Tom and Ingrid

We're "all forms" of travel folks, and cruises fill an important part of that approach. By their nature, ports for cruise ships are limited to being near the water. For some European (and other parts) countries, that is great (Barcelona or Istanbul) and others, not so great (Berlin or Paris). One of the big reasons we choose to cruise is as a "tasting menu" for later revisits for longer periods. It is a great way to have a floating hotel that drops you in a new place to see each morning. We would never give up land travel - in the US and abroad. You really cannot beat a week (or more) in a single hotel in some part of the world where you can explore to your heart's content. But, obviously, new and exciting ports of call or a road trip across a continent are also hard to beat in a totally different way. Travel - early and often!

Me too. Yep. We cruised with my wife's brother & wife, and they - despite all sorts of prior discussion - still messed up the dining to match ours. My wife called Celebrity but we also ended up just going to the Maitre D early in the first evening to truly sort it out.

Mine's the purple AmEx Delta Reserve. I've never checked the offers but I might start now 🙂 I wonder what they use to decide who gets what offers.

Neat. I checked my Delta AmEx and nothing 😞

My post (below) earlier sort of gave a nod to that. They have the info they need, they just aren't equipped to do much with it. As I see it, it costs quite a bit to do IT well, and they seem to be doing relatively well ($$$ wise) with the cobbled together system they have in place. They will aim for the potential big gains of a better system later. It is a smart investment, but it's also an expensive one. And I doubt there is any AI in the existing system.

For sure - can't really assume anything as fact. What we do know is that X has MANY ways to get your $$$$. The "ticket" is one of them, and then all the other ways. Whether that is 1%, 10% 30% or 50%, the equation for 2x vs 1x vs 4x in a cabin still works out that a solo person in a full size cabin is most likely a "loss" for X if they don't adjust the rates to get that $$$ up front in the wild solo fares we are seeing. Of course, they could spread the loss out across all customers, to be fair or unfair depending upon your perspective.

I was confirming it was the Celebrity President and not one of the CEOs. But I agree that honesty and clarity is the BEST policy. I have not seen or read the comments she made about the solo policy, and believe we often hear what we want to hear, but that it usually is a much fuller comment/conversation where context really comes into play. If we had a transcript or video of what she said, it would be interesting to actually re-listen with an ear towards the full story. Are there links to such a thing?

They DEFINITELY carry the Coke (not Pepsi or Dr Pepper or ...) products. There may, though be availability issues across the Coke-brand line depending upon the ship and where in the itinerary. Like Coke and Sprite, probably stocked up, but Coke Zero vs Cherry Coke vs Diet Coke? Maybe those are hit or miss? You can just barely see what they were listing in the bottom right with things like Coke, Sprite, Fanta(?) and maybe Barqs? But no Mellow Yellow!!!

Literally in the OP 😄 Thanks, I was wondering where that one was.

Assuming we're discussing the same person - Laura Hodges Bethge???? She's a "lowly" President and answers to folks above her. They're playing the averages and they have the data WE don't. Honestly, without doing that deep dive a la The Minority Report, they just have to go one some BROAD assumptions. It is why they're likely pushing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th passenger discounts. One cabin, one person, one drink package, one Wi-fi plan, one per excursion, one per specialty restaurant - $ One cabin, two people, two drink packages, two Wi-fi plans, two per excursion, two per specialty restaurant - $$ One cabin, four people, four drink packages, four Wi-fi plans, four per excursion, four per specialty restaurant - $$$

I'll add - in the past, we've only done the Classic/basic drink packages, and Coke was on the package, but things like Red Bull weren't. They were seemingly on the Premium, though. From the FAQ: What is the Zero Proof Package (previously the Premium Non-Alcoholic Package)? Refresh with premium bottled water from Evian, Perrier, San Pellegrino, & Panna, Specialty Coffees & Organic Teas, Red Bull Energy Drink, Frozen Smoothies, Zero Proof Cocktails, Coca-Cola selections, offerings from Vitamin Water, and Bottled Iced Teas. What is the Premium Drink Package? The Premium Drink Package includes all Classic Drink Package items, PLUS: Specialty coffees & teas, craft & artisan beers, spirits, cocktails, frozen drinks, Coca-Cola products, premium bottled water, and wines by the glass up to $17 per serving. Also, take a 20% discount off all bottles of wine!

The individual tracking of all passengers is something they already have. Mining and then acting on that information, though, is much more difficult and time consuming. They have a couple options: dive into IT and the put in place the processes to slice and dice every angle of their revenue and the passengers themselves and then to maximize it in real time to get the most $$$ use a simpler & cruder method of assuming some level of "average" and going with that. Without a doubt, all businesses are engaging in a process of that deep dive using many different methods to know almost exactly how their customers will behave. It's coming to X, but when is the question. In the meantime, they know, on average, people are people, so a solo or a couple will spend similarly on board. They just need to make the choice of how to keep the TOTAL per cabin revenue similar among solo, couple, or more folks. It's the way the math works, and it can be done differently - eg the spread across all passengers pricing - but seemingly, despite this being a pretty blatant pricing differential, they've made a decision to go with it. Likewise, when the X President makes a comment about changing it, the devil is in the details and the nuance of the comment. If she is implying a change to the overall approach - like adopting the spread the cost method - we should be seeing that in the fares (and haven't yet). If she was more commenting on making it "fairer", that's a whole different discussion. Fair to a family vs fair to a couple vs fair to a solo vs fair to X shareholders will look VERY different. I DON'T like the policy. I would love to affordably bring my mother on a Celebrity cruise or two. But I do see the business case for it. Sailing at 100+% capacity does give them options to make policies that anger some subset of passengers. For me, it means I won't, as long as the pricing is so bad, be bringing my mom on a Celebrity cruise and will look to other lines for that. But X is in the position that they will likely fill any gaps from my not booking.

This also is a "which itinerary" sort of thing. Generally, for a Europe cruise, I am buying an eSim for my phone to cover not just time on the cruise, but also the pre/post time on land. I use that for both the navigating on-land bits, but also can check and do e-mail & texting etc.. We also get "free" minutes from being Elite, but that's not all that much. An eSim, though, will not function on most sea days, but rather more in the AM/PM while having breakfast or drinks while in port. For a Mexico or Caribbean cruise, I find no need to really get an eSim and probably rely more on the ships internet (again, Elite gets some free mins) or on wifi hotspots in ports (some risk there). So, it is sort of - to me - itinerary specific. UNPLUGGED is best in my eyes, and it is actually one of the more depressing changes over the past decade seeing folks increasingly "silo-ed" in their own worlds on a lovely ship on a wonderful trip through a beautiful world. 😞 Escaping from an escape is the new norm, I guess.

This is my feeling too. I generally like seeing kids in the mix, and have rarely felt the kids were too many for the ship. A recent cruise, though, did have the "unchaperoned and running wild" group of kids who would - understandably - bring a bit of chaos to places where folks were generally expecting & wanting calm. When they're in the X kids programs, I don't think I notice kids much, but when bored and on their own? A bit more disruptive.

I sort of feel like this is the crux of the issue and where transparency would go a long way. From what I can tell, Celebrity expects to make 30+% of their revenue from sources other than just a "ticket". So, they will either look to make MORE from the "whole" of all passengers, or focus on making a smaller group - aka solo passengers - pay significantly more while holding the line for the majority of passengers - ie double+ occupancy folks - to maintain the bottom line. Assuming a normal cabin is regularly two "tickets", for every $1,000 in price, they also expect $450+ in "other" revenue (drinks, wifi, excursions, etc.). It is vague whether pre-sailing purchases count towards this "onboard & other" category, but it makes sense that it would. So, this seems to be where X would need to "make up" their revenue - the delta between the EXTRA "onboard and other revenue" they miss with a solo traveller. So, even if a SOLO pays the double occupancy price, X is missing out on half the 31+% they expect beyond the ticket alone. They definitely save a little on food, but not much on staffing or general "running the ship" costs having solo vs multiple passengers, so they are aiming to recoup some lost revenue somewhere. Again, in the example of 2 passengers in a cabin, if the "ticket" for two is $1,000 each (double occupancy), and the estimated "other" of $450 each, that's $2,900 in expected revenue per cabin. If a solo passenger comes along, and pays the double occupancy rate (full $2,000), and then also $450 for "other" stuff, it leaves X with a $450 deficit that they seemingly (and unclearly) reveal in the booking price in a vague way for folks looking to cruise solo.

...and the "See posts about:" dropdown at the top of the page works well for general ship discussions. Not perfect, but plenty to read.

I'd just do a search. ...and clicking "live AND millennium" narrows further:

Seems like that's sort of what they do with CocoCay, right? But more than one ship can be at CocoCay per day, too?

All three are worth a visit, so - for me - that would tip the scales to Istanbul and the Sillie. Of course, all three also warrant longer explorations, so not an absolute deal breaker if you can plan a separate visit to Istanbul later. Also, if you've never been to Santorini on a cruise, now's the time to start reading the countless threads here about the tendering, the tours, and the long lines at the lift 🙂

...the same way it is now sharing the CocoCay resort? Is it on any 2025 itineraries yet? Seeing how RCL is developing a series of these "destinations", I wonder if X can avoid falling into the trap of depending too heavily on these options. I do find the Bahamas stops less and less enticing, so maybe with kids, it would be a nice option to just head straight to a nice "private" (with 2,000+ of your closest friends) beach, versus the current situation. I also wonder how many RCL has in the works for their Perfect Day destinations, and where else they will put them.

We did a similar itinerary on the Constellation a decade ago, and it was great. We started in Istanbul for a few days, then an overnight on the ship before departing for the rest of the ports. If you have been to Rome or been to Istanbul but not the other, I'd obviously go with the "new" spot. If you have been to neither, I'd lean towards Istanbul as that's one place where it could go sideways anytime, and be off the "tourist trail" fairly fast. The S-class ships are also lovely but our first time on the Sillie (does the Silhouette have a nickname) will be next month. If it is as nice as the others, you'll enjoy it.

So the gift cards ONLY work towards the cost of the cruise? Not for something like a gift to someone to use for onboard activities (spa or specialty restaurants or towards their final settlement of onboard charges)?

I'd also suggest - but I'm not positive how it works on Celebrity - but perhaps the OP could purchase a Celebrity gift card(s) from somewhere like AARP. There is a built in "discount" - ~10% - and then DEPENDING on the rules - use that to buy OBC? A screen shot from Cruzely as I'm not an AARP member (yet):

It's an interesting topic, and one the RCCL answers - in their own way - in the annual filings. In their last 10-K filing, they state, that for the industry as a WHOLE, the North American market (US, CA, and maybe Mexico) are 63% of the cut (putting the US at least at 50%): ...and for RCCL (all lines), the US was ~75% of their clientele: For Carnival - owner of more "international" options - they too are heavily weighted towards the US/NA market with the US/CA being 59% of the 2023 passenger total, and Europe w/ UK at 29%:

NO WAY i'm testing that search query on my home PC!!!! 😱