No More Celebrity for This Cruise Critic

[tuggers]

I can tell you FOR SURE on the 9/17 Galaxy and the 10/31 Horizon the only 'little menu' on the table was the one for the after dinner and coffee drinks, NOT desserts! As you and I are going on X ships soon (11/27 for me and 12/11 for you) let's be sure and check this out fully so we can report back, okay?

 

Gail

[Lois R]

Hi Gail, yes...I will be checking too......I have to tell you, When I saw the prices on the menu on HAL.....I was a bit surprised but it didn't really bother me....I knew I wasn't going to spend the money on it....the thing is, both desserts (if memory serves) were offered on my X cruises without an xtra charge.

[jjssitters]

lois very nicely said.good answer :)

[NnJ2010]

The beefs and fish were overcooked and dry, the soups often cold, and the desserts were fair.

 

Cour10ay

 

Er well, they serve a lot of cold soups.... ;) just teasing.

 

Sorry you and the OP didn't enjoy your cruise. It's funny even when I had a cruise that I didn't like and wouldn't go on again, I still managed to have a good time. I'm a firm believer that your vacation is what you make of it. If you research enough in advance, and go in with a good attitude you'll enjoy yourself. Yes Celebrity is a bit more laid back than some cruise lines. For me that's a plus not a minus. I've never had the bad food experience that some of you seem to have ran into. That would probably irritate me for the night and then I'd get over it.

 

Yes when you are paying decent money for a service you expect to receive what you are paying for. However, sometimes I think people are expecting more than they are paying for. (Port changes due to weather, bad weather making more people be inside, etc)

[NnJ2010]

I can tell you FOR SURE on the 9/17 Galaxy and the 10/31 Horizon the only 'little menu' on the table was the one for the after dinner and coffee drinks, NOT desserts! As you and I are going on X ships soon (11/27 for me and 12/11 for you) let's be sure and check this out fully so we can report back, okay?

 

Gail

That's exactly what I was thinking. Liqueurs, coffee drinks, etc. I'll be on the Summit between the two of you (12/6) I'll be checking there too ;)

[gizmo]

Hi Gail, yes...I will be checking too......I have to tell you, When I saw the prices on the menu on HAL.....I was a bit surprised but it didn't really bother me....I knew I wasn't going to spend the money on it....the thing is, both desserts (if memory serves) were offered on my X cruises without an xtra charge.

Hi Lois,

 

I was surprised when I read this. What are these "Premium Desserts" Hal is charging for?

 

Thanks,

giz

[Lois R]

Hi Giz, Well, I sailed on HAL the week of Sept 11 on the Zuiderdam.....I don't know what is going on now;)

 

It was on the menu in the dining room.......there were 2 choices, something like "Cherries Jubilee"....maybe not that exact one but a dessert of that nature.

Now, when I was Century I remember Mario (Asst Maitr'd) making that dessert ....(by the entrance of the dining room) and there was not an extra charge for it.

 

Now, of course, If I wanted something not offered...for instance, ice cream with baileys poured on top, I would expect to pay more.

 

But, again, I wasn't going to pay 6.75 for a dessert....that is just me though.

[gizmo]

Lois,

 

Thanks. My last cruise was in April and I have never seen any Premium Desserts. It seems like new things just keep popping up. Looks like this is a case of more nickle and diming. :mad:

[hajekfam]

My first thought when I read the original post was that the original poster was thinking about the specialty after dinner drinks that are available and have a menu on the table. And from our experience, it isn't your waiter that asks if you want them, it is the bar waiter. He would only ask the first night of the cruise - I guess to let us know that it is available if we choose. After that, he stopped by to ask if we wanted anything else.

[geoherb]

There are a number of little things I didn't like about Princess that I would cope with on the Diamond if I had to--like a charge for Ice Cream!!!

Some Princess ships have a hagen daaz ice cream concession near the pools. There's an extra charge for it. There's plenty of free ice cream in the dining room at lunch and dinner. The Horizon Court buffet also has free ice cream and toppings available for a couple of hours each afternoon.

 

Between our Star Princess cruise in July 2003 and our Grand Princess cruise in December, Princess started charging for cappuccino in the dining rooms.

[dfhnis]

We just got off the millinium 12 days to the med. did not see a charge for dessert

[tuggers]

A lot of the after dinner drinks and coffees sound and taste like desserts. Have the same calories, too! LOL! No one can beat the Chocolate Martini on the Horizon!:)

[98Charlie]

Chocolate Martini??? :) Thanks Gail, you just gave me something else to look forward to on the Horizon. :D

Dianne

[Cour10ay]

Nikole,

 

Quoting my previous post - "We did have a good time thanks to some terrific people we met onboard, and the ports of call - I mean, how can you have a bad time cruising??" We have always been able to make the best of a bad situation. And we did research and chose Celebrity this time based on what they advertised and other passengers' comments and reviews. But on our cruise, Celebrity did not have what they said they would.

 

Celebrity dropped the ball on both customer service and product on our sailing. It would have been quite simple to inform passengers and/or TAs of the venue closures and itinerary changes prior to sailing. To advertise a nightclub/disco and not have one is false advertising, IMO. Companies get sued for that sort of thing all the time. (No, we are not suing anyone, but feel it shows poor business integrity on Celebrity's part.)

 

Yes, I am aware that many of the soups were to be served cold. They should serve ONLY cold soups since that's what we got even when ordering hot ones. To run out of two main courses is ridiculous and substandard for any cruise line.

 

BTW, if any of you are sailing out of San Juan, the El Convento is a lovely hotel for pre- post-cruise. Now that's a quality organization that delivers what's promised.

Cour10ay

[birchklemz]

We just got off the Horizon on friday & we didnt see any premium desserts either. Overall it was a great cruise, but we probably wouldn't do Celebrity again either. We are in our 30's & this cruise was a much much older crowd. There was plenty of people our age, but the majority is 50+. We saw many many wheelchairs, walkers & oxygen tanks. We still had fun, but would like to try a bigger ship next time. The Horizon seemed to rock pretty good while going through the Carribbean sea. Food was awesome, drinks were average but fairly expenive. Creme Brullee was excellent.

[C 2 C]

Amazing how many people have a bad experience on a ship and won't sail that company any more...

Lois R on HAL
Others on Celebrity.. me on Princess... We just take one another's place...

On the Sun... if you want tomato juice before Dinner.. you have to pay for it.. if you want cranberry juice in the Lido you have to pay for it.. our tablemates who drank it everyday for medicinal purposes.. finally went to the dining room to get their cranberry juice where it was free then went to the lido with it to make a point..

On our recent B2B on the Sun we requested the same waiter because he was so good the first time... but he was mediocre the second leg...The toilet overflowed the first leg, not the second... Each cruise is a unnique experience... if you have the wrong waiter or poor experience not everyone has the same ...

We will be doing more Celebrity cruises as a result...

The Zenith, sister to the Horizon, also has a crowding problem... but we love the activities and food so much we are sailing it again in Jan. We have been on this class of ship 6 times now and will put up with the crowding.. most people get off in port and we enjoy all the space on our private yacht..

[canderson]

Infinity, 14 Night Panama, Dec 2003
Infinity, 7 Night Alaska, Jul 2003
Galaxy, 10 Night Caribbean, Dec 2002
Galaxy, 7 Night Caribbean, Feb 2001

Next stop,
Summit, 11 Night Caribbean, Dec 2004

If you've noted a trend here...

We'd sailed several other lines prior to Feb 2001, and considering the pros and cons of all of the mid-range lines, we're sticking with X until they give us a reason to rethink our position.

Sorry your experience wasn't what it could have been.

[brigittetom]

[quote name='birchklemz There was plenty of people our age, but the majority is 50+. We saw many many wheelchairs, walkers & oxygen tanks.[/QUOTE']


[b][i][size=4][color=blue]Oh no. How awful for you. [/color][/size][/i][/b]

[C 2 C]

[quote name='brigittetom']but the majority is 50+. [/QUOTE]

[b][i][size=4][color=blue]Oh yes. How wonderful for us. [/color][/size][/i][/b]
Nice to have a cruiseline catering to us..... pre-babyboomers..pre-generation X...

Call us the Cruising Generation....

But GENERATION X in this case = Celebrity Cruisers :D

[brigittetom]

I never realized that 50+ was a bad thing. Duh on me. :D

[tuggers]

BT

Won't it be awful for the 30 somethings when they are the ones in wheelchairs and no one wants THEM around!

Personally, I'm hoping to be one of those old gueezers still out having fun!!:D

[brigittetom]

[b][i][size=3][color=blue]Tuggers, You just said exactly what I was thinking. :) [/color][/size][/i][/b]

[Lois R]

Gizmo:) ....I read your post about the premium desserts over on the HAL Board....I replied to it too.

I figured those folks wouldn't believe it so I decided to try and explain myself.

They all know my cruise experience wasn't very good so they will probably chock it up to "more negative stuff"......that is not my intention.

If paying 6.75 for an extra dessert is not considered "premium" I don't know what is......but I have a choice to pay it or not to pay it.....I chose not to....like the people who think paying 30.00 for Cirque De Soliel is too much or The Specialty Restaurants are too much.....I guess it is just how one wants to spend their money.

[NnJ2010]

[quote name='tuggers']BT

Won't it be awful for the 30 somethings when they are the ones in wheelchairs and no one wants THEM around!

Personally, I'm hoping to be one of those old gueezers still out having fun!!:D[/QUOTE]
I don't understand why people make a big deal about the age of their fellow cruisers? Does it really impact them that much? Not to mention, it's not like it is a secret that Celebrity's cruisers tend to be older.

Oh well, just don't lump me in with those other 30 somethings. ;)

[brigittetom]

[b][i][size=3][color=blue]I can honestly say that I have waaaaaay more fun on my cruises now than I did in my twentys. I don't worry about what others are wearing, I have more money to spend, and there isn't a waiter or cabin steward lurking around the corner looking for a good time. :D [/color][/size][/i][/b]
[b][i][size=3][color=#0000ff][/color][/size][/i][/b]
[b][i][size=3][color=#0000ff]Nikole, I don't know what the big deal is either. I have spent many wonderful hours on a ship enjoying the company of 70+ passengers in or out of a wheelchair. [/color][/size][/i][/b]