My letter to Mr Hanrahan re: Summit 25 Feb

[FastFreddie]

Good Morning Mr Hanrahan.

 

 

I am writing this letter to give you my wife's and my observations on our Summit cruise (Feb 25, 2012). To sum it up it certainly was one of the best cruise experiences we've had on Celebrity. We were in Stateroom 6146. It's a difficult Sky Suite to book and I can see by its decor why! The Rich wood tones, new carpeting & bathroom are second to none! San Juan is a very reasonable airport to navigate, and get affordable flights into. However leaving San Juan is a bit cumbersome. The worst part of our cruise was having to leave after the 7th day.

 

 

We only dined in the MDR one time. That was the very last night. We Dined in the Normandy 2 times and had afternoon tea on Wednesday afternoon. That's a monetarily poor time to chose for that itinerary. It was a port day in Grenada, it was 4 pm, and we didn't leave port until after 5 ( I believe). There were only 3 or 4 tables for this tea and the tea was wonderful. The Maitre D' and assistant were incredibly accommodating, and because of that we made 3 reservations there. The wait staff & sommilier had to have been the best in the fleet. Some names that stood out are Zaccharia, Luciana, Attila, Hector and that amazing waiter from Haiti just to name a few.

We also Dined In Qzine 2 times. Dining there is just plane fun. The presentation was fun. The food is fun. The staff is fun. The Matre D' brought out the Chef and made an introduction. This sort of thing is important to guests. We were not an exception. Many others also were meeting the staff. That does 2 things that immediately comes to mind. It makes the guests feel special, and the complements that come from the guests make the staff feel appreciated. They work hard very hard!

We also dined in Blu for both breakfast and dinner. Martin the Manager is a pretty amazing fellow. He does his best to accommodate everyone; he is always vigilant making sure everything is flowing well in the dining room; he remembers all of his regulars. Alex and Juan were our waiters and as the wait staff in the Normandy, these men were outstanding as well as the entire staff in Blu!

We dined 2 times in Bistro on 5. Gohze ( I may have misspelled it she is the manager there) is quite friendly and always made sure we were happy. Malin was our waitress in both Qzine and Bistro on 5. She is an outstanding Waiter!

 

 

On walking about we met Sandia Salmon the ice cream chef. She told us how she makes the ice cream daily, what steps she does and you could see the pride and love in her eyes while talking of the process. I only had ice cream one time and it could have been habit forming. I resisted the temptation because I wanted to be able to wear my pants home without splitting them.

 

 

The captains club social hour each evening were very nice. We made it 4 times I think. Inez and Sandra and Abdul took good care of us. This is our first time attending this kind of event on Celebrity. It is a really nice place to gather and meet fellow passengers. It's a lot like the diamond event on RCI but this one seemed more intimate. By the end of the cruise we had 12 or 14 of us at a small table gathered in a circle like a wagon train. The hostess (Tanushka) is nothing short of being a sweet representative of the Captains Club. She made sure we were all taken care.

 

 

We had some issues with the commode in our bathroom George of the engineering staff took care of that. We tried to smuggle Ikadek and Ruel in our baggage but alas were unable. Seriously as typical of Celebrity room stewards these folks are the magic in every stateroom. You leave and come back and the bed is made and the room is perfect. You shower, go to dinner and magically the bathroom is cleaned up with fresh towels. And Mr. Singh our butler amazing. I would like to mention that there was this Indian gentleman who was assigned to do some touch up painting on deck 6. He is the MOST patient man on the planet. When I had to pass him on my scooter, he cheerfully moved his drop cloth and equipment. He always had a big smile for us even though he had to stop his work and move a bunch of stuff so I could get by.

 

 

You should be proud of your staff Mr Hanrahan. And also by your senior staff including Captain Panos Mantzavinos. He is managing by walking around. Talking to passengers is huge for great customer relations. He is sincere in his questioning and wants to know our opinions. I had nothing negative to say but thank you for a wonderful cruise. This is a perfect example of top down leadership. The captain is visible, the senior staff is visible, the chefs are visible. It says you are important guests.

 

 

 

 

Please pass on our gratitude to this ships crew.

 

 

Best regards,

 

 

Fred and Barbara

[Karen@Steve]

What a nice letter. So seldom does anyone bother to write when everything is good. The temptation is to only coorespond when there is a problem. Kudos to you for not letting the 'commode' issue RUIN your cruise. Too many people let the little things take too much away from the entire experience. Glad you enjoyed your trip!

[dabear]

I agree, too many pax write to complain but not enought write to complement. Glad you had a nice trip.

[wwcruisers]

I too confess that I usually only write letters to corporate, if there was a significant problem on my cruise. I do, however, try to make my letters as fair and balanced as possible, taking time to comment on the positive things (and people) that I encountered -- as well as the negative. Thank you FastFreddie, for taking the time to write such a nice, well thought out, letter -- I am inspired! ;):cool:

[Azulann]

I am sure you will make his day to hear from a satisfied customer. I too need to remember to let management know when things are working .

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

What a great idea! I always fill out attention to detail cards about the people on the ship who have been amazing, but it's a great idea to send a letter to Hanrahan as well. Good for you! Glad you had such a great cruise.

[Olive1950]

Usually, as soon as I board a Celebrity ship, I stop by the Guest Relations desk and grab a handful of "Attention to Detail" cards.

 

As people 'please' me, I fill one out and return it to Guest Relations.

 

I don't like waiting until the end of a cruise to try to remember such things.

[librarylady19]

That is a wonderful letter. So thoughtful of you to take the time to recognize by name all the outstanding staff you encountered on the Summit. :)

 

I was truly impressed by the friendliness, helpfulness and efficiency of all the staff - crew and officers - we met on Summit in December 2010, which is why I have 2 more cruises booked on her, including another cruise in the wonderful SS 6145, sister to your cabin.

 

Thanks for sharing your letter on CC. I must admit that when I saw the title of your thread I thought, oh no what petty complaints will we hear about now. So refreshing to see someone take the time for positive comments too.

[wwcruisers]

Usually, as soon as I board a Celebrity ship, I stop by the Guest Relations desk and grab a handful of "Attention to Detail" cards.

 

As people 'please' me, I fill one out and return it to Guest Relations.

 

I don't like waiting until the end of a cruise to try to remember such things.

 

Great idea -- I'll try that on our upcoming Century cruise! :cool:

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Usually, as soon as I board a Celebrity ship, I stop by the Guest Relations desk and grab a handful of "Attention to Detail" cards.

 

As people 'please' me, I fill one out and return it to Guest Relations.

 

I don't like waiting until the end of a cruise to try to remember such things.

 

And if you turn them in before the end of the cruise, you will get a nice letter back from the hotel director.

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thanks Freddie, this made my day too -- it helped me remember how much I enjoyed Summit last month for the same reasons you cite.

[TexCruise371]

Way to go! :D Always fun to hear the good stuff!

[pamesacruisin]

This makes me even more excited to cruise with Celebrity:) Only a little over 4 months to go:p

[gmros]

FastFreddie, what a great idea to write such letter to Mr Hanrahan. I will try to remember to do this after my first cruise on Celebrity.

 

It was actually my New Year's resolution to take the time to commend service people who have been very nice and helpful, whether or not they went above and beyond. I'll add your idea to my list of ways to do this.

 

Usually, as soon as I board a Celebrity ship, I stop by the Guest Relations desk and grab a handful of "Attention to Detail" cards.

 

As people 'please' me, I fill one out and return it to Guest Relations.

 

I don't like waiting until the end of a cruise to try to remember such things.

 

Thank you for the tip! I'll keep that in mind as well.

 

 

 

...

Posted using Tapatalk. Sorry for typing errors.

[Fixit2010]

I also communicate back my good findings, those that go above and beyond and other observations to my friend Mr Hanrahan. I have to say that I have had replies from him.

 

I have also been called from Miami (to London) to discuss aspects of my cruising experience.

 

I've also been given direct contact details of some of the senior execs from Celebrity and told to call them anytime I need something fixed.

 

Sometimes building a rapport first and good communications earns you these things.

[johhnnyt]

Just about every cruise I've been on, I make it a point to find the hotel director and give him/her my thoughts on what they do that right, I think its just as important to point that out (sometimes more important) than pointing out what needs improvement.

Two many people I think get caught up in the minor little annoyances rather than recognizing excellence. To me what you did is excellent. A guy I know that used to be the CEO of Pepsi told me that sometimes those at the top get a bit insulated from the positives and negatives, and he appreciated when customers contacted him outside the chain of command so he was kept in the loop, and thats exactly what you did with your letter.

I know Mr Hanrahan must get deluged with letters complaining of a bad steak, a stopped up commode, not enough deck chairs, and all the other issues that will happen no matter how good your organization is running a dozen or so floating hotels.

I'm sure though the letters that are just saying, you run an excellent organization and your team is amazing must bring a great big smile to his face, and surely appreciated. Great Job!:D

[gelo7]

Very nicely put.

[macruisefan]

Very nice letter. I too think it's wonderful when someone sends a letter to commend the good, rather than simply complain. If you don't mind a little constructive criticism however, probably the only suggestion is it's a bit long for a letter. In standard typeface, with a common font size, that's going to be around a page and a half long. Try and get it onto one page.

[caripoo]

THANK YOU for your wonderful letter.... I ALWAYS look forward to our next Celebrity cruise....and I will especially look forward to the 24th when we board the SUMMIT.:):)

[jes28]

Post what you get back, I hope its not just another form letter?

 

John

[24butterfly]

I agree, too many pax write to complain but not enought write to complement. Glad you had a nice trip.

 

I wrote last year. 1st X cruise---so fantastic we booked the SAME exact cruise/cabin for this year. (And it ain't cheap either--that's how great it was!)

[Retired civil servant]

Well done,

 

I to wrote a similair letter to Dan complimenting him on our cruise around the Caribbean on the Constellation in February. Whilst most of the time I use e-mail, I think a personal letter is so much nicer as it shows you have taken the time and trouble to put your thoughts down on paper.

 

My letter was along the same lines as yours and like some of those comments here I usually write letters of complaint, but on this ocassion I could not praise the ships staff enough.

 

Regards to you all

Geoff

Nr Cambridge

UK

[AZ ParrotHead]

Nice job Fred. It was great to meet you in Grenada. Glad to see you had a great time too. Summit is indeed a very special ship.

[Fixit2010]

I would love to see undercover boss on Celebrity.

 

Can you picture Danny H changing beds, mopping out bathrooms being told your too slow,

[COMBOY]

When I saw this thread I was worried for a moment as I'm leaving this Saturday on a full ship charter of the Summit. It's so nice to read a positive review as I this make me even more excited for my up coming cruise. Thank you for posting it.