horseymike

it is a misrepresentation " Best Price Guarantee" .

all depends on circumstances. usually not to bad a wait.

7 hours ago, CNSJ said:

Well the good news is the the ship doesn't sail until the next day.  Plenty of time to figure it out.

 

Good luck 🍀

Hope you have a great cruise. 🛳️

21 hours ago, Kelownabccan said:

Wife just bought some "tide pods".....and I said what for......to wash a few things on the three week cruise she says......but I said I do not think there is a laundry room on the ship.....looked at the ship plan and could not see one......if not just use the ships laundry service....I guess....I think she was thinking that they all would have one.....on some of our Princess ones she did some washing....and maybe even the older HAL ships???.....am I wrong???

Can you bring a bucket with a very long rope ?

🤣

Only kidding have a great cruise 🛳️

7 hours ago, swjumbo said:

It’s a tricky one isn’t it? We are friendly with someone quite senior on board and they also see the standard in etiquette dropping, especially post Covid.

 

We’ve think we’ve struck the perfect cost balance of getting a balcony cabin, premium drinks, tips and speciality dining as the suites (they’re awesome) just aren’t worth the extra. The Retreat will always be full because of the bidding.

 

If not the pricing then would stricter dress codes help? 
 

I honestly don’t know hence this post because I enjoy sharing a quality product with likeminded people!!

 

They don’t enforce the current dress code.

11 hours ago, swjumbo said:

I’ve just come off another Celebrity cruise and have thoroughly enjoyed it. The cruise isn’t cheap and it was full.

 

British Airways made a loss with Concorde for years until they were told that they could charge whatever they wanted. They did and they made a profit, literally overnight!

 

Now I’m thinking that if Celebrity are doing the same just how much extra I would pay. 

I never do main dining and always have a drinks package. 

To be completely honest, I’ve seen the standard of my fellow passengers go down (rude, loud, expecting everything) and I’d happily pay more not to have them on board and essentially out-price them!

 

 

 

Would you please pass the Grey Poupon ?🤣

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

Complainers/Non Complainers is where I thought you were going with this.

 

But me down for a Non Complainer.  

Cruise Critic is the name of the message board.

54 minutes ago, Nancycat said:

We are leaving on the Reflection on September 21 Barcelona to Barcelona, schools will be back in session so less kids.

Enjoying your review 

Hope you have a great cruise . Please let us know how it goes .

Thanks

3 hours ago, CruiseCrew123 said:

My infinity cruise in 2 weeks is still only showing desserts 😆. I will be living on Crème Brûlée 

They are not showing the PBJ sandwich ?
How about the egg salad ?

Please tell me the franks and beans are still there .

Only kidding 🤣

I hope you have a great cruise 🚢 

They should put it on the invoice automatically, but they don’t. When I called and requested that they put it on the invoice and email me a copy they did.

Hi Cheadle,

We usually tip the cabin steward $10. Per day in addition to the prepaid crew appreciation. There was one time in our 16 cruises where our cabin steward was basically terrible ( not an HAL cruise ) needless to say there was no additional gratuity from us.

Finally , I have been told that some Doritos or Cheetos are pretty popular among the crew , so if you can safely pack a couple small bags with you  for them , I think that would be much appreciated. Needless to say , these extras are all optional and very much up to your discretion.

Hope you have a great cruise 🚢🍀

I thought the fresh fruit was picked on the sea days 🤣

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Sent in my CCL share ownership onboard credit requests electronically for upcoming 21 day cruise separately for the two separate booking number.

 

I got back instantly one confirmation for the 7 day segment - $100 

All I get back for the 14 day segment, now resubmitted twice  -- is due to high volume, we are busier than usual.....

 

What has been other's experience with actually getting the onboard credit applied, even if they do not get an official confirmation?

Will having proof of submittal  be of any later value, if the second OBC does not show up on our account when we board?

 

In the past, i would always FAX in these requests but never requested a confirmation. It was always applied. Now, things seem to be more glitchy about these  routine requests. Interested in  what others experienced in this type of situation -OBC request submitted, but no confirmation received.

Thanks.

Hate to tell you , but a phone call to HAL customer service got it done for me. Finally, I requested a new invoice showing the shareholder credit and received that as well via email.

Keep looking . Hopefully something you like will become available.

Flying in on day of departure is risky business.

 I hope all goes well for your group. 🍀🚢

5 hours ago, HabitualLineStepper said:

Are these the types of new ideas that we should be expecting from the new Celebrity leadership?

 

Fresh out of the oven cookies are only available if you want to pay for them? I guess we are relegated to eating stale old cookies if we want them for free?

Anyone who wants a warm cookie can just put it under their armpit for a few minutes. 🤣

30 minutes ago, critic2023 said:

I agree. Almost all the cuts I've heard of so far don't impact me. I'm perfectly content in an inside, oceanview, or veranda cabin and would never spend the extra money on a higher class cabin, but if I did I'd be very annoyed that they were taking away the perks I paid $10k+ for. I've never grabbed a cookie at Al Bacio, but I think for the price we all pay - right down to the cheapest inside cabin booked during a sale - charging $2 for a cookie just looks bad and cheapens the brand. It's not enough to get me to go with another line yet, but it's a trend that concerns me.

How about the 20 % gratuity on something that should be included. I would call that adding insult to injury.

Being an admitted foodie, the quality of the included food is very important to me.

X had a stellar reputation for their INCLUDED cuisine for decades, I miss what it used to be.

There will always be things that mean more to different people, but at some point if things keep disappearing under the current fare structure some people will look for other options.

16 hours ago, Cap_D said:

True.  As a new cruiser, but someone who looked backward quite a bit to understand it and select a first cruise (or none at all), it seemed from actions and words the prior execs were at least attempting to create a positive feel good experience; and that Celebrity / LLP were allowed to be different, and better.  Money that went to water slides and shows went to having more crew and space per passenger, and other things. The new crew are all Bob Chapek's looking to squeeze the last dollar, and rubbing it in

 

I will say that we found that prices for a suite with access to coastal kitchen on RC (which was really hard to figure out the final pricing on) was coming out higher than Retreat in 2022.  And, that was before we added in the necessary upsells that were fuzzy to create a comparable package, including the value of OBC to cover excursions.  So, Celebrity was a relative bargain and known to be demonstrably better quality in many ways. That seems to be over.  Folks should also keep count of all all the pricing info and metrics.  By the time the new management is finished, many of the prices for optional but needed packages will be impossible to find or dynamic, including desserts, coffee, drinks, and more.  The Royal model is to get and force people to spend onboard.  That was not the vibe Celebrity was going for with all included and crew that would be incentivised to generate satisfaction. The cookie is more than just being about a cookie.  It's about getting wallets open.  Look for more ways to drain OBC onboard, more overages on certain drinks, and other top off upsells, then less OBC, and even more gimmicks. There's going to need to be an shifting of onboard culture if Jason and Laura succeed with their playbook.  And, for them Celebrity is a tremendous opportunity if you're looking to find more opportunities for revenue, even if we perceive risk to keeping a flow of reccuring passengers.  

The OBC seem to be dwindling every time I research a new booking.

I remember a car rental company that was the GOLD STANDARD in the rental car business for decades. After being sold multiple times the same company is still out there trying to profit from a reputation long since gone. Needless to say , things are not going very well for them.

20 hours ago, Cap_D said:

She's not a hospitality person or marketer and it shows in the video from the President's Cruise and handling of all the changes. She was fortunate that they had arranged to fly in Captain Kate to the President's Cruise.  

 

As for the marketing, it's just one BS promo after the same, sliced a different way, while the overall price is inching up, insults and cutbacks are growing, and foot in mouth surveys will become the norm. 

 

Meanwhile, all of the bookings and reputation is based on the LLP era.  The halo of an empowered crew first leads to happy passengers, elevated ship for everyone, influencer videos, impressions of what the Retreat should be, crew to passenger ratios, culture, design choices, whimsy, pricing that didn't become annoying while onboard, and so on, plus past positive experiences, that is what was selling the full ships of today.  

 

Meanwhile there were other retirements or layoffs / attrition proximate to LLP departure that probably also were partially due to their work about to be undone.

 

Was on an E class ship when the announcement was made.  Small sample, but we didn't get the warm and fuzzies when the topic was mentioned to people that took pride in what they were providing (and built) during chit chat.  

 

20 hours ago, lv2cruisgrl said:

I liked Lisa Perlo better!  This new chick is the new hatchet woman...not liking it.

She is probably a beard for Jason Liberty.

20 hours ago, CunucuMom said:

Reminds me of many corporate environments when a new leader takes the helm and makes immediate changes (read: cost-cutting) without fully understanding the impact on daily operations and customer satisfaction.  Sometimes the knee-jerk alterations work, more often they fail.

Jerk being the operative word.

21 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

Many of us believe because the previous CEO LLP and the title of CEO were removed, it's RCG's CEO Jason Liberty running the show and wants to bring many RCI items to X 

Is Jason Liberty related to Liberty Valence ? 
Sure seems like it.

It’s really dependent on your personal preferences. If you enjoy several cocktails throughout the time on your cruise, AI will be the way to go. If you don’t drink , or drink sparingly it is not worth it.

Other factors are if you have ON BOARD CREDIT included in your booking , that might very well be enough to cover your beverages, both alcoholic and non alcoholic.

Keep in mind that everyone booked in the cabin must book AI or not .

There are special exceptions with regard to the alcoholic drinks that involve being a recovering alcoholic or not drinking for medical reasons.