Got A Call From Celebrity About My Letter

[Maverick Cruiser]

Hi Everyone,

 

My first post here, even though I've been reading posts for a long time.

My sister is kitty9(darcie) and she encouraged me to post about my experience with Celebrity and my Mercury cruise.

 

I wrote a letter to the CEO of Celebrity telling him about the pluses and minuses of my Mercury cruise. My sister said not to expect anything from Celebrity because they don't usually respond to letters. I made sure to tell them all the great things about the cruise, along with the not so good, in order for whomever to tell that I wasn't just a complainer.

 

I received a phone call a few minutes ago from a woman named Joan, who's the head of special guest services on Celebrity. She said the CEO of Celebrity did in fact read my letter and was appalled about some of the things that were of concern to me about the cruise. He was especially upset to hear about the blood-stained sheets that were placed on my bed, how below par the butler, Savio, was when compared to all the other Celebrity butlers I've experienced, and a few other concerns. I praised to the heavens my dining room wait staff, the photo staff, and the assistant cruise directors. I would guess when you write a letter that's fair and balanced (to borrow a term from Fox News), they take your concerns seriously.

 

Here's some great news. Joan also told me that Celebrity will very soon be introducing new pricing for singles, with some cruises having SS as low as 25% and others being 35% and 50% !!!!!! These will not be advertised, but travel agents will be able to call Celebrity and find out which cruises will have the low single supplement. That's great news for people like me and my sister who cruise as singles.

[teedee]

Here's some great news. Joan also told me that Celebrity will very soon be introducing new pricing for singles, with some cruises having SS as low as 25% and others being 35% and 50% !!!!!! These will not be advertised, but travel agents will be able to call Celebrity and find out which cruises will have the low single supplement. That's great news for people like me and my sister who cruise as singles.

 

Welcome to the boards (as a poster) it's good to see you here! Being a single cruiser I'm thrilled to hear your news as well. Did they by any chance say when this would be starting?

Terri

[CruisingChick]

I wrote a letter to the CEO of Celebrity telling him about the pluses and minuses of my Mercury cruise. My sister said not to expect anything from Celebrity because they don't usually respond to letters. I made sure to tell them all the great things about the cruise, along with the not so good, in order for whomever to tell that I wasn't just a complainer.

 

I have written to Celebrity after each cruise I've taken always telling them the good and the bad. Also I mention crew members by name as this is how they get promoted, time off, or re-trained or fired.

 

I have received either a telephone call or letter personally acknowleging each letter that I have written to Celebrity.

 

I feel they do take time to read letters and comments and they do address them.

 

I met up with the waiter we had on our 13 night Mediterranean cruise again on our April Coastal California cruise. I had mentioned the letter I wrote to Celebrity and how I mentioned his outstanding service. He said he got a copy of it and it's in his employee file.

 

I am so glad Celebrity responded to your first letter with a telephone call. To me it shows they are interested. Either that, or they are good actors.

[CaptData]

I would like to know about the single supp too.

[greydog]

I received a Thank-you letter from Celebrity acknowledging the letter I sent to Headquarters and the Restaurant Manager onboard Century regarding the excellent service from waiter Dervis and his assistant. We understand such a written contact carries more weight than the Comment/Rating forms. Forunately, we have never had any major disappointments with 10 X trips to bother reporting. Knock on water(?)

[venicecruiser]

It would be very nice to see a reduction of the single supplement..........However, I will believe it when I see it........

[Lois R]

Me too, Me too:)...I am a solo cruiser and would LOVE IT if those supplements

were reduced!!!

[Roz]

Moi, aussi. I've been cruising HAL because of their 140% single supplements on certain sailings, but have been wanting to try Celebrity. Please keep us posted.

 

Roz

[wolfganghowell]

Great customer service on their part. Interesting info about the letters carrying more weight than our surveys. I always take pains to mention waiters and cabin attendants by name - and even bartenders or floating waiters since I too had heard that this can help them move up the ladder.

 

And since I got the latest Celebrity bulletin and made jokes about the new president looking like a 12 year old, it is great to hear that they are paying attention to the customer. (and no, I'm not a crone, it's just a joke in my business that everyone over 40 is being replaced by a 12 year old!)

[Host Kewlguy]

Blood stained sheets under the bed? Sounds like my stateroom attendant on my latest Zenith cruise may have moved to the Mercury.

[kitty9]

Lois, and everyone else. I'm going to call my TA in Scottsdale and have him call Celebrity to see what cruises will have the reduced fares for singles. My sister was really impressed with how X handled everything. She wasn't looking for anything monetary, but she was very happy to see that X takes the letters seriously.

[Lois R]

Darcie:) I would love to hear any news you can bring us!

 

To reduce those supplements by that amount would be Outstanding!

[CruiserJen]

If the employee you make positive comments about gets a copy of your letter, do you think they send your letter to those you complain about too? That could be really ugly, if you cruise alot and end up running into that person again! You think they remove any personal info like the name, address, phone and/or email address of the author? I wouldn't want someone I complain about to have my address, phone number or email address.

 

Jen

[ingrid295]

Kitty9, if you find anything out, please post the info for us. We are booked on Nov 19th Constellation and we are taking my Father along who is paying a single supplement. We just booked last week, so maybe I'll call the TA.

 

We are in Phoenix. Hot enough for you in Scottsdale? Or are you already back in Wisconsin? Predicting a mere 110 degrees for 4th July and that's a slight cooling trend this week. Ahhhh, but it's a dry heat. :)

 

Ingrid.

[Host Kewlguy]

Great, now that I'm not single they offer specials for singles. Just my luck. :(

[CruisingChick]

If the employee you make positive comments about gets a copy of your letter, do you think they send your letter to those you complain about too? That could be really ugly, if you cruise alot and end up running into that person again! You think they remove any personal info like the name, address, phone and/or email address of the author? I wouldn't want someone I complain about to have my address, phone number or email address.

 

Jen

 

I'm sorry I mistated when I typed. They don't actually give the crew member the letter they send a copy to their supervisor on the ship and then put something in their personnel file and they are told when they receive rave reviews because this is how they get rated and get extra days off or promotions.

 

I'm sure if you gave someone a really bad review they aren't going to mention you by name and the crew will probably not know who it came from.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

Two Comments...

 

1. Great to hear that Celebrity responded to the OP's letter. I truly see a meaningful improvement in Celebrity's responses (and in general customer service) since Mr. Hanrahan has been running Celebrity. Let's hope this is the start of a much improved trend. Great work Celebrity !

 

2. It would be wonderful to see Celebrity add some nice discounts for Single Cruisers. I am all for it. However, as Celebrity recently made discounts for Solo Cruisers "Worse", I cannot see how that is going to happen. The only thing that could make it happen, is perhaps Celebrity is seeing a drop-off in Single Cruisers, and they want do to something positive about it. I sure hope so !