There is no X in "Just OK"

[jackdiamond]

I am inclined to agree with librarylady and mommaof2. We have about 20 or more credits with Celebrity; hence, we are not inexperienced cruisers. We will have cruised about 165 days in eleven years, on Celebrity, Princess, Royal and HAL; and the Celebrity S Equinox is now our favorite. I am a retired trial attorney, and my wife is a retired banker; hence, we have enjoyed some very interesting vacation endeavors, both on land and at sea.

Additionally, we do not concern ourselves with matters of relative insignificance; and, we certainly do not look down upon others whom we may believe are not our social or economic equals.

[spearmint]

Arno

I am afraid that I have to agree with your observations. We have only taken 9 cruises since 1999 with 2 more for October back-to-back, so we do not have your experience with X. However, X had impressed us for the first several years so that we just didn't want to try anything else. We loved the food and we loved to dance at the Rendez-vous Lounges prior to dinner.

 

Our last cruise was a back-to-back from Vancouver/Los Angeles/(panama)San Juan for a total of 28 days in the fall of 2009. The food was less than stellar, mostly in the menu choices, compared to the Michel Roux menu and the one which we enjoyed in 2008 after Michel Roux's affiliation stopped. For most of the time, (I would guess 70+% of the time at least) I had lobster bisque, salmon and creme brulee every night for dinner in the main dining room. My wife for the first time ever was vocally unenthusiastic over the choices. That is very different from most of the prior cruises that we took.

 

The group in the Rendez-vous Lounge were from Argentina, and played Latin music almost continuously.....I love Latin music, but, some of it was difficult to dance to, when one mostly just dances in general rather than cha-cha etc. A few people did follow the dances, but the number of people that were not on the floor compared to usually, says plenty. These two cruises and the one prior found us in the Lounge before dinner, but just sitting there with a drink, waiting to go into the dining room. That, too, is very different from our prior cruises.

 

It is Celebrity that has set the standard for us; we got so much more than we had anticipated on our first cruise, with dining, dancing, the more formal dress code and entertainment that we were hooked on cruising and doing so with Celebrity. The ship as much as the itinerary has become a destination.

 

We decided to try Solstice (like you, I think we really like the M-class) because we found a good deal and I figured, "Let's try it." There is no Rendez-vous Lounge, but then our last couple of cruises as noted found us not dancing anyway.

 

The decline in the dress code is very disappointing (but not a deal-breaker) as everyone looked so great "dressed to the nines" except for casual nights.

 

For some time, I have been thinking of trying one of the other lines, but so many people on these boards have noted that Celebrity still seems to have an edge over Princess, HAL, and Carnival.

 

If loyal Celebrity cruisers like you find such a severe decline, then I hope that the company gets its act together. If not, why don't they just rename all the Celebrity ships as "(something) of the Seas" and be done with it.

 

Bill

[greeneg]

The other thought that discourages me from going elsewhere is the smoking policy on the other lines. After experiencing how pleasant it is to cruise almost smoke-free and enjoy the clean, fresh air and scent of the Sea, I don't think I could go back to Second Hand Smoke Exposure again.

 

I almost think that I would rather not cruise.

[HappyCampers3]

I am interested in the honest opinion of the OP, but his critique is skewed by his disillusionment being partially attributed to how the Captains Table was arranged and how he was forced to dine with non-elites. Please somebody tell me that he truly is being facetious.

 

Is there any way one can request NOT to be seated with the Elites in the MDR??

[jd1966]

Sorry, but I just can't get worked up about your sad experience on Summit. It really sounds like sour grapes. You were not accorded the privileges you have come to expect as the most frequent cruiser and decided to air your grievances here. That's all fine, but did you call/email/write to X corporate. If you are as valued as you think, they should pay attention to your concerns and the fact that they will lose your business.

The more I read of your experience, the less I worry that this is a trend and indicative of my upcoming cruise. I don't expect to be treated like royalty or a star. For what we are paying that would be completely unrealistic. A pleasant cruise, adventures in port and a relaxing experience away from the stress of home are enough for me.

Thank You!!!!!!

[Gonzo70]

I think the biggest common denominator people have is the belief the food quality is declining. I think that Celebrity seems to be in the forefront of the mass market lines in terms of specialty restaurants. They have both the largest amount of variety as well as IMHO the best quality specialty restaurants. I think they likely are making cuts in the "free" or "included" food venues and providing people with the option of paying a bit more for a higher end dining experience. All the M-Class ships are being "Solsticized" and will have three specialty restaurants each, with the S-Class ships having four a piece. While many people will still be satisfied/content with the no-charge venues, others will be able to sample multiple specialty restaurants per sailing (to keep some variety) and be able to avoid or greatly limit exposure to the no-charge venues. This seems to be part of X's business model to keep costs down (so they can fill their increasing number of berths) but provide a high end dining experience to those who consider this important (and are willing to pay extra to enjoy this).

[Orator]

I think the biggest common denominator people have is the belief the food quality is declining. I think that Celebrity seems to be in the forefront of the mass market lines in terms of specialty restaurants. They have both the largest amount of variety as well as IMHO the best quality specialty restaurants. I think they likely are making cuts in the "free" or "included" food venues and providing people with the option of paying a bit more for a higher end dining experience. All the M-Class ships are being "Solsticized" and will have three specialty restaurants each, with the S-Class ships having four a piece. While many people will still be satisfied/content with the no-charge venues, others will be able to sample multiple specialty restaurants per sailing (to keep some variety) and be able to avoid or greatly limit exposure to the no-charge venues. This seems to be part of X's business model to keep costs down (so they can fill their increasing number of berths) but provide a high end dining experience to those who consider this important (and are willing to pay extra to enjoy this).

 

Right on the mark!

[Giorgi-one]

Our main complaint was with the new menu. There have been several recent posts about changes but to us the menu is boring and characterized by cutbacks.

Prior to disembarking we always try to get a good breakfast to prepare us for a long drive home. The Waterfall Cafe (deck 10) has discontinued the egg line. No more fried eggs, pancakes nor waffle stations on the last day. At dinner the shrimp dishes have been reduced from four per entree in the spring to three. I know you can ask for more but a large plate of pasta with three fiery shrimp is a cut back. There used to be a joke in Holland about the butcher sliding the meat under the door upon delivery. The same could have been done with the prime rib on the last dinner on board. There is no way that we could face this menu for 54 days on a B2B2B around Australia.

I know food is subjective. If you love lamb and fish you will probably like the menu but beef offerings have suffered. I know that there have been similar cut backs on other lines but when we can no longer look forward to dinner because it is supposed to be great and it's just OK: there is no reason to stay with what is offered.

 

Over the years we have cruised for months at a time because the Celebrity experience was great. There is no reason to cruise that much if it's "just OK". We just need a little more variety and sometimes a change is all that is needed.

 

The crew was not as friendly, nor as attentive and from captain to waiter to Captain's Club Summit provided us with an experience that was less than what we have experienced in the past.

 

There is nothing wrong with the ship; our cabin was fine, the itinerary is great but the Celebrity excellence was missing. Our concern is not just with the food but other details would be noticed by frequent cruisers.

 

In three weeks we will board Century followed by Constellation for four more cruises this fall. We will be cruising again with many Constellation friends in February but we booked no new Celebrity cruises and we will seek a new cruising experience.

 

There were over 300 elite passengers on board as well as over 1,300 captain's club members. Summit was completely overwhelmed by the crowd who showed up in Revelations (named Bar at the Edge) on the first 4-6 gathering. The HD showed up and called for more waiters to help the three or four already there but X should have been better prepared. The senior officers party which replaced the daily CC event at 7:45 pm one day (between 1st and 2nd dining) had 100's (? it was very crowded) of people stacked up behind the fire doors waiting to shake hands with the captain for the 45 minute event.

 

 

 

 

Sounds like you guys are "cruised out". Maybe too much of a good thing.

[Giorgi-one]

In 1986 the cruising was all-inclusive except for bottles of wine so not a fair comparison.

 

Where did you cruise in 1986? I do not remember getting anything more than I do now.

[CLEMM]

Decline in food quality, policy on price reductions, and a decrease in service are all worth consideration when choosng whether to cruise X again or not. The concern about the set up of the captains table and the inclusion of non-elite level passengers just makes the OP sound like a snob and for me at least puts a different perspective on the rest of his critique. I'm afraid the opinion of someone who would choose to even mention something so shallow is of little value to me.

[Jade13]

Decline in food quality, policy on price reductions, and a decrease in service are all worth consideration when choosng whether to cruise X again or not. The concern about the set up of the captains table and the inclusion of non-elite level passengers just makes the OP sound like a snob and for me at least puts a different perspective on the rest of his critique.

quote]

 

I agree with most of this. I don't think OP is a snob (I think spenda a great deal of money on X and now looking at where it is going), but the problem is the number of "Elite" passengers.

[Loracpin2]

OP, having just sailed on the Summit in July, I completely agree about you food comments. I'm not sure the issues are fleetwide, because it's mostly Summit's food that's taking the hit on these boards. Hopefully, Celebrity is in the process of turning things around based on feedback given to them directly on the phone (as in my case) when Guest Relations called to follow-up on comments made on the Guest Survey.

 

However, you comments about the pecking order at the Captain's Table is laughable. We were invited to dine at the Captain's table on the second formal night of our July Summit cruise. Our host was the Ass't Hotel Director and my huband sat next to her on her left. I NEVER gave the seating arrangements a thought. I was just very honored to be invited.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Linda, The dust behind my couch and bed did not bother me that much but the dining experience is something I always look forward to. We were with friends at a table of 10. Service is slow but I expected it with that big a table, still it was 45 mins. before we were served our first course. Celebrity is making everyone work harder. Our cabin steward had 26 cabins to clean everyday and only one assistant. The assistant was new and really did not speak English very well. The girl who brought our wine said that there were only 10 wine stewards to handle both floors of the dining room. Normally there are only 8 but because this was a wine cruise, 2 extra were added. There were 2100 people on this cruise. We were packed in the dining room. I don't know how the waiters served the tables as there was hardly any room between the tables. We were chair to chair with the table behind us. The staff tries their hardest but with corporate making cuts for the bottom line, service will go down also. Our wait staff was wonderful but they had so many people to wait on that who could remember all the names. I think that is why they did not call anybody by name. I remember when they had time to make a lady a flower out of a napkin or a card trick at dinner. Things change but not always for the better. I hope Connie is better this November. I have been on Constellation when the food was good and a few months later it was not so good. I think the head chef makes a big difference in how things work down in the galley.

 

Pat

 

How in the world did they cram 2100 people on that ship? That's a LOT of staterooms with more than 2 passengers.

 

When we were on the Millie in May, our waitstaff only had 3 tables to take care of, the service was excellent, and we got puzzles and tricks every night. I think the interaction with the waitstaff can make or break your trip, so I hope Celebrity HQ will not push the envelope too far on this. I saw what it was like on HAL where they have tons of tables to wait on and it wasn't pretty. Didn't make me want to jump back on a HAL ship anytime soon.

 

I've never actually had a Celebrity waiter call me by name, but have had excellent waiters and had a good time with them nevertheless. I have noticed that the cabin attendants make it a point to learn your name and use it, which is nice.

 

We also had a great cabin attendant, who, although overloaded with rooms to clean, always managed to get ours done and would do extras like deal with our dying Seattle flowers. Her assistant didn't speak English worth spit, but he always smiled and sent us to Julianna if we needed to communicate something.

 

As for food, we must have had a good head chef. We got to sample the goat cheese soufle which was divine! And I normally hate goat cheese.

 

Hope the Connie lives up to our previous experience with her! See you soon.

[kitty9]

I guess I'm with others who question the complaints. Like others feel, sometimes too much of anything isn't a good thing. And if things were as bad as stated, why not cancel most of the upcoming 10 cruises? It makes no sense to sail 10 more times if one is going to be miserable. As for the food issue, did the OP think to dine in the alternate restaurant in order to have better meals? We choose to go this route if the menu in the main dining room holds no interest

 

After cruising on nearly every line out there, many times each, I can honestly say that the OP may be in for a rude awakening if he/she thinks things will be any different on any other line. Unless, of course, he/she chooses to go with Seabourn or Crystal, where product uniformity is paramount.

 

But I wonder, is there something else? I mean, how can things go south so quickly? Perhaps, like Paul Harvey the radio broadcaster used to say, "Now, the rest of the story".

[Giorgi-one]

I guess I'm with others who question the complaints. Like others feel, sometimes too much of anything isn't a good thing. And if things were as bad as stated, why not cancel most of the upcoming 10 cruises? It makes no sense to sail 10 more times if one is going to be miserable. As for the food issue, did the OP think to dine in the alternate restaurant in order to have better meals? We choose to go this route if the menu in the main dining room holds no interest

 

After cruising on nearly every line out there, many times each, I can honestly say that the OP may be in for a rude awakening if he/she thinks things will be any different on any other line. Unless, of course, he/she chooses to go with Seabourn or Crystal, where product uniformity is paramount.

 

But I wonder, is there something else? I mean, how can things go south so quickly? Perhaps, like Paul Harvey the radio broadcaster used to say, "Now, the rest of the story".

 

Need something to do between cruises!

[biker1972]

OK, X is a mass market cruise line. It competes with Princess, HAL and Oceania among others. It is a brand associated with a for profit company. We,as customers, complain if they raise prices, don't give us price reductions, or enforce their liquior rules and take our smuggled booze. They must make a profit, however, and these profits have to come from cost cutting, price increases,or fees (see airlines!). If Arno finds that over the his long cruising past that X is no longer living up to their advertising hype, he is to be believed. The real question is can girl from a small mining town(sorry Sunday)....opps, can a cruise experience be found at a reasonable price that matches the former X experience. Personally, I think that it will take more money, but await Arno's postings after he switches.

[The Mommy]

When we cruised the same itinerary to Quebec last year we took advantage of an excursion that included a trip to a fancy restaurant. The service and food did not come close to our ship-board experience in the specialty restaurant. Our experience in the Normandie this time was very good, but not quite up to the standards of Infinity earlier this year.

 

Being "treated famously" is the standard that X sets for itself. It's the little touches that has set X apart from our other cruises with HAL and Princess.. When the "touches" are absent, the food and entertainment just OK, then we will take the opportunity to experience the more varied itineraries offered by both HAL and Princess. I don't anticipate that they will be better than X but at least there will be variety.

 

I just want to add our Captain's table experience on this voyage as an example of the "attention" to details.

We received a verbal invitation and were told that the printed version would be sent out. It was received 5 hours prior to the event two days later. When we arrived at the reserved area in the martini lounge only sparkling wine was offered but because of my wife's allergic reaction to bubbles, we were allowed to order our choice. When the captain arrived we were told to leave our drinks and that they would be delivered to the table... They never did for any of the 5 couples attending. Even the seating arrangements were different than standard protocol. One of the benefits of being invited by the Captain (as opposed to the other officers) himself on other sailings is that attendees are invited to the bridge at a sailaway from one of the ports or during an interesting part of the itinerary. That also did not occur during this voyage. When one has grown accustomed to certain standards of excellence over the years it also becomes obvious when those standards are no longer met.

We all know that X monitors these boards and I hope that their reaction is swift. It takes a long time to build up a reputation and a much shorter one to tarnish an image.

 

I know this is not terribly constructive but just to balance things up a little, I would sell my soul to be invited to the Captain's table! On any ship!

Seriously though even for us less frequent cruisers we too are also disappointed when standards and expectations slip. All things considered I think you are ready to move up a notch. Try one of the higher class lines - I think all cruise lines are trying to please in this rapidly changing industry which is more demanding and as they all undercut each other for the deals then this attention to detail is diminished perhaps?

As I said before I hope you find your way

[hancock]

The only reason the OP gave the normal seating arrangements at the Captain's Table was because Jade13 asked. The OP has cruised so many times, he has a wealth of knowledge he is willing to share.

 

The OP's comments were based on the changes he observed when dining at the Captain's Table. Previously, anyone asked to dine with the Captain would get their choice of cocktail. Any unfinished cocktail would be carried into the dining room by a waiter. This didn't happen

 

I have to agree with the OP that the food in the dining room has gone downhill. The esgargot was definitely missing the garlic. The offerings at dinner seemed to be repeated with just different names. Lamb has become a major part of the menu. They used to have wonderful Rack of Lamb. I tried the rack of lamb on the last cruise and couldn't even tell it was lamb. I had fish that was undercooked. There were entrees that I hardly touched.

 

When we first started cruising with Celebrity in 1999, our waiters, and cabin stewards made a point of learning our names. On our last several cruises, this hasn't happened.

They would learn our surnames and refer to us as Mr.---- or Mrs.----. Or they would learn our first name and refer to us as Mr.x or Miss Y. They learned your preferences. I cannot tolerate black pepper. By day two of our cruise, our waiter or busboy knew that and wouldn't offer the pepper to me. That attention to detail just isn't happening anymore.

 

Arno, I hope your Summit cruise was a blip and Celebrity gets back to the X factor we so dearly love.

[greeneg]

Happy Cruiser6143 makes a significant observation. Summit supposedly is rated for 2034 passengers, so 2100 if correct would certainly be a significant overload and it might be that the ship just really can't do that and maintain standards. Must have had people slinging hammocks somewheres like the old days.

 

Having said that, I still don't think that that is any excuse and that Miami would certainly bear some criticism for allowing that sort of booking. I realize that is probably is all about $$$, but I am still naive enough to think that it shouldn't be.

 

Maybe The Times They Are A' Changin' is happening again.

[Giorgi-one]

Happy Cruiser6143 makes a significant observation. Summit supposedly is rated for 2034 passengers, so 2100 if correct would certainly be a significant overload and it might be that the ship just really can't do that and maintain standards. Must have had people slinging hammocks somewheres like the old days.

 

Having said that, I still don't think that that is any excuse and that Miami would certainly bear some criticism for allowing that sort of booking. I realize that is probably is all about $$$, but I am still naive enough to think that it shouldn't be.

 

Maybe The Times They Are A' Changin' is happening again.

 

Are you saying that the normal capacity for double occupancy is 2034?

[biker1972]

Capacity is limited by lifeboat capacity. With triples and quads, an M Class can carry more than the listed capacity of 2034 (counting all cabins as doubles)

[Giorgi-one]

Capacity is limited by lifeboat capacity. With triples and quads, an M Class can carry more than the listed capacity of 2034 (counting all cabins as doubles)

 

And always will. That is the point I wanted to make also.

[cruise kitty]

DH & I have only sailed 3 times on X, number 4 will be next year; so, am I to understand that if we were lucky enough to be invited to the Captain's table, that more frequent cruisers would find this offensive? This honestly never occurred to me. I always count on my inimitable charm to get me through social situations, but apparently I am mistaken.;)

 

As for food quality, no, it's not what it was on our first X cruise in 2003, but the prices are fantastic, & for us, the service is wonderful & the ships are gorgeous with great bars:) We're not big foodies, so I'm completely willing to have smaller portions & maybe not as good quality on MDR food items if we can travel at the prices that Celebrity offers... it's a trade off, you cannot expect Crystal quality at X prices. When we want a really good meal, we eat at a specialty restaurant. I know the OP was on an M class ship & dislikes the S class size, but maybe Blue would work for him, being that it is a much smaller dining room, I'm sure he would get more attentive service.

 

As for dining 'pecking order', that's something I can't help him with.

 

& I'm adding that the OP has the right to cruise 20 times a year if he wishes, people who have worked hard & prospered have the right to enjoy thier money guilt free, bringing 'starving people' into it is absurd.

[greeneg]

I am saying that 2034 is what Celebrity lists on their website as the capacity for Summit and the other M-class ships.

 

http://www.celebritycruises.com/plancruise/ships/ship.do;jsessionid=0000gVxvb2DFIG8YydUX3K2DWG_:12hdebcnj?shipCode=SM

 

Just quoting them. I would assume that that would represent a fully booked ship with all of the berths occupied. I actually thought that the M-class usually sailed around 1800-1900 passengers. Perhaps there was a special group aboard.

[Jade13]

We just returned from seven nights in SL. The fire doors were also closed. This is very Royal Caribbean style. On B2Bs we enjoyed being able to use our cabin prior to the new passengers boarding, this may be a thing of the past. Our B2B2B in EC next week in Europe will be interesting between cruises.

 

Food in SL was great with good variety. Night time buffet was excellent. ~ Ric

 

Thanks for the comments. I think this will catch up with Celebrity via passenger comments. We are able bodied, but besides wishing to transport computer, camera Equipment etc on our own, with no guarantee of when the suit cases will arive, we would have prefered to just deliver them to the stateroom ourselves. We are only taking carryon to our next (Eclipse) 3 night cruise.

 

We had no problem with doing this on HAL a few weeks ago. We went to our stateroom shortly after boarding at 11:30am. We understood the rooms were not ready, but felt comfortable dropping our luggage off ourselves.