Cruise Reviews Blaming the Cruiseline for Their Mistake

One of the most recent reviews of Celebrity blames the cruiseline for their booking a cabin with a restricted view and the fact that they couldn't change cabins.

I appreciate nearly all reviews since they are good information but complaining about that is completely ridiculous. It's up to you or your travel agent to make sure you book the cabin you want.

I would post a link to the review but I don't want to give it validation that is undeserved.

I agree. I think Celebrity does a good job of advising which cabins have restricted views and it up to the cruiser to do their home work. Our 1st cruise was in 1997, at the time of travel books vs internet. We managed to do the research to determine that a port hole was much different from an ocean view cabin with a window and choose to pay the price of the ocean view with window.

Mary Lou

It's a common theme, posters writing in to complain about something that a little research would have shown them before the cruise. I can't count how many reviews I have seen that talk about no self service laundry, no rock climbing, and so on. But what really amazes me is that they are able to find Cruise Critic so quickly AFTER their cruise.

It's a common theme, posters writing in to complain about something that a little research would have shown them before the cruise. I can't count how many reviews I have seen that talk about no self service laundry, no rock climbing, and so on. But what really amazes me is that they are able to find Cruise Critic so quickly AFTER their cruise.

Especially when there are Diamond or Elite already!:)

Agree it is easier to ID a restricted view cabin now but was not always so.

Way back, ..we got stuck with a small pie shaped balconyon an S class ship next to a suite where folks from suite could look in on us and only 1 person could fit out there...it was not marked as such (but is now)....we never complained but immeduately switched cabins for a future cruise to avoid a repeat...the Cruise sales rep looked at us like we were wierd...totally not aware of their own layouts.,,,

Glad these are now marked along with window washer stuff etc,,

We always do a lot of research on cabins before we book a cruise. Last February I called Celebrity to book a cruise for this coming January. I had picked a perfect balcony on deck 6 . The Celebrity rep was VERY helpful. When I told her the cabin I wanted, she advised me that I would be much happier with a hump cabin and an extra large veranda, all the same price! I have never had any real problems with Celebrity or TA's but I do believe we all need to educate ourselves when we make any kind of investment-even a vacation!

It never ceases to amaze me the amount of people who do little or no research into a vacation.

I don't get it... Between hard earned money (usually a good lot of it) being spent, and valuable and highly limited time off being spent... I cannot believe how little people invest of their time beforehand making sure that "what they have in mind" as a Destination or experience is even do-able or reasonable.

These are the same folks you see interviewed on the News during a Hurricane Evac who say they had no idea that it was Hurricane Season... They just booked cause the prices were so low. (Hello people... hurricane Season comes round the same time every year... It is not a NEW phenomena)

In this case, Getting a Partially Restricted View or Obstructed View Cabin is pretty straight forward on Celebrity's website... And one pays less for those categories

One wants a better view... Then one books / pays accordingly

--- --- ---

Your post perked my curiosity... So I went looking for said Review

Found it very amusing that this person is blaming Celebrity for the room he got (wanted cash compensation)... :confused::rolleyes:

He should not be blaming Celebrity

"The fault" with his cabin is clearly his lack of reading / research and his choice in using a Travel Agent that clearly did not know what her Customer wanted (or booked him the wrong cabin)

That is where the blame should lie. Period

Cheers!

It's amazing that some just refuse to be accountable for actions and results that they have control over.

Also, not all the cabins with partially obstructed views are indicated as such.

They typically will mark a cabin as partially obstructed if there is a lifeboat extending out below the balcony.

But usually there is no indication given when some other type of obstruction extends out below the balcony, not even when it obstructs the downward view much more than a lifeboat would.

We are going on a new ship (Princess) in December. Our TA was very helpful in ensuring we are getting a non-obstructed balcony cabin with cabins above and below us ('tricks' I learned on CC - thanks).

It didn't take much research - it took asking the right questions. Our TA was knowledgeable about the ship and knew what obstructions were there besides for the lifeboats.

We are going on a new ship (Princess) in December. Our TA was very helpful in ensuring we are getting a non-obstructed balcony cabin with cabins above and below us ('tricks' I learned on CC - thanks).

 

It didn't take much research - it took asking the right questions. Our TA was knowledgeable about the ship and knew what obstructions were there besides for the lifeboats.

But is it a terraced balcony ship? We were on the Ruby in 2012 and everyone above could see down onto the balcony's below. Glad we had on of the sweet 16 on Emerald deck. The only covered balcony's.

I'm booked on the ship mentioned on my upcoming February cruise and was most surprised by the comments. When I first looked at booking this ship the fact there was obstructed view cabins practically leapt out and bit me on the nose, hence the reason I am in a 2A. The other comment that got me was they didn't eat in the MDR much because one of their tablemates was a drunk. Why didn't they just ask to be moved to another table. For people that have cruised before they seem very uninformed.

... But what really amazes me is that they are able to find Cruise Critic so quickly AFTER their cruise.

OMG! You are spot on with this comment.

Regards,

Kevin Reid

I haven't read the review (haven't really looked for it). Playing devil's advocate here - could it be possible that they booked a Guarantee and thus got the obstructed room? Did they not truly understand that when you book a guarantee that you are fairly likely to get the "worst" cabin in that category? Did they also not understand that you could ask for another cabin?

As I said, I haven't read the review and am merely playing devil's advocate. Personally, even if it were my first cruise, I'd be happy just being on the ship with a balcony. We've always had a balcony and enjoyed it regardless if the lifeboats obstructed our view down. We've only booked a suite guarantee once, 10 years ago, and we were content to accept the Sky Suite we were assigned. Since then, I do the research and book the cabin I want.

Cut a break for all reviewers.

Mention of an obstructed view is warning that it takes research to book.

We encourage friends to check CC forums and member reviews for information in preparing to cruise.

Claire

I have not read the review....which seems to have involved seasoned cruisers and specific issues and has resulted in neg reaction on this thread....

But in the general run of things, many other cruisers rely on their TA, the cruise line , brochures and cruiseline website in booking a cruise and cabin selection.,. They do not make copious investigations, read cabin spreadsheets or follow cruise or travel bds the way many of us do,,,..after all it is a vaction, not an expedition,

when we got stuck with the small pie shaped balcony, neither we or our TA had any idea it differed b/c the deck plans were not to scale and no mention was made in the brochure...the more info available on the deck plans the better it is for those relying on them. I am pleased to see many more cabins do come with an asterik nowadays..,makes for happier customers!

Yes, like I said nearly all reviews are useful information.

The fact that the reviewer made a mistake in their booking should help to prevent people from making the same mistake in the future.

Since an expensive vacation is a large investment for me I check everything in minute detail. This has allowed me to have some really great vacations.

Found this to be useful. Apparently not all hump cabins are spiffy.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1426

I have not read the review, but am also playing devil's advocate a bit regarding researching before booking a cruise. A few months ago I would have probably jumped on that bandwagon - very experienced cruiser (30+) and so used to Celebrity (25 cruises) that I can book a cabin on any of the ships with no problem - know what to look for and how to find answers to any of my questions.......

.......and then I decided to book an RCI cruise because Celebrity's Caribbean options in October were so minimal. Haven't sailed them in years. Let me tell you - yes, there is a boatload of information here on Cruise Critic (and on the cruise line websites) about just about everything you would want to know about sailing a particular line. The key word in that sentence is 'boatload'. Just to get a few simple questions answered I was scrolling through dozens and dozens and dozens of postings trying to find answers. It was a very frustrating experience to say the least. I had minimal time to research as the decision to book a cruise was last minute, and I had a short timeframe to decide if I wanted to catch the specials of a certain online travel agency. It was a very humbling experience and reminded me that not everyone has the time and energy and perhaps experience to find what they need to know. For some, they have no idea what to ask as they don't know what they don't know. Perhaps these comments do not apply to the particular review mentioned, but they do apply to research comments. And heaven forbid one ask a question whose answer can be found by doing this copious research. You will get a few helpful responses, and a lot of lectures by people telling you the info is there - go find it. It can be tough on these boards:D

Found this to be useful. Apparently not all hump cabins are spiffy.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1426

Assume by the link, you are referring to the one CC labeled as "the tunnel"

S-Class # 9192 is on the angle off "the bump" and as such has one of the largest balconies on the ship

I have stayed in a similar cabin (First off the hump or bump) and can tell you that the photo posted... Which was taken with a special lens (fisheye) gives the balcony a very poor presentation. Note the 2nd photo without the fisheye lens... Doesn't appear all doom & gloom.

Many of Celebrity's oversized balconies are a combo of covered & open... As is this one shown (front portion, several feet of open... As witnessed by the 1st section of the partition)

In fact the other photo shown in the article labelled "the hump" cabin is virtually the same layout... Under the Ship's overhang... Just that it is photographed at a different angle / at the rail looking sideways. So it truly is all about presentation.

The much sought after M-Class Sunset Balconies are even bigger & longer... Lol and if someone photographed one of them with a fisheye lens they would for sure look even worse than this posted photo... They would take the term tunnel to a whole other level, I fear.

As someone who loves both of these categories of cabins on the two classes of Celebrity Ships, part of me says... Bring it on with the poor photographs... Cause it means my chances of getting one of these cabins greatly improve (by poor representation... Fewer cruisers will book them)

But for the sake of truth... I instead have chosen to post this reply.

There are a great many photos of all the various types of Celebrity Cabins here on CC... Hopefully anyone looking at a particular cabin would seek those out, and also find this the Celebrity Board to check out the Cabin Spreadsheet Stickies and even chat with us all here

Cheers!

And heaven forbid one ask a question whose answer can be found by doing this copious research. You will get a few helpful responses, and a lot of lectures by people telling you the info is there - go find it. It can be tough on these boards:D

The same is true asking about S class cabins. People forget that the spreadsheet doesn't include every cabin. And not all the S class ships are the same.

The same is true asking about S class cabins. People forget that the spreadsheet doesn't include every cabin. And not all the S class ships are the same.

Yes..I also agree with the boatloads of info. I have recently discovered the pier the ship docks at is completely different than I expected. Probably something I read in the wee hours of the morning once, so I skimmed over further pier info.

Too much info and research may not have the best outcome.

I think having a little patience with questions for simple questions is great.