Returning to Celebrity after 5 years-concerned about poor reviews

[willysgrandma]

After being on Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Princess and Carnival all within a four month period (we were very lucky to do so, I need to add), Celebrity is still a step above in our opinion. Are they as good as they used to be? Maybe not? But is anything as good as it used to be?

 

When compared to each of the other lines on recent cruises, Celebrity is still came out on top for us.

 

Freelancer, like everything else, give it a try and see for yourself. If you are looking at the mass market lines, I think you'll find similar reviews on most of the lines these days.

 

Good luck!

 

I agree with Anne. I think Celebrity is a slight step above Princess with the Solstice, but their food is not as good as it was 5 years ago, nor was the service. However, I still had a wonderful time on the Solstice and would go back again.

 

None of the cruise lines are what they were 5 years ago - they are all cutting corners where they can.

 

If you see the glass as half full, you probably will enjoy your cruise. If you see it as half empty - you may be disappointed.

 

I have yet to be on a cruise that I can say I hated. Any cruise is better than staying at home!

[Bobblsc]

Here is my review, written just after completing a TA on the Summit. There are a few things which were of concern to me, but not others, i.e. the talent show. I believe I also mention that others seemed to think all the food was great. We did not. Here is the link.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=17475945&postcount=1898

 

I just read my post again, and see that I omitted the entertainment we thought was the very best of the cruise. One evening in Michael's Club the band started the evening playing jazz, and this was followed by the stage singers giving voice to songs they really enjoyed singing. There were trained and great voices displayed that evening. The "show" finally ended at 1:00 a.m. One tenor even sing an opera aria. Great!

 

I have started to think that sometimes the ship management, food etc. turns out to be "the luck of the draw."

 

Bob :cool:

[rmaxi]

Just got off an 8 night Carnival Cruise in late April and was pleasantly surprised at the quality of both the food and entertainment compared to my very first cruise on Carnival 15 years ago. That being said, Celebrity continues to my Cruise Line of choice and have booked on the Equinox next February. NCL was, by far, the least rewarding cruise I have taken but it wasn't horrible....just not quite as good. The food was just OK but the vacation was still very good.

I would take some of the negative posts with a grain of salt. Things are rarely as bad as people claim, nor are they generally as spectatcular. Hyperbole tends to rule the day on opinion boards.

[Dorene1]

Sailing over 45 cruises, I love to cruise and I cruise on all cruise lines. I currently have a cruise scheduled for NCL, Princess and the Eclipse. I sailed on the Century in November (3rd time) and I had a wonderful time, the food was wonderful and the service above standard. I now cruise based on itinerary and price. I find all cruise lines will do their best to make you feel special. I love to cruise and I have never lost weight from any cruise lines food. I do love Celebrity, just something about the line and the way I am treated while on board.

 

You will love the cruise line!!!!!!

 

Dorene

[The_Big_M]

I sometimes think it would be good to be able to comment on reviews - there are definitely some that don't match my experiences (even on the same cruise!), and in parts don't even appear to be true.

 

That's not to say that opinions and experiences don't differ, as they do, but sometimes people generalise or claim that everything is the way they describe, when it isn't. And then there are the reviews that seem to focus on the negative, and discount or ignore the positive, even if it would make up more the total experience.

[Bridge Maven]

The key to enjoying a cruise is to have realistic expectations.

 

Part of the problem with reviews is that some of them imply that their Celebrity cruise was perfect in every way, when in reality very few cruises are. However, when people take a cruise with that expectation it is inevitable that they will be disappointed.

 

Another problem is reviews that suggest that Celebrity is significantly superior to other mass market cruise lines because that also creates unrealistic expectations from people who are new to Celebrity but have cruised on other cruise lines.

[Solstice23]

We thought the food was better then when Micheal Roux ran the food, It was good then but I got bored of the choices cruise after cruise, I find the the food just as good with better selections now

[Infinatic]

The key to enjoying a cruise is to have realistic expectations.

 

We have also had great to excellent cruises on Celebrity and other cruise lines. We give Celebrity the edge, not because they are perfect but they are better most of the time.

[paulred]

Some folks seem to complain that things like service, food, and ship cleanliness ain't what they used to be. To tell you the truth, even nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

 

We were on the Solstice TA and had a fabulous time. So did the other 200 Cruise Critic members who sailed with us. Sure, everything was not perfect, but where there were small things evident, the staff went out of its way to remedy the situation.

 

One small example: I ordered rack of lamb done medium rare. After everyone else at the table was served their entree, my waiter apologized that mine was not there yet. He had decided that the portion sent for me was overcooked, so on his own, sent it back. Now that's service.

 

Impossibly high expectations will always lead to discontent. Get a reality check before you board, then have a fabulous time too.

 

Paul

[Ma Bell]

One thing is for sure, if you are looking for trouble you will always find it. Each cruise is different and each person's experience is different. One thing I know for sure is that if you have a problem they will do all they can to make it right if you are a reasonable human being.