summer cruises on celebrity

[adbnva]

i don't understand why celebrity sends all their newer ship to europe so early in the spring. we like to cruise in may and everything is gone,except short cruises. if you don't live in fl you cannot hop on and off ships.

i wish you would leave one ship here for summer doing western,eastern, and 2 week southern on alternating weeks.

every year the european cruises are reduced, but airfare is sky high and certainly not much fun. also lots of people don't want to go to europe with the unrest there. we are elite and would cruise more but we cannot cruise first 4 months of year. then the new ships are gone. ad

[dmwnc1959]

Celebrity Cruises is not alone in this; Princess Cruises, Holland-America, RCI, and NCL send most if not all of their fleet, including their newest and best to alternative seasonal destinations like Europe and Alaska. A lot of the transatlantic and Panama Canal repositioning cruises take place early in order to get the ships overseas by mid-May to get the 'early bird' vacationers in Europe and the US. Some of these cruises take at least two to three weeks to transit so they leave near the end of April.

 

RCI keeps the new mega Oasis-class ships in Florida, DCL the new Disney Dream and Disney Fantasy, and Carnival with their new Dream-class all remain here in the US next year with a plethora of offerings of some of the 'older' ships doing Caribbean and Bermuda.

[dkjretired]

It all has to do with demand. I believe it was two yrs ago, Solstice was in FLL for the summer and did not sell well and it was brand new.. Lots of discounts and cheap upgrades, I know, I got a great one.

[TLCOhio]

It all has to do with demand. I believe it was two yrs ago, Solstice was in FLL for the summer and did not sell well and it was brand new.. Lots of discounts and cheap upgrades, I know, I got a great one.

 

Great above points by dkjretired. It's ALL about the marketplace, sales trends, customer demand, etc. Celebrity and other cruise lines have good computers to know what is selling, when, how, at what price, etc. They're running a business and need to go where the overall customer demand takes them. Those are large ships and require decent number to fill them up. To pay off the "mortgage" on a $700 million ship (plus staff, fuel and operate it) is not cheap.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 104,522 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[Orator]

Celebrity is in business to make a profit. Cannot make a profit if the supply is much higher than demand. Last year there was weakness in Southern Europe so ships are moving to Asia and Australia is lessen cabin capacity in Southen Europe. Cruiselines can move their assets to go where the demand is growning and leave where the market is declining. Why no summer Caribbean to celebrity cruises? At this time it just doesn't make good business sense to be there.

[RMSeadog]

i don't understand why celebrity sends all their newer ship to europe so early in the spring. we like to cruise in may and everything is gone,except short cruises. if you don't live in fl you cannot hop on and off ships.

i wish you would leave one ship here for summer doing western,eastern, and 2 week southern on alternating weeks.

every year the european cruises are reduced, but airfare is sky high and certainly not much fun. also lots of people don't want to go to europe with the unrest there. we are elite and would cruise more but we cannot cruise first 4 months of year. then the new ships are gone. ad

 

RCCL Oasis or Allure both are excellent products and as Elite you are considered Diamond on your first cruise. Flora and I are among the top five cruisers with Celebrity, that said we love the Oasis Class ships, we've never felt crowded, the shows are excellent, food great with many dinning venues, both complementary and for pay.

As Diamond members you start off with a $200 discount on balcony cabins or above, book six months in advance and get another $25 off. Book on board, even a X ship, and get the $100 OBC which is combinable with the discount. Book a Grand Suite or above and get access to the Concierge Lounge, with sit down, waiter serviced breakfast and lunch with beer, wine, and soft drinks comped from 12-3pm, Then Happy Hour 5 to 8:30pm. Obviously we prefer Celebrity, but with Oasis and Allure here year round there is always a "FIX" available. ~ Ric

 

[TLCOhio]

Celebrity is in business to make a profit. Cannot make a profit if the supply is much higher than demand. Last year there was weakness in Southern Europe so ships are moving to Asia and Australia is lessen cabin capacity in Southen Europe. Cruiselines can move their assets to go where the demand is growning and leave where the market is declining. Why no summer Caribbean to celebrity cruises? At this time it just doesn't make good business sense to be there.

 

Great added points above by Orator. Unlike building a large hotel in a major city or a fancy resort in country/scenic area, it is much, much easier to adjust world locations with a cruise liner. And as world "situations" change, such as sadly now in Egypt, they can move these floating hotels/resorts in a nimble, quicker manner to adjust accordingly.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 104,522 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[cruisinclined]

You won't see any unrest in Europe except on TV. Ships come to Europe because of its great history, fantastic ports and summer climate.

We'd love you all to join us... nothing at all to be concerned about but loads to enjoy!

Just spent a wonderful 23 day btob in Eastern Med. on Silhouette, what a ship!

[bdpnatl]

I think Airfare more than unrest is keeping people from booking the European cruises. We would definately like to book a few

Mediterranean cruises but to pay $1600 roundtrip to Italy can be almost teh same as the price of the cabin. We start to look at other options when a two week vacation costs over $3000 a person. And for a week it is really not worth it.

[dln929]

i don't understand why celebrity sends all their newer ship to europe so early in the spring. we like to cruise in may and everything is gone,except short cruises. if you don't live in fl you cannot hop on and off ships.

i wish you would leave one ship here for summer doing western,eastern, and 2 week southern on alternating weeks.

every year the european cruises are reduced, but airfare is sky high and certainly not much fun. also lots of people don't want to go to europe with the unrest there. we are elite and would cruise more but we cannot cruise first 4 months of year. then the new ships are gone. ad

 

Some of us are very happy that Celebrity has nice new ships in Europe. ;)

[thebutlerdidit]

i don't understand why celebrity sends all their newer ship to europe so early in the spring. we like to cruise in may and everything is gone,except short cruises. if you don't live in fl you cannot hop on and off ships.

i wish you would leave one ship here for summer doing western,eastern, and 2 week southern on alternating weeks.

 

I hear you. I was looking at booking a family cruise to the Caribbean in May and noticed that Celebrity has nothing to offer. I'm actually excited about trying another line, though.

[maitlandmom]

It all has to do with demand. I believe it was two yrs ago, Solstice was in FLL for the summer and did not sell well and it was brand new.. Lots of discounts and cheap upgrades, I know, I got a great one.

Me too and now I am hooked.

[tunaman2011]

Greetings

 

Another consideration is that summer weather in the Caribbean can be quite iffy with the threat of tropical storms and hurricanes. And it seems the passengers get very upset when the itinerary is changed even if it is due to weather. So it makes sense to avoid this area during hurricane season.

 

I do wish the ships would stay at least into late spring. The seas and weather are usually at their best during that period, but the ships are long gone.

 

Good Sailing

Tom

[kitty9]

Well, if it's all about the bottom line, why did I get SO many offers for really cheap Med cruises? It seemed that every week I got an email from Celebrity offering some great deals. So, if their cruises are so in demand for the Med, why so many deals? For that matter, I got offers for 4 free cruises in the Med through the Blue Chip Club. Never before did that club offer free Med cruises, but for this summer and last, they were giving cruises away.

[cruisinclined]

Darcie,

Several reasons, the recession and belts being tightened globally, Olympics kept some Brits and others at home, unreasonable fear of political street protests. Yes there were excellent Med. deals but I think that europeans are prepared to pay in euros/pounds what US customers would pay in dollars. The other side of the coin is europeans gamble less so lower takings in the casino and there is not the tradition of high tipping in Europe (staff lose mostly).

[SoBe2010]

Well, if it's all about the bottom line, why did I get SO many offers for really cheap Med cruises? It seemed that every week I got an email from Celebrity offering some great deals. So, if their cruises are so in demand for the Med, why so many deals? For that matter, I got offers for 4 free cruises in the Med through the Blue Chip Club. Never before did that club offer free Med cruises, but for this summer and last, they were giving cruises away.

 

We get tons of promotions for cruises in the US over here in Europe, too. In the end, the average revenue seems still better than keeping the ships in the Caribbean. Promotions are given all the times and does not tell necessarily something about loads and revenue.