Celebrity Management Undercover? 👀

[Spif Barwunkel]

6 minutes ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

I think it's important to remember the niche of the niche of cruisers that Cruise Critic boards ends up being.

 

A great example of this would be Infinite Verandahs. Reading CC, you'd believe them to be like living in a cave, a total miss, and sure to bring down the cruising industry. Oddly, this has not been the case with the general public, who tend to love the rooms. They've been so successful that Royal Caribbean is porting them over to their next new build... the general public loves them, and ~250ish frequent posters on CC hate them! You do the math.

 

As I've mentioned before, I've talked to celebrity execs at some industry events, and CC tends to get a big eye roll, exactly for those reasons. The thing they *do* take seriously are comment cards, and unless passengers provide feedback on those surveys on issues onboard, things are unlikely to change. 

 

In many ways, these boards are the long tail of cruising... a tiny segment of a wide audience. Until these concerns reach that wider audience, it's a moot point.

Good post. There are those who will huff and puff and try to blow the house down. Ain't happenin'. Although, proper critiques when properly placed will garner the proper attention.  

[catgirl411]

12 hours ago, suzyed said:

I agree that the MDR food is not as varied or as tasty as it was the before.  The Specialty restaurants  are still really good and the buffet on our recent sailing was pretty great....and I usually hate buffets. We have done cruises where we never stepped foot in the buffet but this time we went there every day for either breakfast or lunch. They had every kind of food that you could imagine and for most part very good!  Lots of fresh fruit and my favorite bagel and lox each day for breakfast.  
Even when the food is just ok or sub par that is not an influence when we consider booking our next cruise. The beautiful ships, service, staff, cabin stewards, cruise director staff, musicians, etc are all great!  That's what we care about most!
(Of course experiences differ by ship...your experience may be different)

We’ve been on over 25 cruises on many different lines and ships. Most recently, we’ve zeroed in Princess, Celebrity and Oceania. We’ve enjoyed every cruise we’ve been on. Every one had more positives than negatives.  On the food front, Oceania is the best imho but it is pricey. There are so many aspects to cruising and so many personal preferences that it is impossible to find the perfect one.  Our next two are a TA on Equinox in October and a Antarctic “drive-by” on Eclipse in February 2024, followed by the Med on Oceania Vista in October 2024 and I’m sure we will enjoy them all! 

[Pinboy]

22 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Although, proper critiques when properly placed will garner the proper attention. 

Exactly correct--

Years ago our Marketing Professor taught:

" Only complain to someone ( Department ) that can / will do something about it, in a manner that they will want to ".

Was that you ???

 

 

 

 

[Spif Barwunkel]

4 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

Exactly correct--

Years ago our Marketing Professor taught:

" Only complain to someone ( Department ) that can / will do something about it, in a manner that they will want to ".

Was that you ???

 

 

 

 

You flatter me, Pinboy. Your marketing professor is a wiser man than I.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Spif Barwunkel

[kirtihk]

34 minutes ago, Pinboy said:

Exactly correct--

Years ago our Marketing Professor taught:

" Only complain to someone ( Department ) that can / will do something about it, in a manner that they will want to ".

Was that you ???

 

 

 

 

Or... better yet not to complain at all (we learned from a couple during our cruise last June on the luxury yacht-like Ponant Le Bougainville when, of course, as I previously wrote, there were so many downgrades as everywhere else these (as some try to imply as "new norm") days) - it would be superior to complain with a purpose of just to please someone's "liking it".

[Spif Barwunkel]

4 hours ago, TMLAalum said:

Maybe you should change your CC name to Buzz Lightyear. To Infinity and Beyond!🚀

When I asked some of the younger grandkids about using Buzz Lightyear, I was met with a vehement, resounding, NO WAY. It seems they did not want the name and reputation of their favorite superhero tarnished. How do you move on from that?

[Bo1953]

19 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Become vegan? 🙂🙂🙂 

It is an option and I get most special requests I want and desire....

 

No cut backs on my dining menu...

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[Fly and Sail]

How would you go completely "undercover" on a cruise? It's an international voyage and you have to give your name and passport.

 

Even though, as the op mentioned, aside from the CEO I don't think many if any of the executive team would be recognizable unless you engage in a deeper conversation with ship management.

[TeeRick]

19 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

I hope you have an enjoyable trip and you’re not affected by any cutbacks.  Although you’re not eating in the MDR, can you do us a favor?   Can you stop by the MDR on a couple of days in the afternoon and post some pictures of the evening MDR menus?  I think that would help this discussion.  Thanks

Here is MDR tonight on Equinox.  And Luminae too.  We are night 3 of a nine night.

[Ipeeinthepools]

10 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Here is MDR tonight on Equinox.  And Luminae too.  We are night 3 of a nine night.

Thank you.  At least I wouldn’t starve tonight 😉. My perception is that there are 1 or fewer selections for appetizers and entrées.  I’m not sure if that is backed up by fact.   Thanks again,  Enjoy your cruise.  I can’t say that the menu for Luminae screams out to me that it’s a lot better.  I hope they can cook the steak. I wonder if the Luminae comes from a dedicated kitchen.

[Ipeeinthepools]

Sounds like cheerleading to me

[TeeRick]

8 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Thank you.  At least I wouldn’t starve tonight 😉. My perception is that there are 1 or fewer selections for appetizers and entrées.  I’m not sure if that is backed up by fact.   Thanks again,  Enjoy your cruise.  I can’t say that the menu for Luminae screams out to me that it’s a lot better.  I hope they can cook the steak. I wonder if the Luminae comes from a dedicated kitchen.

We have ordered escargot and shrimp cocktail so far from the MDR menu and it was not an issue.

[sweetp0618]

On 1/22/2023 at 11:20 AM, RHudson1825 said:

I am the beyond next week so will see for myself. I find that many people like to complain. The worst food on a cruise for me was NCL right before COVID. 

I agree. The last cruise on NCL was our last. The food was disgusting and the ship was really crowded (pre-covid).

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

17 hours ago, Germancruiser said:

I would think they don´t need any prove of cut backs, they ordered them- so there is no need to send someone in undercover. They are well aware whats going on.

 

They are aware of what they ordered, and yes, they are getting feedback via email...but if they were undercover on board as "regular" guests, they could see and overhear passengers ON the ships experiencing it so it's not just emails and/or second-hand reports of what onboard crew and leadership are hearing.

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Here is MDR tonight on Equinox.  And Luminae too.  We are night 3 of a nine night.

The MDR menu looks just like Silhouette's last May/June. If that's after the "cutbacks" it will be fine with us.

[NMTraveller]

5 hours ago, Bo1953 said:

It is an option and I get most special requests I want and desire....

 

No cut backs on my dining menu...

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

I typically order a salad when there are not any other good options on the menu...

[rmalbers]

I breezed thru the comments kind of fast and didn't see this mentioned but: I have to think that X really didn't have anything to say about any of the cuts,  I'd bet they were given numbers that they had to reduce by RCG and they had to figure out how to do it, within the 'guidelines'.  Not that it makes anyone feel any better but I think most of the blame for these changes is misdirected and needs to be placed a little higher up in the RCG org chart.    

[Bo1953]

9 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I typically order a salad when there are not any other good options on the menu...

Yes, I do order salad as well, in addition to an entree which could be ratatouille, dahl, tofu and vegetable stir fry etc...

 

No need for me to wait and see what is on the menu for any particular night, as some items take some time to prepare so advance notice of my wants is on order...

 

Thus creating my own menu, even in the Specialty Restaurants... works for me, yet I understand it does not for everyone...

 

bon appetit and bon voyage

[phoenix_dream]

On 1/22/2023 at 3:12 PM, NMTraveller said:

The menu that I am looking at has for entrees:

 

Grilled New York Steak Salad

Broiled Dorade

Cabernet-Braised Short Ribs

Smoked Chicken Breast.

 

Not very much variety or not something that I would choose.  I will not be dining in Blu on my next cruise.

Their short ribs are our favorite menu item of any of the included restaurants.  Delicious!

[NMTraveller]

With the reduced menu offerings I cannot imagine being on a 14 day cruise with such a menu.  Even if the cuts of beef and fish were higher quality (which they are not),  one would quickly get tired of the repetitive menu with the reduced number of entrees.

Edited January 24, 2023 by NMTraveller

[TeeRick]

13 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

With the reduced menu offerings I cannot imagine being on a 14 day cruise with such a menu.  Even if the cuts of beef and fish were higher quality (which they are not),  one would quickly get tired of the repetitive menu with the reduced number of entrees.

I cannot speak to the MDR quality this cruise but the menu does not appear to be reduced.  We have enjoyed Luminae - see that thread.  We are on Equinox.

[NMTraveller]

1 minute ago, TeeRick said:

I cannot speak to the MDR quality this cruise but the menu does not appear to be reduced.  We have enjoyed Luminae - see that thread.  We are on Equinox.

And the cuts are to the MDR menu and not Luminae.

[RichYak]

3 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

And the cuts are to the MDR menu and not Luminae.

I prefer M-class ships so I can order off the MDR menu from Luminae when I choose to. So to me, any MDR cuts also affect my Luminae dining experience.

[TeeRick]

4 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

And the cuts are to the MDR menu and not Luminae.

Ok but I posted the MDR menu earlier in this thread for one night.  I can do that again tonight.  Are you saying that is reduced?  It seems not but I normally do not dine there.

[D C]

On 1/22/2023 at 9:43 AM, Bo1953 said:

As far as I know, the only "bad publicity" X is getting is on CC...

 

No publications OR TV/Cable News unless I missed it???

 

bon voyage 

 

Mainstream media doesn't pick up cruise stories except for the noteworthy stuff.  Loads of sick people (but not with covid), falling overboard, rescues, fires, failed engines, that sort of thing. 

 

Bad word of mouth publicity that is far more important than a 45 second blurb on the evening news.  Blogs, forums, and actual person-to-person communication are where people get far more information, especially those people who are seeking it out because they're interested in cruising.  Personally, I'm telling a lot of cruise friends & family about how the X experience is nothing like they remember, while also saying how much we enjoyed our recent Princess sailing.