Oh Celebrity, what are you doing?

[English Tim]

Just returned from Eclipse Canaries cruise, lasting 13 days.

 

As usual service was of a very high standard, but the prices for the extras were so high and there was constant pressure selling. Many activities were at extra cost and the internet prices horrific.

 

The entertainment was extremely poor and disorganised.

 

The Captain and CD proudly boasted of how the ship was cruise ship of the year. It won't be next time.

 

Just read the recent reviews and you'll see I'm not alone in my thoughts.

 

:(:(:(:(

[Fouremco]

the prices for the extras were so high and there was constant pressure selling. Many activities were at extra cost and the internet prices horrific.

Disappointing to hear. Can you elaborate? For example, what activities or types of activities are they charging for now that were free in the past?

[wallie5446]

 

Just read the recent reviews and you'll see I'm not alone in my thoughts.

 

:(:(:(:(

 

Where on the Internet do we find these reviews? The ones here on CC do not bear this out.

Member Reviews

87% Loved It

972 Reviews

 

This is from the Review section here on CC.

[ShakeDaddy]

There comes a time when peoples expectations exceed reality. Time to set sail and move on.

 

Unfortunately your future cruising days will unlikely improve with lines like Carnival, P&O and Costa. :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Edited October 20, 2015 by ShakeDaddy

[yorkyred]

Where on the Internet do we find these reviews? The ones here on CC do not bear this out.

Member Reviews

87% Loved It

972 Reviews

 

This is from the Review section here on CC.

 

The reviews on another site are mixed and I think this may have been one of those cruises where they lost all the big productions due to the changeover to the new shows, this from one review.

 

"

Firstly, the entertainment was poor both during the day and in the evening. Daytime they had quizzes, with watercolours and golf on sea days and one or two games occasionally. Nearly all the daily programme was taken up with selling seminars and the like. There was no bridge class, no church service, no choir, and no cooking classes. And with 3,000 passengers and six sea days.

The evening - well – Celebrity decided not to give us any major productions/ shows (we got one) and they did not tell us at the time of booking nor before we got on the ship. Instead they got in second rate people. They knew we were not getting any lavish productions but wouldn’t get in 1st class acts to compensate. Because rehearsals were going on in the theatre, this meant that lectures and other events were restricted to smaller rooms and they obviously cancelled some lectures. There were few proper destination lectures. "

 

In my view and given the big production shows are an important part of a cruise for many I do think Celebrity should have informed people in advance, it's not as if this was not planned a good year in advance.

[yorkyred]

Just to add having taken a look. Eight of the last eleven reviews on here only get three stars, that's unusual.

[Gordoncruickshank]

We were on the same cruise and the entertainment was not wonderful but, the Eclipse is going through the changes to the new entertainment program just now and the first of the new shows was performed on the last formal night and it was very good. The lack of the main production shows made the entertainment seem worse but it is temporary and in a couple of weeks the new productions should be bedded down.

[LA_Design]

Will be on the boat in January for a fortnight.

 

I sincerely hope the Martini Bar is functioning well and there is a good supply of Clamato Juice, NZ SauvBlanc & Tanquerary 10.

 

Is CellarMasters still functioning - last year rumours were it was to be replaced by some Sports Bar or the like.

[gek]

The CC review system is flawed because it does not cover a representative sample of passengers. Most of the time, you get a bunch of good reviews and a few bad ones. If something goes wrong, no matter how minor you get a flurry of bad reviews even if the vast majority of passengers were perfectly happy.

 

There is no situation that will ever result in a spike in good reviews (unless a cruise company is gaming the system) but negative spikes can be generated by a very small percentage of cruisers.

[chemmo]

What a shame out of all the cruises Eclipse has done this year they choose the one least port intensive to change the entertainment. I have seen Med cruises where entertainment in the evening is almost not needed because everyone is exhausted from all those port stops with must see sights!

 

This cruise has a high proportion of Brits looking for a last bit of summer sun, some nice dining and pleasant entertainment. Most of the passengers will have visited the Canary Islands at least once before and maybe will not even bother with excursions.

 

I know this is a temporary issue and I am sure most passengers did make the most of their cruise but I do feel sorry for those on board whose expectations were not met.

 

Prices each year tend to remain quite high for this itinerary and it does book up as it is almost the last cruise to the sun from the UK. So an out of season reason really is not good enough.

 

i know changes have to be made but why not let the passengers know before they commit to the cruise that there could be some reduction in quality to their experience?

[wendychloecruiser]

I am generally a Celebrity cheerleader. However, we were on the Eclipse ending Sept 15 and were advised that due to the aforementioned changeover of entertainment the three subsequent cruises were to be significantly affected in this area. That's all well and good to tell us but we were wondering whether upcoming pax were warned. Obviously not.

[yorkyred]

I am generally a Celebrity cheerleader. However, we were on the Eclipse ending Sept 15 and were advised that due to the aforementioned changeover of entertainment the three subsequent cruises were to be significantly affected in this area. That's all well and good to tell us but we were wondering whether upcoming pax were warned. Obviously not.

 

And that's the rub, yes changes needed to be made but communication for those already booked who are not at final payment or those thinking of booking ? Let's be honest the big productions are pushed in all the promotions, on the website, in the brochures. At least give people the option before they book or pay that final big amount of money. To me its no different than closing all the speciality restaurants or all the pools for a cruise, I want to know what I'm getting if it's known that far in advance.

Edited October 20, 2015 by yorkyred

[phoenix_dream]

For some people, the entertainment can be a big component of their enjoyment of the cruise, particularly on a cruise with a lot of days at sea. IMHO to just virtually eliminate a good portion of it because better is coming is inappropriate. It doesn't do the current cruisers any good to know that someone sailing in a couple of weeks will have the nice, new entertainment! Poor timing, poor communication, and poor customer service. Did the cruisers on this sailing get a discount because part of the services normally provided were not available? We all know the answer to that. At the very least, perhaps they could have given passengers a discount on a specialty restaurant or a little OBC (even $50 pp) to acknowledge that they were not delivering all that is advertised.

[excitedofharpenden]

I'm sure there will be some asking for compensation.

 

Phil

[Gordoncruickshank]

This cruise has a high proportion of Brits looking for a last bit of summer sun, some nice dining and pleasant entertainment. Most of the passengers will have visited the Canary Islands at least once before and maybe will not even bother with excursions.

?

 

There were 2600 out of 2850 on the cruise from the UK.

[DYKWIA]

What a shame out of all the cruises Eclipse has done this year they choose the one least port intensive to change the entertainment. I have seen Med cruises where entertainment in the evening is almost not needed because everyone is exhausted from all those port stops with must see sights!

 

....

 

The Eclipse has a lot of sea days on most of its summer itineraries because of where Southampton is in relation to The Canaries, The Western Med and Baltic.

 

Western Med itinerary has 6 sea days out of 14, Baltic about 5

[English Tim]

Where on the Internet do we find these reviews? The ones here on CC do not bear this out.

Member Reviews

87% Loved It

972 Reviews

 

This is from the Review section here on CC.

 

The top few

 

Maybe this was an exception, but I doubt it.

[upwarduk]

No passenger choir?

Every time we saw Sue Denning she was 'pushing' the passenger choir.

I wonder what has happened to the pianist of the Celebrity band, as he led it.

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4ubZxgBMtr5Q0VxeTl1cUVEREU

Edited October 20, 2015 by upwarduk

[English Tim]

Disappointing to hear. Can you elaborate? For example, what activities or types of activities are they charging for now that were free in the past?

 

Most exercise classes, art auctions, wine tasting, ship visits, spa specials, spa seminars (leading to sales promotions), shopping specials, to name but a few.

 

I rarely complain about cruising as its a privilege, but Celebrity seem to be on the make.

[perditax]

Most exercise classes, art auctions, wine tasting, ship visits, spa specials, spa seminars (leading to sales promotions), shopping specials, to name but a few.

 

I rarely complain about cruising as its a privilege, but Celebrity seem to be on the make.

 

Sorry, but are you saying they are charging some sort of entry fee for the stuff I bolded? Or do you just mean these were all opportunities to spend money?

 

I'm still new to cruising but surely art auctions have been going on forever? Unless you're saying there's now a cost just to get in the door.

[drinkspackageexpert]

Just returned from Eclipse Canaries cruise, lasting 13 days.

 

As usual service was of a very high standard, but the prices for the extras were so high and there was constant pressure selling. Many activities were at extra cost and the internet prices horrific.

 

The entertainment was extremely poor and disorganised.

 

The Captain and CD proudly boasted of how the ship was cruise ship of the year. It won't be next time.

 

Just read the recent reviews and you'll see I'm not alone in my thoughts.

 

:(:(:(:(

 

Did you get back to port today?? Only curious because we are on the next cruise, but it doesn't leave tomorrow and no ship is in port..lol

[LA_Design]

There were 2600 out of 2850 on the cruise from the UK.

 

 

pleased i wasn't on that boat trip [emoji33]

 

All them Brits would do my head in -and I have lived in UK all my life [emoji41]

 

Bet there wasn't a decent footballer or cricketer amongst the 2.6K[emoji12]

[maggie.1008]

I saw 2 of the new shows on the Solstice last month. I did not care for either one. The Rock Show was so loud and the singers were not that good. We walked out for the first time in 25 Celebrity cruises.

[wallie5446]

Most exercise classes, art auctions, wine tasting, ship visits, spa specials, spa seminars (leading to sales promotions), shopping specials, to name but a few.

 

I rarely complain about cruising as its a privilege, but Celebrity seem to be on the make.

 

They were charging people to get into the art auction, and go to the $10 t-shirt and watch sale, and the Capt Club wine tasting? :confused:

[yorkyred]

They were charging people to get into the art auction, and go to the $10 t-shirt and watch sale, and the Capt Club wine tasting? :confused:

 

They were charging for an Art auction, most cruise lines try and bribe you with a drink just to get people in.