For Me, It's Buh-bye Celebrity

[shell15]

Unbelieveable. I think I will call celebrity and complain. When I went to the pursur desk and asked, they assured me S2's do not get flowers. A paying suite passenger should not have to spend most of their cruise vacation going down to the pursur desk to fight for the things that they already paid for and were promised. And by the way, we didn't get fresh squeezed orange juice either. So = If your on the Summit and have a Butler named Keith--ask for a new one. He is useless.

 

I haven't voiced an opinion on any of this, as we mostly stay in CC class, however we did stay once in a RS on the Summit. I just wanted to say that Keith was our butler and he completely made our cruise. He was incredibly kind and helpful, had everything there or readily available that we wanted or were entitled to with the room and was just overall an outstanding and wonderful person and butler. After lots of hugs and pictures we were sad to leave him to go home. Just wanted to voice that....he must have either been having an awful week or it's a different Keith because ours most definitely was the most top notch service person we have ever encountered on any cruise. I'm sorry your experience was disappointing :(

 

We will be in SS1 on the Summit on Feb 11th and am now curious to see how things will go after reading this thread :D Either way, it's better than beingin Ohio in February! :)

[Muushka]

Muushka, I agree that when you book a suite you should get what is promised by Celebrity. My only point in making that comment was that people who take a few cruises a year on Celebrity could take at least one cruise on a luxury cruise line for the same amount. BTW - we have heard so many good things about Regent from our friends that we are thinking about moving up to a luxury cruise line but cruising less ourselves. However, I realize that there are a lot of people who would rather to take more cruises for the same amount of money than one special one.

 

Yes, that last statement would be us.:)

 

It is similar to those who choose inside cabins to be able to cruise more frequently.

 

One day we will do a luxury line. But that is a long time from now.:(

[Solstice23]

I feel for the Butlers! They have demanding people that complain they do not do enough, then they get others that don't need to be bothered. Its hard for them

 

Celebrity is rated higher then HAL these days, and I must say to complain about a butler wanting to give service is a Luxury most do not have.

 

We have had suites on Celebrity and recently on a cruise for work I had a window Stateroom, I had never had one before and well, it was not for me. Our butler from 2 years prior was in the hall and I passed him on deck 6. He remembered us and pimped out my entire window stateroom with suite bedding, robes, and extras even the afternoon Cart service! This has stuck with me forever and we have booked the Celebrity suite on the Summit for our next cruise and looking forward to seeing Kieth again, and if he gets moved looking forward to making more friends

 

Its like anywhere you never can tell the waiter or room steward you have. One thing we know is HAL ship design and rooms are not our style, We like hotels like the W and Thompson, the Standard etc, and HAL does not fit into that bracket, although a great cruise line its not our style at all.

[sailorboy05]

I've been on both Celebrity and Holland America. The highest cabin level I've had on X is Deluxe Ocean View with veranda; on HAL it was Deluxe Veranda Suite. My experience was just the opposite of the original poster. I would take an inside cabin on X over the suite on HAL. The Neptune Lounge was the only saving grace on the HAL ship, but even the host there couldn't get responses to polite complaints. Never received a reply from management, either on board or after, other than a small refund for inoperative air conditioning for 9 of the 12 days. I'm sticking with Celebrity!

[heidik]

OP here........

 

Interesting responses - love the different points of view. As one poster has recommended, I have booked my next voyages on "premium" lines to see what that experience is like......actually got fabulous deals as a "single"...

 

To follow up - I received a phone message Friday night from Celebrity regarding my survey feedback! She said she was very interested in discussing my concerns and would call back again if she did not hear from me........I'll let you know how it goes.

[Lois R]

OP here........

 

Interesting responses - love the different points of view. As one poster has recommended, I have booked my next voyages on "premium" lines to see what that experience is like......actually got fabulous deals as a "single"...

 

To follow up - I received a phone message Friday night from Celebrity regarding my survey feedback! She said she was very interested in discussing my concerns and would call back again if she did not hear from me........I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Hi Heidi, which luxury line?

[heidik]

I am trying 2 "premium", not "luxury" lines: Oceania and Azamara

[Solstice23]

I am trying 2 "premium", not "luxury" lines: Oceania and Azamara

 

Actually from what I have read and how we have them broken down where I work is ..

 

 

Contemporary is

Costa

MSC

Carnival

NCL

Royal Caribbean

 

 

Premium is

Princess

Holland America

Celebrity

 

Deluxe is

Cunard

Azamra

Oceania

 

Luxury is

Crystal

Regent

Silversea etc....

[heidik]

Thanx toronto25! I meant "deluxe" :)

[Bridge Maven]

Actually from what I have read and how we have them broken down where I work is ..

 

 

Contemporary is

Costa

MSC

Carnival

NCL

Royal Caribbean

 

 

Premium is

Princess

Holland America

Celebrity

 

Deluxe is

Cunard

Azamra

Oceania

 

Luxury is

Crystal

Regent

Silversea etc....

 

Where does Disney Cruise Line fit?

[Solstice23]

Where does Disney Cruise Line fit?

 

Premium opps sorry forgot

[Hlitner]

Very interesting post and thread. Having cruised on many different cruise lines (11) in all types of accomodations we offer this perspective. There are different types of cruise lines (i.e. budget, mass-market, ultra-luxury, etc). Booking expensive accomodations on a mass-market line (Celebrity, Princess, HA, RCI, etc) does get you a larger cabin a few additonal amenities. We certainly agree that if you are paying thousands of extra dollars you should not have to pay for water (we never pay for water since we simply open the tap). But in the final result, a mass-market cruise ship is a mass-market crusie ship. Paying all that extra money gets you the same food, entertainment, and even staff as the folks paying a fraction of the cost. We do agree with the OP that luxury and the suite experience is nice, but would offer that even booking a normal cabin on an ultra-luxury line will get you a lot more then you get with an expensive suite on the mass-market lines. It is kind of like the hotel argument which is are you better off with a suite in a Holiday Inn or a nice regular room in a Ritz Carlton or 4 Seasons?

 

Hank

[Solstice23]

I haven't voiced an opinion on any of this, as we mostly stay in CC class, however we did stay once in a RS on the Summit. I just wanted to say that Keith was our butler and he completely made our cruise. He was incredibly kind and helpful, had everything there or readily available that we wanted or were entitled to with the room and was just overall an outstanding and wonderful person and butler. After lots of hugs and pictures we were sad to leave him to go home. Just wanted to voice that....he must have either been having an awful week or it's a different Keith because ours most definitely was the most top notch service person we have ever encountered on any cruise. I'm sorry your experience was disappointing :(

 

We will be in SS1 on the Summit on Feb 11th and am now curious to see how things will go after reading this thread :D Either way, it's better than beingin Ohio in February! :)

 

I mentioned Keith Earlier he is amazing!

[Solstice23]

Very interesting post and thread. Having cruised on many different cruise lines (11) in all types of accomodations we offer this perspective. There are different types of cruise lines (i.e. budget, mass-market, ultra-luxury, etc). Booking expensive accomodations on a mass-market line (Celebrity, Princess, HA, RCI, etc) does get you a larger cabin a few additonal amenities. We certainly agree that if you are paying thousands of extra dollars you should not have to pay for water (we never pay for water since we simply open the tap). But in the final result, a mass-market cruise ship is a mass-market crusie ship. Paying all that extra money gets you the same food, entertainment, and even staff as the folks paying a fraction of the cost. We do agree with the OP that luxury and the suite experience is nice, but would offer that even booking a normal cabin on an ultra-luxury line will get you a lot more then you get with an expensive suite on the mass-market lines. It is kind of like the hotel argument which is are you better off with a suite in a Holiday Inn or a nice regular room in a Ritz Carlton or 4 Seasons?

 

Hank

 

We have Never paid for water in a suite on Celebrity! or Specialty Coffees.

[excitedofharpenden]

There are a number of people who say they can't afford luxury cruise lines but they take a number of cruises during a year on Celebrity. If quality was important enough to them they would take one cruise a year on a luxury cruise line instead of more cruises on Celebrity. It is just a matter of priorities.

It might not be purely a case of money. It's also a factor that not everyone wants to cruise on a luxury line because they feel they may not fit in with the mix of passengers onboard or the general ambience. Celebrity is a good fit for me at present.

 

BTW quality is important to me and I enjoy Celebrity as much now as I did 10 years ago. If that changes I will not be afraid to move on. I love Azamara too.

 

Phil

[Gracie115]

Where does Disney Cruise Line fit?

 

 

It has it's own category:

 

Children

 

just kidding...don't want to anger the disney fans....but I just couldn't possible listen to "its a small world" throughout the ship...over and over and, YES, I could hear it playing over and over as we were leaving Port Canaveral on another ship with a Disney ship in port....

[Lois R]

It might not be purely a case of money. It's also a factor that not everyone wants to cruise on a luxury line because they feel they may not fit in with the mix of passengers onboard or the general ambience. Celebrity is a good fit for me at present.

 

BTW quality is important to me and I enjoy Celebrity as much now as I did 10 years ago. If that changes I will not be afraid to move on. I love Azamara too.

 

Phil

 

Hi Phil:) hope you are doing well.....I went on Millennium last week

for 5 nights......still a good fit for me too;)

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

It has it's own category:

 

Children

 

just kidding...don't want to anger the disney fans....but I just couldn't possible listen to "its a small world" throughout the ship...over and over and, YES, I could hear it playing over and over as we were leaving Port Canaveral on another ship with a Disney ship in port....

 

I agree with that category! We were parked next to a Disney ship once and I couldn't believe the endless stream of noise and visual pollution emanating from the ship. I'd go batso in 5 minutes on one of those ships.

[Bridge Maven]

It might not be purely a case of money. It's also a factor that not everyone wants to cruise on a luxury line because they feel they may not fit in with the mix of passengers onboard or the general ambience. Celebrity is a good fit for me at present.

 

BTW quality is important to me and I enjoy Celebrity as much now as I did 10 years ago. If that changes I will not be afraid to move on. I love Azamara too.

 

Phil

 

Excitedofharpenden - My post was a response to the people who had posted that they would love to go on a luxury cruise line but can't afford one. The analogy was comparable to a person who comments that they wish they could afford to buy clothing at upscale stores, but have three closets filled with clothes they don't like as much.

 

However, I realize that there are a many people who prefer to sail Celebrity instead of a luxury cruise line for various reasons that have nothing to do with money.

[excitedofharpenden]

Excitedofharpenden - My post was a response to the people who had posted that they would love to go on a luxury cruise line but can't afford one. The analogy was comparable to a person who comments that they wish they could afford to buy clothing at upscale stores, but have three closets filled with clothes they don't like as much.

 

However, I realize that there are a many people who prefer to sail Celebrity instead of a luxury cruise line for various reasons that have nothing to do with money.

I misunderstood. I saw your post without a quote and thought you were generalising. Apologies.

 

Phil

[Muushka]

I am by no means a DCL apologist, but we have taken 4 cruises on their line and do not find them annoying in the least.

 

This is from a childless couple who does not usually appreciate other people's children!

 

And while I believe the poster that said they could hear the Small World tune being played over and over, I never experienced that.

[Gracie115]

I am by no means a DCL apologist, but we have taken 4 cruises on their line and do not find them annoying in the least.

 

This is from a childless couple who does not usually appreciate other people's children!

 

And while I believe the poster that said they could hear the Small World tune being played over and over, I never experienced that.

 

 

It was me and it happened at Port Canaveral as we were departing on the Mariner of the Seas about 4 years ago...it played continuously until we were too far from port to hear it....I remember saying to my DH how that would make me crazy.... I'm glad you had a good time...lots of people like Disney...it's just not for me... no offense meant....

[Muushka]

It was me and it happened at Port Canaveral as we were departing on the Mariner of the Seas about 4 years ago...it played continuously until we were too far from port to hear it....I remember saying to my DH how that would make me crazy.... I'm glad you had a good time...lots of people like Disney...it's just not for me... no offense meant....

 

Nope, no offense taken. Like I said, I'm not a Disney apologist. There are enough out there that they don't need me!:p

[ivyleaguegent]

I have to agree with HawaiiDan and Hlitner. We usually take one luxury cruise (Silversea) and one luxury land trip per year, and a cruise on Celebrity if we can squeeze it in. Even though Celebrity advertises "butler" service, I would never expect it to be comparable to the butler service on Silversea, which is why we always book Aqua Class (although I am thrilled that the newest Celebrity ship has Aqua Suites, standard Aqua Class cabins are tiny). I don't expect the same experience in any aspect of the cruise given the enormous price difference between Celebrity and the premium cruise lines. IMHO, it makes little sense to spend a substantial amount of money to move up to a suite on a mid-market cruise line (particularly when you are assigned to the MDR and not Blu) when for another 25% or so you can cruise on a premium line.

 

That said, we sailed on the Eclipse last December in Aqua Class and were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food in Blu and the speciality restaurants. Our room steward was fantastic. We had fresh water and ice tea several times a day and always fresh flowers and extra towels. All of the staff on the ship were as polite and solicitous as they could be. The ship was spotless and it never seemed like there were 3,000 people on the ship.

 

In light of this experience, we are taking a longer trip on Azamara this summer and have booked the new Celebrity ship for December.

 

Just my two cents worth.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I'm surprised I missed this thread since I've been checking in for other cruise experiences from "our" week. If anyone saw my review, they know this is a night and day departure from ours. But then we were in a C2 cabin.

 

I've always thought the categories on Celebrity are all out of whack because there is such a huge difference in rates between Concierge class and Sky Suites. I neither want or need a butler; it's one thing that has held me back from booking an SS. I'm about the lowest maintenance person I know. The Sky Suites just aren't that much bigger and that's the only reason I would pay more. I don't care about perks or amenities, I just want some space. And I would dearly love free water:) and free cappucino after dinner the way it used to be. And that is why I used to LOVE the SY cabins on HAL ... no perks, just a heck of a lot of wonderful space.

 

But what interests me most is the comparison to HAL. While I'm not a suite passenger, I have just never experienced the level of service on HAL that so many describe. Maybe you have to book suites on HAL to get that level of servive; it's very possible.

 

We all cruise for different reasons and have different expectations. If a cruise line doesn't live up to what we're looking for then another line is better. For us, for now, Celebrity is our choice. But when the day comes (and it will) that I step up to a suite it won't be a Sky that I'm reaching for.

 

The Royal Suite just can't be beat ... I have a feeling it would be the perfect 'fit' for me:). In an RS I wouldn't get off the ship either! And I would politely tell the Butler that at least from me he has the week off ;).