Oh Celebrity, what are you doing?

[DYKWIA]

They weren't charging for Art Auctions on the Eclipse in September. I wandered in out of curiosity... then wandered out again

[English Tim]

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:

 

Fortunately for us, we mostly cruise Regent, Seabourn and Azamara.:)

[English Tim]

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:

 

Not charging, but as you say, luring people in.

 

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

 

There needs to be a diverse entertainment and activity programme, but with just three staff for 2800 pax, what chance do they have?

[English Tim]

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.

 

I loved the Martini bar, but my waistline didn't!

[English Tim]

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

 

My wife was disappointed there was no choir, nor could she get any Mahjong players.

[DYKWIA]

We thought the entertainment on the Western Med cruise on the Eclipse was better this year than last.

 

4 entertainment staff c.w. I think only 2 last year

2 Guest speakers c.w. 1 last year

I think there was one more musical group on board this year but the resident band I think played less (certainly less around the pool)

 

The DJ had a higher profile this year than last IMO, but he wasn't playing anything I would have thought was remotely Miami Club inspired - mainly 80s 90s and bit from noughties.

[uktog]

My wife was disappointed there was no choir, nor could she get any Mahjong players.

 

I have only been on one Celebrity cruise that had a choir- and it was poorly attended so it's not a guarantee

 

I was not aware it was the cruise lines obligation to ensure a supply of mahjong players.

 

I recall you posted negatively about extras and costs on Azamara so this sort of thing does bother you. Yes on my last Celebrity cruise there were the sorts of items you list charged for, it did not bother me. I did not participate. I take my own entertainment (books and music) and love the free time to enjoy. I don't expect Celebrity to entertain me 24x7.

[LabGuy64]

Guessing the fault there to be hers...our roll call has many people doing nothing but talking mahjong...she should have started there....but of course that had nothing to do with Celebrity.

 

 

My wife was disappointed there was no choir, nor could she get any Mahjong players.

[wallie5446]

My wife was disappointed there was no choir, nor could she get any Mahjong players.

 

We like Peenuckle, but no one else wanted to split 2 decks to play. Feel your pain and disappointment.

And when I tried to sing, everyone ran away. That really hurt cause I think I sound like John Lenon, or George Harrison. Celebrity should have had staff to support me, just like they should have supported your wife. How rude.

[neverbeenhere]

I've heard you sing and you sing like Andrew Dice Clay singing Right Said Fred's "I'm too sexy".

[kitty9]

I posted this before, after our Equinox cruise, that a vast majority of the "activities" in the daily paper were either extra pay or activities that had a monetary component, i.e. things that could make money for Celebrity. These things included guess the carat weight that gets people in the jewelry stores, anti aging seminars and Botox talks that bring people into the spa, art auctions, wine tastings and wine flights. And that's just a small sample of activities that have some sort of monetary component.

 

The other thing was that it was obvious Celebrity cut the number of entertainment from four or five to two. That meant less free activities like trivia and name that tune.

[English Tim]

I have only been on one Celebrity cruise that had a choir- and it was poorly attended so it's not a guarantee

 

I was not aware it was the cruise lines obligation to ensure a supply of mahjong players.

 

I recall you posted negatively about extras and costs on Azamara so this sort of thing does bother you. Yes on my last Celebrity cruise there were the sorts of items you list charged for, it did not bother me. I did not participate. I take my own entertainment (books and music) and love the free time to enjoy. I don't expect Celebrity to entertain me 24x7.

 

As Bamber Gascoigne frequently said, "well remembered" (UK's University Challenge for our American friends).

 

Back in the 1990's cruise lines provided extensive entertainment programmes and whilst I wouldn't expect smaller ships to do this, I would with the mega ships. I think 3 entertainment staff for 3000 pax is paltry.

 

Azamara promoted al inclusive, in error, so there were many extras, which we expected would be included. It shouldn't be forgotten that we pay a premium for cruising, as opposed to a 4 star hotel based holiday, so we must expect more.

 

As for 24/7, surely our partners would entertain us some of the time! ;)

 

I believe when paying about £200 pppd, we should expect much to be included, not being inundated with upselling.

[kevinyork]

We are not really ones that need to be entertained and Eclipse is our favourite ship however having recently been on Anthem we couldn't believe the amount of activities and entertainment in comparison to Celebrity. X must make a fair saving in terms of entertainment.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[English Tim]

Guessing the fault there to be hers...our roll call has many people doing nothing but talking mahjong...she should have started there....but of course that had nothing to do with Celebrity.

 

I wasn't blaming Celebrity, but why let that get in the way of having a dig?

[Suzy Smith]

My wife was disappointed there was no choir, nor could she get any Mahjong players.

 

Sorry to hear that your wife was disappointed about the choir. We have joined the passenger choir on several sailings and found it a fun activity and a great way to make friends, but it is dependent on having a staff member who is willing to take it on. We were on the Eclipse sailing which returned on 13 September, and we had about sixty folks in the choir. The choirmaster was one of the soloists from the production shows, but by the end of our cruise, the theatre was being made ready for new shows and all of the cast had only a few days to go until the end of their contracts. Presumably X do not have anyone among the new cast who is willing to organise a choir.

 

Like many Brits, we regard Med and Canaries cruises from Southampton as just a bit of R & R in the sun on a floating hotel. We never take any long-distance excursions as we just want to relax and have fun, so we like to have a good selection of on-board entertainment. The entertainment on our cruise was OK, but there was not really enough for a cruise that included six sea days and the quality of some of the acts left something to be desired. A Beatles tribute act which included one singer who could not actually hit the notes was especially memorable!:eek: My theory is that X think if they gives us unlimited alcohol in the form of a drinks package, we will not notice the reduction in entertainment!;)

[Atreidai]

This does put me in mind of my upcoming cruise! I am NOT an experienced cruiser, this one upcoming will be my first, but I read a great deal on this site and others, and on the Celebrity site itself.

 

We are most upset that they have decided to do away with the SS United States restaurant on the Infinity while she is in dry dock, and replace it with a Tuscan Grill. As I have said in another post, the dining experience at SS United States was one of the major factors in our choosing that sailing on that ship (not not the ENTIRE reason but a substantial one!) It was not made known until the 8th of this month that this change was going to be implemented, and by that time all of our travel arrangements had been set and nothing was to be done.

 

It is the lack of communication on Celebrity's side of things that boggles my mind. In order to plan well and budget for a cruise I imagine most folks, like ourselves, had to begin planning rather a long way off, saving money buying tickets, making deposits etc, so that it could all come together in the end. All of the waiting and intervening time is usually spent "investing" in that delayed gratification. Then to have it come time to depart and realize that this trip would not be what you had hoped and planned it to be, that is quite a blow.

 

I know a little bit about project management (as a Project Coordinator by trade I am surrounded by them) and while I am sure that even in a cruise line the plans are not finalized until rather "late in the day" there MUST surely have been some discussion regarding this entertainment changeover, or the removal of the restaurant in my case, and to not share that with the folks whose well earned vacation time is being spent to enjoy it, seems a tad negligent really!

 

If I had known that there was to be a restaurant change I could have changed my booking to another ship very readily, but by the time I was informed there were no options, I was stuck. That is what really bothers me, that I was left with no options at all, and I can see the same situation with the entertainment.

 

Cheers,

 

Derek

[English Tim]

Sorry to hear that your wife was disappointed about the choir. We have joined the passenger choir on several sailings and found it a fun activity and a great way to make friends, but it is dependent on having a staff member who is willing to take it on. We were on the Eclipse sailing which returned on 13 September, and we had about sixty folks in the choir. The choirmaster was one of the soloists from the production shows, but by the end of our cruise, the theatre was being made ready for new shows and all of the cast had only a few days to go until the end of their contracts. Presumably X do not have anyone among the new cast who is willing to organise a choir.

 

Like many Brits, we regard Med and Canaries cruises from Southampton as just a bit of R & R in the sun on a floating hotel. We never take any long-distance excursions as we just want to relax and have fun, so we like to have a good selection of on-board entertainment. The entertainment on our cruise was OK, but there was not really enough for a cruise that included six sea days and the quality of some of the acts left something to be desired. A Beatles tribute act which included one singer who could not actually hit the notes was especially memorable!:eek: My theory is that X think if they gives us unlimited alcohol in the form of a drinks package, we will not notice the reduction in entertainment!;)

 

My wife joined a choir on another ship and they all had a fantastic time, but as you say it depends on a willing person to take it on. I think we were unfortunate that the dancers / musicians left as we arrived.

 

Clearly X had planned very well as much of the entertainment was geared for the US market.

 

We had a young comedian, who didn't go down at all well. He was a charming young man, fresh from university. I spoke at length with him out on deck, He knew nothing about entertaining big audiences and was pretty worried. X hadn't auditioned him, then after many complains, public criticised him for use of swear words and references to sex.

[English Tim]

This does put me in mind of my upcoming cruise! I am NOT an experienced cruiser, this one upcoming will be my first, but I read a great deal on this site and others, and on the Celebrity site itself.

 

We are most upset that they have decided to do away with the SS United States restaurant on the Infinity while she is in dry dock, and replace it with a Tuscan Grill. As I have said in another post, the dining experience at SS United States was one of the major factors in our choosing that sailing on that ship (not not the ENTIRE reason but a substantial one!) It was not made known until the 8th of this month that this change was going to be implemented, and by that time all of our travel arrangements had been set and nothing was to be done.

 

It is the lack of communication on Celebrity's side of things that boggles my mind. In order to plan well and budget for a cruise I imagine most folks, like ourselves, had to begin planning rather a long way off, saving money buying tickets, making deposits etc, so that it could all come together in the end. All of the waiting and intervening time is usually spent "investing" in that delayed gratification. Then to have it come time to depart and realize that this trip would not be what you had hoped and planned it to be, that is quite a blow.

 

I know a little bit about project management (as a Project Coordinator by trade I am surrounded by them) and while I am sure that even in a cruise line the plans are not finalized until rather "late in the day" there MUST surely have been some discussion regarding this entertainment changeover, or the removal of the restaurant in my case, and to not share that with the folks whose well earned vacation time is being spent to enjoy it, seems a tad negligent really!

 

If I had known that there was to be a restaurant change I could have changed my booking to another ship very readily, but by the time I was informed there were no options, I was stuck. That is what really bothers me, that I was left with no options at all, and I can see the same situation with the entertainment.

 

Cheers,

 

Derek

 

Sorry to hear this, Derek, but I am sure you will have a wonderful cruise. We always travel with an open mind and we have never had a bad cruise. However, if no-one complains when things aren't right the cruiselines will assume everyone is happy.

[bar_20]

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.

 

Celebrity is not an upscale cruiseline. Their decisions are made based on monetary reasons rather than customer service. What was free 20 years ago are no longer free or have been eliminated. Now almost everything on the ship is designed to extract money from you. This is not just Celebrity but every major cruiseline does it. I have never taken a cruise on an upscale line so I don't know if they do it as well. But there will probably be a time when I am no longer attracted to Celebrity because of cutbacks and extra cost expenditures.

[Atreidai]

Thank you for the well wished EnglishTim! I am sure we will have a good time, but it seems to be a trend that I am reading about here on the forums that Celebrity is not particularly interested in caring about your experience once they have your money! And my the sounds of it can't wait to part you from as much more of it as they can while you are in their charge.

 

I do not decry the right of an enterprise to make money, or attempt to make money. And we as passengers are a captive audience that should be forewarned and forearmed regarding that possibility while we are onboard. I am in agreement that if you would like to abstain from the process you may, either by electing not to cruise, or by not attending the "optional" situations where you are going to be facing with outstretched hands wanting more of your vacation budget.

 

But in situations such as ours it seems a bit puzzling, no warning that there is going to be a major change/disruption to your plans. One needn't be a "big Data" wizard to put two an two together, Brits travelling late in the year to a sunny destination with a great many sea days are looking for a little entertainment, it would be best to keep the older shows humming long and do the changeover on a different sailing!

 

Cheers,

 

Derek

[DYKWIA]

A Beatles tribute act which included one singer who could not actually hit the notes was especially memorable!

 

Yes he wasn't very good. George Harrison looked like a young Eric Burdon, and Ringo looked like Phil Neville - seen better tribute acts down the pub

[LA_Design]

I enjoy a bit of comedy. Usually this is provided foc by some of the louder guests at queues in the Buffet in the morning or in the seating area outside. It can also be experienced by sitting at the pool bar. My friend from Canadia even got me to sit with him adjacent to Guest Relations when a particularly loud person from his neighbouring country was sounding off on the tender back to the ship that he was going " to sort out the mess at customer services "

 

Priceless but free [emoji41]

Edited October 21, 2015 by LA_Design

[ISABELLA]

X shouldn't let Perry go. When he was on board - I didn't care who else was performing....Just my 2 cents

[DYKWIA]

X shouldn't let Perry go. When he was on board - I didn't care who else was performing....Just my 2 cents

 

Too late, he's long gone

[bar_20]

Why give $50 pp credit which is $100k based on 2000 passengers or take a few hits on a cruiseline message board. They chose the latter.