What cruise lines are you considering, due to increased X prices?

[Longboysfan]

7 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

Well, do you know, I’d never even given this a thought previously and after reading your post, I’ve just realised that we’re running at around the same figure as you. It’s surprising how quickly the days can accumulate. Can’t wait until we’ve retired and can catch all those last minute deals after FP (only just under 2 decades to go ).

 

Yes.  Great times on the ships.

Started out on Volendam, Veendam, Statendam, Doric, Oceanic - which was the first big red boat.

Then onto Celebrity.

Horizon, Zenith, Century, Mercury, Galaxy, Gad...   Where did all these ships go to......

Too many to list and remember.

 

I will say I like the lawn on the Celebrity ships.

 

[Longboysfan]

On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 2:39 PM, Stateroom_Sailor said:

 

I've been hesitant to try Princess, but may in Alaska at some point.  The atrium, pace, and sentimental tradition haven't resonated with us, but of course that can be different on the ground.  Thanks for sharing.

 

 

 

I'll never go on Princess again.

You're right on the paper towels.

 

Their customer relations screwed me out of $1000 when my wife had cancer.  First bout with breast cancer.

We asked just to move cruise.  Hold all the money deposited.  Their reply "Sorry..."

No refund or switching....

 

I asked the customer relations this question.

"Don't you or the line care about people with cancer?

 

Their Reply...  "NO!"

No refunds or switching.

[TeeRick]

On 4/19/2019 at 6:36 PM, clskinsfan said:

Just checking back in on this post. Great subject by the way. Celebrity cant like that only 32% of their current passengers will guarantee to cruise with them on their next cruise. There isnt a company in the world that would be happy with a 32% retention rate on anything. And the scarier thing for Celebrity in this thread is that LONG STANDING loyal customers are talking about jumping ship to another line. Not a good look for them.

Not real data to Celebrity.  The posts on cruise critic are a very small sample size.  You cannot really say they have a 32% retention rate based solely on this site.

[wckdtrix]

On ‎4‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 4:08 PM, Luvcrusn said:

Another upside to your choice here is that unlike Norwegian's beverage package perk where gratuities are charged for each drink, the gratuities for each drink on X's Classic and Premium beverage packages are included, so no unexpected charges at the end of your cruise. 

On NCL, the gratuity of 20% is paid on the package price itself, not each drink.      But they charge you that 20% on the package even if you get it as a perk, that is where it differs on Celebrity.  Also on NCL, when you are in certain ports, like Miami, you are charged tax on your drinks, even those included in the package...I haven't been charged tax on drinks in any port with Celebrity.     

 

Even with all of that, I am still going back to NCL for my next cruise.  Our last trip this past March on the Equinox, it just didn't feel the same as what we have come to expect from Celebrity.  

Edited April 23, 2019 by wckdtrix

[clskinsfan]

27 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Not real data to Celebrity.  The posts on cruise critic are a very small sample size.  You cannot really say they have a 32% retention rate based solely on this site.

 

You may be right. But you can certainly say that their seasoned cruisers. The one's that spend the most money with them ARE on this site. And those people's posts in this thread have to be a concern for Celebrity.

[Tudorcruisers]

We have cruised with Celebrity for approx 20 years and last year on the Reflection we were so disappointed with the food in Blu we asked to eat in the MDR where it was better.   This would not have happened years ago where every meal we had was just so good.  We were told by a TA that a lot of previous Celebrity passengers were moving to Crystal as it’s how Celebrity used to be so we sail with them in a months time.  We enjoyed the perks on the loyalty program but the decline in meals was what made us decide to try another line.

[Stateroom_Sailor]

2 hours ago, Tudorcruisers said:

We have cruised with Celebrity for approx 20 years and last year on the Reflection we were so disappointed with the food in Blu we asked to eat in the MDR where it was better.   This would not have happened years ago where every meal we had was just so good.  We were told by a TA that a lot of previous Celebrity passengers were moving to Crystal as it’s how Celebrity used to be so we sail with them in a months time.  We enjoyed the perks on the loyalty program but the decline in meals was what made us decide to try another line.

 

I'm not sure when you sailed last year, but we didn't notice any declines in October.  Granted we were only on for 4 nights, and are novice foodies.  The cuts now can't be ignored.  The bread in Blu is getting stale.  I'm noticing a sudden spike in similar complaints across the fleet, starting last month, which leads me to believe it is not just one ship.

[Reel Love]

On 4/22/2019 at 2:33 PM, DrKoob said:

 

We have always done the Premium package but go so much push back on getting better drinks, that we decided to just go Classic this time

Did I understand your post correctly?  Were you getting push back on receiving the higher quality alcohol for which you have already paid???  Hope I interpreted that wrong!

That being said, I upgrade to the premium package and have had occasions when ordering from pool butlers where it has been clear that alcohol from the classic package has been substituted (easy to tell with a martini!).  I don't understand why they do that as it costs them double because I then take it back to the bar to be replaced with what I originally ordered (and paid for), so the first drink then gets wasted.  Maybe a lot of folks can't be bothered to do this so that is why they try to get away with it??  Or to be generous, maybe there have been honest mistakes?  Regardless, I learned early on that for me the best thing to do is to order my drinks at the bar.  Worse things in life...... 😏

[DrKoob]

3 minutes ago, Reel Love said:

Did I understand your post correctly?  Were you getting push back on receiving the higher quality alcohol for which you have already paid???  Hope I interpreted that wrong!

That being said, I upgrade to the premium package and have had occasions when ordering from pool butlers where it has been clear that alcohol from the classic package has been substituted (easy to tell with a martini!).  I don't understand why they do that as it costs them double because I then take it back to the bar to be replaced with what I originally ordered (and paid for), so the first drink then gets wasted.  Maybe a lot of folks can't be bothered to do this so that is why they try to get away with it??  Or to be generous, maybe there have been honest mistakes?  Regardless, I learned early on that for me the best thing to do is to order my drinks at the bar.  Worse things in life...... 😏

 

You did not interpret it wrong. In the bar on Summit last October we would order drinks with particular liquors and we were sure we were getting lesser quality. Also, since the advent of so many having drink packages, it seems that the bar servers who used to be everywhere selling drinks, now only come around about once an hour. Good luck finding anyone to go back and remake a drink. Many times in the Rendezvous there would be two servers for 300+ people. Every chair in the room packed and four people serving. Two waiters, two bartenders. They worked their butts off but there is only so much then can do.

 

 

[bigbenboys]

On 4/22/2019 at 3:34 PM, villauk said:

 

 

Did your vote vote go in ‘luxury’ or ‘other’ as I’m not familiar with PG?

 

On 4/22/2019 at 3:34 PM, villauk said:

 

 

Did your vote vote go in ‘luxury’ or ‘other’ as I’m not familiar with PG?

I voted Luxury light. One of my problems are dress code. I'm just not interested in luxury if I have to wear a dinner jacket. So looking at NCL Haven, Azamara and PG.

[swigso]

Over the last 6 years we have sailed at least twice a year with Celebrity, about 3 years ago we decided to try Azamara and at that time we decided that although AZ had done some things better than X we were still happy to keep our bookings with X as the overall experience was roughly the same.

We sailed the med again (Sept 18) on the same itinerary as the Az cruise and the differences in quality of food v AZ even in the short period from our Feb18 cruise on Eclipse was very noticeable. 

Move on to March 19 Silhouette and we really noticed the difference not only in the food quality and the attitude of the staff but in the whole general cruise experience.

Here are some examples: Sent back a number of entree choices in blue the quality of the meat was just not good and not what I was used to on Celebrity.

The lack of staff at the bars caused a few complaints it is not a problem to us as we know we will be served eventually but the waiters were very very rushed and IMHO not modern luxury. It was also very apparent that premium drinks such as  malt whiskey were not available in all bars. I had a premium package and it is not expected that to get a Glenfiddich or other nice malts I needed to take myself to the Passport or Casino bar. So having to do this while not a major issue was another noticeable cut. 

There also seemed to be a general malaise throughout the crew and we heard raised and loud voices in confrontation never heard this before. So after some deliberation we have pushed back our two Celebrity cruises for 2020 and are trying  Oceana as we are familiar with the ships having sailed Az.

Another reason to take this step is the way it seems the cruise-line is moving forward with the edgification program. Therefore the constant cutting off what was once a quality premium product means that we are moving on to try new pastures. Will we sail again with X probably as we have two future cruises booked, but for the first time in at least 8 years this last sailing was the first that a future cruise was not booked on board. In fact we did not even visit the Future Cruise dept. whilst on board.

LLP is obviously a very talented lady and at the moment the bean counters are very happy I bet. However as a footnote on the longer sailings to the Caribbean from January to March there were many many repeat cruisers and from reading the boards many are jumping ship. I will eagerly watch how the pricing pans out over the next two years, especially on these sailings after final payment.

Finally so to have waffled on for so Long, European prices have been dropped today again (in the UK) and all 4 perks are included as Standard, never seen this before.

Edited April 24, 2019 by swigso

[TeeRick]

On 4/23/2019 at 9:12 AM, clskinsfan said:

 

You may be right. But you can certainly say that their seasoned cruisers. The one's that spend the most money with them ARE on this site. And those people's posts in this thread have to be a concern for Celebrity.

Some of those seasoned Celebrity cruisers have expressed concerns.  Some have not. But expressing a concern here is a lot of what this site is all about.  It does not mean that all is lost, time to jump ship.   I am a Celebrity seasoned cruiser  (I think).  I can take any Celebrity cruise on any Celebrity ship and I will certainly notice changes from my past cruises both positive and negative.  I will come here and express "concerns" but I will also come here and mention the things I liked as well.  I find that most of the seasoned cruisers here have balanced opinions.  Others will focus on something perhaps less significant to the rest of us and make a big issue of it.   Will that change my purchasing decision for my next cruise?  Not likely.  I would like to try Azamara and Crystal and others and I will when I find the cruise which fits what I personally value dollar-wise and experience-wise.  So far I have looked but keep coming back to Celebrity and occasionally Royal Caribbean.

[Oville]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Some of those seasoned Celebrity cruisers have expressed concerns.  Some have not. But expressing a concern here is a lot of what this site is all about.  It does not mean that all is lost, time to jump ship.   I am a Celebrity seasoned cruiser  (I think).  I can take any Celebrity cruise on any Celebrity ship and I will certainly notice changes from my past cruises both positive and negative.  I will come here and express "concerns" but I will also come here and mention the things I liked as well.  I find that most of the seasoned cruisers here have balanced opinions.  Others will focus on something perhaps less significant to the rest of us and make a big issue of it.   Will that change my purchasing decision for my next cruise?  Not likely.  I would like to try Azamara and Crystal and others and I will when I find the cruise which fits what I personally value dollar-wise and experience-wise.  So far I have looked but keep coming back to Celebrity and occasionally Royal Caribbean.

I agree with your comments.  We have tried other lines with mixed results.  HAL wasn’t for us and, after 3 tries, won’t be returning.  Oceania has great speciality restaurants and it ended there for us.  Viking Ocean has won a spot in our hearts and we’ve added them to our rotation.  Next up down the road Virgin.  We have 8 future cruises booked, 6 are on Celebrity.

 

What I don’t agree with is clskinsfan’s assumption that seasoned cruisers spend the most money.  Not sure how anyone can come to that conclusion.

Edited April 24, 2019 by Oville