Century transatlantic review - Part I

[omeinv]

I was on this cruise, and find lysolgn's review to be spot on. Alas, I particularly agree with the assessment of our fellow passengers in section four. Of course rudeness and a "me first" attitude is common I suppose, but disheartening nonetheless.

 

If there was a lower level of service on this cruise, and I'm not certain if it was, or merely certain areas; although I felt like it was a tad below normal; I would attribute this primarily to the extra hours the crew was putting in cleaning. Or perhaps the crew was reacting to the lack of courtesy and respect displayed by so many passengers.

 

Harris

[usha]

What a shame about the plethora of rude passengers! We had a similar situation on a Millennium cruise several years ago. There were just SO MANY RUDE, "SPECIAL" PEOPLE!!!:eek: I actually got (for want of a better term) body slammed by a woman cutting in line at the buffet! Some of the stuff people were saying to the staff was just shocking! Hard to believe this was their "vacation" mood; what are they like when they're NOT cruising???? Even with the lovely ship, the great food, the wonderful service, the beautiful weather, and the interesting itinerary, the mean, joyless moaners really put a pall on that cruise. Hope we never have a group of passengers like that again!

[lysolqn]

Hard to believe this was their "vacation" mood; what are they like when they're NOT cruising????

 

The very same thought crossed our mind!

[rick47]

Wife & I were also on this cruise and had a wonderful experience. While some cruises are better than others we have yet to have a "bad" cruise, maybe just lucky even after 24 Celebrity cruises and over 40 others. Also had a sky suite and had typical great service, the crew couldn't do enough for the passengers, they worked overtime to keep the ship as clean as possible with the Noro on board. We also met some great new friends aboard and just avoided those cronic complainers and rude individuals who are always a small percentage on every cruise. We all filter our experiences through our own set of values and expectations thus the varied opinions therefor we see no right or wrongs but we are always curious as to the viewpoint of others. I look at the obituary column every day and when my name isn't in it, it's a great day. Happy New year to all and we wish you health & happiness.

[iluvdoxies]

Like most transatlantics, this cruise was a great combination of port and sea days. In fact, it was as if we had booked a 10-day port intensive European cruise and had an additional 7-day cruise for some much needed R&R thrownin along with it. Like many other people, we were disappointed that Casablanca and Tangiers had been cancelled; having called on several of the ports on this cruise on a prior transatlantic, they were the two ports that pretty much hooked us when we looking for another t/a, but with geo-politics and the state of things the way they are today, far better to be safe than sorry - no sense going we are not wanted. Perhaps we’ll get to visit them on a future t/a. We thought the Canary Islands were the real gems of the cruise and wouldn’t hestitate to stop back there some time again. We had beautiful weather throughout the cruise and with the exception of one cool, gray day in Cadiz and one overcast early morning during the crossing, the weather couldn’t have been better had we ordered it up ourselves – sunny, no humidity, afternoon temps mid-60s to mid-70s. The seas were calm with some swells that afforded us just enough motion to remind us we were on the water. I’m always amazed by passengers who complain about the motion, as if the fact that their cruise was a “water” vacation was hidden from them when they booked!

 

A word about our fellow passengers, if I may. If I were aked to use only one word to describe the passengers on this cruise, it would be “RUDE.” Certainly we met many lovely people but far too many people we encountered were downright rude and nasty – not only to fellow passengers but to staff and crew as well. Lest you think we were the only ones to make this assessment, many of the folks with whom we spent time remarked about exactly the same thing. Please, thank you and excuse me were in large part absent from the lexicon of many on board. Lines at the buffet, or any place else for that matter, were for everyone but them. Cutting ahead of people in line was the norm, as was the heated exchange of words thereafter. We were shocked to hear the way some passengers spoke to the crew, particularly those who were behind the buffet counters. I was behind one man who asked the server for something that wasn’t on that particular line. The server told him it wasn’t on the line and very politely directed him to the sandwich line, at which time the passenger responded, “I’m not waiting on another d(arn) line. Get it!” DH and I were walking through the Rendevouz Lounge on our way to the dining room one evening when from behind us we heard, “Get out of the way.” We turned around and saw a man on a scooter who promptly told us to “move over.” These were not isolated incidents but rather incidents indicative of the behavior of way too many people. Every night we and our tablemates would share our respective tales of rude passengers during that day - initially it was funny; after a week or so, the humor was all but gone. One morning I was on line waiting for toast and a man walked straight to the head of the line, ignoring everyone who was waiting. The man whose turn it was next to give his order very politely told the line jumper there was a line of people waiting, to which the line jumper responded, “Too bad.” I walked into an elevator only to hear one lady actually giving another an argument because she pushed a button to go up and the offended lady wanted to go down. I lost count of the number of times we were in an elevator and had passengers call out their desired decks as if we were employed by the cruise line as elevator operators – no please, no thank you, no “would you please push nine?” – just “nine.” Sometimes we felt like we had booked passage on a cruise for incorrigible children whose report cards all indicated, “Does not get along well with others.” I’ll stop short of attributing the over abundance of rude passengers on this cruise to the age demographic but it sure makes you wonder.

 

Like any other cruise, complaints abounded. There were those who swore they’d never cruise with Celebrity again and were eager to share their litany of reasons why with anyone who would lend an ear. There were those who after just three days into the crossing were itching to get off the ship because they had had enough – probably something they should have considered prior to booking the cruise. Rule #1 – don’t book a transatlantic if you don’t enjoy sea days. People complained about spotty CNN reception; you’d think they expected the captain to open a wire hanger and fiddle with it affixed to the top of the ship!

 

If I were asked to voice one concern about Celebrity, it would be in connection with the more than usual recent concerns voiced by loyal X cruisers on Cruise Critic. Although we’ve never had much to complain about at all, my underlying fear is that with Azamara as RCI’s luxury line, X may lose some of the little touches that set it apart from its competitors and it may slowly morph into being just another mainstream line. But that’s a topic for another day. The bottom line is that we had a wonderful time, still love the Celebrity product and anxiously look forward to the three X cruises we’ve got lined up for ’08.

 

Sorry for rambling on and boring you.

 

 

Sorry you had such rude passengers, I hate that !

 

BTW, to me, Celebrity IS a mainstream line.

[zaharaboys]

You were less specific with respect to your other complaints - problems from day one, the lack of all the niceities that place X in the premium category and set it apart from other lines, service that was lacking and not getting what you paid for. Your experience is important to the rest of us who cruise with Celebrity and frequent Cruise Critic; and, if as some say, corporate actually reads these boards, elaborating re those general complaints may prove beneficial to everyone.

Thanks.

 

In fact we took the time to write very detail feedback for the Celebrity management which turned out to be 5 pages. We stated the positives and the negatives. For instance, we felt Murano was a wonderful experience. We dined there 6 times on this cruise. We included the feedback in the comments that we made on the ship and then sent the comments to the management in Miami. We do not feel it is appropriate to mention the individuals by name as we did in our feedback as this is a public site.

 

I'll be happy to be a little more specific for you as to what was missing on this sailing.

 

1. Real priority embarkation and white glove service upon embarkation

2. Linen on the buffet trays

3. Linen napkins in the buffet

4. Linen table cloths in the suite when dining

5. Fresh flowers on the table in the dining room

6. Fresh flowers in our suite

7. Cold or warm towels when returning from port

8. Sorbet around the pool in the afternoon

9. Cloth towels in public restrooms

10. Bread sticks in Martini Bar

11. Ice wall and bar in martini bar (broken entire cruise)

12. Bed side mats for all but 4 evening of the cruise

13. Real cream for most of the cruise

14. Exceptional beef in the restaurant

15. Sushi bar

16. Additional linens in the suites

17. Library (although people were reaching into the book cases in the card room to "steal" books)

18. Bread and condiments on the table in the restaurant

19. Decent ice cream.

20. Real coffee in the buffet and room service. We were lucky enough to be able to order espresso, lattes and cappuccinos in the suite from no charge.

21. Fresh flowers in our suite bathrooms

22. Rose pedals in the public bathrooms

23. Cushions on the lounge chairs on pool deck an our balcony

 

While these are all small things and while missing any of them should not affect the cruise, they are some of the items that set Celebrity apart from every other line. Yes, this was a code red sailing and we understand they had to constantly clean the ship but that was not what we paid for. Could you get salt and pepper and bread if you asked. Sure you could. Did it take longer than normal, of course. Did it have an impact after 17 days of needing to ask the waiter for salt for soup, definitely.

 

As we stated earlier, they took actions they felt were necessary to avoid an outbreak of Norovirus. If given the choice at the pier, we would have definitely opted to not take the cruise and use the money for a different sailing because the service is very important to us and it is what we paid for. Unfortunately, the code red status and the resulting actions taken by Celebrity compromised our experience. We were not given a choice about whether we would be ok with the changes while paying the same amount of money. We paid for one product and received another. I find it hard to believe that anyone can make a rational argument that they got exactly what they paid for.

 

One additional comment, is it not ironic that Celebrity made a point of avoiding self service drinks in the buffet so as to avoid people touching buttons and passing the Norovirus to fellow passengers but the casino was never closed down. The slot machines were open for business and of course they were people pressing buttons all day long. Could it be that Celebrity feared losing revenue if they closed the Casino. They certainly would have had a revolt if they closed the casino but that's another topic of conversation.

 

We're simply stating our opinion.

[02143]

11. Ice wall and bar in martini bar (broken entire cruise)

 

Damn, that was fast.

[Drew B]

Many of the things you complained about (the ones I have bolded) are, I believe, a result of the Norovirus outbreak. That is beyond Celebrity's control.

 

1. Real priority embarkation and white glove service upon embarkation

2. Linen on the buffet trays

3. Linen napkins in the buffet

4. Linen table cloths in the suite when dining

5. Fresh flowers on the table in the dining room

6. Fresh flowers in our suite

7. Cold or warm towels when returning from port

8. Sorbet around the pool in the afternoon

9. Cloth towels in public restrooms

10. Bread sticks in Martini Bar

11. Ice wall and bar in martini bar (broken entire cruise)

12. Bed side mats for all but 4 evening of the cruise (I don't know what this means)

13. Real cream for most of the cruise

14. Exceptional beef in the restaurant

15. Sushi bar

16. Additional linens in the suites

17. Library (although people were reaching into the book cases in the card room to "steal" books)

18. Bread and condiments on the table in the restaurant

19. Decent ice cream.

20. Real coffee in the buffet and room service. We were lucky enough to be able to order espresso, lattes and cappuccinos in the suite from no charge.

21. Fresh flowers in our suite bathrooms

22. Rose pedals in the public bathrooms

23. Cushions on the lounge chairs on pool deck an our balcony

 

I respect that you have said that, if given the choice, you would have chosen not to take this cruise under the circumstances. Unfortunately, that is not industry standard. It is not a Celebrity issue - no line in the entire industry refunds pax at the pier if they choose to opt out of a cruise at the last minute due to noro.

 

Honestly, I am glad that they do the things they do to curtail infection. I really don't want to use a salt shaker or a cloth napkin or eat some sushi if the result is going to be that I will end up laid out with norovirus...

[lysolqn]

I'd add the following to Drew B's list -

 

1. ...white glove service upon embarkation (the crew was otherwise engaged in sanitizing the ship - not an excuse, but an explanation)

 

5. Removed to prevent passengers from handling the vase/flowers and possibly passing on the virus to other passengers who might do the same.

 

7 and 8 - usually available only in Caribbean and other warm weather ports.

 

9, 10 and 17 - unavailable as a result of Code Red designation

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

4, 6, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 are clearly hotel/housekeeping issues.

 

I hope you requested to meet with the hotel manager and/or chief housekeeper to express your disappointment while you were still on the ship. If those with the authority to right the wrong are kept in the dark, there's no way they can rectify the situation or prevent it from happening again. Of course you were right to address the issues on your comment card and send a detailed letter to Miami but by the time you did that, it was too late to do anything to make your cruise more enjoyable.

 

I appreciate your frustration and your feeling that you got less than you paid for and expected to receive. I'd love to know if you get a response to your letter and I mean a real one, not some canned "thanks for letting us know, hope we can do better next time." Please keep us posted.

[zaharaboys]

As I indicated in my previous post, we understood there was Norovirus and they were taking precautions; however, that does not dismiss the fact that the services were not provided.

 

We did meet with the hotel director the 5th day of the cruise and expressed our dissatisfaction and noted most of the above as issues. This was after we had a pair of black shorts ruined but sitting on one of the benches in the Aqua Spa because someone used bleach instead of the microbac that they were supposed to use on the sitting surfaces. She basically said they were going to address the concerns and make sure that we had a better cruise going forward. That was the last time we saw her for the next 12 days. You may or may not know that this was her first cruise with the Century and she is new to the job. She was without a doubt promoted beyond her capabilities.

 

I actually would be surprised if Celebrity responded to the letter. Given that we spent time to make a very detailed account and that we have sailed with them so many times, I hope they make an effort to respond. I will certainly let everyone know if they respond with anything but a form letter.

 

Anyhow, we're going to look forward to our next vacation and put this experience behind us.

[lysolqn]

As I indicated in my previous post, we understood there was Norovirus and they were taking precautions; however, that does not dismiss the fact that the services were not provided.

 

Agreed, but I think you might agree the noro situation pretty much placed X in a lose-lose position. On the one hand, if they took no measures to contain the virus, many more passengers and crew might have fallen ill. On the other hand, taking the prescribed precautionary measures necessitated cutting back on some services, something which no doubt adversely impacted the cruise (how much or how little depends on individual perspective). I'm not sure there was a way to satisfy both needs.

 

In retrospect, perhaps as a gesture of good will X should have offered passengers some onboard credit to compensate for the inconvenience and loss of services resulting from the Code Red status. I'm not a proponent of paying people off but at the very least, it might have smoothed some ruffled feathers. I can easily see both sides - why should you be expected to settle for anything less than what was promised you, but why should X have to compensate for a situation totally beyond its control? It's a tough call.

 

I hope your cruise wasn't all bad. I'm glad you're moving forward and I sincerely hope your next trip, whether on land or sea, is everything you hope it will be.

[zaharaboys]

What Celebrity should have done, in our opinion, is face the situation head on and make sure that people understood that items were missed because of the courageous attempt by the crew to kill off the virus. They could have turned a negative into a positive. Even today, all of us speculate why certain items were not there. There was never any official record saying, there will be these services missing on this cruise.

 

After facing the situation head on, they should have offered a future cruise credit in order to show good faith in highlighting the Celebrity brand. They did not need to outlay any current revenue and all they were really going to do was encourage people to sail with them again. "Let us show you how we treat you like royalty when there is no virus on our beautiful ship" (ok, I do not do professional tag lines).

 

Neither event took place. I realize that it's not Celebrity's fault that some group brought Noro on the ship. It's certainly not their fault that it spreads like wildfire. However, they are in a service industry where they are completely dependent on their customers being satisfied. They spend a lot more to attract a new customer than they need to keep a loyal customer. Some creativity in the time of crisis is important for their company. In our opinion they did a very poor job on this cruise and in this situation.

[lysolqn]

Point well taken. A note sent to all cabins explaining what was being done and why it was being done would have gone a long way, and a future cruise credit "showing good faith in highlighting the Celebrity brand" (minus a noro outbreak) might have turned into a public relations windfall had X taken advantage of the opportunity (though I'm still not a proponent of paying people off), but you're right...X missed a golden opportunity to "make nice."

[coasters]

What Celebrity should have done, in our opinion, is face the situation head on and make sure that people understood that items were missed because of the courageous attempt by the crew to kill off the virus. They could have turned a negative into a positive. Even today, all of us speculate why certain items were not there. There was never any official record saying, there will be these services missing on this cruise.

 

After facing the situation head on, they should have offered a future cruise credit in order to show good faith in highlighting the Celebrity brand. They did not need to outlay any current revenue and all they were really going to do was encourage people to sail with them again. "Let us show you how we treat you like royalty when there is no virus on our beautiful ship" (ok, I do not do professional tag lines).

 

Neither event took place. I realize that it's not Celebrity's fault that some group brought Noro on the ship. It's certainly not their fault that it spreads like wildfire. However, they are in a service industry where they are completely dependent on their customers being satisfied. They spend a lot more to attract a new customer than they need to keep a loyal customer. Some creativity in the time of crisis is important for their company. In our opinion they did a very poor job on this cruise and in this situation.

amen!

Jerry

[ianj]

We were also on this cruise and while I agree with most of the previous posts, I'd like to add a few additional comments.

 

1. First we paid $999 for a deluxe balcony cabin (about $59 pp per day) which we were very happy with, the rounded end beds, lots of storage and general decor added to our comfort. Compared to our first cruise in 1989 when we paid almost $800 for a 7 day cruise in an inside cabin, we were winners even before we left home.

 

2. We arrived for embarcation around 11.30am, checked in very quickly and thought Celebrity handled the delay very well. We checked our hand luggage, took advantage of the shuttle/lunch voucher provided and were strolling La Rambla by 12.30pm. Returning around 2.30pm, yes, we had about 45 minutes wait before boarding, but I've waited longer on other cruiselines even without Noro being onboard. Celebrity didn't have to provide a free shuttle and lunch at any of six restaurants in Barcelona.

 

3. I found that every member of staff I met was pleasant and friendly, even the casino staff though they still managed to take all my money. Our cabin steward and wait staff were as good as we've ever had on any of 30+ previous cruises and considering the extra work load they had, they were amazing.

 

4.The lack of condiments/bread etc on the table was actually a plus for us as one of the memorable moments at dinner each evening was when Oscar doled out the bread as we all counted out the breadsticks in unison.

 

5. None of our family group of eight were directly affected by the virus and although many wood surface were almost stripped bare, Celebrity seemed to do a good job of containing the outbreak and provided an insurance claim form when one pair of pants was damaged by bleach on the elevator bars (in retrospect they should probably have announced in advance that they were using bleach to disinfect many surfaces).

 

6. The weather was spectacular, excellent walking temperatures in port, calm seas throughout and even sunbathing weather some days at sea.

 

7. Disembarcation was painless and quick, we left our cabin at 8.20am and were on our way to Ft Lauderdale in our pre-arraged transfer by 9am.

 

The one negative thing I'll add, which I don't think has been mentioned already, is the quality of the general coffee (other than Cova Cafe). Could it have been any worse, I generally drink 4 or 5 cups per day, but every time I tried it a wave of nauseation engulfed me, I avoided it most days and paid the $3 for the good stuff.

 

While it was definately not the best cruise I've taken, it was alright, I guess.

[lysolqn]

While it was definately not the best cruise I've taken, it was alright, I guess.

 

Just "alright?" For a while there you had me thinking you really enjoyed it. Perhaps we're in the minority but we had a wonderful time and if we could turn the clock back, we'd gladly do the whole thing over again - Code Red, rude passengers and all!

[lysolqn]

What Celebrity should have done, in our opinion, is face the situation head on and make sure that people understood that items were missed because of the courageous attempt by the crew to kill off the virus. They could have turned a negative into a positive. Even today, all of us speculate why certain items were not there. There was never any official record saying, there will be these services missing on this cruise.

 

Just re-read your posts and I'm not sure whether your problem was more with missing the items/services you expected to get or more with X not formally notifying you that the aforementioned would not be available to you. Would you have been any less bothered had you been notified?

[Hebe]

We were also on this cruise and must say that it was not the level of service that we have experienced with Celebrity in the past.

 

I totally agree with the Zaharaboys that a little PR would have gone a long way on this cruise. A little -- we understand that some of our services cannot be provided. But at some point, I think they used the situation as an excuse not to provide good service. For example, we watched plates pile up at the buffet as staff stood around and talked. Normally you are telling them you are not finished as they are trying to take your plate.

 

I also think the food was not up to the standards that we had on other Celebrity cruises. Am I the only one who noticed no black olive with the shrimp cocktail? Dinner in the main dining room was hit and miss --- I had great dishes and really bad ones. One of the people at our table received raw pork chops. While the dish was taken quickly to be replaced, 20 minutes later someone finally returned to tell him they had no more pork what did he want. We also witnessed tables on the final formal night waiting 1 hours for their main meals which was served after the Baked Alaska parade. None of this had anything to do with the virus. Celebrity did tell us that the beef order was not received and they had to use beef from Spain that was not up to their standards.

 

I think this coupled with the changed ports was just the extra negative that none of us needed.

 

I know some people got great deals for this cruise but not all us got those $59 a night prices and paid a lot more for the service that was not there.

[ianj]

Just "alright?" For a while there you had me thinking you really enjoyed it.......!

 

Yes, I rated it just 'alright' because although there were many good things about the cruise, there were also many negatives. Lots have already been mentioned but for me the major disappointments were:

 

Food - steaks were tough, pork chops were tough, lamb was gristly, the lobster was burned black on the underside and smelled over-fishy. On five occasions, items on the menu were not available, a first for me on any cruise, buffet food was lukewarm, room service food was frequently cold. OK, we didn't starve and many items were good, I particularily enjoyed the salmon. Did I mention that the coffee was dreadful......

 

Entertainment - was mediocre, at best, the 'comedian' was just terrible, I can't believe I sat through his whole act. The production shows were the usual fare, though after seeing the same type of thing 20 or 30 times it's hard to work up much enthusiasm for the same old routines. Tinkling Fingers Finkler wasn't too bad and I enjoyed the guitarist, but the rest just wasn't 'my cup of tea'

 

Portcalls - were disappointing though I enjoyed Gibraltar and Lanzarote, we had also booked mostly because of Tangier and Casablanca, having been to most of the others before

 

Shore excursions - were awful, we pre-booked two The trip to Taroudant in Agadir.... a total waste of time, 1 1/2 hours bus trip through scrubland (no goats in trees) 1/2 hour walking through the Souk (no stopping to look or buy), a captive 1/2 hour in the fragrant oils factory and 1 1/2 hours back on the bus with a quick stop at an artisan market with little of interest. In La Palma we went on the Caldera de Taburiente trip which wasn't quite so bad and had an interesting mountain-top stop, but the guide, although pleasant enough, was difficult to understand and told us he was just learning English.

 

...did I mention that the coffee was terrible........

 

All in all, the cruise was OK, but probably my least enjoyable Celebrity cruise, Would I cruise Celebrity again?.. Certainly, value for money, I still believe they're best in the business.

[lysolqn]

We were also on this cruise and must say that it was not the level of service that we have experienced with Celebrity in the past.

 

I totally agree with the Zaharaboys that a little PR would have gone a long way on this cruise. A little -- we understand that some of our services cannot be provided. But at some point, I think they used the situation as an excuse not to provide good service. For example, we watched plates pile up at the buffet as staff stood around and talked. Normally you are telling them you are not finished as they are trying to take your plate.

 

I also think the food was not up to the standards that we had on other Celebrity cruises. Am I the only one who noticed no black olive with the shrimp cocktail? Dinner in the main dining room was hit and miss --- I had great dishes and really bad ones. One of the people at our table received raw pork chops. While the dish was taken quickly to be replaced, 20 minutes later someone finally returned to tell him they had no more pork what did he want. We also witnessed tables on the final formal night waiting 1 hours for their main meals which was served after the Baked Alaska parade. None of this had anything to do with the virus. Celebrity did tell us that the beef order was not received and they had to use beef from Spain that was not up to their standards.

 

I think this coupled with the changed ports was just the extra negative that none of us needed.

 

I know some people got great deals for this cruise but not all us got those $59 a night prices and paid a lot more for the service that was not there.

 

I hope you noted your disappointment on your comment card; X needs to know when it falls short of the mark.

[lysolqn]

...did I mention that the coffee was terrible.......

 

We're not big coffee drinkers so the few times we had the brew it was fine, but I'll take your word for it - lots of folks have been complaining about it for years.

[Hebe]

I think the coffee is so bad because they use coffee syrup not brewed from scratch (ground and brewed) coffee.

[Gusti]

It sure made a tea drinker out of me

[candelle]

Thank you lysoqn for your eloquent piece on Century’s transatlantic cruise. We too were onboard and in case anyone from Celebrity reads this, I would like to mention a few points (there was not room to do so on the in-cabin questionnaire).

This may be a minor gripe, but I still feel hard done by! On arrival at the port I needed water to take some medication. None was available, and I was advised to travel into Barcelona to obtain some. This of course I did, but thought it was negligent of Celebrity not to have water available, as they had known in advance that they would be holding a large amount of people in one place on a warm day. I suspect that local supermarkets may just have bottled water for sale.... I understand that water was made available some time later in the day to those still waiting in the terminal building, but this didn’t help me (I needed it at around 1.00pm)!

On a positive point, we had a problem with our cases at the port and a very efficient young Spanish lady managed and dissipated the problem wonderfully.

Mention has been made of the meat on board and indeed, we were told by a member of staff that Celebrity had changed their supplier, and that the new one was not up to scratch. Certainly, our table companions could not cut their meat on many occasions and it had to be returned to the kitchen. It was also often luke-warm. I once had a beef dish that consisted completely of fat: my waiter was both horrified and embarrassed. We understood that a second meat supplier was engaged by Celebrity as the first proved so poor. To be fair to Celebrity, they would not have known the quality of the meat prior to its thawing and consumption, but it did rather spoil the ambience of the evening – not quite knowing whether the main course would be palatable or not. Waiting for other members of the table to consume their re-ordered food at the same time was also a little disconcerting.

We are Select members, so have obviously cruised with Celebrity on previous occasions, but we were disappointed with the selection of entertainment as we had seen all the acts, bar two. I know that many acts tour from ship to ship and it is inevitable that, if cruising with the same cruise line, one will see an already viewed act, but some new ‘meat’ into the circuit would be most welcome.

Finally bleach! We fully understand that Celebrity had to deal with the Norovirus swiftly. However, we cannot understand why no notices were placed in prominent positions in public areas regarding the use of bleach (it will stain clothes) – or even in issues of ‘Celebrity Today’ or the newspaper. This did not happen until after at least a week (Celebrity Today) and there were never any notices in the elevators.

People are generally kind and for several days, passengers continued to shuffle backwards in lifts in order to admit passengers joining from other floors. This is where much damage to clothing occurred. We both had pants damaged by bleach on the rail within the elevator. We had assumed that Celebrity would have used a non-staining disinfectant in public areas, but they choose not to do so. We wonder why. Was the reason because it was more expensive?

We too noticed some rather disgruntled passengers and if I had been a member of staff serving on the buffet lines I would have wanted to bop passengers on the nose on many occasions, as they were so rude!

I concur that Celebrity missed an opportunity to smooth any ruffled feathers of passengers by not giving a small cabin credit an easy PR exercise. Because of the measures that had to be in place, this cruise was not the relaxed affair it should have been, as, for example, one had to be constantly on alert less clothes be damaged.

The bottom line. Would we travel again with Celebrity? Yes, we’d give them another chance. Aside from the above moans, we have generally seen the ‘product’ dip a little, as cost-cutting measures seem to be taking place. I appreciate this is not a top cruise-line, and it does provide value for money – just. (I must make mention here, that we are from the UK and seem unable to find the wonderful deals that our fellow American guests have on offer so we pay more.)

I would like to make mention of the hard-working Celebrity staff, particularly the most lowly. The staff worked tirelessly to try to abate the spread of the virus and we were very impressed with their efforts.

So, if anyone from Celebrity will be reading this, please stop cost-cutting; use a more expensive disinfectant in public areas and put notices in elevators to alert passengers to possible damage to clothes; add some new acts into the entertainment pool; check your produce suppliers more thoroughly and provide water at ports!