TMaine

You can now get all that Celebrity offers for a lot less on Carnival! 

As many, I have had my own issues with FBC recently and have come to the same conclusion as you, book my own flights.  I get it, mistakes happen but often a simple solution is turned into many hours on the phone and a of stress for what should be an exciting experience booking a vacation.   In my case, no one wanted to take my money to pay for the flights I had booked.  Seems ridiculous, but then again, that's what it has come to with  X.

On 6/19/2023 at 11:25 AM, Susanb10567 said:

I saw that too…if that doesn’t scream fine dining I don’t know what does..😂😂

It's part of the new surf and turf offering that is included, cheeseburger and tilapia! 

It seems like many are satisfied and accepting of the drop off in quality that Celebrity has taken.  I have said it before, Celebrity is one water slide away from becoming Carnival.   We have one more cruise booked in August and if things haven't shown some kind of turnaround, we will be spending our money elsewhere.  I mean tilapia served in the MDR as a main dish?  Yuck!  Those things grow in the most polluted waters in China! 

Sushi on 5 on Equinox was ala carte in April, and one of the better dining venues on the ship! 

9 minutes ago, OC PAT said:

We will be leaving for our Greek Cruise 8/14 with a group and hope the negatives are few and not quite what the preception may be.

 

We hope so too!  

1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

People are far more likely to report on bad experiences than on positive ones. So until this website or any other one finds a way to make every single cruiser complete a review, they're always going to be skewed to the negative.

I disagree, there are many positive reviews on this site and every negative thread on here is followed by an onslaught of dismissal and berating.  Granted some negative experiences are subjective and should be taken as such but that does not negate the individuals experience.

That is an excellent question and one that many seem to be looking for an answer to, including myself.  We have an August cruise on Reflection and will be taking a hard look at if we will continue to cruise on Celebrity.   The drop in service and quality and rise in price is significant and while some are willing to accept that, we will be looking elsewhere. 

I am following your thread!

I agree food, like entertainment, is very subjective.  However I do agree in part with the OP.  We sailed Equinox in March 22 and again in April 23.  The March 22 cruise was one of the best ship experiences, including food, that we ever had. One year later, same ship, some of the same meals and they were markedly lower quality.  In fact, the April 23 cruise was one of our least favorite ship experiences.  I hope Reflection in August can change our opinions for the better of Celebrity.

Also, check to see how many other ships will be disembarking at the same time.  We did a 10:45am flight in April from Equinox with 3 other ships in, self disembarkation, taxi and were at our gate at FLL by 8:45.

What about chair hogs?  Has that old topic been put to rest? 

58 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Yesterday I called FBC to get a question answered about our booked flights on Air New Zealand for our January Australia/NZ cruise. With this thread in mind, I asked the agent about paying for our tickets before final payment. I asked if could call FBC directly to pay or do I need to go through my TA to make the payment? He told me that either payment process works fine and added that if we do prepay, we can still cancel or change the flights up to final payment with no penalty or cost. We plan on doing this in mid-June so that we get the flights ticketed sooner.

 

BTW when I called I got right through to an agent with zero waiting on hold, another reason we use FBC for all of our international flights. We booked directly with American Airlines for our June Equinox cruise. On Monday American Airlines changed our return flight from Ft Lauderdale from noon to 7:55am when they canceled the noon flight for that day. No way you can get off the ship and make a 7:55am flight, I was on hold for over 2 hours before I got a AA agent. 

Glad to hear that you had a positive experience.   

On 5/15/2023 at 1:02 PM, njsmom said:

In December, we did a holiday cruise on the Norwegian Prima. I told this one couple, in their 30's and who loved to drink and lay by the pool all day, that we were going on our first Celebrity cruise to Alaska this summer. 

They were quite derogatory about our cruise, saying we should cancel and cruise on NCL instead. The reasons they said we should cancel:

 

—You'll be cruising with a "bunch of boring old people in their 50's and 60's" (we're 51 and 55)

—All you'll do is listen to lectures and have to learn about history and educational things (sign me up now!) 
—It's boring and no one does anything at night (sensing a theme here)
 

Of course, I ignored them and kept my cruise and I'm looking quite forward to it. Just thought I'd share because I found it rather funny. And insulting. Coming from an "old person" in her 50's. 

I am not saying you should cruise NCL or Celebrity but they are not wrong.   We walk the ship after our late dinner each night and usually there is hardly anyone around.  It's quite peaceful really.

Perhaps I should have asked the TA and all of the different celebrity employees I spoke with if they are competent enough to take a simple payment.   Or maybe I should have queried the various cruise critic know-it-alls.  

So final payment has past, Celebrity never contacted me as they said they would about paying for the airfare.  I spent hours on the phone getting bounced around last night only for them to say that they can't take payment, it has to be done by the TA.  I booked the air directly with Celebrity so the TA was not comfortable paying it, which I understand but they did agree to pay it for me.

Why is it so difficult to get someone to take my money?  They certainly have no problem nickel and diming you to death once on board! 

Either way, I won't be doing that again, lesson learned! 

25 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

Some airlines like British Airways, will not let you choose seats until the flight is ticketed. We are flying from Texas to Amsterdam on United and we could go online to choose seats. our return from Athens is on BA and no seats until we paid for the flights.

 

If your TA is unwilling to help you and pay for your flights, you may need a new TA. 

The TA was willing to pay the flights, I told them that Celebrity was going to contact me directly to pay as that is what Celebrity told me.

As I mentioned, the cruise was booked with an agent.  It sounds like our agent was willing to make the payment on the FBC but from previous conversations with Celebrity, it sounded like they would bill us directly.  

I booked the flights in December and was immediately able to choose seats and get confirmation from the airline.  I suppose different airlines handle these differently. 

I booked the flights directly with Celebrity. 

We have a flight booked for our August cruise with final payment coming up soon.  I have been trying to pay for the flight but not having any luck if you can believe that.  I called a couple of weeks ago and was told to wait until closer to final payment.  Called today and was hung up on twice.  Have already made final payment on the cruise (agent).  Has anyone experienced this? 

I still have the email from Woodwind stating 8:45 and their boat had just left, we could see them a few hundred yards from the dock.

Woodwind left with out us in April.  We were at the meeting location 15 minutes prior to the meeting time.  They got a full boat from the resort so left even though we had a reservation.  

We booked Woodwind in April.   We were at the meeting location 15 minutes prior to the trip.  No one ever showed up and we were told by the security guard that they had already left. It sounded like they got a full boat from the resort they are based out of and left.

42 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

Is there a cruise line that can meet your expectations at the same price as Celebrity?

I don't know but if there isn't, we will choose other vacation options.  It is more about experience than price so if we have a mediocre experience, was it worth our time and money?   

I have said it before, Celebrity is one water slide away from becoming Carnival.  We have a cruise booked in August on Reflection and will decide then if Celebrity still meets our expectations.  After our Equinox cruise last month, I have my doubts. 

On 4/24/2023 at 10:59 PM, Dancing Shoes said:

Observed in the Oceanview Cafe/Apex last week.  Man, looked to be in his 60's, big build, not particularly good looking.....  Tee shirt read: 

I don't need sex. The government fu*%$ me every day.  Really!!!!

Celebrity is one water slide away from becoming Carnival.