crusinthrough

This is a photo session. I was referring to a photo package for pictures taken around the ship and in port. At one time it was $50 for all digital photos.

I was loyal to RC but their drink package is getting out of control and everything is al la cate. I jumped ship to Celebrity and booked a few cruises. I even kept booking during the shutdown. I was trying to hang in there but it's getting harder each time I read a post. To recap since 2021.. Sunset the Elevate / Indulge package options Added AI (tips, wifi and classic drink package) Tips removed from AI Suites OBC gone Sky suites lose butlers Speaking of suites deposits increased to 10% of fare Refundable deposit price as much as another cruise (to encourage NR deposits) AQ class loses pillow menu (what was the savings with this one) AQ class loses canapés Cookies $2 plus 20% gratuities experiment (tried and failed) Speciality dining price increase Buffet choices decreases Non professional cruise photos eliminated from cruise planner and ships Vaping in casino experiment (tried and failed) Reduced lobster night to one lobster per person Food quality diminishes RC and Celebrity are in a race to the bottom. Stock prices are down. I sailed a few times during the restart and those cruise were great. Since it seems Celebrity has lost its way. Maybe time to venture out while waiting for Celebrity to find its way home. I don't want to book anything in 2025 because who knows what cruising will be like by then.

You may have some luck with off peak pricing.

Charging for cookies was ridiculous to me. Adding 20% on top of that is just greed. Who actually benefits from the all the extra added gratuities?

The extra 20% gratuity was more of the insult to me. Why would a cruise line diminish its reputation for $2.40? These cookies wouldn't have generated enough revenue to move the needle much on the bottom line. Gratuities were just raised. The revenue wasn't going to be used to pay crew more, The consumer picked up this tab.

TBH I think the panic and bad social media is why Celebrity regressed. It was unnecessary bad publicly. Social media is powerful. Princess marketing department should jump on this and capitalize with advertising and a tag line about cookies being included. Celebrity should feel the negativity for sometime.

They can try but unfortunately it's a different market who will look elsewhere when the two cruises become too similar. With the high prices, diminishing quality and extra costs, Celebrity is driving away their core market. Sometimes things must hit rock bottom before it improves.

The Equinox has become the test ship. Experiments are born and die on the ship. TBH I'm weary on booking the Equinox for this reason. Who knows the other experiments that are in the works. I think the other test ship is the Silhouette. Why does Celebrity hate these ships? $2.40 for cookies was a really bad idea and a downgrade to Celebrity's image. It would make sense on Royal, NCL and Carnival but Celebrity market is different. Social media pressure helps..

The 6N May 2024 Alaska sailing on the Edge has better pricing than the other itineraries.

The top secret squireel responses of not engaging in small talk with someone about their booking are actually funny. I haven't been on a cruise where someone wasn't actively trying to engage in conversation.

The President cruise was hyped up here on CC. Before the live threads during President cruises, no one cared. RC probably saw the enthusiasm and expression of disappointment of missing the cruises in the posts that decided to start charging more for the sailing. Maybe next year the prices will start to level out. No one cares about the President cruise on Celebrity. It's definitely a RC thing.

I've sailed on S class and E class Celebrity ships. I was on Emerald Princess in July 23. Both S and E class ships were more elegant and newer than the Emerald, which felt a little dated but so did the Reflection in Dec 22. However, overall Emerald wasn't bad and I would sail on her again. The World Class Market sitting area and Sabatini's looked like there was a recent refresh. The medallion is a great concept and forward thinking for a cruise line. Who doesn't want to sit in a lounge chair and be able to order drinks and food from an app? It's just not reliable. Celebrity is not even close with the same technology. Pizza - Princess has very good pizza. Better than I had on any Celebrity ship. Food - about the same to me. Celebrity has cut corners with food and it's really beginning to show. Oddly, there was a BBQ resturant on Emerald that wasn't open the entire sailing. I appreciate lunch in the MDR on embarkation day and breakfast in the MDR on the final morning on Princess. Water - Celebrity loses here because can water is terrible and taste like metal. There were six bottles of water in my cabin on the Emerald. Speciality Dining - much more reasonably priced on Princess. I believe the Crown Grill (steak house) cost $40 with tip and tax. Sabatini's (Italian inspired) is less expensive. On Celebrity Fine Cut is at least $70 with taxes and tip. All Inclusive Packages - Princess wins here with two options the plus and premium. Both have tips, premium wi-fi and drinks like Celebrity. However, the Premium package offers more with 4 devices, speciality dining x2, premium desserts, fitness classes, drinks up to $20, unlimited digital pictures and reserved seating at shows. Celebrity offers nothing comparable to the premium package once they discontinued the Elevate and Indulge packages and these didn't include most that is included in Premium Package. I don't see Celebrity as a win. Cruising is subjective. Carnival, NCL and Princess have embraced the West Coast market with a mix or new and older ships. Celebrity and Royal Caribbean both have older ships leaving from the West Cost. Celebrity has abandoned the market all together in 2024. Long flights from the West Coast to FL can be expensive and honestly just long. Princess wins for acknowledging and catering to this side of the country with a new ship, sailings with different number of days and itineraries beyond the Mexican Rivera.

Beware if you have any promotion, your cruise may be repriced if you take off the 2nd passenger. The passenger that cancels will get the port fees and taxes refunded back without calling.

I would keep my cabin. If you wanted a $500 cheaper cabin you would have booked it. If it wasn't a deal breaker when you booked, it's not a big deal now. 50% off the cruise fare would make me change.

Still no change to my reservation. Still on the 5n vs 6n Reflection with no OBC or price adjustment. I booked awhile ago. The 5N Reflection is more than I paid for the 6n Reflection. I'm sure it's difficult to figure out compensation in this scenario but surely Celebrity thought this through before the cancellations.

Thank you, my reservation still hasn't changed. I called and was told it would be updated in 7 - 10 days. I'm not convinced. Time will tell.

Thanks for posting.. The Beyond over other ships seems to constantly have deals. I wonder if Celebrity knows about the creaking problem in many cabins on her.

I was booked on the 4/21/2024 6N Reflection cancelled sailing. I received the change of itinerary and ship email on 6/27 indicating I would be switched to the April 22nd 5N Beyond sailing. However, I was moved to a newly added 5N Reflection sailing still leaving on 4/21 with no price adjustment or OBC. Before calling Celebrity, I'm curious if anyone on this original 6N sailing was actually moved to the 5N Beyond or did Celebrity keep everyone on the revised 5N Reflection sailing? On another note suite pricing for the 5N sailing is the lowest I've seen on other 5N sailings.

This wasn’t a real post. Just something to stir the pot. The title says 4 days past the deadline but 3 days and 36 hours was mentioned in the post. There is no consistency for this to make sense. 4 days is 96 hours, 3 days is 72 hours and 36 hours is a day and a half.

I had a reservation on the 6N Reflection leaving April 21, 2024. I received the email indicating I will be moved to the April 22, 2024 Beyond sailing. However, I was moved to the 5N Reflection leaving on April 21st with no change in price. For those on the original 6N sailing, were you moved to the Beyond or the shorter Reflection? Seems a bit disingenuous to send an email indicating one change and then doing a different change.

I believe the single supplement is 200%. If you received any discount for cruising solo, the reservation will be repriced. If you did not receive a discount then there is no change to price except to addd taxes and port fees. Honestly, I have not seen a solo discount in awhile. There were plenty when cruising restarted but those are long gone. The agent price out adding a passenger before making any change to your reservation.

I get it you’re upset. A planned special cruise for you has changed. I don’t get trying to get banned. What does this prove? What point are you actually making? Why would Celebrity care? What hill are you dying on with getting banned?

My 6N on the Reflection went to a 5N on Beyond with a different itinerary. Celebrity is giving a $100 OBC (for the cabin). Typically a 5N cruise is more than a $100 price difference from a 6N cruise. It feels like I'm taking the loss with this change.

No one is trying to persuaded you or anyone from taking a Celebrity cruise. If pricing and value ares still good for you, continue to cruise. This is what Celebrity is counting on. However, there are people who have taken a double digit number of cruises post pandemic compared to your two and have witnessed the decline. Everyone has choices and are independent thinkers who make choices based on what's best. Happy cruising!

To financially recover from the global pandemic, It's either the consumer pays more or the corporate CEO million dollar bonus is reduced. Yes, I am advocating for both. In Celebrity's case it appears to only be the customer.