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We booked this cruise (April 22nd to May14th) in November '05 and even then had difficulty getting inclusive flights and a balcony cabin with Celebrity.
Scotland can be sunstarved so we opted for a cruise week back to back in the Caribbean weather before ML(Millennium) began the 2 week Atlantic crossing from Fort Lauderdale to Barcelona on April 23rd. This was our third Transatlantic trip on this ship and thought even with an extra week it would follow the usual pattern.
Our tickets showed that Celebrity seem to be unable to book back to back PAX (passengers) as one cruise in itself. We therefore had a second cruise booklet with further transfers vouchers, hotel booking voucher etc etc as if we had just arrived in Florida. the day before the transatlantic cruise left... we wondered why and if we paid for services we would never have been able to use???????
For the first time I experienced a hitch in my boarding arrangement. We arrived at the check in counter and the employee who was dealing with our boarding seemed totally distracted by his colleague at the next desk who was in difficulty but was not dealing with us.
I was given a slip of paper instead of a sea pass and instructed to present it upstairs at security in order to board the ship. However my husband was issued with his seapass. Our passports were both retained as is normal procedure.
Having arrived at the security check- in before boarding I was asked for ID as I did not yet have my sea pass. Without my passport I had nothing to present so I was asked to stand aside. They called the ship and a long time afterwards someone came to verify I should be allowed aboard. I was told to go to Guest Relations to get my seapass and discovered there that I would not have a photograph on my seapass which would need to be done the first day we went off the ship.
When that time came at the second port of call my card (which supposedly had no photo) was checked at Guest Relations whilst following the instructions I was given , and they said it did indeed have a photo of me on it which I knew had to be a mistake as I had never been photographed. However, off we went to the leave the ship...my card was accepted but my husband's card failed the check and he was not allowed to leave . I was at this stage able to look at what my card showed and a photo of a complete stranger appeared which explained why the Guest Relations staff told me I had already been photographed although I take issue with their ability to match any PAX in front of the desk with the photo they see on their machine behind their desk!!!! My husband who had been "done" prior to boarding had a blank photograph card apparently and had to be re-done. This mystery was never solved but it has implications for ship security in my opinion!
After a Caribbean week of what seemed more like a "Butlins at sea" cruise we decided week long cruises don't seem to attract the kind of cruiser longer duration cruises have. We unashamedly looked forward to having a change of clientele coming aboard on changeoever day. This may have been a direct result of our disappointment at not being able to get on the dancefloor of an evening because some Californian Dance Club (38 cruisers overall) monopolized the small dancefloor at every opportunity and boasted openly of how they prevented everyone else from having any chance to dance. We wondered if they had any idea of how much they spoiled the cruise for those week-only PAX who might have enjoyed a twirl or two but were too intimidated by their complete disregard for the enjoyment of others. Even appealing to them whilst they were monopolizing the floor was treated with contempt so we gave up even watching their "performances" every night.
The back to back PAX who had to go through the process of leaving / rejoining of the ship on changeover day in Fort Lauderdale found the experience a bit of a wasted morning as no-one seeemd to know what to do with us including the elderly Celebrity employees who are employed to take care of general arrangements for boarding the ship prior to any cruise. We had to sit with the oncoming PAX despite having intransit passes, our Passports etc etc and it was well past the boarding time we were advised of when we were at last allowed to re-board the ship. Needs refining!!!!!
We also had to move cabins like some others ...... yet another problem to deal with on changeoever day if it applies to you!
At the end of the cruise, we had been booked by Celebrity on what we thought was a British Airways flight out of Barcelona back to LHR .
(Our outward flight had also been with BA but in fact was with American Airlines!)
...The return flight to London was really with Iberia .Codeshare partners must be cheaper!!!!!
The BA desk in Barcelona airport provided a list of all BA flights (with the Iberia flight no. equivalent if you had one) showing what time you should approach the desks to book in for your homeward flight. No help or instruction was offered by Iberia for those flights not listed on that. I stood in the queue at Iberia information to find out at what time it would be best to approach the Iberia check-in to get our boarding cards and check our bags......no help there........just join any International flights queue and see if they would book you on when you reached the desk!!!!!
Having eventually got on the flight we were astounded to find a price list for the food on board...so we queried that and discovered Iberia charges even if you are a BA codeshare passenger and expect BA service. I asked for a glass of water from the trolley when it passed by and they directed me to the toilet to get it. Their water was for sale at 1 Euro 50.
I filled in my complaint form but have my doubts if anything will come of that. Of course the real solution is to insist that your flight is really with BA or other acceptable airline when Celebrity books for you !!!!!!! Difficult to achieve when you do not get the chance to talk to Celebrity's flight centre direct and they will not tell you what flights they organise until after you make your cruise booking !!!!!
All in all it has thrown up disappointments this trip....which are experiences to learn from .
Perhaps we are expecting too much but this 3 week cruise was expensive by any standards and I did feel that Celebrity needs to fully review their procedures in certain areas.
Ian and Yvonne Barrie, Midlothian, Scotland.
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