took a 8 month lull on cruising. Decided to go on Hallowen cruise on Breeze. Boarding was great, then things happened. My luggage was lost. They had me running to guest services each hour to check if it was found. Finally 8 hours later they found my luggage. What happened? I had 3 tags on my suitcase, all were on the suitcase. Nothing said. Room attendant never asked what time to clean cabin did it when he wanted to. Asked for ice to room, nothing, we had to get it ourselves. New menu we did not like. All of our favorites gone, ate other places besides mdr. On lido deck no tables were wiped unless there was a spill at least in our area. Popcorn went up another dollar, $4 now instead of $3. Curfew not enforced, teens running the halls all nite. Adult comedy shows, no screenings for teens. A couple of 13 years olds were in audience, comedian accidently found them by interacting with them. Disembaking was weird. You get instructions how to do it. Went to assigned area, empty. Anyone no matter what muster station you are on, you can get off no matter what. Lots of people were upset with that. No public announcements were made on that, just follow the herd. Next cruise is another 8 mnths, scared to see what happens next
What happened?
6 Answers
Excellent thread...fwiw, my wife misintepreted those get em off instructions too...they didn't want you to go to your muster station at all...theres designated areas around the ship to wait until they call you to disembark alledgedly "by muster station"...(for carry off luggage types anyway)..once they start, nobody pays ANY attention to that number on your sign n sail card, no matter what they say......just GET OFF...done it many times...on an assortment of CCL ships...
We participated in the carry off free for all last year when disembarking the Joy in NY. For us it works as we were off early and into the car for our 12 hour ride home.
Excellent thread...fwiw, my wife misintepreted those get em off instructions too...they didn't want you to go to your muster station at all...theres designated areas around the ship to wait until they call you to disembark alledgedly "by muster station"...(for carry off luggage types anyway)..once they start, nobody pays ANY attention to that number on your sign n sail card, no matter what they say......just GET OFF...done it many times...on an assortment of CCL ships...
Good points ableman. Unfortunately, all it takes is a cruise ship hotel manager to get promoted or leave and a change at that level can be disaster if the right replacement is not put in. Hope this did not sour your taste too much for cruising and hope your next one is better.
I view cruise lines like hotel chains, and individual ships like their hotels (which if you think about it, that's what they are).
We just returned from a 9 day trip through the Southwest. We stayed at (4) different Best Western hotels. All of them were in quiet, low crime areas. All of them were recently updated (probably within the last 5 years). They all offered the same amenities (cable TV, free breakfast, heated pools etc....). Two of them I would give 5 stars, while the others I would rate at 4 and 2 stars respectively. Why was this? They all were run by the same company under the same guidelines and protocols. So why weren't they all 5 star.... or 4 or 2 star? It comes down to management and execution. Like any other service oriented business, cruise ships are run and staffed by human beings, some more capable and dedicated than others.
Had you ever sailed on the Breeze before? Perhaps their senior staff does not manage or execute well. Perhaps they lost some key people, thus causing their service to slip. People transfer from ship to ship or to another cruise line all the time. If a ship loses a top notch chef, and they're replaced with a mediocre one, food preparation and service will suffer. The same goes with housekeeping and other ship services. Everything starts at the top. Your problems with the luggage and cabin steward may be isolated to a few disgruntled or uncaring individuals that are not managed well.
If enough people experienced what you had on that cruise, and the line becomes aware of it, they (CCL) are not going to sell or scrap the ship. They're going to look into what's going on, then make necessary and appropriate changes.
As for your opinion of the menu changes and quality of the food in the MDR, well, we sail in February on the Spirit. I'll weigh in on that issue after that cruise.
Sorry to hear that...what a nightmare....we were on VISTA out of Galveston too, same week......perfect? no...but nowhere near what you went thru at all....will get back in here later after i remember where I packed my head....doubt if I'll do a full blown review...
Oh, No! Our last cruise was in January and we sail again the end of December. Hope all of this was just a fluke.