1st Celebrity Cruise: The Good and the Bad

In all honesty a 5 day cruise with that itinery during spring break would have me running miles in the opposit direction, probably just about the last cruise you should have taken given your cruise history.

Agree. It is the op's fault (fault may be too strong a word). He definitely lost me when he "expected" a free meal or massage. Would one freebe change the spring breakers? No. One needs to be aware of the possibility though.

Give me a break. Short cruise, out of FL, with drink package offer = spring breakers. Surprised?

I think it interesting that people have such a feeling of entitlement...they think as here that Celebrity should compensate them for the actions of the other passengers....especially when the line was obviously doing their job by removing the ones that were going over the line. And, were you seriously expecting warnings as to the the possible composition of the PAX list?.....should Celebrity warn when there are several Elks on board or Masons?.....do your own research.....and if you wish to avoid such....don't book the Carib during spring break

Just back from a 5-day cruise to Key West and Cozumel, ports we had visited several times before. The Constellation--all 91,000 tons of her--was by far the biggest ship we have sailed on. And the pax total of 2100 the largest as well.

(Just as background, our cruise experience is: 1 Regent, 4 Oceania, 5 Seabourn and 1 Crystal.)So we were a tad apprehensive about the ship's size and, well, culture.

We are mindful that their is a price/value relationship in cruising as in everything else.

With that background, here is a summary of good and bad.

The Good. The crew were superb. Every bit as focused on passenger satisfaction as, say, on Seabourn or Crystal, though far more stressed by work load and the odd circumstances of this cruise. (See below.) Our cabin steward, Asep, was unfailing prompt at replacing towels and toiletries as needed, and cleaned and tidied the Aqua-class cabin efficiently. The cabin itself was certainly comfortable, offered plenty of storage, and would be a comfortable home for much longer than a 5-day cruise. Blu, the Aqua and suite class dining option, was perhaps the most refined place on the ship. Service here was amazingly good, waitstaff always cheerful and helpful. The experience flawed by inconsistent food, sometimes very good, sometimes terrible. A NY strip seemed a distant cousin, twice removed, from any such cut I've enjoyed elsewhere. Lamb chops one night were so tough the neighbor at the next table sent his back while I persevered, In truth, a circular saw would have helped. My wife's halibut served one evening was tough. (Rare to apply that word to a fish, but entirely accurate.) Soups and salads were always excellent, as was my wife's lamb shank one evening. Bartenders everywhere were focused, efficient, and the mixed drinks they offered were good. Only a gin and tonic disappointed, and we blame the drink's acid taste on the ice, which may have come from desalinated water.We never ate in the main dining room, but we did enjoy dinner one night in Ocean Liners, and it was excellent throughout. (Rather pointedly, the vast wine menu included only one wine by the glass that fell within the Classic beverage package.An irritating upsell)

 

Embarkation was well-organized, staff was welcoming. Disembarkation was perhaps the very best we've experienced, partly because of the Port Everglades layout, partly because the whole process moved along at a fast pace. And the ship herself was a remarkably stable platform even in choppy seas.

 

The Bad.There were more than 1,000 spring breakers on board. They completely monopolized the outdoor pool and got tubs, occasionally spitting into them. To be sure, there were many kids who behaved themselves. But there were many who did not. They crowded the bars, shoving each other (and others) demanding to be served, reacting venomously when told they could only buy one drink per card. About half-way through the cruise the bar tenders began to ask for proof of age, a minor barrier to service since phony id's seemed to be prevalent. Young men and women in bathing suits routinely appeared at El Bacio, crowded the elevators, bounced around and through the lines of people waiting at Ocean View Cafe.(The Captain addressed the passengers several times a day, always including a reminder of the dress code.) We were told that on 2 occasions security had to be called to the San Marco dining room to suppress fighting. Several young passengers were kicked off the ship in Key West. We noticed no diminution of noise or drinking.

On three successive nights, we were awakened at 3:00am by a horde of intoxicated celebrants running up and down the Aqua corridor.

 

Eventually we went to see the Guest Relations Manager. Well, I thought, she would offer us a meal at one of the premium restaurants, or a free massage, or? Not at all. She pointedly said that we should have known the composition of the passenger list. (More than parenthetically, there were seasoned Celebrity cruisers aboard who had no inkling of the cruise being a magnet for college kids.) Well, I said, when you market a cabin with an obstructed view, you label it as such, Surely if you knew the composition of this cruise, and the likely consequence, you could have alerted us. A shake of the head. What about some compensation--something, anything?

 

"If I do it for you, I will have to do it for everyone else."

 

I don't think any fair-minded person would accept that answer, It clearly implies that they sense an obligation to correct the dysfunctional aspects of the cruise, but choose not to because of the breadth of the compensation. Meaning they would have to offer some or many of the non-spring breakers something.

I am sure that this cruise experience was not typical of Celebrity. I suspect that the stonewalling over compensation--mind you, the offer of a glass of champagne as a gesture would have been calming--is significant. In that it reflects a marketing viewpoint in which you the individual are relatively unimportant, and the crowd trumps all.

Would we give Celebrity another try?

Maybe. I honestly don't know. We did meet some people from Miami and Montreal whom we look forward to seeing again, and that alone suggests another cruise might be warranted. I'd certainly take the same crew, and ship. With equal certainty, a different itinerary and Guest Relations Manager, though.

I think it interesting that people have such a feeling of entitlement...they think as here that Celebrity should compensate them for the actions of the other passengers....especially when the line was obviously doing their job by removing the ones that were going over the line. And, were you seriously expecting warnings as to the the possible composition of the PAX list?.....should Celebrity warn when there are several Elks on board or Masons?.....do your own research.....and if you wish to avoid such....don't book the Carib during spring break

Based on the comments of those on board, your statement that celebrity was OBVIOUSLY doing their job is a bit suspect.

When a company fails to deliver the product or service you're paying for, do you expect nothing at all to make up for their shortcomings?

Based on the first hand reports, yes, it would be nice if Celebrity were to make passengers aware of unique situations. For example, an announcement of "We will not be enforcing our published code of conduct on this cruise" may have been very helpful to know at the time of booking.

An old mantra may have made for a better cruise for the "non Spring Breakers"...If you can't beat em', join em'!

In all seriousness though, the level of atrocities it sounds like were happening seems to be beyond what even happens on Carnival. I wouldn't be surprised to see drink package age restrictions coming!

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they seemingly did enforce it by removing people from the ship.....we are all there to have a good time....and what a person does at 20 is different than at 60....the line has a hard time balancing the issues and trying to provide the best experiance for all.....even how you view the code of conduct would probably be different than how someone in a significantly different age bracket would. As to the product being delivered....they did deliver.....another passenger annoying you does not make it Celebrity's problem unless they allow it TOTALLY out of hand and mak no effort to tone things down.....they are cruise ship operators ....not police

Based on the comments of those on board, your statement that celebrity was OBVIOUSLY doing their job is a bit suspect.

 

When a company fails to deliver the product or service you're paying for, do you expect nothing at all to make up for their shortcomings?

 

Based on the first hand reports, yes, it would be nice if Celebrity were to make passengers aware of unique situations. For example, an announcement of "We will not be enforcing our published code of conduct on this cruise" may have been very helpful to know at the time of booking.

Exactly correct.....and the OP did not go hoping to get Celebrity to more stringently enforce the code of conduct......he/she was just hoping to get a freebie out of the situation.

Agree. It is the op's fault (fault may be too strong a word). He definitely lost me when he "expected" a free meal or massage. Would one freebe change the spring breakers? No. One needs to be aware of the possibility though.

 

Give me a break. Short cruise, out of FL, with drink package offer = spring breakers. Surprised?

I work with young adults. They are my favorite people. They are creative, passionate, unafraid, loyal and forward thinking.

Celebrity is one of my favorite cruise lines. Enough to now be Elite.

I have read all the posts and there are enough who were on this cruise to understand this was a nightmare.

If I had a party and served alcohol to minors, I could go to jail. If I had a party and my guests were behaving so badly as to make my neighbors uncomfortable the police would be called.

This behavior by a bunch of obnoxious children is unbelievable! It is also unbelievable that Celebrity did nothing to stop this behavior (I do not consider putting a few children off the ship enough). This is Celebrity's ball park and we are their guests. Celebrity puts itself out there as a more refined type of holiday. They certainly did not live up to their marketing hype.

If one of these minors wound up dead from alcohol poisoning, I wonder who the parents would be suing?

As for fun at 20 or 60 ---- listen, class and good manners are ageless.

Heck yea! You deserve more than a free specialty dinner. Anyone on this cruise who was not an ill-mannered child should be refunded their money. This was not a small matter of kids having some fun. I am sorry for those of you who had to ensure this - you had no way to avoid these immature ruffians except escaping to your room.

So sorry that your experience was marred by these spring breakers. We go back and forth between Crystal, Azamara and Celebrity, appreciating what each line offers.....but generally enjoying Celebrity the most. This is not the time of year to cruise, especially on a short itinerary, so we can sympathize with what your experience was. We avoid any cruises between March - May and won't sail over Christmas anymore. We are in ours 30s, so are in the in-between age bracket, but we love a subdued cruise environment. I can tell you that you will love Celebrity during a calmer time of year and on a longer voyage. We sail Aqua Class (graduating to Suite Class, starting with our next cruise =) and we find that the service and food is very similar to what we have experienced with Azamara and Crystal.

Thanks for your detailed report and hope to see you onboard.

Michael

I think it interesting that people have such a feeling of entitlement...

Although I have sympathy for those involved when bad things happen like this, I have to agree that the growing entitlement culture is pretty unsettling. There's a difference between negligence, inaction, etc. and sometimes, 'stuff happens'. Where that line is drawn is an individual choice I'm sure, but it seems to me that increasingly, every instance of issues must be someone's fault and therefore what can I get for it.

Based on the information provided in this case, I would have complained too - in an effort to have things changed. However, I would not have asked for or expected anything else.

Although I have sympathy for those involved when bad things happen like this, I have to agree that the growing entitlement culture is pretty unsettling. There's a difference between negligence, inaction, etc. and sometimes, 'stuff happens'. Where that line is drawn is an individual choice I'm sure, but it seems to me that increasingly, every instance of issues must be someone's fault and therefore what can I get for it.

 

Based on the information provided in this case, I would have complained too - in an effort to have things changed. However, I would not have asked for or expected anything else.

You would complain in an effort to have the situation remedied so that you were being delivered the product you paid for, correct?

If you ordered a top of the line dishwasher from Lowes and they delivered a bottom-end model, you would complain, right? And if they were somehow unable to provide the product you purchased, would you simply keep the inferior dishwasher at the higher price? If they were absolutely unable to provide the promised dishwasher, would you expect some remediation or would you be happy paying the top of the line price for an inferior dishwasher?

Why would a cruise be any different? You pay the company to provide a product that includes performance expectations, including how the guests will behave, and you can reference a code of conduct that all guests are expected to respect. If the company cannot deliver their promised product because they're unable/unwilling to enforce their own policy, they're providing less of a product than you paid for.

I think it interesting that people have such a feeling of entitlement...they think as here that Celebrity should compensate them for the actions of the other passengers....especially when the line was obviously doing their job by removing the ones that were going over the line. And, were you seriously expecting warnings as to the the possible composition of the PAX list?.....should Celebrity warn when there are several Elks on board or Masons?.....do your own research.....and if you wish to avoid such....don't book the Carib during spring break

You are correct. They should not be compensated for the actions of other passengers. They should be compensated for the INaction of Celebrity in not enforcing THEIR policy of passenger behavior.

I think it interesting that people have such a feeling of entitlement...they think as here that Celebrity should compensate them for the actions of the other passengers....especially when the line was obviously doing their job by removing the ones that were going over the line. And, were you seriously expecting warnings as to the the possible composition of the PAX list?.....should Celebrity warn when there are several Elks on board or Masons?.....do your own research.....and if you wish to avoid such....don't book the Carib during spring break

You can still book the Caribbean during "spring break" time. It's where you go that matters. Obviously stay away from any cruises that include Mexican ports of call.

You are correct. They should not be compensated for the actions of other passengers. They should be compensated for the INaction of Celebrity in not enforcing THEIR policy of passenger behavior.

I agree.

+1

I think making everyone show a passport is the answer. If they change the drink pkg. to age 25 they will get fake I.D. for age 25. Passport is the answer.

You are correct. They should not be compensated for the actions of other passengers. They should be compensated for the INaction of Celebrity in not enforcing THEIR policy of passenger behavior.[/quote

 

Never in a million years would I book that cruise during a spring break. However, if Celebrity is not following their own rules or is overwhelmed, which they shouldn't be, they knew it was spring break and they were offering booze packages, then what is the big deal to give a free bistro lunch or bottle of wine. Plus, the kitchen was apparently a mess that week. I would not expect more than one poor meal a week from Blu, but they had several.

 

Because I think it's less about entitlements than recognition the passengers did not have a normal X cruise experience, just maybe those customers maybe be valuable later.

 

I do understand the annoyance of passengers complaining about everything to get something extra. But certainly that many bad meals should be noted. I do hope the new resturant for suite guests does not in someway downgrade Blu.

they seemingly did enforce it by removing people from the ship.....we are all there to have a good time....and what a person does at 20 is different than at 60....the line has a hard time balancing the issues and trying to provide the best experiance for all.....even how you view the code of conduct would probably be different than how someone in a significantly different age bracket would. As to the product being delivered....they did deliver.....another passenger annoying you does not make it Celebrity's problem unless they allow it TOTALLY out of hand and mak no effort to tone things down.....they are cruise ship operators ....not police

If you weren't on the cruise then I really don't think you can understand how totally inept Celebrity seemed to be. They were unprepared and completely unable to take action besides making the same announcements regarding drinking age and dress code in the ship's public areas. You can announce the rules all you want but if you don't enforce them, you can't reasonably expect them to be followed. In fact, the envelope tends to be pushed and the situation usually deteriorates.

Although I have sympathy for those involved when bad things happen like this, I have to agree that the growing entitlement culture is pretty unsettling. There's a difference between negligence, inaction, etc. and sometimes, 'stuff happens'. Where that line is drawn is an individual choice I'm sure, but it seems to me that increasingly, every instance of issues must be someone's fault and therefore what can I get for it.

 

Based on the information provided in this case, I would have complained too - in an effort to have things changed. However, I would not have asked for or expected anything else.

There is no sense of entitlement for most of us. Sure, we are disappointed Celebrity couldn't hold up their end of the bargain. I wrote an email to the new CEO detailing my concerns but didn't ask for a thing. Would it be nice if they offered something as a gesture, sure. It would be the wise business thing to do. When a mistake is made by a person or company, the best course of action is to own it and move on towards repairing that relationship and making improvements in order to not make the same mistakes tomorrow.

One comment in your original review was that the young people were running up and down the Aqua corridor.

Every corridor on the ship has inside cabins at base prices so they could very well have been staying across the hall from any Aqua Class cabin or suite.

This behavior should be policed though and on cruise where they have large #'s of rowdy drinkers security should patrol the ship corridors at night or at least be available to come at a moments notice

You are correct. They should not be compensated for the actions of other passengers. They should be compensated for the INaction of Celebrity in not enforcing THEIR policy of passenger behavior.

Exactly. I wouldn't suggest a complete refund, but at least a token gesture that validates Celebrity's concern for the issue.

It's very easy for others who weren't onboard to become armchair quarterbacks and wag their fingers and lay blame saying experienced cruisers should know better than to book certain sailings. I say hogwash. Passenger conduct and enforcement thereof lies squarely at the cruise line's feet, and that's the bottom line.

Tony

Count me in as someone who believes that these passengers deserve compensation from Celebrity due to Celebrity's refusal to enforce any common sense rules of decent behavior.

I must say that I'm not at all surprised by Celebrity's lackadaisical attitude during this cruise, because on a previous Celebrity cruise, my cabinmate and I were 2 of approx 96 passengers who were treated extremely badly, due 100% to the negligence of the crew. The mistreatment was so bad that we were asked to meet with the Captain, who apologized to us for the mistreatment we had endured, and at least twice, the cruise director broadcast news about our mistreatment over the loudspeaker when everyone was on board.

However, the Captain did not say one single word about our being compensated for having been mistreated by the crew. I was furious. One woman said, "At least we got free Danish" because Danish was made available during the meeting. I told her that I could go to the buffet and get as many Danish as I wanted, no extra charge. She admitted that that was true.

Since everyone on the ship knew about our mistreatment, people talked about it all the time, and whenever I heard people talk about it, I told them that I was one of the 96 people who were mistreated. They always asked me if I had been asked to sign anything. I said no. Then they always asked if we had been offered any compensation. I said, "Not one penny!" Because we hadn't been offered even one penny. The Captain seemed to believe that since he said "sorry about that," that was enough for us.

To my great surprise, a few days after I got home, a Celebrity employee called me to ask for my side of the story about the mistreatment. I told her what had happened, and I guess that a number of other passengers told her similar stories, because a few days after that, she called and told me that my cabinmate and I would be given enough cruise credit to cover a future cruise to Bermuda, including port charges and gratuities. We accepted. But we were never asked to sign anything. I was just sorry that this compensation wasn't offered to us during the cruise where we were mistreated, because if it had been offered, I wouldn't have told everyone that Celebrity wasn't going to give us even one penny.

Even though I didn't write or call Celebrity requesting compensation (they just called me out of the blue), I feel that the OP and Lois and everyone else on the cruise should write or call Celebrity, and maybe Celebrity will give them some compensation.

Count me in as someone who believes that these passengers deserve compensation from Celebrity due to Celebrity's refusal to enforce any common sense rules of decent behavior.

 

I must say that I'm not at all surprised by Celebrity's lackadaisical attitude during this cruise, because on a previous Celebrity cruise, my cabinmate and I were 2 of approx 96 passengers who were treated extremely badly, due 100% to the negligence of the crew. The mistreatment was so bad that we were asked to meet with the Captain, who apologized to us for the mistreatment we had endured, and at least twice, the cruise director broadcast news about our mistreatment over the loudspeaker when everyone was on board.

 

However, the Captain did not say one single word about our being compensated for having been mistreated by the crew. I was furious. One woman said, "At least we got free Danish" because Danish was made available during the meeting. I told her that I could go to the buffet and get as many Danish as I wanted, no extra charge. She admitted that that was true.

 

Since everyone on the ship knew about our mistreatment, people talked about it all the time, and whenever I heard people talk about it, I told them that I was one of the 96 people who were mistreated. They always asked me if I had been asked to sign anything. I said no. Then they always asked if we had been offered any compensation. I said, "Not one penny!" Because we hadn't been offered even one penny. The Captain seemed to believe that since he said "sorry about that," that was enough for us.

 

To my great surprise, a few days after I got home, a Celebrity employee called me to ask for my side of the story about the mistreatment. I told her what had happened, and I guess that a number of other passengers told her similar stories, because a few days after that, she called and told me that my cabinmate and I would be given enough cruise credit to cover a future cruise to Bermuda, including port charges and gratuities. We accepted. But we were never asked to sign anything. I was just sorry that this compensation wasn't offered to us during the cruise where we were mistreated, because if it had been offered, I wouldn't have told everyone that Celebrity wasn't going to give us even one penny.

 

Even though I didn't write or call Celebrity requesting compensation (they just called me out of the blue), I feel that the OP and Lois and everyone else on the cruise should write or call Celebrity, and maybe Celebrity will give them some compensation.

Really, what kind of mistreatment did you endure?

The mistreatment that we endured was that the tender we took from Bar Harbor, Maine back to the ship crashed into some rocks, and we were stuck there for ages. I say it was 100% due to the tender crew, because I don't see how we passengers were at all to blame, and other passengers on the tender saw that the tender driver was speeding, even though it was dark out and raining very hard. And the driver did not stick his head out of the tender in order to see better, which, I was told, the drivers on other tenders did. And since none of the other tenders crashed into rocks, I say that the tender driver did something very wrong.

After we crashed, and the smell of gas filled the tender, another passenger took charge of handing out life jackets. The tender crew didn't do a thing to help any of us. And there weren't even enough life jackets for everyone.

When we finally, finally got back to the ship, the dining room was closed. What's funny is that when I made our dinner reservation for that night, I was told that 7:30 PM would be fine. And we had gotten on line for the tender at 6:45 PM. How were we to know that we wouldn't get back to the ship until hours after it was supposed to sail?

Since the dining room was closed, we went to the buffet to get pizza. It was 11:15 PM, and the daily newsletter said that pizza would be available until 1:00 AM. But when we got there, the pizza station was locked up. Very nice.

Some people on the tender were injured, because they fell down when the tender crashed into the rocks. There weren't enough seats for everyone.

At the meeting the next morning, the Captain said that he was sorry, and he seemed to feel that his saying sorry was enough for us. As I said before, even though I never said one word to any of Celebrity's employees on the ship that some compensation would be nice, and I never called or wrote them to tell them this afterwards, they still decided to give us compensation. Even if you think that we didn't deserve a thing, THEY thought that we deserved something. In my cabinmate's and my case, we got a cruise to Bermuda. If Celebrity thought that we deserved this for several hours of mistreatment which was 100% their fault (it certainly wasn't the fault of the passengers on the tender), then certainly the OP and Lois and everyone else deserves compensation for days of mistreatment due to Celebrity's not giving a shot about enforcing security.

decided not to post

Maggie.1008..I think I read that proposal for raising the drink package age, now that I don't have to worry about being under the age limit, I am okay with it. Lol

vacation luvver...that is quite an experience to be on a wrecked tender without enough life jackets.

Hogwash is right.....they did remove people that did not conform to the policy....you would have them enforce the policy as YOU see it....they have to walk a fine line as they are basically an entertainment venue. and can't offer "compensation" for everything that bothers passengers...look at these threads...half of them are people griping about something...Celebrity would make no profit if they handed out compensation to anyone that complains. You don't know how many people complained....should they have handed out 100 dinners?..200? it seems like they did what they could to reign in the worst of it...

Exactly. I wouldn't suggest a complete refund, but at least a token gesture that validates Celebrity's concern for the issue.

 

It's very easy for others who weren't onboard to become armchair quarterbacks and wag their fingers and lay blame saying experienced cruisers should know better than to book certain sailings. I say hogwash. Passenger conduct and enforcement thereof lies squarely at the cruise line's feet, and that's the bottom line.

 

Tony

When Lois says it was bad, it was bad.

But she did not lambast the Co for not greasing her palm like the OP did in their initial post. It is of no wonder a large part of our small planet does not like those of us that live in the west because of our pre conceved sense of entitlement.

This debate will always be like a line in the sand, with some of us on both sides.