HEAD4U

I just came back from the 20123 Celebrity reflection Post Thanksgiving cruise. Yes, I booked with PP as well as 10 other cabins of friends. We all encountered problems before the cruise with communication and unprofessional conduct with PP. There were also numerous facebook posts detailing similar experiences.

I have the time of my life ON this cruise, but it had nothing to do with Pied Piper. The private parties they hosted were unorganized and we walked out laughing. The pool deck dance parties were a joke also - horrible sound system and no DJ. It sounded like gay 101 music on a CD. The only benefit I saw was the Leslie Jordon show which only PP people could get into. (Leslie Jordon was wonderful!)

I found the PP staff click-ish and stuck up, I never saw them mix/mingle like you would expect. I called a PP rep during the cruise to ask about events and got ATTITUDE. He also asked 3 times "who is this?" - each time telling him my name and cabin number. The excellent time we had was due SOLELY to Celebrity Cruise line and that there were 850 gay guys on board.

I do not book excursions unless in foreign countries. Anyone with 1/2 a brain can do it themselves cheaper and easier. I did hear the PP excursions were not PP at all - they had other non-PP passengers within the buses. I am sure PP must have received commissions off the excursions of PP passengers too, that's why they promoted them.

I think people expect more from PP than they do. They really are just in it for the $$$$, it is very obvious when you look at it. They are a Travel Agency, not a tour operator/host. They DO misrepresent themselves and lead people to believe they are RSVP or Atlantis. But, they are only a Travel Agency getting commission off everyone booking through them. I calculated their commission at low side of $200k for this cruise. (850 guys at 25% comm) - not including excursions, drink packages, etc.. The base cruise price is cheaper through PP, but I did learn that Celebrity will give groups of 10+ cabins the similar discounts. It seriously looked to me like 850 guys paid for 10+ PP employees, 1 celebrity and 2 bad strippers to get a free cruise (suites on deck 14 btw). I personally will never book through PP again, but would book independently with the cruise line on an advertised PP cruise.

Is it worth it too you? It may be to you to be included in "the group", but don't think you are actually getting something besides a faux gold lapel pin. You are on your own. I have also never heard of a horror story with Pied Piper, just unprofessional behavior not typical within the gay travel business. So use your own judgement.

I agree with your assessment on the November 30, 2013 Celebrity Reflection cruise. I found the same issues.

 

However, early on in the cruise (day 1 or 2) a questionnaire was sent out and I replied to that questionnaire listing my concerns regarding the bar service. I received a call from the head of the bar staff according to the voice message left on my phone. She asked that I call her back. I attempted to call her back 3 times before I gave up. Going back to the voice message, she stated that they were not short staffed as I had indicated on the questionnaire.

 

I never once witnessed anyone walk around offering to get drinks around the pool (deck 14), sun deck (deck 15) or Solstice deck (deck 16). Sitting at the Martini Bar, I waited at least 20 to 30 minutes to be recognized. The only way to get reasonably quick service was to be demanding or pushy. I also noticed that some individuals were passing the bartenders cash and thus getting much better service.

 

I would also like to mention that the Mast Grill did not have anyone picking up dirty dishes frequently. Customers were carrying dirty plates, glasses etc. to the kitchen door and waiting for someone to take those dishes from them. On Solstice and Eclipse there was a cart outside the kitchen door in which customers could drop off their used dishes. At least once every half hour someone would quickly walk around the sundeck (deck 15) and pick up used dishes. On Reflection, this individual did not seem too enthused to get all of the used dishes. I witnessed individuals having to call him over to pick up dishes.

 

I wonder how many customers Celebrity has lost especially first time cruisers or first time cruises with Celebrity. If it were my first cruise with Celebrity, I would not spend the money to book another cruise with them. I have received much better service on other cruise lines.

 

I think Celebrity owes all of us an apology. It would also be nice to have the issue explained as to why there was a shortage of bar staff. I would be more understanding if they had stated that they were short staffed because many of the wait staff were from the Philippine’s (typhoon) and had been granted leave to be with their family.

 

David (this was my 17th cruise and 5th with Celebrity)

I was a "first time Cruiser on Celebrity (dec30th Reflection) and I was 100% impressed with the service and will book Celebrity again without hesitation. I think some of you are much much too critical of them.

I am one of those "recovering" non drinking persons Curt spoke about. I was very observant during the cruise. I noticed Officers or Mangers constantly watching the operations from a distance. At first I thought they were watching the "group" but they were actually watching the service staff taking care of the group.

e.g.

#1 -The start of the private costume party there were 4 wet bars, each with one bartender. AS the party started these bars became 5 deep with customers, and within a few minutes 2 additional bartenders arrived at EACH bar to help. So, 3 bartenders now at each at small wet bars now with 10 guys in line. These guys were hustling as fast as they possibly could and still were not decreasing the line. The area was maxed out.

#2 - When the Aqua Cafe opened on Wednesday at noon all the tables were taken up by guests playing cards/games. We were all standing around eating off of plates in our hands. I asked a wait staff about this and she agreed saying she would inform the manager. In LESS than 2 minutes the Manager arrived and politely asked these guests to relocate. No one was upset and the situation was handled wonderfully by him.

#3 - I got all comfortable on a chaise lounger and then thought about a "virgin" daiquiri. I caught the attention of a pool towel boy and asked if I was sitting in a section that was being served. He told me he would notify the waiter. He then said, "why don't I take your card and order with me, and I will give it to him when i find him". I never did see the waiter because this towel boy actually bought my drink back HIMSELF!! And faster than I could ever have imagined.

These occurrences made Celebrity go to the top of my list for customer service. There is nothing you could say that would make me feel differently, because I experienced this first hand.

I was on this Nov 30th cruise with all of you. This was my first Celebrity Cruise and I was thoroughly impressed. This is also the first time I have posted anything on this site. I agree with most every thing everyone has written here.

- I agree 100% about the lack of bartenders at every bar. It did get better as the week went on, but Celebrity should have know there were 1000 alcoholics about to come on board. I will say though that management should have stepped up immediately. I was at the Sunset Bar on the 2nd day. The 6 bartenders were bumping into each other unorganized and it wasn't very busy. I could not believe when one said the bar was out of cranberry juice. I said I would wait, thinking it was in a close by store room. He was gone for about 15-20 minutes and came back with much more than just cranberry juice.

- I detected NO smoke smell in or near the casino or anywhere else on board. The casino staff was the worst crew members. They were very uptight and unfriendly, unlike the rest of the crew. The cocktail waiter also was new/nervous and screwed up my drink order putting vodka in my plain cranberry juice.

- I ate in Blu every night and was so pleased I never wanted to go to a specialty restaurant. I did hear pros/cons about the MDR from others.

- I have mixed feelings about the Music. It may have been distasteful or loud in certain areas, but I just went somewhere else. The ship is huge ! There are so many out-of-the-way places to relax or talk.

- Celebrity will not allow electronic "vaping" cigarettes, which produce no second hand smoke. But they say nothing to the elderly woman who doses herself in Channel #5 thus ruining the theater show for everyone within 10 feet of her.

- I was unhappy the pools, hot tubs, and the entire exercise area/weight room were not open 24 hours, or at least after dinner. There is nothing better than a late night swim or sauna to relax before bed. 10 pm is too early !

- The bingo games are a scam, and Celebrity lies about the "take". They gave away approx $500 each day (3 games) of the approx $3000 taken in. (I estimated this low, multiplying the lowest package price of $30 by the number of people (100) I counted in the room. (FYI - I bought the $70 package, so $3000 est is very very low). I asked for clarification from both the casino manager and the entertainment department concierge desk. Both persons said that "all money taken in from bingo is given back the the players 100%". The "entertainment dept" crew members advertised that each day monies not given out accumulate into a "big prize" that is given out the last game of the last day". I asked 3 times for an estimate of this "big prize" and only got a "It's BIG" and weird smiles. They do bingo every cruise/every week for gosh sake! They did not even disclose the prize amounts before you start playing! The end game prize was $947 which was only announced 2 balls before someone called BINGO. Of course $947 sounds nice to anyone, but any 5th grader can figure out the numbers don't add up. If they LIE about it, then I consider it a SCAM. Even though Celebrity scored big points for the week, this incident made me rethink everything about Celebrity Cruises.

- I LOVED that there were no children on this cruise ! I do not appreciate spending $5000 on a vacation, purposefully leaving my kids at home - just to have to put up with someone else's. This is the main and best reason I would consider Celebrity Cruises first for my next cruise.