Some thoughts on the April 13th Galaxy cruise

[Lane40]

We just returned from the Galaxy Panama Canal cruise (April13th) out of Galveston. While the Galaxy will not cruise any longer out of this port this season, I will post thoughts on the cruise, the ship and the cabin. I know that individuals have different thoughts about their cruise or situations that came up while on the cruise. I am trying to remember some of the questions I had before we left and some of the questions I normally see on the message board. Feel free to contact me or post your questions here.

 

Bringing alcohol on board: I brought a bottle of Chivas in our luggage and kept it on the counter in the cabin the entire cruise. I did not have any problems from the cabin steward in doing this. While in Cozumel we brought 3 cases of Leon beer and also a couple bottles of Tequila back onboard with us. The items were passed through security screening and were not confiscated. Whoever helped carry 1 case of Leon beer back, I want to thank you if you read this.

 

Food: This was our second Galaxy cruise; with the first being 3-4 years back to Alaska. We have cruised with Holland America, Princess, Carnival and RCCL beside Celebrity. We would rank the food on board Celebrity to rank right behind Holland America and much better than the other three lines.

 

The "create your own" pizza and pasta bars are awesome. We found the buffet meals to be good and the dining room service and meals were also great. The quail and lamb entrees were some of our favorites. The only complaint was the 3 prime rib meals on an 11-night cruise we thought was a bit too much. We also liked on Princess the ability to order a NY strip every night rather than the steak on the menu. We asked for a shrimp cocktail the first night and one was brought to us every night for the next 10 nights without asking.

 

Two of the “new” things we noticed on this cruise with regards to the meals. First, was that in the buffet line, the food was always served for you. The passengers never reached or grabbed for an item. We thought this was great for a couple of reasons. It prevented passengers from “loading up” in their plates. Also, it was nice to know that someone had not “picked” through the food before us getting there. The second thing we noticed was the advent of cleaning your hands before every meal. You were always encouraged to this with the small dispensers located throughout the cruise ship. I am sure both of the things were done with the Novo virus affecting so many cruise ships.

 

Cabin: Our group was split between 3 cabins. We were in Sky Suite 1229 and the other 4 people were in a category 4 ocean view cabin with a nice size window (cabins 9253 and 9255). With Sky Suite was a butler, whose name was Elvis. Like others who have posted previously about this gentleman, he is truly awesome. When he came in the first day to introduce himself, the other 4 people were in our cabin with my wife and myself. He told them to come back at 4pm everyday and he would bring them sandwiches and pastries for everyone to share. So, everyday, he would drop off 2-3 trays of food. He would also deliver any meals we ordered for room service. He was very polite and was a joy to have as the butler. The cabin attendant was Leslie (male) and his assistant was Vijay. Both were also good and polite, but we discovered what we thought was a scheme, which I will discuss in the next section. Sky Suite 1229 has the large balcony and the six of us would hang out on the cabin most of the day and we have enough room for more. We have had penthouse suites on other cruises that we did not enjoy as much as this cabin.

 

The only negative and I will admit it still ticks me off about the cabin. While on the cruise we had two items taken from the cabin. One was a torch cigar lighter that was given to me as a gift. The other was a PSP game that we usually locked up when we left the cabin. One day we went on shore and forgot to lock it and realized a couple of days later that it was missing. We asked the 3 cabin attendants and none said that they had seen the two missing items. I spoke with the customer relations’ desk and got no satisfaction in doing so. The two items combined had a cost of over $400, which is not the big issue. The idea these were taken from the cabin greatly bothered us. We never removed either item from the cabin, so someone had to remove these things from the cabin. The PSP is really my fault in that I forgot to lock it up. The cigar lighter was out on the counter from the first day and ended up missing on the 6th day of the cruise.

 

Tipping: With the Sky Suite and the butler, we felt obligated to tip the butler for his services every time he entered the cabin. We did not have a problem in doing this as he brought additional trays for our guest without us asking him to do so. We would tip him when he brought room serviced meals like breakfast and did not have a problem in doing that. With the six of us hanging on the balcony all the time we were going through a great deal of ice. I would stick my head out the cabin door and if I saw one of the room attendants, I would ask for ice and then would tip the individual when he brought the ice to the room. Again, we did not have a problem in doing this. What we realized though was after a few days, that we never had ice or water in the room, so we always had to ask for these things and then the attendant would look at us expecting a tip. What was aggravating was not having any soap or shampoo placed in the cabin for 2 consecutive days and having to call for these items. Again, we felt like the attendant wanted to be tipped for bringing these items when we called. The issue has caused me to rethink tipping throughout the cruise.

 

Like I typed above, feel free to ask questions and I will try to provide an answer.

[FlorenceItaly]

for posting your thoughts on the cruise. I have friends sailing on her now. I am very sorry to hear about your missing items, and the room service/tipping situation. The more I read on the Celebrity boards lately, the more I am wondering why I booked a Celebrity cruise. I've been very happy with the HAL product and am realizing the error of my ways.

 

Marie

[hisfirstm8]

We are in a Cat. 5 oceanview on the Galaxy. Do you know if your friends has a small sitting area over by the window?

 

Barb

[Lane40]

We are in a Cat. 5 oceanview on the Galaxy. Do you know if your friends has a small sitting area over by the window?

 

Barb

 

Yes, they did and enjoyed it. It gave them an opportunity to sit near the window while reading during the day. Both of these cabins are extreme aft right next to the back door of the hall. There was an excellent sort of private seating area back there (when the kiddies were not outside their room playing in the area). Also, it made for an easy access to the Oasis Cafe just a couple of flights up.

[Arubalisa]

Marie, I would not be so quick to give up on Celebrity. Our family has sailed both HAL and Celebrity. My parents and grandmother have sailed both lines multiple times, dh and I have sailed both once each. We all agree as far as overall quality, that the two lines are pretty similar. Overall better than Princess.

 

What one lacks in one area, the other may do better. Some like the food better on Celebrity on HAL and vice versa. IMHO for food, the buffet was better on HAL and the dining room better on Celebrity. Personally on Celebrity, I thought the dining room service was excellent. For our families HAL experience service was non-existant. Too many passengers, too little staff. I've been cruising for over 20 years and had never been on a cruise and seen a parent cut their own child's steak.

 

As Lane40 stated the shrimp cocktails every evening, they are not on the menu, are wonderful. Like the suggestion of following in Princess' footsteps and offer a NY strip each evening. Our family was also able to experience, generous portions of Escargot and Lobster Tails.

 

The only exception to quality in our minds was the "suite experience". My parent's and grandmother preferred the suite amenities on HAL much more than those of Celebrity. Dh and I were not overly impressed by the suite amenities on the Galaxy. For 3 people in a suite, including the oversize balconies on deck 12, the best advantage was the extra space. Also, always had plenty of shampoo and soap. :)

 

Our suites, 1218 & 1222, were on the opposite side of the ship with Ivo as our butler and Franklin as our cabin steward. Never had a butler before, so did not know what to expect. The only thing we really asked for were 2 cups of capuccino at 8 am each day and some cheese and fruit platters for Christmas Eve. He always showed up at 4 pm with tea and we wer never offerd canapes after the first night, but certainly did not need both anyway. Never ever did anyone hold out a hand for a tip. We tipped the recommended amounts (a little extra for the cabin steward & his assistant because they were exceptional) at the end of our cruise.

[lisiamc]

Hi Lane40,

 

That's really awful that things were stolen from your cabin. I'm sorry that happened to you - there's no justification for that at all.

 

I am curious about the other situation, though, with the steward and the water/ice. Did you have a word with the Asst Housekeeper at any point and tell him/her that you were always having to ask for ice and water instead of receiving normal delivery? I would have been so annoyed at having to ask for it every time (let alone tip for it every time!) that I would definitely have gone straight to the Asst Housekeeper pretty early on. It does seem like the steward was trying to take advantage of your good nature.

 

Lisa