What is going on with Celebrity?

[Bridge Maven]

Someone asked a question on this board yesterday and the question and response each demonstrate the point about Celebrity's identity. The poster wanted to know whether to take Summit or Brilliance on similar itineraries. The question itself demonstrates a lack of brand identification awareness (and therefore communication) by RCCL. The response:

 

What I like about Celebrity is that is just a classy cruise line. No obnoxious loud music by the pool. NO crazy contests or games with extra LOUD hosts. No constant badgering to shop shop shop. No extra reminders to tip constantly. I am already paying a premium to be on this ship and I will tip - no need to keep reminding me to pay more! There is just a real sense of relaxation in most areas of the ship. The staff on the Summit was just awesome. I can't say enough good things about them. Even the cruise director Alejandro was a joy - not the usual ego manic you might find in that position.

 

talks more about what Celebrity doesn't have than what it does. Prices are about the same and Celebrity's food is not what it was even 2 years ago unless you pay extra for the specialty dining rooms. People don't mind paying extra cost of an Acura or Cadillac, why doesn't Celebrity put the food and staffing levels back to what they had a few years ago, bump the prices $10 a day, and market themselves as the line for people who can appreciate the finer things in life?

 

Another example, we love the classical music groups they have - but they're never mentioned as features in the brochures. How many people might select Celebrity just to have that quieter entertainment every day and night if they knew it was available?

 

Our Caribbean Princess sailing had a great cocktail pianist doing show tunes every night - and we spent an hour or longer every night there, buying drinks and chatting with others. Our 2010/2011 Mercury sailing had something similar and we spent a lot of time with him. There was nothing close to that on our Summit sailing so we spent that time in our cabin. How many others did the same?

 

j

 

Regarding classical music - that is not unique to Celebrity. The best classical music experience we had aboard a ship was on NCL Gem. It had an amazingly talented Russian pianist who played classical music in one of their lounges every night. He could play whatever someone wanted to hear even if he didn't have the sheet music for it. We have only been on NCL cruises that left from New York, but based on our experience we thought that NCL was much better than the image portrayed on these boards.

 

On a Holland America Westerdam cruise there was a string quartet that played classical music every night in a lounge while someone came around offering to make Irish coffee while you listened to it.

[JRJARS]

Thanks bonsat - I bet you're lovely to cruise with.

[willie2845]

phdiva, I personally think that Azamara was created to provide the type of cruising experience that Celebrity was able to provide before they made the decision to create larger ships which would have to compete on price to fill all their berths.

 

YOUR POST IS RIGHT ON!

Celebrity has been going down in service, and food for the last few years, ever since they started selling the smaller ships.

[Hawaiidan]

I totaly concur with both Oratror and Pamstravel,

The advent of bigger ships require that lower offering prices be given There must thus be a demand for the now larger supply.

As prices come down cruising apeals to a a larger group and demographic. This brings aboard a different sort of person than has been present in the past. Not bad, just different people with different motivation, values and ideals.

With bigger ships and a myriad of shopping and pay restauraunts it is also in the ships best interest to cut port time and ports to a minimum inorder to expose the passengers as long as possible, as many times as possible to buying opportuniy ( marketing 101)

 

The ships, many lines in fact, are going in two oppsite directions. The first is putting on all sorts of pay extras from specialitie restauraunts to excersize classes. Passengers are intentionaly steered to these extra cost items by down grading the traditional services such as food. Motive, clearly make it unattractive and a hassel to use the free stuff.

 

CLEARLY, it is in the ships selfish best interest to reduce free dining and get people into pay dining, and recently pay lunches too! Then there is the selling of exclusivity and eliteism Suites, Penthouses, villas and things that are ego boosters .

So it is really going ala carte without saying so and its easy to double your cruise fare by buying all the extras. An economic cruise price point may not be what it will end up being in the end.

 

On the otherhand, many traditional cruising veteran are getting fed up with nickel-dime or bait and switch. Regent, Seabourn Crystal are doing more and more business, because they charge a total all inclusive vacation, Airfare, pre cruise hotel, transfer, all wine liquor, no extra restauraint charge,tips,shore excursions, internet and all cabins are suites.

When you add it all up, many times it is the same or even cheaper than a much less expensive ship! I have found this to be very true.

 

I sail with one or the other mind set. If I am expecting a cruise filled with gastronomy, elegant cabins, super service then I pick. Or if I sail for an economc reason to a special destination as the prime reason I will focus on that and expect nothing more than transportation, a dry bed and some sort of food. My attentions are outside the ships realm of services.

In using this model for my cruising I have never had a bad cruise because I hold myself responsible for my choices and put as few as possible expectations on the trip . I dont blame the ship because I picked it...no one forced me:rolleyes:

[Gonzo70]

I have noticed that for most of the Westbound Transatlantics next year (2012) the number of sea days has been increased, sometimes at the expense of ports. The cruise we took this year (Equinox) will have has 7 sea days after the Azores. The one we took last year (Eclipse) has eliminated one port, and added an additional sea day after the Azores. Any suggestions as to why these changes ?

 

Fuel is a massive expense on a transatlantic crossing. The ships run more efficiently at slower speeds, so by extending the crossing by a day they are able to slow down and conserve fuel. My guess is that this is the major reason.

[Gonzo70]

I think that all you are correct that Celebrity has lost its identity. X used to be a brand that one could count on for being classy (but not stuffy), a little more expensive (but worth it), good food , a wide variety of music and activities (but no hairy leg type activities) a more affluent, educated clientele (but not overly impressed with themselves)....I could go on and on. I haven't really thought about it but perhaps the new, larger ships are part of the problem. I have noticed that fares on Celebrity are of late the same price or even less than those on the more discount lines. I guess that this could be largely attributed to the need to fill all those berths.

 

I personally do not think X has "lost" its identity but rather its identity is evolving. I feel that X is trying to become more appealing to younger adults (to expand its passenger base) through offering additional activities and designing venues to appeal to younger adults (i.e. turning Michael's Club into a craft beer pub). X is still trying to differentiate itself from sister line RCI and rival lines such as Carnival as being more upscale and sophisticated in that the public lounges are more upscale (i.e. Molecular Bar for example) but are trying to brand themself as being chic in addition to upscale. They remain cutting edge in the food area (i.e. with the creation of venues such as Qsine and Lawn Club Grill), but are operating with the business model of having a low base price and then a nice variety of extras (with a la carte pricing) that allows people to personalize their experience by enhancing their cruise as is best for them (and their budget). While not everybody likes this new branding, many do and X seems to be doing extremely well during tough financial times.

[dgraham]

I personally do not think X has "lost" its identity but rather its identity is evolving. I feel that X is trying to become more appealing to younger adults (to expand its passenger base) through offering additional activities and designing venues to appeal to younger adults (i.e. turning Michael's Club into a craft beer pub). X is still trying to differentiate itself from sister line RCI and rival lines such as Carnival as being more upscale and sophisticated in that the public lounges are more upscale (i.e. Molecular Bar for example) but are trying to brand themself as being chic in addition to upscale. They remain cutting edge in the food area (i.e. with the creation of venues such as Qsine and Lawn Club Grill), but are operating with the business model of having a low base price and then a nice variety of extras (with a la carte pricing) that allows people to personalize their experience by enhancing their cruise as is best for them (and their budget). While not everybody likes this new branding, many do and X seems to be doing extremely well during tough financial times.

 

I agree totally with your analysis. And from our recent cruises with Celebrity it would appear that they have indeed been more and more successful in appealing to younger adults, which definitely bodes well for Celebrity in expanding their future customer base, in addition to presenting us as passengers with a much more varied age range in our fellow passenger, which is a strong positive.

[excitedofharpenden]

I personally do not think X has "lost" its identity but rather its identity is evolving. I feel that X is trying to become more appealing to younger adults (to expand its passenger base) through offering additional activities and designing venues to appeal to younger adults (i.e. turning Michael's Club into a craft beer pub). X is still trying to differentiate itself from sister line RCI and rival lines such as Carnival as being more upscale and sophisticated in that the public lounges are more upscale (i.e. Molecular Bar for example) but are trying to brand themself as being chic in addition to upscale. They remain cutting edge in the food area (i.e. with the creation of venues such as Qsine and Lawn Club Grill), but are operating with the business model of having a low base price and then a nice variety of extras (with a la carte pricing) that allows people to personalize their experience by enhancing their cruise as is best for them (and their budget). While not everybody likes this new branding, many do and X seems to be doing extremely well during tough financial times.

Gonzo, I would agree with that and would further it by saying that modern cruising itself is evolving and Celebrity as a main stream cruise line is trying to keep pace with that change. For the most part I have been very happy with the way they have carried it out. There has been some drop off in the dining room experience, but my cruises this year with Celebrity (I've done three) has to a large extent restored my faith. The food on Solstice in June I thought was particularly good, but then the cruise price was higher too. There has to be a correlation here between a 7 night bargain Caribbean trip and a longer and costlier Mediterranean cruise.

 

I've also done a couple of Azamara trips this year and would agree with Bridge Maven that this was more akin to my earlier recollections of Celebrity, albeit on ships half the size of Mercury, Galaxy and Century. The food was better and the service more attentive than what is currently offered by Celebrity, but then I did miss some of the venues from the larger Celebrity ships, particularly the Lawn Club. I like them both for different reasons, but overall I don't think as many seem to here that Celebrity is losing its way.

 

Phil

[Bridge Maven]

By competing on price, while having a la carte options, as well as more expensive suites, for people who are willing to pay more for a better overall cruise experience, Celebrity is attracting the family reunion market. When people plan family reunion cruises they don't want to have a situation where someone doesn't join them because it is too expensive, but they also want to provide an experience that will make their more affluent family members happy.

[hulamoon]

If all of my Celebrity cruises are as good as my first one in AQ last April I will be a happy customer for a long time.

 

The smoking policy and Blu gave me exactly the experience I was looking for.

[Fixit2010]

Wow you guys who had a bad time must be unlucky.

Trust me I am a very hard passenger to please, probably much more picky than you and I found the Solstice to be the exact opposite.

 

All the staff worked as a team promoting and helping each other to meet even the most challenging guests.

 

The food was better than most land based restaurants and I have eaten at Londons Savoy, Dorchester, Ritz, Cumberland and many others. I know my rare from my well done, I know what is cooked and what is raw, and the food always came up to scratch.

 

I never heard anyone being shouted at except perhaps by me when a couple of moaning old biddies tried to so completely obviously jump infront of me in the 90 person x-mas brunch line.

 

Cabin staff worked almost around the clock with no days off. They were always polite and always can we help you. You show me that dedication at work.

 

The ship was always being washed, cleaned, de-salted etc. It was spotless. I would never have realised it is 3 and a half years old.

 

I am sorry you had a rough time, but did you report each of these incidents as they happened? Probably not, so stop moaning and put down to a bad experience.

[Denny01]

As an early on poster said, interesting with all of the 'gone down hill' comments made by posters with multiple Celebrity cruises listed for the future....I guess some enjoy downhill slides.

 

My Very subjective opinon is, yes, some of the more high-end dishes in the MDR aren't available, but I disagree that the MDR experience is at the wedding party cater level and so on. I find it quite nice and good selections...not top notch but very good. On the S-Class, I find the island buffets to be very good, with an outstanding selection. Always surprised when someone complains about choices in that venue...you've got to be kidding me.

 

As to service, I haven't seen any change in the high quality of service, friendliness and accomodation to the customer. To me, this is one of the strongest points of Celebrity and still is.

 

Entertanment? I enjoy a few of the shows, but not my focus. I hate bingo and group games. I come aboard with friends, or to meet friends and quite able and focused on entertaining myself...I don't need or want the group activites seen on other Lines. I find that a Big positve for Celebrity.

 

I find the comment about minimal live music quite odd. Celebrity has, in my experience, more live music and singing groups then other Lines. Just got off Princess and they use canned music at the big shows...no band - to me that's called Karioke (sp?). And Celebrity has the show band playing throughout the ship at other times, piano players, acapella (spelling again!), string quartets and so on. It all rolls up at midnight??? So do I. But if I can press beyond that, I find interesting venues still available.

 

So yes, I have a number of Celebrity cruises lined up below my signature. But when I find issues on a cruise, even my favorite cruise line, I address them, not a pollyanna, but I find it curiouser and curiouser (just spent the holidays with our granddaughter and she loves Alice and Wonderland so I had to add that!) that those that find Celebrity such a problem continue to cruise on it. There are other Lines to try out. Done that, enjoyed All my cruises, but keep coming back to Celebrity as my primary Line.

 

Den

[rodan]

It is true that Celebrity is going after a younger clientele with the larger ships and it must to survive and thrive. The a la carte is a way to make money and yet keep everyone happy. If you want better food then its Aqua class or a speciality restaurant. If you want a better room-well thats always been available. As for entertainment I would not be surprised if in the future some line decides to charge for a main show with top notch entertainment. The point is that you as the consumer can decide whats important to you and if you are happy with the product (main room dining,an inside cabin etc.) then you don't end up spending a lot more money for things you do not need. If you are not happy then you can spend more. The larger ships are the reason that prices are so low if you compare what you get now with 20 years ago on a much smaller ship. If you want an all inclusive then Celebrity is not your line. In the area of food and maybe entertainment the old days were better but be honest today the cabins are ten times better with the amenities that come with them. The ships today offer many more venues to be entertained and fed than they did in the past. In the past (20-25 years ago) there were only one or two places to be entertained and as for eating the main dining room was it nothing else.

 

As for the experienced cruiser if he wants an experience that combines today with yesterday then you cruise on Azamara but it will cost more. There is always a choice.

My two cents worth.

 

Peace,

Rodan

[Bridge Maven]

Regarding the food at a wedding reception, it isn't always mediocre. In fact, I have been to many weddings where the food was excellent. It can even vary substantially at the same hotel or country club, depending upon how much money is being spent per person for the reception. Most hotels and country clubs will do anything that is asked of them to upgrade an event for a price. However, I do I agree that the food at most catering house type of places is very mediocre