Reflection Crew & House Wine

[serendipity1499]

Back from our First Celebrity Cruise over Christmas & New Years but unfortunately can't do a Review because I'm dealing with a major flood which occurred in our condo one week before departure.. Had a Boat Parade party & after the party a pipe broke in our condo.. All our wood floors are torn up, the Built ins with the Murphy Bed & my computer will be pulled out tomorrow & stored in our Garage while the wood floor is still being pulled up & replaced..We were going to cancel our cruise but the Estimator from the Insurance Co & our Friends convinced us to go & let the mitigation company pull up the floors while we were away..Only the floor under this computer & the built in is still here but we have to get the floor pulled up & sprayed to prevent mold..I packed with 36 fans & four large de-humidifiers running in our two bedroom condo..At midnight 5 days before the mitigation company was vacuuming out water..They left aroiund 3 a.m.

 

The Crew on Celebrity is fantastic..We are four star on HAL but wanted to try Celebrity with our Friends.. My DH is not well & we were able to obtain the same table for four with our Friends in open seating every night with the help of the Assist. Dining Room Mgr. We were also fortunate that we had the same dining room stewards every night..Unfortunately, all the names escape me as the folder I brought home has been packed away in our living room since the my computer will be disconnected tomorrow..But after we get the floors replaced & we are settled again I'll be sure to come back & name them all!

 

IMO the crew is told to push the more expensive wines..One thing we were not happy with was the fact that not all the bars have house wine.. We normally only drink one glass of wine in the afternoon for happy hour & then one at night so we did not purchase a wine package..They were trying to push to most expensive wine package..

 

DH & I drink usually white wine, my Friend will drink either white or Red while her DH doesn't drink at all..Once in a while DH & I had a Bahama Mama instead of wine in the afternoon in the sky bar.. House wine is not listed on any of the menues which IMO it should be..

 

White house wine is $6.00 a glass & Red house Wine is $9,00 a glass but (big but) only in some Bars.. In the Martini Bar they do not have white house wine & tried to charge me $9.00 for a glass of wine in the afternoon when I asked for house wine..When I complained about the bill the Waitress told me that she did not know that they didn't have house wine! How could a Waitress not know they don't have house wine? :rolleyes: The bartender came & spoke to me, apologized & then changed the bill for me, but I should have been told before hand that this bar does not have house wine which to me is ludicrous.. In the ocean bar the bartender charged my Friend $6.00 for white house wine one day & the next day when she went to get white house wine another Bartender charged her $9.00 & told her they do not have house wine.. How could she buy it one day but not the next day?

:rolleyes:

 

So my question is: Why isn't House Wine listed on any of the Menue's?:(

 

Also the sky bar was closed every night between 5 & 7 except to Capt. Club Members, which would never happen on HAL or any other line we've been on.. HAL has happy hour for all Psgrs every night, which we do enjoy..

 

However, all in all we still had a good cruise, :cool:because of the wonderful crew, which will be named later..

 

As promised will be back when PC re-installed..On my way to get DH's dinner now..

[Kamloops50]

Back from our First Celebrity Cruise over Christmas & New Years but unfortunately can't do a Review because I'm dealing with a major flood which occurred in our condo one week before departure.. Had a Boat Parade party & after the party a pipe broke in our condo.. All our wood floors are torn up, the Built ins with the Murphy Bed & my computer will be pulled out tomorrow & stored in our Garage while the wood floor is still being pulled up & replaced..We were going to cancel our cruise but the Estimator from the Insurance Co & our Friends convinced us to go & let the mitigation company pull up the floors while we were away..Only the floor under this computer & the built in is still here but we have to get the floor pulled up & sprayed to prevent mold..I packed with 36 fans & four large de-humidifiers running in our two bedroom condo..At midnight 5 days before the mitigation company was vacuuming out water..They left aroiund 3 a.m.

 

The Crew on Celebrity is fantastic..We are four star on HAL but wanted to try Celebrity with our Friends.. My DH is not well & we were able to obtain the same table for four with our Friends in open seating every night with the help of the Assist. Dining Room Mgr. We were also fortunate that we had the same dining room stewards every night..Unfortunately, all the names escape me as the folder I brought home has been packed away in our living room since the my computer will be disconnected tomorrow..But after we get the floors replaced & we are settled again I'll be sure to come back & name them all!

 

IMO the crew is told to push the more expensive wines..One thing we were not happy with was the fact that not all the bars have house wine.. We normally only drink one glass of wine in the afternoon for happy hour & then one at night so we did not purchase a wine package..They were trying to push to most expensive wine package..

 

DH & I drink usually white wine, my Friend will drink either white or Red while her DH doesn't drink at all..Once in a while DH & I had a Bahama Mama instead of wine in the afternoon in the sky bar.. House wine is not listed on any of the menues which IMO it should be..

 

White house wine is $6.00 a glass & Red house Wine is $9,00 a glass but (big but) only in some Bars.. In the Martini Bar they do not have white house wine & tried to charge me $9.00 for a glass of wine in the afternoon when I asked for house wine..When I complained about the bill the Waitress told me that she did not know that they didn't have house wine! How could a Waitress not know they don't have house wine? :rolleyes: The bartender came & spoke to me, apologized & then changed the bill for me, but I should have been told before hand that this bar does not have house wine which to me is ludicrous.. In the ocean bar the bartender charged my Friend $6.00 for white house wine one day & the next day when she went to get white house wine another Bartender charged her $9.00 & told her they do not have house wine.. How could she buy it one day but not the next day?

:rolleyes:

 

So my question is: Why isn't House Wine listed on any of the Menue's?:(

 

Also the sky bar was closed every night between 5 & 7 except to Capt. Club Members, which would never happen on HAL or any other line we've been on.. HAL has happy hour for all Psgrs every night, which we do enjoy..

 

However, all in all we still had a good cruise, :cool:because of the wonderful crew, which will be named later..

 

As promised will be back when PC re-installed..On my way to get DH's dinner now..

 

Both Princess and HAL a lounge dedicated to the highest category of cruiser for drinks and snacks.

[serendipity1499]

Both Princess and HAL a lounge dedicated to the highest category of cruiser for drinks and snacks.

 

Not so! Maybe Princess does but HAL does not! Hal only closes the Crows Nest once per cruise for Star Mariners..As stated we are four star on HAL & receive one invitation to a cocktail party usually in the Capt's Quarters or the Crow's nest..They only once closed the Crow's Nest to all Psgrs for the special Capt.s Cocktail party for star Mariners..All the rest of the time the Crows Nest is open to all Psgrs!

 

Our Friends who were only one star on HAL were up in the Crows Nest every night with one exception..We normally cruise for 10 plus days at a time & have had 16 or 17 cruises on HAL..We do get invited to a Star Mariner Luncheon during each cruise but they don't close the dining room either to regular Psgrs..The use either upper or lower DR for Star Mariner Luncheons & we are usually invited for cocktails in the Capt. Quarters..

 

We actually never got into the SKY Lounge Bar as they have it roped off to Capt's Club members..

Edited January 11, 2018 by serendipity1499

[Hlitner]

 

We actually never got into the SKY Lounge Bar as they have it roped off to Capt's Club members..

 

You do realize that the Captain's Club Cocktail Party is only held for 2 hours a day (usually 5 to 7). You could have gone to that lounge anytime prior to 5 or after 7.

 

Hank

[Silkroad]

I’m not yet an Elite Captain’s club member but I’ve never felt indignant because I couldn’t enter the designated lounge between 5 and 7. Yes, I have friends who are Elite or Elite+, and I cannot join them for cocktails at this event. I simply turn up at 7 to join them.

 

I was very interested in your review because I’ve wondered if I would enjoy a HAL cruise (as they have some very interesting itineraries not found on Celebrity). I certainly don’t expect HAL to be exactly like Celebrity, so your comparisons between the two lines are informative.

[ghstudio]

Celebrity lists very few of their drinks on any sort of menu. AFAIK, all of the bars (except the Martini and Word bars) have a red and white wine that are included in the Classic Drink package. I didn't know Celebrity had any wine for $6....that's a shockingly low price based on our experiences.

 

We found that Princess also closes their equivalent of the Celebrity Sky Lounge for their "frequent flier" passengers. Depending on the number of elites on a Celebrity ship, they sometimes just rope off part of the sky lounge for the elite cocktails....and others can enjoy the view/drinks on the non party side.

[Hlitner]

I’m not yet an Elite Captain’s club member but I’ve never felt indignant because I couldn’t enter the designated lounge between 5 and 7. Yes, I have friends who are Elite or Elite+, and I cannot join them for cocktails at this event. I simply turn up at 7 to join them.

 

I was very interested in your review because I’ve wondered if I would enjoy a HAL cruise (as they have some very interesting itineraries not found on Celebrity). I certainly don’t expect HAL to be exactly like Celebrity, so your comparisons between the two lines are informative.

 

We are 5 Star Mariners on HAL and Elite Plus on Celebrity, so obviously have enjoyed both lines. But times change as do cruise lines. HAL is not at all like Celebrity, especially if you compare the S-Class ships to the smaller (and much older) HAL vessels. Some might argue that the newer HAL vessels such as the Koningsdam are a closer fit to Celebrity. DW and I are pretty honest about HAL in that we ONLY cruise the line because of the fabulous itineraries. Otherwise, it is doubtful we would set foot on a HAL vessel. It is not that we do not enjoy HAL, but we just think that many other lines (including Celebrity) are more desirable. But lately we think Celebrity has taken a big tumble from what was perhaps the best of all the mass market lines to where it is now.....a typical mass market line just a shadow of its previous self. Perhaps that will change and Celebrity will rediscover its previous roots, but we are skeptical of any improvements under the tenure of Celebrity's current CEO.

 

Regarding HAL, my simple advice is that if they have a unique itinerary that you find of great interest, go for it! We find every cruise line (and ship) involves pros and cons...and you should just accept that HAL seems to stress itinerary while many other facets are simply average (at best). Just keep in mind that many of the older HAL ships (which are a majority of their vessels) have more than their share of physical/mechanical problems. One thing you will discover on a HAL cruise is that this line has an amazing group of fiercely loyal customers. On our most recent HAL cruise (Rotterdam) there was a major ceiling leak (which apparently had been a problem for some time) in the Lido Buffet area. One day it was so bad the crew had arrayed 8 large buckets on the deck (about 6 feet from the buffet line) to capture the leaks from the ceiling. Nobody seemed very concerned and simply walked around the buckets without a word (including the Captain). I cannot imagine ever seeing this on Celebrity (if they had such a leak it would be quickly repaired). Also consider that cruise took us to places such as Greenland, Iceland, Isle of Man, etc. When you love the itinerary, and enjoy your fellow passengers, it is somewhat easier to overlook a ship's physical condition.

 

Hank

Edited January 11, 2018 by Hlitner

[Silkroad]

Hank,

 

Thanks very much for offering us the benefit of your experience on both Celebrity and HAL. As you can see, my DH and I have limited cruise experience compared to yours. In 2006, based on friends’ recommendations and CC reviews, we chose Celebrity for best food, best smoking policy, beautiful & well maintained ships, interesting itineraries and best overall relaxing ambiance (for our budget).

 

We too have noticed changes since our first sailing, and have doubts about the direction LLP is moving the line. Nevertheless, though we continue to entertain the idea of booking specific itineraries on other lines such as Azamara, Princess and Hal, we’re put off by negative reviews of said lines (negative about things we care about such as food, coffee, smoking policy and ship maintenance). Once we retire (should we ever get there lol) we’ll have more time for our desired land trips before and after each cruise, and it will be interesting to see where Celebrity falls on the spectrum at that point. At present, we’ll try the other lines for a specific itinerary, but try to begin with short ones;)

 

Cheers, Michelle