Disappointed

[grandgeezer]

49 minutes ago, cruisingdelt said:

Sometimes these threads decay into flame wars and I am not trying to do that but would like to put things in perspective.  DW and I started cruising in 2001 and have pent most of our cruises on a Celebrity ship.  Have things changed in 18 years, absolutely!  Many of us miss the elegance of the cruises 20 years ago.  The food quality is not what is once was but considering they are cooking for 2000+ people it is really not bad.  We now also have Martini Bars, some great specialty restaurants, internet service, sometimes good internet service, and drink packages.  One thing that hasn't changed is the level of service on Celebrity.  You are still treated as an honored guest by all the crew.  No company gets this correct 100% of the time but Celebrity is close.  Celebrity is a business and must turn a profit or they will not be a business.  They drive people to packages because they make more money.  We all have the option of not getting the packages.  They make changes to draw a younger crowd.  Some of these changes may not make people of my age happy but Celebrity needs to attract people to replace us when we can't cruise any longer (may that day never come!).  In the end, when the line no longer serves our needs we should walk away and try another one.  I tried RCL last year and did not like it but that is me.  We will try it again this year and also do some Celebrity trips.  One last item, cruising is still a bargain even with the nickel and diming and increases.  Here is some info from my first cruise in 2001 and a similar one coming up.  In 2001 we paid $4100 for an ocean view room on a 7 day trip to Bermuda.  This works out to $585/day plus gratuities and drinks.  This year we will be taking a 10 day tip to Bermuda and NE with veranda room (CC1) for $5440 or $544/day which includes gratuities, drinks, internet and  $300 room credit.  To everyone, make the best of things and just enjoy cruising on whatever line you like.  Life is too short to argue! Bon voyage.

 Our first cruise was in 2003 on Celebrity Mercury, in an ocean view, doing ten days in the Mexican Riviera. We paid about $800 p.p.including taxes and fees. In October we are going on a fourteen day Caribbean cruise on MSC Seaside (our second cruise on this ship), in the Yacht Club Deluxe Suite. We have a deluxe drink package, that includes minibar, internet, prepaid gratuities and $600 obc ($300 each leg of a B2B). For this we are paying a total of $5300 for the two of us. Since the obc is refundable, that brings the grand total to $4700, which make it $168 p.p. per day.

I'd love to know what makes a cruise in a concierge balcony worth $376 p.p. per day more than a deluxe suite. We've done 20+ cruises on Celebrity so we know what they have to offer. 

[Quo Vadis?]

4 hours ago, wpgcycler said:

 

I frankly couldn't care less what you think of me. Opinions expressed without any quantitative or qualitative measures or insight are baseless and utterly worthless to anyone seeking useful information - regardless of how many dozens or hundreds of cruises the poster has taken.

The feeling must be mutual.  So what is quantitative or qualitative about the way you ALWAYS seem to attack posters with a different point of view?

[NLH Arizona]

55 minutes ago, JaneAustenCruiser said:

 

Thank you for this. I'm a new cruiser (only one under my belt) and even that one was a gift from God (I say that without a stitch of sarcasm). I get that many who have experienced the wonder of sailing for many years may have grown jaded at the luxury that is available to us. I hope I never do.

I've been on over sixty cruises and have yet to become jaded.  I count my blessings everyday that I'm able to cruise.  I've cruised on mass market lines, preimum lines and luxury lines and the all have their great points; maybe everything didn't always go as planned, but I've enjoyed every cruise I've ever been on.  

 

I don't not go on a line because of someone else's issues, I base everything on how I find the service, food, etc. and will try a line at least once to make up my own mind.   I've listened to folks, at my MDR table, compain that there isn't enough seasoning on food and when I took a bit, I thought there was too much seasoning and one has to realize that everyone has different tastes and, unfortunatelly, a cruise line can't cater to everybody's different tastes, because they are dealing with thousands of individuals.   FWIW, I've never had a bad meal on Celebrity. 

[mek]

3 hours ago, Orator said:

Perhaps they used the same supplier in Vancouver? If it  is, they need to change. The first cruise on Eclipse loaded supplies in Vancouver and Millie most probably was resupplied after their Transpacific also in Vancouver. Hope you and the gang have great Alaskan cruises.

Perhaps that could be part of the  problem with the 4/17 Hawaiian cruise I was on.  As previously mentioned, we did not have a regular shrimp cocktail until we reached Hawaii.  Even then, the ship was constantly running out of items and they served beef brisket every which way they could in the buffet,(and only one time was it worth eating.)

[Mike981]

People don't believe us, but my wife and I rarely eat out. Think 12 months at a time.
We cook a lot of food and are darn good at it. Point being, if I say we felt that the food was lacking during our January Equinox cruise, it is based on our cooking. I'm sure if we ate out a few times a week, we would have a different flavor profile on what we like.

But, tough meat is tough meat. Unfortunately the majority of our beef/pork was tough and dry during our week long cruise.

In today's world, we look at the food on mass lines like chain restaurants.

Consistently mediocre, with an occasional exception.

[wpgcycler]

24 minutes ago, Mike981 said:

 Unfortunately the majority of our beef/pork was tough and dry during our week long cruise.

 

Did you send it back? Request something else?

[Stateroom_Sailor]

5 minutes ago, wpgcycler said:

Did you send it back? Request something else?

 

You mean, stick to the vegetarian options?

[wpgcycler]

Just now, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

You mean, stick to the vegetarian options?

What an odd response. Request a better steak/pork chop? Switch to chicken or fish or pasta? I hope you're not going to tell us it was either the meat or the veg or go hungry.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

3 minutes ago, wpgcycler said:

I hope you're not going to tell us it was either the meat or the veg or go hungry.

 

I'm certainly not telling anyone to do anything, but every entree on the menu is listed as either contains meat, or is vegetarian.  Even if you went to the buffet and only went for fruit, peppers, noodles, and Ice Cream, there's no real way of escaping it.

[wpgcycler]

1 minute ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

I'm certainly not telling anyone to do anything, but every entree on the menu is listed as either contains meat, or is vegetarian.  Even if you went to the buffet and only went for fruit, peppers, noodles, and Ice Cream, there's no real way of escaping it.

 

Wut?

[Mike981]

19 minutes ago, wpgcycler said:

Did you send it back? Request something else?

 

Nope. I was honest with my response to our lovely server though.
Again, all beef/pork was dry and tough. I just steered clear after a day or two. I did ask for a different entree once, but we really don't eat that much for dinner and don't like sitting for to long.

[Hlitner]

4 hours ago, cruisingdelt said:

Sometimes these threads decay into flame wars and I am not trying to do that but would like to put things in perspective.  DW and I started cruising in 2001 and have pent most of our cruises on a Celebrity ship.  Have things changed in 18 years, absolutely!  Many of us miss the elegance of the cruises 20 years ago.  The food quality is not what is once was but considering they are cooking for 2000+ people it is really not bad.  We now also have Martini Bars, some great specialty restaurants, internet service, sometimes good internet service, and drink packages.  One thing that hasn't changed is the level of service on Celebrity.  You are still treated as an honored guest by all the crew.  No company gets this correct 100% of the time but Celebrity is close.  Celebrity is a business and must turn a profit or they will not be a business.  They drive people to packages because they make more money.  We all have the option of not getting the packages.  They make changes to draw a younger crowd.  Some of these changes may not make people of my age happy but Celebrity needs to attract people to replace us when we can't cruise any longer (may that day never come!).  In the end, when the line no longer serves our needs we should walk away and try another one.  I tried RCL last year and did not like it but that is me.  We will try it again this year and also do some Celebrity trips.  One last item, cruising is still a bargain even with the nickel and diming and increases.  Here is some info from my first cruise in 2001 and a similar one coming up.  In 2001 we paid $4100 for an ocean view room on a 7 day trip to Bermuda.  This works out to $585/day plus gratuities and drinks.  This year we will be taking a 10 day tip to Bermuda and NE with veranda room (CC1) for $5440 or $544/day which includes gratuities, drinks, internet and  $300 room credit.  To everyone, make the best of things and just enjoy cruising on whatever line you like.  Life is too short to argue! Bon voyage.

I am going to go against my own better judgement and talk about pricing.  My purpose is to give a heads up to others...since you have already booked your cruise and are happy with the price.  We are taking a 10 day X cruise to Bermuda/Canada in a couple of weeks.  We paid a total of $2300 for 2 persons (including all taxes and fees) and got a few hundred dollars in OBCs dropping our actual cost to under $2000 (or about $100 per person day).  We did not get any perks because we decided to have some fun and "go cheap."  Our cost per day for drinks and tips will be about $40 per person which means we will pay less than $3000 for a 10 day cruise (in a balcony cabin) after paying for our tips and drinks!   So when I see your post it does give me pause.  As to perks, since we are Elite Plus we do get a fair amount of free Internet, 2 hour free cocktail hours, Elite breakfast (with drinks), etc.  In my world your $5440 is anything but a bargain!  We have over 200 days on Celebrity and have never paid anything near $544 a day even when we did have lots of perks including the Premium drink package.  We have cruised in Aqua Class (many times) with the Premium Drink package and pre-paid gratuities for must less than $544 (per couple/day).  Just saying.  If I did not know better I would suspect you are booking directly with Celebrity!  

 

Hank

[hcat]

34 minutes ago, Mike981 said:

 

Nope. I was honest with my response to our lovely server though.
Again, all beef/pork was dry and tough. I just steered clear after a day or two. I did ask for a different entree once, but we really don't eat that much for dinner and don't like sitting for to long.

Hmm....it's usually the poultry that we find is overcooked and dried out...Every ship and cruise is different but we never starve and gave a good idea of what to avoid,,,

[Baron Barracuda]

10 hours ago, Orator said:

Equinox will be a "new" ship when you cruise. It's been the "Ship of the year" several times and is highly rated by past passengers. Captain Tasos will be joining the ship in November and then stay 3 months on, 3 months off and then returning to the ship. Capt. Tasos is very popular with passengers.

 

But can he cook? 😁

[cruisingdelt]

To Grandgeezer-the prices in my post were total not pp.  Converted to pp my 2001 cruise was $293 and 2019 is 272.  People's likes and dislikes are subjective and sometimes hard to understand.  We should all cruise the line or ship that makes us happy and just understand that what makes us happy may not be what make others happy and vice versa.  Happy cruising!!!

[davekathy]

1 hour ago, wpgcycler said:

What an odd response. Request a better steak/pork chop? Switch to chicken or fish or pasta? I hope you're not going to tell us it was either the meat or the veg or go hungry.

I really like the Mac-n-Cheese from the kids menu. We don't even have kids. Well my wife might say something different. 

Edited May 16, 2019 by davekathy

[Marelaine]

5 hours ago, JaneAustenCruiser said:

 

Thank you for this. I'm a new cruiser (only one under my belt) and even that one was a gift from God (I say that without a stitch of sarcasm). I get that many who have experienced the wonder of sailing for many years may have grown jaded at the luxury that is available to us. I hope I never do.

 

Welcome to cruising. We are not jaded, either. We get to cruise about once a year, as our sole vacation, and feel very fortunate.  We are keenly aware of the amazing crew, love meeting new people from all over the world, enjoy every moment in the sun, glory in the sunset at sea. Never had a complaint about the quality of food until this last cruise in March. If this had been our first cruise, I probably would have assumed this is just how cruise food is, and not given it another thought other than I will not order the steak again. But no, judging from past experiences, Celebrity is much better than that.

[citronella]

43 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We have over 200 days on Celebrity and have never paid anything near $544 a day even when we did have lots of perks including the Premium drink package.  We have cruised in Aqua Class (many times) with the Premium Drink package and pre-paid gratuities for must less than $544 (per couple/day).

  

It would seem almost impossible to me to go to areas eg. Mediterranean in Aqua Class and with perks for less than this.

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, Baron Barracuda said:

 

But can he cook? 😁

I Am sure he can and well, at that... LOL

 

bon voyage

[BPCW]

I think even Celebrity’s loyal supporters (me being one of them) can acknowledge some decreased quality over the years. I’ve noticed some things on various cruises. But no line is perfect and I hope people don’t let these issues seriously affect their vacations. 

[Hlitner]

5 hours ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

The Millennium was my first X ship, this is really sad to hear.  People are paying extra to be on this revolutionized ship, and it is really not fair to them to be served downgraded food.  There goes the excuse of South America supplier issues, on the way back up the coast.

Celebrity buys all their fish and meat (and many other items) in North America...has it packed in containers and shipped to staging ports.   

 

Hank

[capsplace]

For  what it is worth, on our last Celebrity cruise, I attended a discussion with the head chefs, the sommelier’s, etc. where they described how they approach their menus for a particular cruise. Be it at the main dining room or the buffet or Blu or Luminae.  They have demographics of all the people who are expected to be on a particular cruise, months in advance.  With that information, again months in advance, they said they design their menus to the demographics of the passengers expected to be on a particular cruise. For example, we had a majority of Brits on our SE Asia cruises.  So, more than once, especially at the buffet, the main food selections were geared for Brits. 

[villauk]

4 hours ago, capsplace said:

For  what it is worth, on our last Celebrity cruise, I attended a discussion with the head chefs, the sommelier’s, etc. where they described how they approach their menus for a particular cruise. Be it at the main dining room or the buffet or Blu or Luminae.  They have demographics of all the people who are expected to be on a particular cruise, months in advance.  With that information, again months in advance, they said they design their menus to the demographics of the passengers expected to be on a particular cruise. For example, we had a majority of Brits on our SE Asia cruises.  So, more than once, especially at the buffet, the main food selections were geared for Brits. 

 

 

Yes, we’ve heard this many times, but I wish someone would instruct all of the chefs into how to make a decent Yorkshire pudding 🤣. Last week on Silhouette, and all of our other cruises where it was offered, they have been as hard as bullets. A dentist visit is compulsory after attempting to eat it on any X ship .

 

 

[citronella]

13 hours ago, citronella said:

  

It would seem almost impossible to me to go to areas eg. Mediterranean in Aqua Class and with perks for less than this.

 

I just realized that I was thinking in terms of $544 Cdn which equates to about $400 US..........different ballgame totally.

[wpgcycler]

8 hours ago, villauk said:

 

 

Yes, we’ve heard this many times, but I wish someone would instruct all of the chefs into how to make a decent Yorkshire pudding 🤣. Last week on Silhouette, and all of our other cruises where it was offered, they have been as hard as bullets. A dentist visit is compulsory after attempting to eat it on any X ship .

 

 

 

I'm a YP aficionado and had superb ones on my first cruise on Reflection - huge, tender-crisp, tasty...