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Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity • Denied boarding - visa problems • Mechanical problems • Bungled reservations --- News • Cruise Lines Agree To Refund $21 Million In Fuel Surcharges

Celebrity is a sister line to Royal Caribbean and caters to a more upscale, somewhat older crowd at prices somewhere between mass-market and luxury. While things may not go wrong as often as on the mass-market cruises, what problems do occur can be quite vexing and the line is not always quick to respond.

A few of the more recent complaints ...

Celeste of Royal Palm Beach, FL July 22, 2008

We sailed on Celebrity, Millennium in April 2008 for a week long cruise. When we arrived in our cabin there was an awful smell. The carpets had visible dark stains all over, the mirrors, sliders and wall bunk had hand prints all over them. The pillowcase on our bed was ripped. The bathroom had mold and mildew on the walls, floors, shower and shower curtain, (which also was torn and shredded at the bottom)

We got sick on the cruise, sore throats, headaches. We contacted the room attendant who sprayed a chemical so strong we had to leave the room, when we returned to the room we realized the air conditioning was not working either. I went to complain about the room (which I was told there were no more rooms available)

While I was doing this my husband took my son and the rest of our group (11 total) to get pizza at the Ocean Grill. While they were there my 10yo son was physically assaulted (yes, punched in the chest!) by another guest who was an under age, extremely intoxicated female. This took place in front of my husband, my family and an employee of the cruise line who continued to walk by as my husband was trying to get him to stop and help resolve the escalating problem. The employee then let the female leave without getting her name or room number and advised that he would contact security so they could come talk to us.

Approximately an hour went by and we still had not heard from security. We found the employee again who was sitting with his feet up in a chair in the Grill and he advised me that security was out with her and I asked when they would be contacting us to which he stated that he had not contacted security because he did not know we wanted to talk to them!! We met with security and they stated they had no idea of the incident and would not be able to do anything further because the employee had let the girl go.

The food on the ship was reheated food, defiantly not what you would expect from a high end cruise line. There was no variety in the food choices. (Buffet or dinner) There were huge holes in the carpet and floor that we tripped on while walking. While we were in port one day they decided to paint all our balconies, we had 3 rooms together, so we could not go out on any of the verandas because of the paint smell and the fact that the rails were wet.

When we got home I immediately faxed a letter to Celebrity/Royal Caribbean and allowed the 3 weeks for a response. I received NONE! I could not even get a return call to inform me they received the fax. It has now been 4 months, approximately 30 messages to the Risk Management Department and Supervisors and can get NO ONE to call me back.

Yesterday, I did speak with a Supervisor of the Department and he promised me he would call me back with the results of the investigation, which he did NOT do. Later that night I received a letter in the mail that the investigation was complete and the employee handled the incident to their satisfaction, (I guess lying to guests is acceptable) but as a consolation we received a 100.00 voucher for our next cruise with them. They did not even address the issues of the room. I have pictures that can be forwarded if needed. We spent over 4,000.00 on this cruise line and I can not even get a simple phone call back, never mind having them address the issues.

My son was petrified to leave our side for the remainder of the cruise. We were all sick and could not enjoy the cruise hence waisting 4,000.00

Todd C. Steinberg of Sarasota, FL April 26, 2008

I was hired as a Comedy/Variety Entertainer by Celebrity Cruise lines to perform on the ship M/V Mercury in Ocotober 2007. It went very good, and I received rave reviews (by the Cruise Director, passengers, and staff). Because of the great reviews, I was given 20 weeks of work (not in a row, spread out over 18 months), and a pay raise. Before my 2nd cruise with them in January 2008, I was notified by the person who worked for Celebrity Cruise Lines and that booked all my dates, that he had been fired from his position. I called up Celebrity and left a message for the Entertainment Director, Eric Bohus, only to introduce myself, give him a better idea of what exactly I do, and to say I look foward to working with him on the future contracted dates (19 weeks of bookings).

Days later I received a phone call from somebody at the Celebrity Entertainment office, telling me that I don't have any more work with them. I explained that not only am I contracted to work with them, but the next cruise was for 4-weeks beginning on March 29, 2008, less than 2 months away, and that I cancelled out of two other engagements so I could commit to Celebrity, and turned down many other job offers because I was already contracted with Celebrity. I also mentioned this is my sole means of livelihood, and will have difficulty finding replacement work with such short notice. They didn't seem to care, and all the people that I spoke with on the week to follow just kept telling me that I had no work with them.

I retained an attorney, and he confirmed that this was a breach of contract on Celebrity's part. The attorney sent a Letter of Demand to Celebrity Cruise Lines, and on the day that they received it, they called me up and said they were sending me a contract to sign for all 19 weeks of work. Although they assured me that they will return a signed copy to me, they never did. On the contract there is a Termination Clause, that they can terminate me without any reason, but must give me notice first, and then only pay me for two weeks in lieu of two weeks notice. It was pretty obvious they were just using this as a ploy to avert my lawsuit, and to terminate me first chance they had after I signed the documents.

I went on the ship on March 29th, scheduled for 4-weeks of work, and like clockwork, 5 days later, the morning after my two successful Wednesday Night shows, I was notified by Celebrity's Travel Office of my revised return air itinerary that following Saturday, April 5th, after only one week of work. Nobody ever gave me notice, nobody ever told me why I was terminated, and nobody will reply to my phone calls or e-mails. I was finally paid for the one week onboard the ship, plus one week in lieu of one weeks notice. But according to the documents I am due two weeks pay in lieu if two weeks notice. Still, nobody will even give me an inkling on what the terms of termination are.

Because I was booked on the ship already, I turned down many job opportunities, approximately worth 15,000. When Celebrity initially told me that I had no further work with them, I was grasping for straws, and took any work I could to pay my bills. Then, when Celebrity foiled my lawsuit by giving me back my work (Contracted at 42,750 total for 19 weeks), I had to take it, but had to get out of all the new commitments I made, and contracts I signed. Besides paying booking agencies their lost commissions for the jobs, as well as paying for replacement acts, AND giving away free make-up shows (I did this to try to save my reputation in the business), I unfortunately did hurt my reputation with some agents and burned some bridges with some agencies that will not work with me again.

My out of pocket expenses so I could take back Celebrity Cruise's work was 1500, and the amount of lost work was close to 15,000. Celebrity has shown the lowest in integrity by not paying me what I was due (two weeks pay in lieu of two weeks notice @2250/week), never telling me why I was terminated, never giving me notice (which the contract says they have to), or even returning a signed contract to me(which they assured me they would). I saved all the e-mail communications with Celebrity in which they lied to me. To top it off, I was back home and available to perform jobs I cancelled from, but it was too late. So I'm now out of work for 3 weeks, not paid my due by Celebrity Cruises, and experienced a major blow to my professional reputation which I always prided to be of the highest of integrity.

Peter of Surrey, OTHER January 28, 2008

Our cruise with Celebrity gave us a perfect example of how not to provide customer service. It gave the impression that staff were laughing and giggling behind the scenes betting who could provide the worst service. Sailing from Rome in August of 24 on board the Galaxy, my wife and I were ecstatic at celebrating our wedding anniversary and my 50th in a once in a lifetime trip. Everything went well on the first day but then changed dramatically. The toilet in our cabin stopped working. We contacted Guest relations, and the problem was fixed in a reasonable amount of time. But then it broke down again, as did those in nearby cabins. And then again, and then again. Each time the wait to repair was taking longer. One nearby cabin had water dripping in from the ceiling. Water dripped down constantly from the shared corridor ceiling; at one time there was a large bucket and several towels lined up in the corridor to catch the drips.

As the week progressed the problem worsened. In fact, the toilet smell started to fill our cabin and the corridor to such an extent we had to stay away from the cabin for long periods. Celebrity's solution? They recommended we use one of the public bathrooms elsewhere on ship! That's a lot of fun when you urgently have to go at 2 a.m. Also there was a gastrointestinal infection on board hitting staff and passengers at the time, making the public washrooms even less appetizing a prospect. What made things ten times worse was the response from Guest Relations Staff. I'm sure their training consist of days of reciting the mantra "I'm sorry" with the least expression. Repeated requests to speak to the House Manager were denied, or excuses given why she was not available.

After days of complaining and making requests we finally received a voice mail from the hotel manager five hours before our final disembarkation. After the cruise we contacted head office and were met with another barrage of "I'm sorry", but corporate police denied our claim for compensation. The utmost in stupidity and insult was in their letters, 95 percent of which bragged about how wonderful their company was and what fantastic service they offered! Yes, sure, appease a poorly served customer by totally ignoring his complaint and instead telling him how wonderful you are. I still can't believe the insensitivity, lack of concern or caring as well as ignorance and stupidity of the so-called guest relations staff.

Emotional stress and physical illness (nausea) brought about by cabin stench. Unable to use the cabin we had paid for.

Emily of Fort Lee, NJ January 15, 2008

I booked a cruise for four people for 2/3/08.  I paid by 11/22/07, as directed and received a paid-in-full invoice.  Now it's 1/15/08, and I received a new invoice stating I owe an extra 140 for a fuel surcharge.  

I have never paid in full and then had a company come back and tell me they have raised their price.  I have cruised every year for the last ten years, but will never cruise Celebrity again.

Neill of Dromore, OTHER July 11, 2007

We had booked a cruise through Victoria Travel with Celebrity Cruises on there Millennium ship, we where due to travel on the 12/07/2007 but sadly I discovered the ship had had an accident in France and was out of action. I contacted Victoria Travel on the 9/07/2007 to ask out our cruise and they contacted Celebrity. They had cancelled our cruise and offered a full refund for the cruise and a future credit of the same value on another cruise, I asked about our flights and hotels and they said no not covered.

We have spoken to our travel insurance and they say we are not covered as we did not cancel the holiday, rather we were forced to cancel and they are telling us it is the responsibility of the Travel Agent and the Cruise Company to refund the travelling expenses that we have incurred to date. We have had to suffer the loss of the Flights, £648.00 and Hotels at €240.00 and cancellation fees of £26.30 together with a lot of stress.

We have now rebooked onto the cruise on the 03/08/2007 using our free cruise credit and had to pay £2000 more as the original category cabins are fully booked, another £625.00 for new flights, and another €280.00 for hotels.

Kathleen of Port Charlotte, FL December 4, 2006

When dumped at the pier after our cruise we were left in unsafe contions. Twenty six people were left outside on the peir with no bathroom, nothing to drink and only 2 small benches to sit on (enough for 6-8 people). All our luggage cluttered the area. The area was use by the longshoreman with tow motors and very large metal baggage bins. We were put off the ship at 8 a.m. and not picked up untill 11:45.

The area was unsafe and uncomfortable. The cruise line will not take any responsability, nor the bus line. People were hurt. One woman fell. I suffered back spasms ( I have had 2 spinal fusions and can not stand for long lenghts of time) People were on walkers, wheel chairs,and cains.

I have had to ramain in bed for 2 days so far. The swelling in my legs and feet did not resolve until this morning. Taken pain medication every 4 hours. Used a heating pad and lost sleep due to pain. I am on Medicare disibility for my severe back.

Ml of Provo, UT May 18, 2006

Cruise was cancelled. We were informed two days before scheduled departure date. Only reimbursed 200 for already purchased airfare (total to change would be 1500+). Customer service reps were rude, discourteous, impatient, would not listen, and unwilling to help. Refused to see if they could work promo or discount with sister line (Royal Caribbean or to help us to come up with any viable solutions to the problem.

We lost almost 5000 because of necessary air fare changes and having to rebook cruise with another line - it was a necessary business cruise with deadlines and appointments at ports of call so we had to go during specific time frame. We also lost time from work resulting in lost income.

Daniel of Toronto, OTHER May 9, 2006

My wife and I took a 15 day Hawaiian cruise with Celebrity over the Cristmas / New Years holidays. We were never advised that the average number of children on a holiday cruise would increase from approximately 24 to nearly 600! The dress codes for dinners were not adhered to or enforced by the cruise staff, there was excessive noise at all hours, fighting and, on New Year's Eve cruise ship staff were serving alcoholic drinks to anyone who asked, including pre-teen children.

Our vacation of a lifetime was ruined to a high degree by the noise and mess created by all of these 600 or so unsupervised children on a space-restricted cruiseship. Our relaxing cruise was the exact opposite - and in both directions!

Edward & Darlene Sutton of Keremeos, OTHER May 4, 2006

We cruised on this line December 4-10, 2005. In the cabin next to us was a 3 month old crying baby. It cried all hours of the day and night. We told our room steward but with his limited English he did not understand. We hardly got any sleep ... we finally wrote a letter to the Service desk and 2 days later they called to say they were sorry and would report our problem to the people in head office and they would try to make up for our lack of sleep.

Also while onboard we attended a shopping talk where we were told that only certain shops were trustworthy and recommended by Celebrity Cruise Line. They also said to watch for cabin numbers in these stores and if ours matched that number we could win a prize. The numbers were 4007, 3105, and 3105 again. The ship had no cabins on the 4th floor and only went up to 3098 on the 3rd floor. I brought this to the shopping director's attention and she said my aren't we perceptive. Now I could have brought this up at the meeting but felt she would take care of the situation. But this seems to be a scam that goes hand and hand with the cruiseline. We wrote to head office about these things and they basically said too bad.

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