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On 3/6/2024 at 4:40 PM, crazyank said:

a guess is exactly what this is.

 

there is no time-consuming process to remove the daily gratuities.  5 minutes at Guest services is all it takes

So what would you do if gratuities were baked into the cruise price?

5 hours ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

They do if you bother looking at the whole page. The fact that they have a box to select that states "Pay more for a refundable deposit" indicates that otherwise it is non-refundable. It's not their fault you choose to skip steps like insurance and dining preference.

This was a fairly recent change that happened with little fanfare. The standard (pre-covid) was refundable deposits.  Should you be willing to accept a non-refundable deposit, Celebrity would generally give you some additional consideration at the same price. "all 4 perks", premium instead of classic drinks and the like. 

Personally, i was surprised to find (post covid} that a future cruise deposit was not refundable. I don't recall seeing a notice or being told at the time of booking while onboard. It was a subtle change that was contrary to who knows how many years of practice.  

I certainly will not admonish someone for missing an unexpected change in policy that runs counter to years of tradition. 

On 3/1/2024 at 9:31 AM, tupper10 said:

Agree we gave up on Celebrity because we want a refundable deposit and the differential between refundable and non refundable is absurd.  Also charging me a fee to re book when all they are doing is a ministerial function is not acceptable. There are many other cruise lines with more reasonable policies with cheaper fares for similar cruises; we have been sailing with them.

Well said. After 10 years of sailing almost exclusively on X, we've moved on. We'll book celebrity on a last minute basis, but we're not paying non-refundable deposits a year or two in advance when Celebrity is in a state of flux with what's included or not, what extras might cost, how bad the dining cutbacks might be, etc.  Plus they're the most expensive mainstream cruising option these days. 

5 hours ago, Travel-and-See said:

No, you aren’t pre-paying anything. No gratuities are added on to your bills.  Virgin pays their staff more than other cruise lines.  They also let staff have visible tattoos, fun hair, and they provide them with free wi-fi. They take better care of their staff.  

I'm sorry, but this is hilarious. 

Celebrity: we pay the crew X, plus we pay them Y thanks to gratuities, so they get Z in the end 

Virgin: we pay our crew Z, but we charge more 

You: Virgin is better because they pay their crews Z

6 hours ago, crazyank said:

typical American attitude about tipping

You say that as if it's a bad thing. 

On 2/27/2024 at 10:45 AM, stevenr597 said:

We had booked a 7 day cruse on Celebrity Ascent for March, 2025.  The deposit for the three of us was $750.00. 

However we discovered that we had a conflict and couldn't cruise that month.  We asked our travel agent to cancel which he did.  All of this occurred over a time period of less than one week. 

After it was cancelled, our agent notified us that we would lose the entire deposit.

We tried to contact Celebrity, but since we booked through a travel agent, they said that there was "nothing they could no."

Our Travel Agent informed us that Celebrity refused to refund our deposit or to use it as a credit for another cruise.

We are Elite Cruisers with Celebrity, but probably this will be our last booking. 

Celebrity's non-refundable deposits are a significant reason why we have no X sailings booked.  Meanwhile, we have multiple fully-refundable future cruise deposits on Princess. 

9 hours ago, kaysha2004 said:

I never prepay tips.  Do you tip your server in a restaurant when you sit down or after the meal is complete?  Same theory for cruising.  However, if you don't prepay, you'll see a daily charge on your onboard account.  Go to guest services and ask them to be removed for the entire cruise.  They have to remove them by your request.  Then you can pay whomever you want when you want.

 

And if the cruise line doesn't pay their staff a living wage, that's not my problem.  I'll tip if I feel like it.  How do you really know if those prepaid tips are going to the staff that services your needs and not into Celebrity's profit margins?  You don't.

 

I've been giving my cruise dollars to Virgin Voyages the last couple of years.  Everything is included, basic wi-fi, basic beverages (soda, too), all gratuities, free fitness classes, and free dining at all 20 eateries.  Virgin pays their staff a fair wage.  Celebrity has taken a wrong turn with all their cutbacks and continuous high prices, so after my next cruise in April with Celebrity, they've lost all my future business.

If the cruise fare was increased by the exact amount of the gratuities, and daily gratuities were no longer a thing, would that resolve your concerns?

On 12/29/2023 at 12:40 AM, kath00 said:

I just saw this as a benefit of my "status."  But I always preorder the Wifi before sailing since it is so much cheaper.  So is there any value to having a "free day" at all?  Because if I wait till booking on board, and book 6n out of 7, even with the 7th being free, it would prob cost more.

 

Would love to hear how everyone is using this benefit.  

 

Thanks, Katherine

I assume the value is for those who don't use or need much internet.  I would never pay for internet in most instances. 

This is another strange difference between Royal and Celebrity. I'm elite on X, so I get 90 minutes of internet to use whenever. On Royal it's as much as I want, but only in a 24 hour period.   Sure wish they'd both go to a "you get XX amount of data". 

On 10/6/2023 at 10:56 AM, Jezbel716 said:

I've been loyal to Royal for 20 years and now going to try Celebrity Eclipse to Bermuda. What is the difference between a Prime Veranda vs Deluxe Veranda? I prefer a larger balcony midship, and am used to Junior Suite on Royal.  Thanks for any insight! 

A lot of us are still trying to figure out the vague new names they just gave cabins.  Went from a numbered 1-3 system to these seemingly identical names earlier this year.  Very confusing.

But, the biggest veranda balconies are going to be on the 'hump'.  Look up room 8257 for reference of where they're at on S-Class ships.  Those rooms essentially have a normal balcony plus another full-depth balcony that's cut on an angle.   Sunset verandas have larger balconies as well. 

The biggest veranda rooms are what used to be Family Verandas (8108 for reference).  No clue what they're called now.  Separate living & bedrooms.  Wide, but not deep balcony. 

 

On 10/1/2023 at 4:55 PM, lv2cruisgrl said:

We cruised with my daughter & fiance and we were linked and I had all their info and was able to check us all in. 

Likewise, I've linked and checked in family members many times.  

Hit elite a few cruises ago. Nothing different in cruise planner.  (it ain't that hard Celebrity! C'mon!) 

Infinity doesn't have a "retreat". Simply suites with access to Michael's Club and Luminae.  Otherwise, you have to mingle with the riff raff in steerage

"We cut the MINIMUM bid in half" is what it looks like to me.   

Try going directly to your account page, instead of the main Celebrity page.  This should prompt a login: https://www.celebritycruises.com/account

On 9/16/2023 at 6:26 PM, Jim_Iain said:

Couple pix of entry into St Clair. 
Bare feet of clearance 

 

 

A couple of hours later and you would have had a pic of me crossing that bridge! 😄

4 hours ago, tfred said:

The customers that X wants are they ones dropping big bucks at any land resort - all inclusive or not - doesnt matter.  I have stayed recently at a few land Marriott resorts and it is pretty easy to spend $1k/day with a standard room, drinks and food on site.  No one is sitting around moaning about the price, service or half of the complaints I see on these boards   If those people got on a ship they would be familiar and impressed with the X offer.  

 

many X ads promote that the vacation experience is a resort on the ocean - not a cruise.  They would like to keep the 10 cruise a year crowd but how many people have time or the money for that many vacations.  Most take one 1 week vacation and do something else for the rest of vacation days.  

Sounds like a lot of people need to rearrange their priorities to spend vacation ON vacation 🙂

We are squarely in the market that X is trying to draw. Still working. Plenty of vacation time and a sizeable vacation budget.  Only 3 cruises in the next 6 months, and only one of those is on X, which is a change from our Celebrity-loyal past.  "More for less" and petty charges are turn offs when there are cheaper ways to cruise. 

1 hour ago, flvol77 said:

 

I was on the cruise the next week after Cookie Gate - Talked to many crew members, including the FB manager, and they said it was a real thing.   

 

Once again was this just another miscommunication from Corporate to the ship?  Who knows, the crew member who will remain nameless said it was a nightmare, and she showed me the warmer for the cookies that were still there in the Gelateria.

Wait a second. "warmer"?? 

So their whole 'fresh out of the oven' line was total bulls***t, and they were essentially charging to put a stale cookie in the microwave?   "nostalgia" and all that crap that some corporate lackey dreamt up was the same old cookie, just heated up a bit.   Someone should be fired for that imho. 

4 hours ago, rmedistro said:

X understands their customers. They also understand customer churn when implementing changes. The newer E class ships are designed to attract new customer segments.  There is a big niche between NCL/RCL type ships and high end ships.

X will continue to run near capacity on E class sailings. I imagine the next class will be similar to E, continuing to expand the upper middle class offerings to 40+ couples that don't want floating amusement water parks.

Honestly, I think that's a huge stretch. 

One need look no further than Bud Light to see how easy it is for a big company to be irreversibly out of touch with their customers. 

X is clearly trying to draw a "new crowd" that they arguably don't understand, while hopefully not pissing off their loyal base too too much. Personally, I think they're failing at both. 

11 minutes ago, rmedistro said:

Do you really think cruise lines just blindly make business decisions that directly affect passengers?

Depends on how you define "blindly".  

They've clearly made and implemented decisions when they either knew there would be an uproar, OR they made them NOT knowing there would be an uproar.  Neither speaks well for their understanding of their customer base. 

20 hours ago, bnurick said:

You kinda know or do not know (tried them all). It’s not that good. Woodford Double Oaked is my choice. 

One of my favs!  Very disappointed to see Woodford Double Oaked gone from Celebrity ships.  It made the premium package very worthwhile. 

On 9/24/2023 at 7:21 PM, Whinenowine said:

Holy Schmolly....are people really paying that?  Do they not realize that today's Pappy is not the same as the Pappy of 12-20years ago?  Wow....thx for the info.

I would hope not. Pappy is way overblown imho.  I don't care how good it is, it can't be that good.   

On 8/22/2023 at 4:40 PM, goofysmom99 said:

Might be best to not discuss it and just try it.  Posting about it may be the nail in the coffin.

Nail in what coffin? 

X wants you to gamble, knowing that most people lose. If one gambles with OBC, they're giving you nothing in return. No food, no excursion, no duty free liquor, etc.  I'm sure a lot of people blow through whatever obc they have left while others cash out and some actually win.   The playing field is clearly tilted in their favour. 

On 8/12/2023 at 8:21 AM, terrydtx said:

I would prefer to sit on a real open balcony with a blanket even in Alaska.

Amen! 

Looking at Alaskan scenery from INSIDE my room would suck. 

11 hours ago, deliver42 said:

I just did a mock booking on the celebrity Edge Alaska cruise for Sept,2024.With the all In on a regular Infinity veranda the price came to $5600.00, then another $950.00 for a refundable deposit. Celebrity has gone beserk. I love Celebrity, but not at these prices. They are $2000.00 higher than Princess AND Holland America for the same package, and I get a real balcony. I've been on Princess, and like their product. Haven't tried HAL yet. I realize  the Edge is a newer ship, but so is the Discovery Princess. In fact, it's newer than the Edge. There was no Celebrity alternative from Seattle in that time frame. All the itineraries were similar, except for Glacier Bay that Celebrity can't enter.

Thus the reason we have ZERO celebrity cruises planned after a decade of 1-3 X cruises per year. We're not so ignorantly loyal that we're shunning everything else for the X Kool Aid.    Had a very nice sailing on Princess earlier this year for so much less than X it was inexplicable (and inexcusable to not sail on P) 

On 8/5/2023 at 9:23 PM, JRG said:

 

Agreed and let me just add to that that the US would not be ignorant enough eliminate the PVSA without first replacing it with a modern state of the art Passenger cabotage act so that domestic economies are not adversely affected.    If one is too close to the trees they will not see the forest.

 

So we can live with more exceptions until we can't.  I don't' like the way PVSA was written because it preceded modern transportation and is obsolete and thus hurts Cruisers in the wallet.

 

Its has been easier to band-aid it together over the years and that in and of itself is the symptom of a poorly designed law for the current time.

It doesn't hurt cruisers in the wallet because the then-unforseen loopholes are big enough to sail a ship through.  The PVSA could vanish entirely and the worst thing would be an extra US port or two would be added to an itinerary.