Celebrity Follows in Paths ofOther Main line Cruise Lines

[mcrcruiser]

Seems to us reading these board that the cuts  in the dining room 7 else where is nothing new  .Holland America & Princess are doing the exact same things .what starts in one cruise line is usually followed by the other cruise lines 

[cruising.mark.uk]

Wow.  Different entities in the same industry basing commercial decisions on what their closest competitors are doing.  Who'd have thought it?

[horseymike]

The cruise lines are doing anything they can to offset the mountain of debt they have accumulated. If the customers will keep booking, they will keep cutting.

Edited January 7, 2023 by horseymike

[Los_Pepes]

22 minutes ago, cruising.mark.uk said:

Wow.  Different entities in the same industry basing commercial decisions on what their closest competitors are doing.  Who'd have thought it?

That happens when when the three largest cruise companies have a combined 85% market share. Competition in sparse and they can simply mimic each others reduction in services without any real fallout. Just look at what happened when we were left with 3 mainline air carriers. When one puts in a new fee before the ink is dry on the press release, the other two follow suit. 

[LGW59]

7 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Seems to us reading these board that the cuts  in the dining room 7 else where is nothing new  .Holland America & Princess are doing the exact same things .what starts in one cruise line is usually followed by the other cruise lines 

There is a vast difference in "reading" these boards vs actual personal "experience" on board the ship.  Lord knows if there aren't oatmeal raisin cookies avaialble at the exact moment someone glides by in the OV cafe or the freakin lemon tarts at Al Bacio are a tad smaller than they were the last time someone cruised, they are going to be on the CC mountain screaming all about it.   

[hrhdhd]

Not sure what your point is.

[viperfoth]

Well I have to add there was no Oatmeal cookies our whole cruise on Equinox in December! So it must be cuts 🙂

 

 

JK, the food was amazing on Equinox and plenty of it. And I talked to the Food and Beverage manager when she was walking around and she said they just randomly pick cookies to bake. This time was peanut butter. So tinfoil hat on that one got removed 😄 

 

 

[horseymike]

3 hours ago, LGW59 said:

There is a vast difference in "reading" these boards vs actual personal "experience" on board the ship.  Lord knows if there aren't oatmeal raisin cookies avaialble at the exact moment someone glides by in the OV cafe or the freakin lemon tarts at Al Bacio are a tad smaller than they were the last time someone cruised, they are going to be on the CC mountain screaming all about it.   

 

[horseymike]

Those lemon tarts are still quite good. Now I ask for 2. 😋

[miched]

So this means that Celebrity

9 hours ago, viperfoth said:

Well I have to add there was no Oatmeal cookies our whole cruise on Equinox in December! So it must be cuts 🙂

 

 

 

Supply issue 🤗.  No oatmeal?   
 

Tons of it at Costco and cheap.  

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅
 

 

[RD64]

During Covid everyone was saying just get me back onboard- I don’t care about anything else. Now people are complaining about everything else.

[weregoingcruising]

43 minutes ago, miched said:

So this means that Celebrity

 

Supply issue 🤗.  No oatmeal?   
 

Tons of it at Costco and cheap.  

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅
 

 

I heard at Costco the package's are  larger than other stores. I could never  be able to buy a 1 ton package no matter how cheap.

[Ex-Airbalancer]

10 hours ago, LGW59 said:

There is a vast difference in "reading" these boards vs actual personal "experience" on board the ship.  Lord knows if there aren't oatmeal raisin cookies avaialble at the exact moment someone glides by in the OV cafe or the freakin lemon tarts at Al Bacio are a tad smaller than they were the last time someone cruised, they are going to be on the CC mountain screaming all about it.   

You know their Oatmeal raisin cookies aren’t that good , pretty easy to make better ones 

[The Med]

11 hours ago, Los_Pepes said:

That happens when when the three largest cruise companies have a combined 85% market share. Competition in sparse, just look at what happened when we were left with 3 mainline air carriers. 

 

Exactly this.

 

Premium brands, airlines,  and now cruise lines, at one time striving to be the best in the business, trying to stay one step ahead of the competition. 
 

Now, sadly, it’s a race to the bottom.

 

 

[LGW59]

21 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

You know their Oatmeal raisin cookies aren’t that good , pretty easy to make better ones 

It's OK, the pastries at Il Bacio are amazing, I spend more time there than I do in my room

[mpdog42]

5 minutes ago, The Med said:

 

Exactly this.

 

Premium brands, airlines,  and now cruise lines, at one time striving to be the best in the business, trying to stay one step ahead of the competition. 
 

Now, sadly, it’s a race to the bottom.

 

 

Mic Drop....

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 hour ago, LGW59 said:

It's OK, the pastries at Il Bacio are amazing, I spend more time there than I do in my room

I am still upset they didn’t have Apple fritters on the Apex🤬😁

[Jim_Iain]

8 hours ago, horseymike said:

Those lemon tarts are still quite good. Now I ask for 2. 😋

 

I was holding off... hey don't attack my Lemon Tarts.... I'm disappointed when they have the chocolate ones instead - so have a couple in reserve --- Just in case.

[mayleeman]

The Ranger cookies on RCL are the best. If they go, I go.

Edited January 8, 2023 by mayleeman

[NutsAboutGolf]

17 hours ago, Los_Pepes said:

That happens when when the three largest cruise companies have a combined 85% market share. Competition in sparse and they can simply mimic each others reduction in services without any real fallout. Just look at what happened when we were left with 3 mainline air carriers. When one puts in a new fee before the ink is dry on the press release, the other two follow suit. 

 

Only thing about cruise lines is they are in competition with themselves and visiting by land

[the penguins]

On 1/7/2023 at 6:58 AM, mcrcruiser said:

Seems to us reading these board that the cuts  in the dining room 7 else where is nothing new  .Holland America & Princess are doing the exact same things .what starts in one cruise line is usually followed by the other cruise lines 

We will soon see. We have our first Princess cruise in March which still has a 24 hour buffet and a 24 hour International Cafe (coffee shop with more food options than Al Bacio). We switched to this cruise during X's experiment with compolsary AI back on X for the October TA.

[deepcman]

I don't want to rain on your parade but got off the Enchanted Princess a few weeks ago and we experienced all the same issues that people are writing on these boards. Staffing shortages, few activities, poor service and poor food quality. Lots of food choices but it all tasted the same and for me to pass on sweets, just says it all. It was so bad that once we recovered from the Covid that we caught on the ship, I called and cancelled the 6 cruises that we had booked with them. Carnival's $28.5 billion debt load is forcing them to cut costs everywhere.

In the end I think you mat be changing 4 quarters for a dollar but live and learn. Good luck

[ABoatNerd]

The downgrading was at full speed before covid, which resulted in our household and cruising friends not cruising since 2018. Downgrading will accelerate in this industry for the many reasons stated across all CC forums.

However, we all commenced customized land trips via Globus and Mighty Trains and private guides all across Europe - the BEST vacation experience. The sights, local food, local experiences so amazing, it blew cruising to the curb, with a few exceptions like Norway, South America etc. 

It depends upon what you want, but seeing and experiencing the world is better ashore.

[horseymike]

Thanks for the tip . 

[cruisemom42]

23 minutes ago, ABoatNerd said:

 

However, we all commenced customized land trips via Globus and Mighty Trains and private guides all across Europe - the BEST vacation experience. The sights, local food, local experiences so amazing, it blew cruising to the curb, with a few exceptions like Norway, South America etc. 

It depends upon what you want, but seeing and experiencing the world is better ashore.

 

Some of us already do this (as well as independent land travel to other countries) and have been doing it for years.

 

Does not replace cruising. At least not for me.