seasheils

A rather curt letter from Border Patrol tells us we should not appear in our dressing gown! You do have to sometimes raise a smile at the language of officialdom that the US often employs - it reads a lot of the time like instructions to either a kindergarten class or perhaps a brain dead zombie.

 

 

Having served in the US Army, this brings me back.

I think that letter about not appearing in bathrobes was from the cruise director, not border patrol. I laughed about it and she told me that some people have gone to passport control in dressing gowns in the past, believe it or not! Go figure!

Thanks for the updated chart, Arno!

 

I was wondering whatever happened to CC Host Donna Trembath? I have not seen her name on any updates. Has she left Celebrity?

Donna is now in future sales. Last time I saw her, in April, she was on the Silhouette.

Celebrity used to serve freshly squeezed orange juice in the bar section of the oceanview cafe, but they stopped that sometime ago. I heard it was because of health inspections.(I didn't hear it officially, just in conversation.) When oranges are squeezed into juice, any bacteria present on the outside skin or inside surface can become part of the finished product. This can be a dangerous source of illness, especially for high-risk individuals. That is true of any fresh fruit.

The orange juice they now serve is pasteurized. I'm fine with that.

Anca is , quite simply, extraordinary! Oh, and I love her clothes!

The specialty restaurant package is a wonderful and very generous idea.

I like to give shipboard credit---doable by phone to Celebrity.

And yes---Celebrity does decorate the cabin.

My favorite Elite Plus perks are the internet minutes and the free coffees, rtc. That being said, the rules for coffee don't make sense IMO.

For example, you can have a latte, but you can't have a mocha, even though it costs the same.

You can't have a macciato even though it costs the same.

You can have hot tea, but not iced tea.

You can't have hot chocolate, even though it costs the same.

Really??? Who thinks of these rules?

On a recent transatlantic, someone on the ship bent the rules under complaints, I believe. For the entire cruise, we Elite-Plusers, of which there were many, were allowed just about anything on the Cafe al Bacio menu, free.

On the following cruise, same ship, the rules went back to normal---only the top 4-5 things were free; many coffee drinks that cost the same as the free ones were not allowed. Since many had a beverage package it didn't matter.

Go figure.

I typically enjoy having my hair blown dry on formal nights. Did you notice or hear anything about the quality the of hairdressers. Also the cost?

 

Txs

I was recently on Celebrity ships for 30 days and I, too, like to have a shampoo and blow-dry on the ship now and then. The price was about 48% more than the last company charged and the hairdresser did not do a very good job. I felt I wasted $60.00---their price which included their added 18% tip. I felt they were waaay overpriced for the service I received. I did not go back.

On Royal Caribbean they give B2B'ers free internet minutes to complete the survey on-line. I think it's 5 or 10, can't remember.

 

Don't know why Celebrity doesn't do that.

We were just on BtoBtoB on two different ships. I mentioned to the young lady in the ILounge that people should not have to use their precious internet minutes to complete the survey(s). She immediately emailed Miami and within a day or two we received a letter in our cabin stating that they had set up a free site to use on board. Good follow-up!

However, I have heard that there is very little room to make comments about staff, etc. and that the survey is not as good as the paper one we used to receive.

I think the staff depended on those positive comments.

Does Celebrity really want to know what we think???

Some of our co-passengers used the Attention to Detail cards to make mostly positive comments about staff while on the ship and were definitely listened to. The staff were aware of the good comments that had been made about them. This was on the Silhouette.

The problem with this is---these comments only go as far as the Hotel Director on that ship.

Hi, we will be on the Silhouette departing September 12th 2014, does anybody know who the Captain will be etc? Last year in June on the Silhouette we had Dimitrios Kafetzis who we thought was great, he even joined in with the kids in the pool one day. We all thought that he could have a second job as a stand up comedian with his dead pan face and comments especially when he say's 'this is your Captain out' Commentary and onboard announcements were kept to a minimum not like some of the other Cruise Lines.

 

Ray

We were just on the Silhouette and the captain was Anastasios Lekkas. I would guess that Capt. Alevropoulos will be captain in September. Just a guess.

Dimitrios Kafetzis is now master of the Summit but not sure if he is on the ship or on holiday right now.

No, I'm talking about paying X dollars for a suite/concierge/balcony "guarantee". Paying a lower price and hoping for a nice upgrade, at the very least the minimum category as to what the "guarantee" was.

 

I guess the cruises I've booked have not been in that situation. Yet.

That's right. You just have to keep watching. If a guarantee is offered, it is usually, but not always, offered after final payment is due.

To be honest, when you book a guarantee, chances are you'll get a not-too-desirable cabin in that category.

True, there are stories to the contrary, but what they are trying to do is fill the cabins that are left. You may just luck out.

Hi. I understand that membership of the Captain's Club allows one balcony upgrade within the same class. On the Celebrity booking page after inputing chosen cruise second page requests you input Captain's Club number if appropriate. Following onto third page, cabin class, I see no difference in prices etc. Is there an assumption you can choose a balcony and pay a lesser cost or should I see some indication of the Captain's Club perk?

 

Cheers

There are some restrictions to this perk, so I find it's best to call Celebrity directly and ask them if you are eligible. I was able to upgrade from CC-3 to CC-2, but I could not upgrade from CC-2 to CC-1. Go figure...

Good luck!

Dear posters,

Let me get one thing straight:

A move as a Captain to another vessel while holding the same position does not mean a " move down the ladder", even-though the ship might be smaller. This is different to Aviation where a move to a larger or more modern Airliner is considered an "upgrade "for a Captain.

Actually, the routes plied and ports visited constitute the biggest challenge for a Mariner, not the actual vessel he/she is commanding.

For example: the Infinity's Winter schedule is the most challenging in the fleet, and I have tremendous respect for the Navigational Officers onboard ( as I have for all Celebrity Officers ;) )

 

Obviously, being the " take-out Master" of a brand new vessel is an honour, but that has to do also with shipyard preperation work etc.

As the fleet is now stable, we will see some moves of Captains from time to time. Too often the same thing gets boring you know:D

In reality, Century, with her traditional prop and rudder configuration is a harder lady to handle in tight quarters than the S-class with their Pods.

 

Regards,

 

D.

Well said! Thanks for your post.

Hi - any idea how long Chandru is on for Maggie ?

Will he be covering the crossing in April would you know ?

 

 

thanks

I have heard that Donna will be back as CC Hostess for the April 20th crossing.

Both are great!

Sheila

Read here on CC Chandru is back from India and they gave him Sillie.Wonderful ship, wonderful Cruise director.Enjoy.

I think Chandru is the Captain's Club Host.

As a person who has been in suites on Princess, Celebrity, and Holland America ships, I am unsettled by this idea. In fact, I am hesitating about going on a Cunard cruise because they have such a blatant class system with separate dining rooms for Queen and Princess suites. I understand that even being in a suite is elitist to some extent, as is travelling first class or business. I am not against hierarchies and I am not against people getting what they pay for; but I am against pretention. I actually felt a tad uncomfortable using the Concierge Lounge on Holland America ships. Please, Celebrity do not emulate Cunard that, to me, has a very outdated British class system. I can understand giving suite guests the option of eating in the specialty restaurants, but I am uncomfortable with what amounts to a caste system. Just my opinion.

I agree---well said!

Perks for suite guests are nice and I must say I enjoy Blu (when I've had the opportunity) and Bistro on 5. That said, I'd hate to see X move to a class sytem like Cunard.

I so agree with this! We refuse to sail on Cunard simply because of their "class system." We sometimes book suites, sometimes AQ, sometimes regular balconies and enjoy all of them. But this is the 21st Century, Celebrity, so let's not go back in time to a class system.

I agree---8232

2nd choice: 8285

I've seen several people (you in particular) try to explain that this is all based on what makes sense for Celebrity from a profit perspective. What they consider loyalty is those who Celebrity believes will continue to spend money with them.

 

Regardless of what it is called, it really isn't a loyalty program - it's a program designed to give people incentive to spend more money. And if you look at it that way, they hit a home run. They will reward people who spend more on the base cruise fare and they now have a vehicle to give points for on-board spending, advanced booking, etc. if they choose to do so.

 

The problem is that there is a huge world-wide sense of entitlement in people and emotions cloud logic. Anyone can say it was a bad business decision, but the only ones who can make that determination were the ones who designed the program and conversion. If history proves them wrong, you can bet they will make changes.

 

Each person has to judge the impact based on their own case. But at some point, they have to look at it logically and leave emotion out of it. If our cruise history had been converted using the new earning method, we would have had 89 more points. A valid initial reaction was "Crap! They screwed me". But a closer look showed that all it really did was make it take a couple of more cruises to reach Zenith, a goal I do not expect to make. So I missed out on something I never had and I can live with that. Other people will have a different reaction and they are not wrong to feel that way, just unrealistic.

Bob,

Your posts are always so sensible, well-written, and right-on!

Sheila

I thought I posted this question a few days ago, but I can't find it, so I'm going to assume I did somthing incorrectly and post it again. Who is the current captain of the Century? We heard that one of our favorite staff captains got promoted to that post, and if that's true, we look forward to seeing him when we sail on Century early next year.

I think you're speaking of Nikolas Christodoulakis. He is currently the captain of the Century, and yes, he is a great captain---very friendly and very present to his guests. Unfortunately for you, he will probably be on holiday by early 2014 since he started this stint on the Century in late Sept. Captains are usually on for 3 months at a time.

Does anyone know who the current captain on Century is? We heard that one of our favorite staff captains has been promoted to that post.

The captain of the Century right now is Nikolas Christodoulakis. He is a wonderful out-going guy. Before being promoted to Captain, he was staff captain on the Silhouette and other S-class ships.

Hi Arno,

Nikolas Christodoulakis is back on the Century as Captain.

Happy Cruising to you and Joanne!

Sheila

We are on Century in November 2013. Can anyone tell me who the Captain and Cruise Director are?

Nikolas Christodoulakis will be back on the Century as Captain towards the end of Sept. so he will be Captain during your November cruise. He is a great guy---very visible and very friendly.

I don't know who the CD will be.

Gitte,

Thank-you so much for the pictures! Am anxious to hear details.

Can't wait to board her on Nov. 4!

Sheila

CC host is Bruce VanDerBoon....and yes, most defenitely learning the ropes, ...thus I'll cut him some slack and apply the '' if you can't say anything nice about somebody,say nothing'' philosophy....but he was horrible.

HD was only marginally better...and I suspect he too is fairly ''new''in that position.

Capt Patsoulas was typical. Good chap.

We never saw the Concierge host....tells you something about visibility...

Cheers

It's interesting how different people see people/things in different ways. We just got off the Millennium a little over a week ago. We thought the staff in general was outstanding.

Bruce Van der Boon is new, but we thought he did a great job. He was at every Elite breakfast, moving around the tables, talking to people, greeting everyone by name. Same with the Elite Cocktail time. He was pleasant, fun to be with, and did his job. How is that "horrible"?

Darren Tiller was also great. We really liked him and thought he set a good tone for the rest of the ship's staff.

I sent him a thank-you note for something and he answered with a personal handwritten note of his own. I appreciated that personal touch.

Rich Clesen is a very good cruise director as well. He is extremely visible and is constantly mingling with the guests at every function and was always outside greeting people after the show, etc. To us, this is an important role for the CD. Besides that, he has a great sense of humor---very fast on making humorous quips.

Yes, Captain Patsoulas is a nice chap but ---very little visibility.

Just my 2-cents worth,

Sheila

What ship was he on previously? He is new to me.

 

Anne

 

Nikolas Christodoulakis had been the staff captain on the Eclipse and was just promoted to master. Great guy!

 

Sheila