Im sad to say, but Im on my way, Goodbye Celebrity.

The next two years we will not be on a Celebrity ship after doing over 40 cruises and achieving elite plus status.

Where to begin, maybe at the end. Our last three cruises. Third last was on the |Infinity. Pacific Coastal. Wonderful itinerary. Food not edible in MDR and OVC. Poor service, poor entertainment, aging ship.

2nd last, Infinity, Panama crossing. Wonderful itinerary. Food not edible in MDR and OVC. Poor service, poor entertainment, aging ship.

Last cruise , Eclipse, beautiful ship, MDR terrible. Dined in OVC 11 out of 13 nights. The grill was amazing. MDR terrible service. Yes maitre d' full of apologies. but nothing changed. Food was so salty people with high blood pressure were told by the Medical facility to stop eating in MDR. A waiter off the record told us that it is salted for a reason, to make it more palatable.

Food is important to us, are we fussier than most, maybe.

We dont consume alcohol, maybe with nightly wine at the table, things would taste a whole lot better or maybe we wouldnt care. That was an observation made by some in the MDR. Just load up on the wine, everything will taste good.

What I have also noticed over the past few years is the separation of classes that does not exist on other more upscale lines, Viking O, Oceania for example. Those in Suites, Aqua get their own dining room, etc. Off the record, captains club host told us that the food in MDR has to be worse in order for Luminae and Blu to seem better so more suites can be sold. Yes I understand that.

I will touch upon one more area. Customer relations. It has been rare when I call Celeb that I get an informed, helpful, polite "cruise specialist" In fact, more often than not, I am put on hold for a very long time while the "specialist" talks to someone who can tell him/her what to do.

The Celebrity web site, well what can I say that has not been said so eloquently so many times before by others.

We reached a decision, not lightly to cancel our two Celeb reservations and try something else. One cancellation was the Edge, we had the infinity balcony but that did not buy us the dining experience suites would have, even though it was much more expensive than a regular balcony. So separate areas for suites, the elitism continues. Then we cancelled the Sillhoette, even though we are losing the 200 non refundable deposit. Just cant face more of the same.

We are trying the Viking Ocean line, but not until next February so cant tell you how we fared. But I can tell you that it is costing us less than the Edge would have per night. The cruise specialist was informed, helpful and polite. They also have a chat site where you can discuss any and all issues. All tours are included. All specialty coffees, soda, internet, laundry, so we dont need to be elite plus for the perks, No kids. Good website. No status to achieve for perks. All get the same perks.

Some will say, did we bring all of our woes to the attention of Celebrity. Yes in all ways that are available to us.

Maybe trying something new will make us appreciate what we had, but somehow I doubt it.

Those with no sailings, or few sailings will not understand why we are leaving Celeb. Those in Suites and Aqua also may not as they get a different experience.

I welcome all respectful comments.

I'm sorry, but when someone says the food is inedible in the MDR and the OV, it's very hard to find anything else credible.

 

What I have also noticed over the past few years is the separation of classes that does not exist on other more upscale lines, Viking O, Oceania for example. Those in Suites, Aqua get their own dining room, etc.

The "other more upscale lines" are charging everyone the price that X charges for suites, so there would obviously be no "separation of classes" since it's all pretty much the same, higher (upscale) pricing.

We don't do suites, but for people who wish to pay significantly more, they are entitled to the extras. If we ever decided to do a suite, we would be thrilled with the extras. We simply prefer to keep our cruise prices lower so we can do more vacations.

I hope you find what you are looking for in other cruise lines.

Good luck.

And of course you are entitled to your opinion.

Much of the food was left on the plate. That to me means it is not edible, how else would you describe it. Maybe I needed to say , the food was of poor quality, terribly salty, poorly presented, tasteless. I could go on but if I am not eating it, it is not EDIBLE. On the Eclipse I am referring only to MDR, it was wonderful in OVC.

I appreciate your thoughtful input. We’ve yet to cruise X, but as the class system becomes more pervasive it has concerned me.

We have good friends who always sail in suites, and they rave about Celebrity, especially Luminae and Michael’s Club.

And of course you are entitled to your opinion.

 

Much of the food was left on the plate. That to me means it is not edible, how else would you describe it. Maybe I needed to say , the food was of poor quality, terribly salty, poorly presented, tasteless. I could go on but if I am not eating it, it is not EDIBLE. On the Eclipse I am referring only to MDR, it was wonderful in OVC.

It wasn't to your taste not inedible.

The "other more upscale lines" are charging everyone the price that X charges for suites, so there would obviously be no "separation of classes" since it's all pretty much the same, higher (upscale) pricing.

 

We don't do suites, but for people who wish to pay significantly more, they are entitled to the extras. If we ever decided to do a suite, we would be thrilled with the extras. We simply prefer to keep our cruise prices lower so we can do more vacations.

 

I hope you find what you are looking for in other cruise lines.

 

Good luck.

For the cruises we had booked, we find it is not more. Air is included along with all the perks we get as elite plus. We hope to have an improved experience. If I am back to Celeb in the future, I will certainly be specifying why.

Be assured that the person who books the cabin you would have booked will not receive that perks that you as an Elite+ would have received. This will make the bean counters at a Celebrity very happy.

Respectfully, Bye. Enjoy your future cruises.

I agree. I once went on a cruise, on Costa line, where the food was undeniably inedible. Bread was moldy, lasagna was burned on the bottom with ice crystals in the center from being improperly re-heated, fruit juice had "turned", milk had soured, spaghetti was uncooked (not al dente, but truly uncooked on the tips where the pieces had not been submerged into the boiling water). Perhaps the funniest was the concentrated soup which had not be thinned out per directions -- open a can of tomato soup and don't add any water to it and you'll see what I mean. This was food I consider inedible.

If that kind of thing is what the OP is describing, OK. Otherwise, I wonder at the use of the term "inedible".

Be assured that the person who books the cabin you would have booked will not receive that perks that you as an Elite+ would have received. This will make the bean counters at a Celebrity very happy.

Respectfully, Bye. Enjoy your future cruises.

yes you are right....

I agree. I once went on a cruise, on Costa line, where the food was undeniably inedible. Bread was moldy, lasagna was burned on the bottom with ice crystals in the center from being improperly re-heated, fruit juice had "turned", milk had soured, spaghetti was uncooked (not al dente, but truly uncooked on the tips where the pieces had not been submerged into the boiling water). Perhaps the funniest was the concentrated soup which had not be thinned out per directions -- open a can of tomato soup and don't add any water to it and you'll see what I mean. This was food I consider inedible.

 

If that kind of thing is what the OP is describing, OK. Otherwise, I wonder at the use of the term "inedible".

Ok...well it was not that and I do agree that the word "inedible" has many degrees to it. Also I was not very descriptive when I used it.

Perhaps I need to be....well here are a few...

Processed turkey. The kind they tell you not to eat. "Do not eat processed meat"

in OVC they carved it ....but in MDR it comes pre sliced, with iridescent shine to it...

onion soup now has new broth, I could not eat it, hence inedible as |I define it.

Could really go on but dont want to take each item I ate and tell you why I left it after a few bites.

I did say it is not all about the food. I outlined a few areas.

I have not sailed on Celebrity yet nor Viking Ocean. However, my thoughts are these. When my wife decided she wanted to take our first TA cruise I researched all of the non-luxury lines in depth. This included Princess, RCCL NCL, Holland America and Carnival. I read hundreds of reviews. For the most part Celebrity reviews were consistently better than any of the others including food. In fact, if you check Cruise Critic Annual awards for last year their ships won in most categories accept possibly children programs and entertainment.

Now, I am not a "Gourmet" by any means but I am hoping the food is acceptable. We are going on the Reflections so it should be a nice ship. I have read a number of veterans who say the food has gone down in selection and even possibly quality over the last several years. I have no doubt that is probably the case. However, I am hoping it is good enough to enjoy.

I can comment on Viking as a corporate entity. We went on our first Viking River Cruise to Russia last Fall. It was fabulous. From food to service to included tours, everything was top notch. They absolutely know what they are doing. We will not hesitate to do Viking again. I wasn't that thrilled with Vikings offering for a TA cruise however and I did want more options for dining and entertainment than you are likely to get on the Viking Ocean Cruise. What you get will be excellent, just not as many choices.

One last thing. The 13 night River Cruise was $6000 p/p including air. The Celebrity cruise is costing me $2600 p/p including air for a 14 night cruise. (not including free wine and the tours viking offered) Both were veranda cabins.

Enjoy and good luck.

The "other more upscale lines" are charging everyone the price that X charges for suites, so there would obviously be no "separation of classes" since it's all pretty much the same, higher (upscale) pricing.

 

We don't do suites, but for people who wish to pay significantly more, they are entitled to the extras. If we ever decided to do a suite, we would be thrilled with the extras. We simply prefer to keep our cruise prices lower so we can do more vacations.

 

I hope you find what you are looking for in other cruise lines.

 

Good luck.

Celebrity is our favorite mid-priced cruise line. We did one cruise on Oceania, and there was separation of classes, in several areas. The one that impacted us the most was the preference given to the higher priced cabins in obtaining reservations in the speciality restaurants.

With respect to food on Celebrity being inedible, we experienced something like that on an Australia/New Zealand cruise in 2008. The food and service in the MDR were really bad, and as a result, we did not cruise with Celebrity again for over four years. When we tried it again, we got a good deal in Aqua class, and enjoyed Blu. We have eaten lunch in the MDR a few times while in Aqua class, and thought the food was pretty good.

Enjoy your Viking Cruise many do like it. Viking doesn’t have different dining rooms for guests based on cabin but they do allow those in higher category cabins priority for booking speciality restaurants, shore excursions & spa treatment.

As a e ample, Suite guests are guaranteed 3 speciality dining reservations and can book 90 days before sailing. Those in Junior Suites are also guaranteed 3 and can book 80 days before sailing. Guests in a deluxe veranda are guaranteed 1 reservation and can book 60 days before sailing. The regular veranda cabins are not guaranteed a reservation. So a class system exists for some things on the majority of cruise lines.

Fortunately our experience on our 20 Celebrity has been very good. We were in a Suite for 29 days this year on the Connie so Luminae was our dining room. We also had the option of ordering off the MDR menu which I did probably 10 -12 nights and also some lunches. Never had anything from the MDR that was inedible and in fact the food was very good.

We have completed 20 cruises on Celebrity and have 5 cruises booked 4 on Celebrity and 1 on Azamara and expect to enjoy sailing on both lines.

I appreciate your thoughtful input. We’ve yet to cruise X, but as the class system becomes more pervasive it has concerned me.

 

We have good friends who always sail in suites, and they rave about Celebrity, especially Luminae and Michael’s Club.

What mainstream lines have not instituted a "class system" that is based on a simple notion that if you pay more you get more?

I was willing to believe, eve agree, with some of your views. Until I read this:

. Food was so salty people with high blood pressure were told by the Medical facility to stop eating in MDR.

No way did this happen. The liability issues alone make that impossible to believe. And that this didn't hit twitter or some other social media or the news? No freaking way.

Now that I've got that out of my system: I'll agree with you on certain things. We also find the 'class system' on X and other cruise lines uncomfortable. But that's partially because we sail in the cheapest cabin we can to get the perks we want. On X that usually means an OV, and we're perfectly happy with an inside. It's not that we can't afford a higher rated cabin. We just don't care to spend the money on things that we consider unnecessary, even wasteful. I'd submit that we have as good a time, maybe better, than most folks in the suites or penthouse.

I'll agree that the food in the MDR is not what it was years ago, but I don't think any mass market cruise line can do better. That you found it all "inedible" stretches the truth a bit. One needs to keep their expectations intact - cooking for thousands of people being served at roughly the same time isn't going to produce haute cuisine.

I would say the same for service - it's not what it was, and it's about the same as every other mass market line (and probably better than some of them!)

I'll agree that the Infinity needs work. We sailed her 2.5 years ago, and she needed work then. Maybe X should be thinking of retiring her from the fleet.

I will completely disagree that sailing on Oceania, Viking Ocean, Crystal, etc is the same cost as sailing on X or other mass market cruise lines - UNLESS one is sailing X in the suites and higher. If you're like us peons in the inside, OV or maybe an obstructed balcony (received as a free upgrade, thank you), there's no way those lines are not considerably more expensive. (we have friends who go with them regularly and have tried to get us to go along. I've compared costs. For what we spend and how we travel, you're dead wrong about the costs.)

To compare the experiences/food/service between Viking Ocean and X (or any other MM line) is as ludicrous. It's like comparing Ruth's Cris to Outback Steakhouse Both are good, depending on what one wants to spend, what one desires, and what one demands. Nothing wrong with that, but comparing them is nonsense.

Regardless, I've heard enough about Viking Ocean that I'm sure you'll love it.

What mainstream lines have not instituted a "class system" that is based on a simple notion that if you pay more you get more?

I’m fine with “pay more, get more”. Just would like mdr food to be good also.

What mainstream lines have not instituted a "class system" that is based on a simple notion that if you pay more you get more?

So you get more Specialty dining on Viking O if you are in a suite, but with Celeb you doomed to the MDR unless you are in a suite. All have the same MDR on Viking and Oceania.

OP, hope you find a cruise line to your liking.

I’m fine with “pay more, get more”. Just would like mdr food to be good also.

We are not paying more to get more. Suites and balconies all have the same MDR, there are only balconies, no insides on Viking O.

Maybe I have to try something else to appreciate what I had with Celebrity? Maybe not. I will see.

I’m fine with “pay more, get more”. Just would like mdr food to be good also.

Just stands to reason, if Celeb is pushing Suites and Aqua, then they have to offer you something better than the MDR and they DO according to many that do Suites and Aqua. The rest just settle, I guess. I am tired of settling and found that for the same dollar I may be able to do better. Remains to be seen of course. May just come running back to the MDR, the "specialist reservation" experience, the awful website, etc.

Interesting thread. We are currently on the Eclipse. It is our 20th cruise, but 1st on Celebrity. I'm not sure why we have never tried it, we seem to have tried most of the others. I must say I have been a bit surprised, it is really not what I expected. Reading about the differences between Celebrity and RCCL, Princess, etc., a common consensus was that it feels less crowded and the food is much better. We are only on day 4 of a 14 day cruise but we have not found either of those to be true. The ship seems very crowded and many places, dark. We were on the Radiance of the Seas last year in Alaska, so maybe it is not a fair comparison, but that ship was so light and bright. On the Eclipse, where there are windows and not offices or shops on the exterior walls, the windows often have drapes or sheers pulled making it seem much more closed in. The food in the MDR IS extremely salty. This is also a surprise as I usually find cruiseline food to be much less salty than American restaurants (that's a GOOD thing). The MDR service is so-so and the food pretty uninspiring. Last night I ordered beef tournedos. Now, I'm pretty sure those are supposed to be thick, small pieces of beef, not two thin pieces stacked on top of each other to look thick! Trying to keep an open mind, but so far I'm sort of disappointed

Interesting thread. We are currently on the Eclipse. It is our 20th cruise, but 1st on Celebrity. I'm not sure why we have never tried it, we seem to have tried most of the others. I must say I have been a bit surprised, it is really not what I expected. Reading about the differences between Celebrity and RCCL, Princess, etc., a common consensus was that it feels less crowded and the food is much better. We are only on day 4 of a 14 day cruise but we have not found either of those to be true. The ship seems very crowded and many places, dark. We were on the Radiance of the Seas last year in Alaska, so maybe it is not a fair comparison, but that ship was so light and bright. On the Eclipse, where there are windows and not offices or shops on the exterior walls, the windows often have drapes or sheers pulled making it seem much more closed in. The food in the MDR IS extremely salty. This is also a surprise as I usually find cruiseline food to be much less salty than American restaurants (that's a GOOD thing). The MDR service is so-so and the food pretty uninspiring. Last night I ordered beef tournedos. Now, I'm pretty sure those are supposed to be thick, small pieces of beef, not two thin pieces stacked on top of each other to look thick! Trying to keep an open mind, but so far I'm sort of disappointed

That is also what we found in the MDR, I said that a waiter told us off record that the "very salty" is to mask taste, texture. . Some had bad headaches, as blood pressure rose. In the Medical facility were told not to eat in MDR, where the food is presalted but to go to OVC where you can salt your own and grill without any salt.

Again, I may find after trying a different cruise line that I miss what Celeb had to offer me. So yes in that sense I am keeping an open mind.

The "other more upscale lines" are charging everyone the price that X charges for suites, so there would obviously be no "separation of classes" since it's all pretty much the same, higher (upscale) pricing.

 

 

 

We don't do suites, but for people who wish to pay significantly more, they are entitled to the extras. If we ever decided to do a suite, we would be thrilled with the extras. We simply prefer to keep our cruise prices lower so we can do more vacations.

 

 

 

I hope you find what you are looking for in other cruise lines.

 

 

 

Good luck.

So wrong. Don't make the mistake of comparing cabin prices. Instead, use the "net daily rate," which is all required and expected optional costs divided by days in your trip. For example, Oceania prices include airfare (or credit), beverages, internet, an choice of booze, excursions or OBC. All of that is extra on wannabes like Celebrity.

And, of course, there's also the significant difference in the quality of food and service.

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We have been on two Celebrity cruises in the last year and both were disappointing mostly for same reasons the OP has outlined, so must say that I am in agreement. We said after the Xmas solstice cruise that we were done with Celebrity, but buckled a couple of weeks ago and booked a British Isles cruise for this summer because of both itinerary and price. If we could have done similar on another line we would definitely have done it, but the drink package being included is very attractive particularly with a poor exchange rate for the Cdn dollar right now. We are optimistic that it will be better and Celebrity will redeem itself, but if not that willl be Strike 3 and we will be out. I did have a very lengthy conversation both onboard with customer relations and many conversations with Captains Club since our experiences - all fell on deaf ears and no one cared about it essentially. Celebrity has definitely been in decline on many fronts, here’s hoping they will turn the ship around before those who have been loyal to the line move on. If you look at the posts on this board over the last year this is a recurring theme. There has always been complaints and accounts of bad experiences, but now they are much more common in than they used to be. It’s a shame.