osnv17

https://www.nbcmiami.com/investigations/2-families-sue-cruise-line-as-numbers-show-spike-in-reports-of-sexual-assaults-at-sea/3213132/

Yes, you nailed it. The YC experience is totally different. You are not subjected to long lines everywhere, frequent "we don't care" attitude, subpar food offerings, etc. Indeed, if one wants to enjoy the MSC cruise, YC appears to be the only way to go... Enjoy the rest of your cruise!

We just finished the Seashore cruise on 1/14. We traveled in a "regular" balcony cabin (not YC), and the food in the MDR and the buffet was really not good to put it mildly. Our lobster was very rubbery, tasteless, and not eatable (we did not even finish it). The next night so-called Steak Diane was horrible,- the cheapest cut of meat with fat all over. It had no taste and was practically impossible to chew. What we found really weird and sad at the same time was the fact that a Welcome Aboard cocktail party for the Voyager Club Gold members was on the last night of the cruise. It was more like a "get out ASAP" party. We were served champagne with potato chips and peanuts. I have never experienced a cocktail party with potato chips, so I am not sure what MSC had in mind treating their repeat customers with peanuts...

Your deep intelligence truly shines through this extremely helpful post. Good job!

Just FYI, our tender was #62, so if #33 is a concern, keep this in mind...

I guess we were unlucky since it took us 3 hours in Zakynthos to get on shore with only 4 safety boats having been used by Constellation for tender services. We had a much better tendering experience in Santorini though, despite all the madness of that beautiful island

Interesting... We just went on Constellation on Aug 7, and while Marc was still there as the activity manager, the cruise director was a 74-year old lady from the UK named Sue

Absolutely nothing on Constellation during our recent cruise

In Santorini Celebrity used large boats that I believe belong to Greek port authority. While there was a line to get to a tender, it only took 10-15 minutes during a very crowded Santorini visit (5 ships in port). In Mykonos, with very calm seas, Celebrity used only 4(!) safety boats that were lowered from the ship. We got our tender tickets at 9am and were on shore at 12:05

While I do agree with you that the issues in isolation are not earth-shaking, the compound effect is what eventually gets you. I tried not to look for any flaws and enjoy the itinerary and experience, but it looks like the flaws were looking for me. I did not even mention other minor things that we simply ignored, but I had to answer a question that kept popping in my head - what am I paying the inflated rates for if the elementary things are not even taken care of? How can a tequila sunrise have no alcohol in it? Why did my cocktail only had 4 ingredients instead of 7? Why would Al Bacio staff "forget" about my wife's order until I went and got it myself? Yes, all of those are minor, but they are part of the service and experience that we paid for and something that we used to get flawlessly during our prior sailings.

Your experience in December may be very different. What I heard form a couple of the officers on-board is that Celebrity may go to the same approach with the senior ship management as they do with the captains. Essentially, instead of a one-term contract and a follow-on reassignment, I believe they would try to assign senior management to a ship for a much longer term. I am not sure how different the things would become, but I learned from one of the officers that he had 3 different supervisors in 4 months...

This was our 3rd cruise on the Constellation, so we did have some reference points and something to compare it with. To our great regret, it was getting worse every time we sailed the Connie, and it has come to a point where we are seriously evaluating our further relationship with Celebrity. In fact, at the prices they want nowadays, the value is just not there… As a point of reference, we sailed on the Constellation pre-COVID, right after COVID and just now. The whole management has changed since our last trip on it and it clearly shows. Just to outline the new approach to “customer service”, I was genuinely shocked to be awaken in my cabin by a soliciting call from the Spa promoting their so-called “sale”. Is Celebrity now in the telemarketing business and do I really have to put up with it on my vacation for the thousands of dollars I paid? If I need the Spa services, I will come to you, but don’t you dare trying to push those down my throat. This is certainly a new low for Celebrity. On three different occasions, we were charged for a drink without ever receiving or signing a check/receipt. The charges just mysteriously appeared on our account. I don’t believe this kind of behavior is legal anywhere, including the international waters. A conversation with the bar services manager took care of the charges, but if you are about to travel on Celebrity, watch your account very closely. The funniest thing was that these charges were for the drinks that we already had multiple times as part of our classic package… Very shady practice. While the invited magician and comedian were excellent, the singers and dancers reminded of a high school talent show, - screaming like crazy instead of actually singing, out of pitch, very difficult to enjoy. The other entertainers, outside of the mentioned magician and comedian, were really nothing to write home about. I had to pinch myself multiple times to make sure I was not on a Carnival cruise. The food was not good at all. In the main dining room, we were handed yesterday’s menus on two different occasions (so much for the “great service”). One night, we were seated at the table where the sun would hit us directly in the eyes. When we asked the window shade to be lowered, the response was: “Unfortunately, it’s not working”. This should give some idea of the quality of service provided by Celebrity. The lobster, besides being tiny, was super salty and hard to eat; the prime rib on the last night was similar to something one would get at Silver Diner or a university dining hall. We could not even finish it and left. I have read a lot about the buffet cutbacks for dinner. Honestly, the cutbacks are not that noticeable, but the variety and quality of food is just not there. While we had a fantastic room steward (interestingly enough, no small talk or fake smiles, just the job done very well), the cabins and bathrooms are in a desperate need of upgrading. We did not pay much attention to that, but dark grout was all over the place in the bathroom. It took us 3 hours(!) to get on shore in Zakynthos, this is how poor the tendering service was. Oh, and standing in line to the Guest Relations for 30 minutes did not add to a pleasant, and I might add very expensive, vacation. So overall, a very disappointing experience. Celebrity has definitely reached a new low in practically all areas, at least when it comes to the Constellation. While some setbacks were expected, this was far worse than we imagined it would be. I am not certain how anyone can look straight in the eyes and suggest that Celebrity is still positioning itself as a premium cruise line. No more Constellation for us, and after one more cruise already booked on the Millennium, most likely no more Celebrity either. It is truly sad to realize and experience the current state of what used to be a great cruise line in the past. I hope the light bulb will finally go off in the heads of the execs and they will stop turning away loyal customers by providing them with poor experiences. Less service for more money can hardly work. And the last thing, which I don’t attribute to be Celebrity’s fault, is that all of us came back with COVID that we definitely picked up on-board with multiple people coughing and sneezing all over. Just a feather in a cap to make this trip more memorable…((