I See Two Groups-Lovers & Haters

[woodofpine]

Why X? Because in the "Mass Market" price point of say $150 pp per diem (more or less), X offers the most traditional styled product pushing the elegant service style of yesteryear and a dining food experience that strives (and often succeeds) in being a notch higher than its Mass Market counterparts. Yep - there's a bit of a formality aspect to this. Plus X' ships are larger than average for their respective passenger loads.

 

In my mind, the foregoing is what X is about.

 

Why not... X

On the downside, X suffers the same challenges of its competitors. Larger ships coming online meaning a struggle to keep the growing crew population "up to snuff" and to keep the actual food product up with corporate bean counter types doing their thing. X ships have been criticized for getting a tad too worn prior to renovation. I've personally found that middle management problem solving (ie. service) can be lacking; (but there's not a single larger cruise line that hasn't been rightfully subject to the same criticism case by case).

 

In this overall price point X is a real contender for those that like the more formal traditional style.

[urkidn]

How old are your daughters? We've only sailed X twice, 7-nts on Century and 11 on Zenith. Younger families are definately a minority especially on the longer sailings. There were only 2 children in my son's age-group (10-12) on the boat. I believe there were only 7 children in the entire Kid's program and this was during spring break. My son still had a good time but he has never experienced RCI with their skating rinks, rockwalls, etc. I would estimate that over 75% of the people on the 11nt sailing were over 60. Most of †he activities are geared towards that age group, music trivia, TV trivia, etc. There was one guitarist/singer "Ron" in the Fleet Bar who we enjoyed who played relatively recent music that was mostly 70-80's stuff like the Eagles, Pink Floyd, etc. All the other musical acts played music from the 20-50's. The main reason we picked this sailing was because of the itinerary plus we were a large group within ourselves so we had a good time regardless. However, it sure would have been nice if the nightlife had been a little more lively than the handful of people we saw out past 11:00pm.

[DC2OC]

I've sailed X,RCL,and Carnival.I liked X best,RCL second ,Carnival third.I would sail all 3 again and would also sail Princess,HAL and others.While all 3 have their troubles,I X was the best fit for me and empty nester 55 year old.I like the small touches the other 2 don't provide.The M class is best.I feel they give the good bang for the buck and their prices are usually close to RCL which is why they win out with me............Frank:)

[Host Joe]

If you just look at my future and past cruises below, you can tell I'm a big Celebrity fan. I've made lifelong friends on cruises and despite hiccups here and there, have always had a great vacation. A few thoughts:

 

- I'm surprised that someone would call X a value line. It may not be as expensive as Crystal and others, but it's certainly not a discount cruise line.

- I like Celebrity's style and approach. They DO appreciate repeat customers. Hell, we have encountered a cocktail waiter TWO years later who remembered us right away and welcomed us back to the Infinity! That says something given the fact that he probably served 10,000 people in between.

- I find that if you have a problem or complaint, you just need to breathe, smile, and be as kind and understanding as you can be and you almost always get what you want. It's the haters who LOOK for things to complain about, who get nasty and spit demands at cruise staff and crew...they lose every time and were probably unhappy before they even got on the ship. So many people are only happy when they have something to complain about. I watch those people on every cruise I have been on, how they treat the "help." It makes me want to slap them.

- I know how people feel about tipping, but here is something that ALWAYS works: tip better than average, everytime, and you will be treated like gold. And if you really want superior cabin service, tip that guy at the beginning of the cruise as well as at the end. You will not believe the results. It's worth the extra dough folks.

- If X is declining in service and quality, I haven't seen it. 99% of the staff and crew we have come across are as good as or better than those we deal with in 4 and 5-star hotels. Plus, the new Century is an awesome example of X's dedication to freshening up older vessels.

- You don't like your waiter or table mates? Speak up and/or move.

- Don't want to wear a tux or dark suit on vacation? Pick another cruise line.

- Want an adult vacation? Avoid super short cruises, school and national holidays, and the summer. We do!

- I'm sure if I cruised 100 days a year, I'd get sick and tired of the food and entertainment, too; that just seems like too much of a good thing to me.

- And, as you can see, I haven't tried anything else yet. Why would I? I love my time aboard an X ship and count the weeks until the next adventure. If that includes a bum cocktail waiter, a missed port, or a less than perfect steak here or there, I'll still be happy.

 

 

Great post, Scott! I could not agree more!

 

Celebrity is our favorite line, too. We have never had a bad experience on them. Prior to sailing on Millenium to the Med this past fall I read all about how she had so many problems and was worn out. Once onboard, we were amazed at how beautiful she was and just how well preserved!

 

By the way, Hello to you, Scott! Have not talked with you in quite a while! We talk about that wonderful cruise to Hawaii in 03 with you at our table all of the time! Hope to cruise together again some day!

[Norcal Cruiser]

We still don't understand why anyone would complain about a cruise.Would you rather be at work?We are 20 days away from taking our 4th Celebrity cruise and have not had a bad cruise yet.In fact the past 3 have been the highlights of our life!They have taken us to Bermuda,Alaska and the Panama Canal.All 3 were amazing experiences.Good crew,great food, and beautiful ships.We have had ports canceled but that's been for our safety.Maybe if we could afford to cruise all of the time we'd find something to complain about.But that's not likely to happen....Kathy

[Host Anne]

WEC ~ I believe you can say the very same thing about any cruiseline - there are those who LOVE the line and those who HATE the line (although I don't like using the word hate as it's such a strong word).

 

The difference, perhaps (or so it seems) is that here on Celebrity some who have had a bad experience feel a need to keep coming back to repeat the same thing over and over and over again. Many who enjoy cruising, regardless of the line, get tired of hearing it, which is why our Community Manager, Laura, posted some time ago about this very subject. Check out Laura's note here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=452177

 

For me, we had several less than stellar experiences on NCL a few years back and simply have stopped sailing that line. I don't feel a need to constantly visit the NCL boards and rehash our bad experiences (and it was for my 40th birthday cruise!). Likewise, we didn't have a great experience last year on Zenith. I reported it here honestly on the boards and in my reviews, but I sure don't feel the need to bring it up in every post I make on the boards.

 

I agree with many of the things posted here in this thread about Celebrity. But the sad thing is that it applies to all things in life these days - airlines, hotels, products we purchase. It's a sad business mentality today that permeates everything - not just cruising and certainly not just Celebrity.

 

My recommendation is that people should do their research, make their choices based upon good information and then go enjoy yourself on whatever cruise or vacation you decide to take. Life is too short!

[shoreless]

We still don't understand why anyone would complain about a cruise.

 

Well, there are the people that complain about everything, but there are also those just trying to give a balanced review (the pros and cons, the good and not so good, and the comparisons to other cruises/ships/lines), which I really appreciate. And there are some negative reviews based on really bad experiences (sometimes bad things do happen).

 

If you don't understand why anyone would ever complain, I think you must live in a bubble, albeit a very happy bubble.:)

[Sow There]

Well, there are the people that complain about everything, but there are also those just trying to give a balanced review (the pros and cons, the good and not so good, and the comparisons to other cruises/ships/lines), which I really appreciate. And there are some negative reviews based on really bad experiences (sometimes bad things do happen).

 

If you don't understand why anyone would ever complain, I think you must live in a bubble, albeit a very happy bubble.:)

 

Unfortunately many complaints come from those who envisioned the level of perfection displayed on the commercials and cruise line hyperbole in the brochures but wind up discovering the reality doesn't match the hype.

 

Call it disappointment or buyers regret, it's a normal reaction and the expression of that disappointment and/or regret is what the cruise boards are here for.

 

Let's not play pollyanna and pretend that everything on Celebrity is always wonderful, but let's also not play the grinch and always harp on just the negative and ignore the positive.

 

What really irks me, however, is the unhappy person who finds it necessary to repeat his/her displeasure over and over on virtually every post. We get it. You're unhappy with (in this case) Celebrity. We may even agree completely. The first time. But after repeating your gripe 5, 10 or 15 times, you will have lost most of us.

 

Now how about let's get back to discussing our favorite subject, cruising?

[motherchic]

In February we sailed the Summit for 14 day Panama canal cruise. Over the years I have always appreciated the comments and reviews I have gotten from the boards. Because of that I just wrote a review and CC just posted it.

You might look it up..and see if it answers your question.

Motherchic