Live From Mercury (the Sick Ship) 3/27/06

[katiebeth]

Poetic License,

 

I agree, your post is well put! There are several posters on this thread who like to "blame the victim" (one in particular who will go unnamed).

 

If you weren't on the cruise how can you possibly know the extent of the situation? It's not as if there are a handful of cruisers who are complaining about their experience. It is very well documented from many passengers that this cruise fell far below expectations. Why is that so difficult to accept?

 

I think when you advertise that you are a "true departure" and you will be "treated famously", you need to live up to it.

 

I am sure everyone of these "Monday morning quarterbacks" would change their opinions drastically if they had been on one of these sailings. It is easy to say that things couldn't be that bad when you weren't on the cruise!!

 

So sorry for all the passengers and particularly the crew who have had to cruise under these circumstances.

 

Wishing you happy sailings in the future!

 

Nancy

[elsje]

Those of us not on the cruise have no right to downplay their experience, and certainly not to make inappropriate 'observations' and comparisons. A little respect is in order for those who were on these affected cruises, especially those like Gail who tried their best to warn everyone on land about the situation they were living minute to minute, day to day so that perhaps cruisers on the next cruise could make an INFORMED decision about whether to board or not, and not a decision based on a downplayed, watered-down PR version of events Celebrity painted to them AT THE PIER.

 

Everyone who took these recent MERCURY cruises did what they could to have a good time IN SPITE of having their cruise reduced to a biochemical laboratory experiment. I applaud them for doing their best to make lemonade from lemons. They will be the first to say that not everything was bad.

 

I am so disgusted with the Monday morning quarterbacks who are downplaying how this matter was handled on MERCURY. They were NOT on this cruise (neither was I, but know firsthand how dangerous bleach and disinfecting chemicals can be to our health and those who are immune compromised, frail, dermatologically sensitive, or have respiratory illnesses and disorders. Having an outbreak on a ship is bad enough without the cure being as bad as the cause. Even though Celebrity didn't cause the problem, the way they are dealing with it is horrendous and shows little regard for both crew and guests.

 

Well said Nicki!

Els

[nu2sea]

There is another thread on this board that also discusses this sailing. I posted a link to the HAL thread that described the steps taken on the Amsterdamn to contain the same virus at about the same time the Mercury was bathing in bleach. Here is that link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=328847

 

I hate it when my favorite cruiseline drops the ball this way.

 

Susan

[Sky Sweet]

I have an excellent memory and remember almost everything that has been posted on cruise critic during the past few years. That is a factor I consider when evaluating the validity of an individual post.

[Char]

I have an excellent memory and remember almost everything that has been posted on cruise critic during the past few years. That is a factor I consider when evaluating the validity of an individual post.

I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to say. If you take into account the many posts regarding this ill fated cruise, you can only come to one conclusion--Celebrity dropped the ball and has endangered guests and crew alike with the overuse of bleach products. The cruise experience was less than the usual Celebrity product.

[Buckeye Geo]

There is another thread on this board that also discusses this sailing. I posted a link to the HAL thread that described the steps taken on the Amsterdamn to contain the same virus at about the same time the Mercury was bathing in bleach. Here is that link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=328847

 

I hate it when my favorite cruiseline drops the ball this way.

 

Susan

 

It seems like HAL'S communications was much better than Celebrity's, but there method of cleaning did not contain the Virus as it broke out again after they signaled an all clear. Oh well just an observation.

[Fredr]

hello,

 

I was on the 3/27 sailing and in previous posts I tried to give you my take on the sailing. However, I do not in any way wish to argue or disagree with the opinions of other passengers on the Mercury whose experience was different than mine.

 

To me at least the great benefit of participating on the board is the exchange of information and with this there will be editorializing both intentional and non intentional.

 

Hope everyone is feeling better and looking forward to future cruises,

 

Fred

[grizzair]

Tuggers, Tuggers, Tuggers,

 

You are so right-on in everything you say. You give me vindication for everything I have written. Now that I am off my 2 day 'probation' from Cruise Critic (They banned me for 'spamming' or repeating information that I previously posted), I can finally respond to you. My fiance and I were on the Mar. 17th cruise and it was worse than yours.

In response to your inquiry - I had to give a stool sample (a fecal) to the doctor in the infirmary and have still not heard back from them if it tested positive for the norovirus of which I was quarantined on the last night of the cruise. We have contacted Celebrity Corporate numerous times, the last time being today and, finally talking to a live person, they have no record of either of us visiting the infirmary. The rep. on the phone denied that any services on our cruise were affected, cancelled, or shut down in any way and that this was the first time he had heard anything negative concerning the March 17th cruise. Are you kidding me?

 

My fiance visited the infirmary for a severe allergic reaction to the bleaching and under the doctor's orders stopped all housekeeping and stayed in her room to avoid the bleach. There is also no record of her trip to the doctor.

 

With the constant neglect and lack of customer service we feel our complaints and concerns are falling on deaf ears. We have decided to finally take matters into our own hands and have contacted a maritime attorney for we feel we did not receive what we paid for. We consider the cruise line negligent and fully aware of the conditions onboard and the fact that they did not warn us is the problem. All the minor circumstances, food, lack of service, the special touches cancelled, pale in comparison to the severe medical risks associated with inhaling bleach and the airborne chemicals being sprayed and not wiped off in air vents, on our toilet seats, and on every hand rail on the ship considering bleach is only effective the first 30 seconds and leaving it to dry does nothing.

 

Each night before bed I read several pages of these threads to my fiance and her biggest concern is, after tons of people respond or post and shed a negative light on their experience why in the sam hell would people continue to book future cruises, and even give Celebrity another chance to prove themselves? 25% discount or not. There are so many options out there, variety is the spice of life in her eyes, why pour hard earned money into a floundering cruise line.

 

We are in no way faulting Celebrity for having the norovirus onboard. We question why their staff wasn't dismissed and a new team brought in, why they continue to say the virus is being brought onboard by passengers (4 cruises in a row?), for not warning us prior to getting onboard, for the absence of any customer service/follow up. We docked Monday, March 27th. 2 weeks is ample time to respond to one of our numerous emails, faxes, phone calls, and snail mailed letters to several corporate figure heads. We were not treated famously. We have no other recourse.

[tuggers]

So sorry about your troubles, sickness, etc then coming home to a 'time out'! Not fun!

I, too was promised a call from X in a 'day or so' after returning home. That has not happened. Am I surprised? No, not at all. Sad, but I think it follows the

pattern they've established.

Keep my email in case you are 'bad' again!:D tuggers1

@ mchsi.com

[SandyMc]

Hi, Dave!

 

I have read (and posted) so many messages about these last two cruises. Everyone has their own opinion and, tho we did not enjoy the "Celebrity Experience" we did manage to have some fun on the March 17 cruise. Still, my overriding question at this point is why would they offer to compensate passengers on one cruise and not the other???

 

If they are willing to admit the passengers on the 27th cruise received less than they paid for - how can they not acknowledge the same for those of us on the 17th??

 

If this company was really smart, they would have already sent all the passengers from the 17th a letter offering this compensation. Heaven forbid - they might even garner a little good will!

[Host Walt]

OK, folks. Please discuss the issue and avoid negative commentary about fellow Cruise Critic members.

 

Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion without being subjected to personal attacks.

 

Thanks.

[tuggers]

Let's try not to call others postings by negative names. We are all entitled to our opinions without being denigrated for them.

[tuggers]

Thanks, Walt!

[mctrekkie]

Yes, thank you VERY much, Walt.

[mctrekkie]

Hi, Dave!

 

I have read (and posted) so many messages about these last two cruises. Everyone has their own opinion and, tho we did not enjoy the "Celebrity Experience" we did manage to have some fun on the March 17 cruise. Still, my overriding question at this point is why would they offer to compensate passengers on one cruise and not the other???

 

If they are willing to admit the passengers on the 27th cruise received less than they paid for - how can they not acknowledge the same for those of us on the 17th??

 

If this company was really smart, they would have already sent all the passengers from the 17th a letter offering this compensation. Heaven forbid - they might even garner a little good will!

 

It seems clear that neither of the 2 cruises being discussed were handled "famously" by Celebrity. All one can hope is that they learn from the experience, and the next time Noro shows up (and it will) they manage it better.

[katiebeth]

tuggers,

 

Just curious as to whether you will sail Celebrity again? Even though I was not on the Mercury and have no plans to be in the near future, I am extremely disappointed and astounded at corporates indifference to the situation onboard.

 

We have cruised Celebrity several times (most recently British Isles and Norweign Fjords and a 10 day on the Infinity this past summer to Alaska). Both cruises were terrific and I have "sung" Celebrity's praises to many of our friends. However, we are booked on the Millennium (have already made final payment) in June for a Med. cruise and have become increasing concerned about the condition of the ship. There have been many posts over the last several months regarding a serious and extensive problem with toliets not flushing and an extremely strong sewage odor throughout the ship. I and several future and past passengers have written corporate regarding this issue. All of us have received the same generic/canned response that is not specific to the Millennium or the current situation onboard. Basically, they are not even willing to acknowledge that a problem exists. (all they have to do is read a current thread that is running to realize that there is a problem!) I am sure you can relate!

 

Anyway, if I had not already made final payment, (we are spending a small fortune as we are taking our children and my parents along) I think I would book with another cruise line that does the Med. I had planned on booking another Celebrity cruise while onboard, but based on the response (or lack thereof) we have received regarding the sewage problem on the Millennium and the way Celebrity has handled the situation on the Mercury, I have lost alot of faith in the company.

 

They are clearly sending a message by their lack of response that they really don't care. It's amazing to me that they place so much emphasis on the comment cards at the end of every cruise when they won't even respond to serious situations onboard as they are unfolding. I can't imagine that they actually review and analyze the comment cards based on their indifference and lack of response to the situation on the Millennium and Mercury.

 

I really wish it wasn't so....

 

Nancy

[mctrekkie]

Nancy, you've touched on a good point here. If X isn't responsive to their clients, what does that say about the health of the business overall? Is there a problem of some sort that hasn't hit the press/public yet? Time will tell, but it does seem odd that the silence is deafening right now.

[tuggers]

Nancy,

I'm sure I will. My next cruise is a 25 night HAL to the Amazon and I must admit that I am glad to be doing a line other than X right now. I also did Princess in January. And Opera in January.

I have Z booked for about 45 days starting in October and I'm sure by then I'll be ready for another try on X.

Have you tried emailing or writing to the addresses I posted for the Pres? I would write and detail my attempts to reach someone, the lack of response, your concerns about Millie and X's general lack of care for their passengers and ask for a reply. Can't hurt. I know if Williams or Sasso were there you would have a response, probably a personal phone call.

[Andy]

Hi Gail !

 

Sorry to hear you are somewhat turned off to X right now, but I know you had a very rough Cruise. I surely cant blame you, or anyone else for being upset. I do hope they respond to you, and all the others who were affected. I feel they owe you that much.

[tuggers]

Hey Andy!

As one of our roll call members (who is a ta) said, X is just not the brightest bunch! After the horrible embarkation and then the bleaching, if they would have just done a little 'we feel your pain' speech and given everyone a couple of drink coupons or a box of Cova chocolates in their room, most people would have been happy as clams. Instead, they chose to ignore 'our pain' and only begrudgingly came out with the 25% offer. Conveniently right before sea days when they knew people would be kibitzing about things.

As I explained to the corporate ' note taker' on board, if they had been proactive instead of reactive, it would have made all the difference.

Now we just get deafening silence.

I guess I am just a little sad to find that my all time favorite cruise line does not consider 'us' their all time favorite passengers.:D

[Host Walt]

Because the discussion has devolved from the original topic of this thread and because it was necessary to remove an inordinate number of posts, this thread is closed to further activity.