CelebrityMan

My apologies if this has been covered.  I tried searching the forums, but that wasn't very helpful.

Is there wheelchair assistance at the Smith Cove terminal at Pier 91 on Elliott Bay?  By this, I'm specifically inquiring for getting mobility challenged passengers from their drop-off vehicle to and through the terminal and then aboard ship.

Thank you in advance for your answers.

CM

My prayers go out to these families. Such a tragedy. This is heartbreaking news.

My hope is that the cruise industry takes this seriously and there is a major overhaul in screening and the process in which private companies are hired. I understand accidents can happen anywhere but I strongly feel safety is not a top priority.

So sorry to hear of your loss.

 

Celebrity does (or at least did) listen to safety complaints on excursions. ...if you do find a safety issue on a tour....notify celebrity.

This has been a horrible incident, and I'm sure compounded in the collective consciousness by the proximity to Christmas and the involvement of youngsters.

In no way do I discount World Gallery's experience on the Ensenada trip. There have been many reports over the years of that being an unpleasant connection — and I completely understand how their experience could reflect poorly on the cruise line. But I also have to support ghstudio in saying that Celebrity takes safety issues very seriously.

In our 20 years of sailing with Celebrity, there have been two instances where we felt unsafe — one in Panama, one in Puerto Rico. Both times, I reported them immediately to Guest Relations and the Shore Excursions desk. Both resulted in refunds, and both resulted in the contract with the provider being terminated.

Reporting unsafe practices by tour operators/guides/drivers/etc. as soon as one returns to the ship is essential.

CM

How very, very tragic!! How terrible to have so many deaths.

Accidents can happen anywhere, anytime. We were involved in a bus accident on the island of Maui while on a Celebrity cruise in 2002.

My one concern is that it's right above a bar. Could noise at night be an issue? We're usually in bed around 11 pm or so. AquaClass 9038, which is more midship, also has a larger balcony and might be quieter? The Spa is right above 9038, which I assume is fairly quiet at all times, and would probably be closed at night.

 

Which would you choose, 1141 or 9038? Or, if it's available 1140? Are these aft cabins on deck 11 newer? Were they added?

 

Are the aft cabins on deck 11 are right near the "taste of film" area? That sound like it might be fun.

I concur, that noise will be an issue in the aft stateroom. In November we were in a Deck 9 aft stateroom (9174). On all but two nights the music from the aft bar on Deck 10 made it impossible to sleep before 12:30am.

We knew it would be noisy when we booked that stateroom. But we elected to put up with it, hoping that it wouldn't be every night. Well, I guess 2 out of 14 isn't 'every' ;p

If you are bothered by noise, move to your alternate stateroom booking.

CM

We find Captain Kate to be an absolute gem!

She is tremendously capable, engaging, vivacious, and seems to genuinely enjoy interaction with the passengers.

As for her technical skills..., on our recent sailings we saw several instances where under her leadership the ship did some excellent maneuvers. I would have total confidence in her at all times.

CM

Too funny.:D:D:D

...on special charter. :eek::eek::eek:

This site does make a difference, or at least it did in the past. The demise of the old "celebrity cruises" who participated and tried to help here and also summarized CC comments and concerns for top management may have changed that. Today's "celebrity cruises" only quotes from their web pages and does not participate in any conversations....no clue if celebrity management even knows what is being discussed on CC....or care.

...yes, it would be nice to know that they care.

CM

The OP titled this thread Celebrity Losing its Way? I stumbled across an article in Travel Planners International from mid last year that indicates Celebrity hasn't lost it's way but more a calculated effort that probably began two years before LPP took over as Celebrity CEO.

 

Isn't 2012 when more cuts started being implemented under Michael Bayley? So how much did LPP have to do with those cuts?

This is engaging in semantics. Whether the changes and losses of which we lament are a calculated effort or not, the result is the same: our beloved cruise line IS 'losing its way' and becoming something many of us no longer prefer.

The current president may be continuing the decline, but she isn't necessarily the whole cause, and I agree shouldn't be cast as such.

CM

CelebrityMan Thank you for your comments. They were telling from your observation.

 

To wit I would say, you must have mistaken them for someone who shives a git.

...pity that they don't.

You're welcome. :D

CM

We did a B2B sailing in November on Summit. We are Elite Plus, and have cruised with Celebrity since September, 1998. We have seen a lot of changes in that time frame.

I don't even know where to start about what seemed to be "off" about the November sailings. Hardly anything except the ship itself seemed to be the familiar and favored Celebrity.

I heartily agree with other posters to this thread who surmise that trying to be all things to all people; that not being able to comfortably identify and stick with a demographic seems to be a huge problem. And I as heartily agree that times change and societal, cultural conventions with it. For instance, I would prefer to dress for dinner, but recognize society as a whole is no longer in that mindset.

An earlier poster also said that they once spoke of/promoted Celebrity as an upscale experience. I've done that, myself, for nearly 20 years. I will not use those terms again in reference to our beloved Celebrity. That's how bad things were in November.

I could give a litany of what was 'off' about the cruise(s), but I won't. I will give an example — 'trivial' though it is — which to me spoke of a tremendous corporate inattention to detail, or at the very least a complete lack of understanding thereof. It was the menu..., no not the food offerings (though they weren't great, either). It was the printed menu.

Again, I know times change. But how much does it cost to print menus in a font and style that speaks of elegance, refinement, and gracious ambience? Instead, what we were handed was a cheap, uninspired font with color and graphics!! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! In today's world of high-definition printers, anyone with even a basic knowledge of a publishing/word-processing program could produce something much better than what we saw.

What really got to me was the difference between the two weeks. Week One, loyalty perks were missing, service was not up to par, and much seemed to be amiss. Week Two, the president of the line was aboard for a conference and suddenly many of the previous week's shortcomings disappeared. Isn't that amazing?

Sadly, the corporate conferees destroyed any improvement of Week Two. They treated the paying passengers with disdain, pushed, shoved, and got in others' way in the Café, and generally made the first three days of that week the worst experience we've ever had on a Celebrity ship.

If the president of the line wants to improve things, how about doing this with shipboard conferees: require them to split up into no more than two-person groups and intermingle unobtrusively with regular passengers at breakfast and lunch in the Café. This would enable conversations about real-world experiences and just might yield some genuine insights into passenger preferences as well as expectations.

And lastly, I would speak to the loss of elegance and upscale experience as demonstrated by something we saw on Week Two: a group of four individuals, two men, two women, attempting to come into the main dining room on the first 'Evening Chic' night dressed in sleeveless undershirts, midriff-baring halter tops, cowboy hats, etc. Yes, a sectional maître d' turned them out.

It was, to say the least, a very disappointing and disheartening two weeks for these two Celebrity loyalists.

CM

There is a full laundry and dry-cleaning service available onboard for reasonable rates.

 

Regular service, picked up before 9AM, is returned next day. For same day service, picked up before 9AM and returned same day, add 50% express service surcharge.

 

Laundry Services

• Suit $17.50
  
• Jacket $8.00
  
• Pants $7.00
  
• Long Sleeved Shirt $7.00
  
• Short Sleeved Shirt $6.00
  
• Sweater $8.00
  
• Shorts $5.50
  
• Dress $11.00
  
• Skirt $6.50
  
• Pajamas $5.50
  
• Handkerchief $3.00
  
• T-shirt $3.75
  
• Undergarments $3.00
  
• Swimsuit $4.00
  
• Socks, pair $3.00
  

 

 

Dry-Cleaning

• Suit $19.00
  
• Jacket $11.00
  
• Pants $8.00
  
• Vest $5.00
  
• Long Sleeved Shirt $7.50
  
• Short Sleeved Shirt $6.50
  
• Sweater $9.00
  
• Shorts $6.50
  
• Dress $16.00
  
• Skirt $7.50
  
• Necktie/Tie $5.00
  
• 4 Item Special $28.00
  

 

 

Pressing Only

• Suit $14.00
  
• Jacket $8.00
  
• Pants $6.00
  
• Vest $3.00
  
• Long Sleeved Shirt $5.75
  
• Short Sleeved Shirt $4.00
  
• Sweater $5.50
  
• Shorts $4.00
  
• Dress $8.00
  
• Skirt $6.00
  
• 4 Item Special $25.00
  

Very much appreciate seeing this list, as we'll be aboard Summit for 2 weeks in November.

Seems like prices have gone up, but I still value having this service so I don't have to 'invest' vacation time to do laundry.

CM

Hi,

I second vulcan1971's nicely worded welcome. This is a wonderful forum and a great tool. Enjoy!

As for the staterooms on Deck 9 and your mid-ship room, we would thoroughly enjoy that location and always try to book Deck 9 staterooms on M-class ships.

Noise is a relative and subjective item of discussion — what is unacceptable for one may go completely unnoticed by another. Only you can know what type of noise would render a stateroom unworkable for you.

The location in question is under the pool area. The most likely noise here will be the sliding of deck chairs on Deck 10. This can start quite early in the morning, sometimes even before 8:00am. Decibel level is not likely to be high, but see the previous paragraph. ;)

As for the overhang on Deck 9 — folk seem to have a love/hate relationship with it. We love it! For us it adds to the sense of privacy on the veranda and provides a nice place for outdoor respite. It is deep. It completely shades your veranda. If you are a 'sun-worshipper' you'll need to go elsewhere to lounge in the sun. But if a rain shower or thunderstorm blows over, your Deck 9 veranda is still useable while most others are not.

And, of course, in an Aqua Class stateroom you have all those wonderful perks offered in that category, especially the delightful cuisine and service of dining in Blu.

Enjoy your sailing!!!

CM

SarahCuda,

I'm sure you were expecting the wide range of replies..., some hate it, some love it. Such is the nature of a subjective message board such as this. ;)

For us, the Celebrity Canal cruises are our most favored itinerary. We've done the Canal 4 times with Celebrity.

Like you, we live in Washington state, so are not accustomed to humidity. Yes, the Canal Zone (and much of the tropics) has what for us is "oppressive" humidity. But we've never found it to be something that spoiled our enjoyment of the wonderful cruise adventure.

Of all the ports on Celebrity's Canal itineraries, Cartagena seems to have the worst humidity. But the enjoyment of this colorful, historic city has for us far outweighed the high humidity.

Not knowing what itinerary you're doing, it's difficult to comment on all your ports. As another poster has offered, we find this to be a wonderfully relaxing itinerary based on the time element of sea days vs. port days. It offers ample time to enjoy ports AND the ship's amenities.

We have also fully enjoyed all the ports on our Canal cruises. Only once did we ever feel unsafe and that was when I had to dash after my dear partner as he followed a local guide toward a side street in Acapulco. He learned his lesson quickly from the tongue-lashing I gave him for putting us in danger.

I also have not had a problem with ship offered excursions on this itinerary. Read the descriptions (both for excursion content and level of exertion) and if you do your homework properly you should be able to find excursions to suit your tastes and abilities.

Above all, go with a sense of excitement and adventure and a positive outlook for having a great time.

Have a great cruise!!!

CM

As the above poster offers, I think approaching capacity is the most likely scenario. There's no holiday time period to artificially raise prices.

CM

We escorted a group of 30 folks this past summer on a Baltics sailing.

Like others on this thread, our experience using SPB Tours could not have been more positive! Their guides were not only outstanding, but the arrangements made for us ashore were equal to or superior to anything we've ever done booked through a cruise line.

If you're using a tour company such as those mentioned in this thread in St. Petersburg, you might also consider using them for many of the Baltic ports.

I was able to arrange a 5-city package that came in about $300 less than comparable ship-offered tours.

Have a wonderful cruise!!!

CM

Hi,

As one of the original posters on this thread from 2006, I must chime in again to say Celebrity still gets our vote.

This summer we did a perfectly delightful sailing on Celebrity Eclipse to the Baltics. Yes, there are changes since this thread began — not all of them for the best since the bean counters reared their heads — but Celebrity is still a quality line delivering a fairly consistent product.

Enjoy travel, everyone!!

CM

Those balconies are not only fully covered, they are deep, expansive, and pure heaven, IMHO.

Plus..., you are served by the same steward(s) that work for the next door Penthouse. It's a win-win-win-win.

CM

I'm unable to give you the precise rate you seek. Frankly, it was the convenience of being able to get cash without taking time to find an ATM that I appreciated. The rate was of secondary factor.

I'm responding to also let you know that Guest Relations is not an inexhaustible source. During our most recent 14-night European sailing there were many times they ran out of currency.

CM

I tend to agree: since the press releases and information available at this point tend to exclude Sky Suites by mention, this would seem to impact a fairly low number of passengers on any given sailing.

I'm unaware of Celebrity having trouble filling the suites (at least on any sailing we've done), so why not give the suite passengers more bang for their buck?

The only downside would be if in doing so they take away a spot currently being well-utilized by we plebian passengers.

CM

Hi,

It's been a number of years since we did this sailing (visiting the Islands, then crossing to Vancouver), but we loved it.

While May can be exceedingly hard to predict, I think your best bet is to plan for transitioning from warm to cool.

On our crossing the first three of days out from Hawaii were beautifully warm and delightful. But by the end of the 3rd day there was a cooling coming, and the last full day at sea was cool enough there weren't many out using the pools and open deck spaces. It was still nice enough to walk the decks, but if one sat in a deck chair you needed to be in more than a swimsuit.

Given the way weather patterns seem to be in flux in 2014 it's anyone's guess what you'll encounter this coming May.

Have a great time and enjoy all this ship has to offer during those wonderful days at sea.

CM

Thank you, Host Anne, for your reasoned, well-written, informative review.

I must echo your sentiments regarding the loud, and what I considered obnoxious volume levels we've noted of late on Celebrity ships. With you, I fear this is a trend I cannot support.

On our Baltic sailing this summer aboard Eclipse the volume, in various venues, but especially in the Grand Foyer, was so loud I had to retreat to far flung areas to avoid it. Music so loud on one level it permeates upward and outward to ruin enjoyment of virtually all other venues that open into the atrium is, IMHO, overkill.

Socializing is/has always been for us part of the attraction of the cruise experience. But if I can't carry on normal conversation in a lounge, I'm not going to enjoy that cruise as much, and I'm also not going to be lingering in the various venue and spending more on beverages.

As a man in my early to mid-50s I guess I'm not part of the younger demographic management seems to want to attract.

CM

Having just returned on Aug. 5th from a cruise that included St. Petersburg, I encourage you not to fret over the long days and all the walking.

We were the escorts for a group of 29. We used SPB Tours and highly, highly recommend them!! Our guides, Tatyana and Eugene, took care of us beautifully and gave us an outstanding tour!

Many, many in our group had health and mobility issues. But with the exception of one participant who is facing impending knee replacement, all others thoroughly enjoyed their time and soldiered on. At times the cobblestones [in all the Baltic ports] can be challenging, but it can be done, especially if on a private tour that can be paced.

As others have pointed out, do NOT hesitate to ask for the lifts/elevators, and use them wherever available. But know, also, that for the most part your time in St. Petersburg is over very flat terrain. Be prepared for the occasional stairs or steps and you'll be fine.

CM

We just returned from the July 20th Celebrity Eclipse sailing that included the 2-day port call in St. Petersburg. Another item checked off the 'Bucket List'.

It was fantastic!!! Not only can I not say enough wonderful things about SPB Tours and our marvels guides Tatyana and Eugene, but we have nothing but good things to say about our overall experience in the Imperial city.

The city is beautiful, especially its imperial era parts. The palaces, the museums, the churches, the gardens, etc. Obviously they are proud of their history and are seeking to preserve it and show it off to visitors.

We were treated extremely well and very professionally by SPB. Our guides and our driver, Andre, were top-flight. And we were honored and most pleased to meet Vika, the owner. Everyone in our group of 29 was thrilled with the St. Petersburg experience.

Yes, there is a LOT of ground to cover in two days. But don't let that dissuade you from going on tour with SPB. Even those in our group with health issues and mobility concerns had an incredibly delightful experience — even in the intense heat.

The opportunity to dine in a local café and a hotel restaurant were much appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed.

And for the 20 of us that attended "Swan Lake" in the Alexandrinsky Theater, we were awed by the experience of both such Imperial splendor and by the precision of the ballet company and orchestra.

My only disappointment on the 2-day tour was that we did not have an opportunity to see the interiors of the Peterhof. As stunning as were the grounds and the fountains, I'm sure it would have been enjoyable to view the interior and see the grounds from inside the palace as well. It was wonderful to come to the Peterhof via hydrofoil and to arrive by walking in along that long canal and all the fountains. Truly majestic.

CM

Thanks, Phil, for bringing the thread 'up' again AND for the magnificent images.

I'll share an early morning port arrival photo or two, as well:

Sunrise at Cabo -

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2904733310099099348BKsJvL

Sunrise over Acapulco -

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2376883560099099348SixdCy

Dawn over the Gulf of Nicoya -

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2786903400099099348DAffWI

CM

Hi,

For 63Galaxie, these shots are from our time in a stateroom just slightly forward of your 9153 location.

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2779086770099099348OtUpVN

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2507878430099099348cCbZoO

Along that side of the vessel, in that region of staterooms, we've not had any trouble with noise. Above you will be the Café and its floors are carpeted.

You will find many on these boards cussing and discussing the pros & cons of Deck 9 and the overhang. Your enjoyment of the location will depend not on others' opinions but on your own preferences. If you like a more unobstructed balcony, Deck 9 is not for you. If you appreciate shelter from the elements and don't require upward views from your veranda, then this could be an ideal location.

Have a GREAT cruise!

CM