Just Returned From 1st Celebrity Cruise On Summit

[Cruise a holic]

That's not an accurate comparison. Bank statements are assets not spending. Probably more accurate would be a credit cards statement.

 

However what could one spend on the ship that would embarrass them if someone saw the statement? Too many spa visits, drinks (if not on the liquor package) or specialty restaurant reservations? Even a doctor's visit would not include the diagnosis/prognosis

 

I agree, IMO not at all a big deal- and the bank statement isn't a true comparison. More like my supermarket shopping receipt was in the pocket of the garment I brought to the cleaners. "So I purchased sanitary napkins".

[ChucktownSteve]

I agree, IMO not at all a big deal- and the bank statement isn't a true comparison. More like my supermarket shopping receipt was in the pocket of the garment I brought to the cleaners. "So I purchased sanitary napkins".

 

[CoconutOne]

That's not an accurate comparison. Bank statements are assets not spending. Probably more accurate would be a credit cards statement.

 

However what could one spend on the ship that would embarrass them if someone saw the statement? Too many spa visits, drinks (if not on the liquor package) or specialty restaurant reservations? Even a doctor's visit would not include the diagnosis/prognosis

 

I find it hard to believe that the cabin attendant would care what was on anyone's account statement. It's useless information to anyone but the one paying the bill.

 

Agreed. I think complaining about the bill on the bed is making a mountain out of a molehill.

 

 

If it makes the OP feel any better, I'm sure the cabin steward has long forgotten what was on the bill. :cool:

[Mynki]

Agreed. I think complaining about the bill on the bed is making a mountain out of a molehill.

 

 

If it makes the OP feel any better, I'm sure the cabin steward has long forgotten what was on the bill. :cool:

 

I could be wrong but I believe the issue the OP has is that the stateroom attendant removed the bill so he could use the envelope in an attempt to score an additional and undeserved tip. Note that he said he'd written his name on it.

[ChucktownSteve]

I could be wrong but I believe the issue the OP has is that the stateroom attendant removed the bill so he could use the envelope in an attempt to score an additional and undeserved tip. Note that he said he'd written his name on it.

 

That's not how I read the OP post.

 

"an envelope with the cabin stewards name on it and an amount for extra tip. Is that usual? Not sure I want the cabin steward reading my account......"

 

If I found the envelope on my bed with the cabin attendant's name and an AMOUNT suggesting an additional tip, I probably would have gone directly to guest services with the envelope and requested that they remove the cabin attendant's auto gratuity.

Edited October 29, 2017 by ChucktownSteve

[Mynki]

That's not how I read the OP post.

 

"an envelope with the cabin stewards name on it and an amount for extra tip. Is that usual? Not sure I want the cabin steward reading my account......"

 

I've probably assumed incorrectly then.

 

My bill has always been in an envelope and I've never been asked for a tip at the end of the cruise as I always prepay.

[ChucktownSteve]

duplicate

[Lois R]

This has been my exact experience as well, Lois!

 

Hi Beth, we must be in the minority since other folks keep saying they have received their final bill in envelopes.

 

As for the cabin attendant reading it? I think they are probably way too busy to do that (just my opinion).....and it is not

even something that has even crossed my mind until reading this thread.

[Griller]

Hi Beth, we must be in the minority since other folks keep saying they have received their final bill in envelopes.

 

As for the cabin attendant reading it? I think they are probably way too busy to do that (just my opinion).....and it is not

even something that has even crossed my mind until reading this thread.

 

Busy??? With only 10 cabins to service and none of them suites?? I don't think so.

I think its more like the devil finding work for idle hands.

[Lois R]

Busy??? With only 10 cabins to service and none of them suites?? I don't think so.

I think its more like the devil finding work for idle hands.

 

Seriously???,,,,,I guess we will just have to agree to disagree......the devil finding work for idle hands? Sorry,

that doesn't fly for me.....so you think they are standing in the stateroom, reading each customer's statement of account?

I don't think so.

[JennJohnNYC]

After many Celebrity cruises, I truly don't recall ever having our statement delivered in an envelope. I recall it being left on the bed and also slipped under the door. I also recall that we often didn't receive a final statement delivered at all. Under the door or on the bed, it doesn't bother us in the least if the room steward or butler "snuck a peek", although I think they could care less and most likely just dropped it on the bed without even looking. Now, the envelope with a suggested additional tip...that would definitely bother us.

 

I imagine there are a LOT of people onboard that have access to your spending by a quick computer peek.

[upwarduk]

We are talking different sized envelopes here. The tips envelopes were too small for a final statement, which is printed on A4 sized paper.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Cruise Arizona]

Thanks for the reply, we thought it probably wasn't right, he seemed to be under the impression it was our first cruise, and so it was, on Celebrity.

 

And 100 plus on other cruise lines.

 

We quite liked Celebrity but soon came to realize that this is really a line where two passengers can have totally different cruise experiences depending on what grade of cabin they booked.

 

One will be permitted to dine anywhere, have nice coffee after dinner and unlimited drinks at no further charge and go to any lounge or club at any time of day.

 

And then there is us, limited to the basic dining room, appalled at the cost of Cappucino after dinner, and totally scared of running up a huge drinks bill , ( our onboard spend came to $30 in 14 days) and not allowed in so many places on the ship. Got thrown out of Revelations lounge after Trivia as we were not Captains Club members.

 

 

 

Next time we have to try to get the comped drinks package.

 

Hi I would say your experience with your cabin steward was not the norm with Celebrity and he might need additional training or maybe was just having a bad week. I would have written Celebrity or visited guest relations to voice my concerns in a constructive way.

 

 

Here is the scoop on how to improve your experience with Celebrity and get that complimentary beverage packag. If you book and Ocean View or higher category of cabin with the Go Big Rate you get a choice of perks, which can include the beverage package for "Free", but it isn't really free it is just already figured into the price point of Ocean View or higher category cabins at the Go Big Rate. The Go Big or Go Better rates are always available in Ocean View or higher categories. As the sail date draws nearer, Celebrity will offer some discounted rates, which are less but don't include the perks. If you choose to save on costs by booking in inside cabin at any time, or Ocean View-Suites at a Senior, Military, State Resident or Exciting Deals rate, it will not include the choice of perks. So it is not so much the type of cabin but the rate code at which you book. While the beverage package is never included for an inside cabin, you can always compare the price to purchase it vs going ahead and getting the Ocean View that includes it. If that option makes more sense because you get a beverage package and a window, then book it that way. If you drink so few beverages that it makes more sense to purchase them a la carte, then do the inside cabin with-out the beverage package. Some times the difference between the Senior Rates and the Go Big rate is only a couple of hundred dollars. So then you have to ask yourself - how much am I going to spend a la carte on beverages vs that higher price that includes unlimited beverages. If the answer is that you would spend more than the difference, then for sure book the Go Big rate.

 

 

I just want to be clear that the difference in experience is related to the choices that the consumer makes when booking their cruise, not necessarily the type of cabin they choose.

 

 

As for the areas that are off limits to the majority. Suite guests pay exponentially more for their cabins than the majority of guests on the ship. Celebrity knows that they are competing with full in Luxury lines in this category, so in an ever competitive world of cruising, they have had to up their game to provide more exclusives to the folks that are sometimes paying 10 times as much for their cruise as the folks in inside cabins. It doesn't bother me at all that I am relegated the MDR when I don't book a suite. That is where I always ate before they came up with Luminea. Can't go in Michaels Club either, well I'll just have to find one of the other 10 or more lounges in which to hang.

 

 

The Elite Party - well again in an every competitive cruise industry, Celebrity wants to provide perks of value to their most loyal guests as an incentive for them to continue to have Celebrity as the cruise line of their choice. This Elite Happy hour is one of the best perks in the industry.

 

 

So we hope you'll give Celebrity another try, next time with an Ocean View or higher that includes the beverage package. And when you keep coming back, you'll be included in the Elite Happy Hour eventually.

[CoconutOne]

Busy??? With only 10 cabins to service and none of them suites?? I don't think so.

I think its more like the devil finding work for idle hands.

 

I highly doubt any cabin steward is standing idly around.

 

 

Maybe you aren't as easy of a guest as you think. :o

[JRG]

Griller, can you elaborate on your $30 dollar total on board charges for a 14 day cruise ?. At a minimum, for an inside cabin with no drink package, your cabin steward gratuities for 2 should be around (2ppl x 12 per day x 14 days) $288.

 

You also mentioned that you dined in the specialty restaurants at least 3 times, and tried the Sushi at Five specialty restaurant too, so you should have had some charges?

 

Did you ask the desk to delete the auto tips because of questionable service?, this might explain why the cabin steward placed an envelope with his name and an amount, maybe he was expecting a manual tip. That to me would not be unusual.

 

It might explain why there might be an open statement on your bed (to make sure you saw it) with an extra envelope with his name on it and a suggested extra tip. By the way, you did not mention how much he was asking for on your original post.

 

How much extra tip did your cabin steward write on the envelope with his name?

[ChucktownSteve]

I heard from other CC members on the boards that if you withdraw your auto grats, they pass a list around to the crew of those guests who did so. Which as JRG questioned had the OP withdrawn grats as the reason for the envelope. In that case it would not have been an additional tip.

 

The OP may have pre-purchased a dinning package. In that case it would not have shown up on his bill.

[villauk]

Griller, can you elaborate on your $30 dollar total on board charges for a 14 day cruise ?. At a minimum, for an inside cabin with no drink package, your cabin steward gratuities for 2 should be around (2ppl x 12 per day x 14 days) $288.

 

You also mentioned that you dined in the specialty restaurants at least 3 times, and tried the Sushi at Five specialty restaurant too, so you should have had some charges?

 

Did you ask the desk to delete the auto tips because of questionable service?, this might explain why the cabin steward placed an envelope with his name and an amount, maybe he was expecting a manual tip. That to me would not be unusual.

 

It might explain why there might be an open statement on your bed (to make sure you saw it) with an extra envelope with his name on it and a suggested extra tip. By the way, you did not mention how much he was asking for on your original post.

 

How much extra tip did your cabin steward write on the envelope with his name?

 

 

The OP already explained that he didn’t know you could remove the auto tips back in post #22 on this thread. He also explained he had TA OBC to cover them. And as ChucktownSteve stated above, the OP could have quite easily purchased a dining package pre-cruise.

[villauk]

Hi I would say your experience with your cabin steward was not the norm with Celebrity and he might need additional training or maybe was just having a bad week. I would have written Celebrity or visited guest relations to voice my concerns in a constructive way.

 

 

Here is the scoop on how to improve your experience with Celebrity and get that complimentary beverage packag. If you book and Ocean View or higher category of cabin with the Go Big Rate you get a choice of perks, which can include the beverage package for "Free", but it isn't really free it is just already figured into the price point of Ocean View or higher category cabins at the Go Big Rate. The Go Big or Go Better rates are always available in Ocean View or higher categories. As the sail date draws nearer, Celebrity will offer some discounted rates, which are less but don't include the perks. If you choose to save on costs by booking in inside cabin at any time, or Ocean View-Suites at a Senior, Military, State Resident or Exciting Deals rate, it will not include the choice of perks. So it is not so much the type of cabin but the rate code at which you book. While the beverage package is never included for an inside cabin, you can always compare the price to purchase it vs going ahead and getting the Ocean View that includes it. If that option makes more sense because you get a beverage package and a window, then book it that way. If you drink so few beverages that it makes more sense to purchase them a la carte, then do the inside cabin with-out the beverage package. Some times the difference between the Senior Rates and the Go Big rate is only a couple of hundred dollars. So then you have to ask yourself - how much am I going to spend a la carte on beverages vs that higher price that includes unlimited beverages. If the answer is that you would spend more than the difference, then for sure book the Go Big rate.

 

 

I just want to be clear that the difference in experience is related to the choices that the consumer makes when booking their cruise, not necessarily the type of cabin they choose.

 

 

As for the areas that are off limits to the majority. Suite guests pay exponentially more for their cabins than the majority of guests on the ship. Celebrity knows that they are competing with full in Luxury lines in this category, so in an ever competitive world of cruising, they have had to up their game to provide more exclusives to the folks that are sometimes paying 10 times as much for their cruise as the folks in inside cabins. It doesn't bother me at all that I am relegated the MDR when I don't book a suite. That is where I always ate before they came up with Luminea. Can't go in Michaels Club either, well I'll just have to find one of the other 10 or more lounges in which to hang.

 

 

The Elite Party - well again in an every competitive cruise industry, Celebrity wants to provide perks of value to their most loyal guests as an incentive for them to continue to have Celebrity as the cruise line of their choice. This Elite Happy hour is one of the best perks in the industry.

 

 

So we hope you'll give Celebrity another try, next time with an Ocean View or higher that includes the beverage package. And when you keep coming back, you'll be included in the Elite Happy Hour eventually.

 

Unsure if you are, but you sound awfully like a TA :confused:?

[Cruise Arizona]

Unsure if you are, but you sound awfully like a TA :confused:?

 

I hope that you mean that in a good way. :) If it seems that way because I actually know what I'm talking about and have extensive knowledge of the Celebrity rates and promotion and all the competitive products in the industry? If that is why I sound like a TA then I will take it. :cool:

[ORV]

Griller, can you elaborate on your $30 dollar total on board charges for a 14 day cruise ?. At a minimum, for an inside cabin with no drink package, your cabin steward gratuities for 2 should be around (2ppl x 12 per day x 14 days) $288.

 

You also mentioned that you dined in the specialty restaurants at least 3 times, and tried the Sushi at Five specialty restaurant too, so you should have had some charges?

 

Did you ask the desk to delete the auto tips because of questionable service?, this might explain why the cabin steward placed an envelope with his name and an amount, maybe he was expecting a manual tip. That to me would not be unusual.

 

It might explain why there might be an open statement on your bed (to make sure you saw it) with an extra envelope with his name on it and a suggested extra tip. By the way, you did not mention how much he was asking for on your original post.

 

How much extra tip did your cabin steward write on the envelope with his name?

 

Interesting musings. Just how much OBC are you going to get on an inside? Plus specialty dining every night. HMM?

[billydog]

So sorry you went through this.

 

Keith

 

What a terrible ordeal!!

[Griller]

The OP already explained that he didn’t know you could remove the auto tips back in post #22 on this thread. He also explained he had TA OBC to cover them. And as ChucktownSteve stated above, the OP could have quite easily purchased a dining package pre-cruise.

 

The 9 dinner dining package was $209 paid for in advance. It was offered at a 20% discount a couple of weeks before departure, we had to buy it as the rest of the family group had bought it and we had to dine with them or we would have rarely seen them. We thought it was excellent value.

Our total drink spend was only about $30, as we found drink prices expensive.

Yes we had a decent T/A OBC which paid most other charges.

[Griller]

What a terrible ordeal!!

 

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit

[Griller]

I hope that you mean that in a good way. :) If it seems that way because I actually know what I'm talking about and have extensive knowledge of the Celebrity rates and promotion and all the competitive products in the industry? If that is why I sound like a TA then I will take it. :cool:

 

It was helpful, thanks, nothing wrong with being a good travel agent.

 

We knew nothing about Celebrity when we booked, it was part of a family group and we had no choice as to the ship we cruised on. We took it as it came, and enjoyed it for the most part.

We are used to different cruise lines with rather different ways of doing things.

I am the OP and asked for some info and as is usual on CC received some snarkiness as well.

Doesn't bother me.

[pattyham]

I'm sorry to hear of your experience. It should never be when your are on Celebrity, regardless of the ship or the class of cabin. We just returned from the same cruise in a balcony room. I do have to say that our cabin steward Francisco was fantastic. After day one, he knew when we went to breakfast, had dinner, etc. and only knew he had been there because our room had been serviced. The only time he knocked on our door was when we went to dinner late on the last evening of the cruise and I'm sure he thought we had already gone down. We are fairly easy to please and did not have any special requests but our needs were beautifully met. The repositioning cruise did not offer the Go Big,Bigger or 1-2-3 option for the beverage package etc. We did have a 'free' classic beverage package on the same cruise in 2014 but for some reason this was not offered for this cruise. I sure hope they bring this back to apply to this cruise again as it is expensive. My bill was slid under the door was not in an envelope. I did have a problem removing an erroneous charge and after calling and going down to guest relations a corrected bill was slid under the door in an envelope. No tip envelope was left but we did give Francisco an extra tip and used our own envelope. Again, sorry for your less than satisfactory experience.