techwatcher

I belong to another Celebrity chat group and someone onboard now is raving about the production shows. They also are saying Topper is one of the best shows they've seen at sea

Depends what you are after in a show; yes it was upbeat with modern music BUT it also had the thinnest of storylines seemingly used as an excuse for singers and dancers to do their thing.

Celebrity managed to keep Bistro on 5 going, even when it was poorly attended, yet they seem unable to open Luminae on a port day? Surely they should have at least a chef and a couple of waiters on duty, for the pax have paid premium rates for their cruise.

Ah, but Bistro on 5 has a cover charge and so generates a revenue stream wheras Luminae is a simply a straightforward cost to Celebrity - that is at least part of the reason why Bistro on 5 survives.

Also, you couldn't just run Luminae with "a chef and a couple of waiters". More people will be needed behind the scenes and people have expectations about Luminae service which would not be met with a couple of waiters, especially on those rare occasions it got busy.

Having said that, I agree with you and would like to see Luminae open on port days...

On our recent Eclipse cruise we were heading for Morning Trivia in the Sky Lounge, to find it set up for the later Art Auction. We got chatting about the art Auction to someone with stripes (position deliberately omitted) who commented that they only needed two buyers to make a profit - interesting...

Was this tour through Celebrity? Sounds like a very lazy uncaring guide.

Yep, this was a Celebrity Shore Excursion.

We were on the 3rd July Eclipse sailing to Scandinavia and Russia. Really enjoyed the cruise (review has been submitted) but had an almost surreal shore excursion in Warnemunde.

We booked the Panoramic Rostock and Touring tour. There were two coaches on this tour and we set out first. Firstly we were taken for a 30 minute stop to a monastery, which was closed, and the guide knew it would closed. Being a 30 minute stop and having just set out this was not a toilet stop and was too long for a photo stop - the stop is intended for guests to visit the monastery. I asked why the tour could not be operated in a different order so that we could enter the monastery, to be told "I must follow my plan". Literally as we started to leave the monastery opened and the guide reluctantly allowed us off the coach to visit the monastery - her actual words were "I don't care - I give you 15 minutes".

As we walked to the monastery we passed the next group from our ship; their guide was giving the group much more information than we had received. Our guide's response was that "I have been guiding for 13 years, that guide is new, she is wrong in what she is doing"! So a guide giving more information to a guest is wrong? It seemed so...

The tour tickets specifically said, in bold, that there would be no shopping stops on the tour. However we were then driven to Rostock and basically dumped for an hour with not much to do except shopping.

It was all slightly odd and not what we were expecting for $75 each. It seems this tour is not as described and we did ultimately get our money back but it was slightly surreal!

On a recent review on here it mentioned that Bistro on 5 in the evenings served Indian cuisine .

Bistro on 5 did serve Indian cuisine for one day only on the July 3rd Eclipse cruise - they called in Taj on 5.

Repeat post - apologies.

Also just off the Eclipse from the Scandinavia and Russia cruise. We did the 3-day tour with SPB Tours and the wait at Catherine's Palace was around 30 minutes; this was early afternoon. Sites seemed to be quieter in the mornings then got busier in the afternoon, so the wait may be timing dependant.

We visited Macau from Hong Kong as a day trip last year, albeit not as part of a cruise.

The trip is certainly do-able, as you say the journey is around 1 hour each way on the Turbojet. Perhaps we were fortunate, but I don't recall any lengthy queues as immigration at either end. However this was on a weekday, perhaps weekends are busier.

Not sure what you are expecting of Macau but we were a bit disappointed; much is made of the Portuguese heritage but there really isn't that much left to see. These days it is primarily a gambling location; lots of casinos but none of the "glitz" of Vegas.

Thanks Phxazzcruisers and cruzzzinma for such quick responses!

Any thoughts on what time lunch service stops in Luminae on embarkation day please?

I understand that Luminae is open for lunch on embarkation day.

Could one of you kind people confirm opening hours for embarkation day lunch please?

Ship is Eclipse out of Southampton in case that's relevant.

Sorry to go off-topic, I've got a question following on from what you said. Last August I took my daughter on a med cruise with P&O Oceana (I hope she's not the badly behaved child you mentioned!;) ). This August we are going with Celebrity Eclipse on the Baltic cruise, my partner is coming too this time. Please can you let me know what the differences are between the P&O cruise experience and Celebrity?

We have been on P&O once, in June 2015, here were our impressions:

The cruise was on Arcadia (adults only ship by the way), a short 5-day cruise to Amsterdam, Zeebrugge and Guernsey.

1. Embarkation/disembarkation - fine, well organised. Had to wait about 30 minutes on embarkation to be checked in - lots of seats so no big deal.

2. The ship - obviously Arcadia is not a new ship and styles have moved on, but it was fine. Bits of the ship didn't 'flow' very well, e.g. forward on Deck 9 you have to exit via the Spa? It's reasonably well maintained and clean.

3. Cabin - functional, bathroom beginning to show its age but reasonably well designed.

4. Food - better than expected, and better than Celebrity in our experience. We dined mainly in the MDR and food was always hot and reasonably tasty. We had so-called Freedom Dining, which like on many cruise lines, isn't really. P&O should consider allowing reservations here.

5. Service - a bit rough around the edges in places. Speaking with the Hotel General Manager he acknowledged that this was due to the Britannia effect, where experienced staff had been sent to their newest ship and there are lots of new and inexperienced staff on Arcadia. Honest, but not impressed.

5. Entertainment - typical cruise line fare. We don't care for the shows but dipped our toes into a couple - singing especially was amateurish. The activities staff (P&O still have a team as opposed to Celebrity's 2 people + CD) didn't engage with passengers - they'd turn up one minute before something was due to start and disappear one minute afterwards.

Overall we enjoyed the cruise. P&O didn't wow us enough to make them our new favourite but given the right itinerary we would sail with them again.

That is interesting, my hubby uses his ecig also and is somewhat dismayed that he will have to stand among the smokers to use it. The reason he switched (5 years ago now) was to quit smoking and now he will be forced to inhale smoke unless he only uses it in the cabin. It seems rather unfair and discriminatory as the vapor is non toxic, water based steam and has no smell, much like a boiling kettle. Can't see why he cannot use it in any outside area. Ho hum

Using an e-cigarette in your cabin is against the rules too...

The issue with e-cigarettes is that is can be hard to tell whether the user is smoking a real cigarette or an e-cigarette, so companies ban the use of both.

This is a general question for all of the mass market lines and is really not a Celebrity specific question.

 

With all of the reductions in bar staff, wait staff, cabin staff, activities staff, etc. on all of the cruise lines nowadays, what is happening to the reduced staff? Does the ship that had a total crew of let's say 1300 a few years ago now only have a crew of 1200 (or less)? Or are they moved to a different position, for example manning tables throughout the ship pushing drink packages or specialty dining?

 

And since these crew members supposedly get very little direct pay from the cruise line in the first place, and mostly rely on passenger gratuities, is reducing the staff really saving the cruise lines that much money?

 

Thx.

 

Bruce

As others have said, staff are on fixed-term contracts. Their contracts may be renewed or not, in which case they would return home or find another contract.

The biggest cost in any business is the workforce, and reducing the workforce will give the company significant savings, even if they are relatively poorly paid.

We've found that the valet parking company Parking4cruises excellent. Drop bags off as normal, take the car to the short term car park where it gets photographed around the outside for damage confirmation and mileage registration. Give them the keys. Give them a ring 10/15 minutes before leaving the ship when you return and the car is in the short term car park. If you disembark later the car will always be there. Retrieve the keys and load the cases and off you go.

They have been excellent value for money and cheaper than ABP and just as convenient.

It is another option but it is only £1 cheaper than ABP for this particular cruise.

A second recommendation for ABP. They are not the cheapest but this parking is really close to the ship, drop off your luggage, and unlike some other arrangements, you park your car yourself and retain your keys.

Don't leave it too long to book as their Premium car park(s) close to the ship can get full. Once that happens they will book you into Shuttle Parking, where you still self-park but there's a 3-minute shuttle ride to the terminal.

BTW, we are on the same cruise...!

I have always thought it was funny that Celebrity talks about "conserving" the world through various cutbacks (like mailing luggage tags apparently)(and if I remember right they specifically say on the "elite welcome letter" about saving paper by putting the cruise get togethers only in that letter), AND THEN they inundate you with enough paper invitations to shopping and auction events to fill a waste basket!

 

And don't get me started about how many pictures they print to display in the "pictures for sale" area that are just wasted.

Yep, inconsistent, isn't it? And it is all about potential revenue generation - no potential revenue in luggage tags but loads of potential revenue (and profit) in shopping, auctions and photos so they are content to absorb the cost of promoting these.

Also, all cruise lines that I know of have switched to electronic documents, no paper anymore. It is not about penny pinching, it is about changing with the times. As technology changes, companies innovate, and that is what Celebrity did, just as all the others have as well. If they were the only ones sending paper documents, I am almost certain we would have people on here blasting Celebrity for wasting resources or being "behind the times".

Innovations need to be new and useful; this is certainly new, but useful? No. And it is (partly at least) about cutting costs.

The reason being that we had a FIRE on our balcony caused by a lighted cigarette being thrown overboard by some inconsiderate idiot. Fortunately the balcony door was closed and the damage was minimal.

Mickey89, please tell us what exactly caught fire on the balcony?

I'm also a major fan of the hot glass shows and have bid (unsuccessfully) in the auctions. Have not won anything in a raffle yet, but hope springs eternal.

 

On one of the cruises, the glass blowers said that they don't sell their pieces because there would be pressure to make certain things and they like to be able to make what they want and experiment. Not all experiments end successfully, but that is part of the learning process for them. I saw a spectacular failure on my last cruise. Loved the piece and was sorry it didn't make it all the way to the end. They warn you about getting too attached to any of the stuff before it is finished.

 

Also, the idea is that it is more about the process rather than what the process produces. We attended a number of the glass shows on Eclipse in 2014 and were fortunate to be lucky in the raffle. It is cool to have a unique handmade piece which you have seen made. However, I had my eye on a seashell they made and said I would bid if they put it in the auction; they didn't :( I knew they didn't sell items so I offered a donation - no dice...

Oh dear...this is why many in the UK will not look at cruise prices after we have booked...

You have not been ripped off, this is just the way the business works. You book at a particular price (that presumably you were content to pay?) and subsequently the price for the same article/service can vary (up or down). On this occasion the market has worked against you.

As others have said the regulatory rules are different in the UK than in the US and the UK rules say you cannot get your deposit back. Annoying though the situation seems, cancel and rebook and you will be £600 up on your current situation.

Second the thoughts about Jim Kennedy. He has so many great stories to share.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Third the thoughts re Jim Kennedy; lots of great stories and a very unassuming man. As a follower of space-related stuff he made my cruise a few years ago when we sat down for a 30 minute chat together.

We generally sail on Celebrity but we did a a short 5-day cruise on P&O out of Southampton to Amsterdam, Zeebrugge and Guernsey in June this year.

Some thoughts on comparison with Celebrity:

1. Embarkation/disembarkation - fine, well organised, as good if not better than Celebrity. We Had to wait about 30 minutes on embarkation to be checked in - lots of seats so no big deal.

2. The ship; we were on Arcadia, not a new ship and styles have moved on since she was built, but it was fine. Certainly not in the same class as Celebrity S-Class though.

3. Food was better than expected, and better than Celebrity in our experience. We dined mainly in the MDR and food was always hot and reasonably tasty. We had so-called Freedom Dining, which like on many cruise lines, isn't really.

4. Service was a bit 'rough around the edges' in places. At the time P&O had just launched a new ship, Britannia, and experienced staff had been sent there and there were lots of new and inexperienced staff on Arcadia.

5. Entertainment - typical cruise line fare. We didn't care for the shows but dipped our toes into a couple - singing especially was amateurish. The entertainment staff didn't engage with passengers - they'd turn up one minute before something was due to start and disappear one minute afterwards.

It's all rather more 'British' than Celebrity; senior officers are British and they have a Hotel General Manager rather than a Hotel Director.

Overall P&O didn't impress us enough for them to become our new favourite but if an interesting itinerary came up we would cruise with them again.

Depending on what activities you enjoy (and when) you may notice the reduction in the number of entertainments staff - we certainly did in September 2014. Whereas there used to be a team of 5/6 there are now just 2 people. What this means is fewer 'manned' activities and no manned activities at all between 10ish and 4ish on port days.

We went on our first P&O cruise last week. We are frequent cruisers mostly with Celebrity and a few with Royal Caribbean. FWIW, here are our impressions of our first P&O cruise.

The cruise was on Arcadia, a short 5-day cruise to Amsterdam, Zeebrugge and Guernsey.

1. Embarkation/disembarkation - fine, well organised. Had to wait about 30 minutes on embarkation to be checked in - lots of seats so no big deal.

2. The ship - obviously Arcadia is not a new ship and styles have moved on, but it was fine. Bits of the ship don't 'flow' very well, e.g. forward on Deck 9 you have to exit via the Spa? It's reasonably well maintained and clean.

3. Cabin - functional, bathroom beginning to show its age but reasonably well designed.

4. Food - better than expected, and better than Celebrity in our experience. We dined mainly in the MDR and food was always hot and reasonably tasty. We had so-called Freedom Dining, which like on many cruise lines, isn't really. P&O should consider allowing reservations here.

5. Service - a bit rough around the edges in places. Speaking with the Hotel General Manager he acknowledged that this was due to the Britannia effect, where experienced staff have been sent there and there are lots of new and inexperienced staff on Arcadia. Honest, but not impressed.

5. Entertainment - typical cruise line fare. We don't care for the shows but dipped our toes into a couple - singing especially was amateurish. The entertainment staff didn't engage with passengers - they'd turn up one minute before something was due to start and disappear one minute afterwards.

Overall we enjoyed the cruise. P&O haven't wow-ed us enough to make them our new favourite but given the right itinerary we would sail with them again.