HelenREMfan

I have never flown again with BA since they cancelled my flight to Manchester from JFK with no pre warning and then totally failed to explain exactly why the flight was cancelled (I always suspected it was to save money and to fill a London Heathrow flight with the Manchester travellers) The way my queries were treated and for that matter how I was treated at JFK persuaded me not to travel with them again.

Just why we are allowing these airlines to cram seats into planes with ridiculous levels of personal space and then paying them to be allowed a seat with non DVT properties id ludicrous. 

Maybe after the current world situation we could be sending these airlines a clear message - do not treat us like cattle and what customer service means.

I wish Celebrity would base more cruises from the UK. There would be no need then to fly. I can't travel to the USA because of being unable to get travel insurance cover.  There are no Western Med cruises except for one in August for the next 2 seasons. I do not cruise during school peak time holidays so I have no cruise to do......

They’re back!!

Am on the Silhouette NOW and after a week of no free movies..... we now have On Demand free movies back. We have 9 to choose from...... 

Thank you for listening Celebrity....it might seem small feed but..... it is appreciated, does make one as the customer feel listened to and valued. 

2 hours ago, aml3679 said:

I am sorry for those who are upset about this.  Personally, my husband and I rarely turn on the TV when we are in our cabin.  Celebrity is not doing what any other cruise line would do.  Like I poster said, grab a towel and go watch on the big screen.  Turn lemons into lemonade.

As I said no top deck movie screen on the Silhouette and Celebrity Central is claustrophobic and not very comfortable!!

We are on the Silhouette right now. A fellow cruiser on a B to B told us they had movies last week but after speaking to guest relations we were told there were no longer free movies in the room. Now....on the Silhouette there is nowhere on deck to watch movies so there is just one film shown at odd random times in Celebrity Central - not the most comfortable venue. People on board have not been at all happy re the 4/5 free films Celebrity used to provide and I reckon quite a few have been vocal about it. I have also heard people comment about how much busier it seems around the ship  which has not been the case on other (full) cruises. 

STOP PRESS!!!!  we were just coming back on board and were in the elevator with a couple commenting about how busy it seems and I mentioned the movies and behind me was an officer from guest relations and she announced the films were coming back today!!!!!! NOW I have just checked and they are not back yet but if they are then full marks to Celebrity for listening!! 

Watch this space !!!! (I did hear that there are a few executives joined the ship yesterday..... maybe that had some bearing on things....)

Free films in the room area thing of the past. Celebrity has cut them 😞 

Just on theSilhouette and tried to access the formerly free small selection of movies - nope nothing. On speaking to another guest who is on a back to back the free movies were available last week on a fjord cruise ! Customer relations’ staff we spoke to were unaware when we went to check. After a phone call they informed us that they had finished fleetwide but.... movies are show in Celebrity Central - not the most comfortable of venues remembering that the Silhouette doesn’t have a screen outdoor on top deck!! This has been disappointing....as we weren’t prepared and did enjoy watching (and being able to pause) movies. 

Last cruise we would usually meet up with folk from the roll call and create a team of 6 and we did pretty well. We accumulated quite a lot of 'win' tickets but unlike others here..... the 'prizes' were rather meagre..... for our share of approx 14 tickets we just took a few packs of Celebrity cards. 

That was well said Bo !

I have no problem with children as a rule. As a lifelong teacher I am very used to dealing with children and left to my own devices....not a problem. The problem lies with.... the parents.

As a previous inhabitant of the UK seaside resort Blackpool, I am all too aware of the "I'm on holiday - nothing can interrupt my holiday, nothing bad can possibly happen... I can switch off and do as I like" attitude  of too many adults/parents. Bad enough in a resort but on the confines of a cruise ship? It is very difficult for ordinary members of staff to be able to 'confront' guests or their children as this could generate a complaint about them. I have no problem addressing children re their behaviour..... there are ways to do that which lessen the issue of confrontation. However it is the ship's management which should be acting. Yes they should be providing age appropriate activities for the children and yes Celebrity had plenty of warning re the numbers scheduled for that trip. 

As an ex teacher I do delight in holidaying during school term times....and as people have pointed out, they have come to associate Celebrity as a company not essentially targeting families with children. They, in my opinion, dropped the ball on this one and the 'bright spark' who came up with the 'children go free' ploy needs to be sent on training re thinking things through (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction - would be a start! )  From people's comments on this thread it would seem that they have lost  a few regular clients. 

Icelandic horses have a different gait. In other horses and ponies trot is in  1:2 time..... so you get 'rising trot' or 'sitting trot' and you can count 1,2 1,2 etc

Icelandic horses (they're referred to as horses even tho to us they are pony sized)  'trot in 4 time so 1,2,3,4 & 1,2,3,4 etc. 

We competed against them one at a Native Horse and pony show (we used to show Welsh cobs) I had never seen them before. They are quite stocky and can have thick coats. 

I couldn't agree more. I used SPB and organised 8 of us...2 couples from USA and 2 British. We had some with mobility issues so all was arranged with that in mind. We personalised the entire 2 days. Our guide was excellent and like others we sailed past any queues and even our guide said we were very lucky to be almost alone in the gallery with the da Vinci paintings! She guided and chose the galleries for us as it is impossible to see all in the allotted time - and wise choices they were too. We saw all the 'must see' sites but what I can really recommend is that our guide offered us a trip on the  Metro! It was amazing. Only 5 of us braved it and our guide timed the main escalator for us - 3 minutes it took!!! The corridors and stations put the London Undergound to shame as they were bright, very clean and had wonderful mosaics to marvel at! Not to be missed! I could not have done it on my own with all the guides etc in Russian script so was great to be escorted! 

We weren't held up getting off the ship at all and passport control was fine. SPB organised the necessary visas - all was simplicity itself. The van was a very comfy Mercedes and .... had free wi fi all the time we were on it ! 

I agree re contacting companies for tours in St Petersburg. I used SPB and they were great. We were 4 couples  meeting on the roll call with several of us having mobility issues. SPB were great and we tailored the venues to exactly what worked for us. We had a great 2 days and cannot praise them highly enough - 12 seater minibus for the 8 of us with free wifi, excellent guide, early entry to the Hermitage and we went with her judgement as to which rooms to focus on. We were met promptly each day - located the guide and minibus easily and returned to the ship in perfect time. For the cost it could not be faulted at all!. 

4 weeks for us before Silhouette and the Western Med.... in a Sky suite. What will we do with a butler ?

I am an ex competitive swimmer and yes the solarium pool isn't huge but.... it is a fair size and a good swimmer can easily adapt strokes so as to have a 'work out'. It is more difficult when people just park themselves rather inconsiderately in the middle of the pool to chat! I mean, people don't block the running track now do they? You do need to swim right in the middle though so you can swim to the wall. 

2 hours ago, tkline said:

No 😞 that would have been nice. I think I remember them offering that when we did Alaska. Do they ever add new excursions later, or is what they have on their site now pretty much always going to be all they offer? They also don't have any excursions at all in Cork Ireland, so I guess we'll just wander around that day.

The ship docks some way out of Cork. The dock port is quite a small place tho looked pretty. I think there was a bit of a Titanic exhibition (we didn't view it) 

With sites like Booking.com you can research hotels, read reviews, see pics ,location etc online. With the £ weak against near every currency and very unlikely to improve - esp as Brexit date approaches you should get a good deal for your $. 

There are coach trips running fromm Victoria coach station which take in Stonehenge ( an unbelievable massive draw for Americans! not worth it imho) and then on to an afternoon in Bath - well worth a visit. Museums and art galleries in London are free! I recommend the National Gallery in Trafalgar sq and the Nat Portrait gallery attached to the side. I recommend also the riverboat trip to Greenwich from Westminster Pier to Greenwich where there is the Maritime museum and then up on the top of the park the Greenwich meridian and observatory. Great pub with fab food by the Thames with Nelson connection The Trafalgar - worth a rest break and food 🙂 Plus there is Greenwich market (free to browse) as is Borough market with fab food stalls. Covent garden has many street performers and is near shopping. Free to enter (but not to buy) are the superstores of Selfridges on Oxford st, and then Harrods in Knightsbridge. Always worth a look ! (Hot salted beef sandwich on far left ground floor at Selfridges for a yummy snack !!)

So it doesn't need to cost the earth. get Oyster card as ppl have said ...travel by tube is fast...by bus you see more.If you go to Tussauds, Ripleys etc then you will pay £££££££s. 

Shout out if you need help on here am sure ppl will add to my list! Oh I forgot... www.Thetrainline will give you train travel to Southampton and usually 10 - 12 weeks before travel is needed there will be deals showing. 

On previous sailings there has been dancing later at night in the Sky Lounge to live music. I am not saying it is ballroom but then as I never ent I wouldn't know. Think there was also some in the grand foyer on the customer service deck thought the space is more limited there. 

16 hours ago, Choisic said:

Merci pour ce retour que je suis attentivement.

On va faire notre 1ère croisière sur célébrity, après 4 sur Msc en yacht club, donc on va embarquer sur le constellation le 6 août au départ de Venise vers les îles grecques 

On sera dans la cabine 11031, j'espère qu'elle sera calme.

On a le forfait classique, l agence nous a dit que le verre serait jusqu'à 10€?

On boit peu d'alcool mais on aime les bon café et les boissons originales et moi les vins blancs de temps à autres, 

Est-ce qu'avec notre forfait on sera satisfait où il faudrait que l'on passe en premium?

On a l'habitude en yacht club d'avoir un all-inclusive (boisson et mini bar)

Dernière question auriez-vous les tarifs de la blanchisserie ?

Merci pour le temps que vous passez à répondre à nos questions et des astuces que vous nous donnerez

 

On a réservé avant nous aussi à l'hôtel olympia qui viendra nous chercher à l'aéroport 

 

Si vous aller A Barcelone ne manquait pas la sagrada familia et la rambla c'est splendide 

Rome nous avons fait le tour de la ville avec une guide qui viens nous chercher au port on a adoré pour 50€/personne, elle parle français et anglais 

Bonne croisière 

Salut 🙂

Constellation - un grand bateau - et on s'amuse bien avec Celebrity.

Pour les cafés spéciaux visite Cafe al Bacio (avec les patisseries gratuits!) Avec le forfait classique  on peut y prendre les cafés. Aussi il y a une selection de vins. Je crois que si vous ne buvez pas beaucoup d'alcool..... achètez le forfait classique. Prend soin.... le mini bar au cabin ne sont pas gratuit! Tout le monde doit payer! Hélas je ne connais pas le tarif re la blanchisserie. 

Excuse svp les fautes de vocabulaire et de la grammaire..... je n'ai pas assez d'opportunités pour pratiquer le français 😞 

Bon voyage en aout !! 

On 6/26/2019 at 10:51 PM, Jesseslola said:

The closer we get to our date, the scarier it gets with regards to evening entertainment.

 

A friend of mine mentioned that outside ocean view there was a lineup of wheelchair, like an old age home. They can hardly converse because all these oldies gave them the “look”. 

If there is not enough entertainment, we have to entertain ourselves, but that could get noisy.😳🥴. They might put us in a naughty room, facing the wall😩

As someone with limited mobility thanks to severe osteoarthritis and other health difficulties thanks for that comment about wheelchair users! Do you include any aged disabled wheelchair user in that comment? I might be using mobility aids but I am far from brain dead or removed from having fun. I suspect your "noise" might be an anathema to me.

Thank you davekathy..... I have found an alternative thanks to that link you posted ! 🙂

Cheers

2 hours ago, SandyDix said:

Hi all,  we are first time cruisers and I've just paid the outstanding balance online of nearly £4000 for our cruise in August on Celebrity Silhouette. Payment went through fine and I had a message saying that a confirmation email had been sent to me. However, we are starting to panic as no confirmation has been received, and I've checked my junk box too. I phoned my bank who confirm the payment has gone through. It was only about an hour ago that I paid, but they said the email "had been sent" not that it was "to follow". Can anybody else advise how long it normally takes them to send a confirmation email? I think it's a disgrace that a large and supposedly reputable  company like Celebrity are so keen to take your money, yet cannot be bothered to acknowledge receipt of such. £4000 is hardly an insignificant sum. I have emailed customer services but last time I emailed them they took over a month to respond to my query, so I won't hold my breath. I hope that this inefficiency and cavalier attitude is not a harbinger of things to come on our cruise!

Any advice greatly appreciated - thanks in advance!

Don't panic..... Celebrity might be waiting for the £ to clear at their end - not everything is instantaneous for everyone 🙂  Am sure you will have a lovely cruise with Celebrity - in fact you are going just ahead of us as I have to wait til September. The Eclipse is a lovely ship with great staff who work hard to make sure your holiday is just fab. Have you joined the roll call for your cruise ? You can ask for help/suggestions on there re Celeb cruising and you might find people trying to arrange private trips/sail aways etc. This site has a wealth of information which I have found extremely useful 🙂

Have a really great cruise. 

Mine has disappeared and it has been a few weeks now! I just get a teeny blue square and a ? 

2 minutes ago, fragilek said:

8 minutes ago, fragilek said:

 Did the same we graduated from glasgow and stayed in Kent for 15 yrs before returning to put our girls through secondary school up here.  They have both now graduated from glasgow uni too (the youngest yesterday)

Oh congratulations....it is such a relief when they finish Uni !! Mine went one to Cardiff then the other 6 years later to Newcastle.... opposite ends of the country 

.

1 minute ago, fragilek said:

 I assume he took you to Largs - were I am from !! You would have sailed past my house 

OOOH how lovely ...it was Nardini's we went to. My friend is a committed Glaswegian having been at Glasgow Uni til she married and then spent her teaching life in England. However she left all that to return to her beloved Glasgow. She was an excellent guide showing her passion for her Scottish roots everywhere we went. The scenery was wonderful and has tempted us to go back up one of these days....alas I don't like the drive but the train journey is great from the North west to Glasgow. 

If Liverpool is on the itinerary then you are right near the Pier Head within walking distance of many of the attractions. There is also the HOHO bus. The sail into Liverpool is lovely too and when we did this trip we had the most wonderful send off from the dockside when we left.

The train in Cork is right by the ship docking so no problems there. My friend collected us at Greenock and we drove westwards along the coast to the best ice cream parlour in the area 🙂 If you are going to Amsterdam the ship docks centrally and again things are within walking distance. Le Havre - I hired a car and am sorry I can't remember if Celebrity put on a shuttle. We also stopped at Cherbourg and again it was walking distance to the town. 

If I can be of any help re Liverpool.... just give me a shout as I live only 17 miles away and know it well. 

I use a landline no for Celebrity.... 01932 835918. My contact there has an extension you can dial directly - Darren on 23224. but if you ignore that you should be put through to someone.