Celebrity at a crossroads

[JLS07]

I have written and rewritten this post several times.  I know this is likely going to upset some people, and I am sorry for that.

 

Just for some perspective, I am mid to late 40’s, been sailing Celebrity for 12ish years, have a 16- and 10-year-old that have been on every cruise they could have gone on (10 or so for my daughter and 8 for my son).  I have only ever sailed Celebrity (other than one Carnival to Havana).

 

As the title says, I think Celebrity is at a crossroads for which direction they should go.  We have always loved the elegance and higher class on Celebrity, but the last two cruises (both Apex and post covid) have seen a significant decrease across the board.

 

To me, celebrity is currently trying too hard to fit into too many categories, be it the older crowd that doesn’t want kids around (you should see the nasty comments on our spring break cruise’s Facebook page), the family crowd, or the party crowd (never seen as many drunks on all my celebrity trips combined as I have the last two).

 

We have simply encountered a quality of people that we had never seen before on celebrity.  We encountered:  Multiple people passed out on St. Patrick’s Day by the pool (yes passed out - we were watching them start taking shots at breakfast), Eating as much fried this or that as physically possible all while barely able to stand, people who absolutely reeked of cigarettes everywhere, nasty rude people who snapped back at anyone around them (one lady snapped at me when I offer her a seat on a particularly rough sea day).

 

We have two more cruises already booked and paid for over the summer.  I will use those as one more chance to determine if Celebrity is still what we want to continue travel on.  

 

If you have considered moving from Celebrity due to the drop in quality, which lines did you consider as a replacement?

Edited March 20, 2023 by JLS07

[RichYak]

5 minutes ago, JLS07 said:

To me, celebrity is currently trying too hard to fit into too many categories

I've felt this way for some time now.

[CrazyTrain2]

I like where Virgin Voyages are positioned - No Kids, No drink packages, Limited Smoking areas, All specialty dining, no pandering to children and a healthy fitness oriented vibe.  My only downside to VV is the limited itineraries since they only have 4 ships. 

 

We are on a Celebrity cruise in about a month just for a wing it cruise and to test out how viable an inside cabin experience is for us (Normally balcony folks).

[wanderlust58]

JLS07, Have you had any recent cruises on Royal Caribbean?  If so, how do you compare your recent experiences on Celebrity with RC?  I'm assuming/hoping that Silversea isn't having these problems (yet).  Have you had any recent Silversea experiences?

[BigAl94]

19 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I've felt this way for some time now.

Me also

[kwokpot]

8 minutes ago, CrazyTrain2 said:

I like where Virgin Voyages are positioned - No Kids, No drink packages, Limited Smoking areas, All specialty dining, no pandering to children and a healthy fitness oriented vibe.  My only downside to VV is the limited itineraries since they only have 4 ships. 

 

We are on a Celebrity cruise in about a month just for a wing it cruise and to test out how viable an inside cabin experience is for us (Normally balcony folks).

Sailed on VV twice and loved both cruises. I don't think they are a direct competition to Celebrity. My biggest beef with Virgin are their cabins below suites. They are a bit too basic. 

[C4HCG]

19 minutes ago, JLS07 said:

I have written and rewritten this post several times.  I know this is likely going to upset some people, and I am sorry for that.

 

Just for some perspective, I am mid to late 40’s, been sailing Celebrity for 12ish years, have a 16- and 10-year-old that have been on every cruise they could have gone on (10 or so for my daughter and 8 for my son).  I have only ever sailed Celebrity (other than one Carnival to Havana).

 

As the title says, I think Celebrity is at a crossroads for which direction they should go.  We have always loved the elegance and higher class on Celebrity, but the last two cruises (both Apex and post covid) have seen a significant decrease across the board.

 

To me, celebrity is currently trying too hard to fit into too many categories, be it the older crowd that doesn’t want kids around (you should see the nasty comments on our spring break cruise’s Facebook page), the family crowd, or the party crowd (never seen as many drunks on all my celebrity trips combined as I have the last two).

 

We have simply encountered a quality of people that we had never seen before on celebrity.  We encountered:  Multiple people passed out on St. Patrick’s Day by the pool (yes passed out - we were watching them start taking shots at breakfast), Eating as much fried this or that as physically possible all while barely able to stand, people who absolutely reeked of cigarettes everywhere, nasty rude people who snapped back at anyone around them (one lady snapped at me when I offer her a seat on a particularly rough sea day).

 

We have two more cruises already booked and paid for over the summer.  I will use those as one more chance to determine if Celebrity is still what we want to continue travel on.  

 

If you have considered moving from Celebrity due to the drop in quality, which lines did you consider as a replacement?

Not sure you can blame Celebrity for how fellow passengers behave. You might say they should clamp down on them but in todays woke environment they probably daren’t for fear of bad publicity, organisations have to tread so carefully nowadays. We’ve sailed twice on celebrity last year and saw none of the behaviour you describe, worst we had was queue jumpers. Sailing again in September and will hopefully have similar experiences.

[D. B.]

We find Celebrity Cruises that sail form Ports Outside the US do not seem to have  as many of the Guests you  describe.

 

Edited March 20, 2023 by D. B.

[Crazy planning mom]

Posts like these worry me.  We are only going on our 2nd Celebrity cruise next year and we are taking family who have never sailed Celebrity before.  I am overweight although I can certainly stand.  My family members do enjoy drinking and smoking.  We are nice people.  Will we be judged and given nasty looks?

[RichYak]

35 minutes ago, JLS07 said:

If you have considered moving from Celebrity due to the drop in quality, which lines did you consider as a replacement?

Just circling back to add that I'm moving on from Celebrity not because of the drop in quality, but because of the drop in value. The Retreat is now way overpriced for a mass market cruise. I'm sailing Millennium in Retreat next week, maybe for the last time. I'm also sailing Summit in August in a regular balcony cabin.

 

That's another example of Celebrity trying to be too many things at once--a mass market line for the masses and a luxury brand with luxury pricing at the same time. It doesn't work for me.

 

For a replacement, I have MSC Yacht Club booked for next March and have my eye on an Azamara itinerary next summer. I've never sailed with either. I'm looking forward to trying new things!

[jelayne]

We haven't seen passed out drunks what we have seen is a difference in the 1st time X cruisers.

 

On 1 side we have seen more passengers in their late 30's to early 50's, still working, well dressed, articulate, polite and fun to be around.

 

On the other side we have seen more passengers in the 20's - 40's dressed in muscle shirts, daisy dukes, t-shirts with profanity or gym clothes in all areas of the ship in the evening.  Behavior -  order a drink slapping by their hand on the bar & yelling Hey You, having water fights in the pool, disrespecting the crew and talking down to older passengers.

 

Hoping more of the 1st group drive out the 2nd group.

[bikerunner]

I have seen that in the past on Spring Break Cruises.  I do not sail any more in end of February to May period any more.  In truth I usually book mainly in Nov Dec time frame during when everyone is in School.  I also tend to take 9+ day cruises.  This usually alleviates the "rowdier" crowds.  I do look at other lines, oceana mainly but they all come in way more than Celebrity and not so sure on the much smaller ships.  

[jelayne]

5 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

Posts like these worry me.  We are only going on our 2nd Celebrity cruise next year and we are taking family who have never sailed Celebrity before.  I am overweight although I can certainly stand.  My family members do enjoy drinking and smoking.  We are nice people.  Will we be judged and given nasty looks?

Many of us enjoy drinking just not fall down drunks.  Smoking is limited to a few areas of the ship and as long your family doesn't smoke in other areas you shouldn't be worried.

 

[cheeseheads4ever]

Hmm? We sailed on Equinox in early January and never seen any of the behavior that you have mentioned. Sure everyone is on vacation and wants to have a good time.

but the way you describe sounds like a Carnival cruise.

We sail again next month so will see how that goes. 
 

[DCPIV]

It sounds more like you are disappointed in your fellow passengers than you are with the Celebrity product.  I do agree that the last few years seems to have changed many attitudes as to what is acceptable behavior, and that troubles me for many reasons well beyond cruising.

 

That said, I do believe you need to see your experience through the lens of sailing during Spring Break and over what has become a binge drinking "holiday."  We were just on 7-night Caribbean cruise on Reflection (2/26-3/5), and I saw almost nothing of what you mentioned despite it being a full ship.  I've been cruising for nearly 28 years and cannot recall a single one when I didn't see someone be rude or someone so drunk they barely could stand, and this last one was no exception, but those were very isolated incidents.  

 

2 minutes ago, RichYak said:

have my eye on an Azamara itinerary next summer

 

[C4HCG]

29 minutes ago, D. B. said:

We find Celebrity Cruises that sail form Ports Outside the US do not seem to have  as many of the Guests you  describe.

 

We’ve only ever sailed from Fort Lauderdale and have never seen many guests if any behaving how the OP described.

[DCPIV]

Just now, C4HCG said:

We’ve only ever sailed from Fort Lauderdale and have never seen many guests if any behaving how the OP described.

 

Indeed.  The closest I've seen was a 4-nighter out of Fort Lauderdale that went over a weekend.  It was few months into the restart.  I was not at all shocked to see many folks really tying on a bog one, but (even then) no one truly misbehaved.  Everyone were in good spirits (however you care to take that). 

[odyssyus]

Sailed many times on Celebrity on cruises out of US ports and others.  Never seen the behavior described.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Cruising simply put has changed.  Over 5% of those over 75 are gone since Covid started in 2020.  Celebrity is looking for younger cruisers.

As for luxury, Royal, Princess and HAL have all had similar cutbacks.  Looking for luxury?  There are choices but the prices are thru the roof elsewhere for desirable itineraries. 

Right now demand for many cruises exceeds supply.

[cw2go]

Can you post the itinerary, ship and cruise length information? I sailed Beyond last month and YES many people were drinking, self included BUT I did not witness any behavior that you're describing.

 

I do agree that Celebrity is attempting to please multiple travelers styles/needs but I also find that to be a good thing. My hubby enjoys things that I don't and vise versa, we like that Celebrity meets us in the middle. 

 

Patty 

[cgolf1]

I guess I have a unique perspective because we sail inside rooms and even out to 2025 the prices are still very affordable.

 

Having only done 3 cruises with Celebrity, I would say that the Edge seemed to be a similar experience to our first trip on it when it first came out, minus the weird Eden stuff. On our partial panama canal cruise this year, we still thought they have the best food of the lines we sailed and the service still tops Disney. The food options on our last cruise were less than even our Constellation cruise in 2022, but the quality was there.

 

It could be the itinerary we did, but the crowd we had on the edge was very well behaved and I never saw a drunk person. We are mid to late 40s and I would say the majority of the people were older than us.

 

Maybe we haven't sailed Celebrity enough, but for the prices we pay the quality and service is there.

Edited March 20, 2023 by cgolf1

[RichYak]

27 minutes ago, DCPIV said:

t sounds more like you are disappointed in your fellow passengers than you are with the Celebrity product…

I’m not sure why you quoted my Azamara comment after this reply. I made no mention of Celebrity passengers. 

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, JLS07 said:

I have written and rewritten this post several times.  I know this is likely going to upset some people, and I am sorry for that.

 

Just for some perspective, I am mid to late 40’s, been sailing Celebrity for 12ish years, have a 16- and 10-year-old that have been on every cruise they could have gone on (10 or so for my daughter and 8 for my son).  I have only ever sailed Celebrity (other than one Carnival to Havana).

 

As the title says, I think Celebrity is at a crossroads for which direction they should go.  We have always loved the elegance and higher class on Celebrity, but the last two cruises (both Apex and post covid) have seen a significant decrease across the board.

 

To me, celebrity is currently trying too hard to fit into too many categories, be it the older crowd that doesn’t want kids around (you should see the nasty comments on our spring break cruise’s Facebook page), the family crowd, or the party crowd (never seen as many drunks on all my celebrity trips combined as I have the last two).

 

We have simply encountered a quality of people that we had never seen before on celebrity.  We encountered:  Multiple people passed out on St. Patrick’s Day by the pool (yes passed out - we were watching them start taking shots at breakfast), Eating as much fried this or that as physically possible all while barely able to stand, people who absolutely reeked of cigarettes everywhere, nasty rude people who snapped back at anyone around them (one lady snapped at me when I offer her a seat on a particularly rough sea day).

 

We have two more cruises already booked and paid for over the summer.  I will use those as one more chance to determine if Celebrity is still what we want to continue travel on.  

 

If you have considered moving from Celebrity due to the drop in quality, which lines did you consider as a replacement?

Not sure why it would upset anybody.  It is your experience, perception and opinion.  I have cruised a few times post Covid and as recently as 2 months ago in 2023.  I have not seen or noticed any of this on any recent cruise.  Maybe you had some bad instances but I don't believe (IMO) that this is a general downward trend in passenger behavior.  If you are referring to passenger demographics (and I think you are by some of your comments)- that is a very slippery slope.

[2Long2NxtCrz]

10 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

I guess I have a unique perspective because we sail inside rooms and even out to 2025 the prices are still very affordable.

 

Having only done 3 cruises with Celebrity, I would say that the Edge seemed to be a similar experience to our first trip on it when it first came out, minus the weird Eden stuff. On our partial panama canal cruise this year, we still thought they have the best food of the lines we sailed and the service still tops Disney. The food options on our last cruise were less than even our Constellation cruise in 2022, but the quality was there.

 

It could be the itinerary we did, but the crowd we had on the edge was very well behaved and I never saw a drunk person. We are mid to late 40s and I would say the majority of the people were older than us.

 

Maybe we haven't sailed Celebrity enough, but for the prices we pay the quality and service is there.

I've been looking at cruises for Fall 2024 or late Winter 2025 and none of the lines (Princess, HAL, NCL, and Celebrity) that I've looked at have been good values per se. But, then again, I wasn't look at insides because hubby has always insisted on at least a balcony. With the prices I'm seeing, I'm thinking you have the right attitude.

 

And, it's absolutely a cost-benefit analysis that everyone must do for themselves. I have 3 cruises booked currently, two on Celebrity and our first on HAL. I'm willing to give other lines a try, but so far Celebrity is still our favorite (with the Beyond our favorite ship).

[JFontaine]

You lost me on people who eat fried food and are barely able to stand. You do realize you are on a ship with thousands of people and not a yacht with your version of how people should look, right?