Filthy Oceanview Bar on the Eclipse

[bobnjeff]

I just returned from the March 23rd sailing on the Eclipse. One area I noticed that was not nearly up to the usual Celebrity standards was the Ocean View Bar. This area is common on most Celebrity ships and is my favorite area in the morning and at lunch. Unlike on all of my previous sailings on Celebrity this area was very poorly maintained. Why I am not sure as the inside dining area was very well maintained. The last afternoon on the ship is just a small example of what I saw occur in this area. I sat down at a table at about 10:30 am with drinks from inside. It was filthy, but as other tables in the area were also dirty and covered with used dishes I assumed a waiter would come by and clean it. But after over 45 minutes passed and many, many waiters and manager passed by and left everything as it was when I arrived I finally got up went to the mens room got towels and washed it my self. I continued to stay there until nearly 1pm. Dozens of waiters would come and go and rarely pick up a dirty dish here and there but never, never wipe a table. The cushion covers looked like they had never been cleaned since they were first put on. The teak tables, a bad choice to begin with with all of their cracks were not only filthy on the surface but all the way thru.

 

This was the one and only poorly maintained area on a truly spotless ship. Why, as I said I do not know. The floor in the mens room was cleaner. There was a person stationed there to keep it that way. Why no one seemed to keep this very important food area clean is beyond me. I hope that someone at Celebrity will read this and see to it soon. Before it leads to health problems.

[Algebralovr]

I just returned from the March 23rd sailing on the Eclipse. One area I noticed that was not nearly up to the usual Celebrity standards was the Ocean View Bar. This area is common on most Celebrity ships and is my favorite area in the morning and at lunch. Unlike on all of my previous sailings on Celebrity this area was very poorly maintained. Why I am not sure as the inside dining area was very well maintained. The last afternoon on the ship is just a small example of what I saw occur in this area. I sat down at a table at about 10:30 am with drinks from inside. It was filthy, but as other tables in the area were also dirty and covered with used dishes I assumed a waiter would come by and clean it. But after over 45 minutes passed and many, many waiters and manager passed by and left everything as it was when I arrived I finally got up went to the mens room got towels and washed it my self. I continued to stay there until nearly 1pm. Dozens of waiters would come and go and rarely pick up a dirty dish here and there but never, never wipe a table. The cushion covers looked like they had never been cleaned since they were first put on. The teak tables, a bad choice to begin with with all of their cracks were not only filthy on the surface but all the way thru.

 

This was the one and only poorly maintained area on a truly spotless ship. Why, as I said I do not know. The floor in the mens room was cleaner. There was a person stationed there to keep it that way. Why no one seemed to keep this very important food area clean is beyond me. I hope that someone at Celebrity will read this and see to it soon. Before it leads to health problems.

 

Did you flag down one of the wait staff to clean the area you wanted to enjoy? I am sure that if you had asked them to clear and wipe down a table they would have been happy to do so.

 

We did see on Reflection that they seemed to leave tables dirty during various times,but were always happy to clean a table for us. The head waiter actually told us it was planned to encourage the use of certain areas at certain times.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

You should have called it to the attention of the manager who passed by. Things that need to be corrected need to be corrected on the spot, not by posting a complaint to Cruise Critic.

[Ontario Cruiser]

The same thing on the Summit back deck in November. In the mornings when we went to have coffee there were cigarette butts paper on the decks no dishes at that point. I did find the head guy for that area and he had it cleaned up. Also on the Century in March I actually removed the dishes at breakfast while the waiters were chatting.

Ontario Cruiser

[Islandbuoy]

Hey gang--don't shoot the messenger!

 

There are plenty of people on "x"'s payroll responsible for keeping the facilities presentable.Guests shouldn't have to seek them out!

[Mary El]

Hey gang--don't shoot the messenger!

 

There are plenty of people on "x"'s payroll responsible for keeping the facilities presentable.Guests shouldn't have to seek them out!

 

I agree with Islandbuoy: Some of the comments made above were rather snarky. One shouldn't have to go a manager to complain about something so simple as keeping an area clean.

[AlaskaGolden]

Did you flag down one of the wait staff to clean the area you wanted to enjoy? I am sure that if you had asked them to clear and wipe down a table they would have been happy to do so.

 

We did see on Reflection that they seemed to leave tables dirty during various times,but were always happy to clean a table for us. The head waiter actually told us it was planned to encourage the use of certain areas at certain times.

 

Really? :eek: This never looks good in any restaurant/bar area. Appearances really matter. If I saw this and was told this, I'd take photos at various times and send them onto Corporate along with the interesting explanation I received about why the tables were "kept" dirty for a certain amount of time.

 

IMHO, totally unacceptable! :(

[paul.ed]

Hey gang--don't shoot the messenger!

 

There are plenty of people on "x"'s payroll responsible for keeping the facilities presentable.Guests shouldn't have to seek them out!

 

Agree.

[A Sixth?]

Hey gang--don't shoot the messenger!

 

There are plenty of people on "x"'s payroll responsible for keeping the facilities presentable.Guests shouldn't have to seek them out!

 

Absolutely.... I shouldn't have to tell people how to do there jobs... I'm on vacation.

 

And the Cruise Critic is the place to come and bring it up IMHO

 

After all, Celebrity does read the Critic...:cool:

[d4m]

Hey gang--don't shoot the messenger!

 

There are plenty of people on "x"'s payroll responsible for keeping the facilities presentable.Guests shouldn't have to seek them out!

 

Agree. Since when is it supposed to be up to passengers to police a job not done by staff? The OP is stating a fact as he saw it - why the criticism:confused:

[C 2 C]

Islandbuoy Hey gang--don't shoot the messenger!

 

There are plenty of people on "x"'s payroll responsible for keeping the facilities presentable. Guests shouldn't have to seek them out!

I agree with Islandbuoy: Some of the comments made above were rather snarky. One shouldn't have to go a manager to complain about something so simple as keeping an area clean.

 

It is not in any passenger's job description that they have to ask supervisors to get the waiters to do their job.

After two ships failed their inspections, I thought that Celebrity would do more to polish their image.

I can't understand why anyone would attack a returning cruiser who reports a condition that they were not onboard to witness.

 

I did not see this while we were onboard Eclipse in February but I have seen similar lapses in the past.

[Lsimon]

The OP's experience is pretty sad. I really wonder what changed in that area. We were on the cruise immediately before them (March 9 sailing) and never had that problem at all.

 

Yes there were times we found a table wasn't cleaned but that was usually at busy times when another passenger had recently left and when that happened we'd find a waiter to clean it for us.

[ghstudio]

If ship management allows a "not my job" mentality to set in, you get exactly this situation.....everyone just walks by because it's not my job. This is a direct failing of the food and beverage manager on that ship.....who should have been walking around and noticing things like the reported mess without someone having to tell him.

[bobnjeff]

Hey gang--don't shoot the messenger!

 

There are plenty of people on "x"'s payroll responsible for keeping the facilities presentable.Guests shouldn't have to seek them out!

 

 

Thank you. I am on Vacation I should not have to find someone to do their job. And more to the issue is I have never seen this before on Celebrity. Plus the Managers would actually go out of their way to avoid contact with you. Very weird and unCelebrity like.

[bobnjeff]

The only reason I post things here is to help others. I have gotten a lot of great advice from reading here. Both good and bad reviews. That to me is the whole concept of cruise critic. Plus I know Celebrity reviews things here too.

 

I filled out my comment sheet on the ship. But I also feel that some things should also be pointed out here. If you do not like. Do as I do. Read on.

[Lsimon]

While one should not have to find someone to ask to take care of this sometimes things just don't get done unless you complain or ask for service. I agree it shouldn't be this way but it is pretty much a fact of life. Things are not perfect on a cruise - although they are a lot better than staying home.

 

I'd much rather find someone to clear a table then not enjoy the area because it hasn't been cleared. And if I find an overall problem with cleanliness, or any other "issue" that disappoints me on a cruise, I beleive the proper thing to do is to let on board management know about it so the situation can be corrected rather than suffering through it.

 

Celebrity's upper management agrees with this last point and they have a special mechanism on board to make sure that unresolved issues get immediate management attention. It is called the "Attention to Detail" card. These are distributed to the guest rooms from time to time and are always available at customer relations. if you have an unresolved issue or want to bring something to management's attention then just fill one of these out and turn it in at guest services and it will be read. We use the cards on a regular basis both to point out issues to management but also to bring positive points to management's attention. For example we'll fill one out to recognize a staff member who we believe is providing exceptional service just as we'd also fill one out if a staff person assigned to us wasn't doing their job. Fortunately we've ended up filling out more positive cards than negative ones over the years

Celebrity-Attention to Detail Card.pdf

[SoBe2010]

I just returned from the March 23rd sailing on the Eclipse. One area I noticed that was not nearly up to the usual Celebrity standards was the Ocean View Bar. This area is common on most Celebrity ships and is my favorite area in the morning and at lunch. Unlike on all of my previous sailings on Celebrity this area was very poorly maintained. Why I am not sure as the inside dining area was very well maintained. The last afternoon on the ship is just a small example of what I saw occur in this area. I sat down at a table at about 10:30 am with drinks from inside. It was filthy, but as other tables in the area were also dirty and covered with used dishes I assumed a waiter would come by and clean it. But after over 45 minutes passed and many, many waiters and manager passed by and left everything as it was when I arrived I finally got up went to the mens room got towels and washed it my self. I continued to stay there until nearly 1pm. Dozens of waiters would come and go and rarely pick up a dirty dish here and there but never, never wipe a table. The cushion covers looked like they had never been cleaned since they were first put on. The teak tables, a bad choice to begin with with all of their cracks were not only filthy on the surface but all the way thru.

 

This was the one and only poorly maintained area on a truly spotless ship. Why, as I said I do not know. The floor in the mens room was cleaner. There was a person stationed there to keep it that way. Why no one seemed to keep this very important food area clean is beyond me. I hope that someone at Celebrity will read this and see to it soon. Before it leads to health problems.

 

Totally agree. I observed this ignorance as well on board. And it's not your job to teach them what to do. Never understand why dozens of waiters and managers just pass the mess.It sounds like a joke to go and tell them not to forget to clean the tables when passing by...

[TKS]

True, it is not our job to teach the crew how to complete their jobs. And, true, we are on vacation. However, we must also bear responsibility for our experience as well.

 

If the manager of that bar was making him/herself unavailable, there certainly is a senior restaurant/bar coordinating manager for the entire ship (I'm new to Celebrity but not to cruising-so that person's title may be different from what I know it to be on other lines). Possibly discussion with that individual would have brought a more satisfactory response, and you'd have then been able to enjoy the space and caused it to become available for others to enjoy as well.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

I'm jumping in to defend the OP about this matter. I observed EXACTLY the same thing at the Eclipse OceanView Bar, but we used the area only at night. Hubby and I were on the same March 23 14-night cruise as the OP.

 

We enjoyed going out to the OceanView Bar every evening about nine or so to enjoy the stars and evening air. I noticed every night the teak tables seemed dirty and spotted even in the dark. It was too dark to observe the condition of seating cushions.

 

A waiter who seemed rather curt, even pompous, came around to our table to ask if we wanted drinks. He'd leave abruptly when we said no. He never offered to clean the table surface...probably "not his job" as was mentioned above.

 

Now we can debate whether it was our job as passengers to go find a person in authority to complain about the habitual disarray of the OceanView Bar area. We didn't know there was such a thing as a card that one can fill out about "attention to detail". I wish I had known because I would hate to confront a crew member face-to-face with a complaint about cleanliness. I would be very uncomfortable asking a crew member to please do their job especially if someone could get fired over it.

 

Many passengers all day long may have noticed the deficiency but evidently none of them fetched a supervisor to complain.

 

I will say that this was the only area of the ship that I found wanting in any regard. We liked Eclipse so much we signed up for the exact same cruise next year. That will be our third cruise on Eclipse.

[texmex.ferr]

We were on this cruise too (23 March) and I never yet saw any Attention to Detail cards either in out stateroom or out on display at the Customer Relations Desk. These should be in a prominent place for guests to pick up as and when they require them, not hidden away, where you have to ask for them. I had read about these cards before we left for the cruise, but because they were not visually on display, I couldn't remember exactly what I was looking for (this being our first Celebrity cruise).

[h20cruzer]

I just have a couple of quick thoughts. I agree is not your job when you are on vacation. However you actually went and got towels and cleaned the table yourself. Personally I would rather ask for help than do the work, but that is just me.

I have always found that if I bring a problem to someones attention it is always handled professionally. If you dont let someone know something is wrong how can they fix the problem. Many people have come back from a cruise saying things were wrong. I would ask did you let any one know, the answer was always no, but they never gave the cruise line an opportunity to fix it.

I know its all subjective and like you I have learned a lot on the CC boards.

[ORV]

We were on this cruise too (23 March) and I never yet saw any Attention to Detail cards either in out stateroom or out on display at the Customer Relations Desk. These should be in a prominent place for guests to pick up as and when they require them, not hidden away, where you have to ask for them. I had read about these cards before we left for the cruise, but because they were not visually on display, I couldn't remember exactly what I was looking for (this being our first Celebrity cruise).

 

I also have noticed a lack of these cards being put in the rooms on my last 3 X cruises. I usually use them for positive comments about staff we like.

[Suzy Smith]

I can't understand why the OP is getting such a hard time for posting a criticism of a cruise on a site called "Cruise Critic".:confused:

 

Celebrity market themselves as a five-star cruise line and it is not unreasonable to expect five-star service, which to me means that the staff do their job efficiently without needing to be prompted by the customers.

[Can'tstopcruising]

While one should not have to find someone to ask to take care of this sometimes things just don't get done unless you complain or ask for service. I agree it shouldn't be this way but it is pretty much a fact of life. Things are not perfect on a cruise - although they are a lot better than staying home.

 

I'd much rather find someone to clear a table then not enjoy the area because it hasn't been cleared. And if I find an overall problem with cleanliness, or any other "issue" that disappoints me on a cruise, I beleive the proper thing to do is to let on board management know about it so the situation can be corrected rather than suffering through it.

 

Celebrity's upper management agrees with this last point and they have a special mechanism on board to make sure that unresolved issues get immediate management attention. It is called the "Attention to Detail" card. These are distributed to the guest rooms from time to time and are always available at customer relations. if you have an unresolved issue or want to bring something to management's attention then just fill one of these out and turn it in at guest services and it will be read. We use the cards on a regular basis both to point out issues to management but also to bring positive points to management's attention. For example we'll fill one out to recognize a staff member who we believe is providing exceptional service just as we'd also fill one out if a staff person assigned to us wasn't doing their job. Fortunately we've ended up filling out more positive cards than negative ones over the years

 

I notice that there are many Celebrity staff members who want to hear only positive comments. Some of these people "look at you" if you question anything.

 

On one comment card I mentioned the lack of nuts at lunchtime. I make my own salad and like to add walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflowerseeds. When we were on the Eclipse this winter, it was the first time I didn't see any near the salad bar. So I mentioned it on comment card. The next day, I received the usual thank you letter, and voila, there were the nuts. I was very impressed.

Unfortunately, that was the end of that. I was going to write another card saying how impressed I was, but didn't get around to doing it that day......and I never again saw any nuts. Go figure!

[Lsimon]

I notice that there are many Celebrity staff members who want to hear only positive comments. Some of these people "look at you" if you question anything.

 

On one comment card I mentioned the lack of nuts at lunchtime. I make my own salad and like to add walnuts' date=' pumpkin seeds, sunflowerseeds. When we were on the Eclipse this winter, it was the first time I didn't see any near the salad bar. So I mentioned it on comment card. The next day, I received the usual thank you letter, and voila, there were the nuts. I was very impressed.

Unfortunately, that was the end of that. I was going to write another card saying how impressed I was, but didn't get around to doing it that day......and I never again saw any nuts. Go figure![/quote']

 

Off topic for this thread, but on topic for your post, if there is something you'd like at the buffet but don't see it then be sure to ask the person manning the serving station where you'd expect to find it - especially if it is something you've seen on prior cruises. Sometimes they have the item available and can quickly get it for you but don't have it out for some reason. It never hurts to ask and if the person you ask stares at you with a "deer in the headlight" look, then try asking someone else as a few of the staff in the buffet are new, inexperienced and/or have poor English skills. A recent example was when I found no whole grain cereal in the large dispensers on Eclipse last month. I asked the server there about it and he reached below the counter and pulled out small boxes of a couple different kinds to offer me.