richsea

Unfortunately, all of this info is a moot point for you, since you are not at the level of Elite in Captain's Club. You can purchase espresso & cappucino in Cafe al Bacio on deck 5, but I don't recall the charges for these drinks.

And to Richsea, you can only stay if you agree with all of my posts! enjoy your next cruises whatever Line any of us choose - even us Celebrity diehards who do go on other Lines.

 

Den

OK, I promise. And as it happens, we will be on a Princess ship in a week or so, even though I sometimes feel like a traitor when I stoop to a line with MUTS.:D

But no fear, I'm sure we'll be back to Celebrity on our next cruise!

As Denny1 mentions in the previous post to yours, it's the atmosphere that Celebrity has built into their ships that bring many of us back. An in-your-face feature like MUTS is not in keeping with that low-key, relaxing, up-scale ambiance that Celebrity is known for. Even having a jumbotron type screen at only one pool would take away from the elegance Celebrity ships are known for. If you want the MUTS experience, go to Princess.

So sorry for having a different opinion than you. :rolleyes:I apologize. Can I please stay with Celebrity if I promise to be good?

While Celebrity is by far favorite cruise line, I fail to see what is wrong with MUTS. Princess ships, at least the Crown, Emerald, & Caribbean Princes have FOUR pools, only one of which has MUTS. One is an adults only pool aft, one in the Sanctuary, & the other is pretty much the same as the MUTS pool, but without the MUTS. What is the big deal?? It's easy to never experience MUTS, just use another pool! If MUTS doesn't apppeal to you, then you never have to be exposed to it, & you have 3 other pools to enjoy.

Thanks for the report & the great photos!! Keep them coming!

Just one question; what kind of camera/lens are you using?

That is incredible.

 

Here is the link to my sunset/sunrise page

 

http://joanne-justanotherday.blogspot.com/2010/10/sunrisesunsetquickly-goes-day.html

 

Happy cruising...Joanne

Great sunsets, Joanne! I can't get enough sunsets also. Each is unique & fascinating.

Some time ago I read an article on cruising & one of the comments the writer made poo ppoing cruising was "after all, how many sunsets can you watch; if you've seen one, you've seen them all", or something to that effect.

Elena7seas, yor pics are beautiful, particularly the one of the Statue of Liberty; that is truly awe inspiring!! It gives me chills!

As of Century's April 25 TA:

Master: Anastasios Lekkas

Chief Engineer: Ioannis Sotirianos

Staff Captain: Issac Ancona

Guest Relations Mgr: Marcela Salum

Hotel Director: Daniel Stacy

Food/Beverage Mgr: Ludwig Lozano

Cruise Director: Bob Wheatley, although he left Century in Amsterdam for vacation. He introduced his successor, but I can't remember his name.

Does anyone know where Dottie Kulasa is today? She was CD on our last Galaxy TA in May '08? She was one of the most personable & accessible SDs we have ever sailed with.

With so many items ..as well services being.. scaled down.. (That's a nice way to say it)..

 

 

Are they going to Take off the Dreaded Fuel Sur Charges now?

 

 

OIL is still again Below $90 USD a BBL!

 

$87.81 closed 10/06/2008 A.D. ;)

 

Celebrity has a way of raising things.. but lowering them in Ratio is naught done....eh..

 

 

Why is this ludicrous charge not Reduced and/or taken off in FULL ((((?))):mad:

 

 

Is it a form of High Sea Robbery? Is it for us shareholders and advisors?

 

Is it just added now to bring more profits at a ZERO BASIS...

 

Oil was in the mid $80s in Oct '07. RCL announced their 1st surcharge in November '07, most likely after absorbing the higher cost of fuel for months before the imposition of a surcharge. Today oil closed at $89 & change. I would think that after a period of time of selling at a lower price, all cruise lines will rescind at least most of the surcharge It took some time for them to impose the surcharge & it will take some time to eliminate them.

 

Or they should they tie the surcharge to the closing price of oil on the day you book your cruise. I'm sure that will make for a lot of unhappy cruisers. I can hear it now: Why can't I cancel & rebook at the lower surcharge?".

Oil was in the mid $80s in Oct '07. RCL announced their 1st surcharge in November '07, most likely after absorbing the higher cost of fuel for months before the imposition of a surcharge. Today oil closed at $89 & change. I would think that after a period of time of selling at a lower price, all cruise lines will rescind at least most of the surcharge It took some time for them to impose the surcharge & it will take some time to eliminate them.

Or should they tie the surcharge to the closing price of oil on the day you book your cruise. I'm sure that will make for a lot of unhappy cruisers. I can hear it now: "Why can't I cancel & rebook at the lower surcharge?".

Please be realistic.

Consider this: Isn't profit the primary goal for any company, particularly those that answer to shareholders? Not that that is always the best thing, but, it all comes down to 'the bottom line' eventually.

You are absolutely right, profit is the primary goal of any business. However, if you p#ss off enough people with cost cutting measures, they will just look elsewhere & you will decrease profits along with the costs.

Hi Richsea :)

 

I agree wtih you about the increase in negative comments concerning maintenance issues with Celebrity, especially from people who had well balanced reviews that also discussed the positives, as well as the negatives, of their cruise.

 

That was one of several reasons why we booked our upcoming Mediterranean Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas instead of Celebrity.

 

This is slightly off topic, but I noticed that you live on Long Island. I grew up on the North Shore of Long Island during the fifties and sixties. To make this comment more on topic, our house on LI was always very well maintained...LOL :)

I'm glad that your house was very well maintained. Did you parents serve a welcome champagne?:D I grew up in the City & mt family migrated out to the Island in 1960.

I've never sailed Royal Caribbean, & wonder about the maintenance of their ships vs X since they are the same company. One would think that the maintenance programs on both lines would be identical.

Have a great cruise!

I still fail to see how if one likes the champagne, they don't care if the ships are not maintained. I agree that there are those on these boards who may think that X can do no wrong & will defend X at every chance. But the vast majority of posters are, I think able to see shortcomings in X. It is true that most do not put faith in a totally negative review, especially from the one hit wonders, & also take with a grain of salt, the Pollyanna reviews. I know I do.

As I said earlier, what disturbs me most is the increase in negative comments regarding maintenance & well as some of the attention to detail that Celebrity has had a reputation for providing..........and yes, I think that the welcome champagne is just one of the little extras that I appreciate from Celebrity; & I do care about the maintenance of their ships.

I agree with those who have posted that some of the issues noted on this thread are the result of Celebrity's need to cut costs since their costs have been rising while their prices have not.

 

Costs rising? Did not they address that with the fuel surcharge? They're cutting costs to increase profits

 

The problem is that Celebrity is going to cut corners where they feel they can get away with it. If cruise critic is a representative sample of its passengers,they know that maintenance issues are something that the majority of its passengers will overlook.

 

Based on a number of posts I have read on various threads, it appears that given a choice of welcoming champagne and deffered maintenance or no welcoming champagne with greater attention to ship's maintenance, the majority would choose the welcoming champagne.

 

What makes you believe that because someone appreciates the welcoming champagne, they don't care about ship maintenance? That seems kind of silly.

 

On the other hand, I think it is also possible that Celebrity might have a two tiered system when its new ships are launched. It may use its newer ships to cater to people who are willing to pay more for a new ship that is in good condition, and use its older ones for people who are willing to overlook maintenance issues if the price is right.

 

All cruise lines tend to charge less for their older ships. This is no reason to neglect maintenance

burbur - 6 solstice class ships?

Thanks for your review. I sense that there will be those that will say that they sailed this ship & did not experience the things that you detail, & they may be correct in THEIR assessment, based upon their experience.

But what I find disturbing is that there seems to be more & more comments regading the maintainence (or lack thereof) of Celebrity's ships as well as the lack of Celebrity's attention to detail, which is what used to set Celebrity apart from other cruise lines. I have seen many reports from cruisers relating comments from crew members alluding to cost cutting measures. The lack of a dessert tray, the absence of the pepper mill. There just seems to be more & more comments like this. This is certainly a disturbing trend.

I hope that you detailed your experience to Celebrity management. In fact, you should forward this review to them. Surely if enough people comment, someone in corporate will hopefully listen. If not, Celebrity will, before long, be sailing with less than full ships.

For myself, I will make my own observations on our upcoming Galaxy cruise in May, & then decide if I wish to continue cruising with Celebrity.

This article might be helpful: http://www.bermuda-online.org/BPHA.htm