Is anyone at Celebrity, Listening?

[Hawkstar33]

Seems like a lot of griping mainly about cost, cutbacks, refurbishments on quite a few ships, and sadly about overall quality of the product.  I imagine that Celebrity has eyes on this site, as well as others.  But are they listening?  Nobody paying the higher price of cruising these days, wants to hear about pandemic losses, anymore. Cruise lines, according to what I see, and read,  are banging us with increases for every possible thing associated with each cruise. So with price increases, you think there should be no crappy chairs, cushions with stains, tired mattresses,  chipped rusted verandas, or worn musty smelling carpets, as I myself have also seen these past 2 years.  Just read about Eclipse, and how she needs some much needed attention in many areas.  I'm booked next June, and now I've gotta watch for further reviews, as I'm already not happy with the current poor reviews.  Hopefully Celebrity is watching and reading.  And wondering if they care, or just in it for the $$$$$$$$$..  What used to be is no more

Edited June 5, 2023 by Hawkstar33

[dcbiker97]

I always take the posts complaining about ship conditions with a grain of salt. Rust happens on a ship.  Railings get dull. I read the post concerning Eclipse and I must have been on an alternate Celebrity Eclipse ship for my 2 week cruise this last November as I thought it was in great shape and wouldn’t hesitate to go in her again. Staff were constantly cleaning and making sure everything was tip top. You can find something on even the newest shops if you want to. 

Edited June 5, 2023 by dcbiker97

[NutsAboutGolf]

As a corporation, they're in massive debt and won't be profitable for a while.  To individual in leadership positions, they're under pressure to bring in $$$ or else they lose their job.  X seems to have strong bookings specifically with suites and is getting aggressive with pricing

 

With all that being said, since the pandemic, there hasn't been a single passenger improvement, such as food quality/selection, only new/increased fees or cutbacks.  The sad new reality is, on ones next sailings, there's a fair chance there will be a cutback or two from their previous sailing

[NMTraveller]

They may be listening with their hearing aids turned off, but everything they are doing points to profits, profits,  and paying down their debt.

[Cruise Junky]

What the hell do people expect?  The company was probably close to bankruptcy and of course cutbacks are going to happen after all that time of not sailing and no revenue.  Jeeezee people, so tired of the whining. Did people really think we were going back to 2019?  🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

[KansasK]

I agree with NMTraveller - they are interested in paying down their debt from the pandemic shut down. Until their ships are not full, they will not change what they are doing.  Sadly, most of us  just accept the changes, or why would the ships be full?

[NMTraveller]

16 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

What the hell do people expect?  

I for one would pay extra to have the same food quality as we had in 2019...  Make it a mid tier dining option.

[RTShaker]

56 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

What the hell do people expect?  ... Did people really think we were going back to 2019?  🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Well if they are still advertising the same product, why wouldn't you expect the same experience?

I have yet to see any promos that say "cruise with us for a lesser experience".

[Cruise Junky]

1 minute ago, RTShaker said:

Well if they are still advertising the same product, why wouldn't you expect the same experience?

I have yet to see any promos that say "cruise with us for a lesser experience".

Seriously?  People’s expectations for a quick recovery are way off base.  You want them to take on more debt to feed you like 2019?  There will be cutbacks for a while. Either deal with it, or vacation elsewhere.  

[RTShaker]

1 minute ago, Cruise Junky said:

Seriously?  People’s expectations for a quick recovery are way off base.  You want them to take on more debt to feed you like 2019?  There will be cutbacks for a while. Either deal with it, or vacation elsewhere.  

Not my point. If you know there are cutbacks in your product be upfront about it. Truth in advertising is the best way to keep your customer base satisfied.

[cgolf1]

12 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

Not my point. If you know there are cutbacks in your product be upfront about it. Truth in advertising is the best way to keep your customer base satisfied.

 

What do people expect X and other lines to do or say? Say our product now sucks but once we have no more debt we hope to be back to normal or at least better than we are now?

 

Yes we are only 3 cruises in on Celebrity, one pre pandemic and two post. For us they all were great cruises overall. I do have a review on the Edge from this year and I noted the changes which were noticeable. We also recently sailed the Zaandam this year and I did a thread/review on that as well.

 

X was the better line in many ways but we will sail HAL again. All the complaining on here about only one free small lobster, be happy with that. HAL it was an upcharge to get 2 small lobsters or one giant tail, no free lobster at all in the MDR.

 

I do hope someone starts a thread comparing value people are getting. Our mainline cruises run 85$ to 130$ per person per night for inside rooms, usually without all the extras. We still see a ton of value in X and Hal. This includes our 2025 trip on the Eclipse. I might be a lot less forgiving if we were paying 300$ plus per person per night and our expectations would be much higher. The prices we are paying now are inline with what we were paying on Disney back in the day, so honestly cruising is still feeling like a great vacation deal.

 

Sorry you caught me full rant, but I am just trying to figure out what people are expecting

 

Honestly I am just glad we can still cruise and on the home front still can eat whatever we want, just not at the same price point.

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

My last cruise on the Reflection cruise in April was just as good as a our cruise in 2019 

 

[kywildcatfanone]

As long as ships are sailing full or mostly full, cutbacks or price increases will be all you see.

[Bo1953]

Well, my take on this and similar topics includes:

 

1) X and other lines monitor on-board and follow up survey's about their product from passengers who just disembarked, as such coming to a 'limited and vocal few board' to hear what we may not like is of no value;

 

2) given their current financial situation, were we as families in the same situation and our children had the similar complaints about their living situation, what would you say or do to make up for it? Should they move to another familial situation;

 

3) Some have said they are willing to pay more for better this and that, well you can by going to other lines and go into their forum to proclaim the move (as a few on this forum have) to 'better' even if they have yet to sail;

 

4) If one had a 'product quality' issue aboard, nothing wrong with airing the issue here, but tell me how you handled it at the time it was noted/experienced and immediately after the sailing.;

 

5) I see nothing in bad taste for the critics be criticized, after all, this is CC - LOL of course some of us do not view it that way and that is fine;

 

6) Many of us do forget that were we to 'defect' to other forms of vacationing, there are quite a few behind us for our cabins regardless of the cost and will not complain about it.... go figure???;

 

7) As for this threads title, I can inform that more often than not, X does listen to me when aboard if I have an issue and in most of the time it is addressed right on the spot (or soon there after) and I sail on...

 

We all can have issues on any sailing, yet to come here to ask if they are listening, well.... just well!!!

 

X, like many other cruise lines need to get their finances back in order (whatever it takes at that) in order to attempt to return to their former 'glory' or just shut down. 

 

Okay, my critical or critic thoughts are done, at least for now... LOL

 

bon voyage

Edited June 5, 2023 by Bo1953

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

41 minutes ago, Bo1953 said:

Well, my take on this and similar topics includes:

 

1) X and other lines monitor on-board and follow up survey's about their product from passengers who just disembarked, as such coming to a 'limited and vocal few board' to hear what we may not like is of no value;

 

2) given their current financial situation, were we as families in the same situation and our children had the similar complaints about their living situation, what would you say or do to make up for it? Should they move to another familial situation;

 

3) Some have said they are willing to pay more for better this and that, well you can by going to other lines and go into their forum to proclaim the move (as a few on this forum have) to 'better' even if they have yet to sail;

 

4) If one had a 'product quality' issue aboard, nothing wrong with airing the issue here, but tell me how you handled it at the time it was noted/experienced and immediately after the sailing.;

 

5) I see nothing in bad taste for the critics be criticized, after all, this is CC - LOL of course some of us do not view it that way and that is fine;

 

6) Many of us do forget that were we to 'defect' to other forms of vacationing, there are quite a few behind us for our cabins regardless of the cost and will not complain about it.... go figure???;

 

7) As for this threads title, I can inform that more often than not, X does listen to me when aboard if I have an issue and in most of the time it is addressed right on the spot (or soon there after) and I sail on...

 

We all can have issues on any sailing, yet to come here to ask if they are listening, well.... just well!!!

 

X, like many other cruise lines need to get their finances back in order (whatever it takes at that) in order to attempt to return to their former 'glory' or just shut down. 

 

Okay, my critical or critic thoughts are done, at least for now... LOL

 

bon voyage

 

Bravo! I agree with everything you've said here!

 

My biggest pet peeve with reviews are when people feel the need to put "HONEST Review of [insert ship/dining experience/excursion here]" on their reviews. It reads to me as if they're implying theirs is the only honest one and anyone who had a different experience must be lying. Maybe I'm naive, but I read live trip reports and reviews with the assumption that the author is being honest to THEIR experience. Other people could have been on the same ship/dining experience/activity and had a totally different experience - but that doesn't make one "honest" and the other lies. It's all down to individual experience and perspective. They could better title it "My Experience On/At [insert ship/dining experience/excursion here]".

[TMLAalum]

My DH and I live by this saying: "Very Little Makes Me Happy"! 

Just as on the Celebrity forum here the interpretation of the above is key.

Kinda like the glass half-full or half-empty take on life.

Or, speaking of life, how about the old Life cereal commercial where the siblings put a bowl of the cereal in front of Mikey to try because he hated everything.

As for us, we ignore minor flaws and focus on the positives, plenty of which we continue to find with Celebrity.

[cgolf1]

10 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

My biggest pet peeve with reviews are when people feel the need to put "HONEST Review of [insert ship/dining experience/excursion here]" on their reviews. It reads to me as if they're implying theirs is the only honest one and anyone who had a different experience must be lying. 

 

I think for the first time I did this on my review. But, it was for very good reason. After the cutbacks this year all bad reviews, even the over the top everything is terrible reviews got lots of praise from people as being an honest opinion, and the good reviews were heavily questioned. So I went with it and tried to do a balanced review. Not sure if I put in the Zaandam report or not. The HAL board overall is handling this type of stuff differently. 

 

I could only imagine what would happen on this board if they ran out of certain alcohols like they have on HAL. When we were on HAL they ran out of the cheap amaretto on day 4 or 5.

[cw2go]

12 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

Bravo! I agree with everything you've said here!

 

My biggest pet peeve with reviews are when people feel the need to put "HONEST Review of [insert ship/dining experience/excursion here]" on their reviews. It reads to me as if they're implying theirs is the only honest one and anyone who had a different experience must be lying. Maybe I'm naive, but I read live trip reports and reviews with the assumption that the author is being honest to THEIR experience. Other people could have been on the same ship/dining experience/activity and had a totally different experience - but that doesn't make one "honest" and the other lies. It's all down to individual experience and perspective. They could better title it "My Experience On/At [insert ship/dining experience/excursion here]".

 

I read it as people are meaning "open' and "clear" more than discrediting other posters as liars. 

 

Text on forums are most often a two way street. 

Patty 

[Obobru]

We have no problem with X they offer a great product for what we pay, we only pay for inside rooms on cruises and upgrade only if very cheap or free as we only pay less than $150 pp per night including drinks/wifi packages. 

Everything is subjective based on what you are paying and what you expect for that.

 

No cruise line will be interested in a minority of complainers on here and even less so when the advance bookings are higher than ever. They will collate feedback from the guest surveys and measure the same kind of instances and match that against people's likelihood to sail with them again or recommend them as those plus advance bookings are the only important metrics when you have a lot of debt to pay off. When that position changes they may start to look at that data to see what improvements are most important to guests to ensure they maintain advance sales if they see a drop off in them. 

 

If you have a specific issue on board raise and if they can I am sure they will fix it. 

 

To answer the original post, they don't care about internet moaners it's not detrimental to the business. 

[Bo1953]

20 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

 

I think for the first time I did this on my review. But, it was for very good reason. After the cutbacks this year all bad reviews, even the over the top everything is terrible reviews got lots of praise from people as being an honest opinion, and the good reviews were heavily questioned. So I went with it and tried to do a balanced review. Not sure if I put in the Zaandam report or not. The HAL board overall is handling this type of stuff differently. 

 

I could only imagine what would happen on this board if they ran out of certain alcohols like they have on HAL. When we were on HAL they ran out of the cheap amaretto on day 4 or 5.

Well, there are more than a few Classic vs Premium wines here and the lack thereof... LOL

 

Cheers and bon voyage

[Dr. Cocktail]

Actually, they do read these boards but I'm not sure to what effect.

 

The most important thing is to put it on your comment card - those are most definitely read. We were recently on Norwegian in the Haven and have always enjoyed their grilled scallop main course which consisted of three HUGE scallops.  We ordered it this time and literally broke out laughing as it was placed in front of me - three  tiny  scallops appropriate for a pasta sauce or seafood salad. The server asked me if anything was wrong - I was still laughing and said something like it's not how I remembered it.  Moments later the restaurant manager swooped in and (short version) said "please, please, please put it on your comment card and be very specific. They are read in head office and carry much more weight than our complaints".  It was obvious that they were aware of the changes and weren't happy.

 

For the next few years, it will be a balancing act for the cruise lines between being fiscally prudent while not totally alienating guests.

 

And no - you don't need to wait for a dry dock to change out worn items. Our favourite was one cruise where we spent the day at the beach, walked into our cabin and froze - all of the carpeting was new.

We were amazed - everything (including our suitcases under the bed and shoes in the closet!) exactly where we left them earlier. While the new carpet smell was a bit strong, we were duly impressed!

Meaning - things can change on an ongoing basis.

Edited June 5, 2023 by Dr. Cocktail

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

38 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

 

I think for the first time I did this on my review. But, it was for very good reason. After the cutbacks this year all bad reviews, even the over the top everything is terrible reviews got lots of praise from people as being an honest opinion, and the good reviews were heavily questioned. So I went with it and tried to do a balanced review. Not sure if I put in the Zaandam report or not. The HAL board overall is handling this type of stuff differently. 

 

I could only imagine what would happen on this board if they ran out of certain alcohols like they have on HAL. When we were on HAL they ran out of the cheap amaretto on day 4 or 5.

Gotcha. That makes sense.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

9 minutes ago, Dr. Cocktail said:

Actually, they do read these boards but I'm not sure to what effect.

 

Yeah, there are definitely people who monitor these and other forums for the lines. My sister works on another line and last week she WhatsApp-ed me saying she thought she found me on another board. Someone had sent them a post on that board and I'd commented and based on my user name and picture there she was pretty sure, then I said "shippernet" (the term we use for shipboard internet) and that clinched it. I know they were using things in that post along with their comment cards as things to look at improving. 

[Saturngrl]

I posted this on my review from February 2023 on Reflection.  I am Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Lean Certified.  Six Sigma focuses on eliminating errors.  Lean focuses on reducing/eliminating waste.   

 

On my February 2023 Reflection cruise, I observed considerable amount of waste which leads to cost savings.  Example:  MDR seating for meals.  It's a manual process, involving three crew members and walkie talkies.  The waits at dinner amounted to HOURs for passengers without reservations.  They were handed buzzers and I heard many of them upset about waiting until 9:30 or 10:00 p.m. for dinner.  A more modern tech for this process would help re-assign one of the crew members elsewhere, where be put to better use.   

 

Another example:  at breakfast, the coffee servers were hard to find, yet the pastry servers were often idle, wandering around with trays of pastries.  No balanced workload for the servers.  Cost savings could occur with a better process leading to less waste of pastries, crew time,  etc. 

 

I wish I could work for Celebrity.  It would be so great to evaluate other services to help them save money.  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

15 minutes ago, Saturngrl said:

 I am Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Lean Certified.  Six Sigma focuses on eliminating errors.  Lean focuses on reducing/eliminating waste.   

 

 

You are a what ? 🤔