Dec 9 Constellation "Private Function" (2 Threads Merged)

[JLSPOOL]

Any word from Celebrity hqtrs on this?

 

Claire

 

Celebrity did respond to another review of the Dec. 9.

I've not seen many Celebrity responses to reviews on this board.

The one with the Celebrity post is an all positive review.

Nice.

 

jls

[TravelerThom]

Celebrity did respond to another review of the Dec. 9.

I've not seen many Celebrity responses to reviews on this board.

The one with the Celebrity post is an all positive review.

Nice. jls

Celebrity responded on "Celebrity Galapagos 10% Elite Discount Ending!" http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1959859 saying that the 10% Elite Discount was merely a sales promotion and had never been an Elite Benefit, so elimination of the discount did not go against the quite recent statement that changes in the New Captain's Club Benefits were all positive and contained no downgrades. Celebrity was called out on this by numerous people who still have copies of Elite Benefits clearly listing the discount as an Elite Benefit. The only two options was that 1) whoever posted from Celebrity was new and didn't know better, or 2) they were flat out lying and hoped we didn't know better. Anyone can make a mistake, and I hoped that was what it was. Celebrity NEVER came back to the thread, so the only option I'm left with is #2. Not a good show by Celebrity.

 

Thom

[JLSPOOL]

Celebrity responded on "Celebrity Galapagos 10% Elite Discount Ending!" http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1959859 saying that the 10% Elite Discount was merely a sales promotion and had never been an Elite Benefit, so elimination of the discount did not go against the quite recent statement that changes in the New Captain's Club Benefits were all positive and contained no downgrades. Celebrity was called out on this by numerous people who still have copies of Elite Benefits clearly listing the discount as an Elite Benefit. The only two options was that 1) whoever posted from Celebrity was new and didn't know better, or 2) they were flat out lying and hoped we didn't know better. Anyone can make a mistake, and I hoped that was what it was. Celebrity NEVER came back to the thread, so the only option I'm left with is #2. Not a good show by Celebrity.

 

Thom

 

"X the rules", meaning no rules or many shades of gray?

What is the product?

What warrants a Celebrity reply?

 

jls

Edited January 12, 2014 by JLSPOOL

[TravelerThom]

"X the rules", meaning no rules or many shades of gray?

What is the product?

What warrants a Celebrity reply?

I remember the [iMO] fiasco of Celebrity seeming to have no idea how many [i would hazard the majority on CC] interpreted "X the Rules", but I'm having a hard time understanding how to tie together your three sentences. Addressing What warrants a Celebrity reply?:

 

Celebrity is not under any obligation to comment on CC, but when they post incorrect information they do have an obligation to acknowledge that fact. Celebrity made an official [that was the word they used in the header] statement that something had not been an Elite benefit, and many people could prove otherwise. I think that warranted a Celebrity reply admitting that they were wrong. I was willing to believe it was an honest mistake, but refusing to acknowledge a mistake makes me feel it was an intentional effort to deceive.

 

Thom

[Project_gal]

First, let me start by saying that I have not read through all this thread. We were on this cruise and the previous TA B2B. The annual marketing conference on board certainly put a damper on this cruise. The difference between the two was very noticeable.

 

The closure of ventues did not affect us much but the attitude of the Celebrity staff on board was a problem. This manifested itself in a number of ways:

• All being released from the theatre and moving onto the lunchtime buffet at the same time. This may not have been a problem if they were engrossed in their own discussion and unaware that they were queuing in such a way as to block access to food where there was not a queue.
  
• Their atitude in public areas, such as elevators. They did not interact in the same way as other guests do - such as not responding to "Good Morning".
  
• The demands they made on restaurants - making reservations for extremely large parties with little notice. Although we only et in the speciality restaurants we had to change our arrangements to eat earlier and/or in a different place because our arrangements could no longer be accommodated.
  

Finally, on the formal night we were invited to dine with the Staff Captain at the Captain's Table and went to Cellar Masters at 8:15 as requested. The Staff Captain and Captain's Club hostess did not turn up until 8:55 because an event in the theatre had overrun. The two other couples had walked away by then but we stayed because we realised that it was not the Captain's Club Hostess' fault.

 

It seemed to us that it is poor marketing to treat guest with such little respect. Many rumours were heard around the ship about the ideas for improving business being dicussed. Perhaps if they had interacted more with the guests sharing the ship with them, they would have learned so much more that they did.

 

Sue

[shipshape sam]

Garlic predominated one whole side of the buffet on Constellation, for lunch and dinner, thank goodness no garlic in the scrambled eggs or sprinkled on the orange slices.

 

When we visit high priced restaurants, low cost food courts, any buffet in most hotels of merit, even Golden Corral, garlic is used in most of the food but the garlic odor doesn't smell up large spaces where the food is served.

 

I might ask why garlic is the American flavor of choice. I'd rather ask why there is no exhaust system in the buffet to carry away strong odors. The stir-fry stations on S-Class ships are another spot badly in need of an exhaust system.

 

I'm not an engineer. But I have a Jenn-Air cook top that does not have a flu to carry cooking odors to the outdoors. I wish it did, but it does work better than nothing. Obviously we don't cook with garlic as its not to our taste.

 

jls

 

They have a pasta bar on the starboard side and I loved to order my pasta with garlic sautéed. And the aroma (not smell :) ) complemented my expectation and meal.

 

I think I would have eaten on the port side if smell was an issue.

[JLSPOOL]

I remember the [iMO] fiasco of Celebrity seeming to have no idea how many [i would hazard the majority on CC] interpreted "X the Rules", but I'm having a hard time understanding how to tie together your three sentences. Addressing What warrants a Celebrity reply?:

 

Celebrity is not under any obligation to comment on CC, but when they post incorrect information they do have an obligation to acknowledge that fact. Celebrity made an official [that was the word they used in the header] statement that something had not been an Elite benefit, and many people could prove otherwise. I think that warranted a Celebrity reply admitting that they were wrong. I was willing to believe it was an honest mistake, but refusing to acknowledge a mistake makes me feel it was an intentional effort to deceive.

 

Thom

 

Thom, I don't know how to double quote.

My last post should have double spaces after ea ? mark,

to ask three separate questions.

 

jls

[JLSPOOL]

First, let me start by saying that I have not read through all this thread. We were on this cruise and the previous TA B2B. The annual marketing conference on board certainly put a damper on this cruise. The difference between the two was very noticeable.

 

The closure of ventues did not affect us much but the attitude of the Celebrity staff on board was a problem. This manifested itself in a number of ways:

• All being released from the theatre and moving onto the lunchtime buffet at the same time. This may not have been a problem if they were engrossed in their own discussion and unaware that they were queuing in such a way as to block access to food where there was not a queue.
  
• Their atitude in public areas, such as elevators. They did not interact in the same way as other guests do - such as not responding to "Good Morning".
  
• The demands they made on restaurants - making reservations for extremely large parties with little notice. Although we only et in the speciality restaurants we had to change our arrangements to eat earlier and/or in a different place because our arrangements could no longer be accommodated.
  

Finally, on the formal night we were invited to dine with the Staff Captain at the Captain's Table and went to Cellar Masters at 8:15 as requested. The Staff Captain and Captain's Club hostess did not turn up until 8:55 because an event in the theatre had overrun. The two other couples had walked away by then but we stayed because we realised that it was not the Captain's Club Hostess' fault.

 

It seemed to us that it is poor marketing to treat guest with such little respect. Many rumours were heard around the ship about the ideas for improving business being dicussed. Perhaps if they had interacted more with the guests sharing the ship with them, they would have learned so much more that they did.

 

Sue

 

Sue,

Your review makes the excessive smoke understandable.

Herds gathered to smoke at break times.

Smokers spilled over to other areas.

No enforcement of policy was evident.

 

Thanks for the comments.

 

jls

Edited January 13, 2014 by JLSPOOL

[Project_gal]

Sue,

Your review makes the excessive smoke understandable.

Herds gathered to smoke at break times.

Smokers spilled over to other areas.

No enforcement of policy was evident.

 

Thanks for the comments.

 

jls

 

jls

 

Probably does! The crew were relunctant to do anything to upset those attending the conference. However, we did not experience the smoking issue because we found that we just stayed in our suite except for meals during this leg of our cruise.

 

Sue

[JLSPOOL]

jls

 

Probably does! The crew were relunctant to do anything to upset those attending the conference. However, we did not experience the smoking issue because we found that we just stayed in our suite except for meals during this leg of our cruise.

 

Sue

 

We think the crew was stretched and "hit with an ugly stick" due to the GM 300 Group led by Celebrity's present CEO.

 

Did you notice smoke from your balcony? Did you go to any lounge during the Dec. 9 leg?

 

jls

Edited January 15, 2014 by JLSPOOL

[Celebrity Cruises]

Celebrity responded on "Celebrity Galapagos 10% Elite Discount Ending!" http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1959859 saying that the 10% Elite Discount was merely a sales promotion and had never been an Elite Benefit, so elimination of the discount did not go against the quite recent statement that changes in the New Captain's Club Benefits were all positive and contained no downgrades. Celebrity was called out on this by numerous people who still have copies of Elite Benefits clearly listing the discount as an Elite Benefit. The only two options was that 1) whoever posted from Celebrity was new and didn't know better, or 2) they were flat out lying and hoped we didn't know better. Anyone can make a mistake, and I hoped that was what it was. Celebrity NEVER came back to the thread, so the only option I'm left with is #2. Not a good show by Celebrity.

 

Thom

 

Hello there,

 

Apologies, but we wanted to address this. When we researched this issue, we were provided an answer, and we then relayed the information on Cruise Critic. At no time did we think an additional response was necessary as we still believe that this was a promotion, and not an Elite Benefit.

[Celebrity Cruises]

Any word from Celebrity hqtrs on this?

 

Claire

 

We're currently looking into this issues and passing on the appropriate feedback. We want to thank you all for sharing your positive and negative experiences, and they will be addressed.

[Project_gal]

We think the crew was stretched and "hit with an ugly stick" due to the GM 300 Group led by Celebrity's present CEO.

 

Did you notice smoke from your balcony? Did you go to any lounge during the Dec. 9 leg?

 

jls

 

jls

 

No, we did not notice any smoke for our balcony [we were in the starbord PH] but it did rain a lot so we spent much of the time under cover rather than at the railing. The only sunny day was in Key West and then the seagulls were a preoccupation! If there was smoke, it did not bother them.

 

As I said, we spent most of the time in our suite except to collect breakfast and lunch from the buffet and go to dinner. I do not think that we used any bar pre-dinner except, as I mentioned, Cellar Masters on the formal night.

 

Sue

[JLSPOOL]

We're currently looking into this issues and passing on the appropriate feedback. We want to thank you all for sharing your positive and negative experiences, and they will be addressed.

 

Yes, the Dec. 9 Constellation had positive and negatives.

Concerning the negatives, we have six basic issues:

 

1. Allocation of the public spaces for groups versus independent cruisers at prime times like before dinner cocktail hours.

 

2. Stretching the crew to set up and service special groups at the expense of the independent cruisers during prime cocktail hours.

 

3. Closing the Solarium pool for groups

 

4. Enforcement of the smoking policies

 

5. Use an exhaust system over the stir-fry station that emits the strong odor of garlic in the buffet

 

6. "Private function" is inadequate signage. Private for whom and when?

 

Thank you for your response to this thread.

We plan to continue our patronage of the Celebrity Cruise Line but we believe there is room for improvement. Especially when we encounter a large group on a ship.

 

jls