Celebrity going down hill

[CatServants]

I'm sorry that you weren't happy with your cruise, but I'm SOOOOOOO looking forward to our upcoming family cruise in April. I'll let you know if I feel X has gone downhill when I get back, but I suspect I'LL LOVE IT!!!!

 

Of course problems occur on cruises (illness, lost luggage, and worse!), but servers having conflicts with one another during dinner? Heck, that's just Dinner Theater! You don't like the food? Order something else! Guest Services personnel being rude/unhelpful? There's no excuse for that, so smile and ask to speak with someone else. We're all paying a lot of money to ENJOY ourselves....lighten up, start out happy, and unless something TRULY AWFUL happens, you'll be able to laugh about those trivialities which may otherwise irritate you. Hey, if it's not the Poseidon or the Titanic....;)

 

Happy cruising!

 

Denise

[LisadelRio]

I just wanted to jump in and say that I've been reading, and mostly lurking on, internet cruise forums since 1996. (Remember r.t.c anyone?) According to the boards, Celebrity has been going downhill at least since then. At this rate, I'm surprised any of their boats are still floating.:D

 

I realize that people are going to have bad cruises from time to time. But that doesn't mean the whole line is going down. At least not at the rate reported on the boards.

 

I think it's a good idea to go on every cruise with beginner's mind. That way, we're always surprised at how great a Celebrity cruise is.

 

Lisa

[BILLP1]

I guess it is time to hire a private yacht.

[Prince]

Prince:

 

Just curious, what ships have you been on since Celebrity cruise? If Celebrity was not pleasing you, I'm glad you found another line that did.

 

 

Dear Susan

 

We have since sailed with Cunard, Oceania and Silversea. While they were all enjoyable--I think I liked Silversea best. I know it is a more expensive upscale line--but in reality--- we paid just as much for the Royal Suite on Celebrtiy (and paying for all the extras) as we did in a balcony suite on Silversea.

 

I really enjoyed Celebrity for many years--but our expectaions were no longer met--and it was time to move on. I hope that others find the product enjoyable however--since everyones needs are different.

[DrKoob]

On our Century cruise last month we had what I would say was the BEST dining room service we have ever had. The food was great, the service on the entire ship the usual X excellence.

[c-legs]

Forty cruises under our belt, 29 of which have been on Celebrity. Leaving for Barcelona this weekend to board Century transatlantic to Miami and have three more X cruises booked for '08.

 

Have things changed from our first X cruise in 1986 to our most recent X cruise six weeks ago? Yes, but that's at least in part because the cruise industry as a whole has changed with cruising becoming more family friendly and cruise ships becoming more like Las Vegas hotels. Changes are also due to a steady stream of new ships making available thousands more berths to fill each week, which in turn has driven down the price and made cruising more affordable to people who could never have afforded it previously. Cruising is, after all, a business which requires change to stay solvent and between economic and political changes over recent years and a change in passenger demographics, it's really quite surprising that things haven't changed on X ships even more than they have. I think X has stayed closer to its original product than most other lines and that's partly why it remains our first choice.

 

:) Good evening,

You presented excellent points. Well done. Couldn't agree more with your down to earth realistic perspective.

Thanks you

Cheers

;)

[Chicago Boy]

We have always found Celebrity's standards to be very high and will continue to cruise with them. I must say they have won our loyalty.

 

CB

[shipshape sam]

Has anyone recently returned from a Celebrity cruise and thought it is not the same as other Celebrity cruises they have been on I had some problems with service in the dining room and the shore excursion desk. Anyone else?

 

 

I think ALL cruise lines are going 'down hill'!

 

They are also changing to meet the new cliente they are attracting/seeking, which are a lot of first time cruisers who would like to do EXACTLY what they do on any other vacation on land, except do it on a ship?! Like bowling, ice skating, etc. What a lost opportunitity to do something different, but I digress.

 

I still think Celebrity is a 'cut' above other cruise lines. We have had GREAT cruises where nothing went wrong to GOOD cruises where there were lots of little things that went wrong, but in the end all our cruises were GREAT as we did not allow aggrevations to ruin our vacation.

[Oslo Dutch]

On our Century cruise last month we had what I would say was the BEST dining room service we have ever had. The food was great, the service on the entire ship the usual X excellence.

 

Yep, completely agree! The Century cruise in October was one of my best ever. Food was of a very high quality and dining room service was very good.

Like with HAL or RCCL I have experienced rather lukewarm service for open seating breakfast and lunch. However on Century we were allways granted a table for two, dining room staff was very friendly, sociable and made us feel very welcome. So many smiling people!

 

It has made me look beyond Cunard.....;)

 

Reint

[Maraprince]

Cannot agree with the original poster.

 

Food is pretty subjective. But as long as the food is properly prepared and served, the selection is varied and there is the willingness to accommodate passengers preferences, there is NO problem. We always had a plate of veggies to share every night at dinner along with Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail for the asking. We always ordered the feature pasta entre to share at dinner as well. We listened to our waiter's recommendation as to what the 1st sitting passengers didn't like and we enjoyed his choices greatly.

 

If anything, Celebrity is less "stuffy" than it had previously been. Great efforts were made during our recent Canada/NE cruise by the staff to keep the passengers entertained and to include them in the various activities.

 

From offering a dance class to teach passengers the dance routine from "One" (free of charge) to workshops on digital photography, it was all there. No big sales pitch on buying shore excursions of preferred shops in the ports was thankfully missing as was not the case with some other cruise lines.

 

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[BarbaraB2]

As much as I didn't want to engage in another Celebrity exchange, here I go, for what it's worth!

We have cruised 15 times, five times with Celebrity, six with Princess, and the rest on Norwegian. Our first ever cruise was on Celebrity Zenith, during its inaugural year (1992). That was the 'former' Celebrity, when it was owned by a Greek Line (I think). Everything about it was outstanding. Not only was the food impeccable but so was the service. Unfortunately, all other cruises for us were compared to it and could never measure up to its level of excellence. As time went on, however, we adjusted our expectations, tried different cruise lines, and enjoyed each one for its unique nature.

The past three years we have cruised the Mediterranean on Celebrity's Century and Millennium. We can say, without hesitation, that it is still a good line, with a lot to offer. However, if you ask whether it has gone down, the answer would be for us, without question. Not only is it not the same as it was in 1992, but it is not the same as it was two years ago!

I've read that people think that Celebrity's food is the best it's been. Well, we have not found this to be true. Last month's food and menu were so mediocre at times that we ordered 'off menu' with the advice from the maitre'd. To make matters worse, our waiter lacked a personality and should have changed places with the bus boy. We would watch other passengers joking and laughing with their waiters and longed to be at their tables.

With the exception of the 'specialty dining room', the service and wait staff around the ship, was very mediocre. Very few individuals (yes, there were some) went out of their way to do something 'special' for anyone. It seemed as if the crew was just going through the motions without much emotion or enthusiasm.

Through the years, what we have noticed is that as Celebrity has changed for the negative, Princess has changed too, but in a positive way and is our cruise line of choice.

[Ma Bell]

The truth is some cruises are better than others. We've been on 35+ Celebrity cruises beginning in 1994 plus another 20 on various cruiselines, mostly Princess.

One thing I know for sure is that your first cruise always seems like the best. Probably because you are experiencing something entirely new and wonderful and you just don't really notice any negatives.

We've had some small disappointments along the way but things always seem to get better again. For us Celebrity has been consistently good to excellent. I also know that if you are unhappy about something on your cruise a polite word to the people in charge will almost always make things better.

[ginagirl]

Just came back this November from a 2 week sailing to Hawaii on the Summit, which is probably one of my most favorite ships. Food was even better than our last Celebrity sailing on the Mercury in March of this year. Service was wonderful, and the only problem I saw was that the wine and cocktail prices are too high for the meager amount of liquor they put in the drinks and the poor choice of wines they offer.

[lisalovlee33]

First time on the Celebrity. Was also told that Celebrity is a step about Princess in the service. Personally I found it was not the case. The people serving the food always seem to be mad at something. My friend had egg shells in his omletes.. Food are VERY salty. My god, the lobster night was a disaster. It was dipped in salt practically. Vegetables like spinach was sandy. On formal night, 2nd seating, they ran out of lobster ravioli before the night began. Food out on the grill is mildly warm to cold. Cold burgers and ribs. When I ask for a piece of meat from another menu onto my main selection during dinner, our waiter will comment, I can try, but I don't know if I can do it.. , $2 charge to eat at the buffet restaurant during dinner AND HAS TO MAKE RESERVATION.. , DISHES ARE FILTHY. My god. I've never seen so many dirty dishes used for serviing. They're oily, and very dirty up on the buffet. Found a piece of glass in my wine glass (good thing I saw it before using!).

 

I'm hoping this is Century specific as I'm also booked on another one in January!.. Just my 2 cents and nothing was exxagerated.

 

I can go on and on.. but in MY OPINION on the CENTURY, it was poor dining experience, although, the sushi has pretty good selection!

[lysolqn]

First time on the Celebrity. Was also told that Celebrity is a step about Princess in the service. Personally I found it was not the case. The people serving the food always seem to be mad at something. My friend had egg shells in his omletes.. Food are VERY salty. My god, the lobster night was a disaster. It was dipped in salt practically. Vegetables like spinach was sandy. On formal night, 2nd seating, they ran out of lobster ravioli before the night began. Food out on the grill is mildly warm to cold. Cold burgers and ribs. When I ask for a piece of meat from another menu onto my main selection during dinner, our waiter will comment, I can try, but I don't know if I can do it.. , $2 charge to eat at the buffet restaurant during dinner AND HAS TO MAKE RESERVATION.. , DISHES ARE FILTHY. My god. I've never seen so many dirty dishes used for serviing. They're oily, and very dirty up on the buffet. Found a piece of glass in my wine glass (good thing I saw it before using!).

 

I'm hoping this is Century specific as I'm also booked on another one in January!.. Just my 2 cents and nothing was exxagerated.

 

I can go on and on.. but in MY OPINION on the CENTURY, it was poor dining experience, although, the sushi has pretty good selection![/quote

 

Your list of complaints regarding food service on your recent Century cruise is quite extensive, as set forth in both this and another of your posts under "Norovirus on Century." I'm curious to know your impressions of the non-dining aspects of your cruise - did Century/Celebrity disappoint you there as well?

[lisalovlee33]

Basically on our cruises, I look forward to the dining experience and the meals. It was just a bit of a shock as I've been told that Celebrity is suppose to be a step above the rest, well, within the rest that are of similar priced.
Other than dining, the rest of the cruise was alright. I find the shows better than other ships other than the magician act. The itinerary was great, always on time in the ports. I did hear from fellow shipmates that the concierge is of no help, but I didn't use them so I don't know.
The sushi bar at the end was a touch, great selection. Room is always clean. OVerall, I would think it's fine, but dining being a big part of something that I look forward to on a cruise is quite dissapointing.

[maiden]

We returned from our Med. cruise Nov. 4th onboard Century and since it was our first cruise we really can't compare but I will tell you that everything was absolutely wonderful. Great service!!! Everyone had a smile and greeted us warmly. Food was very good. We really like the main dining room, our waiter was at most tempermental at times but we have nothing to complain about. We loved it so much that we are booking another Celebrity cruise for this fall.:)

[pierces]

To the OP:

If your goal is to find fault and your expectation is to be disappointed, why cruise? Just go to a motel in some back-water town and eat at the local Denny's.

We cruise with the expectation that we will have fun, enjoy the food, see interesting sights and take a break from the reality of the daily struggle. In 24 cruises, we have never been disappointed. We have never had a bad waiter , mostly because we treat them politely and with respect. We have had the occasional minor issue, but they have always been resolved to our satisfaction. And frankly, we view with pity the "discount hunters" on tirades because there was a hair in their shower, demanding OBC for their pain and suffering! Cruising is an escape and if you're fortunate enough to take one, relax and enjoy it.

If it seems that RCI and Celebrity are "going downhill" find another cruise line.

There are always choices...we choose to be happy!

Dave


P.S. If you take offense to this, then you probably want to be offended and should feel good about that small success!

[S10Catman]

[quote name='rcicruiser']Has anyone recently returned from a Celebrity cruise and thought it is not the same as other Celebrity cruises they have been on I had some problems with service in the dining room and the shore excursion desk. Anyone else?[/quote]

Here's an URL to my last Celebrity Century Cruise. [URL="http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=35095"][COLOR=#810081]http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=35095[/COLOR][/URL]

The dining room was definitely lacking in comparison to our Apr 07 cruise. We thought it seemed the ship was under-staffed as our waiter worked the breakfast and lunch buffets as well as the early and late main dining. There was a definte change in that no evenling buffet was available and I recall there was an evening buffet available in Apr 07. The Island Cafe (with $2.00 surcharge) was new to us and we did not have a pleasant experience there. The pizza and pasta bar has definitely slipped in quality from the Apr 07 cruise. Murano's and the breakfast and lunch buffet quality was as good as our Apr cruise. From what we gather there were a lot of the ship's staff leaving before the transAtlantic cruise later this month so suspected that under-staffing led to the slip in quality and service. I guess we'll have to wait for our next Celebrity cruise to tell if it really wasn't a one-time thing or an actual decline in Celebrity service.

Alan:cool:

[flyguy]

Like they used to say when I was in the military, "There's not many ways to mess up scrambled eggs."
We enjoy the food and look forward to Jun 08 on the Millie to Seward. We sailed on the Galaxy out of Galveston a few years ago and there was soooo much to eat and what a variety! Ruben sandwiches, pizza, desserts and then there was dinner after that! Ugh! Terrible (but we liked it).