Amenities

[LGW59]

2 minutes ago, jelayne said:

We have been on many cruises where the beverage package was included as a booking perk and we never had a problem getting a drink.  There are times when bars are busier than other times and there could be a wait.   Just before the  show starts and again when the show lets out the bars get busier.

Or you could always, oh wait nevermind, I will be accused of paying bribes!  😂

[Pinboy]

38 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Or you could always, oh wait never mind, I will be accused of paying bribes!  😂

What bribe ???  It's just like an " Insurance "  -- It kicks in when you need it.

 

[PBTravelBug]

On 1/2/2021 at 8:50 PM, sanger727 said:

 

I find it interesting how pre-always included there were tons and tons of threads about the good, better, and best promos that were always around and the number of people who commented about always upgrading their drinks package to premium or getting the better/best. The number of people who did not get drinks and internet included in their bookings before and will now is likely negligible. Especially if they do offer the simply sail rates after final payment. 

 

These aren't "extremely wealthy" folks or celebrity employees. Simply people who were already taking advantage of the good, better, best promos that have been running for years so were already aware they were getting drinks and perhaps wifi included. Or people who disconnect on vacation and don't really even use wifi. Believe it or not, many of the people who enjoy going to a happy hour also enjoy drinking at other hours of the days so a drink package is still a benefit. 

 Not a Celebrity Employee nor an extremely wealthy person - whatever that really means because in the grand scheme of life & the world we are on a cruise forum chatting about perks on a vacation so I think that makes all of us well off.

 

We are Elite+, in our mid-50's, been cruising for 30 years etc.. Fell in love with Celebrity 19 years ago  on a Thanksgiving week cruise. I finally found a place that just felt right and have not really been interested in going elsewhere. Love the Celebrity vibe. Love the beautiful ships. I have always felt that Celebrity is dependable & consistent. Can not wait to get back on a cruise ship!

 

We are not big drinkers but we have come to enjoy the beverage package vs the loyalty perk because we enjoy sitting at Cafe Bacio and ordering specialty coffees, we like grabbing a bottle of water whenever and wherever, I like my glass of Proseco kept full at dinner, my husband likes to try different bourbon, scotch, whiskey, and so on. We are on vacation and the beverage package just makes it feel more carefree and vacation like!

 

We have enjoyed the 5-7 happy hour in an area designated for Captain's Club because we like meeting fellow travelers & seeing the same people each night. We have learned a lot about various itineraries, met interesting people, and had some great conversations! 

 

I do not particularly care about the internet and am fine with the minutes we get as a perk. We still work so as long as we can check in on business from time to time we are good (actually great) not being plugged in while on vacation. Would prefer gratuities over internet - just our preference.

 

For us, if Celebrity is listening, we like the perks that make life easier - special lounge for boarding and debarkation (I like to be the first on & off the ship), the morning breakfast lounge (perhaps expand this to include lunch & tea/snacks), wine tasting (perhaps do more with this), cabin upgrades, and I am sure I can think of more.

 

 

[LGW59]

23 minutes ago, PBTravelBug said:

 Not a Celebrity Employee nor an extremely wealthy person - whatever that really means because in the grand scheme of life & the world we are on a cruise forum chatting about perks on a vacation so I think that makes all of us well off.

 

We are Elite+, in our mid-50's, been cruising for 30 years etc.. Fell in love with Celebrity 19 years ago  on a Thanksgiving week cruise. I finally found a place that just felt right and have not really been interested in going elsewhere. Love the Celebrity vibe. Love the beautiful ships. I have always felt that Celebrity is dependable & consistent. Can not wait to get back on a cruise ship!

 

We are not big drinkers but we have come to enjoy the beverage package vs the loyalty perk because we enjoy sitting at Cafe Bacio and ordering specialty coffees, we like grabbing a bottle of water whenever and wherever, I like my glass of Proseco kept full at dinner, my husband likes to try different bourbon, scotch, whiskey, and so on. We are on vacation and the beverage package just makes it feel more carefree and vacation like!

 

We have enjoyed the 5-7 happy hour in an area designated for Captain's Club because we like meeting fellow travelers & seeing the same people each night. We have learned a lot about various itineraries, met interesting people, and had some great conversations! 

 

I do not particularly care about the internet and am fine with the minutes we get as a perk. We still work so as long as we can check in on business from time to time we are good (actually great) not being plugged in while on vacation. Would prefer gratuities over internet - just our preference.

 

For us, if Celebrity is listening, we like the perks that make life easier - special lounge for boarding and debarkation (I like to be the first on & off the ship), the morning breakfast lounge (perhaps expand this to include lunch & tea/snacks), wine tasting (perhaps do more with this), cabin upgrades, and I am sure I can think of more.

 

 

So very well said PBT, one of the best posts on here re this subject,  Thank you!!

[Cruising is my passion]

For you doubtful Elite+ Members. Tuscan Grill is still an amenity for our breakfast(s). The Elite+ members receive everything in all classes that are below us and the few enhancements in our tier that were not affected by the Always Included" program. We still get the 2 bags Laundry (wash and dry only) per person per cruise. Persian Spa Free during a Port day; discounts on Photos, and other things. Check out my attachment.

New Captain's Club Benefits.pdf

[budmeister]

On 1/2/2021 at 7:50 PM, sanger727 said:

 The number of people who did not get drinks and internet included in their bookings before and will now is likely negligible.

But we do exist! Celebrity is deciding to do without us, the less profitable people taking up a cabin. Their choice, I get it.

[jelayne]

48 minutes ago, budmeister said:

But we do exist! Celebrity is deciding to do without us, the less profitable people taking up a cabin. Their choice, I get it.

Business is about making a profit.  After what will be a year with no income  I don’t think they want to get rid of the “less profitable people”;  as much as  they just need passengers who generate a greater profit to pay down the tremendous debt they have.

[LGW59]

13 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Business is about making a profit.  After what will be a year with no income  I don’t think they want to get rid of the “less profitable people”;  as much as  they just need passengers who generate a greater profit to pay down the tremendous debt they have.

well said!

[Pinboy]

10 hours ago, jelayne said:

Business is about making a profit.  After what will be a year with no income  I don’t think they want to get rid of the “less profitable people”;  as much as  they just need passengers who generate a greater profit to pay down the tremendous debt they have.

Let's see how long the AI lasts when the " less profitable people " spend their recreational dollars elsewhere and the " piano stops ringing ". 

 

 

[39august]

I remember that as Elite we formerly got a higher discount for spa. Wasn't it 20% discount? And wasn't the discount higher than 10% to upgrade to a premium beverage package from classic? Not necessarily complaining, but wonder if I am remembering correctly. 

[ChucktownSteve]

13 hours ago, jelayne said:

Business is about making a profit.  After what will be a year with no income  I don’t think they want to get rid of the “less profitable people”;  as much as  they just need passengers who generate a greater profit to pay down the tremendous debt they have.

 

Yes it is.  However it is not my primary concern that they make a high profit.  I'll let someone else do that. 😁

[ChucktownSteve]

1 hour ago, Pinboy said:

Let's see how long the AI lasts when the " less profitable people " spend their recreational dollars elsewhere and the " piano stops ringing ". 

 

 

 

Don't worry.  The millennials will be there to pick up the slack according to the marketing folks at XX.

[ORV]

1 hour ago, 39august said:

I remember that as Elite we formerly got a higher discount for spa. Wasn't it 20% discount? And wasn't the discount higher than 10% to upgrade to a premium beverage package from classic? Not necessarily complaining, but wonder if I am remembering correctly. 

I don't believe there was a discount before on the upgrade to the beverage package. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, 39august said:

I remember that as Elite we formerly got a higher discount for spa. Wasn't it 20% discount? And wasn't the discount higher than 10% to upgrade to a premium beverage package from classic? Not necessarily complaining, but wonder if I am remembering correctly. 

The discount was on the purchase of a beverage package.  There was no Captains Club discount on cost of the upgrade.  Occasionally a customer service rep or crew member would mistakenly allow the discount.

 

 

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, Pinboy said:

Let's see how long the AI lasts when the " less profitable people " spend their recreational dollars elsewhere and the " piano stops ringing ". 

 

 

La-la-la de-de da
La-la de-de da da-da...🎹

[LBSKI]

I have a question I hope someone can answer.  I am enclosing a photo of a prize/gift that I received on a cruise last December.  I think I was told it was something for the computer, like a flash drive.  Can someone tell me what it is and how to use it?  Thank you so much!

[emmas gran]

1 hour ago, LBSKI said:

I have a question I hope someone can answer.  I am enclosing a photo of a prize/gift that I received on a cruise last December.  I think I was told it was something for the computer, like a flash drive.  Can someone tell me what it is and how to use it?  Thank you so much!

We have one it was a Trivia prize. No instructions  , like you no idea how to use it so gave it one of the grandchildren!!

Edited January 19, 2021 by emmas gran

[ChucktownSteve]

I have not seen one of these before but from the picture I'd suggest the flash drive attached to the card swings out to the left so the card becomes a handle type.  The drive then plugs into the USB port on your computer.

 

It's basically a small storage device for pictures or files.  Depending upon the capacity size, that would determine how useful it it.  Think of it as a mobile mini computer drive.  Sometimes it's useful to transfer files between computers.  You can just drag and drop them from one computer to the flash drive and then from the flash drive to another computer. 

 

You can also store lots of pictures on the flash drive as a back up in case your main computer crashes and you can't recover the files from it..

Edited January 19, 2021 by ChucktownSteve

[p18750]

On 1/16/2021 at 7:54 PM, jelayne said:

Business is about making a profit.  After what will be a year with no income  I don’t think they want to get rid of the “less profitable people”;  as much as  they just need passengers who generate a greater profit to pay down the tremendous debt they have.

Well, actually there are two important items. In the long term you must earn a profit or you go out of business but in the short term you must cash flow. In economics these are called covering your fixed costs and covering your variable costs. If you can cover your variable costs of transporting a person in the short term this will cover your cash flow but in the long term you must cover both the fixed and variable costs to stay in business. 

Right now there is no reason for Celebrity to discount cruises that may or may not actually sail so the price represents the fixed and variable costs plus profit. Once it becomes clearer whether a cruise will sail and what the occupancy is they will adjust the price accordingly and may get as low as the variable cost. . 

[jelayne]

4 minutes ago, p18750 said:

Well, actually there are two important items. In the long term you must earn a profit or you go out of business but in the short term you must cash flow. In economics these are called covering your fixed costs and covering your variable costs. If you can cover your variable costs of transporting a person in the short term this will cover your cash flow but in the long term you must cover both the fixed and variable costs to stay in business. 

Right now there is no reason for Celebrity to discount cruises that may or may not actually sail so the price represents the fixed and variable costs plus profit. Once it becomes clearer whether a cruise will sail and what the occupancy is they will adjust the price accordingly and may get as low as the variable cost. . 

 Your response has me a bit confused.  My comments said nothing about discounting cruises.   I do understand  fixed and variable costs, cash flow and profit.  But thanks for the reminder.

[p18750]

On 1/21/2021 at 4:20 PM, jelayne said:

 Your response has me a bit confused.  My comments said nothing about discounting cruises.   I do understand  fixed and variable costs, cash flow and profit.  But thanks for the reminder.

My comment was regarding your comment that businesses must make a profit and I just pointed out that cash flow is more important that profit in the short term. 

[hcat]

On 1/3/2021 at 10:11 PM, PBTravelBug said:

 Not a Celebrity Employee nor an extremely wealthy person - whatever that really means because in the grand scheme of life & the world we are on a cruise forum chatting about perks on a vacation so I think that makes all of us well off.

 

We are Elite+, in our mid-50's, been cruising for 30 years etc.. Fell in love with Celebrity 19 years ago  on a Thanksgiving week cruise. I finally found a place that just felt right and have not really been interested in going elsewhere. Love the Celebrity vibe. Love the beautiful ships. I have always felt that Celebrity is dependable & consistent. Can not wait to get back on a cruise ship!

 

We are not big drinkers but we have come to enjoy the beverage package vs the loyalty perk because we enjoy sitting at Cafe Bacio and ordering specialty coffees, we like grabbing a bottle of water whenever and wherever, I like my glass of Proseco kept full at dinner, my husband likes to try different bourbon, scotch, whiskey, and so on. We are on vacation and the beverage package just makes it feel more carefree and vacation like!

 

We have enjoyed the 5-7 happy hour in an area designated for Captain's Club because we like meeting fellow travelers & seeing the same people each night. We have learned a lot about various itineraries, met interesting people, and had some great conversations! 

 

I do not particularly care about the internet and am fine with the minutes we get as a perk. We still work so as long as we can check in on business from time to time we are good (actually great) not being plugged in while on vacation. Would prefer gratuities over internet - just our preference.

 

For us, if Celebrity is listening, we like the perks that make life easier - special lounge for boarding and debarkation (I like to be the first on & off the ship), the morning breakfast lounge (perhaps expand this to include lunch & tea/snacks), wine tasting (perhaps do more with this), cabin upgrades, and I am sure I can think of more.

 

 

Great post..many  X long time X loyalists can relate!