bcirish

We are scheduled for a Caribbean trip on Celebrity Summit in March but are now concerned. Sister and family just returned from 14 day med trip on Millenium and were very disappointed - dirty plain small cabins including concierge, food ranging from bad to excellent in dining room. Overall they were very disappointed. They have traveled on Holland American Princess and RCl and said this was bad and would not use again. Now I am concerned about our trip. I did notice that their ship was due for dry dock- would that make a difference? Oh yes and the next boarding was to do the trans atlantic. I am fairly new to cruising and do not want a bad experience after two god ones with Holland America. Any insights?

Babyboomertraveler

Hi,

I am sorry to hear about your sister's experiences. My husband and I are veteran cruisers and have regularly cruised with Celebrity onboard the Mercury. We found little to complain about.

We have also cruised onboard the Grand Princess, and the Royal Caribbean Splendour Of The Seas; we found the ships to be comparable both in cabin offerings, food, entertainment, etc. We liked the Grand Princess a little more though, but that's because we stayed in a room with a balcony.

We found the Mercury rooms small, but adequate. We would never stay in an inside stateroom ever again. That's too horrible for us; we must have natural light. But that's true for all ships.

You will get more reviews at the following website:
http://www.cruisecritic.com/

We are so confident in the quality of Celebrity, we will be doing a New Zealand/Australian tour again onboard the Mercury
next year. Hope that helps.

digon

We have cruised with Celebrity twice now and everything was fine. The food was good. The inside stateroom was small, but all inside staterooms are. Digon

bettyk

We traveled with Celebrity on the Century before the line was bought by RCI. We found everything to be amazingly clean and the food excellent.

gail

Never been on this ship, but have sailed on Celebrity, NCL and RCCL. Celebrity was a clear winner over the others. Small cabins? - you know the size before you sail. Dirty - complain and have it cleaned.

But that is why there are a whole bunch of cruiseline choices - it certainly is not one size fit all.

Theresa

My one and only cruise on Celebrity (Millennium) was very disappointing. The food never arrived correctly - asked for medium rare beef and it came well done. This happened quite a bit. Food was often cold when it arrived and service was the worst I have ever seen on any ship/cruise line. We had 3 people in our cabin and we had difficulty getting enough towels for 3. We could never find our room steward and he never followed through with requests. We found at times, food was not available on the ship. We often arrived back to the ship at 3ish after being gone all day and the buffet was closed. When it finally did open, it was small sandwiches with the strangest combination (cucumber and olive on a cracker).. The only other choice was room service which isn't what I wanted.

I personally have not gone back to Celebrity - I should try it again but it was very disappointing.

Debi

I was on the Summit for an Alaskan cruise in August - and it was an exceptional cruise. The ship was sparkling clean, the staff incredibly helpful and we had a Conciege Class veranduh, and it was great. As a previous poster said, you know the size in advance, so I'm not sure why there would any kind of surprise or disappointment, and our cabin stewardess was so exceptional, we actually wrote a letter to the cruise line to thank them for her. I especially liked the "pillow menu" that CC offers, and made good use of that. The food was excellent, and I rate that cruise one step below Crystal - but significantly above my experience with Princess. Did your sister work with the cleaning staff to address the issues they were having in their room - and they didn't fix it? I'm just really surprised.... but, it truly does depend on the crew, I guess....

diann24

We sailed on the Constellation 3 years ago on a Carebbean itinerary and it was fine. I liked the ship quite a bit and it was fairly new at the time. Nothing to complain about really. Sometimes it is just the ship. I generally like RC but had one where the ship was dirty and food was below standard. At times I think it is more ship related and not a specific line.

Dukey

We sailed on the Constellation in the Baltic and on the Millenium in years past.

We were very pleased with our balcony stateroom on the Constellation, especially the shower facility in the bathroom..FINALLY a shower in a non-premium cabin you can actually turn around in!

Food was fine and the service throughout was absolutely excellent.

Every ship is different and just because a paticular ship belongs to a particular cruise line doesn't always guarantee outstanding results.

"Plain" cabins..what does that really mean? You aren't going to get something truly "upscale" unless you are willing to pay for it even if it is discounted. Our Millenium cabin had a balcony and it certainly wasn't "plain" but that is a very subjective term..as is "good."

"Dirty"..we know what THAT means and there should have been no problem getting that rectified.

kfusto

I would choose HAL over Celebrity for any itinerary. IMO, Celebrity standards for maintainance are poor and my last two cruises with them (Century in Nov. 2006 and Mercury Oct. 2005) were very disappointing. Mercury was shabby at best, though the food was good. Century offered an updated ship but the food and service were very disappointing (except for Aqua Spa and Murano) and our cabin was cramped with a tiny bathroom. Compared to HALs wonderful cabins and gracious service, it was very disappointing.

I have no interest in sailing with X again any time soon and IMO they do not compare favorably to HAL which I have cruised 3 times over the past 30 months with one more booked.

hilda

Tend to agree maintenance and upkeep on Celebrity is below standard verses other lines. Our one experience - shabby carpet upholstery plumbing fixtures. Food service were fine . TA told me celebrity goes the longest inbetween refurbishments of any line

traveller1959

I have cruised both on HAL (Volendam) and Celebrity (Century, summer 2007 to the Baltics), and I would say they have pretty much the same standard.

Both HAL and Celebrity are middle-class mass-market standard cruise lines which means that most things are good, a few are very good, and a few are not so good (e.g. on the Century, lunch in the main dining room was always bad, but at the buffet you will always find something nice).

A disappointment on the Century was ConciergeClass. Most of the features which were announced for ConciergeClass simply did not apply (no priority embarkation/disembarkation, no pillow menu etc.).

bcirish

Thanks for all of your encouraging responses. I am really looking forward to our trip and I chose this ship because of the ports. I would agree about the cabin size -I knew that they are smaller than some ships - that's why we always have a veranda now - learned that the hard way - spent most of our first trip on deck because of space issues. We leave for the Caribbean on Dec 8th on the Westerdam which is crazy - we booked that because we love the ship - do not care where it is going and then the one in March because of the ports. I want to extend an invitation to some friends who have never cruised but do not want to encourage them to do a trip on a ship that could be a bad experience. Thanks again!

irecommend

Hey Babyboomer,
What is your date for that cruise. My DH and I and some friends are doing the Australia/NZ cruise on Jan 20.

cruznjan

First of all, dry docking is cause for concern. That's when cruise ships receive routine refurbishoments, and sometimes upgrades. My husband and I have cruised with Celebrity almost exclusively for about 15 years and we've never had a bad experience. We found the accomodations to be excellent, and the service A-1. Any minor issues we had--food orders,etc.--were quickly addressed to our satisfaction. What's not to like about a cruise line whose stewards escort you to your cabin while you're being handed a glass of champagne? We're simple people, but we're not naive. We loved our Concierge Class stateroom on the Infinity. I'm sure things can go badly on any cruise, but I wouldn't dismiss Celebrity.

cruzingirl

We have only cruised once with Celebrity on he Mercury and were very disappointed. We prefer Hal or Princess.

ParrotMom

This will be my third trans-atlantic cruise in Calebrity.. the first being the Century, December 2007 the Galaxy and now the Constellation in September 2008. Admittedly, both the ships has excellent service.. the meat on the Galaxy left much to be desired.. they changed purveyors I had heard.. our cabins were always spotless and they were cleaning and painting continually.. even though the ship is going into dry dock. My experience on the Brilliance of the Seas was so horrendous, that could I be sued..lol (actually, I sued them and won, but that's another story) ..Yes, I would have liked to have booked the Nordaam at a travel show yesterday but the prices for the category I was interested in were a bit too high for me.. Plus, the travel agent I knew had just came off the ship, Noordam, and said they had a "code red".."flu" outbreak.. We have NEVER, ever stayed in an inside cabin and since doing t/a have opted for cabins with verandas.. and now with CC level.. I wish I could say cabin size does't metter.. it does, but I have to admit that you would not believe the way I over pack and there is always, always plenty of storage space.The most important thing on any cruise are the ports...

kfusto

<<.The most important thing on any cruise are the ports...>>

Not to us. We do land trips to places we really want to explore and save cruises for the Caribbean and Alaska. The ship is more important to us than the ports.

And no matter how fabulous the ports, no way you would get me on a Carnival, Costa, NCL ship, period.

Different strokes...

mom9153

We have sailed Celebrity 3x and the 4th this coming summer on Galaxy(refit this April)...it is our favorite line for food, entertainment)..sailed Princes last summer and were not thrilled with service and food...we always book inside(we tend to sleep better) and save $...I think you have to read reviews but not dwell...people complain about things I think that really dont immpact your cruise...I think destination...but we do love Celebrity

Dukey

I have yet to see anything on any Celebrity ship maintenance-wise that would cause me "concern" and i am very picky about it.

No, the color of the drapes in the staeroom do not count...

as to the drydock issue...I'd personally rather be sailing on a ship POST drydock than pre but a lot of cruise experiences are what YOU make of them.

Have you ever read some of the reviews of cruises on sites like Cruisecritic, etc.?

Some of the "complaints" are unbelievable and quite honestly, I'd love to have just one meal cooked by some of these "fussy cruisers" who have complained about how "bad" the food was.