These boards are scaring me. Has Celebrity dropped THAT much in quality???

[iandjm]

Hi,

 

I am just back from 12 nights on Millennium, and I have to say it was probably the best cruise I have ever been on. The ship seemed even better than it was in 2004, and service and quality standards were very very good. You have no worries with Celebrity. I find people only seem to be inspired to post on here when they have something to complain about.

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

 

Ian :D

[Leela]

IAN! You are back! The Panamaniacs were wondering where you were.

[CruiseQueen13]

I don't see it. We just got off the Constellation in March - service, food and pampering were just as good as ever. Staff was amazing, as usual. We were very very pleased. To date, the Constellation is our favorite ship!

[New Hampshire Snow]

Don't worry about Celebrity's quality. We were booked for the May 20 cruise on Summit to Alaska (the same week the ship had to go into dry dock for repairs). Celebrity refunded our money, offered us a free cruise and gave us a $200 rebate for costs in changing our air arrangements. We have cruised perhaps 15 times with Celebrity and think it is a great cruise line. Service is almost always top notch and if they do have a problem they go out of their way to make it up to guests. You'll have a great cruise with them.

[cruiser2004]

We were on the May 7 Celebrity Summit West Coast/Alaska cruise and received $200 credit per cabin for missing over one half of the itineary! Plus we will receive a worthless 30% off coupon for a future cruise.

Celebrity management is very inconsistent in their decision making process. The different ways that Celebrity handled the three or four Mercury "bleach" cruises and the handling of compensation for the May 7 Summit vs. the May 20 Summit cruise points this out.

To answer the poster's question at the start of this thread, from my experience, I would have to say YES Celebrity is going downhill.

[akawanda]

My answer is no, but maybe I am just too easy to please:D , Wanda

[Lois R]

My answer is no, but maybe I am just too easy to please:D , Wanda

 

Wanda, we are cut from the same cloth my friend:)

9 Celebrity cruises, 9 wonderful experiences.

[akawanda]

Hi Lois, I am proud to be cut from the same cloth as you!!

[Lois R]

And I you:), thanks.

 

Let's get back on topic;) ....you and I are of the

opinion that our Celebrity cruises have not gone down hill...happily:)

[BaltiGator]

We were on the May 7 Celebrity Summit West Coast/Alaska cruise and received $200 credit per cabin for missing over one half of the itineary! Plus we will receive a worthless 30% off coupon for a future cruise.

Celebrity management is very inconsistent in their decision making process. The different ways that Celebrity handled the three or four Mercury "bleach" cruises and the handling of compensation for the May 7 Summit vs. the May 20 Summit cruise points this out.

To answer the poster's question at the start of this thread, from my experience, I would have to say YES Celebrity is going downhill.

 

Well, I guess this points out that a cruise line can be measured on different types of quality. I think Celebrity's (evidently poor) handling of the Summit situation indicates a lack of quality in the area of crisis management. But if on a different cruise all the usual things go as planned, that presents pax with a whole different sphere of quality, a sphere in which Celebrity apparently does quite well.

 

I know there's a whole separate and lengthy thread about the Summit crisis, but I just don't get Celebrity's minimal compensation to pax. Yes, we all know the cruise contract says ports can be missed, etc., and rarely does everything goes perfectly on any cruise. Fine. Still, there's a point in a cruise where enough ports are missed, and/or enough other things go wrong, that the cruise officially becomes "a bad cruise" in the eyes of most of the pax. A disaster, maybe even. And at that point, you would think it is in the cruise line's best interest to make the pax reasonably happy by offering some reasonable compensation.

 

I don't know what would be "reasonable" in the case of the recent Summit mess, and admittedly, any amount of money won't be enough for some. But I would guess, just to throw a number out, that the vast majority of pax on this cruise would be satisfied - and a whole lot less p'eed off with Celebrity - if they received a letter apologizing for the happenings, crediting back, say, 50% of the cruise price to their credit card, and offering, say, a 50% discount on another cruise of similar length. Yes, that's a costly form of "We're sorry" - but the best companies do that sort of thing to keep customers happy and to keep them coming back. Doesn't Celebrity think their customer loyalty and their corporate image is worth that much?

[caviargal]

I cruised with X for the first time on the Horizon in 1991, Zenith in 1993 and 1995, and Infinity in 2001, her inaugural year. I was totally wowed on those cruises :D by every aspect of the onboard experience.

 

I did not go back on X til 2005 and cruised on Mercury to Alaska.

 

IMO, the experience was quite a bit different. This could have been related to the age of the ship, perhaps, although I do prefer smaller ships in general ( and most of these are older). Perhaps my expectations were simply too high.

 

Never did I or anyone travelling with me (including two seniors) get an offer of assistance with a tray in the lido, cocktail service was slow, the condition of the cabin was a surprise and the general "feel" of the ship was not what I had anticipated with such excitement based on past Celebrity experiences.

 

I did take many cruises during the time I was away from X and always looked forward to going back to what I considered the best of the mainstream lines.

 

I am, however, quite confident that my upcoming Century cruise will reinstill my enthusiam for the Celebrity experience.:)

[dmk]

I cruised with X for the first time on the Horizon in 1991, Zenith in 1993 and 1995, and Infinity in 2001, her inaugural year. I was totally wowed on those cruises :D by every aspect of the onboard experience.

 

I did not go back on X til 2005 and cruised on Mercury to Alaska.

 

IMO, the experience was quite a bit different. This could have been related to the age of the ship, perhaps, although I do prefer smaller ships in general ( and most of these are older). Perhaps my expectations were simply too high.

 

Never did I or anyone travelling with me (including two seniors) get an offer of assistance with a tray in the lido, cocktail service was slow, the condition of the cabin was a surprise and the general "feel" of the ship was not what I had anticipated with such excitement based on past Celebrity experiences.

 

I did take many cruises during the time I was away from X and always looked forward to going back to what I considered the best of the mainstream lines.

 

I am, however, quite confident that my upcoming Century cruise will reinstill my enthusiam for the Celebrity experience.:)

 

I am sorry that you didn't have that "wow" factor on your Mercury cruise to Alaska. I applaud your confidence in your future Century cruise. I am also looking forward to mine in January.

Thank you for exploring the things that made your cruise less than perfect with a positive up note. What I mean is... you did what others have failed to do. You expressed the less than perfect experience without the condemnation I have seen others express.

What a breath of fresh air! As they say "you don't have to throw out the baby with the bath water." All the best in your future cruises.

[caviargal]

I am sorry that you didn't have that "wow" factor on your Mercury cruise to Alaska. I applaud your confidence in your future Century cruise. I am also looking forward to mine in January.

 

Thank you for exploring the things that made your cruise less than perfect with a positive up note. What I mean is... you did what others have failed to do. You expressed the less than perfect experience without the condemnation I have seen others express.

 

What a breath of fresh air! As they say "you don't have to throw out the baby with the bath water." All the best in your future cruises.

 

Thank you for the compliment:D.

 

I am confident enough in Century that I am bringing along my family and closest friends and getting married while in port on Key West.

 

There are lots of ships out there to choose from so I think that says a lot.

[crz4ever]

I just cruised on the Summit on April 23 to Hawaii and it was an awesome cruise. The ship is clean and the service is fantastic. Yes, they will practically line up to carry your tray in the buffet restaurant and always with a smile. The cabin is clean and comfortable (we had an inside cabin) and the room steward couldn't do enough for us. I love Celebrity. This was my third cruise with them, I had been on the Galaxy twice before and I haven't noticed anything going "downhill". I find their service far superior to HAL or Princess.

 

crz4ever

Star Clipper 8/06

Summit 4/06

Royal Clipper 1/06

Galaxy 7/05

Diamond Princess 4/05

Volendam 11/04

Galaxy 3/04

[C 2 C]

I had been on the Galaxy twice before and I haven't noticed anything going "downhill".

 

On Galaxy crossing (May 6) and Mediterranean (22nd) showed a real shortage of waiters to help anyone in the Oasis Cafe. Repeated comments to assistants maitre'd, attention to detail and direct approach to Hotel Director finally got some action towards the end of the cruise. It is good to hear that other X ships are still keeping up this special touch.... And those weather reports were never seen either.

[Johnsy81]

I have a Panama Canal/repo cruise booked for November on Infinity. I also have the Panama Canal segment of the World Cruise on hold on the QE2 in January.

 

I would rather cruise on Infinity. I want to see the Panama Canal. I have one of the corner FV cabins booked. Everything I want. All these reports about filthy cabins, run down ships, snarly wait staff, etc. are really starting to worry me.

 

I want an upscale ship, I want a clean ship, I want pax to appreciate formal night and show their appreciation by dressing accordingly. I don't care about the shows. I do like good food, but am not a foodie. And I really appreciate the waiters carrying trays in the buffet. Everything X has always been (haven't sailed X in two years).

 

Are these reports from disgruntled cruisers, first timers, non dress code people, etc., or are they from regular Celebrity cruisers?

 

I am looking for honesty from regular Celebrity cruisers. I am not looking for "X is Perfect". If the line has really gone downhill or there are things that have slipped appreciably, please let me know. I have until Friday to firm up the reservation on the QE2.

 

I know how you feel. When QM2 first sailed, the reviews were horrible. DH and I had booked a 10 day Caribbean in Nov 2004 14 months before in advance. I spent a year dreaming about and planning for this voyage, and read the Cunard boards religiously. So many of the reviews were negative that I began to wonder if I had made a mistake. When November 2004 rolled around and we were finally able to board her, we found QM2 amazing. We enjoyed all our meals (didn't lose any weight on that cruise), were very satisfied with the service on board, etc. Does that mean that everything was perfect...of course not. Ships are machines and they do have problems from time to time. The crew are human and some days are better than others for them. Your fellow passengers are also human (some a bit more than others). There's never a guarantee that anything will be as you expect it be.

 

With all this said, I have every intention of someday sailing on Celebrity (in fact, we're planning a cruise in October 2007 and had a tough time deciding between Constellation or HAL's Noordam...we're going with the Noordam because my first cruise on HAL and I have such found memories of it). I WILL someday sail on Celebrity and look forward to it.

 

I see you're also holding space on QE2...don't know if you've checked the Cunard board but you'll see some very negative comments about her as well. Some consider her a "dump", while others praise her to no end.

 

No matter which ship you choose, decide before hand that you WILL have a great time, and that some things may not live up to your expectations.

I trust that you will enjoy your voyage, whichever one you choose.

[greeneg]

This has been our experience also; we have never had a concern or problem with Celebrity that has not be addressed and resolved to our satisfaction.

 

I do appreciate that nothing is perfect and that others may not have had the same experience, but we have found Celebrity to be appropriately responsive to our questions, needs, and requests.