Fresh OJ..Flowers..Chocolates..

[bflowercar]

Just off the Silhouette and thought I'd share my observations about topics I read/noticed prior to departure..

 

Fresh OJ - They do not make it at the bars/cafe anymore - however I asked and the machines are in the back and what you are served is the same. Confirmed by the taste/texture - best OJ I've had.

 

Flowers - We booked a concierge class and no...there are no longer flowers in the cabins. Nice touch - which was missed.

 

Chocolates - On our pillows every night..along with a character towel for our 9 y/o. My daughter asked our cabin attendant if he could make a Mermaid and sure enough the next day it was on her bed! :)

[TeaBag]

Good news. Thank you for posting.

[Germancruiser]

I am just back from Millenium- OJ- was there, but not freshly pressed- it tasted great though - so nothing to complain- exept that they should NOT advertise it a freshly pressed!

No Chocks on the pillow though- not sooo badly missed!

Great flower in the Concierce Cabin though!

Towel´s animals nice touch and kind of sweet!

Cost cuttings- well no more classic trio- just a Duo- but than can be circumstancial - maybe No. 3 came down with something!

I find X still a step above the other Mass Markt cruise lines even with all their cost cuttings and such.

Price in Bistro on Five now 7 Dollars - okay prices for ingredients have gone up as well.

Olympic, Spez. Rest. now 50 Dollar- sometimes 40 Dollars depened on the promo the did!

[QE2_Fan]

We are off Solstice just last week and found same regarding the OJ. Not squeezed on board but tasted great and personally couldn't taste or feel the difference (lots of furries still in it!!)

 

Choccies on pillow every night. Normally don't care for these (but always appreciate the extra touch) however these were good quality Valhrona chocolate squares and we scoffed them!!

 

Both ours and kids cabins got towel animals most nights. My daughter collected them all until we had a pile the size of the pyramid that toppled and sadly most fell apart. The hanging monkey however stayed up for the duration!!

 

 

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[gopro63]

New CEO, new Contract, leads to budget cuts, and as the future of the cruises go, more cuts are to follow, where can they be, no one knows till they themselves experience it.

 

Fill your feedback survey and complain about it.

[keesar]

I think some of the cuts could be ship specific. On the Reflection, we had nice fresh flowers in our room. The orange juice appeared to be a "not from concentrate" but was not definitely "freshly squeezed". They don't make it at the bar because the cartons are in the back. :rolleyes: There were no guest speakers for Beyond the Podium. Activities during the day were reduced.

 

But still with the cuts, Celebrity is a wonderful cruise line.

[dwhe]

We are off Solstice just last week and found same regarding the OJ. Not squeezed on board but tasted great and personally couldn't taste or feel the difference (lots of furries still in it!!)

 

Choccies on pillow every night. Normally don't care for these (but always appreciate the extra touch) however these were good quality Valhrona chocolate squares and we scoffed them!!

 

Both ours and kids cabins got towel animals most nights. My daughter collected them all until we had a pile the size of the pyramid that toppled and sadly most fell apart. The hanging monkey however stayed up for the duration!!

 

 

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That's a sloth surely :D

[bri1809]

Yes; but don't call me surely....

[Queen of Oakville]

Yes; but don't call me surely....

 

bwahahaha.

 

my first laugh of the day

[Iamthesea]

I think some of the cuts could be ship specific. On the Reflection, we had nice fresh flowers in our room. The orange juice appeared to be a "not from concentrate" but was not definitely "freshly squeezed". They don't make it at the bar because the cartons are in the back. :rolleyes: There were no guest speakers for Beyond the Podium. Activities during the day were reduced.

 

But still with the cuts, Celebrity is a wonderful cruise line.

 

That was our experience on the Reflection last week. In Blu and Luminae, the juice was still better than the machine juice in the café, but not totally FS. One oddity... We ordered room service two mornings for our Suite. Used the interactive TV. Fresh squeezed was listed at no charge and it DID taste fresh squeezed versus what we got in Blu and Luminae. :rolleyes:

 

Had flowers and chocolates, too! We didn't get any animals (which I am fine with,) but my daughter's bed always had her baby blanket (and one night, her nightie) neatly laid out at the end of the bed. My daughter is 30. :D Let me explain. She carried her 2 year old son's baby blanket along on the cruise to remind her of him. ;) One afternoon, she took a nap and left both the blanket and nightie on the bed when we went for dinner. We really laughed when we saw the nightie neatly spread out over the blanket. Atop that was the Daily newspaper.

[toodietat]

Our family of 6 (3 generations) have just completed a 2 week cruise on Century (concierge) & enjoyed our OJ daily in the Buffet - 1 only chocolate biscuit during the 2 week cruise & definitely no flowers, in fact, my request for a vase to hold my orchids I had bought onshore, went unfulfilled. I ended up substituting drink beakers from the Buffet. OK, we had a fabulous time, food, service, Fun Factory, staff etc were absolutely great, however if these paid "extras" are advertised, most customers expect them - no deal breaker - either omit them from the brochures for all Celebrity cruise ships or deliver!!

[QE2_Fan]

Our family of 6 (3 generations) have just completed a 2 week cruise on Century (concierge) & enjoyed our OJ daily in the Buffet - 1 only chocolate biscuit during the 2 week cruise & definitely no flowers, in fact, my request for a vase to hold my orchids I had bought onshore, went unfulfilled. I ended up substituting drink beakers from the Buffet. OK, we had a fabulous time, food, service, Fun Factory, staff etc were absolutely great, however if these paid "extras" are advertised, most customers expect them - no deal breaker - either omit them from the brochures for all Celebrity cruise ships or deliver!!

 

 

I think that chocolate mint cookie is a one off tread...we only received it once on both our last 2 cruises. But I was lucky my wife and daughter didn't want theirs, so I scored extra!! [emoji7][emoji51]. Love those cookies!!

 

We also got chocolate squares on the pillow each night though.

 

 

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[keesar]

That was our experience on the Reflection last week. In Blu and Luminae, the juice was still better than the machine juice in the café, but not totally FS. One oddity... We ordered room service two mornings for our Suite. Used the interactive TV. Fresh squeezed was listed at no charge and it DID taste fresh squeezed versus what we got in Blu and Luminae. :rolleyes:

.

 

One morning in Blu, I had orange juice that tasted like Tang. Must have been watered down juice. We got a cookie one night on our pillows and that was it. But we did get several towel animals throughout the cruise.

 

When I was packing, in one of my bags I had some old chocolates from a previous cruise. I should have brought them!:)

[donaldsc]

If you are on a 7 day cruise, 7 pieces of chocolate are probably worth less than $7.00 and generally the chocolate is pretty crappy. Bring a bag of good chocolate on with you and put it on the pillow each night and pretend to be surprised when you see it.

 

As far as flowers are concerned, they just die.

 

The only thing that I would not be happy about is the OJ and unfortunately I have diabetes and OJ is a no-no for me.

 

DON

[smtcan]

We are just home from a B2B on Century. First cruise (ocean view) no chocolates apart from the Oreo on the first formal night. Flowers - a rose from Captain's Club, one towel animal - luckily not the 'sloth' which I find really creepy because it looks as if it has been hanged.

 

Second cruise (concierge) chocolates every night, no flowers except the CC rose, one towel animal.

 

Flowers and chocolates are not a deal breaker for me, but if they advertise flowers in concierge class they should provide them. Towel animals are really not my thing, but when we cruised with our grandchildren they were very impressed.

 

Sheila

[Host Jazzbeau]

one towel animal - luckily not the 'sloth' which I find really creepy because it looks as if it has been hanged

 

Sloths hang upside down. This is not a sloth. Maybe a Monkey. Maybe ET. Also not hanged, because suspended by fingers. Think Cirque de Soleil :)

[Queen of Oakville]

If you are on a 7 day cruise, 7 pieces of chocolate are probably worth less than $7.00 and generally the chocolate is pretty crappy. Bring a bag of good chocolate on with you and put it on the pillow each night and pretend to be surprised when you see it.

 

 

DON

 

 

 

Oh, that is just such a Mr. Bean thing to do. I can see it now. lol

[donaldsc]

Oh, that is just such a Mr. Bean thing to do. I can see it now. lol

 

I have not seen him in years. Our PBS and BBC stations do not carry him. Another show I miss is Last of the Summer Wine.

 

DON

[richsea]

If you are on a 7 day cruise, 7 pieces of chocolate are probably worth less than $7.00 and generally the chocolate is pretty crappy. Bring a bag of good chocolate on with you and put it on the pillow each night and pretend to be surprised when you see it.

 

 

DON

 

Great idea! Why don't you drop in on the beverage package thread & tell the complainers to just bring a little extra money in case they have to spend $16 to upgrade to the premium package.

[smtcan]

Sloths hang upside down. This is not a sloth. Maybe a Monkey. Maybe ET. Also not hanged, because suspended by fingers. Think Cirque de Soleil :)

 

Cirque de Soleil was not the first thought I had when I saw the animal. Admittedly it is hanging by the fingers, but when I saw this animal for the first time, on HAL, I thought execution, but that is just me!

[Redtravel]

After getting violently sick from drinking fresh squeezed OJ on another cruiseline, I avoid fresh squeezed. Unless the oranges are washed with soapy water, you may get sick. It is an excellent move on Celebrity's part to stop serving fresh squeezed OJ. The regular OJ is very good.

 

I am allergic to many flowers. I have told Celebrity many times not to put flowers in my cabin. When I find them in my cabin, I put them out in the hallway. For many people, sharing an enclosed area with flowers can be uncomfortable. No roses is good news for me.

 

I love chocolate. I did miss the nightly chocolates on my recent cruise. It wasn't a big loss. I read someplace that chocolates will be back in April.

[Gracie115]

$50 for ANY of the specialty restaurants is absurd......we will be on Eclipse next week and we will go to Luminae(if open) and Blu but won't be spending any $$ in specialty restaurants at that price..... that's just really kind of crazy expensive.....

[keesar]

If you are on a 7 day cruise, 7 pieces of chocolate are probably worth less than $7.00 and generally the chocolate is pretty crappy. Bring a bag of good chocolate on with you and put it on the pillow each night and pretend to be surprised when you see it.

 

DON

 

I often bring a bag of chocolates for the cruise as I did not care for the house brand chocolates on the pillows. However, it is a nice sight to see them when you get back from a show. I was thinking of giving my chocolates to the cabin steward to put on our pillow each night and he could take some for himself!

[hvsteve1]

RE: OJ We were told in BLU the OJ was no longer being done on their machine due to "health department issues". Maybe they were getting dinged in inspections for not getting the machines clean enough.

 

RE: pillow candy. We got chocolate covered Oreos on formal night. Otherwise nothing. I gather from reading this forum that the new CEO re-instated pillow chocolates sometime in recent weeks, which is why some posters got them and some did not.

 

RE; towel animals. We got them, I believe, one night. HAL makes a big deal of towel animals. Those go with hairy chest contests and such in cruise history. It's nice for kids but I've never stayed in a five-star hotel where I came back from dinner and found a towel monkey hanging on my door.

 

RE: specialty restaurants. I think $50 is nuts considering your cruise fare already covers what is supposed to be an upscale dining experience. Considering that, they seem to be valuing those restaurants as worth $100 or so per person which, believe me, they are not. However, we ate at Murano twice and Lawn Club once. Both Murano meals were 30 percent off and Lawn Club was 50 percent off. You simply have to respond to those folks hawking the restaurants outside the Oceanview Grill and when you come back to the ship and be prepared to eat a bit early or late.

 

I think everything going on with Celebrity, which we sailed for the first time and loved, has them heading toward a unique marketing plan. I intend to start a thread discussing that in the net day or so.