A fairly new cutback that only affects a select few

[Orator]

The "Top Cruiser" (what I call top spender) will no longer receive a complimentary dinner in a specialty restaurant of their choice. They will now receive an invitation to dine at an "Officers Table". I've been the top cruiser several times and really don't need a free meal for DW and I, but  I see this cutback as symbolic of the decreased emphasis on loyalty and concerned about the cutbacks, significant or not, that may follow. It might lessen the shock of this cutback if they gave the top cruise a choice of the officer. 

 

EDIT: This change was mandated by the Miami office and no one on the ships is responsible for the change. Their hands have been tied.

Edited June 3, 2019 by Orator

[vtcruising]

I saw that in the January CC newsletter. I think I remember speaking with another Zenith about it at that time.

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/exclusive-captains-club-newsletter-january-2019

Edited June 3, 2019 by vtcruising

[Jeremiah1212]

Using the 'top spender' logic, wouldn't many of those people likely be in suites that already include specialty dining? If that's the case, it doesn't make much sense to gift someone something they already have. 

[Orator]

2 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

I saw that in the January CC newsletter:

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/exclusive-captains-club-newsletter-january-2019

That's it! Thanks for posting the link.  The spin looks good, but the reality is a cutback. The personalized bottle of wine is really their homebrew with a cheap label rather than a bottle of good wine. The bouquet of flowers has been shrinking. Not really significant other than in a symbolic way.

[hcat]

Only one affects us...the E +  free pass to Thermal Suite on EDGE on a port day has been eliminated.   Would have been nice on our next Edge cruise when we are not in AQ Class.

.

The replacement discount equals what you can get anyways.

 

It makes  sense if there are really space limitations. but we never found the TS area to be overcrowded.  I think they could have worked it out by offering it for half a day or 2 hrs or  some other way .Sounds like BS!

Edited June 3, 2019 by hcat

[Orator]

1 minute ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

Using the 'top spender' logic, wouldn't many of those people likely be in suites that already include specialty dining? If that's the case, it doesn't make much sense to gift someone something they already have. 

No, the top cruisers are usually not in Suites but people who have spent many years cruising on Celebrity. Points are now based on money spent with higher priced suites getting the most points. So that it's possible that in the future there may be a closer relationship between people who are in Suites and the top cruiser, but that isn't the case now and won't be for some time.

[vtcruising]

14 minutes ago, Orator said:

That's it! Thanks for posting the link.  The spin looks good, but the reality is a cutback. The personalized bottle of wine is really their homebrew with a cheap label rather than a bottle of good wine. The bouquet of flowers has been shrinking. Not really significant other than in a symbolic way.

By the wording, I didn't know it was a cutback until someone  told me. It looked like an addition.

 

My friend, Maureen, is featured lower down as the first, second and third top cruiser on the Edge (I think she went on to get another top cruiser award on the Edge before finally disembarking - she had done a few pre-inagural cruises too). Another Zenith who doesn't cruise in suites - she just cruises a lot!  Someday....

Edited June 3, 2019 by vtcruising

[Orator]

1 minute ago, vtcruising said:

By the wording, I didn't know it was a cutback until someone  told me. It looked like an addition.

That's how spin works: Take a negative and make it appear positive!

[C 2 C]

4 minutes ago, Orator said:

That's it! Thanks for posting the link.  The spin looks good, but the reality is a cutback. The personalized bottle of wine is really their homebrew with a cheap label rather than a bottle of good wine. The bouquet of flowers has been shrinking. Not really significant other than in a symbolic way.

😢

Many top cruisers are no longer the top spenders onboard unless I count all the money spent on 200 cruises..  Most Zeniths are not in the high rent district on board.  In matter of fact, once a cruiser has attained the quick journey in suites to attain the Zenith level, they revert back to AQ/Concierge/Balcony and even insides. 

That homebrew is BAD!  I think I'll just ask for the label and return the bottle.  The premium drink package that is offered to Zs really means that the bottle of "wine" is not necessary.  The significance of the cutback is that, only a year ago, the top cruiser would always be at an officer's table and get that free visit to a specialty restaurant as well.  It's a good thing that we are trying to cut back on the calories and that our favourite restaurant has been eliminated (Murano) and 2nd, Qsine with the little joke of a special meal called Le Petit Chef.... Not that I'm complaining ... 😉

[Orator]

2 minutes ago, Arno. said:

😢

Many top cruisers are no longer the top spenders onboard unless I count all the money spent on 200 cruises..  Most Zeniths are not in the high rent district on board.  In matter of fact, once a cruiser has attained the quick journey in suites to attain the Zenith level, they revert back to AQ/Concierge/Balcony and even insides. 

That homebrew is BAD!  I think I'll just ask for the label and return the bottle.  The premium drink package that is offered to Zs really means that the bottle of "wine" is not necessary.  The significance of the cutback is that, only a year ago, the top cruiser would always be at an officer's table and get that free visit to a specialty restaurant as well.  It's a good thing that we are trying to cut back on the calories and that our favourite restaurant has been eliminated (Murano) and 2nd, Qsine with the little joke of a special meal called Le Petit Chef.... Not that I'm complaining ... 😉

The money you spent on more than 200 Celebrity cruises contributes to your status as the "top spender". 

[lovecruzin]

27 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

By the wording, I didn't know it was a cutback until someone  told me. It looked like an addition.

 

My friend, Maureen, is featured lower down as the first, second and third top cruiser on the Edge (I think she went on to get another top cruiser award on the Edge before finally disembarking - she had done a few pre-inagural cruises too). Another Zenith who doesn't cruise in suites - she just cruises a lot!  Someday....

 

Is that Maureen O’ xxxx from  FL? We met her on Equinox last summer. We ran into her frequently... in Michaels (one of our few times in a suite)  on an excursion and around the ship. She was a lot of fun to talk to.

[vtcruising]

8 minutes ago, lovecruzin said:

 

Is that Maureen O’ xxxx from  FL? We met her on Equinox last summer. We ran into her frequently... in Michaels (one of our few times in a suite)  on an excursion and around the ship. She was a lot of fun to talk to.

She is Maureen S, but may be the same. She is a fun person!  Her picture with the Captain is in the newsletter - scroll down a bit to find her:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/exclusive-captains-club-newsletter-january-2019

Edited June 3, 2019 by vtcruising

[cruise47]

If you have sailed over 200 cruises with Celebrity, it sounds liked you have spend some money cruising IMO.

[Covepointcruiser]

Sounds like the top cruiser will still get a free dinner on Celebrity.    The officers now dine with passengers in a Specialty Restaurant.    The officer always pays for drinks and an excellent wine.    The top Zenith folks are now receiving free extra premium wines and an audience with an officer.    I am certainly not Zenith (have a life outside of cruising) but I don’t see this as a negative change.

[lovecruzin]

23 minutes ago, vtcruising said:

She is Maureen S, but may be the same. She is a fun person!  Her picture with the Captain is in the newsletter - scroll down a bit to find her:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/blog/exclusive-captains-club-newsletter-january-2019

Thats her! I was thinking it was O’S!  I have her email someplace, thanks for reminding me to look for it 😆

[Orator]

32 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Sounds like the top cruiser will still get a free dinner on Celebrity.    The officers now dine with passengers in a Specialty Restaurant.    The officer always pays for drinks and an excellent wine.    The top Zenith folks are now receiving free extra premium wines and an audience with an officer.    I am certainly not Zenith (have a life outside of cruising) but I don’t see this as a negative change.

Actually dinner with an officer was usual in the past;however, that too has changed. Only the top cruiser, usually, but not always a Zenith is entitled to a dinner invitation. The drink package was aways a Zenith benefit so nothing has changed there.i've been on a number of recent cruises where DW and I were 2nd top cruisers and we received nothing extra. I most certainly appreciate the benefits, but as I said the apparent reduction is symbolic of how loyalty is viewed by Miami. 

[hcat]

Things have gradually shifted.  But they have changed.

 

There is no longer the Captain's table in a prominent part of the mdr...or the coveted invites to join for the evening that were reserved for frequent cruisers.

 

Cap Club points are  now calculated much differently than they used to be...Points  are awarded  by level of booking, number of nights;  and some points given for booking incentives etc.

 

 Bigger focus on services to suite guests  with many  exclusive perks included in the  fare. Once guests make Zenith ( a very big accomplishment) , they may book a lower cabin class that does not generate as much revenue as a suite. ????

 

I think X is doing its best to recognize Zenith members and maintain perks like priority boarding, access to some suite areas, parties/ events etc. Seems  odd that they would begrudge loyal customers a dinner out!

 

 

 

 

[Alakegirl]

Going back to the title of the thread.....

not so few....there would be around 50 “top cruisers” Per year on equinox, and around 30  on average on each of the other ships.  Some singles, some couples.   Well over 500 passengers i would guess

[cruisestitch]

I’ve spoken to several officers who prefer having a dinner in a specialty restaurant (or a lunch if there are a lot of Zeniths on board,) rather than being in the center table of the dining room.  There are several reasons for this. One was that since that dinner almost always took place on a formal/chic night it always had the same menu. This way they can go to different specialty restaurants and enjoy other menus, getting some variety and enjoying other venues.

 

Some passengers enjoyed being the center of attention in the main dining room, but most find that the more intimate table in one of the specialties allows for better conversation.

 

 Keeping that center table open on the other nights always meant that that space went unused, which was annoying to passengers who were being asked to wait to be seated.

 

 

Edited June 3, 2019 by cruisestitch

[hcat]

That's interesting

...we never were invited or asked to be invited and have no interest in it,.,

 

. Some frequent cruisers thought it was a big honor to be at that table,

A more intimate setting probably does work better,

[RICCruisers]

3 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

Going back to the title of the thread.....

not so few....there would be around 50 “top cruisers” Per year on equinox, and around 30  on average on each of the other ships.  Some singles, some couples.   Well over 500 passengers i would guess

 

3 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

Going back to the title of the thread.....

not so few....there would be around 50 “top cruisers” Per year on equinox, and around 30  on average on each of the other ships.  Some singles, some couples.   Well over 500 passengers i would guess

 

Assuming your 500 is correct, with 10 ships cruising 35 weeks a year with an average of 2500 (M Class and S Class combined) passengers on board, it would impact .057% of the total of 875,000 passenger load that Celebrity hosts each year.  To me that that is a select few. Although, those few are truly Celebrity Loyalists. FULL DISCLOSURE - I will never be one of them. Lucky to be a new Elite this year. 

[djh]

Just curious, does anybody have any idea how many Zeniths there are now?

[Blazerboy]

I really don't like short cruises...not long enough, and never enough sea days.  (Next cruise has five in a row, and that's barely acceptable.😋)

 

But we were on Summit this Spring for seven days and we were, with our friends,  four of something like 9 Elite+ pax, no Zenith, and just a few dozen Elites.  I've never had so many invitations- dinner with an officer, private galley tour, drinks in Cellar Masters, helipad sailout...we felt very much the well feted loyal cruiser.

 

3 months later, and we're back to an S class ship for 11 or 12 days, and I'm sure we'll be one of a cast of thousands, and no invitations. 😥 (how WILL we survive???😉)

 

If you want the extra benefits, try a short 5 day cruise. You'll likely get run of the ship as Select!  As for the gift wines, more of a gift not to receive...that Celebrity Vintages sparkling wine could dissolve galvanized nails! (Go ahead- call me an ingrate!)

 

Andrew

[TommyD3]

I had reported about the deletion of the free specialty visit early in the year.

At the same time Celebrity increased the number of free drinks from three to unlimited for Elites.

Have no idea what the logic was but between the two changes the costs have increased!

 

The benefits vary from ship to ship.

Onboard Millennium last month every month every Zenith was called up on stage at the Captain's Club Celebration and given flowers and wine (there were like 20 Zeniths).

There was a Zenith lunch on the last sea day.

The top cruisers did not receive anything extra.

 

Word is that later this year Celebrity will completely revamp the Captain's Club program to be 100% spending based.

Also a frequent flier type program with continued cruising requirements.

[TommyD3]

39 minutes ago, djh said:

Just curious, does anybody have any idea how many Zeniths there are now?

Closely held secret !!!

The ranks are growing though.

On one Solstice cruise last month there were four new Zeniths !!!