Thread: What changes could Celebrity make to improve your cruise experience?

Wow, Sharon. I find that hard to believe after our very positive experiences with boarding and disembarkation. Just curious, which port was that?

Originally Posted by nealberk

Wow, Sharon. I find that hard to believe after our very positive experiences with boarding and disembarkation. Just curious, which port was that?

Hey Neil ....it was POM. I think what really threw us was the disorganization and the unprofessional attitude of the employees. The first thing that RCCL/Celebrity needs to invest in is some walkie talkies. I can't recall any cruise I have been on that there had been employees actually yelling to others. It really looked bad to any cruiser, but especially those of us who were new to the line. Everything had been really nice up until we got to the port. We stayed at the Sofitel which was lovely with the exception that the hotel isn't the most soundproof (we heard the band that was playing on the 10th floor 11:30 PM) . The breakfast experience in the hotel was worth just going there to dine and customer service both there and the hotel was above board! Even the bus to the port was wonderful. Once we got on the ship it was fine...the feeling of classy came back....however embarkation really left a bad taste in my mouth. It was really disorganized beyond anything that I can put words to. I had high hopes for disembarkation but it was more of the same. Much of the problem was employees themselves. Maybe it was the time of year (before Christmas), lack of training, whatever.....they were probably among the most unfriendly we had ever encountered.

Anytime we have disembarked NCL, we were welcomed back by any employee that was directing traffic and seriously, that's not an exaggeration. When we sailed the Eclipse, we were welcomed back (with a smile I might add) by the customs agent who went through our papers.

We bought two cruise credits, however we have made the decision that we would self disembark the next cruise. I already pack my items for a week in a carry on.....I just have to scale the DH down. The biggest problem for a guy packing in a carry on for a week is the size of their shoes....they tend to be a little bulkier than ladies shoes. The suit doesn't make things easy either, but we are going to do our best to not have to go through this process in this manner again. It was not a good start and not a great way to end a seriously wonderful cruise. I did let them know via the comment card when it showed up.

Sharon, I'm so sorry the Miami check in and departure was so bad! Miami (all of Miami) is sorta that way---I lived there for many years and can speak from personal experience. Miami airport is the same way! I'm sure the time of year made it even more hectic, too.

On the other hand, Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale is totally different ....a bit more "refined" and not so chaotic.

More power to ya if you can pare down your bags so that you can self disembark early and not have to be milling around with hundreds of people going thru customs and immigration.

Surely it is not the Celebrity staff then but the Port staff that make the big difference ?

Originally Posted by Char

Sharon, I'm so sorry the Miami check in and departure was so bad! Miami (all of Miami) is sorta that way---I lived there for many years and can speak from personal experience. Miami airport is the same way! I'm sure the time of year made it even more hectic, too.

On the other hand, Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale is totally different ....a bit more "refined" and not so chaotic.

More power to ya if you can pare down your bags so that you can self disembark early and not have to be milling around with hundreds of people going thru customs and immigration.

Char, it certainly wasn't bad enough to keep us from cruising Celebrity, but I guess the point of it is that when you are walking through the terminal, you are beginning your vacation on a line that wants to be thought of as a luxury experience....you are looking to begin enjoying even when you are going through the preliminaries. All of our cruises have been out of Miami and until this one we had never encountered any issues with them. I guess we've always been lucky because Miami, even though it has been voted a rude city recently, we have never found it that way. We have always had lovely stays and have enjoyed our time staying there. We are looking forward to FLL.....so much so that we are booking some extra time before we leave on the cruise to stay with cruise friends we met on our roll call.

The paring down was really easy for me. I pack my clothing for a week in a carry on using the bundle method anyway and believe it or not, I took too much on this cruise again! I have decided on formal nights that one pair of Palazzo pants and two sparkly/satin blouses will do for me, a casual dress, 2 pairs of dress capris, 4 nice blouses, skorts/shorts (2 each) along with several blouses, sarong/coverup, 1 set of athletic wear, bathing suit and undies along with 2 pairs of sandals plus a bag of fashion jewelry and the baggie of makeup/toiletries/tiny clothespins to wash something out. We will both have E-Readers and our flashlights as well.

As for my dear hubby, the only issue for him is going to be his dress shoes and suit. His loafers are so large, but I think I have that figured out as well. I'm going to either buy him a suiter carry on where you can hang the suit in the bag and fold it in the front, or get him an Eagle Creek Garment bag that he can slip into an existing bag we have. He WAY over packed this time and there is really no need to have all of those clothes. I just end up rewashing and ironing them again. Who feels like coming home from paradise just to wash a bunch of clothing?!

Originally Posted by tonylinsdell

Surely it is not the Celebrity staff then but the Port staff that make the big difference ?

Tony, if it was the Port staff, I wouldn't think they would have RCCL name tags on. These people definitely had official name tags. They were yelling AT port security people, but were definitely employed by RCCL. I have to admit that I too was shocked.

We boarded Celebrity at Bayonne and it was a breeze.

We did the Eclipse out of Miami and when we got to the port at 12:10, there was no line at all, which really surprised us. When I asked what time boarding began, I was told it started at around 11:15. Couldn't believe they cleared the line that fast. But boarding for us was quick, easy, and well organized.

But I do have to agree that disembarkation was very poorly handled; very disorganized and not what one would expect of Celebrity. This was the only thing we complained about in hopes it'll help them realize improvements needed to be made in this area.

Everything else was wonderful and we'll definitely cruise Celebrity again.

Pete

Maybe Celebrity and RCCL have different approaches.

Originally Posted by islandgirlejfan

Ah, a question I can really get into. I loved almost everything about Celebrity except for two things....they are embarkation and debarkation.

Agree! Celebrity does so many things so very well ... better than most! Moving large numbers of people around at ease is not one of them!

We have boarded Celebrity in Miami twice and never had a problem. But you are right, disembarking is a bit of a hassle especially the cab waiting areas.