Celebrity Management Undercover? 👀

[CHEZMARYLOU]

1 hour ago, MISTER 67 said:

We're booked on the Reflection in a few weeks so we will have to wait and see if things are as bad as I've been reading. As I said on another post, we are 4 Star Mariners with Holland America and we are done with them after a lousy cruise last month, there are other places to spend vacation dollars. 

We disembarked Reflection 2 weeks ago.  It was not among our favorite cruises with Celebrity but we put that down to our expectations regarding a New Year's cruise.  (We did 2 in 2012 & 2013 but it was a different time on Celebrity.)

 

The only problem we had with the food was the buffet one day at lunch. Everything looked brown and spicy, which is harder for me to eat anymore.  We didn't go back for lunch during the cruise.  Breakfast was fine.  We walked through one night and all the stations were open but this was before the change in evening offerings. We also enjoyed Luminae, Blu, Murano's, The Porch, Lawn Club Grill and Sushi on 5

 

As far as service, we boarded on NY Eve after a booked to capacity Christmas cruise.  The first 2 days service was rushed but by the 3rd day things were back to normal.  Our Butler told us she had 4 guests in our suite over Christmas.  

 

We did not have a problem getting drinks at any of the bars we went to, even in the Solarium. 

 

I hope you have a great cruise.

[morfred]

57 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Which 11 day cruise were you on? And to which other line(s) have you steered them? And why are they better? Just wondering.

Equinox, the end of Nov. into Dec. I stayed in a run down Celebrity suite. I did not "STEER" them to any particular cruise line. I steered them AWAY from Celebrity. I can only advise people from my experience.

It seems as though there are a lot of Celebrity "Homers" here. Please don't kill the messenger or perhaps, "the canary in the coal mine".

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, OysterD said:

What has been cut to the bone? I'm looking at the Blu menu for the current solstice cruise and it looks very similar to the Blu menu we had on our Reflection cruise a few months ago. It was more than sufficient and delicious then, and it looks the same now. 

I envy your palate

[NutsAboutGolf]

2 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

OK.  I looked at a Blu menu.  All that I can say is LOL.  It has been cut to the bone.

 

The current plan is to book specialty dining unless X changes course.

Brilliant way for X to fill their vacant 9pm time slots

[C4HCG]

11 minutes ago, morfred said:

Equinox, the end of Nov. into Dec. I stayed in a run down Celebrity suite. I did not "STEER" them to any particular cruise line. I steered them AWAY from Celebrity. I can only advise people from my experience.

It seems as though there are a lot of Celebrity "Homers" here. Please don't kill the messenger or perhaps, "the canary in the coal mine".

Not sure what a “Homer” is ( I am english) and respect fully you have your own opinion. Not sure steering people away from Celebrity without suggesting an alternative is good though, but what do I know.

[NMTraveller]

13 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Brilliant way for X to fill their vacant 9pm time slots

That is one theory floating around.  That X is making the cuts to push people towards specialty dining...  If that is the case then why do they not put another specialty restaurant down in the OVC?

 

[Arizona Wildcat]

5 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

They should attempt to eat the poor food choices in the MDR and OVC.  And then go on a Princess cruise to experience a better menu.  

 

Once they do this LLP will want to move to another cruise line.

 

Or just put their menus back to their previous goodness.

 

Just got off a Princess Cruise.  Better menu?  Balderdash.

Had a steakhouse meal with a COLD "baked" potato.  Walked out of Sabatinis hungry as both courses were terrible.  Dinner service had filet - but got a piece about 2oz.  Waited 45 minutes or longer between courses.  It 10 MDR nights had 1 excellent and 2 good meals.

Combined with a 90 minute wait for everyone to dine the first 2 nights AND 3 hours to tended everyone into Cabo and Princess is struggling just like the rest.

[morfred]

10 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Not sure what a “Homer” is ( I am english) and respect fully you have your own opinion. Not sure steering people away from Celebrity without suggesting an alternative is good though, but what do I know.

Celebrity is the only cruise line that I have used for the last 25-30 years . I am Elite+...Many, many cruises. I have watched the quality decline and the prices to be out of touch. I do not feel that I am qualified to judge other cruise lines. I do feel obligated to tell this to people that ask me. Thanks for your interest, but what do I know?

[MISTER 67]

16 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Not sure what a “Homer” is ( I am english) and respect fully you have your own opinion. Not sure steering people away from Celebrity without suggesting an alternative is good though, but what do I know.

A "homer" is someone who usually works for a company and thinks the company can do no wrong. I've only heard of it in a sports context when a radio or TV announcer is overly partial to the team he is announcing for. I have no problem with it but some sports fans think that an announcer should not be partial at all.

[cruisestitch]

2 hours ago, Bobsgonecoastal said:

We found Tuscan Grille and the buffet to be very good.  Blu was a bit of a disappointment.  
 

 

In what way?  Portions too small? Food not properly prepared? Two few choices? Can you be specific 

[C4HCG]

1 minute ago, morfred said:

Celebrity is the only cruise line that I have used for the last 25-30 years . I am Elite+...Many, many cruises. I have watched the quality decline and the prices to be out of touch. I do not feel that I am qualified to judge other cruise lines. I do feel obligated to tell this to people that ask me. Thanks for your interest, but what do I know?

Sad that you have decided to steer people away from a line you have in the past clearly enjoyed.  And thanks for thanking me for my interest ❤️sure you know far more than I do 😢

[suzyed]

6 hours ago, Bobsgonecoastal said:

Exactly!  Sad to say, but we have done exactly that.  Won’t bore readers with the list of changes in quality, loyalty benefits and cuts in general X has made over time, but our recent cruise with them was enough for us to switch several cruises to another cruise line.  That decision didn’t come easily, because X has been a huge part of our travel life, and has been our primary 95% go to for many years.  In the end, we have voted with our feet and ultimately our cruise dollars.  

Who are you cruising with now and do you feel you made the right decision?

[mpdog42]

7 hours ago, High on the Seas said:

You won’t find this on the evening news. However, based on many items on this board the feedback is helping people decide whether to move their business to another line, continue with Celebrity, or maybe opt for a different vacation all together.  If Celebrity doesn’t take cruisers concerns seriously they may lose them. It’s a lot tougher to win a customer back then keep them in the fold. 

Kind of like me and NCL,I was part of the Great Reset in 2021….Going out of the DR…

”they” saw the numbers and backed out same with Nassau…No More!!!

[suzyed]

5 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Yet when you compare Princess MDR menus to Celebrity MDR menus, the Princess menu wins out easily.

 

The food reviews on the X ships are just totally sad right now.

For the last several years we have been Princess cruisers and we really have no complaints about the food that would make us jump ship. But go visit the Princess CC page and you will see all the same complaints about the food that you see here.

[NMTraveller]

10 minutes ago, suzyed said:

For the last several years we have been Princess cruisers and we really have no complaints about the food that would make us jump ship. But go visit the Princess CC page and you will see all the same complaints about the food that you see here.

My complaints are about the menus for X.  I have compared current Celebrity menus to current Princess menus.  IMHO there is no comparison.  Current X menus have sirloin, tilapia, and turkey.  Princess menus have higher quality cuts of beef and fish.  Their appetizers and variety are better also.

 

Service is a different issue.  However I will not step foot into a restaurant if it does not at least have an acceptable menu.

 

I can put a comparison up and we can all vote on which menu they prefer if you want.

 

Quite frankly I have visited most of the boards and most of what people are complaining about on the other boards regarding food is insignificant.  Downgrading the cuts of beef and fish is not insignificant and taking away the variety and choices.

 

I went to the Oceania board and asked.  Most issues were about a missing sauce due to supply chain.

Edited January 22, 2023 by NMTraveller

[C4HCG]

2 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

My complaints are about the menus for X.  I have compared current Celebrity menus to current Princess menus.  IMHO there is no comparison.  X menus have sirloin, tilapia, and turkey.  Princess menus have higher quality cuts of beef and fish.  Their appetizers and variety are better also.

 

Service is a different issue.  However I will not step foot into a restaurant if it does not at least have an acceptable menu.

 

I can put a comparison up and we can all vote on which menu they prefer if you want.

 

Quite frankly I have visited most of the boards and most of what people are complaining about on the other boards regarding food is insignificant.  Downgrading the cuts of beef and fish is not insignificant and take away the variety.

Easily resolved 

[NMTraveller]

10 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

Easily resolved 

Become vegan? 🙂🙂🙂 

Edited January 22, 2023 by NMTraveller

[HappyCamper49]

3 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

OK.  I looked at a Blu menu.  All that I can say is LOL.  It has been cut to the bone.

 

The current plan is to book specialty dining unless X changes course.

Maybe that is what X wants????

[suzyed]

4 hours ago, Bobsgonecoastal said:

Ditto, that’s what we figured out after recently sailing with Princess.  Have booked several more cruises with them.  Food choice and quality was excellent, ship was elegant and service excellent.  Are there areas they could enhance (i.e., wine service in dining rooms and their specially coffe shop) absolutely, but on balance, they are an excellent cruise line. 

Agree, which is why we have been sailing almost exclusively on Princess in recent years.  We love their itineraries, the ships, the service, etc.  We feel the food quality in the MDR has gone down a little so we choose to eat in the specialty restaurants at least 3-4 nights per 7 day cruise. But I can't say the food is awful in the MDR.
We are thinking of sailing on Celebrity (I have once and DH, never) but after reading a lot of these negatives, I'm not sure.

[High on the Seas]

3 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

OK.  I looked at a Blu menu.  All that I can say is LOL.  It has been cut to the bone.

 

The current plan is to book specialty dining unless X changes course.

Can you tell where you found the menu for Blu. In the Celebrity app no dinners are listed for either our 2/23 or 2/27 cruises. Maybe we are only getting served breakfast……..

[RichYak]

38 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

A "homer" is someone who usually works for a company and thinks the company can do no wrong. I've only heard of it in a sports context when a radio or TV announcer is overly partial to the team he is announcing for. I have no problem with it but some sports fans think that an announcer should not be partial at all.

There are TAs on this board whose livelihood may depend on the success of certain cruiselines. I would consider them “homers” and any positive spin they contribute re: recent cutbacks to be drivel. I can’t be certain who’s interests they are serving. 

[NMTraveller]

4 minutes ago, High on the Seas said:

Can you tell where you found the menu for Blu. In the Celebrity app no dinners are listed for either our 2/23 or 2/27 cruises. Maybe we are only getting served breakfast……..

The Celebrity app.  They will update the menu as time goes on.  Look at a current cruise and you can get an idea.

Edited January 22, 2023 by NMTraveller

[NMTraveller]

21 minutes ago, HappyCamper49 said:

Maybe that is what X wants????

Or to upgrade to suites/Luminae.  Fewer complaints there.

Edited January 22, 2023 by NMTraveller

[High on the Seas]

18 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

The Celebrity app.  They will update the menu as time goes on.  Look at a current cruise and you can get an idea.

Not sure how to look at a current cruise on the app. I thought you could only look at cruises that you are sailing on. 

[NMTraveller]

4 minutes ago, High on the Seas said:

Not sure how to look at a current cruise on the app. I thought you could only look at cruises that you are sailing on. 

You can look at all cruises and cruise dates.  

 

Select the Today or calendar at the top.  It brings a list of days down for your cruise.  At the bottom there is a Change Ship/Dates selection.  Choose that.

 

Perhaps someone can explain better than me?

Edited January 22, 2023 by NMTraveller