JEDIKNIGHT

One of the reasons these changes have happened, is that they started GRADUALLY. And people just like us shrugged. We were troopers. We’d say “it’s what you make of it” and “i’m not a complainer” and little by little, these businesses figured out that they can cut themselves a bigger profit.

So here we are.

I have little doubt that cruise lines 5-7 years from now will be less customer service oriented. The cruise industry is where the airlines were ‘way back when’ - on the cusp of going from customer focus, to cattle mentality.

Hoep I’m wrong. But this is the trend I see.

When I read some of the mass-market boards like NCL or Celebrity from a few years ago, many people were here with a nice attitude of “the economy is tough, so they gotta cutback”.

Well here we are, they are making robust profits which is great - yet more cutbacks.

Go figure.

There should be NO “free” champagne, period. They could save what, $2000 per cruise every week for every ship? I hope the free champagne goes away. As someone who drinks NO alcohol, I question why that should be built into my fare. I’ll be sure to write in my comment card : No free champagne please.

Want not, waste not. Also, certain religions are offended by free champagne.

So don’t just reduce it by an ounce. Reduce it by 100%. The complainers will complain no matter what.

I’ll write my review within the next 48 hours.

There’s tons of positive things in a Celebrity Cruise.

Indeed it reduces germ spreading. But if Noro is on the ship, OR I am hacking away coughing…. you may not share a spatula with me at the buffet, but anything from your menu, to elevator buttons, to railings, to doorknobs are tainted. If you are really careful and don’t touch any of that stuff, my germs are still in the air.

To each his own. But if I eat unhealthy stuff….say french fries. I’d like them to be hot and crispy, not pre-put in a bowl for 15 minutes. Ditto stuff like Thai or Indian food. Celeb put some nice dishes out there daily as they always do. But for this writer, it loses appeal when you can tell it’s just been sitting there, and not even under heat lamps.

Who knows. Maybe in the future they’ll develop ‘alternate buffet’ with up-charges. I know it sounds unrealistic but when you look at the advent of up charge restaurants, why not buffets also.

That’s a good point re ‘modern luxury’. All sarcasm aside, could that be it. As a guy who listens to 60’s and 80’s music, and only started texting 2 years ago, I’m hardly ‘modern’ so I can only hypothesize:

*Perhaps the ‘modern’ set wants everything quickly. They like using an “app” and getting things fast. So perhaps spending 3 minutes to wait for a fresh burger off the grill is off-putting to them, and they are good with food that’s lukewarm or cold because it’s been sitting there for ‘convenience’.

*Perhaps the ‘modern’ set is so busy working, keeping up with modern needs from tech gadgets to NorthFace jackets to designer labels, that they aren’t worried about the quality or temperature of food. Perhaps the thought of lingering at a lunch table, enjoying food slowly or conversing with significant other spooks them, when they’d rather be updating their Facebook or whatever? Again, I’m totally ‘out of it’ where it comes to this lifestyle so I’m only hazarding guesses.

My hope is that many people voice this buffet complaint in their comments to Celebrity be because I believe Celeb to be a quality company that would respond. But IF they glean that people are willing to accept this…..well, this will become the norm.

And other CruiseLines will do the same.

loovemylab…

Is the buffet better on S class?

It’s like a competing cruise line has put their agents in charge of Summit’s buffet and the mission is to screw it up really, really bad. I just can’t fathom how such a great company, and even a great ship that is obviously well managed vis a vis food could let it be so glaringly bad.

Was IT or wasn't IT with you?

Indeed the Force was with me an I was fortunate for that.

Sadly it didn’t give me pre-cognition to avoid the buffet all week :)

And the Force was with most of the crew also. Overall, good experience. But buffet is usually my venue of choice for 2 out of 3 meals so I regret that a bit.

Sorry for lack of detail and I promise a full review mid-week.

Buffet was good at 7am, when no passengers were there. But other than that, the selections were far less than 4 years ago on the same ship. Also, they “pre-plate” the food so instead of scooping nice hot curry or potatoes into your plate, they’re already sitting their in bowls, luke-warm. Things like butter would be ‘out’ all the time. The lines were longer than usual. Organization was bad for example: Next to the waffle station is water mellon and fruit. Ok, cool. Waffles, syrup, and mellon. But if you want sausage or meat, then you get your waffle after waiting in a long line, THEN you go wait in a new line for meat, and then you realize you gotta go back to the waffle station for butter, and hopefully they haven’t run out. And then, you’ve got the ever so wonderful NJ crowd to navigate thru - they are oh so courteous.

Lunch time: Fish n Chips? Ok, get the pre-plated fried fish. Want fries? Gotta go all the way out to the pool grill - again navigating thru the courteous NJ crowd.

In fairness, waffles were yummy, omelettes yummy. Some of the food was very good so I’m not knocking that. I’m a total fatty and love buffets but my mid-week, I’d go to buffet with DD, get her a half-warm hot dog, and not eat a thing just cause I was so tired of it. BUT, I’ve also learned thru these boards that many passengers aren’t that demanding. They’re ok with long waits, they’re ok with cold food, they just sort of go with the flow. As a businessman, I guess thank God because maybe i’ve over-estimated customers lol. I guess the ‘easy people’ are a blessing and I should market to them more.

But my overall cruise was good, as was MDR service so all wasn’t bad. the Buffet was an Oasis of Stupid in the middle of an otherwise nice cruise ship and crew.

Laney, I don’t drink so sorry, I can’t say anything bout the drink packages.

JCPC…..

I’ll write a review mid-week (i like to let thoughts marinade a bit) but here’s a “bottom line” if you will:

Overall it was a solid cruise, and I am happy with it. Big reason I’m not writing a review today is that 2 negatives really upset me, but I don’t want it to tarnish the rest of the review in the name of fairness and accuracy. The 2 items:

1.)Air Conditioning in PH 6147 was weak. AGAIN. Especially at night. AGAIN. I had nicely asked the Butler on day 1, he assured me that the ‘new system’ sees to it that things don’t get hot overnight. WRONG. I’m trying to just let this go but in my mind I keep thinking “$10,000 + spent. Is a cool bedroom at night, too much to expect?”

2.)Buffet: Bedlam and chaos for both meals. Ok, much of the crowd is NJ and that is not the crew’s fault. But goodness…less selections, cold food, mean servers in some cases, totally disorganized…I’m still trying to get it out of my mind, lol. Seriously, the Hampton Inn is a more comfortable sleep than I had in the Penthouse, and my local Old Country Buffet is 100 times better than the Summit.

BUT, like I said JCPC, bottom line it was a good cruise. EXCELLENT concierge with Ceasar, EXCELLENT Butler in Jose, much of the crew was typical Celebrity and doing a good job. Friendly officers, clean, and the MDR was surprisingly good. Embarking and Departure were the best I’ve ever had on any line.

That’s what appalls me about the A/C and the Buffet. A company that does so much right, screws up 2 important and obvious things. I’m not a reactionary who will spout off and say “I’m done with X!”. But, I was thinking about New England in September, and right now…between the bad buffet and hot bedroom - we are thinking we need a ‘break’ from cruising, lol.

I had 6 year old DD with me, so Blu schedule didn’t work for me. If I could do ONE thing over again for last week, it would be doing FULL breakfasts and lunches either in Blu, OR better yet, butler delivered in the Penthouse.

General vibe was good. Slightly upscale, rather mature. The NJ vibe is prevalent of course…but overall, still a better ‘feel’ than say, NCL.

If I were advising someone I’d say “as long as you don’t go to buffet, and as long as you don’t feel hot easily, the Summit Penthouse is an awesome experience"

Just got back from our Bermuda cruise on Summit and I’ll write a review during the week.

I apologize in that we usually read and write quality reviews here and I will do that but all day today I’ve been wanting to get a rant off my chest:

THE SUMMIT BUFFET FOR BREAKFAST AND LUNCH IS JUST AN EXPERIMENT IN STUPIDITY. IT’S LIKE THEY ALL GOT TOGETHER TO FIGURE OUT “HOW BADLY CAN WE SCREW THIS UP”.

Most of the cruise was wonderful as my future review will say but for now, I’d say Celebrity can learn from Carnival, NCL, or the average 6 year old selling lemonade on how better to organize a buffet.

Thanks for reading my rant. Review later. The buffet was so bad I almost feel ‘angry’ at it, lol. Wish I could just forget about it.

Thanks CruisingChick…

What do you feel is a good time to first arrive at the port? I can’t be too early because 18 month old DS will have had a 90 minute drive, so I don’t want to have to ‘wait around’ too much. But, I’d like to be their early enough to beat high crowds, and hopefully get on the ship with ease?

Hi Lois thanks for chiming in. I’ve sailed from NJ a few years ago but remember nothing.

Question: Do we drop off the bags BEFORE going on the shuttle? Because I can’t imagine lugging a bunch of huge bags up the steps of a shuttle bus.( I’m with DW, 2 kids, and a nanny. And DW luvs her frigging bags)

Leaving for Bermuda/Summit tomorrow, will qualify for suite boarding.

Does anyone know recently, what time it was ok to board? Don’t want to get their too early and wait hours for cabin, but i don’t want to be late with throngs of people there.

When is a good time to arrive? Thanks

I know it’s 2 different products.

QSINE’s presentation and fun factor is understood but my question is about food quality.

How is QSINE food - compared to MDR? For instance….a filet in QSINE vs Filet in MDR - difference in quality?

Is QSINE food served hot, or is it all about presentation and the food lukewarm?

Thanks

I can just see it now. Employee of the Month gets promoted to bra searcher

Inflation is very real, we are only starting to see the effects. Food will be a big one.

IF this means that quality is maintained or improved, I’m fine with the increase.

When I see people jumping on the OP for a legit complaint, it kind of makes me laugh at cutbacks. I’m glad there’s less bar-staff and I’m glad that the ‘elite breakfast’ is being cutback too. Hey, if you are willing to make excuses for bad phone service, then take it like a man when other things get cut-back too.

The BEST will be if they stop allowing wine bottles to be brought aboard. That would be awesome. Or better yet, charging for baggage a la airlines.

In due time. In due time.

We are in PH 6147. So sound like we won’t get the magnificent Jose.

If Jose is that good I gotta believe it sets an example so hopefully out butler will be good too

Anne, thank you very much for remembering.

Some of this I know has been discussed but I was hoping to get some recent opinions.

We’ll be on Summit shortly, in a Penthouse and as I understand it, Suite Pax may do Blu Dinner, IF there is availability. Some questions:

*How has Blu dinner availability been for Suite Pax? Do you call them or just show up and hope?

*From reading CC, it seems the food prep AND service maybe better than MDR so I’m leaning towards trying Blu. But, does Blu do requests if the menu doesn’t appeal?

*Any recent Summit’ers on how the MDR was overall?

Thanks

Will Blu do requests for entrees not on menu, with ample notice?

I’ve never seen Blu, but it’s almost ike I want the choices of the MDR, but with the quality and service of Blu ;)

Companies are smart. They see their customers making excuses for a 60 minute hold time. Defending the company like its a family member. So of course then….the SAME people will write countless threads on their little perks being taken away, or less staff, or whatever.

Wonder why those cutbacks occur? lol

GOOD FOR YOU. It’s about time someone refuses to “take it”. Most people are cattle…they’ll take it.

I’m no better. For now, the NJ departure works for me but the minute my kids are older and i can be more nimble travel-wise, I will choose another line over issues like that for sure.