Ever increasing sales pressure?

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, mfs2k said:

 

The good news. Lemonade is free on board. 

At least for the moment!   We remember when unlimited bottled water was free in Aqua Class.

 

Hank

[Luvcrusn]

49 minutes ago, yorky said:

 Honestly I don’t really know why anyone is that bothered. If they are happy with the MDR and think the speciality dining is a rip off just enjoy the MDR and leave the specialities to those of us that think it’s good value and enjoy the more refined ambience, better food, and service. By all means complain to Celebrity if an approach around the ship is not welcome, if enough complain they may listen and wind it back a bit, but end of the day Celebrity is all about the money.

I used to feel that way until my Silhouette cruise in December. However after being chased the length of the ship and yelled at(no exaggeration) multiple times after giving a firm no, being awakened at the pool, being interrupted at every meal (even in Blu, and once in a specialty dinner we'd paid for) having the elevator blocked upon returning to the ship by relentless badgering that wouldn't stop regardless of how many times we firmly said "No, not interested, go away" my feelings changed. I cruise to relax and chill out with DH. If this continues on our next X cruise at the same level we will be looking elsewhere for our vacation options. I've sometimes been accused of being a X "cheerleader" so to get me to this point you can bet that the badgering was real, relentless and severe.

[hcat]

14 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

At least for the moment!   We remember when unlimited bottled water was free in Aqua Class.

 

Hank

We are still bitter about that but won't drink the stuff in the metal bottles anyhow,...it tasted very bad.. They have replaced theAQ Class  packaged herbal  tea mix ( just add water) with fresh brewed..much better !

[Hlitner]

3 minutes ago, hcat said:

We are still bitter about that but won't drink the stuff in the metal bottles anyhow,...it tasted very bad.. They have replaced theAQ Class  packaged herbal  tea mix ( just add water) with fresh brewed..much better !

When we were last in AQ, they had limited free bottled water to just two small bottles for the cruise.  DW and I had the Premium Beverage Package on that particular cruise so simply replaced all the "free" 3 cent a bottle Celebrity Water with Perrier and Pellegrino.  It was the first (and only) time I decided to brush my teeth using Perrier and Pellegrino and do a comparison (I preferred Pellegrino).  After that cruise I posted that LLP's policy of doing away with the free bottled water might not have been a good move since many do have beverage packages :).   Guess we could have tried brushing our teeth with some  Pinot Grigio….but that really does not taste right when used with toothpaste :).

 

This is just one example of what we called the "death by a 1000 cut-backs."  When we started cruising on X (back in the days of the Meridian, Horizon and Zenith) the line did many little things right.   Now, they seem to be determined to cut all those little things in the name of saving a few dollars.  It is a shame that we had to go on MSC (Yacht Club) to discover what a mimosa tastes like when made with French Champagne and fresh squeezed OJ.  And the joy of ordering a made to order omelet and watching the chef crack real eggs into the pan brought a smile to my face.   I am even old enough to remember when they did that on Celebrity.

 

Hank

[bEwAbG]

1 hour ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

Perhaps Celebrity could start offering pre-cruise classes at local hotel reception hall?  "Relaxation Revolution, 8 Techniques to surviving Sales pressures during your upcoming cruise."

 

You forgot to list the cost. Can you charge it to your OBC in advance?

[bEwAbG]

1 hour ago, yorky said:

Celebrity are not daft, this model has been running for years. Sell a percentage at full price and get the prime times and the rest at a discount, if it was not working and they could make more at half the price they would change it. They don’t just guess at these things, everything is calculated to maximise profits.

 

Some of us are questioning their abilities, though.  I think they are currently coasting on past reputation and a strong economy while losing loyalists to other brands.  We'll see how effective the current management really is when there is a downturn.  

[yorky]

38 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

I used to feel that way until my Silhouette cruise in December. However after being chased the length of the ship and yelled at(no exaggeration) multiple times after giving a firm no, being awakened at the pool, being interrupted at every meal (even in Blu, and once in a specialty dinner we'd paid for) having the elevator blocked upon returning to the ship by relentless badgering that wouldn't stop regardless of how many times we firmly said "No, not interested, go away" my feelings changed. I cruise to relax and chill out with DH. If this continues on our next X cruise at the same level we will be looking elsewhere for our vacation options. I've sometimes been accused of being a X "cheerleader" so to get me to this point you can bet that the badgering was real, relentless and severe.

 The big advantage we all have these days is choice, so many new ships built every year. Certainly for me if i’m not happy after our next cruise I would move to another brand. At the moment we still feel Celebrity is the right fit for us.

[yorky]

1 minute ago, bEwAbG said:

 

Some of us are questioning their abilities, though.  I think they are currently coasting on past reputation and a strong economy while losing loyalists to other brands.  We'll see how effective the current management really is when there is a downturn.  

Time will tell.

[mfs2k]

30 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

 

Some of us are questioning their abilities, though.  I think they are currently coasting on past reputation and a strong economy while losing loyalists to other brands.  We'll see how effective the current management really is when there is a downturn.  

 

I was a "loyalist to another brand" and selected Celebrity for my upcoming cruise.  It goes both ways. 

[mek]

18 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

 

I was a "loyalist to another brand" and selected Celebrity for my upcoming cruise.  It goes both ways. 

And that is exactly why I personally think being a "loyalist" to one brand eventually leads to disappointment.  Same old, same old - and when cutbacks, changes, or whatever you want to call them occur they become major problems.  By switching brands, things always seem new(er) and  different and changes are less noticeable.

[mfs2k]

12 minutes ago, mek said:

By switching brands, things always seem new(er) and  different

This is why we switched from our previous cruise line to Celebrity.  We were tired of the same 'ol same 'ol.  How many ships on a stick and hairy chest competitions do we want to see?  No more.  We wanted something different.  

 

 

12 minutes ago, mek said:

Same old, same old - and when cutbacks, changes, or whatever you want to call them occur they become major problems. 

 

I think cutbacks must be happening across all cruise lines.  I don't see how they can't be.  The prices are almost the same for a Celebrity Caribbean 7 day cruise in 2019 as I paid in 1999 on Carnival.  Costs have gone way up in 20 years, but not the cost of my March vacations.  If they can't raise the price they need to find ways to cut costs.  It's just the way it is.  

 

AND... They will continue to find ways to make money in other areas besides base cruise fares.  Hence added sales pressures on board.. 

Edited February 19, 2019 by mfs2k

[yorky]

4 minutes ago, mfs2k said:

This is why we switched from our previous cruise line to Celebrity.  We were tired of the same 'ol same 'ol.  How many ships on a stick and hairy chest competitions do we want to see?  No more.  We wanted something different.  

 

 

 

I think cutbacks must be happening across all cruise lines.  I don't see how they can't be.  The prices are almost the same for a Celebrity Caribbean 7 day cruise in 2019 as I paid in 1999 on Carnival.  Costs have gone way up in 20 years, but not the cost of my March vacations.  If they can't raise the price they need to find ways to cut costs.  It's just the way it is.  

 

AND... They will continue to find ways to make money in other areas besides base cruise fares.  Hence added sales pressures on board.. 

Cutbacks have happened on ALL mainstream cruise lines and many a cut above mainstream, look at many of the boards on here to see evidence. For us these days it’s just a case of which cruise line offers the best value for money. We are not looking for something like the same food and service in the MDR as you found 30 years ago because it no longer exists short of paying big money on 6 star lines. Best you can hope for is something like the Yacht Club but even then you are paying a heck of a lot more for something you took for granted many years ago. Upselling on cruise ships is here to stay and it will only increase.

[hcat]

The food in BLU on EDGE was outstanding as were our less frequent stops into  the buffet, Tuscan  and Cosmopolitan...EDGE cafe was really a nice addition!

 

We had Classic alc as a perk.  No one tried to upsell anything in person ( maybe because we were in BLU).  There was  a very  soft sell at the spa...and quite a few robo calls/ messages  about a health seminar at the gym and art auction events.

 

Hope that translates to the other ships other than the robo calls..very annoying!

Edited February 19, 2019 by hcat

[bEwAbG]

1 hour ago, mfs2k said:

I was a "loyalist to another brand" and selected Celebrity for my upcoming cruise.  It goes both ways.

 

There have always been people who surfed around between brands, particularly as they matured & vacation desires changed (kids versus no kids, constant action versus rest & relaxation, etc.).  The difference in this particular situation is that Celebrity had a really high level of brand loyalty (that they actively cultivated) so that when people found the brand, they didn't even look at others.  When I was first looking to try a cruise, friends "in the know" always cited Celebrity as the best for food even if they themselves were more loyal to other lines.  Celebrity has been able to trade on that reputation while not really maintaining a quality, consistent product (IMO).  I think they're still fooling some people who come to the brand now (especially if coming from a budget line) but after a cruise or two, you start to notice that X is not really that different than the others in its class.  With that realization, you can start doing apples-to-apples comparisons.  For me, the value proposition of sailing in a suite on Celebrity is not worth the price they're charging when you can essentially buy the same experience on Princess or Holland or even Royal Caribbean for a fraction of the price (thousands of dollars less, in many cases).

Edited February 19, 2019 by bEwAbG

[hcat]

Guess it depends on what  you are looking for ....

..Royal is our back up cruise line.. esp the smaller ships.. food and service cannot compare. to X ..but it  is better for shows and music and kids,

 

High hopes  for  the X  upgrades to M and S Class!

[lisiamc]

3 hours ago, hcat said:

We are still bitter about that but won't drink the stuff in the metal bottles anyhow,...it tasted very bad.. They have replaced theAQ Class  packaged herbal  tea mix ( just add water) with fresh brewed..much better !

 

We’re currently getting two new bottles of water every day in our Aqua cabin.  Not sure if that’s the new norm, or if our cabin attendant somehow knows we have a drinks package.

 

The tea in the carafe frightens me, though.  It’s a different colour (and flavour?  I don’t know, I’d rather not drink it) every day.  After it sits all night, foamy legs start extending down into the liquid from the top surface.  I worry that if I take the lid off, it might lunge at me.

[hcat]

55 minutes ago, lisiamc said:

 

We’re currently getting two new bottles of water every day in our Aqua cabin.  Not sure if that’s the new norm, or if our cabin attendant somehow knows we have a drinks package.

 

The tea in the carafe frightens me, though.  It’s a different colour (and flavour?  I don’t know, I’d rather not drink it) every day.  After it sits all night, foamy legs start extending down into the liquid from the top surface.  I worry that if I take the lid off, it might lunge at me.

Ew for the tea..sounds like the old stuff   The water in the metal btls tastes funky to me,   It is not  spring water..  we brought Fiji water with us...and picked up other bottled spring  water along the way,.

Edited February 20, 2019 by hcat

[teecee60]

On ‎2‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 6:18 PM, lisiamc said:

We’re on Solstice right now, and over the past few days, the pressure to buy meals in the speciality restaurants has been escalating to levels I’ve never seen before.  When we came back on board after a port call yesterday, several people from the restaurant staff had positioned themselves in an arc across the corridor leading to the lifts, and were cornering people and offering deals on various speciality dining opportunities.  When we went to breakfast this morning, before the assistant Maitre d’ took us to our table, she went into a lengthy spiel about yet another extra-cost dining opportunity.  I don’t think we’ve had one single meal in any restaurant in nearly seven days when someone hasn’t tried to sell us some sort of meal or wine event.  When we walk past Tuscan Grill or Silk Harvest, there are usually some people in there, but there are always loads of empty tables, so the sales campaign hasn’t been that effective.  I have no problem smiling nicely and saying “No, thank you” firmly, but I don’t enjoy having to do it multiple times, all day, every day.  If the speciality meals are not selling well, maybe a different approach is called for.  Harassing passengers in the style of beach souvenir hawkers is not having good results.  We’ve filled out a comment card about the relentless pressure.  I can’t help imagining that the response will be a telephone call asking if we’re really sure we don’t want to buy a few speciality meals! 😁

 

(I should also add that apart from this one issue, we’re enjoying this cruise just as much as we usually do.  There is much to enjoy and praise, as we’ve come to expect from Celebrity.)

 

On the rare occasion that aggressive sales has turned into harassment, I've used the following...   

 

"HEY!  I paid a LOT of my hard-earned money to be on a relaxing cruise... AND  I  DO  *N*O*T*  AT  ALL appreciate being HARASSED by YOU or ANYBODY ELSE.  DO *N*O*T* BOTHER ME AGAIN OR I WILL REPORT YOU."

 

And yes, CAPS indicate increased voice volume.  I have never, ever had a problem after that.

Edited February 20, 2019 by teecee60

[rvmike]

If they want to cut our perks and harrase us we can cut or eliminate tips. Maybe she will listen.?

[mfs2k]

Just now, rvmike said:

If they want to cut our perks and harrase us we can cut or eliminate tips. Maybe she will listen.?

Why would you hurt your room steward or dining room server because you can’t say no to a sales person in another department?  I don’t understand this concept. 

[rvmike]

My suggestion was to cut  auto tips, not all tips. we always tip our steward extra along with certain Dinning room with tips in place. If they want to cut our services and charge higher  auto tips do what you like. I don't have to.

[richstowe]

9 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

There is a strong correlation between level of sales pressure and length of cruise.  Late in a 14 night sailing they get really desperate.  Of course that's when you can negotiate the best discounts.

Umm , like how much of a discount ? 

3 hours ago, lisiamc said:

 

We’re currently getting two new bottles of water every day in our Aqua cabin.  Not sure if that’s the new norm, or if our cabin attendant somehow knows we have a drinks package.

 

The tea in the carafe frightens me, though.  It’s a different colour (and flavour?  I don’t know, I’d rather not drink it) every day.  After it sits all night, foamy legs start extending down into the liquid from the top surface.  I worry that if I take the lid off, it might lunge at me.

Made me spit up my non-lunging tea . 

[lysolqn]

We’ve been enjoying specialty restaurants on X since they first appeared on the M-class ships many moons ago and remember Ocean Liners (Murano’s predecessor) on Infinity(?) charging $15 per person.  Compare that to the $65 (Murano) and $45 (Tuscan and Lawn Grill) per person we paid on Reflection in December (no packages were offered) and it’s no wonder the specialty restaurants seem less popular than they used to be and X is more aggressively seeking to fill empty tables. .   

[Stateroom_Sailor]

6 minutes ago, lysolqn said:

We’ve been enjoying specialty restaurants on X since they first appeared on the M-class ships many moons ago and remember Ocean Liners (Murano’s predecessor) on Infinity(?) charging $15 per person.  Compare that to the $65 (Murano) and $45 (Tuscan and Lawn Grill) per person we paid on Reflection in December (no packages were offered) and it’s no wonder the specialty restaurants seem less popular than they used to be and X is more aggressively seeking to fill empty tables. .   

 

Do you remember what year that was?  I would definitely pay $15 for specialty dining, even with inflation from the late 80's that's not bad.

[lisiamc]

 

33 minutes ago, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

Do you remember what year that was?  I would definitely pay $15 for specialty dining, even with inflation from the late 80's that's not bad.

 

Prior to Millennium, the Century and Horizon class ships didn’t have any speciality dining rooms.  So the $15 extra charge dates from 2000 for Celebrity.