Should we cancel? Getting worried with so many "X service has gone downhill" posts...

[tweetylori]

I have a very lengthy review with tons of pics of our November 2016 Silhouette TA. May or may not help you decide. We loved it!

[C 2 C]

We sailed on Reflection for 7 weeks this past January-February. She is our least favourite Celebrity ship ;p

but the price was right and the service was great. There are always a few glitches but we continue to love the product. There are differences between the ships, staff and crew move around but overall we continue to sail with Celebrity, Silhouette next week for a month, Eclipse in November, Summit and Equinox next January and February.

 

We are addicted to cruising Celebrity style...... #200 in 2018.

[CRZR58]

To OP:

 

Celebrity's food and service has gone way downhill IMO in the last couple of years, but as you weren't cruising a couple of years ago, you won't notice the changes.

 

IMO, It's about realistic expectations.

 

You will find the cruising is way different than the ads show... You and you're partner won't be dressed to the nines, causally strolling to the theater with a few similarly dressed folks. You will be pushing your way through a giant yard sale with between 100's and thousands of other folks some dressed up, some not. You'll be going to want to get there about 30 minutes before the show to get good seats. Shows aren't going to be Broadway good, but they try real hard.

 

You won't see just a few folks around the pool on sea days casually enjoying themselves. You will need to get up at 8 AM to even get seats around the pool on Sea days. Take other peoples stuff off of their 'hogged' seats... expect a really angry encounter when their owners come back hours later.

 

If you do Select Dining, make sure you make reservations online for at least the first couple of nights or you'll be waiting in a long line in the MDR between 6-8 PM. We book all the nights in advance and have only had to wait in long lines a couple of times when they didn't have a reservations and a non-reservations line.

 

Pick up a drink or a wine at the bar before you go in so the Wine Steward doesn't have to bother with you right away. They are now way overworked and having to actually run to get to all the tables they are assigned.

 

Expect to be within a foot of the next table, especially if you want a table for two.

 

Expect that some of the food will be great, some good, and some not even worth eating. Note that ordering the same thing on different nights can result in very different meals.

 

Expect the MDR to be better than 'Olive Garden at sea'. Think large banquet hall and you should be happy.

 

Tip: Cafe Al Bacio has better deserts than most in the MDR and you can get a good after dinner Cappuccino with good service. You will need your classic booze package so you don't have to pay extra.

 

As you aren't Elite, you won't get a lot of the perks others type about. If you don't go Aqua Class, you won't get into some places like Blu. If you don't go with a suite, you won't get into places like Luminae. Basically, there are several levels of the same cruise and you have to choose beforehand which level you can afford or are willing to pay for.

 

If you really enjoy a good meal, then you'll want to budget extra money to go to specialty restaurants. Think that the upcharge for the specialty restaurants is all you're going to pay? Nope, you're going to want some wine which isn't included and there are even upcharges for specific meals like $18 extra for a USDA Prime Dry Aged Porterhouse and of course the mandatory 18% service charge over and above the mandatory gratuities you pay for daily.

 

Hopefully everything will go well with your cruise, because the 'Service' desk tries hard and says all the right things, but they are pretty much useless.

 

Don't get bothered by the drink servers who don't get to you very often. Just get up and go to the bar and order yourself. It's quicker and you'll likely need some exercise anyway.

 

Assume that the "What's in the next port" talks are really sales opportunities and that the companies they highlight have paid Celebrity for being mentioned.

 

Assume that the shore excursions from Celebrity will be more expensive than buying the same thing at the port, because Celebrity takes it's cut for selling them. Also assume that their will be a lot of folks on each excursion, which may or may not be true of the one's you buy on your own.

 

Don't assume, like the cruise cheerleaders, that all the folks who don't post are happy campers. Some are. Some aren't.

 

Lastly... With realistic expectations, you should still be able to have a great time.

[Cruizen Susan]

:cool: From the silent majority - everything is good on Celebrity!

 

You are soooo right, the majority, who amount to thousands on each sailing who never, ever heard of CruiseCritic, feel like you do.....that everything is good!:)

[NordicPrince]

To OP:

 

Celebrity's food and service has gone way downhill IMO in the last couple of years, but as you weren't cruising a couple of years ago, you won't notice the changes.

 

IMO, It's about realistic expectations.

 

You will find the cruising is way different than the ads show... You and you're partner won't be dressed to the nines, causally strolling to the theater with a few similarly dressed folks. You will be pushing your way through a giant yard sale with between 100's and thousands of other folks some dressed up, some not. You'll be going to want to get there about 30 minutes before the show to get good seats. Shows aren't going to be Broadway good, but they try real hard.

 

You won't see just a few folks around the pool on sea days casually enjoying themselves. You will need to get up at 8 AM to even get seats around the pool on Sea days. Take other peoples stuff off of their 'hogged' seats... expect a really angry encounter when their owners come back hours later.

 

If you do Select Dining, make sure you make reservations online for at least the first couple of nights or you'll be waiting in a long line in the MDR between 6-8 PM. We book all the nights in advance and have only had to wait in long lines a couple of times when they didn't have a reservations and a non-reservations line.

 

Pick up a drink or a wine at the bar before you go in so the Wine Steward doesn't have to bother with you right away. They are now way overworked and having to actually run to get to all the tables they are assigned.

 

Expect to be within a foot of the next table, especially if you want a table for two.

 

Expect that some of the food will be great, some good, and some not even worth eating. Note that ordering the same thing on different nights can result in very different meals.

 

Expect the MDR to be better than 'Olive Garden at sea'. Think large banquet hall and you should be happy.

 

Tip: Cafe Al Bacio has better deserts than most in the MDR and you can get a good after dinner Cappuccino with good service. You will need your classic booze package so you don't have to pay extra.

 

As you aren't Elite, you won't get a lot of the perks others type about. If you don't go Aqua Class, you won't get into some places like Blu. If you don't go with a suite, you won't get into places like Luminae. Basically, there are several levels of the same cruise and you have to choose beforehand which level you can afford or are willing to pay for.

 

If you really enjoy a good meal, then you'll want to budget extra money to go to specialty restaurants. Think that the upcharge for the specialty restaurants is all you're going to pay? Nope, you're going to want some wine which isn't included and there are even upcharges for specific meals like $18 extra for a USDA Prime Dry Aged Porterhouse and of course the mandatory 18% service charge over and above the mandatory gratuities you pay for daily.

 

Hopefully everything will go well with your cruise, because the 'Service' desk tries hard and says all the right things, but they are pretty much useless.

 

Don't get bothered by the drink servers who don't get to you very often. Just get up and go to the bar and order yourself. It's quicker and you'll likely need some exercise anyway.

 

Assume that the "What's in the next port" talks are really sales opportunities and that the companies they highlight have paid Celebrity for being mentioned.

 

Assume that the shore excursions from Celebrity will be more expensive than buying the same thing at the port, because Celebrity takes it's cut for selling them. Also assume that their will be a lot of folks on each excursion, which may or may not be true of the one's you buy on your own.

 

Don't assume, like the cruise cheerleaders, that all the folks who don't post are happy campers. Some are. Some aren't.

 

Lastly... With realistic expectations, you should still be able to have a great time.

 

I think you have become hard-liner on this stuff and it's time for you to take a break and go on some land based vacations for awhile. You've definitely lost the main enjoyment of being on a cruise and that is being out on the open ocean enjoying the vistas and going to far away places. I do hope you enjoy your next vacation wherever it may be.

[vickykay]

Recently off the Solstice- great cruise, staff, etc. food in MDR very good. You can usually get a discount to a speciality restaurant if you ask ( usually 20%, more the first night). We met several couples who had cruised on other lines and this was their first Celebrity and said it was the best cruise they had ever been on. We were on the Reflection about a year ago and a person we were chatting with on these boards was going on their first Celebrity cruise. They too almost cancelled because of the negative comments but followed my suggestion and took the cruise with us. They loved it! That being said everyone everyone has different expectations.

 

For what it's worth, my cousin. Just returned from the Oasis and said "never again" would they go on a RC cruise.

 

Enjoy your cruise and have a great time.

[Sizzlechest]

I think you have become hard-liner on this stuff and it's time for you to take a break and go on some land based vacations for awhile. You've definitely lost the main enjoyment of being on a cruise and that is being out on the open ocean enjoying the vistas and going to far away places. I do hope you enjoy your next vacation wherever it may be.

 

I've been cruising with NCL for years and their slow string of cutbacks over the years made me skip cruising altogether this year. I am probably going to try another line next year. His post is EXACTLY the kind of information that's useful for newcomers. Stop being a cheerleader and let people express their criticisms.

[ricka47]

For the cost, cruising is still a good value. It is true that we are getting less today but it is also true that we are not paying much more than we did in the past. There are alternatives out there for those who want to pay more and get more. But, we're OK (for now) with the mainstream lines (and X really is mainstream and not premium).

 

In the old days (1980s), we used to go to Club Med fairly often. It has become more family-oriented today and more expensive. I just looked at what a week for two would cost the same week as our next Equinox cruise and it would be $3300 for two of us in a "sea side room." That does not include airfare or transfers to the club and is significantly more expensive than our Equinox cruise in Aqua Class.

[TeeRick]

We sailed Silhouette in January and loved it. On our cruise it was announced that Silhouette was named Celebrity Ship of the Year for 2016 by Celebrity from the thousands of customer surveys post-cruise. It had the highest scores across their fleet. That should count for much more than some negative comments on these boards.

[ClaudiaB]

Quit reading these. It's getting you all worked up and worried for nothing.

 

You're going on a CRUISE!!! On a gorgeous ship. You don't have to cook, clean, pack and repack. Repeat: Gorgeous ship! You won't have PA announcements all day long (just one) or a bunch of kids and shouting going on, and there is no amusement park on the upper decks. It's refined, classy, and the cruise line assumes we're adults and can make our own plans and arrangements for our ship board activities by following the program that's put on our bed each evening while we're at dinner.

 

You *do* know that Cruise Critic is composed of maybe about 5% of people who are on a cruise. They're (we're) the ones who love to read about, plan, post about, review, complain, etc. etc. about cruising. You're going to get a lot of people coming back here with the slightest things to complain to their "peer" group. To get a reaction. The other 90-95% probably have never heard of Cruise Critic. They go on the cruise, have a great time, and never review or complain or give great feedback. This is a tiny group. Keep that in mind when you read. Also with anything, you're going to get more people who come back with the bad, the negative review, more than you will with people who had a great time and came back with the positive. It's just the nature.

 

We have sailed 14 times on Celebrity, since 2001. We've never had a bad cruise, or even a *bad* incident. There have been one-offs, such as maybe a cut of meat one time wasn't up to par, or a less-than-helpful bar server or wait person. All isolated, all could happen anywhere. We've seen the best service ever, we've met the most wonderful people.

We love to eat in the specialty restaurants and try out the various bars on the ship. We like to smile and say hi to the people we meet in the hall who are working so very hard to clean our rooms and do everything for us.

 

It's a wonderful vacation away from work, away from the usual routine - waking up in a new place every morning with new people to meet, new places to explore and new adventures to have.

 

I never get all the whining. If ever a first world "problem" that would be it.

[Welly09]

I've sailed with Celebrity almost 14 times and I've never even once had anything but a stellar experience. My ONLY compliant is that in January/February 2016, I did the Eastern Caribbean sailing on Silhouette and without a word of exaggeration, the median age of passengers had to be 60. I know Celebrity tends to skew older but it was insane. When at a show the host asks couples married more than 50 years to stand up and 1/3 of the theater is on their feet, you know lol. I don't know if it was the time of year of itinerary but when I cruise, I'm sticking to summers in Bermuda. Have another sailing booked in July 2017 and I'm very much looking forward to it.

[Oceangoer2]

"It's a wonderful vacation away from work, away from the usual routine - waking up in a new place every morning with new people to meet, new places to explore and new adventures to have. I never get all the whining. If ever a first world "problem" that would be it."

 

Amen....well said!

[Oceangoer2]

I've sailed with Celebrity almost 14 times and I've never even once had anything but a stellar experience. My ONLY compliant is that in January/February 2016, I did the Eastern Caribbean sailing on Silhouette and without a word of exaggeration, the median age of passengers had to be 60. I know Celebrity tends to skew older but it was insane. When at a show the host asks couples married more than 50 years to stand up and 1/3 of the theater is on their feet, you know lol. I don't know if it was the time of year of itinerary but when I cruise, I'm sticking to summers in Bermuda. Have another sailing booked in July 2017 and I'm very much looking forward to it.

 

And your problem with 'over 50' is?? "We" still know how to have fun and don't think the less of anyone under 50...LOL.

[Longboysfan]

At one time I managed a large Payoll department issuing 1O,000+ checks a month. If 9,950 were correct no one heard about it, but we quickly heard about the 50 that had an error- even if the error was minor (meaning under $3.00.)

 

We have completed 33 cruises, 16 on Cekebrity with 5 more booked. We have never had a bad cruise and I never write reviews. If I have a problem on the ship I address with the appropriate person while on the ship. In the few occasions we have had a problem on Celebrity 99% of the time the problem was quickly taken care of on-board.

 

Yes. This is a great statement.

 

I think I'm right there with you on the number of cruises but a few more on Celebrity.

 

Your spot on with the talk to someone when it happens on the ship.

 

But I do write cruise reviews. And 99% of the time on the Celebrity ships has been perfect.

[Longboysfan]

I've sailed with Celebrity almost 14 times and I've never even once had anything but a stellar experience. My ONLY compliant is that in January/February 2016, I did the Eastern Caribbean sailing on Silhouette and without a word of exaggeration, the median age of passengers had to be 60. I know Celebrity tends to skew older but it was insane. When at a show the host asks couples married more than 50 years to stand up and 1/3 of the theater is on their feet, you know lol. I don't know if it was the time of year of itinerary but when I cruise, I'm sticking to summers in Bermuda. Have another sailing booked in July 2017 and I'm very much looking forward to it.

 

I'm wondering if Celebrity is a victim of their own good food, service and brand loyalty.

 

I'm a long time cruiser and would not really switch lines. I started way back in the 70's on ships.

Celebrity fit me well when I first tried them in the 80's and they still do.

 

So Celebrity has a problem how to ease the older cruisers to ?????? ;)

[Welly09]

And your problem with 'over 50' is?? "We" still know how to have fun and don't think the less of anyone under 50...LOL.

 

LOL NOTHING! I meant no offense! It wasn't "cool" 50 somethings though... that would have been fine! It was more like 80-somethings. My uncle who is a very young 65, wanted to strangle me for inviting him.

[richard1s]

You will find the cruising is way different than the ads show...

Thank you so much for this valuable insight; now, I finally think I understand why my Red Lobster "Lobster fest entree" looks so much different than what they show on their television commercials. But I guess it's true, most people figure out that ads and commercials vary slightly from reality by their late teens. But it's great to be reminded; thanks again!

[galensgrl]

I should imagine that many of the negative posts will be from those that have travelled many times on Celebrity, and/or have enough disposable income to be able to use other 'premium' companies where the ships are smaller and more exclusive, which then make other perfectly acceptable ships seem poor in comparison. While I am new to cruises (2nd one in May and is Celebrity again) I am an old hand in hotel stays and I know how I react if I go from a the equivalent of a W and then 10 days later stay in a Premier Inn - it's not always favourable!

And those that have been with a brand for a while will notice changes that will, in this economic climate, seem like cost cutting or a change for the worse.

I/m pretty sure that if you go onto one of the other 'posh' cruise line forums that are mentioned on here as being the dogs dangles, there will be the same sort of people complaining that that glasses are too small for their soft drinks :D

 

We too are looking forward to our first X cruise in a few weeks - psyched! But When I started reading the X forums a few months back, I too wondered if we made a good choice with X. Out of curiosity I went over to the boards of one of the premium lines I've wanted to try, starts with an O. So I went to see if anyone had any complaints over there, and sure enough there were a few complaints. One person complained that their unlimited drinks were in small-ish glasses, which meant the inconvenience of getting several small drinks instead of one or two large ones ;) and a complaint from one gentleman who claimed the only entrees served anywhere on the ship - in any venue - was chicken, and pasta. Yes it was chicken, or pasta, at EVERY meal, with no alternatives anywhere - LOL. So from that I gather anyone who raves about filet mignon and lobster at the luxury buffet must be fibbing :p. I still hope we get to try that luxury line someday, when the money and the timing are right. In the meantime, looking forward to X! Cheers.

[compliance]

On board Celebrity Equinox at the moment. Fantastic staff, wonderful food and entertainment. Ship spotless. Only issue is the volume in the theatre, but then we are OAPs . This is our first on this ship as we usually cruise Infinity or Summit. All our wonderful ships. Only cut back I have noticed is no shower cap in the bathroom! I can live with that.

[NordicPrince]

I've been cruising with NCL for years and their slow string of cutbacks over the years made me skip cruising altogether this year. I am probably going to try another line next year. His post is EXACTLY the kind of information that's useful for newcomers. Stop being a cheerleader and let people express their criticisms.

I don't consider myself a cheerleader but I do consider myself an experienced cruiser. I don't mind people voicing their criticisms BUT if you're going to criticize at least make your criticisms accurate. I.E. thousands of people lining up outside the theater, 30 minutes before show or you don't get a seat, no where to lay out ( you don't need to be by the pool BTW, plenty of other places) etc.etc. Those are not my experiences that that poster describes.

[CRZR58]

I think you have become hard-liner on this stuff and it's time for you to take a break and go on some land based vacations for awhile. You've definitely lost the main enjoyment of being on a cruise and that is being out on the open ocean enjoying the vistas and going to far away places. I do hope you enjoy your next vacation wherever it may be.

 

My next Vacation has already been booked. It's a 2 week all inclusive on the beach in Cabo. Total cost is less than an 7 day OV in a regular cabin on Celebrity when you add in everything (Air, 1 night Hotel, Transfers to/from airport, Port Fees, Gratuities etc) except the booze package.

 

I'm trying to set my expectations properly...

 

I know it will be a much larger room with an ocean view. I expect that the food won't be quite as good as some of the food on Celebrity, but I can always go out to a restaurant if I want the specialty restaurant experience and I know I will ;). My excursion costs will be similar to the cost of non-Celebrity excursions.

 

I'll miss the being out on the sea part, but I won't miss the embarkation, debarkation, the cattle call for the excursions or the eye roll I got from the Wine Steward when I had the audacity to politely ask him to bring the wine I actually ordered on my last cruise. I hope their won't be Art Auctions, constant up charges, sidewalk sales, chain by the foot or $100 watches being sold off for only $20 on the last night.

 

I expect there will be sales folks on the beach, chair hogs and noisy areas at the pool(s). I expect that the nightly entertainment won't be Broadway class, but they will try hard. I hope the waiters won't be run off their feet.

 

I'd like to comment on the folks who are on Cruise Critic.... I think we are a good cross section of all cruisers. I don't believe that the 95% of cruisers who don't post here are all happy with their trips any more than I believe that they all have had similar issues that I have. I expect that there are many different versions of the cruise experience even on the same cruise on the same ship.

 

I think that you can take all the posts here with a grain of salt or maybe even a bunch of salt. On one end of the spectrum, you have the Cheerleaders. They think that everything is great and they don't want you to read anything bad about cruising in general or in this case Celebrity in particular. They love to paint everyone who doesn't completely agree with them as just being negative and would love it if we'd just go away. On the other end you have the Eeyores for whom nothing will ever be good enough. In the middle lies the toad of truth (Big Band Theory reference). Read and decide for yourself. I think you will find that there is a lot of good info around here.

[Luvcrusn]

Have there been changes to X over the years ABSOLUTELY! We still love it. As for the demographics of who's sailing, that varies with the time of year, length on cruise and itinerary. Longer cruises tend to skew to an older crowd. We love to be active and also enjoy vegging by the pool and always have been able to enjoy both. No worries. Great service, good food, beautiful ships.

[dogo88]

We will be on our first Celebrity cruise this coming October. For over 30+ years HAL was our main cruise line. A few years ago we branched out to RCCL and NCL. Had great times on both lines. Pros and cons on all the cruises when you try and compare. Now off to Celebrity then next year HAL again and maybe RCCL in the fall. Never had a bad cruise. Everything wasn't perfect but always enjoyed ourselves. I expect no less on Celebrity.

 

Dan

[KuffMUp]

So, I HATED my first cruise as well. It was on Carnival. A couple of years later went on another Carnival. Liked the cruise but didn't feel a fit for us. We tried RCCL on Rhapsody and had a great time. Not sure why your cruise was a debacle but I have been on Majesty, Monarch's sister ship, and had a great cruise. November will be our first Celebrity. I feel confident that the experience will be better than RCCL but that company just fits us. A cruise is what you make of it. I have been on cruises that others have posted bad things about. I didn't see any trouble at all. As others have said, a person will complain more often than a person will share positive experiences.

[SusieV]

I enjoy Celebrity, but I do agree that the food and service have declined. I have pictures from previous cruises beginning in 2005 (so I don't even have the "golden days") that show that- so it's not just my memory. Staffing ratios also have gotten worse- that is a fact, not an opinion.

 

It doesn't mean you can't enjoy it for what it is, but it's a question of expectations and what kind of experience you are looking for. I would not call Celebrity luxury or premium anymore. That doesn't mean I still don't enjoy my cruises and that I am very much looking forward to my sailing on Equinox next month. But it does mean that I know I won't have the same type of experience I had ten years ago.

 

I enjoy the new things that I like (drink package, more specialty restaurants) and try not to dwell on what I miss (good/more servers, good MDR food, formal nights).