phoenix_dream

I think that's called a funny/not funny comment. I have 7 upcoming cruises booked, two of them in Sky Suites, and it seems that every day when I sign onto Cruise Critic or a FB group I read about another cutback or change that lessens my experience. With one exception in 75+ cruises I've only had one so-so cruise on Celebrity and the others have been good to great. In fact until recently I would guess many would think of me as a Celebrity cheerleader! Not sure what to expect on our upcoming sailings. I will board with an expectation to have a good time regardless but I confess there is more anxiety there than I should be having for such an expensive vacation.

Oh yuck! I'd rather eat turkey any day than eel. But everyone has different tastes. I guess I'm not sophisticated enough🙂

Why are they taking out tips? Because tips don't benefit the passengers and that way they can keep the same pricing and hope people don't figure out that they in essence just raised the prices again and hope you don't think about it that way. I am very concerned about the staff also. It will be much easier for people to identify the tip amounts and try to eliminate or reduce them, especially perhaps people from other countries whose traditions do not include tipping. I know experienced cruisers realize how the tip situation works, regardless of their own traditions, but I'm concerned that the brand new cruisers won't know much about how pricing and tipping works on cruises and will end up shorting the staff. I hope I am not offending anyone, as I don't mean they would deliberately try to hurt the staff, but they may not take the time or make the effort to understand the cruising process enough to realize how much the staff depends on that money for income.

I don't disagree with you. At the same time, I think most people who cruise a lot have their favorites and really look forward to them as part of their overall cruise experience. If they ever ditch the short ribs which is my favorite, or the french onlon soup which is DH's favorite we would be very disappointed. I'm not a big fan of the Luminae menu overall, so I'm hoping they are adding some options that appeal to me.

I think they claim that their "focus group" is asking their restaurant managers what dishes are popular and what dishes don't get ordered much and/or don't get great feedback. But the skeptic in me these days says they are trying to lower the menu costs for them and trying to do it in a way that makes you feel like you are getting more gourmet food. Personally I was never fond of much of the Luminae menu anyway so I am hoping I like the changes. Time will tell.

And by "existing reservations" am I safe to assume where we have made a deposit, as opposed to being past final payment date? That's how it's been in the past, but these days................

That’s good to know. Guest Relations told us differently, that only the butler could be tipped individually. But I trust your feedback more than theirs🙂

It’s not odd at all. Many of these changes are very, very recent. Are those of us with many cruises booked long ago expected to just cancel them all and take the loss of hundreds, if not thousands of dollars? And one can be upset about the many, many changes but not necessarily be ready to jump ship yet. I think also that the people you reference, and I may be one of them, who have many cruises booked are obviously very frequent, loyal customers and therefore possibly feel the impact more deeply than new cruisers to Celebrity or those who only cruise now and then.

I think beyond the possible blind loyalty is the selfish attitude that if it's not something that bothers me then I don't care about it so therefore you shouldn't either, and if you do I'll make some snarky comment about you. But eventually there will be a cut of some kind that does bother everyone. And more importantly, it's a disturbing trend. Honestly these days I almost dread opening Cruise Critic or one of the Celebrity related FB pages because I'm honestly scared to see what's next! I currently have 7 cruises booked with Celebrity. I certainly don't expect perfection or everything to stay exactly the same but I also don't want to lose some of the things that have been important to me for 20+ years and 70+ cruises, especially at the price I paid!

You expressed this beautifully. I am so tired of the arrogant lectures of what we should and should not care about. Bottom line these cuts are a serious trend that ultimately in some way will affect us all, all the while paying as much as double the cost of the past few years. Are we supposed to just take whatever they dish out with no feelings about it. Sorry (not sorry), I worked very hard for many years to earn my cruise money and I expect to get what I paid for when booking.

Full sized candy,? When was that? We started in 2003 and never got anything but the small pieces.

The Hideaway?

And a larger room and balcony, premium drinks and internet, and access to the lounge. Not saying the current prices are necessarily worth it, but let's be honest about all the benefits.

Everyone's opinion means something. I just don't like people telling me (or anyone else) I can or can't complain, and reporting bad experiences or bad directions doesn't constitute whining. And as I stated in my post, "moving on" is not always financially feasible, at least in the short term. You can tell the general tone and topic of a post by reading the title. If you don't want to hear people complaining about all the negative changes, you have the option to just pass those posts by without opening. Obviously many, many people are upset about a number of the changes and want to share that information with others. If not for Cruise Critic, these things would be a huge (and unwelcome) surprise when onboard. I'd rather know the situation before I board. Once I am onboard I will make it my mission to enjoy the cruise regardless of the changes. But I definitely want to get information ahead of time and it is not coming from Celebrity.

I thought those were taken away as a test, then added back as Classics. Am I wrong? Can someone sailing now clarify?

I've eaten at both Murano and Tuscan many, many times over the past years, pre and post Covid. I can remember only one less than stellar experience in Tuscan, and when we discussed it with the maître d they comped us another dinner which great. My most recent sailings were earlier this year, in the winter and my experiences were very good. I'm hoping that has not changed in recent months like other food quality. You have a right of course to your own opinions of your own experiences. Just wanted to share mine.

I certainly don't remember my 70+ Celebrity cruises as being cheap! I will say, in fairness, that from the time of the restart until cruises earlier this year the prices were considerably less than we had paid before. But before that - anything but cheap. And now - considerably higher than pre-Covid - very often double the price.

For the record, the cruise lines were not shut down for two years. I sailed in March of 2020 right before the shutdown and again in September of 2021. The sailings began even earlier than September but that was my first. I will grant you that for quite some time after restart the ships were not full so they definitely didn't have full revenue but not sure I would call it little.

Oh heavens, you are on a flight with one stop no less? You probably are familiar with flying through Atlanta, but if not it is a very big airport which doesn't help matters if you are changing planes. I only fly United so not sure how the Delta terminal is. I would do everything in my power to get an earlier flight somehow. If possible I would even consider cancelling the flight and driving, even if it meant all night (not sure what your restrictions are). As said above, odds are that Celebrity could get you to the next port for boarding at no cost to you. That said, before I would count on that at all I would do a search and see how many flights there actually are going to Nassau that day. I wish you good luck!

True. And on a FB site a very reliable resource has indicated that it will remain only in the smoking areas. Hope that ends up being the truth!

I do sail Celebrity often. I have 7 or 8 more cruises ahead of me starting in October. I will make my food judgments then but I don't like some of what I have been hearing about cut backs on the menus. Not sure when you sailed, but many of these changes are very, very recent and are rolling out in different ways across the line - your cruise may not yet have been affected. But I have to say I do object to your statement about "quit whining". First of all, it's rude. Second, if I were to find the food no longer to my liking on my next cruise I can't afford to take the hit of cancelling 7 cruises and losing all that deposit, not to mention what I might have to pay to try another line at this later date. Not saying I would do so necessarily as there are of course other parts of cruising to enjoy, although a nice dining experience is literally one of my top reasons for cruising Celebrity. So not sailing Celebrity anymore is not a realistic option, at least in the short term. People have a right to be unhappy when they booked with certain expectations based on advertising as well as recent experiences and suddenly, with no notice, no communication, and no way to cancel without penalty the cruise line is downgrading things. That is one of the main reasons for the "whining". And since there is no communication from the cruise line about these things, it is only by "whining' here on Cruise Critic that we even find out about these things prior to cruising.

It definitely is working ---for now. I wonder what a year or two from now will bring. Many of us older and loyal passengers book many cruises per year - 6, 7, 8 or more. I have that many booked but will now be considering other lines for at least some of my cruises. Anyone reading CC often notes that many of the people upset (also known as "whiners" to those who think the cutbacks coupled with much higher prices should just be accepted I guess) are also people who book many, many cruises. Many (most I would guess) of the younger group they are targeting likely book one per year if that. Coupled with that, they are in many ways now competing with their other brand, Royal. Another Royal huge resort at sea is scheduled to float out soon if I remember correctly, as well as a new Edge class ship. Will they really be able to fill all the additional berths on all these ships with mostly the younger crowd? So will this travel bubble burst at some point? Logic says yes but we'll see.

Of course you can be happy about that part. I would be as well. But are you really happy about all the negative aspects and implications of these changes?

They are each technically separate cruises so yes, they are doubled. I have done many b2b cruises through the years. There are pluses and minuses, although other than the points I'm not sure how, for example, a 7 night b2b would be better than a 14 night cruise. The minuses are that often (not always) both legs have the same itinerary, the production shows and sometimes guest performers repeat, there are often not as many ports per cruise due to needing to come back to base, the turnaround day is virtually a lost day as far as being able to visit a port or even fully relax as there are turnaround activities to do, and the variety of available ports is often lessened due to travel distance. But my main point is that it is the older crowd who will be booking more days on ships, whether separate or B2B cruises. Younger, working people usually (I know there are exceptions) will book one, and maybe two cruises per year equaling a total number of days onboard averaging 5-7 nights, with the minority doing two cruises maybe as much as 14. I would be willing to bet $$ that a good portion of the more senior cruisers will book quite a bit in excess of that amount - likely double or more.

Even if they have, doesn't mean you could get away with it as well. The rule is now one per person. If you try two be prepared to have one confiscated.