Let me start off by giving some information on my cruising history. I have sailed in the Retreat 7 times, have done the NCL Haven Twice and the MSC Yacht Club once. Our Retreat experience has always been fantastic, until this sailing. I took the same exact cruise last year and paid half of what I paid this year. What did I get for double the price, no butler (When I reserved the cruise it was advertised I would have a butler), was told that the two bottles of Evian water that were in our cabin on embarkation day were all we got for our 10 day cruise, and pretty much non-existent service on the Retreat Pool Deck.
Let me start with the Retreat Pool Deck, on our previous Retreat experiences you pretty much never had to leave your chair for a drink. On this cruise over the course of 10 days I was maybe asked if I wanted a drink by a server a half a dozen times. For the most part, if you wanted a drink you were bellying up to the bar like your were on the regular pool deck. My wife loves the umbrellas on the Retreat Pool Deck. On our first sea day we had two chairs with an umbrella in between. I asked one of the pool attendants if they could open the umbrella and was told that he would check to see if it was allowed. Within a couple minutes the pool attendant returned and said that they were not allowed to open any of the umbrellas. I bought to his attention that not even 5 feet from where we were, a couple had their umbrella open, his response was "yes" and he quickly walked away. I'm guessing that the couple that had their umbrella open must have been staying in a higher category suite than we were, if you book an entry level Sky Suite prepare to now be treated like a second class citizen. We spent our day in St. Lucia onboard. We went up to the Retreat Pool Deck which was pretty much empty. I asked another pool attendant to open the umbrella and was told that all the umbrellas were broken.........................but you don't say, the couple that had their umbrella open (obviously not in an entry level Sky Suite) on the first sea day again were enjoying the shade of the umbrella. At this point I had enough and went to the Retreat Lounge to speak to the concierge. Within minutes of speaking to the Retreat concierge a pool attendant came and opened our umbrella. Why did it have to be that difficult, when you pay the price for the Retreat you expect top notch service, it was far from that.
On our first night in Luminae there was nothing on the menu I wanted to eat. On our previous 7 Retreat experiences filet mignon was not on the menu, but was available every night................so I asked for a filet mignon, I was told that Filet mignon was not on the menu. When I mentioned that on our previous cruises it was available every night, the waitor answered, yes we stopped that a few months ago. Again more cuts, but alot more money out of my pocket.
This was the first time that we did not book another cruise while onboard. I'd be willing to pay the high Celebrity prices if the experience was the same as years past, but Celebrity has now cheapened their product all the while sending their prices through the roof.
Will I sail Celebrity again, probably not. This experience left a really bad taste in my mouth. I will be spending my money elsewhere.
Does Celebrity care, I'd have to say no. Does Celebrity actually read the surveys at the end of the cruise, I'd have to say no. It's been nearly 3 weeks since I submitted my review of my sailing. I simply put in the comments section, this is probably my last Celebrity cruise, if you care to know why please call me and I provided my phone number, I haven't heard from anybody. Deliver a message to Celebrity, do not book their cruises anymore. My experience in the MSC Yacht Club a few months prior to this cruise was far superior than any of my Retreat experience for less than half the price.
You've been warned, now take a stand!!!!!!!!!!!
