Pitiful

[Tiggertastic]

Op I get it, we’ve done over 50 cruises, 18 with celebrity and the things they got wrong on our last cruise were avoidable. We too had missing cake etc for a celebration along with a long list of other items inc cold entrees, no food after an hour and quarter at a table, cabin left locked open by steward so anyone could walk in. The difference however is how our discreet conversations with them were handled. They were mortified and apologetic and rectified everything but they shouldn’t have happened.

 

 

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[bengaltiger1]

Last May on the Tahitian Treasures Cruise my husband celebrated his sixtieth birthday. I reserved a table in Muranos and mentioned after they asked me that it was a special birthday. I didn’t expect anything. The morning of his birthday. The staff in Luminae sang happy birthday and he got a cake. Then he got another cake at the Captain’s lunch. Our butler decorated the suite and we returned to a bottle of Champagne and a massive cake. Another cake and a bottle of wine in Muranos. We didn’t expect anything. We had paid for nothing. My husband was overwhelmed with the kindness shown towards him. He said it was his best birthday ever.

 

However, if you have booked and paid for a celebration gift then you should receive it.

 

We have had various small niggles over the years, both on cruises and land holidays. We haven’t allowed them to spoil our holiday, but it is irksome having to take valuable time to resolve those niggles.

 

My mother always told me that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Be nice and invariably people are nice back.

 

 

 

 

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[MEcruzr]

I have NO DOUBT all of this happened to the OP. What bothers me, and should bother all of us, is how each issue was addressed. That's the problem here. Not whether or not he or the TA purchased a celebration package. Someone at GR should have taken the time and effort to sort this out... look into whether or not something was purchased and then help make it right. The casino worker's comment was rude. Doesn't matter if he was right, he was rude.

 

There are times when I agree that people have unrealistic expectations and it's not Celebrity's "fault" when those expectations are not met. In this case, though, I think X could have provided much better customer relations service.

 

I hope you filled out a comment card immediately. Those things work, in my experience.

[gold1953]

We made the mistake of taking a balcony cabin in “steerage”- no special class on Celebrity. They treated us like crap. At embarkation, our luggage did not arrive in our room. We called an hour before departure and were told it would get there. We were on for lunch and the ship was departing at 4. Finally, 30 minutes before departure we went down to the desk to complain and there, in the middle of the lobby,was our luggage, with no tags on it. How did that happen,nobody could explain, and no apology was offered.

That’s how the cruise started and it did not improve. We felt that the crew did not care about us. We did not rate. Some of our friends love Celebrity but they travel either Aqua or Concierge class. There are many other cruise lines, so we choose not to travel Celebrity. It is fine with me if you want to give enhanced benefits to people in a higher class of cabin, but you need to provide decent service to the general passengers. OP it is not just you. As others have said, if you went Aqua or Concierge class you probably would have gotten your cake and champagne. We take a regular balcony cabins on Princess or Crystal. When birthdays or Anniversaries fall while we’re away, both lines provide a cake at dinner for our celebration- no extra charge.

 

 

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The class of your cabin does not matter. We often book inside and have always been treated royally. Sounds like somehow the tag came off your bag so that it could not be delivered

We sailed Aqua for my husbands 65th birthday and the cake did not come. This year we are sailing inside for his 70th

[r4addz]

Thank you to those who have understood and realise that you don't shoot the messenger. I'm sure some people had a wonderful time, I can however only relate my experiences

[Cairn Mom]

The class of your cabin does not matter. We often book inside and have always been treated royally. Sounds like somehow the tag came off your bag so that it could not be delivered

 

We sailed Aqua for my husbands 65th birthday and the cake did not come. This year we are sailing inside for his 70th

 

 

It’s true that the cruise tag came off the bag. However, we called down to the desk about our luggage and nobody bothered to look to see whose bags they were. We have personal luggage tags on our bags. The desk person should have said, “ There are bags with no cabin number sitting right in front of me, let me( or come down and..) see if they are yours.” We found this uncaring attitude for the entire cruise. On most lines, they can’t do enough for you,our experience on X was that they can’t do “little enough” for you.

I’m sorry they forgot your husband’s cake and it did not matter the class of service. I guess you are treated beautifully in other ways, so you excused it. Enjoy, we have friends who love Celebrity. Maybe we’ll try again someday, but probably not.

 

 

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[dkjretired]

We made the mistake of taking a balcony cabin in “steerage”- no special class on Celebrity. They treated us like crap. At embarkation, our luggage did not arrive in our room. We called an hour before departure and were told it would get there. We were on for lunch and the ship was departing at 4. Finally, 30 minutes before departure we went down to the desk to complain and there, in the middle of the lobby,was our luggage, with no tags on it. How did that happen,nobody could explain, and no apology was offered.

That’s how the cruise started and it did not improve. We felt that the crew did not care about us. We did not rate. Some of our friends love Celebrity but they travel either Aqua or Concierge class. There are many other cruise lines, so we choose not to travel Celebrity. It is fine with me if you want to give enhanced benefits to people in a higher class of cabin, but you need to provide decent service to the general passengers. OP it is not just you. As others have said, if you went Aqua or Concierge class you probably would have gotten your cake and champagne. We take a regular balcony cabins on Princess or Crystal. When birthdays or Anniversaries fall while we’re away, both lines provide a cake at dinner for our celebration- no extra charge.

 

 

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Things like that happen with luggage all the time in all categories of cabin, to not receive your luggage a half hour before dinner is not unusual and happens on all cruise lines Class of cabin doesn't matter except for those things that the people in higher class cabins actually pay extra for. Certainly would not call a balcony cabin steerage.

 

Every time I have ordered a special occasions on board the one thing that we do is confirm it once on board. Apparently the op made no attempt to do so. The common sense thing to do would have been to approach the waiter or Maitre'd and asked if they received the request. If they didn't they would provide a cake anyway. Champagne can't comment on because we don't know if it was paid for and by whom. Still would have confirmed it.

[gold1953]

It’s true that the cruise tag came off the bag. However, we called down to the desk about our luggage and nobody bothered to look to see whose bags they were. We have personal luggage tags on our bags. The desk person should have said, “ There are bags with no cabin number sitting right in front of me, let me( or come down and..) see if they are yours.” We found this uncaring attitude for the entire cruise. On most lines, they can’t do enough for you,our experience on X was that they can’t do “little enough” for you.

I’m sorry they forgot your husband’s cake and it did not matter the class of service. I guess you are treated beautifully in other ways, so you excused it. Enjoy, we have friends who love Celebrity. Maybe we’ll try again someday, but probably not.

 

 

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We actually don't care about the cake and if it does not come again it is fine .

[r4addz]

Things like that happen with luggage all the time in all categories of cabin, to not receive your luggage a half hour before dinner is not unusual and happens on all cruise lines Class of cabin doesn't matter except for those things that the people in higher class cabins actually pay extra for. Certainly would not call a balcony cabin steerage.

 

Every time I have ordered a special occasions on board the one thing that we do is confirm it once on board. Apparently the op made no attempt to do so. The common sense thing to do would have been to approach the waiter or Maitre'd and asked if they received the request. If they didn't they would provide a cake anyway. Champagne can't comment on because we don't know if it was paid for and by whom. Still would have confirmed it.

 

So having been assured by the TA that all was arranged, you think I should have then confirmed when I board, should I also have confirmed as I walked into the restaurant as they may not have told the kitchen? Heck where would the surprise be if I have to keep confirming left right and centre that the surprise is arranged? This is total BS,If they can't do their job as per what is booked then there is no hope, Should I have spent hours each day confirming the bookings for my excursions? How stupid can we get? If I am assured something is booked, I have every right to expect that it is going to happen, my TA was appalled that these things happened/didn't happen. Heck next you will be telling me I should have confirmed I was booked on the cruise the day before I boarded! Things were not put in writing because they were supposed to be a surprise and I didn't want my wife to have the surprise spoiled (I really wasted my time there didn't I)! We did not have these problems with Carnival Cruise line!

[warmwinds]

It’s true that the cruise tag came off the bag. However, we called down to the desk about our luggage and nobody bothered to look to see whose bags they were. We have personal luggage tags on our bags. The desk person should have said, “ There are bags with no cabin number sitting right in front of me, let me( or come down and..) see if they are yours.” We found this uncaring attitude for the entire cruise. On most lines, they can’t do enough for you,our experience on X was that they can’t do “little enough” for you.

I’m sorry they forgot your husband’s cake and it did not matter the class of service. I guess you are treated beautifully in other ways, so you excused it. Enjoy, we have friends who love Celebrity. Maybe we’ll try again someday, but probably not.

 

 

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They should have preemptively looked at the names on the bags, looked up in what cabin "Mr. and Mrs. Cairn Mom" were in, and delivered them.

[Miaminice]

It seems clear to me the OP was not happy with his cruise. Sorry, too bad. But nothing we can do about that.

I will not go into the issue if the complaints are justified or not. The OP will think so, no matter what others say. To me it sounds like a case of "what goes around, comes around" and not beeing informed.

 

The majority of people here might indeed be in favor of the cruise line - for a simple reason:

most had great experiences and enjoyed their cruises or dealt with problems differently.

 

To the OP, and the question is meant seriously: What do you expect?

All others to not enjoy their next cruise because you were not happy? Sorry! Not likely to happen!

 

Don´t cruise with Celebrity any more if you are not happy. It is as simple as that.

Edited January 13, 2018 by Miaminice

[Jade13]

So having been assured by the TA that all was arranged, you think I should have then confirmed when I board,

!

 

 

Yes!

 

 

 

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[Fouremco]

Still waiting to hear about some of the things that you and your wife enjoyed about the ship and your cruise.

Edited January 13, 2018 by Fouremco

[r4addz]

It seems clear to me the OP was not happy with his cruise. Sorry, too bad. But nothing we can do about that.

I will not go into the issue if the complaints are justified or not. The OP will think so, no matter what others say. To me it sounds like a case of "what goes around, comes around" and not beeing informed.

 

The majority of people here might indeed be in favor of the cruise line - for a simple reason:

most had great experiences and enjoyed their cruises or dealt with problems differently.

 

To the OP, and the question is meant seriously: What do you expect?

All others to not enjoy their next cruise because you were not happy? Sorry! Not likely to happen!

 

Don´t cruise with Celebrity any more if you are not happy. It is as simple as that.

 

What I expect is for you to take what happened to me at face value. and with all due respect, you are not in a position to go into the issue of whether my complaints are justified as you were not there and your implication of "what goes around, comes around is truly insulting as you have no knowledge of what happened and you seem to simply be in defensive mode, are you a company employee? I was informed and you know nothing about what you are commenting on, Is this an attempt to get the thread closed?

 

You say your question is meant seriously then ask a stupid question. I have no expectation of what others will experience, I simply relate my experiences for others to be advised of. They are free to judge for themselves and hopefully the story will help them avoid what happened to me. The only thing you say that is true is that there is nothing you can do about it, so why are you commenting?

 

I could go on as more happened and frankly this was the worst cruise I have ever been on, I am not suggesting this will happen to others but unless these issues are aired, there would be every chance they would. The only way to prevent future issues is to shine a light on the current problems. However it is obvious you don't want that to happen, the question here is WHY?

[helen haywood]

Could you please answer whether your travel agent PAID for a cake and champagne for your wife's birthday? You have been asked several times. If the celebration package was paid for then your travel agent is due a refund.

[Oceangoer2]

A little different situation..the packages X sells is a problem if you're in Concierge class. Our son purchased a surprise birthday/anniversary celebration deluxe package for us which included a robe, champagne breakfast in room, b'day cake, choc covered strawberries, and a bouquet of flowers. This class gives you all but the strawberries and flowers (inroom b'fast we would have ordered through room service anyway and cake was supposed to be presented at dinner). So he paid a few hundred Cdn $$s for strawberries/flowers. We didn't have the heart to tell him as the thought was terrific and appreciated. There should have been some kind of alternate value presented for the Concierge items or at least when he was purchasing the package they should ask which class the person is in (although they had the cabin # so should have known there would be a duplication). No cake that evening in the dining room but I probably should have confirmed my birthday with the maitre d'...LOL. But! the berries were delicious and the flowers were lovely and lasted the entire 11 days without wilting (much).

 

There is a serious lack of follow up with their 'gift' packages. Once paid for, the arrangement for the gift delivery and duplication detail is forgotten. All we got (a day late) was the card in room announcing we had a gift. We 'asked' for the other items. Perhaps the concierge could have called and asked us prior to us having to do so.

 

Our son had done something great for us the prior year which was 'messed up' with the X staff as well (won't go into it here) so we've told him he's too generous and not to do anything for us again when cruising. A good way I think to NOT tell him these gifts go awry when he's trying to please us.

Edited January 13, 2018 by oceangoer2

[dkjretired]

I have NO DOUBT all of this happened to the OP. What bothers me, and should bother all of us, is how each issue was addressed. That's the problem here. Not whether or not he or the TA purchased a celebration package. Someone at GR should have taken the time and effort to sort this out... look into whether or not something was purchased and then help make it right. The casino worker's comment was rude. Doesn't matter if he was right, he was rude.

 

There are times when I agree that people have unrealistic expectations and it's not Celebrity's "fault" when those expectations are not met. In this case, though, I think X could have provided much better customer relations service.

 

I hope you filled out a comment card immediately. Those things work, in my experience.

 

 

Keep in mind when thinking of Celebrities response, you are only hearing one side of the story. If correct some of the responses were poor but remember the old adage there are two sides to every story.

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks for that and yes both servers and the steward were rewarded which is ironic really as Australian passengers are forced to pay Gratuities in advance so we effectively paid twice.

After reading this reply and some of the others, I now get it why you might have had some issues. Hopefully you can find a cruise line, if you choose to cruise again, that will treat you (not forcing you to do anything) the way you would like to be treated.

[Miaminice]

and with all due respect, you are not in a position to go into the issue of whether my complaints are justified

Which is why I didn’t

 

No, I am not an employee. However, if you behaved on board the same way as you rant here, even as a guest I would been ashamed and sorry for the employees. All your answers paint the same picture.

 

You claim to be informed and yet you complain about a fee that is common knowledge to probably 90% here :confused:

 

If your sole mission was to make others aware of how bad Celebrity handled everything in your case... well, you did. Over and over... in more than one thread. We got it! You can now start another one...

[Marelaine]

Let's address another issue we had. we ordered breakfast in the cabin one morning and ordered it for between 08:00 and 08:30, it arrived at 07:45 not a big issue but they were obviously trying to get things out of the way early. Anyway after breakfast we decided to nap for a bit longer and put the Do Not Disturb sign on the door. 1.5 hours later we received a call from room service asking if they could collect the dishes. We assumed they were in the kitchens so wouldn't have seen the DND so agreed. Within 10 seconds there was a knock on the door. What had actually happened was the waitress (or whatever the correct title is) had seen the DND and gone to the nearest service phone to wake us up. We were not impressed. I won't bother telling you what happened when we complained about it because people here seem to just seek to justify the cruise line's position.

Oh and for those that have asked, It was the Solstice which departed Sydney on the 21st December 2017

 

Also for those who asked, this was my seventh cruise but the first with Celebrity.

 

That was rude on the room service provider's part. If she saw the DND sign, she should not have called you. Did it happen again after that. If not, the person you spoke to addressed it with room service.

 

Did you complain to guest services every single time something went wrong? I'm starting to think, each time they saw you coming, they were thinking 'Here we go again.' Crew members should have responded politely, every single time, that you complained, as long as you weren't being loud and confrontational.

[Luvcrusn]

We have mentioned to our waiter that the following day was a birthday of a friend travelling with us. The next night at dinner she received a lovely cake at dessert. There was no extra charge.

[Marelaine]

Should you have to confirm the cake order? I guess not, unless it's extremely important to you. You could have mentioned it discreetly to the maitre d' or waiter, without ruining the surprise, during a faux trip to the men's room. Should you have to confirm your reservations the day before you leave? I do, multiple time. I print out copies of my invoices in case there's a mix up on board. With @3000 guests, stuff happens.

 

Celebrity changed my favorite excursion to a time that wouldn't work for my family. I went to the excursions desk to straighten it out. The crew member's attitude was that my problem was not worthy of her time. I cancelled our remaining excursions - they were nothing special - and she just shrugged her shoulders as if she couldn't care less. I was shocked because I've never encountered that type of attitude from crew members before.

[richsea]

So having been assured by the TA that all was arranged, you think I should have then confirmed when I board, should I also have confirmed as I walked into the restaurant as they may not have told the kitchen? Heck where would the surprise be if I have to keep confirming left right and centre that the surprise is arranged? This is total BS,If they can't do their job as per what is booked then there is no hope, Should I have spent hours each day confirming the bookings for my excursions? How stupid can we get? If I am assured something is booked, I have every right to expect that it is going to happen, my TA was appalled that these things happened/didn't happen. Heck next you will be telling me I should have confirmed I was booked on the cruise the day before I boarded! Things were not put in writing because they were supposed to be a surprise and I didn't want my wife to have the surprise spoiled (I really wasted my time there didn't I)! We did not have these problems with Carnival Cruise line!

Clearly, Celebrity is not your preferred line. And your piss poor attitude is what is causing most of the blow back you are getting here. Enjoy your future cruises, if you can.

[sammyreddog]

I have never understood why people think birthdays are such a big deal. We all get born. Maybe moms should get something on their child's birthday...THEY did something worth commemorating!

[Lastdance]

Ouch...Carnival? Well, to each his/her own...it is not what happens, but how you react and what you do that is important. Have I encounter issues with Celebrity? Yes! Were they corrected? Yes! That is why I return. I also confirm and have my paperwork. But that is me. I do the same with air and hotels etc.

 

Enjoy Carnival! Glad their service is perfect for you. I am sorry that Celebrity was so unusually poor in follow through...but things do happen. Hopefully you did enjoy something....also, hope you are putting all of this in writing and allowing corporate to weigh in on all complaints. Please let us know their response, as they need to know!

 

 

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Edited January 13, 2018 by Lastdance