I’m Onboard Celebrity Century – Got Any Questions?

[dileep]

I too am horrified to hear about the terrible service. Is this an isolated case on just one ship or more systemic failure? Is this because of being a solo traveller or are others seeing similar problems?

 

The service on our 3 M-Class ships over the last 2 years has been very good.

[AgSg]

LOL Usha...what is ICKY to one person is fantastically gourmet

to another:D ;

)

Totally agree! The filet topped with foie gras that is served in the specialty restaurant is out of this world. I am getting hungry :)

 

We have also found the HDs on Celebrity ships to be very approachable.

 

Albert

[sharpie13]

Carolyn,

 

After having such a wonderful experience on the Mercury three weeks ago I can hardly believe you are experiencing a ship from the same line. My heart really goes out to you and I hope the restaurant and hotel staff do pull it back together.

 

Keep up the good work and at least the itinerary seems to be worthwhile if the service isn't.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Keith really emphasized that as hotel director anyone who was unhappy with anything under his purview (shore ex, restaurant, cabins, entertainment, etc.) -- well that he hoped they'd come to them. I have to say that surprised me. I'd always seen hotel directors on ships as part of the senior hierarchy -- unreachable.

Now then, what makes you think the senior heirarchy is unreachable?

 

To be honest, I would not want to sail on any ship, or any line, where the senior heirarchy is unreachable! It is not the way to do business. Or at least, the Hotel Manager. I do not mind if the Captain doesn't socialize too much - but the Hotel Manager is in charge of everyone who is in direct contact with passengers, and as such, I believe he or she must be reachable. For a Hotel Manager to be unreachable is simply unacceptable.

 

To be fair, I would probably go "up the chain of command" and not bother the senior people unless the lower-level staff didn't solve the problem. But I would certainly not hesitate to complain to the Hotel Manager if the problem was not solved by someone else... And to take it up with senior management in the home office if the Hotel Manager didn't solve it. If I am truly dissatisfied I will take the problem right up to the CEO if need be.

 

I am used to senior management being reachable - indeed, as I said, I would not be comfortable on a ship where they were not. I think it is absolutely imperative that they make themselves available to passengers and show an active interest in ensuring that everyone's experience is satisfactory. I would not expect anything less. And, as someone who knows some "senior management" types personally, I believe that they are interested in making sure that everyone is happy. Of course, nobody likes a chronic complainer, but I honestly believe that most of these people do want to know if there is something legitimately wrong with your experience. Certainly, if I were running a cruise line I would not tolerate anything less from my shipboard management.

 

I might add that I do not share your reservations with going to the Hotel Manager because you're on assignment. I think it is unfair not to give the senior management a chance to fix this... And that goes both for journalists and for "regular" passengers. Very often I come across negative reviews on these Boards from passengers who had unsatisfactory experiences and did not bring this to anyone's attention, assuming that it couldn't be fixed. Of course, you should not have a bad experience in the first place, but everybody screws up sometimes! All cruise lines have problems. Good ones fix them; bad ones ignore them. But they can't fix the problems if they don't know they're there! So, I do not subscribe to the "grin and bear it" theory.

 

Anyhow, I'm glad your cruise is getting better and I do hope your dining room service improves! I am sure it will, now that it has been brought to the Hotel Manager's attention.

[jerseygirl3]

"Foie gras [fwɑ gʁɑ] (French for "fat liver") is the fattened liver of a duck or goose that has been overfed. Along with truffles, foie gras is considered one of the greatest delicacies in French cuisine. It is very rich and buttery, with a delicate flavour unlike regular duck or goose liver.

Some animal rights organizations regard the production method as cruel because it involves force-feeding the birds through a funnel. Foie gras production is illegal in several jurisdictions." Wilkipedia

 

Foie gras is now illegal in the city of Chicago.

[jfried01]

I am very interested in your experience in the dining room, as my husband and I returned last week from the July1-15 Baltic sailing aboard the Constellation. While the trip overall was wonderful, we had a very big problem with the main dining room. Our waiter (who shall go nameless) was beyond rude. Any request was granted grudgingly, if at all; we were made to feel like we were on an assembly line; his attitude was surly and obnoxious. (For example, when we tried to make pleasant conversation by asking him one day if he had been able to go ashore that day, his response was "No, this isn't MY vacation, you know.) After the first two nights, we fled. We are not wimps. We are from NYC. But this kind of confrontation is not what we need on vacation. So, we ate either at Ocean Liners (twice) or up in the "casual dining" at the Seaside Cafe. That turned out great-- the staff was wonderful, the view was terrific, and the food was as good if not better than in the main dining room.

 

We returned twice to the main dining room. The first time, the waiter snidely commented, "Well, we haven't seen you around much," and stood there waiting for an explanation. The maitre d came over to our table later, and also basically demanded an explanation as to why we had been absent--in front of the waiter, no less. No way was he concerned that there might have been a problem. We felt EXTREMELY uncomfortable and tried to make some kind of excuse about preferring a quieter restaurant.

 

We later found out (from our assistant waiter, who we saw often at breakfast and was a very nice guy), that our waiter was on his last contract of many, many, and was leaving the cruise industry altogether in a couple of weeks. And, it turns out, we were not the only people to have had problems with this guy. But there is no excuse. Where was the supervision? No one in charge had a clue. Believe me, this was all documented in the end of cruise questionnaire.

 

You might ask why we didn't get our table changed. We were at a table for two, and wanted to remain that way. We saw the first day when we checked out our table, that there were very few twos, and most were in really bad spots. Our location was nice. So it was a toss up--good table and bad waiter, or bad table and maybe good waiter. We kept hoping things would change. I guess we should have switched.

 

The whole thing leaves a really bad taste in our mouths about Celebrity. This was our second cruise, and our first was on a "lesser" line. The restaurant experience on our first cruise was a joy. Not this one.

[Spike_Spiegel]

Carolyn:

 

First of all, like others have said - THANK YOU for sharing your experiences and your thoughts ... especially as difficult as it was. I, too, would have been tempted to avoid the process of "hashing it all out again" here on the boards.

 

Secondly, had I been anywhere nearby as your "formal night disaster" unfolded, I would have stood up and (quietly, as inconspicuously as possible) whisked you off to our table to dine with us! I don't think I could have stood by and watched such un-chivalrous behavior!

 

By the way, Carolyn, I would be very interested in your experience in the new AquaSpa if you get the chance to indulge ... I plan on treating my wife to a package there (on Century) this November, and would appreciate your thoughts!

 

To anyone else in similar customer service situations, I agree with Doug that you should take your concerns as high as you can as promptly as you can. The more senior the personnel, the swifter and more sure the response, in most cases.

 

One technique I highly recommend is the carbon-copy. Here is a (brief) primer:

 

- identify the most senior manager you can locate BY NAME. It is no good sending such things to a title alone, because it will all too often be flagged as "unfit for consumption" by the assistant to the real person in-charge, and either be shuffled off to a more junior staffer or (worse) round-filed.

 

- write out your issue as clearly as you can, in firm - BUT POLITE - terms

 

- at the bottom of your note, indicate that your are "cc"-ing two or three other significant members of the same organization. IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, make certain one of these CC: copies goes to a person "higher up the food chain" than the one you are addressing.

 

- send ALL of the copies simultaneously, and make certain to send those copies to everyone you included in the original note

 

- you could manage this technique onboard a ship by simply writing out several coipies of the same note and hand-delivering them to each person

 

- if you are doing this from home, spend a few bucks and send each note via USPS Priority Mail, so it comes in a large "special handling" package. If the issue is a *really* big one, then spend the extra bucks and go full-blown FedEx.

 

(What many people don't realize is that for many middle- and upper-management professionals, regular mail can take many days or even weeks before it reaches the person in-question, in fact it may never be read by anyone except the administrative assistant. HOWEVER, a FedEx that is addressed to them personally is almost guaranteed to arrive - UN-OPENED - on their desk.)

 

- Lastly - sit back and wait for the phone to ring!

 

(And it will, believe me!)

 

The reason this gets results is that you are capitalizing (in a good way) on the nature of corporate operations. When a communique such as this is sent to one person, it can sit in the InBox until doomsday ... but when they know several other folks - motivated, observant folks, no doubt - received the SAME letter ... there will be a race to see who can solve it first!

 

I have used this method with great success many times ... and no, I am not a "trouble-maker" looking to cash-in on "evil corporations" ... I simply have some understanding of the principles of good customer service and have managed to obtain prompt results when resolving issues ... always with a "no hard feelings" result from all involved.

 

Well, that went a bit long ... but perhaps it will prove useful to a few folks out there.

 

I still can't wait for my cruise in November!

 

- Spike

[Blazerboy]

:( I am truly sorry for your experience. I ,too, have had several bad experiences, and, when addressed at that moment, were taken care of immediately. But not always because I asked once, and then gave in to what ever treatment they allowed. I stood, waited, said that the proposed solution wasn't acceptable, and waited some more. I can appreciate that, given your tears, that you didn't want to make a scene. I would say, however, that if you give people a direct no-nonsense request, and stand your ground, you'll a.) be more likely to get what you want, and b.) be able to move on from a bad experience to enjoying the rest of your trip. When I ask for a different table, and a hostess/maitre d' is dismissive, and offers me another not-so-desirable table, I smile and say "unfortunately, that's not any better. I'll wait here until you can find me a better table...thank you, I appreciate your efforts"

 

I agree that Floris may have been harsh, but my reaction was that perhaps the emotions of the situation were compounded by the fact that your companion couldn't make it, that two people didn't show up, and that, because you weren't at the table the first night, others didn't feel the need to show up the second night, none of these things Celebrity's fault. Then, compounding those issues, you've approached the Maitre d' on the second night, when every other person with problems is also doing the same thing. Now, understand, I don't excuse the rudeness, but I do understand, given the evening, and your seeming state, that it devolved the way it did.

 

(This might be too late for you, but I wrote this thinking about the next single person or couple that might be in your situation) I am surprised that you didn't go to the diningroom on the first night- it's customary, and may have allowed you to make a different request on formal night- now, knowing your tablemates plans for formal night, going to the Maitre d' ahead of time, and telling him that the rest of your table is dining elsewhere, and your companion hasn't arrived yet on the cruise. Then you ask him to make arrangements for you to join another table. Since you are asking this, say, at lunch that afternoon, or whenever, you may have his full attention. That way, when you arrive at the diningroom, dress to the nines, you have the situation well in hand, and are not relying on someone being able to rush to find an acceptable solution. This approach is especially helpfull if you're concerned about how your table will be on something like a formal night. And, yes, I agree with whoever posted that letting your waiter know ahead of time is both polite and respectful, but I would add that you should try to show your tablemates the same consideration. (Carolyn, I know this becomes problematic on the first night if it's the only night that you could easily get a specialty restaurant reservation- but again, I might have made a point to have the reservation after the start of dinner in the regular dining room that first night so that I could make an appearance, greet my table, and explain my absence on the first night. That would give your tablemates the opportunity to inform you that a.) they have reservations there the next night, or b.) that they'll see you on the third night, as they don't like to dress for dinner...yada yada yada...) An then on you go.

 

The best news, though, is that you seem to have moved passed this (until someone like me dredges it up again!:o Sorry.) and are having a good cruise. :D

 

What I find unfortunate in other responses is that your one bad dinner is now being labled "Celebrity's Service Problem!..." I do hope that those reading these threads do hear other people say that they've either not had problems at all, or dealt with problems and moved on (the way you seem to be doing!:) ) and not be accused of being a Celebrity Mouthpiece...or worse.

 

Respectfully,

 

Blazerboy.

[dmk]

Blazerboy:

You expressed exactly what I was feeling. And is good advice for singles or couples.

Carolyn:

I too, feel badly for you in which was a most uncomfortable situation.

[Jasper2315]

Carolyn.....We are leaving Aug. 2 on the Century Baltic cruise and have found your messages very informative. This will be our second Celebrity cruise (Galaxy, Panama Canal March, '06) and we became converts on the first one. Having been pampered so much by our cabin steward, our waiter, and our Maitre d' on the Galaxy, we are looking forward to the Baltic cruise. Just hope they have ironed out the personnel problems by the time we arrive. On the Galaxy, our bed was uncomfortable and we had only to mention it to the cabin steward and a foam mattress was brought in. When we complimented him on the wonderful chocolates he left every night, he brought us a small bag of them when we disembarked (this was after we had given out tips!). In the dining room our waiter learned of my addiction to ice cream and it was brought in every night, as was hot tea (which I had to order special the first night). All in all, we love Celebrity so far and plan to go on more cruises with them now. What a wonderful way to travel! We thought cruising with Celebrity was like paradise, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that the one in August will live up to what we experienced on the Galaxy. We look forward to reading your reviews on the rest of the trip. Thank you for taking the time to give us so much information. Gordon & Betty

[pavafla2]

how has your cruise been? ever been on the summit to alaska? Thanks

[bpolan]

Hi Carolyn,

many thanks for all your postings. We board the Century on Aug 2 and it will be our first cruise on X, however we have cruised many times before on RCCL mostly, along with NCL and Carnival. I am appalled at your treatment on the first formal night, but it seems like the HD was very responsive once you talked to him. I'm trying to convince my husband to splurge on dinner at Murano's, can you make reservations ahead of boarding the ship?

We have a CC class cabin, and I hope the "extras" are somewhat worth it.

Your posts have definately made waiting this week doubly hard, the anticpation is growing daily....

bpolan

[skjaltd]

Hi Carolyn:

 

What do you know about the Concierge Class cabins and service? My wife and I are on the 8/14/06 Century to the Baltic. Our travel agent recommended the Concierge Class and, although we are booked there, I am not sure what its all about.

 

Also, is the specialty restaurant worth the upcharge? On prior Celebrity sailings, we were not all that impressed>

[Andy]

Hi Carolyn !

 

Thanks for the great updates. I am glad to hear things are improving. Did you ever find out if the Restaurant Manager was Mario or Radu ? I was curious if you had a chance to speak with either of them.

 

Enjoy your Cruise !

[Andy]

Lois, I couldn't agree more about Daniel. He's by far the sweetest hotel mgr. we've ever met, too.

So sad he's not with Celebrity anymore.:(

 

Hi Usha !

 

Daniel was one of the Best HD's that has ever been with Celebrity. He is greatly missed by us, and I am quite certain Celebrity is missing Daniel as well.

[Andy]

As for Celebrity, I must say Daniel Elias was probably the nicest

and most approachable Hotel Director I have ever had the opportunity

to meet. Too bad he is no longer with the company.

 

Anyone know who the HD is on the Millennium?

-----------------------------------------------------

 

Hi Lois !

 

For some reason, I believe Daniel's Assistant, MAY be the HD on Millennium, but I could be wrong about that. I heard she was now a HD on one of the M-Class ships, and I think it was Millennium, so you might run into her !

 

You are so right about Daniel. He is greatly missed. I keep hoping he will be back on a Celebrity ship someday. Hey, you never know !

[sirgonealot]

I am so sorry you have experienced some problems onboard. Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, every cruise has an air of pleasant experiences to come.

 

As a solo female business traveler for 33 years, I do know well of what you speak. On land it is much easier to find new restaurants to patronize or a different hotel in which to stay. Quite different on a ship.

 

I would have thought the maitre'd on-board would have known who was traveling by themselves. I would have also thought the maitre'd would have kept an eye out for you to make sure what happened to you did not occur.

 

In general, I have never been very impressed with most maitre'd's I have come in contact with. Very standoffish and uninvolved. With the exception of Marcus on the Infinity and the tall, distinguished Indian gentleman on the Mercury. Now those gentlemen were impressive!

 

I still prefer Celebrity, but as Host Andy brought up: "...something is going very wrong at Celebrity...". I only hope they fix it soon and return to the dependable, reliable, outstanding service which made so many of us diehard fans.

[dougnewmanatsea]

In general, I have never been very impressed with most maitre'd's I have come in contact with. Very standoffish and uninvolved.

I have certainly encountered these types on many ships and lines, and yet I have also had some wonderful ones.

 

Indeed, most maitres d' that I've encountered have been either wonderful or terrible. Very few in between!

[editor@cruisecritic]

And neither of them are onboard, Andy. I think Mario only recently completed his latest contract.

Carolyn

 

Hi Carolyn !

 

Thanks for the great updates. I am glad to hear things are improving. Did you ever find out if the Restaurant Manager was Mario or Radu ? I was curious if you had a chance to speak with either of them.

 

Enjoy your Cruise !

[C 2 C]

And neither of them are onboard, Andy. I think Mario only recently completed his latest contract.

 

Carolyn

 

 

We were loooking forward to Mario but I think he just got moved to Mercury. The present Maitre'd came from Galaxy where I think several problems existed. He certainly was not very helpful in resolving several issues, including seating arrangements in both legs of our B2B in May.

[xplrcrzn]

I think it would be nice if Celebrity had several tables at dinner hosted by officers, staff, entertainers and lecturers (as Seabourn does) where invited solo passengers as well as others would have a chance to meet a variety of people. I doubt that this would disrupt the fixed seating/assigned waiter scheme of things. Solo passengers whose tablemates had "abandoned" them could easily be fitted into one of these hosted tables at the last minute.

[jakenashleysmom]

Hi Carolyn,

 

I have another question about Muranos, specifically about the menu with wine pairings. Did you say that it was $30pp, plus $100pp? Just how much wine is included with that price? If a party of four were to go to dinner in Muranos and spend the $30pp, plus $400 on wine, that would be either 4 really nice bottles of wine or perhaps 8 so-so bottles of wine, right? I guess my question is this, is the $400 we would be spending be worth the price for the amount of wine served? I don't want to sound crass, or like we will be sucking down everything in sight just because we paid for it, but I also don't want to spend that amount of money and have one glass offered if I would like more. Make sense?

 

Hope you can clear this up for me, thanks!

[<BK>]

Carolyn:

 

Glad to read that the quality of your voyage has taken a more positve direction. My wife Carol and I will be "following in your wake," so to speak, as we board Century next month.

 

Sometime earlier (Post #89), I asked for your assessment of the ship's exterior since a review of the Century by a UK traveler to the Baltic last month commented on its bad condition. Still true (I'd assume not)?

 

My second question concerns where the Century ties up in the Baltic ports. Is it within relatively easy walking distance to some of the main attractions? Finally, are there any "must see" excursions that you have experienced?

 

Thanks for the gift of your vast experience and insight!

 

Bill

[cruisintwinsmom]

This post is just to be a small comfort to those who have booked Century in the near future. It is not to make light of Carolyn's experience, but just to give a different perspective. We were on the June 15 sailing and had wonderful service--in fact it has been the friendliest sailing we have been on. Our waiter and asst waiter went out of their way to get whatever we needed, not only at dinner but also if we saw them at breakfast and lunch. Our maitre'd spoke with us every night; we have been on some cruises where we didn't even know we had a maitre'd until we received the tip envelopes. The stewarts in the hallway always had a smile on their face and a big "how are you today". Maybe it helps to sail with 18 yo DDs who are very cute (at least IMHO):D .

Happy Sailing!

[editor@cruisecritic]

Zenith

Hi, Doug, funny thing – they all know about the stellar Zenith review here. I was told the hotel director there came from Cunard. The other thing about Zenith that crew (several) have told me is that it definitely is being transferred out of the fleet within the next year. This is of course a rumor…. But sounds like it could be true.

Carolyn

 

 

I'm terribly sorry to hear about your bad experience, and I admire your truthfulness in telling us about it! I don't think I'd have the guts to share something like that publicly.

 

After the excellent service I experienced last month on ZENITH, it is quite a let-down to hear about this :( . Totally unacceptable! However, I will say that I have met exactly the type of person you describe in the maitre d' - these types are not as rare in service industries as one would hope. After all, the inspiration for Basil Fawlty must have come from somewhere ;) ...

 

I can't help but get the feeling that if he knew who you were, you would have been treated very differently. Obviously this guy sized you up incorrectly as being a "nobody" and treated you accordingly.

 

I agree with those who say that this should be brought to the attention of someone senior - but how does one even describe an event like this?

 

Just awful. I certainly hope your cruise gets better from here!