Things I would never consider as important...

[AnthonyF]

with regards to the cruise....

 

1) Cruise Director - Sailed Century in nov 2004 and thought nothing about the Cruise Director except he seemed to be at the evening shows and thought himself a comedian and a couple of speeches. Now knowing that travelling with kids means no invites to the captains table or any Cocktail Parties, I now care even less.

 

2) Service - Yes we had a wonderful Waiter and Assistant and that is truly important for a cruise where you have 7 meals served by them. Cabin Attendent very attentive but was invisible (as I guess he should be).

 

3) Table Mates - I don't think Celebrity cared too much in seating us as we were at least 15-20 years younger then the others at the table and of course we had 2 young kids (8 & 11). We got along fine and the kids were remarkably well behaved, but in retrospect I hope for younger people this time around.

 

4) Activities - Incredibly quiet, hope for more.... Maybe Director can make more of an effort we'll see.

 

5) Attendents escorting you to a cabin - Nice touch, but wouldn't lose sleep over it.

 

6) Smiles - Always appreciated and nice to see.

 

I guess what I am saying is Good to Great food, waiters, beautiful weather, lounge chairs available, no line up for gym equipment and a clean ship and I'll be content. Hey let me win a little at the Casino too.....;)

[dkjretired]

Mentioning the casino brings something to mind as I'm heading to Atlantic City today to meet my mother-in-law for dinner. The cruise ships frequent cruiser clubs could learn a thing or two from some of the casinos....

 

Depending on your status at some of the casinos you get certain perks such as automatic upgrades on rooms. I have been upgraded to junior suites on many occasions. We get to skip many of the lines at restaurants, get special offers such as a percentage off of purchases. Another big perk is the clubs that many of the casinos provide for their frequent customers depending on how much they play. We can walk into one of the clubs at any of the Harrahs owned casinos and eat lunch or dinner and have free drinks. There are many advantages given but considering the very poor state of Celebrity's Captain's Club perks a review of their frequent cruiser clubs would be in order.

[tom_uk]

I think this highlights the fact that, even on the same ship and the same sailing, there are potentially as many different cruises as there are passengers.

 

For example, over the last few months there have been quite a lot of exchanges about Galaxy. I won't go into the details here, but suffice to say that I was perfectly happy with the ship, while others were clearly unhappy. It seems doubtful that she could have changed (in objective fact) in such a short space of time, and in fact in some instances the opposed 'she was great!/what a rust-bucket' comments came from people on the same sailing. Obviously, despite being on the same ship at the same time, they actually had .... different cruises.

 

What I'm trying to say is that no-one's view is wrong (or right): no-one's cruise is necessarily the 'true' cruise. We each bring to a cruise a whole load of baggage, including our previous cruising experience; our mood at that time; our demands & expectations; and our priorities. It's not surprising that two different passengers with different mixtures of the above can come away with different conclusions.

 

For the record, the things I couldn't be bothered about are a) the identity and style of the CD and other senior staff; b) the range of facilities, above a certian minimum; c) things like being escorted to my cabin, butlering, and so on. Things that are important to me are a) the itinerary; b) pleasant and interesting table companions; c) the formal and traditional approach that X takes towards dining; and d) not feeling as if I'm being pressured to spend more money.

[BB5953]

things that don't matter to me:

 

1. As long as the ship. I like it to be nice but I would never notice some of the things that are metnioned on here (i.e. a small stain behind a chair in the corner of the lounge)

 

2. Service. It would have to be terrible for me to complain.

 

3. Other passengers or what they are doing. Talking on cell phones, smoking, wearing or saving chairs.

 

4. The games/activites.

[caviargal]

Things that don't matter to me:

 

- the ports

 

- the production shows

 

- the buffet

 

- childrens programs offered onboard

 

- bingo and other games

[vjw1218]

Soda cards

 

Alcohol (I don't drink, so who cares about a corkage fee)

 

Spa services

 

Cruise Director. (As long as they're doing their job, I don't concern myself nor remember who they were after the cruise was over.)

 

Bingo, art auctions, etc.

 

Ship photographers!

 

__________

 

I care much more about the cruise price, intinerary, shore excursion options and prices, (if it's somewhere I've not been) the food, cleanliness and service. Oh, and I love a good cooking demonstration. :)

[superjerryw]

Mentioning the casino brings something to mind as I'm heading to Atlantic City today to meet my mother-in-law for dinner. The cruise ships frequent cruiser clubs could learn a thing or two from some of the casinos....

 

Depending on your status at some of the casinos you get certain perks such as automatic upgrades on rooms. I have been upgraded to junior suites on many occasions. We get to skip many of the lines at restaurants, get special offers such as a percentage off of purchases. Another big perk is the clubs that many of the casinos provide for their frequent customers depending on how much they play. We can walk into one of the clubs at any of the Harrahs owned casinos and eat lunch or dinner and have free drinks. There are many advantages given but considering the very poor state of Celebrity's Captain's Club perks a review of their frequent cruiser clubs would be in order.

 

There isn't even any consistency withing the organization. Diamond members of RCI's Crown & Anchor club get some nice perks such as a free photo, some free internet time, discounts on certain cabins. In contrast, Elite Captains Club members get nothing except some coupons that entitle them to a small discount on some ships services (in other words, you have to spend something to get anything).

[AnthonyF]

or made infinitely better by such things as the Cruise Director....

 

Now if a soda card cost $10/day or the increase in corkage fees are nickel & dime efforts that could make you change cruises and for many Art & Wine auctions hold no interest.

 

I was surprised by some of the things things offered on the ship and thought the choice was quite impressive and made the overall experience great.

 

However I am amazed reading posts how important for instance the Cruise Director is and that he is known by first name by many on this board.

[Longboysfan]

Yes. I do see a lot of topics on Cruise Directors.

To me they are secondary to the Cruise staff which you have more interaction with if doing ship activities.

And the ship officers - which are always nice to me - Captains club elite party meets.

They carry more power on the ship than the Cruise Director.

And usually an officer can give you a direct answer where the Cruise director may have to check with the area that is being questioned.

[lysolqn]

Longboysfan - interestingly enough, the CD is a senior officer (the equivalent of 3 1/2 stripes - on par with the hotel manager and the staff captain) and reports directly to the captain (4 stripes). While he may not have the maritime training of the other senior officers, he's right up there with them in rank.

 

I'm amazed by how many people seem to form an emotional attachment to one cruise director or another, know just about everything about him/her and even decide which ship to sail based on the CD at the time. We often see passengers who try to attach themselves to the hip of the CD, hanging on to him/her and always turning up where or whenever the CD is around - as if they are seeking their own fifteen minutes of fame through some sort of pseudo-friendship. Who cares? It seems to me the CD position is essentially an administrative one, with a little MC and PR thrown in for good measure. As long as corporate is happy with their performance, so am I.

[LJAM]

Things that don't matter to me:

- the ports (the ship is my destination)

- the non-production shows

- the midnight/grand buffet

- soda cards

- bingo and other games

- alcohol

- cruise director

- art auctions

- wine auctions

- ship photographers

- "gold" by the inch

[dkjretired]

Longboysfan - interestingly enough, the CD is a senior officer (the equivalent of 3 1/2 stripes - on par with the hotel manager and the staff captain) and reports directly to the captain (4 stripes). While he may not have the maritime training of the other senior officers, he's right up there with them in rank.

 

I'm amazed by how many people seem to form an emotional attachment to one cruise director or another, know just about everything about him/her and even decide which ship to sail based on the CD at the time. We often see passengers who try to attach themselves to the hip of the CD, hanging on to him/her and always turning up where or whenever the CD is around - as if they are seeking their own fifteen minutes of fame through some sort of pseudo-friendship. Who cares? It seems to me the CD position is essentially an administrative one, with a little MC and PR thrown in for good measure. As long as corporate is happy with their performance, so am I.

 

I agree, CD is most importantly an administrative function. I think many people have the mistaken belief that the CD will be like on Love Boat where all your worldly problems are solved.

[CaribbeanBound]

Things I could do without...

• Babies in the hot tubs (think "boil in a bag")
  
• CHOGS
  
• Indoor smokers
  
• Bingo
  
• Self-absorbed lecturers
  
• Elevators (I've got to get my exercise somewhere)
  
• Raisins