paulh84

if the ship can’t get it (just like Diet Coke vs Coke Lite in Europe) you aren’t getting it. No matter how many people wave their VIP card. My earlier comment stands. It’s clear why some people routinely have so many service issues.

If they don’t have it, what do you expect? It’s not a yacht charter where they go on shore to buy exactly what you want. I can say with 99.9% confidence they had something else available they offered you. Acqua Panna, San Benedetto, San Pellegrino, or some sort of mineral water.

I've ordered hundreds of bottles of water and literally never had this issue. All you have to do is ask "can I get a bottle of _____". It works every single time. Villa Maria is cheap wine. I would ask for something more interesting. Something from outside if NZ will not have the notorious cat pee note.

I guess I have a much different demeanor than most. Don’t do this. You aren’t going to win anyone over by ordering a drink and shoving an email in face. There are much more tactful ways to handle this.

According to her bio, most of her career has been in Shared Services and Product Development. Which she even mentions herself here. I assume people do not understand what Shared Services means. Then double whammy, product development for Royal Amplified and Coco Cay is #2. She's not leaving Celebrity just the way it was.

This is how these things go. It’s the same as corporate America round table, townhalls, whatever they call them. Cringy unanswerable questions get vague responses. Executives are not going to engage in an argument with a customer, employee, whoever to defend an answer to a question that is overtly negatively. You can submit your feedback about your footstools but don’t expect a response. Decisions are made with a purpose.

It's the rage of the moment. That's all. Celebrity way also be a bit curious how the person was fine in December, posted about riding bikes 40 miles a day in perfect health in January, contacted executive customer service needing medically required special lounge chairs in February, then back to posting about taking indoor cycle classes in May. I am not a doctor but that seems weird.

It’s been a while but Luminae often uses a Pinot Noir glass for most reds. Similar to Riedel’s Veloce line. The generic red glasses are more Bordeaux style and the whites often what Riedel sells as a Riesling glass. Riedel has a separate product line for hospitality so it’s unlikely you can buy a one to one match

If you are seated by 8 and tell them you need to finish by 8:50 you could. Any later than that probably not.

We've learned 8 to 8:30 is the best time for Luminae. The early bird crowd tends to be taxing on the staff. By 8pm the restaurant is at half occupancy at most and service is much more relaxed and attentive.

I’m not seeing what the big fuss is on this issue. First they changed it so the deposit paid is lost after 12 months if the certificate went unused. That change briefly left a loophole that allowed you move your cruise to a refundable rate, then turn around and immediately cancel and get all of your deposit back. Now the certificate still forfeits the deposit paid after 12 months but they have closed the loophole. You can only use the certificate on non-refundable rates. You can still book a cruise onboard under essentially the old terms. Just pick a refundable rate from the beginning. Or just don’t buy a certificate if you don’t really know you will use it. Or have someone onboard buy one for you when you are ready to book.

No it's not. Read the label. "Bottled and vinted by Bonanza Winery". That means the winery (Bonanza in this case, not Caymus) made between 0 and 10% of the grapes. They source grapes from all over California to blend the wine, mostly from Lodi. It's nothing like a proper Napa Caymus. People see the Wagner name attached to it and think it's a bargain Caymus. It's not at all.

Just don't be lead to believe Bonanza and Cayman have anything in common.

Subjective, obviously. You also skipped over my "active" comment. I'm 40 and occasionally get bored in the Retreat areas of a Celebrity ship. An entire ship with nothing but that level of quiet would be dull for me. That is where Celebrity excels in having options, especially on Edge class.

Leaving as in never returning? No. Although there are several that probably should based on the commentary here. Open to other options? Of course. I need more variety than taking the same cruise 30+ times. They can keep the laundry bag and free coffee. We will not do mass market line to the Mediterranean or Europe again. Caribbean cruises will picked carefully and probably go more towards premium lines in the future. Lately we prefer the Edge class far more than S class so that does limit our Celebrity options. I do sense Celebrity is morphing into Royal Caribbean more and more especially with the new status matching. We are not really interested in anything outside of suites for most cruises but feel a little stuck in the middle. We are probably too young and active to fully enjoy the premium to lux lines but losing interest in the mass market big ship cruises.

Times change. Sooner than later the current loyalists, Zeniths, special people, whatever they title themselves will be washed out and replaced with a different segment of people. Just like the current crop replaced the ones that were the loyalists in the 80’s and 90’s who wore their dinner jackets and recycled mother of the bride dresses. That group has expired and so will this one. But now Celebrity tries to shift focus and gives the complainers some white haired people in the photos that represent them and it’s pandering. I think this group may be most content with having something to complain about.

Absolutely not. If I'm the attending physician I do not take medical guidance from customer service who has set the expectation I treat someone. The patient person boards the ship, needs treatment, doctor declines, a terrible outcome occurs and now who is on the line? Any medical center has the ability to do a simple lactated ringers drip. That is simple. But customer service doesn't decide that.

I'll be blunt and just say there is some really poor advice being provided here. To treat is not to treat is totally at the discretion of the ship's doctor. Treating someone with a complicated medical history is not a decision left up to a glorified customer service person in "Special Needs". Worse case scenario, and most likely, is they send her to a hospital in Bermuda. If the spa is willingly doing infusions for people on chemo they need to be shut down.

Would never work. There were 9 pages asking basic questions about status matches that were all documented on multiple websites.

There are a lot of cruise options out there to meet the needs of a demanding traveler. But the theme here is usually gripe gripe gripe but (supposedly) continue to book and book and book. I don’t understand it. Truly no one is offended or cares if you move on 🤣

They do not. I've rarely ever seen them made with a fresh shot, on sea or land. The Martini bars use a Ketel One draft machine that pours premade martinis. They are terrible. Anywhere else is going to use some sort of concentrate. For the salted caramel potion they may use caramel vodka or flavored syrup depending on what they have.

That’s quite literally the point of the program. They aren’t running a charity…..

Isn’t the obvious question to clarify if they are just referring to the lost deposit as the fee?

Would you consider Explora as an actual luxury line or more of a small premium line like Oceania or Azamara? I was considering Explora for an upcoming cruise but went with RC Yachts instead. It seemed like the consensus was Explora falls quite a bit short of a true lux line like Silversea or Seabourn.