Celebrity Galaxy,July 2, Med. Cruise

[Ilenegold]

:( :mad: If you are thinking about going on Celebrity's Galaxy, and you have cruised on the newer ships, please be aware that the itinerary is great and the ship itself is very tired. The ship is in need of complete and total overhaul, starting with everything. The stops were great, the staff was great, food was excellent, and all the land excursions and guides were fine. If you are looking for a modern ship with all the frills and fancies, this is not the ship for you. The rooms are a decent size, however, the carpets are stained and worn, the sinks stained, the toilets don't work all the time, the coverings on the chairs are threadbare in some places, and that is just in the staterooms.

The public areas are also old and worn out by many years of hard use. The pool starts at 4'6" so it is not child friendly, unless your child can swim. The entire public areas are in the same condition as the state rooms. The maintaince department tries hard, but the things are breaking faster than they can get to them in a timely manner. We had problems with the toilet in our room from the first day we were on board and it didn't get any better.

So if you are looking for a cruise with neat places to visit, I feel you should be aware of the condition of the ship. I was personally disappointed in that aspect. These cruises are very expensive by the time you add the airfare and tips so if you don't mind the old worn out ship than this is the cruise for you.

[Sheik]

We sailed the Galaxy last year in the Med and loved the ship, but you're right. The ship is in need for refurbishment. Last year the hottubs weren's working (whole cruise), the deckchairs were broken/old/cheap, the pooldeck was awful. On the other hand, the stateroom and the interior of the ship was in good condition.

 

For us, it was a budget cruise. The cruise itself was cheap (Euro 1200,- pp) and we didn't have to buy a transatlantic ticket to get there.

 

I'm with you, it's not Celebrity standard, except for the service, that was very good.

[uktog]

I think you will find a lot of work has already been done on the Galaxy. Although she has not gone into Dry Dock, there is a rolling refurbishment programme underway. I do not guarantee you will not find something that is slightly worn (hey unless the ship is just out of dock that will always be the case) but we were on her in May. All the pools worked, the roof opened as required and apart from two cloudy windows in a lounge I did not see anything that would put me off returning to Galaxy. As you say the food and everything is excellent so I suppose you need to balance, if you are wanting perfection in the furnishing of the ship but are not so concerned about friendliness of crew or quality of food, Galaxy is not for you. If you can live with the odd scratch and stain, you will be rewarded by excellent food and service

[hcat]

We are actually looking forward to going on Galaxy in 08--we think the size & layout are just right & it still has a T pool. By the time we cruise it will be

refurbished... It has the right "bones". By contrast, we found that Century although refurbished still has a more archaic layout & NO T-pool--still also old in spots...Mercury is perfect!

[KRB_AMB]

We spent 13 nights on Galaxy in May doing the TA to Rome... I would strongly disagree with the original poster that this ship is in that bad of shape... We found things very nice and had no objections to any conditions... Honestly I dont recall seeing any bad carpets or furniture.... When you consider there are nearly 2000 people on these ships every day year round its amazing that anything works!

 

Is your home totally spotless and does everything work? Not at my house!

 

Ken

[travelingmcmahans]

I have to confess I'm always surprised when this topic comes up. Some posters had me thinking Galaxy was a floating salvage yard before I boarded in June. But it was lovely! Our room was immaculate and everywhere every day I saw staff polishing and cleaning. If I were to cruise again I would definitely choose the Galaxy(and not just because of our waiter Mauricio :p )

[tom_uk]

I think it's possible that the OP had a cabin that had not been refurbished yet. I was on Galaxy in June 2006 as well as this year, and a year ago I did notice (and commented on, in reviews) that some things in the cabin did look worn and that there were stains in the wash basin. However, everything worked. This year there was clear evidence that the cabin we were in had been refurbished - the carpet wasn't old, there were no stains in the wash basin or toilet, and the chair didn't look worn - and I believe the bedding had been renewed. Also, at various times I saw some nearby cabins being worked on during the day - new carpet being laid, specifically. So as I say it's possible that the OP's cabin simply hadn't had the treatment yet.

 

However, I also feel that the public areas had been very nicely refurbished - I didn't see any especially worn carpets or seats in any of the we visited. And we saw quite a bit of ongoing maintenance being down around the ship - bulhead painting, handrail varnishing, etc.

 

And finally we did have a problem with the cabin toilet one day (as I reported in my blog entry). However in our case it was fixed, and had probably been caused in the first place by something being pushed down a toilet that shouldn't have been.

[plane2port]

Ilene,

 

Don't forget that the Galaxy provided you with intelligent, fascinating, and brilliant dinner partners. (Ha, ha):p

[Grumpy7]

We were on the same cruise. The sink and toilet showed signs of age.

The rest of the ship including common areas, dining room, bars etc and the rest of the stateroom were fine.

The pool has always been 4'6". No secret. If it was a concern, it should have been questioned before booking.

If someone wants state of the art, then always go on a ship as new as possible.

Sometimes the itinerarry dictates which ship.

The last line of "Some Like it Hot" applies.

[travelingmcmahans]

Tom, have you quit blogging?

[tom_uk]

Tom, have you quit blogging?

 

No, just having a lengthy pause. I have been horribly aware that I haven't updated it since we got back...

[azzy]

if you were renting out your home it would be expected to be spotless with everything working.