Stateroom free movies eliminated

[Kelowna Cruiser]

4 hours ago, hcat said:

Just received my reply from One Touch.....Not sure if I will try to continue the  conversation.

 

Dear Mrs. and Mr........

We are grateful you have taken the time to contact Celebrity Cruises. It is always a pleasure to hear from our Captain’s Club members, and I am pleased to have this opportunity to answer your concern.

I am very sorry you are disappointed that we’ll no longer be offering free movies in our stateroom television line-up. Although in-stateroom movies will now only be pay-per-view, we want you to know that we’ll continue to show a good selection of new release films in the ship’s public areas, like in the theater and on our outdoor screens. Also, if you prefer to watch shows in the comfort of your own room, you’ll still have access to a variety of free TV channels. We hope you enjoy these viewing options when sailing with Celebrity.

We really appreciate that you’ve taken the time to share your thoughts regarding this recent change to our stateroom movies. Your feedback is extremely important to us, and we are carefully reviewing all comments being sent our way and sharing them with our operational teams.

Mrs. And Mr  .. ..... thank you for your continued loyalty to and support of Celebrity Cruises. We look forward to welcoming you aboard another Celebrity sailing in the future.

Sincerely,



Tyrus Thompson
Celebrity Cruises

 

Interesting. Exactly the same response I got from Celebrity One Touch -  word for word - signed by a different rep. So they are clearly just doing a cut and paste job in their replies to this issue. Gives you some idea how insincere Celebrity is to 

a valid point being raised by a past customers. No wonder some are reconsidering loyalty to Celebrity. My wife and I cruise mostly on Princess but sometimes on Celebrity ( next up Sept 22 on Eclipse ). Princess still is our fav - love the traditional promenade deck ( and free movies in cabin !) Tried an MSC cruise recently. Now there is a line that is into adding value to attract new business, rather than cutting.   

 

[SharonK]

31 minutes ago, Kelowna Cruiser said:

 

Interesting. Exactly the same response I got from Celebrity One Touch -  word for word - signed by a different rep. So they are clearly just doing a cut and paste job in their replies to this issue. Gives you some idea how insincere Celebrity is to 

a valid point being raised by a past customers. No wonder some are reconsidering loyalty to Celebrity. My wife and I cruise mostly on Princess but sometimes on Celebrity ( next up Sept 22 on Eclipse ). Princess still is our fav - love the traditional promenade deck ( and free movies in cabin !) Tried an MSC cruise recently. Now there is a line that is into adding value to attract new business, rather than cutting.   

 

I also got the same response.  I doubt anything will change.

[HelenREMfan]

We are on the Silhouette right now. A fellow cruiser on a B to B told us they had movies last week but after speaking to guest relations we were told there were no longer free movies in the room. Now....on the Silhouette there is nowhere on deck to watch movies so there is just one film shown at odd random times in Celebrity Central - not the most comfortable venue. People on board have not been at all happy re the 4/5 free films Celebrity used to provide and I reckon quite a few have been vocal about it. I have also heard people comment about how much busier it seems around the ship  which has not been the case on other (full) cruises. 

STOP PRESS!!!!  we were just coming back on board and were in the elevator with a couple commenting about how busy it seems and I mentioned the movies and behind me was an officer from guest relations and she announced the films were coming back today!!!!!! NOW I have just checked and they are not back yet but if they are then full marks to Celebrity for listening!! 

 

Watch this space !!!! (I did hear that there are a few executives joined the ship yesterday..... maybe that had some bearing on things....)

 

 

[rimmit]

7 hours ago, SharonK said:

I also got the same response.  I doubt anything will change.

 

It seems as though they have gotten enough complaints that they had to standardize the response.  They probably weren’t prepared for the uprising at the beginning assuming most people would just bring an iPad, computer or something and didn’t care about the free movies.  My response was slightly different.

 

Dear Mr. 

Thank you for taking the time to contact Celebrity Cruises. It is always a pleasure to hear from our  guests.

We believe listening to our guests is the most effective way to create the best possible sailing experience. Therefore, we are truly grateful that you have taken the time to share your thorough assessment.  Certainly, it is disheartening to learn of the disappointment about the free on demand movie in the stateroom.  In reviewing your detailed feedback, we recognize that there are opportunities to improve and I have passed along the information to the proper management department. 

Mr. , please know that your concerns are being heard. At Celebrity Cruises, we are passionate about delivering excellence, and we will continue to make the most of your insightful observations. Once again, you have my sincere gratitude for the time you have taken to provide your evaluation. We would be honored to welcome you back aboard in the future.

Sincerely,



Ashley Sandy
Celebrity Cruises

 

[rimmit]

24 minutes ago, HelenREMfan said:

We are on the Silhouette right now. A fellow cruiser on a B to B told us they had movies last week but after speaking to guest relations we were told there were no longer free movies in the room. Now....on the Silhouette there is nowhere on deck to watch movies so there is just one film shown at odd random times in Celebrity Central - not the most comfortable venue. People on board have not been at all happy re the 4/5 free films Celebrity used to provide and I reckon quite a few have been vocal about it. I have also heard people comment about how much busier it seems around the ship  which has not been the case on other (full) cruises. 

STOP PRESS!!!!  we were just coming back on board and were in the elevator with a couple commenting about how busy it seems and I mentioned the movies and behind me was an officer from guest relations and she announced the films were coming back today!!!!!! NOW I have just checked and they are not back yet but if they are then full marks to Celebrity for listening!! 

 

Watch this space !!!! (I did hear that there are a few executives joined the ship yesterday..... maybe that had some bearing on things....)

 

 

 

Thanks for the update. This could be very exciting and at least an olive branch from X.

 

Perhaps the ships are actually feeling the pain of the lack on demand movies more than expected in terms of their public spaces and they realize they would save money with the movies than increased staffing in public areas to deal with the crowd.  People drink more if they are out of the cabin so the bar gets hit harder.  That would be great in the days before the alcohol packages not so great now.

 

Please keep us informed if there are changes.  If it doesn’t change back in the first couple months the chances diminish of it changing as more and more people become complacent to the change.   

Edited September 16, 2019 by rimmit

[bengaltiger1]

This has just been posted by someone on social media:

 

 

Wow! I am so impressed with Celebrity!  Take a look at what I received this morning!

 

Dear Mrs. XXX

Thank you for your email. 

Good news! Our guests’ spoke and we listened! We have reinstated the free movies in the stateroom and our ships are in the process of reloading the movies on board and updating the movie content. Thank you so much for voicing your disappointment, as we are happy to be able to do this for our guests. 

Mrs. XXX, we hope to welcome you on board again soon.

[aml3679]

I am sorry for those who are upset about this.  Personally, my husband and I rarely turn on the TV when we are in our cabin.  Celebrity is not doing what any other cruise line would do.  Like I poster said, grab a towel and go watch on the big screen.  Turn lemons into lemonade.

[villauk]

On 9/14/2019 at 12:52 AM, Covepointcruiser said:

An earlier poster stated that airlines offer free WI-FI.    I would like to know what airline(s) offer free WI-FI.   United, for instance, does not,  even in first/business class.  

I believe it was $14.95 per flight and it certainly wasn’t fast enough to stream.   They also don’t offer free entertainment unless you load their AP and watch it on a screen you carried with you.

 

 

We had free entertainment on United, but we were flying business long haul, so I presume it depends on route taken.

[rimmit]

25 minutes ago, bengaltiger1 said:

This has just been posted by someone on social media:

 

 

Wow! I am so impressed with Celebrity!  Take a look at what I received this morning!

 

Dear Mrs. XXX

Thank you for your email. 

Good news! Our guests’ spoke and we listened! We have reinstated the free movies in the stateroom and our ships are in the process of reloading the movies on board and updating the movie content. Thank you so much for voicing your disappointment, as we are happy to be able to do this for our guests. 

Mrs. XXX, we hope to welcome you on board again soon.

Good job everyone on this forum and all those on ships voicing your discontent.   This is a small but huge win.   It at least proves that in face of extreme opposition to a change (that doesn’t affect their bottom line too much, and was likely starting to hinder guest relations due to the amount fires they had to put out.) they are willing listen.

 

On another note. When we were on the summit this August we had 20+ movies to choose from,  most were recent.  Seems as though the other ships only had 4-5 and that seems closer to the standard.  I will take whatever but just curious if that was an anomaly.  There weren’t even movies available for purchase on the the Summit.  They were all free.  We were pleasantly surprised to have free on demand movies as it was our first one on celebrity since 2010.  

Edited September 16, 2019 by rimmit

[rbrooks418]

My wife Melodee decided to reach out to Celebrity as she was so disappointed in hearing this about the movies in the staterooms, and also encouraged others on the social media FB groups with Celebrity.  She just received a message this morning that they have decided to put a selection of complimentary movies back in the staterooms.  Wow.  So impressed with their responsiveness to their customers.

 

[hiccups]

Just now, rbrooks418 said:

My wife Melodee decided to reach out to Celebrity as she was so disappointed in hearing this about the movies in the staterooms, and also encouraged others on the social media FB groups with Celebrity.  She just received a message this morning that they have decided to put a selection of complimentary movies back in the staterooms.  Wow.  So impressed with their responsiveness to their customers.

 

I will be curious to see what they add back in.  On our Equinox cruise in June, none of the free movies were anything we wanted to see--in fact, we hadn't even heard of three of them!  Others on CC had reported having choices like A Star is Born the previous month, but we didn't have that.  We spent $14.95 to watch a year-old film we hadn't yet seen to use up some of our OBC.

[wrk2cruise]

Should you get too excited yet?  Remember when LPP added bottled water back to AQ.  It lasted 1 cruise.

[rimmit]

6 minutes ago, hiccups said:

I will be curious to see what they add back in.  On our Equinox cruise in June, none of the free movies were anything we wanted to see--in fact, we hadn't even heard of three of them!  Others on CC had reported having choices like A Star is Born the previous month, but we didn't have that.  We spent $14.95 to watch a year-old film we hadn't yet seen to use up some of our OBC.

On the Summit we had movies from about Aug 18-Feb 19 along with some older catalog kids films.  We had a Star is born, creed 2, mi fallout, vice, what men want, finding Nemo, how to train a dragon 3, Mary Poppins returns and at least 15 more.  Can’t remember them all.  That’s what I remember watching.  We watched HTTAD3 more times than I can count.  After living with RCI’s non existent TV for the last 8 years this was a massive upgrade and we loved having the movies.  None of them were pay.  We were concerned our son would accidentally buy one but every single one was free.  That seems to not be the standard.

 

it will be interesting to see what they reinstate.

[hiccups]

2 minutes ago, rimmit said:

On the Summit we had movies from about Aug 18-Feb 19 along with some older catalog kids films.  We had a Star is born, creed 2, mi fallout, vice, what men want, finding Nemo, how to train a dragon 3, Mary Poppins returns and at least 15 more.  Can’t remember them all.  That’s what I remember watching.  We watched HTTAD3 more times than I can count.  After living with RCI’s non existent TV for the last 8 years this was a massive upgrade and we loved having the movies.  None of them were pay.  We were concerned our son would accidentally buy one but every single one was free.  That seems to not be the standard.

 

it will be interesting to see what they reinstate.

That would have been a nice selection--we only had 5-6 free movies.  We would probably pay for a few more movies had they been a reasonable price, like $5-6.

[rimmit]

45 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

 

We had free entertainment on United, but we were flying business long haul, so I presume it depends on route taken.

 

I have not taken a United long haul in a long time (I can’t stand United).  But I don’t think I have been on a long haul in this decade that didn’t have free in flight entertainment and this includes all other major American and many European and South American carriers and they all came with free in flight entertainment in coach.  I almost think it’s inhumane at this day and age to not offer that in coach for a long haul.

[kathynorth]

On 9/13/2019 at 7:52 PM, Covepointcruiser said:

An earlier poster stated that airlines offer free WI-FI.    I would like to know what airline(s) offer free WI-FI.   United, for instance, does not,  even in first/business class.  

I believe it was $14.95 per flight and it certainly wasn’t fast enough to stream.   They also don’t offer free entertainment unless you load their AP and watch it on a screen you carried with you.

 

Jetblue offers free WiFi and movies

[rimmit]

21 minutes ago, hiccups said:

That would have been a nice selection--we only had 5-6 free movies.  We would probably pay for a few more movies had they been a reasonable price, like $5-6.

 

Or if they are gonna charge 14.99. At least let you watch it for the duration of the cruise.  At a 14.99 price point you really should have longer than 24 hours.  Or like an all access movie pass for 29.99.  I would consider that.  Obviously free is preferred.

 

Another thing I didn’t consider in regards to the reversal...  I wonder if more people were removing the TVs from the wall to access the ports and it was starting to cause problems with people detaching cables and such.  I want to believe this is simply customer feedback but wouldn’t be surprised if some other logistical problem started occurring.  

 

[villauk]

34 minutes ago, rimmit said:

 

I have not taken a United long haul in a long time (I can’t stand United).  But I don’t think I have been on a long haul in this decade that didn’t have free in flight entertainment and this includes all other major American and many European and South American carriers and they all came with free in flight entertainment in coach.  I almost think it’s inhumane at this day and age to not offer that in coach for a long haul.

 

 

Yes, I was replying to Covepointcruiser as they stated there was no inflight entertainment on United, and obviously this isn’t the case across the board. I have to say Qatar and Singapore Airlines are our favourite, but it’s a little out of our way to use them when travelling to the States 🤣.

 

Glad to hear the movies have been returned. One does wonder why X have to keep backtracking on most of their current changes - are they actually thinking any of these things through fully before implementing them? Just look at the mess of the furniture situation on Edge, and how they’ve had to reinstate/remove items. Fingers crossed it will be the footstools coming back next.

Edited September 16, 2019 by villauk

[vtcruising]

Nymich - you are famous! Not sure if you saw this - I guess they will need to put a new announcement out today:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/4456/

[hulamoon]

Some cruises we had many new free movies, an impressive amount of choices and other cruises it was a small

selection. I hope this is full on back to the best offering. I could never figure what made it one way or another.

 

Thanks to all who posted and sent emails.

 

I am looking forward to enjoying the nice new screens after marching through Europe and on longer days on the TA!

 

 

 

 

[twodjs]

Thanks to all who posted and called. We did it! Now if we can just get those foot stools back...

[Spiritedcharm]

So this just happened....

 

[hcat]

Hooray...thanks to Nymich,   all those who wrote to X,  and posted  here  and also to Cruise Critic for giving us this platform !   

 

We are still a voice!  Hope they  really restore the movies...no upcharge! The headline will read "Lisa listened!"

[HelenREMfan]

2 hours ago, aml3679 said:

I am sorry for those who are upset about this.  Personally, my husband and I rarely turn on the TV when we are in our cabin.  Celebrity is not doing what any other cruise line would do.  Like I poster said, grab a towel and go watch on the big screen.  Turn lemons into lemonade.

 

As I said no top deck movie screen on the Silhouette and Celebrity Central is claustrophobic and not very comfortable!!

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

12 minutes ago, HelenREMfan said:

 

As I said no top deck movie screen on the Silhouette and Celebrity Central is claustrophobic and not very comfortable!!

 

So glad you pointed that out again bc I don't think aml3679 read the entire thread.  If they had, they would have understood the issue was much bigger than lemons.  In fairness, it is a long thread...

At any rate, a happy ending!