Rick-cruiser

As you can see, you get completely different opinions (many the diametric opposite from each other) when you ask different people about their opinions of cruise ships and cruiselines.. You cannot possibly make those sweeping generalizations of the cruiselines as you have.. Your experience on a particular sailing of a cruise ship, on ANY cruiseline, will depend on a multitude of factors and variables, which are fluid and constantly evolving... including:. the cruiseline's current business plan set into play - which in turn determines the amenities/services that you will have access to and experience, the captain, the officers, the staff, the head chef, the hotel director, the entertainment staff, the entertainment shows themselves, *your* waiter, *your* room steward, the ease in which you embark/disembark, the venues/amenities which you find particularly important either being/not being there for you.... AND, often most importantly, the particular passengers on that particular sailing.. The "vibe", and therefore your experience and perhaps overall impression about that cruiseline, can vary tremendously from one week to the next.... even on the same ship!. Please consider that the itinerary itself (including the experiences you have onshore at the various ports) can have a tremendous impact in your overall vacation experience.. Lastly, don't forget that the "season of your life" - whether you are in your 20s, or 40s, or 60s.... can often make you "see" things differently through the same glasses...

We've been on more cruiselines and ships that we can remember, however one thing we've retained from our experiences on all these ships is that they are more alike than different.. You will find unexpected (sometimes startling) surprises and pleasures:. food better on a Carnival ship than a Celebrity ship, wonderful "vibrant" people and formed-friendships on a HAL ship than a Norwegian ship, a Princess ship being more to your children's liking than a Royal Caribbean ship.... and so on.

Please do not make any one bad experience on one sailing of one cruise line taint and/or form permanent negative generalizations for that entire cruiseline.. Again, you can go on another sailing on that same ship, and have a diametrically opposite experience.. Just be open-minded, know that there are a multitude of cruise ships from which to choose, and be ready to have some of the greatest experiences of your life!

- Rick

.

I am just off the Royal and the lack of central staircase was a BIG issue for me! I prefer only to use stairs, however my room was central so it made no sense for me to walk all the way to the end to use the stairs when there is a central elevator. it was maddening!!!! I HATED not having those stairs. the elevators are a PITA for several reasons. before my cruise I thought people were just whining but now that I've experienced it myself I realize they are right!

Thank you.

.

Wow, stereotyping at its best! :rolleyes: Have you even sailed a luxury cruise line? The food by far beats Princess. You get what you pay for.

Yes I have.. Several times.. And the food does not "by far" beat Princess.. "You get what you pay for"?. Tired cliche...and not always correct.

Every time I've compared the mainstream cruise lines to the luxury ones the mainstream ones win big time in price--at least for us. One of the differences is that we're just glad to be able to take a cruise and will book an inside cabin or obstructed view a lot of the time. I realize that the luxury lines offer a much better experience in terms of food and service.

No that's not true at all.. Luxury cruise lines exist so that "like" people can cruise together.

.

.

Gee, I'm SO surprised at all the fuss about the lack of a central staircase....... :rolleyes:

.

The business model of alienating your long-term clientele and sending them elsewhere..

The announcement of smaller newbuild ships.

I had to laugh after reading these posts.. It will confuse the OP more than ever.. One talks about a particular ship/cruiseline being the best ever and sorry they had waited so long to try it...the very next post bashes that cruiseline and says never, ever again.. Some insist you MUST try a variety of cruiselines - that they're in essence all the same but each offer variances that distinguish themselves from others, while others say you must stick with one cruiseline to amass its loyalty program's perks and privileges.

Personally, we believe in trying out all the cruiselines and getting to know (and appreciate) the nuances of each... and evaluating for ourselves where they fall in line in their priority for us.... Believe me, there are SO many cruiselines out there, and so many ships within that cruiseline - you will be astonished as to which ones will surprise you with their amenities and overall experience.. We have been so pleasantly surprised with so many of the cruiselines/ships we have chosen.. You really should check them out.. You may find one ship within a particular line to be not-so-much to your liking..but then try another ship within that same line and (as another poster mentioned) becomes the best cruise you have ever taken.. Happened to us last year (after 30 cruises).. Variety is DEFINITELY the spice of life and will open your eyes to a whole new world of cruise options.

Don't stick with a cruiseline just because of the "perks" of their loyalty program.. It's the same thing casinos try to do..to make you not go elsewhere.. You will be very pleasantly surprised at all the wonderful experiences all the cruiselines have to offer, and during your journey you may just find yourselves another favorite!

Enjoy!

- Rick

.

We were on this cruise too!!. I agree... GREAT cruise and Princess did a great job.. Thanks for the HAPPY HAPPY video! :)

It was about a year ago, several months before the Royal began sailing, that I started a thread about the "No Central Staircase" potentially being a real issue on this ship.. You would have thought I was condemning someone's firstborn.. the way certain people reacted.. Anyway I'm glad I was the first to alert people about this.. So many have thanked me because they were then able to change their stateroom to a less-affected location and/or were happy that they at least knew about it.. As soon as the ship began sailing and the reviews poured in, the midship elevators/lack of central staircase was the number one issue on this ship...even if the review itself was a generally positive one.

Flash forward a year later, and this apparently is still a very big issue - as you mentioned, a very popular topic of conversation.. Makes me wonder all the more why so many were vocally upset at me for bringing this up - stating that my predictions were ridiculous and unfounded, and that this elevators/staircase issue would not affect anybody one bit.. Well I guess some "I told you so"s are in order. (but only SOME... most people "got it" then, and still do). :rolleyes:

.

The Hotel Director folks..... the Hotel Director.

.

What did the Hotel Director say when you told him/her about the chair-hogging situation negatively affecting your cruise?

Good for you. If more people complained to the right person (high enough up the food chain)' date=' maybe some action would happen. I just wonder if things went back to the old "look the other way" for the next sailing, though. I think we shouldn't let the chair hogs get away with it -- that will help.[/color']

 

 

Thank you.. I've always been an advocate of inconsiderate rule-breakers not getting away with whatever they want to get away with...

 

Learned that a long time ago in college, while getting tickets for a concert, when some oafs wanted to cut in line at the last minute while we had all waited in line for hours.. Let's just say.. that didn't happen.

 

Just remember..... rampant chair hogging? ----->. HOTEL DIRECTOR

.

We sailed on a Celebrity transatlantic cruise a few years ago.. There were going to be six days-at-sea in a row (crossing the Atlantic).. Everybody was getting ready for a nice, relaxing time on the ship - especially around the pool deck - for those six days.. Well, the very first sea-day, after breakfast, we had gotten to the pool area around 9AM and immediately noticed that somebody had "reserved" 11 (yes, 11!) lounge chairs IN A ROW directly next to the pool!!. There were nothing on these chairs but books, suntan lotion, flip-flops, hats, etc - WITH NO BODIES IN THEM - for over 3 hours!. We were sitting in the row behind them, so we had to watch as throngs of people walked by, looking for a place to sit, but couldn't find any chairs together... while these 11 were "reserved".. I couldn't believe the audacity of these selfish boors.. Believe me... had we really wanted any two of those particular chairs, their "STUFF" would have been thrown on the floor (or into the pool), and we would have proudly taken residence.

I was just waiting to see who (or WHAT, in this case) would have the nerve to show up to claim these chairs.. Sure enough, at around 12:30, three members of a group strolled over to the chairs, laughing and jabbering - indignant of their selfishness and inconsideration.. I was planning on having a conversation with them, but they did not speak English - or pretended not to - and so they just sat there the remaining time, without anybody else joining them by the time we left.

By the way, after an hour of the chairs being empty, I went right over to the pool butler, who said that there was nothing he could do about it (!), and that I had to speak with the security guy who was on deck.. Well, I went over to him, brought him right over to the chairs - which were all empty and had been for over an hour - and he was, shall we say, "non-concerned" over it.. I could feel my blood boiling, as I realized that he fully intended to reward these inconsiderate chair-hogging clods, while punishing those who can't find a chair.. I asked him who his boss was...he said the Hotel Director.. I thanked him and left.

I knew that we had 5 more sea days, and there was no way I was going to watch this happen every day.. Absolutely no way.. So I made an appointment with the Hotel Director, and on the way to dinner that evening went to her office to have a nice little "chat" with her.. I told her about what I observed that day, how the pool butlers / security guy did nothing about it, and that "reserving" chairs like was simply not acceptable and wouldn't be tolerated - especially for the next 5 sea days where the pool deck would be very popular.. She actually thanked me profusely for letting her know about it.. She said "if passengers like you didn't come here to tell me about things like this, I wouldn't know how severe the problem was".. She also asked me for the name of the security guy - which I told her.

Well, the next day there were FOUR OFFICERS patrolling the pool deck.. Unoccupied chairs with "token items" were non-existent, the pool butlers were not just standing around folding towels, and I did not see that security guy for the rest of the cruise.. Nobody knew that it was me who prompted such a change in the poolside enforcement, but I privately felt good about it.

One of the lessons I learned here is that, if you do see glaringly offensive chair hogging going on.... just make an appointment with the Hotel Manager (it's THEIR JOB) and tell him/her that this is negatively impacting the enjoyment of your vacation, and that you will not tolerate or accept such blantant selfishness and inconsideration from your fellow passengers.

- Rick

.

Andy, thanks again for your thorough imsights during this sailing. Hopefully, your ''encouraging conversation with (....) officers'' did include some attempts to unveil the ''view from the other side'' as regards the now firmly obvious trend from Celebrity to create an untenable atmosphere with their ''sound volume'' policies.

Still puzzles me as to what exactly their objective is, what goal they are pursuing....

Cheers

Claude

Their objective is to weed out the older folks (40+) who enjoy social interaction with ambient music in the background.... and instead cater to younger people you see with ipods/headphones perpetually stuck in their ears.... those who can't go anywhere without music blaring in their ears.. You know the ones... constantly hunched over their smartphones wherever they are...home, social events, in their car, restaurants, etc.. Music has consumed their lives to the point that it takes first priority over social interaction and interpersonal relations.. Celebrity recognizes this and is trying to lure these people onto their ships, at the expense of everybody else.

We haven't sailed Celebrity for over 3 years for these (and other) reasons.. We'll see how it all plays out 5-10 years down the line for Celebrity...

- Rick

.

Thanks.. Exactly supports what I stated.

Sounds like this couple takes full advantage of all the wonderful entertainment on board.. It never stops...it's all over the ship...and it's a terrific variety.

- Rick

.

We are hearing bad things about the quality of entertainment on Emerald Princess. We will be sailing in 3 weeks. Hope things get significantly better!!

Has anyone been on the Emerald that can speak to this. Thanks.

When we were on the Emerald last year we found that the entertainment was the best we've encountered on over 40 cruises.. The live music in the myriad venues were outstanding, they flew in - for a few days on the ship - individuals who normally perform in Las Vegas, the production singers and dancers were extremely talented and hard-working.. Audiences stood and cheered loudly at the end of most shows.. The entertainment venues were packed, especially towards the end of the sailing, through word-of-mouth from the other passengers.. That should be enough to put your mind at rest about this issue.

Happy travels.

- Rick

.

Thank you both for your information... due to your feedback we will keep this stateroom - it happens to be not under the treadmills, but rather on the other side (port) - under the Lotus Spa.. We like the idea of being near the gym/spa, pools/movie, Horizon Court buffet (for those bleary-eyed mornings when we just want to get right to the buffet..), and the Skywalker's Lounge.. I appreciate you offering your opinion/feedback.

- Rick

.

Hi.. Just booked the Emerald Princess for a sailing in April and grabbed a stateroom on deck 15 Lido, front of the ship, right below the Lotus Spa Pool area.. Can anyone who has been in any stateroom on deck 15 in this area tell me if it is noisy from anything happening on deck 16 above?. (moving of chaise lounges, pool / hot tub noise, etc).. Particularly in the early morning hours?

We still have the ability to change to another cabin if there's a reason to.. Can you please share your experiences (good or bad) if you've ever sailed in one of these staterooms on deck 15 forward?

Thanks!

- Rick

.

On each of our last two cruises, there were people who showed up to the MDR on formal nights in t-shirts and jeans. I didn't see anyone making a fuss, so I'd think jacketless would be acceptable.

And for reasons like these we no longer sail Celebrity..... lack of enforcement of rules (dress code, saving lounge chairs, diapers in hot tubs) are spineless, effectively condone the acts of the wrongdoers, and are a big pet peeve of mine...

.

It seems to me that the bulk of the cutbacks have coincided with the Michael Bayley regime. After years of sailing 3-4 times per year, predominantly with Celebrity, we have seen the value sharply decrease in the last 18 months. Due to the continual downgrading of the onboard experience, and the sharp increase in prices, we have cancelled our X bookings for 2014 in favor of two land vacations and two cruises on other lines booked for 2014.

 

I just feel that Bayley does not know who his client base really is, or what they value in a Celebrity cruise. AquaSpa Café was a signature Celebrity venue, and was well-loved by almost everyone. Why would you tinker with something so successful? On both of my X cruises in 2013, since the downgrading of the Aqua Spa Café, any time that I went there to check out the offerings, it was almost or completely empty. I just can't see where the changes are an improvement, and it can't be a financial improvement. Judging from posts online, and the people I know personally, the Aqua Spa Café no longer seems to be the draw it used to be, and it doesn't seem as if there are very many who want to pay for those $5.00 smoothies or yogurt parfaits either.

I couldn't have said it better myself.. The Aqua Spa Cafe used to be one of the highlights of our Celebrity cruise - a daily destination for its healthy, delicious food.. While we were on the third inaugural sailing of of the Solstice in Dec 2008 - we noticed all the changes Celebrity made to this new class of ship and decided it was not for us.. We have not been back since.. The reposition of the Aqua Spa Cafe as a open thruway on the pool deck (as opposed to its own, semi-private room on the Century- and Millenium-Class ships), with its diminished offerings and impersonalized service, made a very big difference to us.

That, along with other physical changes to this class of ship, lower standards, focus on new clientele, lack of enforcement of rules .made it very easy for us to pursue other cruiselines.

.

I preferred your pre-edit version! Did you make a New Year's resolution to be more mellow? :)

Shoot....I missed it.. You gotta be quick on these boards....

.

Completely agree that music tastes differ among passengers and that on some cruises you'll get great musical groups and on others perhaps not so much. However, I've been sailing Celebrity ships for 20 years. There has always been some good live musicians on board, even when some weren't so great. Now, it appears that Celebrity is moving away from live musicians altogether (string quartets and a cappella groups are gone or going fleetwide) to more DJs; louder music, including rap and hip hop.

 

I don't believe it's just some ships have better groups than others. I think as many live musicians are being phased out as possible to save money. DJs are far less expensive. I think they are targeting a much younger demographic that they believe will spend more money on things like spa treatments, overpriced watches, etc.

 

Yep, I definitely think they are trying to phase out their older passenger demographic. I think it's a risky move but I don't think our opinions really matter. Free drinks only go so far.

 

Time will tell...

Celebrity, for 40+ years, has prided itself on being a classy, refined cruiseline catering to guests of elegance, high-standards and discerning tastes.. The younger "party" crowd passengers were left for lines such as Carnival, Norwegian, etc... Rap is certainly not the signature of "modern luxury" experience..

.

Thank you, Sue.. Yes, as I've stated the staircase issue on the Royal is real problem... and I think that finally this is becoming clearer to those few remaining diehards.. :rolleyes:

- Rick

.

wow... tough crowd

.