Do celebrity cruisers complain more?

[OuiOnboard]

Everyone has opinions. Some express their opinions differently than others. We can all choose to read or ignore any posts or posters that we determine are not helpful in efforts to achieve our goals relative to cruising well.

In the end, the most important thing is that we try to understand what each other is saying.

Communication people.

There are lots of cuts. There are lots of changes. There are lots of vacation opportunities. We must be thankful that we can make choices.

Happy Sails!

[phoenix_dream]

I think in the last year or so I have seen more nastiness on these boards than ever before. I am not sure why. Sometimes it is as simple as people having too thin a skin, sometimes comments were likely not meant to be as harsh as they sound, but then sometimes they are just plain nasty. One thing I personally find offensive is all the lecturing that goes on. If I don't like something, please don't make assumptions about me or how I feel or think. If I don't like a change, please don't lecture me that I don't like change, I only like things how they used to be, the good old days were not so good, or whatever. If I post my opinion respectfully, then please also respect my feelings as valid for me, whether or not you agree with them, and don't assume to know what is in my heart. You are welcome to post alternate opinions and I have an obligation to give you the same courtesy.

 

I do think that issue is separate than the issue of a lot of complaining. Celebrity has in fact been making a lot of changes in the past year. Like all changes, some are good and some are not so good. Overall the Celebrity experience is still a good one, and I remain a fan after more than 20 years and over 25 cruises (yes I am one of THEM:)). That said, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that overall there has been a decline in service and quality of product in many categories (like food). Yes, there may in fact be sound business reasons for some of these changes....and then again maybe not. There are many ways to address changing demographics and the changing economy. Just because a CEO chooses a particular way doesn't necessarily mean he/she is always right. Heaven knows we have seen enough evidence of that in the business world the past few years:eek:.

 

Yes, a missing ice bucket is a small point. But as an example (and this comes to mind as we were actually speaking of it at lunch today) - my elderly aunt who cruised with us recently asked her room steward multiple times to leave a pitcher of water in her room for ease of taking her medications. Over and over she asked - it never came. When we mentioned the cruise, that is the first thing she thought of (not that she didn't enjoy the cruise overall). Perfect evidence that the old saying of 'the little things mean alot' is very true. Newer cruisers will have to take my word for it (or not, as you wish) that in the 'olden days' one request would have been enough. Is that a big deal in and of itself? Of course not. But it indicates a trend and that is why things like that come up over and over in recent posts.

 

It is also frustrating to be a customer for many, many years, and have the company CEO be blatant about wanting to cater to the "1%", in ways that many of us feel take away something from the experience of the 99%, who are in fact the majority of those onboard and always will be due to the configuration of rooms. Let's please not debate that statement in this thread; I think it is fair to say many feel this way whether you agree with them or not. The blatant focus on the upper end clients can also feel like a proverbial slap in the face to the loyal mainstream cruisers, without whose loyalty the cruise line would not still be in existence! Honestly I think this is the big point that is making so many people so frustrated with Celebrity as of late. IMHO that is really at the heart of a lot of the Captains Club frustration - most of the folks I reference (myself included) fit into or close to the Elite+ category and were quite disappointed that so little attention was given to that level - instead the real new perks went to the only-achievable-by-rich-people Zenith level. It's the principle of the thing.

 

People also need to understand that Celebrity is a line that consistently provided a certain type of product for many, many, many years. The primary changes until now were simply geographic (i.e., adding larger ships). Suddenly it is changing in literally a hundred ways, big and small. When you have cruised a line for many years and particularly enjoyed certain aspects of that line, it is frustrating when what you enjoyed is now gone or lessened. After 20-25 years of virtual sameness that much change in so short a time can be difficult to deal with.

[dkjretired]

Complaints also come as things change. In the past few months Celebrity has announced they are getting rid of what has always been one of their favorite ships, changed Captains Club substantially and appear to be changing many things on board, some of which I saw on my last cruise. They have also introduced for almost all sailing the 1,2,3 go promotion which is what the Cruise line says has caused a severe problem with their telephone customer service. Add to that their web site and there are plenty of new things to complain about.

 

The point I am making is that on other boards whenever major changes occur, the same negative and positive comments appear on those boards.

 

I have been on this board for almost 20 years and I will say that I have never seen it as negative as it is now, I hope it is only temporary until Celebrity irons out some of their problems.

[bighairtexan]

I cruise on, and monitor the boards of, the same three cruise lines mentioned by the OP and I have to pretty much agree with him/her. It just seems "snarkier" though I think all boards have their share of Grinches.

[miched]

I am actually pleased to see this thread because I have noticed lately that there are an awful lot of really CRANKY cruisers on this board. I've been posting here for several years (7, 8?) and have never before been so turned off.

 

These boards used to provide a lot of good information for cruisers and a fun place for discussion. If I was a new cruiser today and stumbled on these boards I would probably skip a cruise vacation altogether. Seriously, so many complaints about everything!

I agree with another cruiser who said the changes to the loyalty program seems to have amped things up. I personally don't sail for the loyalty program and I don't see it as a right or entitlement.

My husband reminds me that the name of this site is Cruise CRITIC ... But it seems like so many people only see the bad. I've said this before but it doesn't ever seem to sink in ... COMPARE PRICES TODAY TO THOSE 20 or 30 YEARS AGO. Celebrity can't afford to give everyone a caviar experience on a cheese sandwich budget.

 

A few years ago when Carnival was changing from cruises to cruise days to obtain status in their loyatly program there was also the same amount of complaining. There was a big difference though as Carnival gave everyone one year to grandfather in and that resulted in a increase in sales because people were booking short cheap cruises to get over the 10 cruise requirement. The problem though was that they changed some of the benefits. Nothing is unique to this forum, people do not accept changes unless it benefits them.

 

 

🌅🚢🇺🇸

[Lastdance]

Happy Easter to everyone!:)

[CruisinGirl777]

I have found the negativity too much. I really enjoyed Celebrity and hope to enjoy our future cruise, even with all the changes. All the whining and complaining have really turned me off from reading these boards. I now stick with ports of call, home ports, other cruise line reviews with pictures and new posts. Or just search for a specific topic. Before, my bookmark was the Celebrity boards and I would just go through it all. Some of the complaints are just outrageous. In my mind I think ... really, really??? These are the things people notice and come back to post about. It is so obnoxious and trivial :rolleyes:.

 

It would take a whole lot to "ruin my entire cruise" and choose to never sail a line again. On the ocean, tons of good food, beautiful atmosphere, variety of activities, new places to explore AND chocolate on my pillow every night :D, yeah, it would have to be pretty serious to overshadow all of that wonderfulness.

 

Hearing about overworked staff does concern me though. It makes me sad b/c the crew are the foundation of Celebrity and would be awful to know that they are no longer happy. I noticed that the crew seemed really down on our last Princess cruise and even witnessed a waiter being yelled at by the maitre d' :eek:. Now that was awful.

[Seapoint]

I believe this is all about expectations.

 

On the one hand Celebrity markets itself as a modern luxury premium line, and certain expectations come with that.

 

On the other hand, Celebrity has attracted a slightly older, more well travelled customer than the other mass market lines, and these passengers , having experienced better, expect more.

 

The net result is the higher level of complaints seen on these threads.

[BamaGuy44]

Complaints come from un-met expectations. My expectation for a cruise is a safe, clean ship that gets me where it is supposed to go. I expect decent service, decent food, the chance to get away from the stress of home, the cold weather, and maybe meet some interesting people. I DO NOT expect to be waited on hand and foot as though I was some king. I do not expect very busy workers to stop and chat with me, just as I would not expect this from workers in any other retail business. Trust me, there were a lot of days I did not smile at people with whom I interacted at work. But I tried to do my "job" which is all I expect of the crew. I figure I am on the ship, on the ocean, being served by others. If the music is too loud, then I can put on my earphones, or go sit somewhere else. If I am bothered by pool games, then I will go sit in a quiet spot on the upper deck. I also do not expect "banquet" type food, being prepared to serve over 2,000 people in a relatively short amount of time, to be of gourmet quality. But I did not have to shop for it, prepare it, serve it, and clean it up. So, what are your expectations. if they are consistently NOT MET, then perhaps you should spend your money somewhere else. That is my rant. Happy Easter.

 

* slow clap *

 

Well said, my friend.

[librarylady19]

There is quite a bit of complaining over on the Azamara board too.

 

 

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[Texed]

No doubt about it, I am going to have to be more upbeat. ;)

[Viva_la_Vida]

Negativity is at least as contagious as noro. Doing my best (as a newbie) to gather from the wonderful wealth of knowledge on this board while keeping out of the negative stuff. I have to say though, it's very difficult. I have looked at other boards on many occasions just to see if other lines host such a hot bed of emotions. It doesn't seem like they do (at least for now). I'll def be trying other lines, partially due to the meanness and negativity on the celebrity board. On the bright side, so many have been warm and helpful and I am very appreciative of that.

 

 

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[I-Cruiser]

I cruise on, and monitor the boards of, the same three cruise lines mentioned by the OP and I have to pretty much agree with him/her. It just seems "snarkier" though I think all boards have their share of Grinches.

 

I totally agree and the nastiness is getting worse.

 

Its for that reason cruise groups and roll calls on social media sites are getting more and more popular.

[forceten]

Negativity is at least as contagious as noro. Doing my best (as a newbie) to gather from the wonderful wealth of knowledge on this board while keeping out of the negative stuff. I have to say though, it's very difficult. I have looked at other boards on many occasions just to see if other lines host such a hot bed of emotions. It doesn't seem like they do (at least for now). I'll def be trying other lines, partially due to the meanness and negativity on the celebrity board. On the bright side, so many have been warm and helpful and I am very appreciative of that.

 

 

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I bet what we see on the boards will not be what we see onboard in june on the summit :D No need to jump off of X until we see for ourselves how things are. Just my opinion. I'm thinking our june cruise is gonna be fantastic with X

[MR_T]

YES! 😁

 

 

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[cavok]

i always try to post balanced reviews.

obviously you always have to take reviews with a grain of salt, but an undeniable increase in negativity on here can't simply be discarded as an online life of its own.

 

i would simply caution about shooting the messengers... it's not the reviewers' faults if they complain about some expectation/observation (which was created by celebrity itself in the past/first place nonetheless).

also, if you market yourself to "discerning" etc... passengers and similar messages you get from their marketing, you shouldn't be surprised if they aren't catering to uncritical fanboys.

 

the ships are great, the crew is great and hard working, the food is great and the whole experience is still 5 star.

but i see it as a battle between corporate and customers... by all accounts they're far away from going broke but are very aggressively trying to improve the bottom line, at the expense of the (repeat) customers experience.

[maxsales]

Negativity is at least as contagious as noro. Doing my best (as a newbie) to gather from the wonderful wealth of knowledge on this board while keeping out of the negative stuff. I have to say though, it's very difficult. I have looked at other boards on many occasions just to see if other lines host such a hot bed of emotions. It doesn't seem like they do (at least for now). I'll def be trying other lines, partially due to the meanness and negativity on the celebrity board. On the bright side, so many have been warm and helpful and I am very appreciative of that.

 

 

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I would not be too quick to abandon ship. We have never seen the negativity on the ships, just on these boards.

 

We have sailed most of the major lines and to us celebrity really delivers more for the dollars invested.

[maxsales]

i always try to post balanced reviews.

obviously you always have to take reviews with a grain of salt, but an undeniable increase in negativity on here can't simply be discarded as an online life of its own.

 

i would simply caution about shooting the messengers... it's not the reviewers' faults if they complain about some expectation/observation (which was created by celebrity itself in the past/first place nonetheless).

also, if you market yourself to "discerning" etc... passengers and similar messages you get from their marketing, you shouldn't be surprised if they aren't catering to uncritical fanboys.

 

the ships are great, the crew is great and hard working, the food is great and the whole experience is still 5 star.

but i see it as a battle between corporate and customers... by all accounts they're far away from going broke but are very aggressively trying to improve the bottom line, at the expense of the (repeat) customers experience.

 

Sorry I just don't see it. My last celebrity cruise in February was better then my first celebrity cruise years ago. Food was much better then the Jacques van staden days in our opinion.

 

I think celebrity is trying to broaden their appeal but it does not appear to be at the expense of their existing client base

[Iamcruzin]

I monitor the Princess and Celebrity boards and sometimes I forget which board I'm on because the complaints which come mostly from elites on both boards are the same. The elite perks are watered down because there were too many elites on my sailing, they don't have ballroom dancing, the string quartet is gone, music is too loud, and we didn't get or upgraded perks for sailing in a suite that aren't as good as they used to be and on and on and on. Then God for bid you suggest a different opinion. On the Princess board the are arguing over the definition of the word bigot and here they are arguing over the word disaster.

 

 

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[Veronda817]

As a very "half full" kind of person, I mostly skip the threads that are clearly complaints, and I read the posts with a grain of salt. I can usually see through the nitpickers, and I don't let them ruin what I see. They're the kind of people who I assume don't enjoy much in life and I'm not even certain why they bother to try to have fun. Last summer Millennium broke down while I was on it, a reason for complaint, of course. But we loved the experience so much--despite never making it to four ports--that we're about to get back on her for a 14-night cruise with just three port days. Some people complain that Millie is outdated, whereas I'm young and feel most areas are quite understated modern. I recently took my friend and her daughter on a Carnival cruise because it was inexpensive and an easy port to get to (there are not many from NC), and that ship was terribly outdated and not nearly my Celebrity experience, but I still enjoyed every moment. I would rather spend my time celebrating the good than lamenting the bad. :o

[chamima]

I think in the last year or so I have seen more nastiness on these boards than ever before. I am not sure why. Sometimes it is as simple as people having too thin a skin, sometimes comments were likely not meant to be as harsh as they sound, but then sometimes they are just plain nasty. One thing I personally find offensive is all the lecturing that goes on. If I don't like something, please don't make assumptions about me or how I feel or think. If I don't like a change, please don't lecture me that I don't like change, I only like things how they used to be, the good old days were not so good, or whatever. If I post my opinion respectfully, then please also respect my feelings as valid for me, whether or not you agree with them, and don't assume to know what is in my heart. You are welcome to post alternate opinions and I have an obligation to give you the same courtesy.

 

I do think that issue is separate than the issue of a lot of complaining. Celebrity has in fact been making a lot of changes in the past year. Like all changes, some are good and some are not so good. Overall the Celebrity experience is still a good one, and I remain a fan after more than 20 years and over 25 cruises (yes I am one of THEM:)). That said, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that overall there has been a decline in service and quality of product in many categories (like food). Yes, there may in fact be sound business reasons for some of these changes....and then again maybe not. There are many ways to address changing demographics and the changing economy. Just because a CEO chooses a particular way doesn't necessarily mean he/she is always right. Heaven knows we have seen enough evidence of that in the business world the past few years:eek:.

 

Yes, a missing ice bucket is a small point. But as an example (and this comes to mind as we were actually speaking of it at lunch today) - my elderly aunt who cruised with us recently asked her room steward multiple times to leave a pitcher of water in her room for ease of taking her medications. Over and over she asked - it never came. When we mentioned the cruise, that is the first thing she thought of (not that she didn't enjoy the cruise overall). Perfect evidence that the old saying of 'the little things mean alot' is very true. Newer cruisers will have to take my word for it (or not, as you wish) that in the 'olden days' one request would have been enough. Is that a big deal in and of itself? Of course not. But it indicates a trend and that is why things like that come up over and over in recent posts.

 

It is also frustrating to be a customer for many, many years, and have the company CEO be blatant about wanting to cater to the "1%", in ways that many of us feel take away something from the experience of the 99%, who are in fact the majority of those onboard and always will be due to the configuration of rooms. Let's please not debate that statement in this thread; I think it is fair to say many feel this way whether you agree with them or not. The blatant focus on the upper end clients can also feel like a proverbial slap in the face to the loyal mainstream cruisers, without whose loyalty the cruise line would not still be in existence! Honestly I think this is the big point that is making so many people so frustrated with Celebrity as of late. IMHO that is really at the heart of a lot of the Captains Club frustration - most of the folks I reference (myself included) fit into or close to the Elite+ category and were quite disappointed that so little attention was given to that level - instead the real new perks went to the only-achievable-by-rich-people Zenith level. It's the principle of the thing.

 

People also need to understand that Celebrity is a line that consistently provided a certain type of product for many, many, many years. The primary changes until now were simply geographic (i.e., adding larger ships). Suddenly it is changing in literally a hundred ways, big and small. When you have cruised a line for many years and particularly enjoyed certain aspects of that line, it is frustrating when what you enjoyed is now gone or lessened. After 20-25 years of virtual sameness that much change in so short a time can be difficult to deal with.

 

I cruise on, and monitor the boards of, the same three cruise lines mentioned by the OP and I have to pretty much agree with him/her. It just seems "snarkier" though I think all boards have their share of Grinches.

 

 

 

I agree!

[wallie5446]

Many Cruise Critic members end up sailing together and the vale of the internet goes away. The personal 'he said, I'm right, your wrong' (TRASH talk as they call it in sports) does not happen on ship because there is no where for the trash talker to hide from the glares of the rest of the passengers.

 

Yes there is a bit of conversation about this or that between roll call members, but in over 10 years of posting on a roll call, then meeting others on ship, we have never experienced what goes on here, EVER.

 

IMHO, which won't get you anything anywhere:D, until Cruise Critic does away with the 'hide behind the screen name' design on the site, and joins FB and Twitter, and takes away the vale of the internet, this type of behavior will continue. Then we can complain about the decisions of the CEO here too.:rolleyes:

 

Now don't tell me that it will comprise safety. When you have your mail held, the morning paper not delivered, ect, the cust svc rep tells their cousin that is out on bail about it:eek:

[wf083145]

I used to agree with the OP about constant complaints about almost anything possible. Then I looked at the Regent Seven Sea boards. What a group!

 

Constant complaints about poor food and service. Everything is worse then it used to be.

 

Numerous threads outlining why an OP is entitled to special perks.

 

Even worse were the vicious responses to posters who made negative comments. On the =X= boards people only get flamed. On Regent's boards they nuke them. After all, what reasonable person would complain about having brown water in their sink, toilet or bath? It happens all the time and it's harmless. Seriously?

 

On a positive note, reading their board eliminated any desire to cruise with RSSC. Saved money.

 

Yes, we seem to complain a lot but I'll take =X= any day over RSSC because of their attitude. Don't want to be with those folks.

[NLH Arizona]

Here is a prime example of the rudeness on here lately. A poster was upset about trivia and in her long post, she asked that Celebrity reconsider. I simply ask her some questions with regard to what she wanted Celebrity to reconsider and if there was trivia on her cruise, if Celebrity was cutting back on trivia on all cruises and if she would be opposed to one trivia being cut for another activity that others would like. Well, I guess another poster doesn't feel that anyone can ask questions or have another opinion. His coments is below my post. Thank goodness passengers on the ship are totally different.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by NLH Arizona

What do you want them to reconsider? Was there not trivia on your last cruise? Do you know that they are going to cut back on trivia on all cruises? Would you be opposed to it, if they did cut back a game of trivia (still keeping one or more games of trivia) so that they could add another type of activitiy that others might like, because after all if 100 people show up for a game of trivia, there are still 2,000+ others that didn't?

 

 

This was the other posters response to my post: Gee you got ALL the answers

Edited April 21, 2014 by NLH Arizona

[happygran]

First off........we love Celebrity BUT we do sail other lines......look at the itinerary etc...

 

I can understand Celebrity changing to attract new cruisers (as long as it doesn't change too much!) and can understand the cutbacks etc. We've thoroughly enjoyed all our cruises..OK we got one egg instead of two for our room service breakfast....did it matter? No.........where it matters, Celebrity is the best of the main stream lines (in our opinion).

 

What really gets me.............is the nastiness ......personal........on this board. It's playground behaviour............