Jeremiah1212

Right. Totally different experience. There is one particular 9 night Croatia cruise on Azamara Journey that I am interested in. No sea days, average of 10+ hours in port. 4 tender ports. The port-intensive schedule makes up for the lack of anything to do on the ship. However at that point we end up doing lunch and some dinners in port. Not much drinking so that is null. Then I have to question why I am paying $9k to use my shoebox cabin as a taxi and having to shower with the door open since I don't even fit in there.

It's not a name badge though! That's the real kicker. Just don't call a Pinnacle by name and ask them to refill your wine. Major faux pas.

Zenith pins. 🎤 I'll see my way out.

The 90% comparison was compared to fall of 2022 which was ~5-6ish months after the Cruise Only options were introduced in May 2022. I can say first hand there is a significant connection in the large number of New To Cruise/New to Brand customers who book at the lowest price then purchase drinks, WiFi, etc. on board because they didn't realize it was advantageous to book the All Included are upfront. I've made detailed cost comparisons for people and they still struggle to wrap their head around it.

That was on purpose. Food in general terms was not mentioned in this discussion so there is nothing to share. It is and will remain to be subjective as always.

No they did not. She said (very carefully) prices would be 'reflective' of the adjusted All Included program. If prices swing between now and October this is nearly impossible to quantify. Go back to the RCG's main talking point. Prices will increase.

It was mentioned as an option. I don't really have any objection to it. Want to have a Labor Day sale and toss in grats for a 3 day period to spur bookings? Go for it.

Not directed at me and I'm probably not Azamara's target, but I would probably chose to cruise Aqua class on S or E class, or definitely Retreat on E Class, over Azamara any day. It's not for everyone.

As mentioned, the Head Butler is in charge of ensuring the Sky Suite guests who needed more attention get it. If someone is truly hurt or generally needs constant attention, I am positive they would be taken care of. I can't get the search to work to find the thread, but in late 2020 Always Included (as it was referred to at the time) was going to be the demise of Celebrity. Now that it's practically pared down to nothing, that will also be the demise of Celebrity according to some. Classic case of can't win for losing.

My assumption is they are seeing a lot of people who do not realize the benefit or value in having the grats included in AI. Maybe it was poorly marketed, poorly communicated, etc. but especially that huge amount of new cruiser business we see doesn't think about the extra incremental cost. So chop it, use it as a tool for future sales and create more revenue from it. As far as the Retreat OBC. That one is tough. I have no reason to think prices will come down. Using 2024 numbers (totally imperfect...but it's the best I can do) with 58,911 suite reservations to fill in the year at $600 OBC per reservation, that's $35,346,000 on the table. Gratuities are still auto charged to your account daily if you didn't prepay.

There has been rampant speculation and debate about gratuities for years and years and that will not change. People claim they have insider info, heard from their waiter, etc. etc. etc. I do not believe this will result in any more people removing gratuities than they did in the past. Here is what Celebrity says: FOR ALL BOOKINGS: Gratuities for stateroom and restaurant services are shared by dining, bar and culinary services staff, stateroom attendants, and other hotel services teams. An 18% gratuity will be added to all spa and salon purchases. A 20% gratuity will be added to all specialty dining and room service onboard. As I noted above, Celebrity says the pricing will be 'reflective' of the changes. How to quantify that since prices fluctuate all the time will be difficult but that is what they said.

Some people may need to take a 4 night Carnival cruise, find a chair on the pool deck of an NCL ship at 1pm or cruise in a Princess cabin that looks like a Holiday Inn lobby from 1987. It may be quite the reality check!

That's the standard cruise contract for anyone who booked through a travel agent. The direct booking and third party (travel agent) contracts are both here: https://www.celebritycruises.com/guest-terms/united-states/

This news is all over the social media so here is a brief rundown of all the things that changed or were addressed by Celebrity this week. Not trying to start a debate as this isn't rumor or speculation. It came straight from the source. All Included *Bookings created after 10/3 will not have gratuities included regardless if you book Cruise Only or All Included *Significantly more people booking Cruise Only in the past year (AI bookings were ~90% of the volume when initially introduced) *Aqua Class will now offer a Cruise Only rate *Gratuities can still be prepaid at the time of booking or anytime there after *Prices should be 'reflective' of gratuities being removed from the inclusions *Singles will no longer have the double charge for All Included *Quoting a flat $20 pp/pd (gratuity included) price to upgrade from Classic to Premium beverage package ***Reason given - Drinks and WiFi are the two things people want most. (I don't agree with the delivery here - just passing along what was shared) Also provides some flexibility to use gratuities as a tool in future sales. Sky Suite Butlers *Team concept is in place lead by a Head Butler *Head Butler will determine where/who needs extra attention (i.e. they will try to address who heavily uses their butler and who contacts them once in a cruise *No one was terminated but positions were shuffled around including to other brands in the company ***Reason given - many Sky Suites were requesting service at the same time which created a bottleneck for anyone getting service from a butler Cookies *Test pilot at the gelato bar. *Apparently sold hundreds over two cruises *Did not replace free cookies/pastries anywhere else onboard *Discontinued and won't be back ***Reason given -They needed to implement a fee to temper demand since it took some time to heat the cookies Vaping *Tested, feedback received and discontinued. *Vapers will have to sneak their vapes in their cabins like they do today or head to a smoking area Removal of Retreat OBC ***Reason Given - None. Big miss here. This should have been directly addressed as it is (was) an crucial tool in justifying the high suite prices Removal of Aqua and Concierge perks and canapes *According to Celebrity nothing has been removed *There should be a card in AQ and CC cabins to indicate if and how often you want these provided ranging from never to every day *(Can someone confirm this card exists? I have not seen it.) ***Reason Given - most of these items go to waste (I cannot disagree with this. Retooling what is offered would solve a lot Please don't give me any more tins of pate!) Perfect Day at Coco Cay *Giving a few ships opportunity to visit Coco Cay based on guest feedback *Continue to welcome families as indicated by always having kid and teen programs *Family travel on Celebrity is different ***Reason Given - Trying to make some apparent distinction that people with kids on Celebrity travel with their kids not for their kids. If you are traveling for your kids, you travel on lines packed with the 'kid stuff'. If you travel with your kids you bring them/drag them along with you. Not the first time they have mentioned this but I'm not sure I agree with this approach. MDR upcharge items *These things will continue to be on the menu and evolve over time. ***Reason Given - these are test items to expand what is offered similar to entrees in some of the Specialty restaurants. Groups *Group rates will eventually not include gratuities *Nothing mentioned on the refundability of group rates *The previous FAQ showing group rates would only be Cruise Only is gone. Groups will be All Included. I'm still concerned that it even made it to a draft FAQ. *Very little shared in general. I'm hesitant to share much more since this really isn't meant for general customers and there is a ton of misinformation posted about how this program works. Ultimately there were some hits and misses. Prices will go up as demand goes up. That goes for any line. New to cruise and new to brand, especially on 7 night Caribbean cruises is very very high. I think this is where a lot of the removal of grats is stemming from. This segment frequently doesn't know better than to consider this cost element when they are booking. I suspect Celebrity has learned they need to get out in front of some of these changes (i.e. Butler Team) but a lot of this test type stuff never has and may never be communicated. I do think the All Included terminology needs to go away and eventually shift back to something more along the lines of the Go 1/2/3 or Big Better Best program that gave people easy to understand prepackaged incremental choices.

After yesterdays call it’s pretty obvious they know they need to do better and get in front of changes. Will they do it moving forward? We’ll see. But from any line I would have absolutely no expectation that they be forthcoming and announce price increases on anything. Look how Princess has handled their changes. They send a response to the complainer that says we know you’re mad but we can do whatever we want. I’m not paraphrasing that much either. Too bad so sad. Move to Carnival for cheap cruises.

Gratuities being removed will allow them to temporarily add them back in for ‘free’ as a tactic for future sales and promotions.

The included Retreat OBC is gone. Flatly saying no OBC on group rates would require reworking the entire group sales concept which is huge for TA’s. Not saying that it wouldn’t happen, but it didn’t happen today.

No gratuities. OBC is separate from All Inclusive and always fluctuates based on a number of things like incentives to TA’s that the customer never sees.

It was said today that prices would be 'reflective' of the new (and improved!) All Included offerings. We'll see. Interpret that as you wish.

Not a chance they lower prices. Using 2024 numbers as an example since it's all I have access to. I know this is imperfect since not all suites always sell out, MoveUp bids do not get OBC, TA bookings likely have a lot more OBC etc, but I cannot account for those variables. 93,045 suites available to fill in 2024. That equates to $55.8 million in OBC if each suite received $600. On the other hand concerning gratuities: 4,556 cruise nights in 2024 Average of $19.80 per pax per night At 100% occupancy on every sailing, total gratuities for 2024 would be $15.3 million. I know I am over simplifying this, but they aren't going to tweak a promo to save $70+ million dollars then turn around and reduce prices.

There is a TA call this afternoon. It will be interesting to say the least. They still do not mention group rates which are currently refundable at no extra charge, and the discounted group rate offering which is where the big savings comes in to play. At current rates for Caribbean 7 day sailings in Retreat on an E Class ship, with the removal of the $600 OBC and grats, you're at effectively at a $922 increase which takes some of those bookings for a S2/S1 Sky Suite at over $11,000 for a 7 day cruise.

It's just like a salty sweet sauce. Thick like syrup. Usually it's saki, mirin, white sugar and soy sauce or some similar combination. It's great on grilled veggies but typically served on an eel roll.

Eel sauce does not contain actual eel. The Luminae menus were a getting a little stale. Some new items are overdue in my opinion.

And oddly enough, CLIA data shows the number of Gen X and younger cruisers use a travel agent significantly more than their elders. They have some work to do to adequately service that sector.

No. Cruises booked after the effective date (October 4?) would not have gratuities included. Any existing reservations booked prior to that date will remain as is.