mpdog42

I would recommend going on a ships excursion rather than a private tour, Do your own research, read up on the current situation from the United States state Department website....

On 5/17/2023 at 12:44 PM, Lane Hog said:

Why wouldn't it be? 

It's tolerated by the airlines with the right guardrails e.g. full refund and it seems Royal was still doing the right thing by asking for volunteers.  And after 35 years in the airline industry... you'll always find a volunteer at the right price.

Airlines and Cruise lines are two different things....Lets make it clear..I am for the customer on this one  not for a billion dollar Corp!!!

I am wondering if overbooking is even legal?

Does anybody know the weight limit for IFLY?

2 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Unfortunately this rep did not realize that these tours have not taken place on any ship since they restart after Covid 

But if it is a listed suite perk, and their trying to sell you the Tour....The suite guest should be provided with that tour for free!!

Thank you for your kind replys!!!

Just wondering if on Quantum of the Seas, If the Key will help with access to North Star and or IFLY?

Thanks!!!

2 hours ago, dearly1 said:

My wife and I have taken over 60 cruises with almost 40 being with Celebrity. Our most recent Celebrity cruises were a trans-Atlantic on Apex a year ago and a Caribbean cruise last month on Constellation out of Tampa.

 

What a difference, and yes I know they are completely different classes of ship, but I have never before seen a serious difference in food quality between different classes of ships. The Constellation cruise was a disappointment. In the main dining room food took a really long time to be served (the dining room staff were still excellent). In our opinion the dinner selections were nothing what we have been used to. On previous cruises we often had trouble deciding between a few good choices. On this cruise we had trouble finding something we wanted.

 

One night, in an effort to find a better selection, we went up to OceanView for dinner. The changes there were a problem as well. The grill was closed – no steaks, or pork, etc... The stir fry station wasn't open and overall the buffet selections were greatly reduced.

 

There was a LOT of grumbling about the food onboard. Several people suggested that the best staff and food were being sent over to the newer ships leaving the smaller ships to become step children. This isn't the problem as we got hold of Celebrity's new fleet wide menus last week and it was the same as we experienced on Constellation.

 

We have no problem with the service onboard except that it has been significantly reduced. It wasn't unusual to spend over a half hour in a lounge before being waited on.

 

We have also made several cruises in the same time frame on Royal Caribbean and we have also seen their new menus and we have no issues with the food. Over the rest of this year we are booked on 5 Royal Caribbean cruises, mostly because of itineraries, but are booked on Millennium in a year for back to backs lasting almost a month, and we are concerned. That's a long time to not be happy with food choices but, the good news is, that gives Celebrity a year to realize they have an issue and work at fixing it.

That's why I have canceled my March cruise on the Constellation....As they Say "Im out" and will be until the Cruise lines stop this path to self destruction.....And if you have money and can afford the "Suite Life"....All the Best to you...but some of us had a career in Emergency Services or the Military  and it doen't pay for the "Suite Life".....So peace out Celebrity Board...😎

On 2/7/2023 at 3:09 PM, MagnoliaBlossom said:

Schmoopie, I am not big on materialistic displays, but I realize that many of our veterans of the Viet Namn era, yourself being one, may have never received a positive “welcome home”.  I applaud any company who is trying to correct the negative way our veterans were and are treated.   
 

On another line we always go to the veterans gathering and my husband receives his pin.   He has no desire to collect those (unlike service coins) and he watches for an older child and with his parents permission gifts him/her the pin and asks the recipient to one day find someone to explain the honor of serving in the US military.  The always look like they’ve received the Nobel Peace Prize ( well, that’s not accurate because they probably don’t know much about it, so let’s say the MTV best video award) 😉.   Maybe a bit of appreciation for our hero’s will come from one old soldier’s sharing a piece of Chinese produced piece of tin with an impressionable youth.

 

just my thoughts.

MB

But the American public has been trying to correct than injustice for more than 30 years...sometimes you have to face reality, realise that you tried your best to serve your country and to respect yourself for your accomplishments and realise you know what you did and so does your family...and in some cases stop playing the pity party after 50 years....Go Army!!

8 hours ago, tomcruiser1234 said:

Wow,

 

We have been on 3 celebrity cruises in 15 months and it’s not been bad at all. 

 

The big cutbacks have mainly been seen at the ocean cafe in the evenings.   With the ship half full they just cant have every station open without wasting food or it sitting way longer than it should. 

 

The cruise industry is starting to finally recover from the worst catastrophe it could ever have happened. 

 

Relax all,  as the sailings fill up, the services as well as competition will improve all. 

 

Pricing will be better and the services will be better also. 

 

More they make the greedier they will be for more customers. It’s called capitalism. 

 

Go Celebrity go 

 

 

Sure!!! Checks in the mail...., I love you..... Etc.....🙄

4 hours ago, ehall said:

Just back from the Summit - here's a few thoughts.

 

We were in Retreat class, so had most meals in Luminae.  We did one lunch in the Ocean View cafe.  

 

The cruise was a short one - 4 nights from Miami.  Ports were Key West and Nassau with one sea day.  We just wanted to escape the cold weather at home, so this was more about a quick getaway than the ports.

 

Boarding - efficient.  Staff at the pier were helpful.  The boarding lounge was small, but it was fine to wait for a few minutes before they escorted us to the ship.  The concierges came to the lounge to speak to the passengers, then they walked us to the ship.  

 

The ship was nice.  We had not been on the Summit before.  It looks just like the Constellation in layout, which we had been on years ago.  The Summit has been revolutionized - so the decor was updated.  We were in a Celebrity Suite, which is nice.  The room itself was fine - but I am not sure I would book one of these again.  For the price - I think the bathroom is a bit small and others have pointed out the combo bathtub/shower is really tall - so you have to really step up to get in.  Not an issue for us - but my husband is 6'3" and he was too tall for the shower.  He hit his head on the fan which is in the shower.  His head was too tall for the shower head too.  The bedroom also get very hot at night.  Not sure if this was some AC issue - like in some hotels where it is motion activated or just being in the Caribbean and it was hot/humid outside.  But the living room stayed cool - just the bedroom was hot.

 

Our butler was Prez and room attendant was Gerardo.  Both were excellent.  Prez put some cold beers in our fridge and kept them stocked.  That was a nice touch.  It was my husband's birthday and he added a sign on the wall with a birthday message and also a piece of cake.  

 

Luminae - the food was very good but for sure the portions are smaller than they used to be.  I am OK with that.  But my husband was still hungry after the fish options.  He solved the problem by asking for a side of grilled vegetables.  They also brought MDR menus - I do still think they have fewer options than they used to.   I did notice on the MDR menu - it still said extra charge if you wanted an additional lobster.  We did not order lobster - so not sure if that charge would apply to those ordering in Luminae or only in MDR.

 

Ocean View - I did not make it by for dinner to see what they were offering.  We went for lunch one day and it was in full swing.  They had lamb and turkey at the carving station ( I did not notice if they had beef - I don't eat red meat, so I just don't often notice it - sorry!! - only noticed lamb as husband tried it).

The stations are self-serve.  I don't care for this at all.  I noticed many people walking around eating off of their plates with their hands WHILE also serving themselves.  Gross.  I also saw someone using tongs - but grabbing them by the tong part (the part that grabs food) not by the handle.  I decided to get chicken from the fajita section.  There was a guy standing there eating tortilla chips from the large bowl WITH HIS HANDS.  Have people forgotten how to behave?  So - that was it.  Don't need to eat this.  The panini grill still had someone making the panini for you.  I wish they would go back to served food.

 

All of the staff onboard were very upbeat/friendly like they have always been onboard Celebrity.  Ship seemed very well taken care of and clean.

 

We did go on a galley tour and someone asked about the supply chain issue - he said it is still impacting them as they sign contracts and order 8 - 9 months in advance for the cruise we are on now, and things are planned even before that.  Menu changes, etc are done long in advance.  And for example if they ordered X number of tomatoes or eggs 8 months ago but now it is not available - then they have to adjust.

 

So - interesting - still supply chain + cost cutting

 

 

Thank you for your honest review!

20 minutes ago, Desert Diamond said:

I’d say COVID is still very much happening. I’m the one who posted today about my husband being quarantined on the Millenium. There have been several other “star code” announcements onboard, which indicate COVID cases coming up from the medical center. Most guests probably just decide they’ve got a cold and don’t  do a self-test. We cruised a year and a half ago when masks/vaccines were still required and we felt safer. This is the world now though, at home and on cruise ships. I’m not the one with COVID but my husband has said he’s done with cruising, at least for awhile. He’s sick,  he’s locked in a room and for the money we spent, this isn’t fun. We’ll switch back to land vacations which give us more autonomy. That’s just us, your mileage may vary. 

I wish you and you husband all the best!!

13 minutes ago, Bill Miller said:

Dining is an area where a cruise line can really screw things up.  This topic is just one of many that speaks to the importance of food on a cruise. I hope that Celebrity doesn't cheapen its product to the point where folks go elsewhere.  Folks buy based on their most recent experience, brand loyalty is fickle when you disrespect your passengers. 

And it looks like Celebrity is messing things up...I mean really..You can't even get a burger and fries from the OVC at night??....Im no foodie...but please!!

6 hours ago, Orator said:

I believe that the non Suite passenger is no longer important to Celebrity. The demographics of the passengers has shifted toward the "new realities" The bean counted have won! The class system is alive and well at Celebrity. So far they have been rewarded by their shift in focus. I just wonder if they will be winners in there long run?

Mic Drop

On 2/6/2023 at 7:30 AM, Pickels said:

Great!  Then there will be room for the wife and I on our next Celebrity cruise. 

On 2/6/2023 at 1:08 AM, Thameside said:

Just returned from a cruise on Constellation out of Tampa. There were still many Pros, but I am going to give you my take on the Cons. I have cruised on Celebrity Silouette twice since covid before this cruise and they were both very similar experiences as before covid only with very reduced numbers onboard.

The ship, especially the cabins, need some work but I expected this as it was due for a refit. Public areas were good generally.
The food overall was not up to standard in Blu, MDR and OVC. I understand the need to cut back on waste but some portion sizes need to be looked at. The standard NY strip was very thin and the rare appearance of Lobster was so small it didn’t have much more meat than a large shrimp and a complete waste of time, especially as they charge an extra $15.95 if you would like an additional one in the MDR. All meat and fish portions were reduced and there was a lack of good vegetables. There is now a charge of $9.95 for room service, other than for continental breakfast, which would be acceptable if you could order from the MDR menu in the evening as before, but you can not and only the limited room service menu is available. OVC was very limited in the evenings, even on this fairly full sailing, but I supposed you could just about get something you found acceptable. Our cabin servicing was well under par, and not vacuumed once during our cruise. It was no where near ready when we arrived onboard and even after a return visit was missing many items including a robe, bath towels, flannels and slippers. Our bags were very slow arriving and even 5 hours after checking in I had to go to the staff elevator to find and retrieve them. It did seem that they were very much under staffed, probably because of the larger number of guests than usual. Our cabin steward was still making up rooms until 2.p.m. some days. 
if this was a taste of things to come, I think my cruising days are over, or I will have to upgrade to one of the more expensive lines and hope that they have not also dropped their standards.

 

 

Thanks you for your honest review!

1 hour ago, Al2863 said:

Just off Apex, long time cruiser but first on Celebrity.

 

We had a reservation for Normandie made weeks before cruise. When we got there (on time) they told us they had no available tables for over an hour. Didn’t really explain why and we had to ask them to call the other dining rooms to find us a table. Got a table at Cosmo but just be aware a reservation isn’t a guarantee.

 

Buffet is like what everyone has reported, terrible at dinner but I can always manage to find something.  If you’re dinner buffet diners, you might want to have a bigger lunch instead as this selection was more like dinner.

 

Ate at Eden, good but nothing to ooh and aah over.

 

Ate at the other 3 Main dining rooms. Food again ok, wish the tables were alittle farther apart, actually felt like communal dining.

 

I heard how great the Celebrity food was and just didn’t see it.  It was good don’t get me wrong but not any better than what I’ve had on my recent NCL cruises.

 

Id be happy to answer any other Apex questions if I can!  We were on Deck 8 (8182) Infinite Veranda

 

 

Thanks for your honest review!

6 hours ago, Dave Judy said:

We just got off the Apex on Saturday, jumped in our car and drove 1,000 miles home. This was our third trip on the Apex, our first being in October, 2021 on the inaugural WBTA - where Celebrity added Many “Bells and Whistles” for their triumphant entry into the U.S. cruise market. Nothing can ever compare to that nearly perfect journey… Below is our subjective review of this latest Apex cruise. 

Ship: The Apex is a new and grand ship with beauty and surprises around every corner. Everything still sparkles. We are moderate spenders, and in the past, had IV staterooms on the higher decks - the size of which we enjoyed.  This time, we went with a cheaper Ocean View room at the very bow of the ship; room 8101.  Dimensions were nearly 8’ x ‘30, with the ceiling slowly tapering to a huge 6’ oval window looking out over the bow. The room size was amazing and very comfortable.  One of the biggest negatives of our cruise was that there was an, unknown to us, outside crew deck lounge area hidden 2 stories down.  Unfortunately, a handful of rude crew would be talking and yelling late into the night - the last evening at 2:00 am. 
 

Food: In short, yes it has changed quite a bit, even since our Baltic cruise on Apex last Summer. 

 

1.  There are no longer  “desirable” cuts of meat (Tenderloin, Strip steak, Prime Rib) available in the Four main dining rooms.  The closest I got was Filet en Croute in Normandy.  Throughout the main dining rooms, there are all kinds of combinations of choices, but many didn’t sound appealing or when ordered tasted all that special.  Yes, they have Lobster night and really do charge $16.95  for the second tail.  Of course, I ordered two meals, one being lobster and gave that tail to my wife. She ate half and gave me the rest - it really wasn’t all that special (we save our lobster mania for our trips to Maine). Kudos to all of the serving staff, their hard work and friendly demeanor was easy to notice, but dinners dragged between courses due to what I believe was fewer kitchen and prep staff. 

 

2.  Oceanview Cafe is still excellent for breakfast!  I have noticed fewer choices that I like at lunch compared to the past, but was always able to find plenty to fill me up.  The big cutbacks at dinner in OV are very noticeable !  Because of the slow service and lack of choices in MDRooms, we chose to eat dinner twice at OV.  It’s fair to say that less than a quarter of the stations were open and with very lacking choices - we are not critical or fussy eaters.  The Pasta Bar was open, thank goodness.  We would have had a third dinner, but walked through and saw the Pasta Bar was closed.  There were easily 100 diners each time we were there.  Celebrity really needs to recalibrate this venue to serve as a viable alternative. 
 

Ports: Old San Juan, Tortola, Basseterre/Nevis/St. Kitts

 

1.  We love Old San Juan, but the 3:30pm port arrival and 4:00pm all ashore left us scrambling to get to Castillo del Morro before the 5:00 pm closing and 6:00 sunset.  We understand the long journey from Ft. Lauderdale, but wish there was another way to get more available daytime in this beautiful port. 
 

2.  Tortola - we missed out on this port last year during Omicron and were excited to make it. Our afternoon Celebrity excursion to The Baths on Virgin Gorda was one of the highlights of the trip. 
 

3.  B/N/StK - were here on a previous cruise and enjoyed our excursion to the Brimstone Hill Fortress, otherwise not a very exciting port. Wish the dates were flipped with Old San Juan. 
 

Entertainment: Yes, the Theater is state of the art, the back screen is amazing and we did enjoy the three stage productions. We had seen them before, but really appreciate all the efforts that go into making these shows happen. The casts were changing (one rotating off after five months) and you could feel the catharsis after their final act… BTW, Rockumentary is an amazing Rock celebration, but it was loud!  Had this Baby Boomer wishing he had hearing aids that could be turned off. 
 

Our entertainment highlight was Guitarist Charlie from Wales.  He did simple 45 minute sets in the lesser venues, our favorite being in Eden. He was a one man show with his guitar and harmonica playing everything from Old English folk songs to Sinatra, Dylan, and Johnny Cash. Highly talented, he was all alone on his small stage and gave 100% on every performance.  He was our favorite and hope to see him for years to come. 
 

Passengers:  Cruising is back and the ship was packed.  We cruised nearly ten times with Celebrity and Disney cruise lines during COVID and got spoiled with 30- 40% occupancy rates… Still can’t get a good answer on size for this cruise, thinking it was at least 75% or higher.  You could still get a seat in OV or theater if reasonable in your expectations,  but again, there were problems with the 4 main dining rooms.  We had “Anytime Dining”  and the Reservation system did not appear to work (if you tried to use the app), sometimes longer waits, even if we just went to a different dining room.  There were clearly tables available, I believe that Celebrity is still trying to figure out staffing ratios. 
 

Negatives:

 

1. COVID protocols have changed. Not as much attempt to sanitize, limit elevator capacity, or encourage masking in tight places    For American society (us included) COVID “no longer exists” as we are learning to live with each mutation. We are Vaxxed to the Max and my wife tested positive in her room the day of departure after a seven night cruise (don’t tell me it was the flight down - we drove our car). We get it, we took the risk and have both had COVID twice before.  Frankly, I’m glad it wasn’t Norovirus - Now there’s a tough one. 
 

2.  Previously mentioned the outdoor crew lounge area below room 8101.  Yes, we called security and even met with hotel manager, even got compensation.  It took us a few days to even figure it out as the area is below us and we couldn’t see the noisemakers.  It just leaves a really bad taste that a few callous and rude staff ruin it for passengers like us who take pains not to make noise or disturb our passenger neighbors.  Even with our preemptive work, someone woke me up at 2:00 am our last night. 
 

Positives:

 

1.  Hey, it was a cruise !  We got away from the Cold Winter and apparently a Polar Vortex. 
 

2.  The sky, the ocean, the palm trees in port - all beautiful.  I have a special place outside of the theater on deck 5 where I spent hours watching the flying fish. Something magical about that. 
 

3.  Our large Oceanview Stateroom, loved the big shower with the curved glass door - and our Room Steward, Jarot who really took care of us. 
 

4.  While the food wasn’t perfect, I still never had to cook!
 

5.  Guitarist Charlie !  
 

Thank you for your honest Review!

10 hours ago, C4HCG said:

Doubt it, a good constructive review and negative on the dining. Nobody could turn that into a cheerleading frenzy, not even me! Although I am still not happy to be classed as one 😡😡😂. Doubt we will ever try e class ships just based on what we see here.

😎

42 minutes ago, coaster said:

Reposting my post from another Celebrity topic here...

 

Seems like Royal and Celebrity should merge into one. Celebrity being advertised as a premium line, yet adding a room service fee like Royal makes the premium proposition harder to justify and Celebrity cutting back on the dinner buffet and Royal not cutting back on their dinner buffet. The line between the two seems so close now after January 1st. Less marketing costs if they combine would be another savings.  Not surprised if they merge the two lines in the future.

Or merge and sell or junk a lot of the older ships

45 minutes ago, Texed said:

The husband did.  😎

Fair Enough😎

26 minutes ago, tfred said:

This will be a troll feeding frenzy

I couldn't agree more...Troll Cheerleader Frenzy!😁

42 minutes ago, Texed said:

You did not like Eden?  😳

 

We ate there three times.  I wanted to eat there again.  

Well i guess they (OP) don't!!!

Will the Cat give it's imput on what it did when you were gone? Possibly Tips on how to deal with  it's Human Servants?...Asking for my cat!!

1 hour ago, The Med said:

SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS 

We didn’t bother with the cartoon plate thing, love it but done it twice, that’s enough.

Not interest in RAW on 5 so that only left us two other options.

 

We are at Eden restaurant which my husband enjoyed but I didn’t.

 

We both had the lobster, I couldn’t eat mine, it didn’t taste right.

Husband ate his own lobster and mine. So I left hungry.

 

Steak restaurant experience was abysmal. Food ok, service appalling, totally not worth the money.

 

We ended up hungry after both nights and wandering up to the buffet but to no avail.
A few scraggy bits of left over dried up cheese and bread.

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your honest review

49 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

I was clearly told by the executive office that if we missed the ship that we could NOT rejoin the cruise at the next port.  Was told safe contents and RX would be left with the port agent.  Could reclaim clothing at final port.

Think it is nonsense, but lots is crazy

today.

Total Agree...I think in the past you could rejoin the ship in a different port but times have changed..

Coming from a Lifetime in First Response (Police/Fire/Emt)and my military service tells me that anything can happen especially in Europe to delay you getting back to the ship...