Jonah8208

Baron Barracuda and Orator - thanks for the informative corporate view stuff, I had not looked at Celebrity from an investor's viewpoint (which I should have done cos that is always where the answers are). Next cruise for Maisicat and I is on Hurtigruten next March I think from Bergen to North Cape and back. Hopefully Celebrity will have improved by the time we go back in September 2018 but if it hasn't then we will not automatically book Celebrity again.

Has anyone on board had the chance to tell LLP about the chaos going on daily with the new website...? Many issues for browsing, booking and managing res.

 

If you haven had the Q&A this would be a very good Q for the CEO....

 

PS oops......just re read last few posts and see has already left the ship ..maybe she's going on Carnival to get ideas on how to destroy modern luxury !

Ah yeah the website - this was mentioned in the Q&A at some length and El Presidente said it is all better now and she was sorry for the disruption. I never go near the website I am not allowed by Maisiecat so I cannot comment futrther.

We are booked on the Aug 27 President's 8-night cruise on Equinox sailing in the Eastern Caribbean. What will be special about it compared to a generic non-presidential cruise? Is the food better? Are the shows and guest entertainers a higher caliber? Do you get extra special gifts rather than the tote and card case? Does the President have a special talk with guests to talk about Edge and new itineraries or what? Does the President have a question and answer session for passengers?

 

Just wondering. I thought the cruise would be special, but I can't tell from this thread if it is. I'll tell you all this...when I return from the cruise, I will itemize for you what was special, if anything, about this cruise.

Yes the Pres does have a Q&A with guests in the theatre, shows are the same, guest entertainers variable as usual, yes she bangs on about the new edge class (re the Magic Carpet thing she has not heard the phrase "if it looks right it probably is right", and its obvious implications). The gifts were pretty grim apart from the actually useful phone power bank we got last night. One gift was those horrible plasticky card wallets that you are supposed to stick on the back of your expensive smart phone, that was terrible but the rock salt was vaguely OK.

Overall it has been nothing special and the Pres jumped ship after Reykjavik

 

Curious if there was any push for fundraising for the Malala fund.,.not everyone is a fan. Miss the Breast Cancer awareness fundraisers. Everyone can relate to that as a good cause and was a very popular event.

They have mentioned it a few times but if they were fundraising I missed that, maybe someone else on this cruise could answer?

My partner and I have been cruising with Celebrity for 6 years now I think this is our 7th cruise so we have spent 14 weeks on this ship in total and 7 days on Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas for contrast. We have been getting less and less happy with Celebrity Eclipse over that time period and I would like to list the reasons. Overall it is nothing major that you can put a finger on just a long slow decline in overall service - to put it bluntly we pay the premium to get a premium cruise experience and initially that is exactly what we got but six years later it is only slightly better than Royal Caribbean yet still premium prices. The staff and the crew (with the glaring exception of the dire entertainment staff on this cruise) are as good as they always were but cutbacks in staff levels and service are obvious. We may as well sail with another cheaper cruise line because this is only “premium” in the minds of the senior management and staff - in reality it is just overpriced these days and the penny pinching Celebrity indulges in is frankly a bit embarrassing.

Anyway our beefs specifically for this “President’s” cruise we are on currently out of Southampton for which we paid more than usual.

Food is still excellent but there is less choice in the Ocean View Cafe. Main Dining Room has been cut down by adding the suite class dining room Lumiere and now we often have to wait before getting seated for Dinner - this almost never used to happen - not a big deal but we notice this stuff.

Bars are not stocked properly - asking a guest to wait 20 minutes before a non-alcoholic beer or a Heineken can be provided is just ludicrous at this level of cruising and should never happen, never used to.

Muzak throughout the ship in most areas is annoying, there is almost no place you can go where it is not present but it is better than Royal Caribbean (only just)

Live music is too loud and intrusive, guests (not just us) end up leaving comfortable lounges because the DJ turns up with his mobile rig or one of the house bands does a set. The demographic on this ship is middle aged to retired and does not appreciate modern “Dance” music. Background lounge music is fine but the all the various bands turn up and play excessively loud gigs, which would be fine in a live music event / party or outside on the pool deck, but not in a lounge setting except late at night, Its a cruise ship not the X factor auditions or Glastonbury. You cannot escape it, there is one lot in the sky lounge and another lot in the grand foyer and as soon as one stops the DJ is in there making an infernal racket - as for the DJ he should stay in his club where he belongs, he most certainly should never, ever be allowed to conduct another quiz, the one he did was frighteningly bad.

Kudos however to the guy that plays piano in the ensemble lounge - he is brilliant. Not too loud and provides good background music so you can relax and have a drink and chat without having to shout at each other, or listen / sing along if you want to. The ensemble lounge is now the only place on the entire ship not subjected to banging “music” for hours on end.

Kudos also to Jim Kennedy whose excellent beyond the podium lectures on NASA and the Shuttle Program have been educational, informative and inspiring.

Entertainment for many cruisers has been pretty poor, the worst of it being on one of the sea days because the Park West art people took over the sky lounge so the Ensemble Lounge was used for the afternoon quizzes - and we had people sitting all over the floor. This would NEVER have happened when Sue Denning was entertainment director on this ship unfortunately she is not. The guy who is however, although very impressed with himself is missing most of the time unless the President and / or Captain are present and I have rarely spotted any of the entertainment staff around the ship unless they absolutely have to be there; and when they are they are severely lacking in basic general knowledge themselves and it shows. The quizzes are amateurish badly put together rubbish, there is obviously no thought or preparation put in, just turn up, read the questions, hand out the prizes and get it over with. Crafting and other entertainments are extinct because Celebrity cut back entertainment staff some time ago, overall it has been boring and frustrating entertainment wise. I don’t know about the dancing classes and similar they may be terrific but from my POV and my friends aboard we have been disappointed by the lack of quality quizzes and no other activities to choose except dance classes. Lot of stuff for kids though - there are a couple of dozen at the very most aboard.

Re Park West - the guests on this ship have paid a lot of cash to use the facilities and I am personally very offended that Park West, who have an allocated art area as we know, are allowed to take over the biggest lounge on the ship to flog their dubious “art” at an auction attended by maybe 50 people, I counted whilst many more guests are chucked out and prevented from using the space by “art” blocking the seating. They can do this and in their own sales area, they should not be using any other area of the ship. I personally would not have any of their “art” given to me, and have several times mostly politely told them to keep their “free” art. I have no idea why Celebrity still have them aboard bearing in mind their reputation (google art at sea) but still I don’t mind as long as they stick to their part of the ship and out of my face.

The rest of the cruise has been pretty good as usual but the little details and penny pinching silliness have contributed to our growing concern that Celebrity is becoming very complacent and not looking after its existing clientele. We have booked a cruise on Solstice out of Southampton next year (Western Med in September) and will see if another ship is any better. Celebrity are obviously trying to attract a younger demographic unfortunately they are no longer catering for the people they have, and the younger set they want can’t afford it and are not due to turn up for another 20 years when they like us have got rid of their kids and paid off the mortgage.

Jonah