Two styles of cruising emerging WITHIN Celebrity... traditional vs. high energy YOUNGER crowds.

[Wolf 8]

With age (then early 60's) and growing net worth we moved up to Celebrity about 5 years ago.  We always enjoy the few bold young ones who find themselves among fossils yet are willing to get their party on.  They would never guess that 300 years we could drink & dance all night (then function at work the next day).  We ran Boston and the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim a few times, too.

 

What I do find strange is are the folks my age and younger who only semi-awaken to songs from the 1950's or elder.  And they play Canasta.  They are proper and act their age.  Forgive me, but I have not forgotten seeing Van Halen, Pat Benatar, ZZ Top and AC/DC back in the day.  Nobody played Canasta.

Still Celebrity ships are magnificent, the food is amazing, the staff are wonderful and I can seamlessly enjoy some and let the rest slide to the side. . . . .

[miched]

3 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

🤢

 

As one of the younger ones on a Celebrity ship, there are many of us that won't step foot on South Beach!

But you aren’t the target.   They want that other crowd.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🌅🇺🇸

[dlh015]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

When X runs commercials, they use actors with a younger age range than the actual passengers

Precisely! Heck, just look at the pics in the Planner...

[dlh015]

2 hours ago, Wolf 8 said:

Forgive me, but I have not forgotten seeing Van Halen, Pat Benatar, ZZ Top and AC/DC back in the day.  Nobody played Canasta.

I hear that, brother or sister as the case may be!!! 

[mp988]

5 hours ago, miched said:

My observations and based on Caribbean cruises
 

The early  shows are usually 30%.   

The later shows are more crowded.   
 

Since most are frequent passengers they no longer want to see the same lame production shows that haven’t been changed  and won’t attend.   I am one 

 

Some guests entertainers are good and could warrant seeing again but for the most part they are constant repeats.   Don’t need to see again. 
 

The crowded party showing the younger crowd could have been a special party for the crew.   This happened on a cruise we were on.   The pool deck was closed to the passengers for a crew party.   It is like the photos in the brochures glamorizing the cruise experience showing the young dressed to the nines dining and drinking.   I have never seen that many younger passengers on a cruise other than the crew or it may have been a staged event for the video.  

 

On our last cruise the atrium was full of ‘old” people participating in the silent disco.  They were in the atrium, on the stairs and along the upper decks.   It was the same for the moon party.   The pool area was packed with the old folks. 
 

It is marketing but the old folks are those paying the bills and the younger generation isn’t interested in cruises and most can’t afford it.  If they can afford it  there are other places that are more attractive and desirable where they can spend their money without any restrictions.   EX.  They can go to any bar and purchase real premium spirits and not be told it is a supply issue.  We were recently.   it is nothing for them to buy a bottle at a club paying $1000, smoke weed, doing drugs and having free for all sex.   Won’t happen on X no matter how hard they try.  Too many restrictions to attract that crowd.  
 

Why go on a cruise when you have South Beach? 
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

If you left out $1000 a bottle and added in massive "Family" fights you might be talking about the current state of Carnival...Say to say!

[Gracie115]

11 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Off the Solstice two full sailings ago, they posted a DJ right by the Martini bar

😞

[Ipeeinthepools]

11 hours ago, Wolf 8 said:

With age (then early 60's) and growing net worth we moved up to Celebrity about 5 years ago.  We always enjoy the few bold young ones who find themselves among fossils yet are willing to get their party on.  They would never guess that 300 years we could drink & dance all night (then function at work the next day).  We ran Boston and the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim a few times, too.

 

What I do find strange is are the folks my age and younger who only semi-awaken to songs from the 1950's or elder.  And they play Canasta.  They are proper and act their age.  Forgive me, but I have not forgotten seeing Van Halen, Pat Benatar, ZZ Top and AC/DC back in the day.  Nobody played Canasta.

Still Celebrity ships are magnificent, the food is amazing, the staff are wonderful and I can seamlessly enjoy some and let the rest slide to the side. . . . .

 

Congratulations.  Running the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim is a remarkable feat.

[Ipeeinthepools]

On 11/30/2022 at 2:05 AM, taras333 said:

 

Not to digress but.. .Prior to hearing that the live music venue turns into a club with a DJ late night, I thought I was going to have to make a suggestion to the cruise director about "demographic" and music choice in the venues.  

 

When I was cruising in my 30's there were folks on the ship 60-70 years old who grew up on music in the 1950's... so a classical violin trio in the lounge might have been appropriate.  

 

Now that I'm 55, maybe I look "old" to the younger crowd, but I like the music I listened to in the 1980's-90's.  ( I don't want the violin trio. lol  like my grandmother would have enjoyed. 🙂 )  

 

So I'm hoping the entertainment directors are cognizant of this... not just the new demographic of a younger crowd, but the shift of what a 'middle age' crowd  (my age group) looks like and grew up with.  

 

As someone currently in 60 - 70 demographic I hope they don't destroy the live music by switching to the modern music of the 80's and 90's.  Celebrity shouldn't ignore the musical preference of their current cruisers.  Let's focus on music the current cruisers would enjoy.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

43 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

As someone currently in 60 - 70 demographic I hope they don't destroy the live music by switching to the modern music of the 80's and 90's.  Celebrity shouldn't ignore the musical preference of their current cruisers.  Let's focus on music the current cruisers would enjoy.

I am happy to hear the music of the ‘80’s, it nice to hear it for the first as the first time around with 4 children all we heard was children tunes in the ‘80’s 🤣

as long as they don’t go back to the early 60’s and 50’s 😁

[swjumbo]

On 11/29/2022 at 10:17 PM, mrsgoggins said:

Interesting video, but having done a week on Apex just to see for myself, I had come to a similar conclusions.  I have taken 4 cruises on Silhouette and 1 on Apex since the start of 2021 and won't be taking any more on the Edge class ships.  The IVs are just not for me nor their ultra modern approach, shows, piped music etc; although I appreciate the desire of Celebrity to appeal to a (affluent) younger demographic. 

 

I'm doing 2 cruises on Equinox and 1 on Silhouette in 2023 and have other lines booked also.  Once Apex is positioned in Southampton for the summer season 2024, that will be the end of my using them for cruising out of the UK. 

Same predicament here.

 

Love Solstice class ships. Didn’t like the Retreat on Edge or the ship.

 

We missed the ‘naughty’ club feel of the Sky Lounge in the evening and hated the bowels of the ship ‘feel’ on Edge whether it was the Martini bar or the club. We have had so many fun evenings in Sky Lounge. 

 

We’ve just tried Cunard Queens Grill hoping we’d like it but didn’t.

 

The ship, Queen Victoria, was like a cross channel ferry compared with X ships. Awful smells and just felt grubby.

 

The butler wasn’t a patch on any X butler and our fellow passengers were a tad more reserved than we’re used to. 
The staff were great.

 

So; in a nutshell, what to do?

 

We’ve got two Silhouette cruises booked next year from S’ton but what to do the following year as we don’t want to fly and live only an hour away.

 

P&O, MSC, Cunard or Celebrity? 

 

It’ll have to be Celebrity but in a Sunset veranda. We’ll just have to enjoy next year in the knowledge that all good things come to an end.

 

[ABoatNerd]

On 11/29/2022 at 1:07 PM, Jeremiah1212 said:

Celebrity isn't 'abandoning the traditionalist cruiser' that has has been with them for years. It's the other way around. The traditionalist cruiser is abandoning Celebrity. Their cruising years don't last forever. The bulk of the Celebrity experience hasn't changed since the vision they had in 04/05/06 when Solstice was launched. They have to continue to evolve and change. You can't keep everything exactly the same for 20 years. 

 

The traditionalist cruiser is abandoning Celebrity and going to the Premium lines to acquire the product Celebrity used to provide. Myself, we travel Oceania, Regent, Cunard.

The Celebrity product has changed and been downgraded so much that many Celebrity Refugees moved on and the many posts on CC over the years note this. The Connie is my favorite vessel and the S class is wonderful. E class not ever, the loss of connection to the sea is disgusting. 

The bigger issue will there be enough future cruisers to keep all the ships going, I for one have 0 cruises booked and do not foresee any in the future. Personalize land travel touring is my gig now!

 

[taras333]

3 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

I for one have 0 cruises booked, and do not foresee any in the future. Personalized LAND travel touring is my gig now!

 

Guess you will have to change your log in name. Lol  (ABoatNerd)

[phoenix_dream]

On 11/29/2022 at 7:05 AM, goofysmom99 said:

Aqua class (formerly undesirable cabins below the pool deck) is a true marketing triumph.

I think there is some truth to that. At the same time have sailed in Aqua many, many times and rarely have experienced noise issues.  I love Blu.

[phoenix_dream]

On 11/29/2022 at 10:07 AM, Jeremiah1212 said:

Celebrity isn't 'abandoning the traditionalist cruiser' that has has been with them for years. It's the other way around. The traditionalist cruiser is abandoning Celebrity. Their cruising years don't last forever. The bulk of the Celebrity experience hasn't changed since the vision they had in 04/05/06 when Solstice was launched. They have to continue to evolve and change. You can't keep everything exactly the same for 20 years. 

There are those of us who value tradition.  Years ago I had a great sailing on the Norway,  which had a real ocean liner feel unlike today's floating resorts. Everyone always talks about change like change is always good. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. Sometimes change is made just for changes sake. And I guess as people age out of cruising you could say they are abandoning it. But Celebrity ships are still filled with folks in their 50's, 60's and 70's who likely have 20, 30, or even more years left to sail. Sometimes I feel like we don't matter to Celebrity anymore, even though it's our loyalty and $$ that got them to where they are now.

[CruisingGatorGirl]

20 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

🤢

 

As one of the younger ones on a Celebrity ship, there are many of us that won't step foot on South Beach!

 

 Agree!! We are in our mid 30's and for land vacations choose Ritz Carlton instead of all inclusives and pick Celebrity over party ships. Took our first Celebrity cruise at 25. 

[kirtihk]

On 11/29/2022 at 12:11 PM, dcyonce said:

Same for us ... the "New Celebrity experience" on Edge class ships is not for us. 

 

We sailed on the Edge in the Iconic Suite. The ship was beautiful, but the experience that Celebrity was pushing was disappointing. They have backed off on some of the more extreme and nutty experiences (such as people dressed as goofy animals in Eden), but the experience is still not to our liking. It is doubtful that we will ever book another cruise on an Edge class ship. 

 

Currently we have about a dozen cruises booked in Penthouse suites on Millenium and Solstice class ships. If Celebrity brings the Edge experiences to those ships ... then we will most definitely look for a new cruise line. My wife and I are double-Zenith and loyal to Celebrity and still enjoy the traditional Retreat experience. 

 

Hoping Celebrity does not abandon the traditional cruiser that they built their cruise line on !!

 

-- Don

So funny!!! - that's my best experiences on any cruise line/ship for over 20 years!  I was on the Edge twice and spent hours in Eden on every single day!  The same way as I spent hours every day in the SEA Thermal Suite while I'm sure the majority would say they either don't care about it or hated it (too hot, too steamy, too quiet, "too naked", too whatever).

Edited December 1, 2022 by kirtihk

[Bo1953]

11 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

 

As someone currently in 60 - 70 demographic I hope they don't destroy the live music by switching to the modern music of the 80's and 90's.  Celebrity shouldn't ignore the musical preference of their current cruisers.  Let's focus on music the current cruisers would enjoy.

As a 'current' cruiser, I do like and prefer music between 2010 and 2021....

 

The 'oldies but goodies' are great for a theme night... IMO

 

bon voyage

[Cruising89143]

2 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

As a 'current' cruiser, I do like and prefer music between 2010 and 2021....

 

The 'oldies but goodies' are great for a theme night... IMO

 

bon voyage

🙂🙂 Not in the age group by far but we still listen to today’s current music. I cringe at those 70 and 80’s parties that RCI holds on the Royal Promenade and plugs with anything 50’s and 60’s. 

[ISABELLA]

I wish  Celebrity has better entertainment. Tired to see Life from 2018. Also, house bands are terrible. We always enjoyed good tea on Celebrity, but on our last cruise in November there was very poor selection and no organic teas at all. 

 

 

 

[Lastdance]

15 minutes ago, ISABELLA said:

I wish  Celebrity has better entertainment. Tired to see Life from 2018. Also, house bands are terrible. We always enjoyed good tea on Celebrity, but on our last cruise in November there was very poor selection and no organic teas at all. 

 

 

 

I am so sorry you were unable to get Tea Forte, as we had it on our b2b!  

[SusieAV8R]

On 11/29/2022 at 9:00 AM, Georgia_Peaches said:

Interesting video!  Celebrity has "revolutionized" several of their S class ships to be more like the E class.  I think if they really are trying to cover their bases as it relates to appealing to a variety of age demographics, they need to leave the S class ships alone.  It's one thing to refurbish the decor and another thing entirely to take a ship and morph it into something else (ship within a ship concept).  If they continue to revolutionize the remaining S class ships to be more like the E class, then in my view they really aren't playing to multiple age demographics at all.  I guess I'm a traditionalist.

X has the problem with wanting to have a "luxury" line with correspondingly high prices and yet focusing on the younger generation and creating a Carnival Cruise line atmosphere via E-class.  (Why leave that with RCCL?) Has X considered what will be the result if loyal X folks take their money to another line that does provide elegant luxury for nearly the same cost?

[SusieAV8R]

7 hours ago, CruisingGatorGirl said:

 

 Agree!! We are in our mid 30's and for land vacations choose Ritz Carlton instead of all inclusives and pick Celebrity over party ships. Took our first Celebrity cruise at 25. 

Ritz Carlton in Cancun was our fave, over all inclusives!

[SRQbeachgirl]

12 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

The bigger issue will there be enough future cruisers to keep all the ships going, I for one have 0 cruises booked and do not foresee any in the future. Personalize land travel touring is my gig now!

 

 

Sure there will be enough people...like us who have cruised Carnival and RCI for years (and still will) but are ready for something a little calmer sometimes.   

[RichYak]

18 minutes ago, SusieAV8R said:

X has the problem with wanting to have a "luxury" line with correspondingly high prices

X is trying to sell snake oil. They are betting that there are enough gullible buyers. It may work for a while. Time will tell for how long. 

[NutsAboutGolf]

12 hours ago, ABoatNerd said:

The bigger issue will there be enough future cruisers to keep all the ships going, I for one have 0 cruises booked and do not foresee any in the future. Personalize land travel touring is my gig now!

 

Personalized land travel isn't anything new...Also, if the cruise departs from a FL port, roughly half the people avoid flights to drive to the port; will most likely need a flight for a tropical land based vacation