Celebrity Constellation, why so expensive?

I am looking at Greek Island cruises for August or September. Can anyone shed light on why the 10 cruise on the Constellation is more expensive than the 10 and 12 days on the Reflection and the Eclipse? All three have similar itineraries. I would think the M class ship would be less expensive. We are talking about $1100 pp more than the Eclipse for 12 days and $1000 pp more than the Reflection for 10 days.

I can’t answer for Celebrity, but having sailed on both classes recently I believe I can offer reasonable hypotheses. Connie is smaller, carries significantly fewer pax, has an additional bank of elevators, and now has MUTS. A smaller ship has more docking options, fewer pax should mean easier egress from the ship, more elevators should allow better pax flow, and many people have a passionate attachment to MUTS.

IMO the benefit of the third bank of elevators was somewhat negated during the retrofit to add Aqua cabins. I sailed on both Reflection & Summit last year, and I did NOT have easier egress from Summit, though I can’t be certain that wasn’t due to fellow pax, crew or itinerary specific issues. MUTS is irrelevant to me, but I do see why people enjoy it.

Connie and her sisters are lovely ships, but despite retrofits they lack some newer features found on S-class. When asking why I should pay more for the same itinerary on M-class ships, I invariably go a step further to ask myself why I should pay twice as much on Azamara for a smaller cabin and a bathroom that seems similar to that found in my uncle’s old motor home (caravan) lol. Celebrity charges these rates because they can. They can charge them because enough pax prefer the advantages of smaller ships over the advantages of larger, newer ships. BTW DH and I wouldn’t hesitate to book another cruise in M-class if the itinerary appealed to us, but we wouldn’t pay a premium over S-class for similar itineraries.

I can’t answer for Celebrity, but having sailed on both classes recently I believe I can offer reasonable hypotheses. Connie is smaller, carries significantly fewer pax, has an additional bank of elevators, and now has MUTS. A smaller ship has more docking options, fewer pax should mean easier egress from the ship, more elevators should allow better pax flow, and many people have a passionate attachment to MUTS.

 

IMO the benefit of the third bank of elevators was somewhat negated during the retrofit to add Aqua cabins. I sailed on both Reflection & Summit last year, and I did NOT have easier egress from Summit, though I can’t be certain that wasn’t due to fellow pax, crew or itinerary specific issues. MUTS is irrelevant to me, but I do see why people enjoy it.

 

Connie and her sisters are lovely ships, but despite retrofits they lack some newer features found on S-class. When asking why I should pay more for the same itinerary on M-class ships, I invariably go a step further to ask myself why I should pay twice as much on Azamara for a smaller cabin and a bathroom that seems similar to that found in my uncle’s old motor home (caravan) lol. Celebrity charges these rates because they can. They can charge them because enough pax prefer the advantages of smaller ships over the advantages of larger, newer ships. BTW DH and I wouldn’t hesitate to book another cruise in M-class if the itinerary appealed to us, but we wouldn’t pay a premium over S-class for similar itineraries.

What is MUTS?

Popularity of each cruise dictates the price. If it is filling of then the prices will stay high. All about supply and demand and each cruise in individual

Yeah huge difference. I was looking at Europe cruises between Eclipse and this ship , double. I have sailed on Constellation at and much prefer the S class , select dining crowded on Constellation and all venues were too crowded for us. I guess I am in the minority:)

What is MUTS?

Movies Under The Stars

Thanks for all of your replies. I realize it's supply and demand but this demand seems to be a bit much. We just returned from our first Celebrity cruise (Summit) and while it was very nice, I was not as wowed as I thought I would be. We've sailed HAL, RCI, Disney and NCL and Celebrity was nicer than the others but I expected it to be much nicer. I didn't see a lot of difference between X and HAL except the food was better on X.

Thanks for all of your replies. I realize it's supply and demand but this demand seems to be a bit much. We just returned from our first Celebrity cruise (Summit) and while it was very nice, I was not as wowed as I thought I would be. We've sailed HAL, RCI, Disney and NCL and Celebrity was nicer than the others but I expected it to be much nicer. I didn't see a lot of difference between X and HAL except the food was better on X.

You need to keep in mind that the M class ships are older than the S class ships. I have only cruised on an M class once; to me there is no comparison. However, that is my opinion. The new Edge class will be out in November with much higher prices.

I would take the Reflection anytime. I have it booked for the end of April for Italy and Greece, even though I have done the same cruise several years ago. Also, the algorithms make prices change constantly, along with supply and demand. Prices have increased in many venues... I have seen a low price for maybe an hour and then it goes up again. I have the Edge TA booked. My price was good due to booking the first hour, but much higher than the other ships; however, I wanted to try the new class.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for all of your replies. I realize it's supply and demand but this demand seems to be a bit much. We just returned from our first Celebrity cruise (Summit) and while it was very nice, I was not as wowed as I thought I would be. We've sailed HAL, RCI, Disney and NCL and Celebrity was nicer than the others but I expected it to be much nicer. I didn't see a lot of difference between X and HAL except the food was better on X.

I expect you’ll be much more wowed by Reflection or her sisters. I believe you said Reflection or Eclipse were your other options. I haven’t been on Eclipse, but loved her sister ships Silhouette and Reflection. In fact, I sail on both again this year:) I hope you have a great time on whichever ship you choose!

I am sailing on the Constellation in August, the itinerary is only sailing twice. I booked when the cruise was first open for booking and the exact same cabin is now selling for almost double.