poeticlicensed

The in between. People who can't afford the luxury lines but don't want the RCL roller coaster turn it up to 11 experience. There' definitely a niche there. It just depends on how they play it

There are many parents who take the kids to Disney, but will not do a Disney cruise or a cruise with roller coasters or water parks. I think X is priming themselves as the alternative to Disney cruises (which are wildly expensive) and Royals "turn it up to 11". I think X sees themselves as the reward for parents who don't want a theme park experience. And as someone who lives15 minutes from the mouse, I see tons of kids in the parks all year round. We never did that, I dont believe in pulling kids out of school for vacation. But believe me, there are plenty of parents who would. And again, I think this is a slow move to the a new Celebrity. It will take a couple of years, but by 2025 your experience will be very different. I think the demographic for cruising generally is changing and the different cruiselines are positioning themselves for where they want to be.

In my opinion, each change is part of a laid out plan to change the direction of the company and make it more closely align with RCCL. I think the c suite looked at the future of cruising and decided its in the Caribbean, where profits are high, and its families, who have disposable income. Families generally don't take 14 day and longer cruises. They are firmly in the 3 to 7 day, where parents have to get back to work and kids to school and activities . RCCL made a huge investment in Cococay and they are gonna wring every dollar they can from it. The move to start sailing from Canaveral is part of it. Get those Disney family dollars. Mom and dad and grandparents bring the kids to Disney for several days of madness then are rewarded by a non Disney cruise that goes to Cococay for the kids. Thats a huge opportunity for X to cash in. Shortening menus, paying for little add ons, those changes will only be known and felt by loyal customers, and that is clearly not the demographic they are chasing. Its simply not as lucrative. Do you think they've forgotten longtime cruisers exist? Nope, but in the macro, the new direction pays more. Will they lose some cruisers? Yup. But not enough to make it unattractive to move this direction. The repackaging of all in to take away tips was probably on the drawing board last year. They figure people aren't gonna stiff the staff, and they want you in that bev page and wifi because they are huge moneymakers. It is what it is. No amount of complaining is gonna change what is clearly a long range plan. Im not their sought after demo. So im not happy and will look elsewhere for future cruises.

In my opinion, each change they make is part of a laid out plan to change the direction of the company and make it more closely align with RCCL. I think the c suite looked at the future of cruising and decided its in the Caribbean, where profits are high, and its families, who have disposable income. Families generally don't take 14 day and longer cruises. They are firmly in the 3 to 7 day, where parents have to get back to work and kids to school and activities . So that's the new X focus, 3 to 7 day Caribbean cruises. RCCL made a huge investment in Cococay and they are gonna wring every dollar they can from it. The move to start sailing from Canaveral is part of it. Get those Disney family dollars. Mom and dad and grandparents bring the kids to Disney for several days of madness then are rewarded by a non Disney cruise that goes to Cococay for the kids. Thats a huge opportunity for X to cash in. Taking away menu selections, paying for little add ons, those changes will only be known and felt by loyal customers, and that is clearly not the demographic they are chasing. Its simply not as lucrative. Do you think they've forgotten longtime cruisers exist? Nope, but in the macro, the new direction pays more. Will they lose some cruisers? Yup. But not enough to make it unattractive to move this direction. The repackaging of all in to take away tips was probably on the drawing board last year. They figure people aren't gonna stiff the staff, and they want you in that bev page and wifi because they are huge moneymakers. It is what it is. No amount of complaining is gonna change what is clearly a long range plan. Im not their sought after demo. So im not happy and will look elsewhere for future cruises.

Its a super deal to me if I don't have to withdraw from my investment account for a year. Granted the interest i would make on the amount of a deposit is small (maybe $50-80), but better for me to make 50 bucks than make zero, correct? You seem a little angry at those of us who booked on $1 deposit day.

Someone mentioned just Googling to find answers. Well I can tell you that many companies update their website but do not scrub their old pages from the internet, they simply delink them from the website. Goigle will find correct info as well as outdated info. So if you Google, make sure you are looking at the date of the page. To make it more difficult many companies do not date each individual page. Try googling a question. Betting you come up with different answers even on the official website.

Also considering a pass. We will be on a Vista ship. I saw pictures of the pool and the loungers. What other rooms do they have? Sauna, aromatherapy? We were on an MSC megaship and the thermal spa had both a wet and dry sauna, as well as a salt room with loungers and a snow room. Yes snow. It was awesome to sit in the snow room and then get into a warm pool.

I'm a regular celebrity cruiser. The 40% off sounds great but they charge so much for their version of the have it all bundle it jacks the price up. And buying the drink package separately is even worse, over $100/day. Part of why I have started looking beyond Celebrity us because the prices seem to have gone crazy lately

Can someone come to my house and explain to my husband that its annoying to play videos on his phone not just without headphones, but on full blast early in the morning. He doesn't believe me. When I tell him its rude, his argument is that the TV volume is on, whats the difference? Ugh.

I cannot imagine walking down the streets of Rome or Athens right now

Yes but its not the same. Covid revenge travel is everywhere

Exactly why we decided to forego Europe this year and visit Alaska instead. Hopefully next year things will have calmed down a bit and people will have gotten their need for "covid revenge travel" out of their system

If a cruise is sailing to a colder climate where kids could not use the outdoor pool, its entirely appropriate to allow them to use the solarium during designated hours. Not allowing kids to swim when there's a pool is a bit cruel, IMO. Celebrity is not an adults only line so there's an expectation that there will be children aboard. Its unrealistic to think that children should always be in the kids club. If people enjoy cruising celebrity, they do so with the knowledge that children will be on board. Does that children should be undisciplined? No. Is it appropriate to take them everywhere? No. But if you want to cruise with the fewest amount of children on board, avoid school breaks and holidays. And take a longer cruise. The demo of 8+ day cruises is older and fewer kids aboard. We did a February cruise and hit the sweet spot after the holidays but before Feb break. There were only a handful of kids on board. Is the Retreat adults only?

I always used a travel agent in the past. Not that they were particularly helpful, more like order takers. I'd love to find an agent that would really find great deals and alert me. The last time I booked a cruise with an agent I was trying to decide between 2 cruises and asked for their opinion and got nothing. Then covid came. I had just made final payment on an Alaska cruise when the world started shutting down. I contacted my TA and their attitude was deal with the cruiseline yourself, here's a form. Never heard from them again.

I'm sure that the folks at HAL recognize that many people will cancel. People approach planning for a vacation very differently. There are a good number who book last minute while others book as soon as itineraries are released. I doubt that they would have run a promotion if they though they would lose business

If even a fraction of the bookings that were done by new HAL cruisers ended up cruising and not canceling, that would be a win for the company.

I'm of the mind that if they would improve the app and the website, that would eliminate a good percentage of the calls to CS. Then the people who really have an issue that needs a human to deal with it wouldn't be sitting in a queue behind people who just need to make a payment or find an answer to a question. I'm one of those people who hates calling customer service. I love being able to do everything online. If I need to interact I'd rather do it through an email or chat feature. I rarely have to call hotels or airlines for much of anything anymore because most of the ones I use have good websites and apps. I remember the days when you had to call customer service for everything travel related. Don't wish to return to those days. I do not understand why Celebrity doesn't throw some money at developing a good app and website that's easy to navigate, intuitive and doesn't screw up.

I was one of the folks who booked with a $1 deposit. Never sailed HAL before, we usually cruise Celebrity. I saw the sale, saw the itinerary I want, plus throwing in the have it all, the price was very competitive with celebrity. The $1 deposit helped me pull the trigger.

Oh please. The implication is quite clear, and not just about alcohol

I'm not saying they don't. I've been on a number of them and I haven't seen it. They certainly aren't marketed as such, unlike other lines. I simply do not agree that everyone on a short cruise is a rowdy drunk. Celebrity has been doing short cruises for a long time. They are a money maker. Lots of people take them for a variety of reasons. You seem to want to believe that the only reason one takes a short cruise is to booze it up. I take offense to that. I'm sure there are behaviors on all cruises, regardless of length, that are unsavory. I do not understand why you have decided that all cruisers and cruising fit into homogeneous categories. I guess life is easier that way.

I don't cruise short during spring break. I generally don't cruise at all during spring break.. I've lived in Florida long enough to know to avoid amusements at that time of year. The last two 4 day cruises I did were in Jan and Feb, after the holidays, before spring break.

The implication being what? I dont know how many cabins or decks were involved i just remember sitting in a lounge for a very long time. And all the carpets in the hallways and our cabins was wet like they had to be shampooed. The cruise was Dec of 2018. I can't remember the exact dates. I didn't realize that news that doesn't make it to cruise critic apparently didn't happen. Wow. Wow.

Exactly. The cabin steward said things got out of hand the last night. But he didn't say gee this happens on every music cruise. I just don't likr the implication that those of us to take short cruises are a bunch of drunks getting rowdy.

I loved teaching teachers. He's a brave man taking on that age group!

I'm saying that people who choose shorter cruises aren't necessarily a bunch of boozers looking to get drunk. Lots of people who live in Florida choose short cruises because of the proximity and cost.its a cheap weekend away. We were on the Millie last year for a 4 day cruise. Not boozy at all. Elitism is when you think people who take short cruises are low class boozers. And actually we went on a 7 day on Equinox right before covid and the 7 day cruise that was right before us was a music cruise and they trashed the cabins so bad we couldn't get into our rooms til almost 4. Sure it happens. But its not a given that short cruises are and longer lengths are not.