Celebrity Experience - Unempathetic Corporate Office

[jagoffee]

I am not sure how it happened. When I checked in online, my account showed Elite status. When I checked it at the terminal, it showed Select status. Our cabin steward left the coupons & activity sheet, but they were for Select. I wanted to know what and where the Elite activities are.

 

My point of adding this in my complaint was for "coaching" opportunity. But as FishLover made a very good point, by doing so my MAIN complaint was lost in the message.

 

Customer service is a dying thing in today's world. When I submit coaching opportunity there are people who see it as a complaint rather than feedback.

 

Personally, if I did something wrong, I would like someone to let me know.

 

Very frustrating to not be able to open your cabin door. I have had cards stop working and replaced, but not continuously. I just figured I demagnetized the card somehow. As described by you the door situation is inexcusable. Did the card seem to work for a while?

 

Just in case you ever cruise on Celebrity again your CC status should be on the boarding pass that you printed when you checked in on line. (I assume you are Diamond on RCL and obviously you had some kind of status that was transferred). I assume you were not in a balcony cabin? Perhaps the staff meant to say Aqua Class, Conceirge Class, or suites were to board first?

 

The sheet with the list of Elite activities is very strange. I wonder if someone thought you were asking for another sheet of coupons?

 

Probably does not make you feel any better, but I have never had the kind of bad experience that you did. You might be pleasantly surprised if you tried Celebrity again, but I can understand why you would not.

 

Good luck on your next cruise.

Edited August 22, 2016 by jagoffee

[lifeasme123]

To the OP, here are my thoughts.

 

The Elite Status problems seem to be a result of your status showing up as Select when your reservation was booked. I'm not sure if you booked the cruise yourself or used a TA but it would have been good to confirm at the time of booking (and on the X website) that your Elite status showed up. Some of the things you say you did not get (Priority Boarding, List of Elite Activities, Elite Internet, etc) would have been automatic if your status has properly shown up as Elite. Should you decide to cruise Celebrity again, be sure your Elite Status shows up on your profile.

 

The door issue, while regretable seems like just one of those things. You had a problem, they fixed it. It broke again, they fixed it. So many things can cause your door key to stop working (iPads, magnetic field, etc) that on a 7 day cruise we normally find our keys stop working at least once. For them to automatically assume it was a more serious issue was understandable but agree that it was a pain to you.

 

Ultimately the decision to cruise Celebrity is your choice. When I receive what I believe to be poor service I take my business where I believe it belongs. That said I'm not sure the issues you mention would prevent me from cruising Celebrity unless the other aspects (food, ship, service) were also below what you get on other cruiselines.

 

As I originally posted, the Elite status was there when I checked online at X website. But this is not a big deal like the door.

 

No the door was not fixed for the first 3 days. EVERYTIME I needed to get into my room I had to get the cabin steward or someone from Guest Services. This is and was unacceptable. We sailed Friday. The reader was replaced on Tuesday. On Thursday it broke entirely - even the cabin steward's key card did not work.

 

Guest Services printed many key cards but none of them worked. As engineers, my husband and I strongly believed the reader in the door did not work properly, and told that to the ship. It is not possible 100% of the key cards given to us by Guest Services are defective.

 

Just to be clear: When I need to get into my cabin, if the cabin steward was not there to let me in, I had to go to Guest Services to get a key. This is everytime. There were times when I got the key, went directly to my cabin, put the key (I just got) into the reader only for it not work. So back to Guest Services I (and sometimes with my daughter).

 

This is a not simple card got demagnetized (which has happened to us on other cruises and I didn't get bothered by it then).

 

I hope for all the readers who think that this is a "hey it happens" scenario, I hope you feel the same if you ever happen to come upon the same situation.

 

As for you comment about my choice, you are correct. I believe in customer service. I do like RCCL because it fits our need as a couple with a young child. But they are one company. Honestly, we do not really care for the food on either RCCL or Celebrity. We are those passengers who do not gain weight on our cruises. We simply use the ships as floating taxis so we can dive in different ports.

Edited August 22, 2016 by jen70

[lifeasme123]

Very frustrating to not be able to open your cabin door. I have had cards stop working and replaced, but not continuously. I just figured I demagnetized the card somehow. As described by you the door situation is inexcusable. Did the card seem to work for a while?

 

Just in case you ever cruise on Celebrity again your CC status should be on the boarding pass that you printed when you checked in on line. (I assume you are Diamond on RCL and obviously you had some kind of status that was transferred). I assume you were not in a balcony cabin? Perhaps the staff meant to say Aqua Class, Conceirge Class, or suites were to board first?

 

The sheet with the list of Elite activities is very strange. I wonder if someone thought you were asking for another sheet of coupons?

 

Probably does not make you feel any better, but I have never had the kind of bad experience that you did. You might be pleasantly surprised if you tried Celebrity again, but I can understand why you would not.

 

Good luck on your next cruise.

 

My card first few times on the first day of the cruise, then it stopped. I thought it was demagnetized - so no biggie. But when all subsequent "new" key cards did not work, then we suspected it was the door. Guest servcies called maintenance who used their card and said it worked. From Fri-Tues, all cards worked except the passengers (mine and my daughter). Then on Thursday the reader couldn't read any card including the cabin stewards.

 

You are correct. I am used to RCCL lingo. On Celebrity it's the different class. And yes, they were boarded first. My DH had this crazy thought in his head that Alaska never gets over 50 degrees - so he didn't want a cabin with a balcony (or whatever it's called on Celebrity).

 

I specifically asked the person at Captain Club if I can have the paper that tells me where the Elite activities are.

 

And thank you for letting me know about the boarding pass! I had it printed out but didn't know the status was on there. I had given the passes to the person at the terminal at that point.

Edited August 22, 2016 by jen70

[NordicPrince]

You deserve to be angry. To not have access to your cabin is totally unacceptable. What a way to make a vacation unpleasant. To me. it is not just "a minor inconvenience".

 

I hope you gave negative ratings on your cruise review cards. These definitely get read and sooner or later crew get called in on it. Get names and put them in the review.

 

If you want to you can blow off more steam and put your review on Cruise Critic for ship reviews. Other people might use this for their education.

 

BTW did you ever ask for a new cabin? Just for my info. It would be unusual if they were totally booked.

 

The only problem I ever had with a cabin on RCL was when the cabin across the hall got totally waterlogged and they had to remove everything from the room and set it up again. We got just a little water under the door. The steward set up a floor fan and it dried out. I was surpised to get a future cruise credit of 25% of my fare for my next RCL cruise.

 

I hope somebody along the way on the ship at least apologized. The guest relations people do have a difficult job keeping everybody as happy as they can. Sounds like they fell a little short here.

 

Hope you have better luck on your next cruise. As the other poster said try an S class ship. They are a lot newer so probably have less mechanical issues.

Edited August 22, 2016 by NordicPrince
correct typos

[lifeasme123]

You deserve to be angry. To not have access to your cabin is totally unacceptable. What a way to make a vacation unpleasant. To me. it is not just "a minor inconvenience".

 

I hope you gave negative ratings on your cruise review cards. These definitely get read and sooner or later crew get called in on it. Get names and put them in the review.

 

If you want to you can blow off more steam and put your review on Cruise Critic for ship reviews. Other people might use this for their education.

 

BTW did you ever ask for a new cabin? Just for my info. It would be unusual if they were totally booked.

 

The only problem I ever had with a cabin on RCL was when the cabin across the hall got totally waterlogged and they had to remove everything from the room and set it up again. We got just a little water under the door. The steward set up a floor fan and it dried out. I was surpised to get a future cruise credit of 25% of my fare for my next RCL cruise.

 

I hope somebody along the way on the ship at least apologized. The guest relations people do have a difficult job keeping everybody as happy as they can. Sounds like they fell a little short here.

 

Hope you have better luck on your next cruise. As the other poster said try an S class ship. They are a lot newer so probably have less mechanical issues.

 

First, thank you for your understanding. I was completely floored by some of the posters telling me things happen, get over it, i'm being petty and that Celebrity should let me go to Princess. If this happens to them, I hope they heed their own advice.

 

having sporadic card key issue is one thing, but to not work continuously for majority of my cruise is unacceptable. I would have liked for Celebrity to offer some kind of credit/voucher to have me try Celebrity ship. But nope. I basically got a call from someone who was not empathetic. One of the posters made a good point about not asking for "compensation". Lesson learned.

 

Second, I did ask for another cabin and was told none was available. I found that hard to believe because they were still selling cabins the week for the cruise.

 

Whenever I had an issue on RCL they always took care of me. I wonder if it is because this is my first sailing with Celebrity and for that reason the do not care. I am struggling with this because RCI fits our needs because of our young daughter. But at the same time I do not want to give them any more business. I am planning a long cruise from CA to Australia next year and they definitely lost that business - 4 cabins.

 

Third, I did give negative reviews via the email survey. At the same time I did write positives about the 1 Guest Service person and our cabin attendant. No responses to date. I will post on cruise critic - ship review as you suggested. I didn't think of that...good idea!!!

 

Fourth, the people who apologized was our cabin steward, the perosn in Guest Services who worked with me on this the entire trip (I simply was getting tired of explaining my situation over and over again, and because she was the only one who cared), and the Housekeeping officer. The latter I didn't find sincere because she saw us a few hours later in the elevator and talked to us like it was the 1st time she met us. I requested to talk with the manager in Guest Services but was told everytime the person was not available.

 

Finally, we generally sail on RCCL. However, for the Alaskan cruise the only RCL ship that sailed NB/SB (rather than round trip) was Radiance of the Seas, which we sailed from HI to Vancouver in May 2015. We wanted to try Celebrity so this was an opportune time. So instead of enjoying the scenery, I got to know the Guest Services staff very well.

Edited August 22, 2016 by jen70

[Lastdance]

Jen70,

I don't think that you have to keep explaining yourself on this board, but I am glad that you learned to stand up to bullies. Just know that sometimes it gives one comfort to work through all the negativity surrounding your experiences with Celebrity. For that, I applaud your determination. You felt this entire situation was necessary to share on CC and you did a great job of explaining it. Don't let this one cruise define who you really are. One thing for sure, customer service is lacking all over the country. We either adapt or choose our battles. Neither one is necessary a great idea. I wish you happiness on your next cruise, along with the knowledge to go forward if this type off situation happens again. I usually take care of things if something goes wrong; however, my DH is always there if I need help. Sometimes it takes another person to stand up and take on the burden!

Edited August 22, 2016 by Lastdance

[lifeasme123]

Jen70,

I don't think that you have to keep explaining yourself on this board, but I am glad that you learned to stand up to bullies. Just know that sometimes it gives one comfort to work through all the negativity surrounding your experiences with Celebrity. For that, I applaud your determination. You felt this entire situation was necessary to share on CC and you did a great job of explaining it. Don't let this one cruise define who you really are. One thing for sure, customer service is lacking all over the country. We either adapt or choose our battles. Neither one is necessary a great idea. I wish you happiness on your next cruise, along with the knowledge to go forward if this type off situation happens again. I usually take care of things if something goes wrong; however, my DH is always there if I need help. Sometimes it takes another person to stand up and take on the burden!

 

Thanks for your kind words. I have no problem standing up for myself. I also know when I am wrong or have a lesson to learn from an experience. I do not see a problem as "it's everyone's fault but mine". In fact it's the opposite. When there is an issue/problem, I would first ask how did I contribute to the problem. If I am the problem and do not fix it, then it will keep repeating.

 

However, in this case, everyone I have told about our experience have said I was too nice and that they would have demanded an officer to swap rooms with me until the matter is resolved. THat I thought was funny.

 

DH has made up his mind. Every problem has a solution. The solution in this case is don't spend anymore money on Celebrity. He's going to take away from CC access because he cannot believe how mean some of the people have been. lol.

 

This was not a minor inconveniences and the fact I paid full price for a cabin that I cannot access freely for majority of the cruise still has been seething.

 

Thanks again for your kind words.

[WpgCruise]

I agree the O.P. has a valid complaint. Their door lock was broken, and the time taken (along with the serious inconvenience) to get it fixed was just not acceptable. Someone on the ship, in the Celebrity team, needed to own the problem and resolve it for the O.P. This was not done.

 

I'm at a loss as to what more the O.P.could have done, and it's disappointing to see so many "Blame the Victim" posts. It would appear the O.P. did everything reasonable to resolve the situation, but due to a systemic problem with Customer Service, Celebrity let her and her family down.

 

The other problems were possibly made worse by what was a major problem that was not resolved.

 

I suspect like most of us the O.P's vacation resources are completely discretionary and they can direct them as they wish. Celebrity and indeed the RCL group may well have lost a good customer, and their lack of concern speaks volumes on the direction the company is intent on perusing.

 

While problems can happen anywhere, how or even if they are resolved speaks to the character of the company. Not good Celebrity, not good at all.

[travelpeon]

As I originally posted, the Elite status was there when I checked online at X website. But this is not a big deal like the door.

 

No the door was not fixed for the first 3 days. EVERYTIME I needed to get into my room I had to get the cabin steward or someone from Guest Services. This is and was unacceptable. We sailed Friday. The reader was replaced on Tuesday. On Thursday it broke entirely - even the cabin steward's key card did not work.

 

Guest Services printed many key cards but none of them worked. As engineers, my husband and I strongly believed the reader in the door did not work properly, and told that to the ship. It is not possible 100% of the key cards given to us by Guest Services are defective.

 

Just to be clear: When I need to get into my cabin, if the cabin steward was not there to let me in, I had to go to Guest Services to get a key. This is everytime. There were times when I got the key, went directly to my cabin, put the key (I just got) into the reader only for it not work. So back to Guest Services I (and sometimes with my daughter).

 

This is a not simple card got demagnetized (which has happened to us on other cruises and I didn't get bothered by it then).

 

I hope for all the readers who think that this is a "hey it happens" scenario, I hope you feel the same if you ever happen to come upon the same situation.

 

It is frustrating when the door won't open. Some of the newer RCCL ships use RFID chip cards with proximity sensor rather than magnetic slot. Just don't punch those cards if you use a lanyard.

 

I had to get my door lock batteries replaced on NCL Epic (right after dry dock). It helped that by trip 3, I made the person who provided me the key swear that if the key did not work that Guest Services would key a new card, hold the card, walk me to the door, and swipe me in multiple times to make sure I got a good key. Trip 4, I believe I took a video on my iphone of the behavior. It took until trip 5 for an escort to happen and Guest Services had maintenance come disassemble the lock twice after 10:30 pm as security was also needed at some point to re-program the lock. I declined their offer of alcohol/strawberries as an apology and asked for a new coffee maker for hot tea if they had one on board since that is what I really wanted. They did not and I was fine with that.

 

Several other cabins experienced key card issues on this cruise and some may have been related to a software update. It is fine to decide a cruise line isn't for you, for whatever reasons, and be glad there are other companies which do fit you better or decide what doesn't fit and how to work around that if needed.

 

OTOH, on my last Celebrity cruise, my partner kept on putting his key next to his smart phone and demagnetizing them. He thought since credit cards are fine right there, magnetic key cards should also be fine. Hotel and cruise magnetic cards have low coercivity to make them easier to encode & less expensive than ATM and Credit cards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card#Magnetic_stripe_coercivity I think we went through three sets until I asked where he was keeping it. I'm sure guest services mentioned something but he might have chalked it up to an urban myth. So there you go - sounds like the same problem, one hit the small percentage of needing a different answer from Guest Services, though both needed an answer from the Engineering standpoint ;)

 

I think you can also bring an old key card from RCCL with your status on it along with the boarding pass with Celebrity reciprocal status. An extra key card comes in handy if there are power saving features which require a key card and you want to get some fresh air going. Of course, with so many cards, I'm sure you were set if that was needed.

 

Perhaps NCL might also be a good fit for your family? MSC also status matches.

Edited August 23, 2016 by travelpeon

[Can'tstopcruising]

We have experienced problems with cabins, especially on the Century class ships. Sometimes they were handled with compassion (even a bottle of wine makes us feel appreciated) and sometimes they were handled poorly (as one of you said, blame the victim). One such time, we had a leak over our bed and the water was coming down over our feet. They did nothing for us and made us feel like 2 cents. I think it all depends on the captain or hotel director. They are not all equal.

[Andy]

Hi Jen70,

 

Sorry to hear of your experience onboard Millennium. I'm not about to get into the "who's right & who's wrong" debate, but I can certainly understand your frustration. I'd be frustrated too, if it took several days for my cabin door to work properly. With that said, I've sailed on Celebrity countless times, and that's simply not the Celebrity we've loved over the years. To be clear, I'm not doubting you... but I am surprised.

 

I'd like to strongly suggest that if anything goes wrong on a future cruise, and you see you aren't getting anywhere with Guest Relations... to immediately ask to speak with the Guest Relations Manager and/or the Hotel Director. Escalating your concerns to higher levels generally offers better success, in a shorter period of time.

 

I sincerely hope you will take some time and reconsider consider giving Celebrity another chance. I realize you may not be feeling it right now, but they are a wonderful cruise line. Why not try one of their Solstice class ships ? They are absolutely beautiful.

 

Wishing you and your family all the best !

[ReneeFLL]

Having leaking pipes and other issues in the cabin are not the same as not being able to get into your cabin imo. You can be out and about enjoying your cruise while the issues are being fixed. If you can’t get into your cabin you are wasting your time running back and forth to guest services. I would be very upset also. Sorry this happened to you.

[WpgCruise]

Hi Jen70,

I'd like to strongly suggest that if anything goes wrong on a future cruise, and you see you aren't getting anywhere with Guest Relations... to immediately ask to speak with the Guest Relations Manager and/or the Hotel Director. Escalating your concerns to higher levels generally offers better success, in a shorter period of time.

 

See post #17 above.

 

The O.P. did ask to speak with the Guest Services Manager

 

Her request was denied.

[lifeasme123]

I agree the O.P. has a valid complaint. Their door lock was broken, and the time taken (along with the serious inconvenience) to get it fixed was just not acceptable. Someone on the ship, in the Celebrity team, needed to own the problem and resolve it for the O.P. This was not done.

 

I'm at a loss as to what more the O.P.could have done, and it's disappointing to see so many "Blame the Victim" posts. It would appear the O.P. did everything reasonable to resolve the situation, but due to a systemic problem with Customer Service, Celebrity let her and her family down.

 

The other problems were possibly made worse by what was a major problem that was not resolved.

 

I suspect like most of us the O.P's vacation resources are completely discretionary and they can direct them as they wish. Celebrity and indeed the RCL group may well have lost a good customer, and their lack of concern speaks volumes on the direction the company is intent on perusing.

 

While problems can happen anywhere, how or even if they are resolved speaks to the character of the company. Not good Celebrity, not good at all.

 

Your post articulated my situation much better than I did! Thank you. I would like to borrow some of your wording in my sail review on CC, if that is ok with you.

 

Your last paragraph hit the nail on the head as to how my DH and I feel about Celebrity and RCI. Airline tickets (10 of them) are already booked for the 12 day cruise on Anthem in Jan 2017 so we cannot cancel that. however, DH said last night to not do the Dec 2017 cruise. Instead we will try a European river cruise next summer.

 

It's been 4 months since the cruise and our feeling has not changed. In fact, it is worse now because of how the Executive Office responded.

Edited August 23, 2016 by jen70

[lifeasme123]

It is frustrating when the door won't open. Some of the newer RCCL ships use RFID chip cards with proximity sensor rather than magnetic slot. Just don't punch those cards if you use a lanyard.

 

I had to get my door lock batteries replaced on NCL Epic (right after dry dock). It helped that by trip 3, I made the person who provided me the key swear that if the key did not work that Guest Services would key a new card, hold the card, walk me to the door, and swipe me in multiple times to make sure I got a good key. Trip 4, I believe I took a video on my iphone of the behavior. It took until trip 5 for an escort to happen and Guest Services had maintenance come disassemble the lock twice after 10:30 pm as security was also needed at some point to re-program the lock. I declined their offer of alcohol/strawberries as an apology and asked for a new coffee maker for hot tea if they had one on board since that is what I really wanted. They did not and I was fine with that.

 

Several other cabins experienced key card issues on this cruise and some may have been related to a software update. It is fine to decide a cruise line isn't for you, for whatever reasons, and be glad there are other companies which do fit you better or decide what doesn't fit and how to work around that if needed.

 

OTOH, on my last Celebrity cruise, my partner kept on putting his key next to his smart phone and demagnetizing them. He thought since credit cards are fine right there, magnetic key cards should also be fine. Hotel and cruise magnetic cards have low coercivity to make them easier to encode & less expensive than ATM and Credit cards https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_stripe_card#Magnetic_stripe_coercivity I think we went through three sets until I asked where he was keeping it. I'm sure guest services mentioned something but he might have chalked it up to an urban myth. So there you go - sounds like the same problem, one hit the small percentage of needing a different answer from Guest Services, though both needed an answer from the Engineering standpoint ;)

 

I think you can also bring an old key card from RCCL with your status on it along with the boarding pass with Celebrity reciprocal status. An extra key card comes in handy if there are power saving features which require a key card and you want to get some fresh air going. Of course, with so many cards, I'm sure you were set if that was needed.

 

Perhaps NCL might also be a good fit for your family? MSC also status matches.

 

Sorry but I do not quite follow your post. My cards were never demagnetized. After I get the card from Guest Services I would head directly to my cabin to use it - card in hand. Guest Services can see in the computer the many attempts i made to use the card to open the door. One night I spent until almost midnight (with a 6 y.o. with me) trying to get into my room.

 

As for bringing an old key card, I did not think to do that because when I checked in online, the X website clearly showed the Elite status on both my DH and my account.

 

Good to know about the lanyard for our Anthem cruise in Jan. Thanks for that 411.

 

I am not familiar with MSC and will look into that - thanks! We are a family with a young child who cruise 2-3 times a year. It's not a lot compared to how many cruises most of the posters on this site take. We will take our business elsewhere.

[WpgCruise]

Jen70 you are more than welcome to use my words in your review.

 

You are not alone in your opinion that the Celebrity product is not living up to it's hype

 

We have been very satisfied customers since 2006, however our last two cruises are best discribed as not great and poor.

 

We have consistently provided feedback to Celebrity by way of their survey process as well as snail mail letters to the Captains Club and company executive. Our last letter remains unanswered.

 

Like you we have decided to try another cruise line. We'll still consider Celebrity but it will be on a case by case basis rather than the go to choice as in the past. Vacations are far to short and far apart to be spending them on a product that isn't the right fit.

 

Best of luck to you and yours in your future travels.

Edited August 23, 2016 by WpgCruise

[Mynki]

Sor We will take our business elsewhere.

 

Reading through your thread I think that would be the best course of action to take. Happy future cruising. :)

[lifeasme123]

Hi Jen70,

 

I'm not about to get into the "who's right & who's wrong" debate

 

When I posted this it was never my intent to have a "who's right & who's wrong" debate. It was me wanting to share my recent and only experience with Celebrity, esp:

 

(1) for those who are new to X and how Celebrity handled this situation. I still really believe Celebrity did not care because we are first timers on their cruise line/brand.

 

(2) lessons learned in case another person has to endure the same thing - what to do and what not to do.

 

 

Hi Jen70,

 

I've sailed on Celebrity countless times, and that's simply not the Celebrity we've loved over the years. !

 

I think this is true for you because of your number of completed cruises with Celebrity. We are Diamond on RCI and they have been good at resolving issues for us. Hence why we keep sailing on RCI and bring more business to them. In the past few years I have brought about 20 new passengers on cruises with us over time. I believed in RCI that much.

 

Unfortunately this is our first cruise with Celebrity and,for that reason, we are treated as such.

 

I'd like to strongly suggest that if anything goes wrong on a future cruise, and you see you aren't getting anywhere with Guest Relations... to immediately ask to speak with the Guest Relations Manager and/or the Hotel Director. Escalating your concerns to higher levels generally offers better success, in a shorter period of time.

 

I asked the Guest Services many times for a manager. Everytime I was told they are unavailable and that the staff was there to help. The only officer who came to close to the issue is the Housekeeping Officer. She did not do anything. Also, few hours later in an elevator, it was just my family of 3 and her, and she acted like it was the first time we met.

 

 

I sincerely hope you will take some time and reconsider consider giving Celebrity another chance.

 

There were many, many opportunities to resolve this while onboard, and the Executive Office had the chance as well.

[BEAV]

Priority boarding is so overrated. Unless you arrive at peak times, check in goes very swiftly.

 

Agreed. Suites, Zenith, Elite/Elite+, Concierge Class -- half the ship gets "priority" boarding. It's more marketing fluff than anything else.....

[Orator]

Host Andy's advice is spot on. You can call the Guest Relations Manager or Hotel Director directly. It is always much easier to get problems resolved on the ship. The people at Guest relations are usually good at answering questions and helping to resolve problems, but not always. Many are new employees who really don't know the system. I don't expect anyone with less than two strips to resolve issues.

I once had a continuing problem getting into my cabin, fortunately not a serious as the OP.

After my first visit to Guest Relations I simply went to a house phone near my cabin and called them to send assistance. The problem was resolved after a few calls.

In terms of treatment of "First Time" cruisers: Many experienced cruisers feel that the first timer really gets more attention in terms of cabin upgrades. Celebrity, as all lines, wants to create a strong first impression to lure you in.

If the OP hasn't contacted the Post Cruise Resolutions Department, they should. I also wonder why CelebrityCruises, the representative that posts on this board, hasn't responded. They have been of great help to others who experienced problems and were frustrated by responses.

[Peteymil]

My first time on Celebrity using status earned as a RCCL passenger. So I do not know why I did not get priority boarding.

 

When we entered the waiting area, they separated those with balcony rooms from everyone else. I asked the person directing us to the area to wait is there priority boarding for Elite status. He said he didn't know what Elite status was and asked us to sit down, which we did. Passengers with balcony rooms were boarded first.

 

Like I said, first time on Celebrity so I was trying to understand if there is priority boarding. But people are reading it as a petty complaint. :-)

 

I have never seen this. There are usually signs posted for elite, Zenith, Aqua class, suites, but I don't know why they would only board balconies first.

[lifeasme123]

You can call the Guest Relations Manager or Hotel Director directly.

 

Multiple times I did ask the Guest Relations desk for a manager.

 

In terms of treatment of "First Time" cruisers: Many experienced cruisers feel that the first timer really gets more attention in terms of cabin upgrades. Celebrity, as all lines, wants to create a strong first impression to lure you in.

 

Interesting point and it makes sense. I really really wanted to like Celebrity badly.

 

If the OP hasn't contacted the Post Cruise Resolutions Department, they should.

 

I emailed the President's Office and received a call from a representative. The conversation did not go well. For the trouble I had to endure with a nonworking cabin door, I hoped for empathy and a sincere apology specific to what happened to me. I got the generic apology: We at Celebrity strive... <incoming flying darts from those who thinks what happened was not big deal>

 

X did kindly offer to refund $67 (the balance we had on our onboard account) though.

 

I also wonder why CelebrityCruises, the representative that posts on this board, hasn't responded.

 

This I DID NOT know! There are cruise lines employees lurking on the forum???

Edited August 23, 2016 by jen70

[Orator]

I have never seen this. There are usually signs posted for elite, Zenith, Aqua class, suites, but I don't know why they would only board balconies first.

 

Will be on a TA where at least 90% of the passengers will think they have "priority boarding". In reality, the only passengers with real priority boarding are Zenith and Suite passengers. I've never experienced balcony passengers as a group receiving priority boarding.

[lifeasme123]

Will be on a TA where at least 90% of the passengers will think they have "priority boarding". In reality, the only passengers with real priority boarding are Zenith and Suite passengers. I've never experienced balcony passengers as a group receiving priority boarding.

 

Confusion is because of me. That was our first X cruise. On RCI there are inside, ocean, balcony, suites. They do not have "classes". There is priority for suite guest and various levels of CAS.

 

I wrongly assumed "classes" meant balcony. At the terminal, we had Aqua, Conceirge, Zenith, etc in one area, and the rest of us another.

 

Again, it's not a big deal for me. I was curious.

 

BTW - what is TA?

Edited August 23, 2016 by jen70

[Jane2357]

I was on this cruise and had the pleasure of meeting Jen70 and her beautiful family.

 

I don't think most of you are fully appreciating the situation - that for the vast majority of her cruise almost every time she went to go into her cabin that the key card would not work. Then you have to go all the way to Guest Services - and stand in line - OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. All of this with a child in tow. Day after day.

 

I think she handled it far to nicely in my book - I'd of been pitching a fit.