Galaxy accomodation and food - Page 2

lady-bambi · 02-25-2007, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom_uk

There are no published plans for a refit to Galaxy at all, yet, though speculation (possibly well-informed) is that there will be a major refit sometime in 2008. Therefore there won't be any interruption to currently scheduled cruises. What lady-bambi experienced is the normal, occasional ongoing work that does get done while the ship is in service. Galaxy is 10 years old, and therefore the number of jobs that need to be done is beginning to increase. I imagine that they were hoping that the decking would last until the refit. In the event it didn't, and it had to be replaced earlier. No cruise line would take a ship out of service just for a job such as that. It's unfortunate for those on-board on that particular cruise, but that's simply the way it is.

As regards the vibration, especially in the dining room, yes the C-class ships are known to suffer from this, especially if they're running fast. That's the down-side of having traditional propulsion units. The upside is that they have a very reliability rate! Contrast that with the record of the M-class ships, a number of whose passengers have been disappointed as a result of pod problems which pretty much always require a dry-dock to fix, which in turn results in cruises cancelled at the last minute.

I cruised on Galaxy last summer, and enjoyed it so much that I have booked again for this coming summer.

What a silly statement to make, I have been on many cruise ships and never experienced such noise whilst trying to sunbath, and for the whole 10 days!!!

As for taking the ship out of service, that was in fact the Customer Relations Managers quote when we and neally all the other passengers complained! As for the evening dining, surely to be able to converse over the dinner table is not too much to ask for!

I hope your cruise this coming summer is better than I and many other passengers experienced, and I hope that the major refurbishment works to the decks are finished, if not then I suppose you will understand what we feel like.

**Ally** · 02-25-2007, 11:32 AM

Seeing as Galaxy is being chartered next month for the Cricket World Cup, I suspect that the more obvious amount of work being done was in preparation for that charter. Not that it makes a good excuse or reason, of course, but considering the cost of the charters of all 15 ships taking part in the CWC, I can imagine the companies would want their ships absolutely spot on...(for example NCL have one of their ships chartered for $60,000 a day, and she is NCL Crown, much smaller than Galaxy).

**Ally** · 02-25-2007, 11:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lady-bambi

What a silly statement to make, I have been on many cruise ships and never experienced such noise whilst trying to sunbath, and for the whole 10 days!!!

As for taking the ship out of service that was in fact the Customer Relations Managers quote when we and neally all the other passengers complained! As for the evening dining, surely to be able to converse over the dinner table is not too much to ask for!

I hope your cruise this coming summer is better than I and many other passenger expericed and I hope that the major refurbishment works to the decks are finished, if not then I suppose you will understand what we feel like.

Your experience wasn't ideal, however, I assume that as you have sailed with the parent company RCI for most of your cruises, and that this was your first experience of a 'C' class ship with Celebrity, then tom_uk's opinion is probably about right. You will always get alot more vibrations on a non pod propulsion ship..that is pretty much guaranteed. Most people, myself included, find that a part of the ship's character and actually prefer to feel the ship moving...others prefer the smoother glide of the pods. As with everything in cruising, its all very subjective....one man's meat is another man's poison could be the perfect description for cruising. As tom_uk said, the pod propulsion Celebrity ships have not been bug free, infact several cruises have had itineraries changed or cancelled completely due to pods misbehaving.

Granted the noise of constant maintenance can be annoying, no-one can or will disagree with that, but again it is something you learn to take into your stride. Every cruise line does constant maintenance on all ships, regardless as to whether they are 10 years old or 10 days old. Yes Galaxy was a little more obvious and intrusive this time, but there is no reason to assume that all Celebrity ships are like that. If you really don't like the 'C' class, go for the 'M' class instead...and if that is not an option, then stay with the line that you know best and suits you best....there are over 3000 ships out there, one for every taste, requirement and class.

**Ally** · 02-25-2007, 12:03 PM

Another thing that you have to remember with ships like Galaxy. They are considered small to medium sized nowadays, and as a result there isn't as much hull to absorb the vibrations as say something of 90,000 tons upwards.

You can be quickly spoilt by big ships that you can't feel the engines or the movement, get on one under 80,000 tons and you start to feel the movement more and you feel her heartbeat more too. I try to stick to 35,000 ton and under...you get the vibrations and so forth, infact, you feel like you are at sea...which is what cruising is all about

tom_uk · 02-25-2007, 01:10 PM

Quote:

What a silly statement to make, I have been on many cruise ships and never experienced such noise whilst trying to sunbath,

Not silly at all: it's based on what they actually did. As regards the Customer Service manager's comments, he isn't the person running the company or making the financial decisions. If they need to do a job then they'll do it. I'm sure they'll try to keep disruption of passengers to a minimum, but replacing the decking around the pool isn't something that can be done quietly or subtlely. And I stick to my previous assertion that they wouldn't take a ship out of service just for that job. Cancelling a cruise must a hugely expensive option, and scheduling downtime has to be done more than 12 months in advance, before schedules are published in fact. The only option left is that of doing work as it becomes necessary while the ship is in service, which is what they did.

I think it's a percentage game. The cruise line know and accept that doing work such as that while passengers are on board will seriously upset them, and possibly lead to them not choosing that ship, or even that line, again. But it's only one group of passengers, and it's much, much cheaper than cancelling a cruise. And there's an upside, too: passengers on subsequent cruises will hopefully be impressed enough by the condition of the ship (thanks to the work) that they'll be more likely to become repeat customers. As I say, percentages.

John · 02-25-2007, 01:17 PM

Tom I think you have made a few valid points there.

Of course it is upsetting when work is carried on around you whilst holidaying/cruising. For a Company it is more cost effective in carrying out work this way.

If this kind of work does affect someones cruise experience then I am sure that the cruise line will do their best to compensate the passengers.

tom_uk · 02-25-2007, 01:28 PM

Quote:

If this kind of work does affect someones cruise experience then I am sure that the cruise line will do their best to compensate the passengers.

I would hope so too, and I apologise to lady-bambi if I came across as a bit brusque in my first post. Good luck to her with the compensation claim!

My attitude to it all is: hope for the best, but be prepared to cope with eventualities.

(I accept that that's an easy thing for me to say: my cruises so far have just been ordinary holidays, not 'holidays of a lifetime', so I haven't had too much emotional investment in them. I did read about some poor couple who had their wedding seriously messed-up by the cruiseline, and I recognise that it would be very hard indeed to maintain equanimity in the face of the spoiling of an irreplaceable experience such as that.)

lady-bambi · 02-25-2007, 02:07 PM

Hi all

I understand that different cruise companies sell different types of cruises, qualities etc and that the different size of ships/destinations will give a different cruise experience. I think the problem is when I analise it, more often than not a cruise is chosen by browsing a cruise companies website or brochure, representative, this is where I find the problem, if any of you are familiar with the way the Celebrity (for instance) describes their Cruises, I quote:

“Celebrity Cruises brings you the true taste of luxury night and day”

"Stunning design in sophisticated surroundings; Century Class ships are a seamless fusion of the traditional and the contemporary. The result is an incomparable premium cruise experience.

Whether you choose fine gourmet dining in one of several renowned restaurants, the delights of the world class Elemis AquaSpa™, or the atmospheric ambiance at the Martini Bar, Rendez-Vous Lounge or Cova Café Milano, Century Class ships are a feast for the eyes and the senses."

"We're able to go that extra mile to make sure every moment of your cruise is just as you would wish it to be"

When you have experienced lovely cruises in the past and then sold one of the next tier, if you like, from reading descriptions very similar to above, then to be dissapointed with the problems mentioned earlier, (a little misleading would you say)! Would you not be a little pissed!

Hope you see my point
Regards

**Ally** · 02-25-2007, 02:11 PM

Sadly, nothing in this world is ever perfect 100% of the time. They do their best, but they can't stop the maintenance, its an ongoing thing and without it, there would be complaints about the state of the ship. They can't win, but they do try and get it right, however that isn't possible all the time.

John · 02-25-2007, 02:29 PM

I appreciate that when you pay for a cruise regardless of the "tier" it is in you expect the best and the opportunity to relax and enjoy yourselves, it is a holiday.

I note that the service provided by Galaxy was good, i.e. the food, staff, and the honesty of the staff on board ( they told you that the ship should mot have sailed). So much so that you will sail with Celebrity again. I wish you well in obtaining whatever refund from Celebrity and am sorry that the cruise was spoilt for you.

As for the points made by Tom I think they were all valid points. Maintennce work will go on all year round. I was on Arcadia last year. During my cruise they were pulling up the stair carpets and laying new ones. Admittedly not as major as relaying decks, however, it was noisy and a little inconvenient. I just accepted it and avoided the area the work was being done.

I am somewhat surprised and shocked that you were able to sunbath in a "building site"! What about the health and safety regulations. I take it that you and other passengers did not.

I don't think that there was any need for you to make any apology Tom. You were not

Quote:

a bit brusque in my first post

. You stated what is generally common on cruise ships. I also do not believe that it was a silly statement that you made either.