Summit Alaskan cruise disappointment (MERGER OF 5 THREADS ON THIS TOPIC)

[FinelyCruising]

C'mon...unless it is making the cruisline twist and turn and squirm and hemorrage green cash blood, no offer is good enough.:rolleyes:

[turtlemichael]

C'mon...unless it is making the cruisline twist and turn and squirm and hemorrage green cash blood, no offer is good enough.:rolleyes:

 

Ah, the "I hope they rot in hell and go bankrupt cos that will make me feel better" approach to cruising? Gotcha. :D

[FlyingTiger]

Hallo, since this is my first post, may I introduce myself in brief to this community.

This Summit´s 5/7/06 cruise was my 14th cruise and the 2nd cruise on the Summit. My home country is Germany. I lived in Hong Kong for 8 years. I do travel a lot and am a cosmopolit by passion. My wife and I attend cruises not so much for the kicks of fine dining, entertainment and socialising, but for my love of ships and nature (and the photograpie of both) and for the possibility of being away from all kind of hectic stress, sitting on my balcony and have the world pass by.

I decided to reply to this threat, because by reading all Summit 5/7/06 related threads, I get the impression, that we passengers did all wrong and poor Celebrity did the best they could. Off course only written by people who have not been on the cruise. To contribute to more transparency I would like to write about what should have been (original itinerary) and what we experienced (changed itinerary). Being involved, emotions might be my compagnon.

 

May 7 / Los Angeles / departure at 5pm

May 7 / Los Angeles / We took a room at Best Western in San Pedro, right next to the port. Went out with my cameragear to take pictures of the arrival of the GTS Summit, but the ship was late for reasons I don´t know. Warm welcome on board, very friendly stateroom attendant (Isma). I am happy and enjoy sailing out of the port of San Pedro.

 

May 8 / at sea

May 8 / at sea / We enjoyed the life on board and were very fond of the captain, who seemed to be free of any arrogant manners and he proofed to be a great entertainer at welcome show. We were a little anxious about arrogant officers on the Summit because of such experience we made on this ship 9/2002. I was able to take pictures on whales, all was perfect.

 

May 9 / San Francisco / 8am - 6pm / sailing underneath the Golden Gate Bridge when sun is rising, maybe a little fog on the waters, what a great picture that will be.

May 9 / San Francisco / midnight - 8pm / last night, before I went to bed, I went out on the balcony and couldn´t believe my eyes. Golden Gate Bridge right ahead, in the middle of the night. San Francisco had not even gone to sleep by the time we arrived. I was wondering how we got to SF so very fast. Than I found the not very detailed map of the ships route on cabin-TV and was sure, that I could keep track from now on. Wrong, the computer routing on cabin-TV broke down several times during this trip (or was shut down, who knows). OK, I said to myself, missed that bridge at daylight, I will take a picture on our way out. Wrong, we were sailing late and it was dark when we reached the bridge. We were informed about a inspection which had to be done on the engines by US authorities. Well what has to be done has to be done, it didn´t worry me much, just a pitty for the missed pictures.

 

May 10 / at sea

May 10 / at sea / early this morning, we were informed by radio about the malfunction of the engine and that we only could make a speed of 17,5 knots instead of 22,5 knots. (It was here that we were offered a $200 per cabin as compensation - later it was altered to a $200 gift.) Therefor we could not hold to our original itinerary and were informed about the changes. Many passengers were angry, because they had appointments and arrangements for Seattle. Since the captains radiomessage was very brief, passengers (not the ships management) requested a meeting in the ships theatre to clear things. Some 1000+ passengers attended this meeting including my wife and me. I did not have any questions and up to this time I still said to myself: these things happen, happened before, will happen again and this will not ruin my holidays or may good mood. But already at this meeting I felt very strong a tense atmosphere between the ships management and passengers. We felt uncomfortable because of strong ships-security presence on all locations of the theatre as well as a huge crowd of ships officers around the stage. After the captain made clear how lucky we are that he came to this meeting to answer our questions (other captains would not do that) he in fact was very patient to answer everything. Only later I found out, that he is only a string puppet of the Celebrity corporation and his word means nothing. Anyhow, here he admitted, that a full refund would be appropriate. He also told the passengers, that the engines problem only showed an hour or so after departure from SF?? Well, everyone on board knows better by now. After this meeting I never have seen the captain again on board. He also did not show up on the photosession with captain!!! But back to the meeting, every second sentence was about that he can make no decisions and the big company has to decide (Blame not me, blame the ones out of reach).

He promised that 2 company executives will be flown to Ketchikan (4days later) to take care of this matter. Wrong again, the 2 company people were no executives, but office clerks who would report bach to the company.

Another very poor impression was left by the cruise director, who told 1000+ angry passengers, that we, the passengers, would not be the only ones missing on something. He was to celebrate an anniversary and for that reason expected his sister to come on board the Summit in Seattle. With grief he told us, that he is still very happy. I admit, I was thinking: wrong approach, really unprofessional, who cares.

 

May 11 / Seattle / we were scheduled to see the Boing plant

May 11 / at sea / we have not been to Seattle so far, so it would have been our first time. Missing the Boing plant hurts, but we still kept our good mood and enjoyed our Statroom balcony. Tension between passengers and ships management builds up.

 

May 12 / at sea

May 12 / at sea / I decided not to accept $200 as compansation and asked the reception to take the $200 off my board-account. I was told, that it is not possible to take the $200 off my board-account. Consequent I wrote a line, saying that I do not accept $200 as compensation and take it only under protest, handed it over to the receiption and asked to acknowledge the receipt of my lines on a copy. Unbelievable, not the lady in charge nor her supervisor did sign or chop the receipt. The company would not allow such action. I was just waiting for the argument, that the receiption of my lines could not be acknowledged because of security reasons. Fortunately another passenger waiting in line stepped up and signed as wittness. Thanks again to him. I was speechless but still kept up my good mood, only it was getting harder to be happy.

 

May 13 / Ketchikan / 7am - 4pm

May 13 / Ketchikan / 7am - 2pm / missing 2 hours but still something we could live with.

 

May 14 / Juneau / 7am - 10pm

May 14 / Juneau / 8am - 10pm / missing 1 hour that didn´t hurt

 

May 15 / Skagway / 7am - 8pm

May 15 / Skagway / 7am - 7pm / missing 1 hour but still enough time to ride the train and making sensational pictures.

 

May 16 / cruising Hubbard Glacier / 9am - 1pm / we wanted to repeat the experience we made last August, cruising the Hubbard Glacier with the Radiance of the Seas

May 16 / cruising Hubbard Glacier/ 11am - 2pm / in fact the Summit did not even get over the entrance of Yakutat-Bay. The ship turned around once at an estimated distance of 5 to 7 miles away from the glacier and sailed away. We may just spend 30 minutes to watch an Holland-America cruise ship sailing very close to the glacier. I heard that the reason for this short turn should be, that there are no two ships allowed near the glacier. I do not believe that, because last years August, the Radiance was not the only ship in Yakutat-Bay. I stood under the impression, that the Summit would make the most of what was left to see on this cruise. But the did exactly the opposite, they did everything to avoid to show their customers the many beauties of Alaska. At this point the water in my glas swept over, this was the end of my patience. Now I was certain, that they did not care at all about their paying customers. We were the fortunate ones who knew already about the beauty of this glacier from our last cruise in Aug, 06. We knew about the "out of this world sound" this glacier produces, we knew about the calfing action and its fascination, we knew about the brilliance of the blue color.

May 17 / Sitka / 7am-3pm

May 17 / at sea / the Celebrity Reps had been on board since Ketchikan, doing single??? interviews with the passengers. Today it was said, that the german passengers can take their interview. I went early to take a number and spend the whole day waiting for my turn. (Half an our reading a book, running back to 3rd floor looking if my number has been called already). But the 2 Reps accepted so many other passengers for interview in between (Passengers who did not have to pull a number) that it was after 8pm when I finally could see the Reps. Very polite people they were, but not allowed to say anything of any substance. A lost day.

 

May 18 / Inside Passage / whole day

May 18 / daytime at sea - nighttime Inside Passage / this morning we were informed by the captain, that a pilot would be coming on board at 5pm that afternoon. Until than, we would stay on one spot somewhere in nowhere. The fog was blamed, but have an hour after this anouncement, the fog was gone and we had pretty sunshine. Another lost day. This time we wasted their was more than scheduled for Sitka. Why did they not go to Sitka then? Did the captain forget to ask for a pilot? Why, why, why? And no answers. Right at dinnertime we went into the interisting part of the Inside Passage. I did not go to dinner just to catch the last rays for a good photo.

Another wasted day.

 

May 19 / Victoria / 8am - 5pm

May 19 / Victoria / 8am - 5pm, we are already somewhat through with this cruise and enjoy only the beauty of Victoria and only the sight of the Summit makes me sick. And the bad experiences didn´t stop. My wife wanted to send an birthday-mail to a friend. We had not used the internet so for, but in my documents it said. As a "Select" member of the Captains Club, which we are (no more with pride), we were entitled to 10 minutes free internet access. Enough time to send a "Happy Birthday". In asking for this 10 Minutes at the desk of the captains Club, I must have forgotten for a moment were I was. "We changed policy", was what I heard from the lady in charge: "you have to buy now 100 minutes and than you get 15% off". What??? At least I had the guts to tell that lady that I actually did not expect anything different. This evening we got a written message, that we will receive, in 4-6 weeks time, an offer for 30% off any other cruise within the next 18 month. The passengers who were scheduled for the following cruise May 20, which was cancelled, received their money back and an additional free cruise on top.

 

May 20 / arrival Vancouver / 7am

May 20 / arrival Vancouver / it will not surprise you, that we arrived in the middle of the night and Celebrity, as a last act, did not allow us to sail under Lions Gate bridge and the beautiful port of Vancouver at daylight.

 

Well, you diehard Celebrity loyals, this is my story I wanted to share with you. I do not want you to turn away from Celebrity, because everyone has to make his own experience. But please stop writing, that we, the passengers of this cruise, do see all that from a wrong perspective, or are ourselves responsible for the situation we got into. Please do not ask, that we should have been cheerfull and happy to make something out of it.I tried hard to do right that, but gave up on Hubbard glacier.

This is my experience with Celebrity and the reason why I will not again let a bunch of unprofessionals have influence on my life for such a long period. Usually if something happens, it happens and over, but here it was like driving a nail into wood in 10 days time.

Please excuse my one or another mistake in writing, since english is not my native language.

I wish always good sailings to all of you.

[OuiOnboard]

"Ahhh, the Celebrity Treatment. How will it affect you?"

What will you do??

Have great days at sea...Oui

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Cruise Background

 

1. This was our fifth Alaska cruise. All on Summit.

 

2. Third repositioning (2nd in May, 1 in September). Back/Back in Aug-Sep.

 

3. Visited Seattle on two previous cruises. Also lived in Tacoma 3 years.

 

4. Visited Sitka on three previous cruises.

 

5. Visited Hubbard Glacier on four previous cruises. Ship was much closer to glacier on all of these. At times 3 ships were lined along front of glacier face at about 500 feet distance from it.

 

6. Cruised Inside Passage two times before. At night in September and day/night with rain in May.

 

7. Cruise in May 2005 was only two/three weeks prior to Summit thrust bearing failure on June 2005 Alaska cruise.

 

8. Two of our tablemates on this years cruise were taking their free cruise for their cruise being cancelled in June 2005 when Summit was drydocked in Victoria for Pod repairs.

 

Sunday May 7th

We were eating dinner at table 404 (rear-starboard side) after just leaving San Pedro Harbor. Felt a tremendous jolt seemingly coming from directly below us. I turned to my wife and said "I think we just lost a thrust bearing in a Pod". Was this prophetic or what?

 

Really did not notice any speed reduction then, or prior to reaching San Francisco, though the ship may have slowed without us realizing it.

 

Monday May 8th

We had a sea day prior to arriving in San Francisco. Instead of arriving in San Francisco at 8:00 am as scheduled, the Captain decided to go in early for a Scheduled Maintenance Inspection and we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge at about midnight Monday. We actually enjoyed this change and stayed up to see it at night. We could sleep in the next morning without missing the experience.

 

Wednesday May 10th

After we departed San Francisco the Captain announced the schedule change which eliminated stops in Seattle and Sitka. A written schedule change sheet dated May 10th was sent to staterooms. This really did not cause us to be upset because of our previous visits to these ports. The sheet also informed passengers of the $200 per cabin onboard credit "As a gesture of goodwill and to thank you for your cooperation". Also received $15.68 pp in credit for taxes.

 

The meeting with the Captain in the Celebrity Theater was held on one of the three sea days prior to reaching Ketchikan. We did not attend. It was video taped and we saw parts of it played on the cabin TV. Four spokesmen then held a meeting with a group of passengers in the Grand Foyer on Decks 3,4,5. We did not attend.

 

More meetings of many (hundreds) passengers were held as the cruise continued. I attended three of them for informational purposes. A class action lawsuit is being planned by the English passesngers and another one for the Americans and Germans. We just continued to enjoy the cruise as all was good with staff, service and facilities.

 

At some time, one of the four spokesmen was thrown in the brig for being overly aggressive with a ship's officer. Never heard if he was put off in Ketchikan or not.

 

Saturday May 13th

Personnel from Corporate Headquarters boarded Summit to hear individual complaints for duration of cruise. Supposedly to record complaints only and not authorized to make any decisions as to compensation.

 

Sunday May 14th Mother's Day

Went Ziplining in Juneau and had a great time. All locals except for me. I had set it up through the tour company myself.

Dined with DW in speciality restaurant Normandie. It was a great experience and the Goat Cheese Souffle is as good as touted.

 

Monday May 15th

In Skagway we drove to Yukon Territory with friends we met on board who had rented a car. Visited town of Carcross and Emerald Lake. Got pictures of Murry's cabin in Carcross. He is the one who posts the guide to the Klondike Highway with mile markers and pictures. It's here: www.explorenorth.com/library/roads/klondike-photos1.html . He's been a bus driver there for many years. He is now doing cruise ship lectures due to a slowdown in the bus business. He has a web cam at his cabin showing Carcross.

 

Tuesday May 16th

Started into Yukutat Bay at around 12 noon instead of scheduled 9 am. Got no closer than about 3 to 4 miles to Hubbard Glacier. (Very hard to judge the distance). Departed at about 1:00 pm.

 

Wednesday May 17th

At sea. Enjoyed ship's pool, whirlpools, food.

 

Thursday May 18th

Received letter from Captain apologizing for Hubbard Glacier experience not meeting all our expectations and to some who were disappointed due to our delayed arrival in Inside Passage. Stated we will be provided with a certificate for 30% off a future Celebrity cruise, redeemable anytime within the next 18 months. Will be sent to home address within 4 to 6 weeks.

 

Friday May 19th

Victoria, BC. 8:00 am - 5:00 pm

Walked around Victoria Inner Harbor area and took a few pictures.

 

Saturday May 20th

Summit going to Victoria for 6 days (I think) drydock repairs after debarking passengers. Crew staying onboard and working some while in drydock.

 

Arrived at Ballantyne Pier much earlier than scheduled. Debarkation started at scheduled time. We were late getting off by an hour as our baggage tag color was not offloaded on time (According to staff). I think it was off and they did not see it when calling in to onboard staff. Missed our Express Shuttle to Seattle. Quickcoach finally diverted a non express shuttle to take us to Seattle/Tacoma Airport. We just made our flight.

 

Summary

The cruise, for us, was not really that bad. We enjoyed meeting all the people from our Summit Roll Call thread. We met on aft deck 10 patio for sailaway. Our Celebrity Connections get together was fun. We continued to enjoy meeting and seeing our new friends during the cruise.

 

The service, food, facilities and entertainment was excellent throughout the cruise. The Captain seemed to be trying hard to accomodate his passengers and keep the ship safe at the same time.

 

The position of the passengers who were unhappy with the itinerary deletions and time changes and not seeing Hubbard Glacier up close or Inside Passage in more daylight is something I won't comment on here. That is their decision to make and I respect their right to make it.

 

Respectfully,

[JLC@SD]

Cruise Background

 

Sunday May 7th

We were eating dinner at table 404 (rear-starboard side) after just leaving San Pedro Harbor. Felt a tremendous jolt seemingly coming from directly below us. I turned to my wife and said "I think we just lost a thrust bearing in a Pod". Was this prophetic or what?

 

Not possible to "Feel" the thrust bearing.......see an expert's explanation at:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=6623979#post6623979

 

"The problem occurs when they notice an elevated number of the metal particles. That's the symptom that tells them the bearings are wearing too fast and theoretically on the road to complete failure. (That's never happened because they know what to do - they think - to stop it. Read on.) This kind of thing with microscopic wear just can't be felt in the ship."

[Hoopyfrood]

That may have been their intent, and it might have been done with the best of intentions, but I think it backfired on them. I think more of the passengers found the $200 insulting than found it a "nice something". I think Celebrity would have had better results had they given nothing specific up front, but said that they were working on their best solution. (And I'm fairly sure that the $200 per stateroom credit also had to be approved by Corporate. It was VERY clear that corporate had told the Captain and the Cruise Director exactly what they could and could not say.)

 

I don't disagree that it backfired but getting something immediate while they thought about other options probably their intent; sometimes good intentions have bad consequences. And while I'm sure that someone at corporate did have to approve giving an entire ship onboard credit, based on the fact that the ship's staff can give individual credit on a cruise for specific circumstances to people that encounter issues, I'd bet that giving it to all only needs one person's OK. Giving something like a major reduction in booking prices doesn't seem like something that can be decided upon by lower on the food chain than say the CEO or COO.

[trcori]

And the bad experiences didn´t stop. My wife wanted to send an birthday-mail to a friend. We had not used the internet so for, but in my documents it said. As a "Select" member of the Captains Club, which we are (no more with pride), we were entitled to 10 minutes free internet access. Enough time to send a "Happy Birthday". In asking for this 10 Minutes at the desk of the captains Club, I must have forgotten for a moment were I was. "We changed policy", was what I heard from the lady in charge: "you have to buy now 100 minutes and than you get 15% off". What???

 

FWIW, this wasn't just another thing the Summit crew sprung on you.

The policy changed in April. New Captain's Club offers/coupons debuted during our "Captain's Club Reunion" cruise on Galaxy, 4/1/06-4/13/06. We also are "Select" members and the end of the "10 free minutes" was the most noticeable change for us. I do hope they manage to change the boilerplate in the docs fairly quickly, if they keep this change, to avoid any more disconnects -- TR

[msiowa]

Actually, what the Summit passengers were told about Hubbard Glacier was correct: Only one ship is allowed near the glacier at a time as ships have specific timeslots for glacier viewing that are reserved years in advance so that if a ship misses their spot near the glacier for whatever reason, they're simply out of luck. To expect the captain of Summit to call the captain of Zaandam to ask them to leave early is simply ludicrous! HAL managed to get their ship there on time for their passengers - why on earth should they give up their timeslot to a competing company? Perhaps if another RCCL/X ship were there instead, that might have been a reasonable request...

 

 

I agree that calling the HAL ship and asking them to leave is ludicrous - but I'm wondering about the one ship "rule". Last July I was on Summit at Hubbard Glacier and there was a HAL ship nearby. We were about a mile from the face of the glacier and the HAL ship was closer than us.

 

We had gotten there first, we shared the space for at least a half hour, and then we departed (as scheduled). Hmmm . . .

 

Happy sailing.

Joanie

[naked]

 

I also agree that a $200 shipbard credit/30% future cruise credit is a slap in the face. Anyone who has ever run a business can tell you that a $5 cocktail only costs the line $1 (the 15% auto-tip pays for the server) and that a $40 sweatshirt is only @ $10 cost, and that 30% off a future ticket is probably less than what the line might have to discount an unsold stateroom just before a cruise - a very small price for corporate to pay for some "guaranteed" pax loyalty and more guaranteed onboard spending.

 

 

Of course, the pax could go to the casino and just get $200 in cash, so the 'on-board credit' is not limited to over priced drinks and sweatshirts.

[Drew B]

Oh, let me ask another question:

 

For the last couple of days of the cruise, the outdoor decks on both sides of deck 4 (and I believe deck 5 as well) were largely roped off. They had varnished the railings and put up the ropes to prevent passengers from getting too close. My question is, knowing that they were going into drydock immediately after this cruise ended, why couldn't they wait a few days and do this maintainence at a time that it wouldn't interfere with passengers?

[kcb]

For the last couple of days of the cruise, the outdoor decks on both sides of deck 4 (and I believe deck 5 as well) were largely roped off. They had varnished the railings and put up the ropes to prevent passengers from getting too close. My question is, knowing that they were going into drydock immediately after this cruise ended, why couldn't they wait a few days and do this maintainence at a time that it wouldn't interfere with passengers?

Routine maintenance is continually being performed on ships. The sea air takes a quick toll if not kept up with.

 

Without seeming like a loyalist...

 

While your thought/question is logical, there is no way to know what repairs had been planned for that area of the ship while in dry-dock. Maybe it was not possible to work on those railings due to other work in the area that that took precedence while the ship was going to be out of the water.

 

If the railings were scheduled to be done, it needed to get done.

[Drew B]

Well, if the ship was scheduled to sail again this week with passengers, I wouldn't have thought twice about the maintainence, but as it was, it seemed that an unexpected dry dock was the PERFECT time to do something like this (relatively idle work force and no guests to worry about). And it's not like it needed to be done SOOOO badly that they couldn't have afforded to wait a few days...

 

...there is no way to know what repairs had been planned for that area of the ship while in dry-dock. Maybe it was not possible to work on those railings due to other work in the area that that took precedence while the ship was going to be out of the water.

 

 

Well, since the drydock wasn't planned, I'm not sure how drydock-contingent repairs could have been planned, but I guess it's possible that they seized the opportunity when it arose.

 

It's not like it was a HUGE inconvenience, but it just seemed a bit thoughtless.

[Keith1010]

I just find this whole thing so interesting. Passenger's are angry when the cruise line notifies them they will miss Seattle. I guess if it was me I would be very disappointed if this is something that I was looking forward to but these things do happen. We were on a different cruise line last Fall and we were informed that due to a problem with one of the propulsion engines that we could only travel at a maximum of 17.5 knots and that we would miss a particular stop on the way and sure we. Sure, we were disappointed as we thought this was one of the highlight ports for the cruise but we never were angry. We realize that these things can happen so what does being angry accomplish. It's not like the cruise line said, let me plan something to anger the passenger's. And we were given a small ship board credit which was less than what was offered on this cruise.

 

Now, the biggest mistake that occured was getting 1,000 people in a room because in the end it wasn't going to accomplish anything and likely would turn this into a complaint session. What exactly did people expect the cruise line to do when it was announced that they would miss Seattle?

 

In short, while I realize there were other problems along the way, why did people react with anger from the get-go.

 

And, I know I was not on this cruise but I did experience something similar and due to the propulsion problems we were late getting into another port and we also had more vibration than normal.

 

Again, just trying to understand why people were angry from the get go. Again, disappointed yes, but angry seems extreme.

 

Can someone on this cruise help me to understand why people reacted the way they did. Is it how Celebrity broke the news to them or do they feel that from the get go Celebrity should do something significantly more for them since they were to miss Seattle.

 

Keith

[Drew B]

In short, while I realize there were other problems along the way, why did people react with anger from the get-go.

 

In my opinion (and that's all it is), the single biggest contributing factor was the patronizing attitude of Cruise Director John Howell. When the meeting began, I think people WERE disappointed, but if things had been handled differently, the extreme anger could have been diverted. John began the meeting with his ordinary schtick: "look to the person on your right and give them a big smile..." Well, folks just weren't in the mood for that at that time, and they booed him. From then on, he got petulant and pouty and talked to us like we were children.

 

I was NOT involved with the "mutiny". I understood all along that certain things are not the company or the crew's fault, and I was glad to roll with it and focus on enjoying what did remain of the cruise. I was disappointed, but not angry with the situation. John, however, made me angry. He simply did a terrible job.

[kcb]

In my opinion (and that's all it is), the single biggest contributing factor was the patronizing attitude of Cruise Director John Howell.

 

John, however, made me angry. He simply did a terrible job.

 

Interesting observations, Drew. And they seem to be mirrored by everyone who has mentioned him!

 

We'll be on the Summit in a few weeks, and it will be "fun(???)" to see how he conducts himself. I've never been a fan of many CD's, as I think they are all kind of full of themselves. I, for one, will not be looking forward to him if he is as bad as everyone has noted! But, a CD does not make or break a "normal" cruise.

 

I know this isn't the thread, but Becky Thompson (on RCI) was outstanding. We loved her. I only mention her here, as she does not deserve to be lumped in the same category with any of the others we have met.

[Drew B]

Well, until things went wrong, John was fine. I had heard he was great, and he probably IS great when everybody is happy and content. He's just not cut out for dealing with difficulties...

[la_croisiere_s'amuse]

While I don't agree with this, this is the statement from the Celebrity website . . . I certainly didn't realize there was this paragraph.:mad:

Perhaps this is our problem. :)

 

Celebrity (along every other cruiseline I have considered) makes this very, abundantly, redundantly, painfully clear:

 

In the event of strikes, lockouts, riots, weather conditions,

mechanical difficulties or for any other reason whatsoever, we may, at

any time and without prior notice, cancel, advance, postpone or deviate from any scheduled sailing or port of call and may, but is not obliged to, substitute another vessel or port of call, and shall not be liable for any loss whatsoever to guests by reason of such cancellation,

advancement, postponement, deviation or substitution. We shall not be

responsible for any failure to adhere to the arrival and departure

times published in this website for any of its ports of call. (my emphasis added)

This is all in the cruise contract which EVERY passenger must either 1) read or 2) claim to have read before they can check in. And, of course, it is also readily available to read long before potential passengers have paid their first dime.

 

I'm all in favor of consumers voting with their pocketbooks. If this sort of uncertainty is troubling for you . . . by all means, I would suggest spending your vacation dollar elsewhere.

 

I'm not even going to express my opinion on whether or not the onboard protests were reasonable or ethical. The fact of the matter is, they were not justified. Every adult passsenger on board had signed a contract. Pretty simple. :)

 

[aarrcc2]

As a non-complaining passenger of the Summit (5/7/06), I attended the initial Q/A session with the Captain and agree that the cruise director did not help the situation. The Captain insisted on staying until every question was answered (well over an hour), even though the CD had tried to end the meeting earlier. Having said that, I do not believe the CD was the main cause of the situation. There were a few instigators that incited the crowd and would not let the situation rest. Over the course of the cruise, I saw the most obvious example in my lifetime (over 60 years) of "mob rule," and how the opinion of a few can influence many.

 

The only thing I could imagine was that the majority of the cruisers were first time cruisers and believed they were "owed something" for the inconvenience. The ringleaders were there to assure them, they should have a free cruise. They compared the situation to the one of the following week where the 5/20/06 passengers, that had just had their cruise cancelled, received their money back and a free cruise. I could NOT see the similarity since we still had a wonderful 13 day cruise ahead of us.

 

The complainers also kept comparing it to the earlier situation this year on the Queen Mary when 3 or 4 ports were cancelled and the passengers did receive a free cruise because they refused to leave the ship. I believe they thought they could pressure Celebrity into the same situation if they were difficult enough.

 

I, for one, was very pleased with the $200 onboard credit--that did NOT have to be used in the casino, etc. We paid our tips with it! They made it clear that it would be credited to our charge account if not used. I was amazed, but pleased, that they would offer us the additional 30% off a future cruise but nothing short of a free future cruise and their money back for this one would have satisfied the complainers!

[FlyingTiger]

This is all in the cruise contract which EVERY passenger must either 1) read or 2) claim to have read before they can check in. And' date=' of course, it is also readily available to read long before potential passengers have paid their first dime.[/size']

 

 

Dear La Croisiere,

 

sorry, but this is totally wrong. Your statments might apply to passengers booked in the US, but my contract (Germany) says something very different.

 

I translate as good as I can: "Celebrity assures, that the booked cruise will have the contracted features and will have no fault, wich will diminish the value of the cruise. Will the cruise not be carried out as contracted, the customer has the right to take remedial action."

There is much more written in my contract, but the above is the essence and all other written stuff is more or less around the above written.

 

I think, depending on which country you booked your cruise, the specific laws/contracts apply. Since we have several identical european consumer protection laws in europe, I would be interested to know, how things look in the U.K.?

 

Happy sailings

[wrp96]

 

I'm all in favor of consumers voting with their pocketbooks. If this sort of uncertainty is troubling for you . . . by all means' date=' I would suggest spending your vacation dollar elsewhere.[/size']

 

I'm not even going to express my opinion on whether or not the onboard protests were reasonable or ethical. The fact of the matter is, they were not justified. Every adult passsenger on board had signed a contract. Pretty simple. :)

 

 

Hey, La Croisere. Long time no see. We've been missing you on the MOS.

[Sky Sweet]

Dear La Croisiere,

 

sorry, but this is totally wrong. Your statments might apply to passengers booked in the US, but my contract (Germany) says something very different.

 

I translate as good as I can: "Celebrity assures, that the booked cruise will have the contracted features and will have no fault, wich will diminish the value of the cruise. Will the cruise not be carried out as contracted, the customer has the right to take remedial action."

There is much more written in my contract, but the above is the essence and all other written stuff is more or less around the above written.

 

I think, depending on which country you booked your cruise, the specific laws/contracts apply. Since we have several identical european consumer protection laws in europe, I would be interested to know, how things look in the U.K.?

 

Happy sailings

 

Does anyone know how Celebrity can have such different wording in cruise contracts for Americans vs Europeans?

[nick0danger]

Has anyone not been told there flight was canceled, or would be late, of for whatever reason that they we be sent to another airport? Gee wiz people. I can understand being upset about what happened, but get on with life enjoy the T-pool and amazing food. I miss a port once, an all i got was a free beer.

[sirgonealot]

I do agree with what Drew said about our CD on this particular cruise. In addition I found very little added for our enjoyment or entertainment during our additional sea days. In fact, on one of our unexpected days at sea there was not even a movie scheduled until 6 pm. This was my 9th Celebrity cruise and I convinced 5 of my friends to join me because of my many wonderful cruises on Celebrity. Two of my friends had never cruised before, and one had only cruised on other lines. The other two had only been on Celebrity once. Aside from the difficulties we experienced, I noticed a lot of other changes which did not enhance my "Celebrity" experience. I did not find the food selections as varied as in the past or as good a quality as in the past. Even though I had a Concierge Class cabin, my room steward was not very good. I had much better when I had a room in the bowels of the ship or an inside room. I would have expected the very best to be working CC cabins. I was not the only one. Of our three CC cabins only one had a good cabin attendant. The staff in general were extremely pleasant, but not very knowledgeable. An example of that was our request to leave the ship later than 7:45am and being told that would be impossible. We did arrive on time but were not called until 10am. The young lady in charge was in a total fog. All in all I was very disappointed in Celebrity and very embarassed by the way they handled almost every aspect of this cruise. The one shining light was our wonderful waiter, John, and his assistant, Iwan. I think it may now be time to see if a more pleasurable experience can be found elsewhere.

[FlyingTiger]

Does anyone know how Celebrity can have such different wording in cruise contracts for Americans vs Europeans?

 

Dear Sky Sweet,

I figure, the industrie goes as far as the law allows them to go. It looks like US law favours the protection of the industrie, while european law tends more to protect the customers. A balanced blend of both would be the ideal.

 

And, please, dear community, this is something you can´t blame the passengers for. If I book in Germany, the Celebrity branch in Germany is my legal partner. Same goes for the british passengers.

 

happy sailings