Is anyone at Celebrity, Listening?

[NMTraveller]

10 hours ago, Hawkstar33 said:

Bo...Well just well, means what exactly?  Was my question not good?  After reading post after post, I'm really wondering if we are just  preaching to each other on this site, and just wasting our time Barkin at the moon.  And without a response of any kind from a true Celebrity representative on this site, who really knows if they view this stuff or not.   The info we share, is just what we read, see, and experience.. Answers to questions on this site are just opinions of other cruisers, not from the mouths of any Celebrity rep.    

Yes everyone is howling at the moon...  Celebrity purposefully made the cuts to save money...

[NMTraveller]

8 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

With all due respect,

 

I would believe the correct wording would be Survival, Survival and Survival.   The most recent quarterly report showed RCL lost 48 Million quarter ending March and depleted 709 Million in Cash.

Wallstreet does not agree with your assessment of survival, survival, and survival ..  

Edited June 6, 2023 by NMTraveller

[Octavias]

7 hours ago, RichYak said:

This reminds me of the movie Crazy People with Dudley Moore.

Boxy but good! 

[BPCW]

If people want to pay Celebrity prices for an NCL level cruise experience because of brand loyalty, more power to them.  Celebrity is counting on that because they have zero loyalty to you as a customer. 
 

Or if Celebrity’s changes still exceed your perceived value, by all means book away.  People can spend their money however they want. But lots of people are looking elsewhere, us included, for the first time in awhile. 

[kr00t0n]

I guess there is a difference between reviews on here than those being left by guests after their cruise.

I asked a contact to check, and this sail year has all ships tracking above 8/10 for key satisfaction metrics.

[Guest ldtr]

12 hours ago, BPCW said:

If people want to pay Celebrity prices for an NCL level cruise experience because of brand loyalty, more power to them.  Celebrity is counting on that because they have zero loyalty to you as a customer. 
 

Or if Celebrity’s changes still exceed your perceived value, by all means book away.  People can spend their money however they want. But lots of people are looking elsewhere, us included, for the first time in awhile. 

Yep it is the time of cruise line musical chairs. People are dissatisfied with the line they were sailing pre covid (pretty much allow them) and are all shifting to other lines. 

 

a bit comical when one thinks about it.

[Oceangoer2]

33 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Yep it is the time of cruise line musical chairs. People are dissatisfied with the line they were sailing pre covid (pretty much allow them) and are all shifting to other lines. 

 

a bit comical when one thinks about it.

These are rather definite comments, but I can't speak for everyone.  Not ALL those who are/were dissatisfied are shifting;  they still find the product worth the $$s.  The one cabin area I have an exception to is the cost of suites.  Sailing in these I don't find the exaggerated pricing worthwhile.  They have their reasons I suppose, but I, for one, won't pay the price.

 

Inflation is a concern everywhere and across the cruise lines.  Reading other boards and exploring options, I'm finding much the same tone and complaint and support as we read here on X board.

Edited June 6, 2023 by Oceangoer2

[emmas gran]

A few years ago someone monitored the boards and they would comment that the information was being passed on to the relevant departments at Celebrity 

Edited June 6, 2023 by emmas gran

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

5 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

These are rather definite comments, but I can't speak for everyone.  Not ALL those who are/were dissatisfied are shifting;  they still find the product worth the $$s.  The one cabin area I have an exception to is the cost of suites.  Sailing in these I don't find the exaggerated pricing worthwhile.  They have their reasons I suppose, but I, for one, won't pay the price.

 

Inflation is a concern everywhere and across the cruise lines.  Reading other boards and exploring options, I'm finding much the same tone and complaint and support as we read here on X board.

I'm in agreement with you on suites. 

We were fortunate to enjoy 2 sailings in suites just as things started up again, and the pricing was quite reasonable: $4400 for 7 nights on Apex in November 2021 and $8200 for 10 nights on Edge in November 2022. Those prices are now double or triple (Nov 2024 on Apex is $11,000 for a 7 nighter). 

The Retreat is indeed an exceptional product, but not at the prices they're asking. Though, some people are obviously paying the freight, so it's "value" for somebody! Overall, I'm considering land-based vacations for 2024. Pricing is too high for me to justify, when comparing.

[MISTER 67]

On 6/4/2023 at 10:31 PM, Cruise Junky said:

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?  🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Good take and no one is forcing anyone to take a cruise on Celebrity. For instance we are veteran cruisers for over 40 years and 70 cruises and are old school. We refuse to eat in specialty restaurants, we live without the internet for for a week and don’t do drink packages as we enjoy our one cocktail a day before dinner. We only sail in the Caribbean as we hate flying, we live in Florida and drive to the ports. We don’t take excursions as we’ve been to all the islands with places like St. Thomas and San Juan over 30 times, we very seldom get off the ship. All we want is our 4 cruises a year with good food, enjoyable entertainment and excellent service, we feel we are getting that with Celebrity but if the rates continue to climb we will probably switch back to Princess where we are Elite members.

[Guest ldtr]

22 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

These are rather definite comments, but I can't speak for everyone.  Not ALL those who are/were dissatisfied are shifting;  they still find the product worth the $$s.  The one cabin area I have an exception to is the cost of suites.  Sailing in these I don't find the exaggerated pricing worthwhile.  They have their reasons I suppose, but I, for one, won't pay the price.

 

Inflation is a concern everywhere and across the cruise lines.  Reading other boards and exploring options, I'm finding much the same tone and complaint and support as we read here on X board.

Not all, but a fair number and it is pretty much happening across the board.

 

Cruise prices are up, but not nearly as much as airlines and hotels.  These price increases are not going away and will probably continue until the pricing relationship between cruising and other travel modes are restored.  Even at the increased prices cruises are more of a discount compared to other travel options than in the past. 

 

If one considers these prices to be too high to cruise then I guess their cruising days are pretty much over.

 

 

[Guest ldtr]

2 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

Good take and no one is forcing anyone to take a cruise on Celebrity. For instance we are veteran cruisers for over 40 years and 70 cruises and are old school. We refuse to eat in specialty restaurants, we live without the internet for for a week and don’t do drink packages as we enjoy our one cocktail a day before dinner. We only sail in the Caribbean as we hate flying, we live in Florida and drive to the ports. We don’t take excursions as we’ve been to all the islands with places like St. Thomas and San Juan over 30 times, we very seldom get off the ship. All we want is our 4 cruises a year with good food, enjoyable entertainment and excellent service, we feel we are getting that with Celebrity but if the rates continue to climb we will probably switch back to Princess where we are Elite members.

People on Princess are saying the same thing and looking at switching to other lines.  Prices are up on all of the lines.  The price increases stated with the onboard items, including drink packages, but they are also impacted fares as will.  With occupancy up and starting to approach pre-covid norms of around 105% the fare increases will also take place.

[CunucuMom]

Question for the hospitality/F&B pros in this forum:  Any idea as to how cruise lines contract for food, beverages and other consumables (paper goods, cleaning products, linens, etc)?  Reason I ask is I notice week-over-week price increases (and stock-outs) at the grocery store and I find it hard to believe that even with contracts in place the cruise industry would be immune from the current rapid inflation and availability constraints, hence rising pax fares and menu alterations.

[bigbenboys]

52 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Not all, but a fair number and it is pretty much happening across the board.

 

Cruise prices are up, but not nearly as much as airlines and hotels.  These price increases are not going away and will probably continue until the pricing relationship between cruising and other travel modes are restored.  Even at the increased prices cruises are more of a discount compared to other travel options than in the past. 

 

If one considers these prices to be too high to cruise then I guess their cruising days are pretty much over.

 

 

I've been booking 2 holiday now. Sept cruise out of Vancouver BC the hotel we like is up $300 per night. Our Christmas land trip. British Airways has added an Carrier imposed charge of $1700 pp for business class seats. Other airlines are doing the same. 

[Baron Barracuda]

Future pricing will be influenced by supply and demand.   Over the next few years there are 28 larger new builds (2500+ passengers) scheduled for delivery plus another dozen smaller ones from premium outfits like Oceania, Virgin, Viking and Explora.  That's a lot of capacity needing to be absorbed.  Pre-covid there were rumblings about how overcrowded Caribbean market was becoming especially in the winter.  Additional capacity coming on line may well lead to weaker pricing.

[Guest ldtr]

16 minutes ago, CunucuMom said:

Question for the hospitality/F&B pros in this forum:  Any idea as to how cruise lines contract for food, beverages and other consumables (paper goods, cleaning products, linens, etc)?  Reason I ask is I notice week-over-week price increases (and stock-outs) at the grocery store and I find it hard to believe that even with contracts in place the cruise industry would be immune from the current rapid inflation and availability constraints, hence rising pax fares and menu alterations.

Their costs are certainly going up. Looking at the recent 10q the amount spent for food per passenger per day was up about 25% compared to 2019 pre covid for example.

 

However their price increases are probably less of that they have to and more of because they can. All of their competition (hotels, airlines, land tour companies, etc) the rest of the travel industry have raised prices considerably. As a result the price for cruises are the lowest they have been compared to the cost of the rest of the industry. That give the industry the pricing power to raise prices until the normal price relationship is restored.

Edited June 6, 2023 by ldtr

[Mike981]

1 hour ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Reading other boards and exploring options, I'm finding much the same tone and complaint and support as we read here on X board.

 

Very true in my experience as well. We just booked our first cruise in four years and it is on Celebrity. The stars must have been aligned that day as I was able to get a decent price for an Aqua room (first time in Aqua!) and a good price on some non-stop airline tickets. We were willing to spend a bit more to try out some other cruise lines, but in my research they all had folks who were disappointed with the current product. I will add that inconsistency also seems to be industry wide.

[Shiba_Lover]

On 6/5/2023 at 10:23 AM, Saturngrl said:

Lean Six Sigma --- fellow black belt here.  One one of my sailings, I actually met with the Retreat manager and gave her some feedback.  Several days later, a fairly significant FCC certificate turned up for me along with a letter thanking me saying she appreciated me taking the time to give constructive feedback and suggestions for improvement.  (I think she was used to people just used to complaining).

 

[PTC DAWG]

17 hours ago, BPCW said:

If people want to pay Celebrity prices for an NCL level cruise experience because of brand loyalty, more power to them.  Celebrity is counting on that because they have zero loyalty to you as a customer. 
 

 

I have sailed both lines in the last 4 months, they aren't really comparable in anyway.  

[RTShaker]

2 hours ago, bigbenboys said:

I've been booking 2 holiday now. Sept cruise out of Vancouver BC the hotel we like is up $300 per night. Our Christmas land trip. British Airways has added an Carrier imposed charge of $1700 pp for business class seats. Other airlines are doing the same. 

Well for giggles just look at the pricing for hotels in NYC. $500/night is almost cheap.

[PROCRUISE]

On 6/4/2023 at 9:49 PM, Hawkstar33 said:

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

Is Corporate Celebrity watching and listening to Cruise Critic? NO! They're trying to save their jobs.

[Bo1953]

1 hour ago, PROCRUISE said:

Is Corporate Celebrity watching and listening to Cruise Critic? NO! They're trying to save their jobs.

You should check to see if X has any open positions available, as one monitoring CC could be open!!!

 

bon voyage

[tfred]

5 hours ago, MISTER 67 said:

Good take and no one is forcing anyone to take a cruise on Celebrity. For instance we are veteran cruisers for over 40 years and 70 cruises and are old school. We refuse to eat in specialty restaurants, we live without the internet for for a week and don’t do drink packages as we enjoy our one cocktail a day before dinner. We only sail in the Caribbean as we hate flying, we live in Florida and drive to the ports. We don’t take excursions as we’ve been to all the islands with places like St. Thomas and San Juan over 30 times, we very seldom get off the ship. All we want is our 4 cruises a year with good food, enjoyable entertainment and excellent service, we feel we are getting that with Celebrity but if the rates continue to climb we will probably switch back to Princess where we are Elite members.

bad news - no cruise line is looking for your usage profile. They won't be sad if you are not on board.  They won't chase you away actively but if you leave for Princess I think that X will be OK with that 

 

You dont buy liquor, take excursions, eat at specialty restaurants or use the internet  and I assume do not use the spa- all high profit items.  Buying the room alone is a low margin proposition for any cruise line and they dont start seeing better profits unless you add on items 

 

Las Vegas figured out years ago that the idea of low rate, high volume with $8.99 Prime rib buffets was a quick way to lose money. Now it is high room rates with expensive restaurants and shows.  

[MISTER 67]

6 minutes ago, tfred said:

bad news - no cruise line is looking for your usage profile. They won't be sad if you are not on board.  They won't chase you away actively but if you leave for Princess I think that X will be OK with that 

 

You dont buy liquor, take excursions, eat at specialty restaurants or use the internet  and I assume do not use the spa- all high profit items.  Buying the room alone is a low margin proposition for any cruise line and they dont start seeing better profits unless you add on items 

 

Las Vegas figured out years ago that the idea of low rate, high volume with $8.99 Prime rib buffets was a quick way to lose money. Now it is high room rates with expensive restaurants and shows.  

You’re probably right but so far they’ve never turned down a booking of ours. Guess what? We loved the old Vegas too, haven’t been back since 1990.

Edited June 6, 2023 by MISTER 67

[tfred]

4 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Future pricing will be influenced by supply and demand.   Over the next few years there are 28 larger new builds (2500+ passengers) scheduled for delivery plus another dozen smaller ones from premium outfits like Oceania, Virgin, Viking and Explora.  That's a lot of capacity needing to be absorbed.  Pre-covid there were rumblings about how overcrowded Caribbean market was becoming especially in the winter.  Additional capacity coming on line may well lead to weaker pricing.

doubt that new builds will affect pricing.  Ships are becoming floating hotels that offer range of experiences for different levels of pax. 30-50 % of pax (depending on the port) never get off so where the ship goes is sometimes a bonus but not the reason to cruise in many cases