then grand. If not we are happy with our choices. 

You could employ a housekeeper for a week and pay them £6000.

[Cruise a holic]

On 2/12/2023 at 8:03 AM, Duanerice1 said:

Coming back after a 5 year hiatus.  Talked my wife into paying the premium fee for Celebrity because of what I remember.  
 

One of the main selling points was she could have a nice hot room service breakfast every day.  After 6 cruises with just continental breakfast she was sold.  Then come January and they killed that, prime rib and extra lobster (even Carnival allows 2 and then it’s $5 for the 3rd) and all other free room service.   We use it a lot. 
 

sure, not the end of the world but when I bought my cruise that is what I what I bought.  They didn’t refund me anything for taking away benefits. No OBC to offset the cost of my room service….  And yea, they can change anything they want at any time.  Just don’t charge me a premium for a lesser product.  If you do, a refund or free cancel Would have been in order.  They changed this right after I made final payment. 
 

Of course we will have a great time but I could have saved a lot and gotten the same benefits. 

 

 

I understand your dismay.  However, when I now go food shopping, I feel I spend 50% more.  Everything is now so expensive, our utilities cost a joke!.  I am glad that we still can get a wonderful cruise experience on Celebrity.  Our favorite cruise line.  Will either pay a fee for the "hot" breakfast- go to the restaurant or buffet.  Honestly the lobster tails weren't that good- not large New England tails-  Carnival is a bad experience even withfree lobster daily. No comparison.

 

Edited February 24, 2023 by Cruise a holic

[kearney]

One problem I see with the changes..will be the reaction of people who haven't been on Celebrity since before the Pandemic.... we sailed in '20 just before and twice in '22. There were so many changes during that period due to health protocols.. reduced capacity and staffing as a result... that like the frog in a pot of slowing heated water... we pretty much went with the flow. So these new changes, while annoying are part of the pattern and we understand the pressure businesses are under with inflation and past supply issues. But I think it would be more of a shock if we hadn't cruised during this period... and suddenly the experience is not what we remembered.  I have to be honest.. the room service changes and extra charge for additional lobster and other similar changes don't really bother me... but dropping Beef Wellington and prime rib along with dining room service issues... bother me more... along with the significantly higher fares... I hope the executive office is following CC.. Candidly I don't think I have seen so many comments on service and quality before...

[calicakes]

I remember my first or 2nd cruise on X in 2014/2015.  We did a gally tour( free) and the Food and Beverage director said that X spends more per passenger on food than other lines in the same class.  I don't think they could say the same now. 

 

We were on Reflection in September( I blogged it).  It was our first Suite experience on X.  Desserts in Luminae were better than AQ desserts and much better than OV.  The food was good, not mind blowing, but good.   Sadly, I saw a lot of the cuts in OVC.  We've deflected over to Oceania.  We had a wonderful experience a year go on our first Oceania cruise.  The food was so much better, I loved the small less crowded ships.   We do have 1 more X cruise booked for Great barrier reef( 2024) because the price was great and it is on the Edge.  Coincidentally, after that cruise, we'll finally reach Elite status. 

[HMR74]

12 minutes ago, kearney said:

One problem I see with the changes..will be the reaction of people who haven't been on Celebrity since before the Pandemic.... we sailed in '20 just before and twice in '22. There were so many changes during that period due to health protocols.. reduced capacity and staffing as a result... that like the frog in a pot of slowing heated water... we pretty much went with the flow. So these new changes, while annoying are part of the pattern and we understand the pressure businesses are under with inflation and past supply issues. But I think it would be more of a shock if we hadn't cruised during this period... and suddenly the experience is not what we remembered.  I have to be honest.. the room service changes and extra charge for additional lobster and other similar changes don't really bother me... but dropping Beef Wellington and prime rib along with dining room service issues... bother me more... along with the significantly higher fares... I hope the executive office is following CC.. Candidly I don't think I have seen so many comments on service and quality before...

4 years ago long time X cruisers were talking about the decline in food quality and presentation specifically about the MDR which at that time was I think Just S class ships, not sure when Edge was introduced.

 

Today its food quality and quantity, policies and cost. I have to think that if food selections were maintained (eg the prime rib and  wellington) the prices would be taken with a grain of salt except for a good sized portion of cruisers who need to watch what they spend which if not absolute can be somewhat flexible. said another way, it appears some cruisers seem to have unlimited amounts to spend, or act that way. Most do not have unlimited and for the money liked the cost effective cruises where on X were treated rather well--the shine is off that now.

 

 

[cruisin from florida]

We're on the Silhouette right now. Ship is beautiful. MDR food and service were good, no problem with the number of selections. Chair hogs are out IN FORCE, but that's the only negative for us so far. 

Sky is firmly overhead.!@^

[barbels]

We were on the Jan 30 Silhouette cruise and had a much better time than the reviews made me worry about.  We were in Blu for the first time so couldn't compare it with the way things used to be and we didn't experience the MDR (the place we ate dinner on our many past cruises).  We were quite happy with the food in Blu.  Our waiter and assistant waiter for breakfast and dinner (Adolf and Andrezza could not have been better.)  I actually did order the onion soup from the MDR menu one night and it wasn't as good as I remember.  But given that we ate rack of lamb, filet mignon, duck breast and some really delicious fish, not tilapia incidentally, there really wasn't anything for me to complain about.

We only ate lunch in the buffet and didn't notice much of a change.  I was prepared to be disappointed by the disappearance of tea time but at least on that cruise the scones were there.

I thought the entertainment was fine.  There was a lot of music around the ship- the party band was great and the featured performers were excellent.

So we booked another cruise on the Silhouette for next year.  It was much more expensive than what we paid for the 2023 cruise but we thought it was worth the price.

Compared to an ocean view room in the Hollywood Marriott with no food or entertainment, it's actually cheap.

[goodoldan]

On 2/11/2023 at 8:25 PM, buckeye8810 said:

Since the start of the year, I know there’s been a lot of handwringing about the changes Celebrity has made. We just got back from a 10-night Eastern Caribbean…and I can confirm things are worse than before, in literally every way.

 

Ships are more crowded, and there’s clearly not enough staff to accommodate the increase in passengers. Food is significantly worse…and the wait staff was running around like their hair was on fire. Even in Murano, the food was disappointing. Not to mention several people in our group reported stomach issues on multiple days after dinner.
Unrelated, but it seemed like half the people on the ship were coughing and hacking, which probably means Covid was running rampant.

 

All in all, there’s no reason to pay premium prices for Celebrity anymore, because it’s no longer a premium brand. With the changes they’ve made, it’s not any different than NCL. Not saying I wouldn’t cruise with Celebrity again, but there’s no chance I would pay current prices. We felt ripped off, considering when we booked this cruise we were expecting the level of service from years past.

 

 

I'm on the Celebrity Edge right now on the first night of a 10-night cruise, and the dinner selection at the Ocean View Cafe is pure crap... worse even than the reports here but in line with the dismissive Tweet that I received from Celebrity when I inquired about the changes during dinner hours effective January 1st of this year. I experienced some of these changes aboard the Constellation during the first few days of January, but things were nowhere near as bad as they are now aboard the Edge (and presumably now the other ships in the Celebrity fleet as well).

 

I talked with a manager in the OVC tonight, and his first response parroted the response I received from Celebrity corporate about "how much food was being wasted".  I feel sorry for Celebrity that they (suddenly?) can't seem to manage a buffet as well as competing cruise lines. Tonight my dinner was a few pieces of cheese, an uninspired slice of pepperoni pizza (virtually the only variety they offer), some leftover pasta salad from today's lunch, and a chocolate eclair so stale I put it down after the first bite. The only available fresh food was from a "stir-fry" station that was so backed up it might have taken 15 minutes to produce an order. Pathetic.

 

The food in Celebrity's main dining rooms and specialty restaurants is generally quite good. But there are reasons why someone might choose to grab a quick dinner at the buffet. Today, I was up at 5 AM to get ready and drive to the port in Fort Lauderdale, go through the boarding process, and grab a nap before some dinner and a show. I didn't really want to spend two hours or more getting a meal in the MDR, so (until now) the Ocean View Cafe would have been a good alternative. Similarly, after a beach day in port folks might want to just opt for the speed and simplicity of the buffet for dinner and just chill out in the evening. Nope... Celebrity says you must either invest a couple hours in a dining room, or eat crap and leftovers in a gutted shell of what used to be an excellent buffet, even (and maybe especially) at dinner.

 

Celebrity is far from the least expensive cruise line, and they generally provide a product that their customers want and will pay for.  I don't know what crappy market research might have led them to believe that their customers wanted a buffet that is pitiful compared to a Golden Corral. But it is pretty clear that Celebrity has made a BIG mistake in deciding to gut the Ocean View Cafe

Edited February 25, 2023 by goodoldan