Are Celebrity cost cutting and penny pinching there faithful customers off the ship?

[hcat]

20 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

 

Ever had the Ranger cookies on Royal? I thought they were perfect! I don't remember Celebrity's, though.

been awhile since we cruised on Royal

it was on Oasis..not our style!

we have been fans of E class but miss Lawn Club Grill

.

Guess Royal/Celeb  will not miss those who go elsewhere...new group waiting in the wings..???

[phoenix_dream]

8 hours ago, OysterD said:

Just had a quick look and in 2024 out of 313 total cruises available, 152 of them are 10 nights or longer, so roughly half. Not exactly few and far between. 

 

 

They are cancelling cruises and cutting itinerary lengths even as I write this, especially in the Caribbean where many of us spend most of our time cruising.  It's not over.  Of course I can't predict the future but the trend is definitely there and I would not be surprised at all to see it happen a lot more often.  Let's see what happens when the 2025 cruises come out.  I would sincerely hope to be wrong.

[phoenix_dream]

2 minutes ago, hcat said:

been awhile since we cruised on Royal

it was on Oasis..not our style!

we have been fans of E class but miss Lawn Club Grill

.

Guess Royal/Celeb  will not miss those who go elsewhere...new group waiting in the wings..???

I wonder about that over time.  Those of us 50+ often have the option to book many cruises per year.  I myself since retirement book 7-8 and occasionally more.  Previously all on Celebrity but I am now considering other options. Most of those under 50 only get so much vacation time so are likely to book one or maybe two a year.  Will the surge of full ships continue as time rolls on if they continue to push the older crowd away?  I suspect there will come a time in the not too distant future when Celebrity will definitely miss those of us considering other options after years of Celebrity loyalty.  I'm not a CEO for sure, but I do have common sense, and I really wonder if this marketing strategy is a wise one for them as a business over the long term.

[dilbertsdaddy]

Let me defend X for a minute.  Just returned from 7 nights on Millie.

 

For context, I am a world traveler, but this was only my third cruise (first on X).  I'm not a fancy pants but fly only Business Class internationally and stay in 4-5 stars 100+ nights a year.  Fly FC 60-75% domestically.  Beer drinker, enjoy a nice wine from time to time.  I do like to eat!  

 

My cruise met or exceeded in every area except for the buffet (crowded and chaotic).  Since I spend many hours a week in the Delta Skyclub, you would think I would be used to unruly crowds and buffets that look like a pack of wolves visited, but it still bugged me.  A lot.

 

Other than that, it was great, especially for the price.  Was it perfect?  No, but things rarely are. 

 

Oh, and Lavazza really sucks.

 

I am the demographic everyone feels is being cast aside (still working, but getting ready to retire any day) but that is the way it is now.  I can't even find one decent song on Delta's extensive playlist.  Out with the old, in with the new as they say.

 

I will try Holland America next (for the music) but I'm not anticipating any other aspect to be much better or worse.

 

First world problems!

Edited August 16, 2023 by dilbertsdaddy

[NMTraveller]

9 hours ago, OysterD said:

Just had a quick look and in 2024 out of 313 total cruises available, 152 of them are 10 nights or longer, so roughly half. Not exactly few and far between. 

 

 

Well you quoted my post which mentioned 12 day cruises.

 

You then did a search that included a bunch of 10  and 11 day cruises?  Need help in determining the difference between 10, 11 and 12 days?

 

The reason that I mentioned 12 day cruises is that is the average length of one of my Celebrity cruises.  Going down to the ABCs?  A 10 day cruise is not worth my time going on.  A 14 day cruise down to the ABCs is best.  Find me one of those on Celebrity.

 

Better yet count up the small percentage of Celebrity cruises that are 12 days repeat again 12 days or longer.  🙂  Twelve,  12,  douze, doce, or zwolf.

 

Edited August 17, 2023 by NMTraveller

[BCHappyGal]

It will be inteesting to see if X's cost cutting measures really help their bottom line or hurt it by allowing other lines to entice very loyal sailors away from X... as these changes have been dumped on us in the last few months and most of us book at least 6 months out if not 12 to 18 months out and most with non refundable deposits it will probably take a year to really see if we the loyal guests are going elsewhere and if that is indeed reflecting on the booked ration of X ships ...  

 

I know for years I have only looked at X cruises and right now (as of this past June) I am exploring ALL my options 

In the past when we were younger we could only afford a cruise every 4 years... and that in the cheapest cabin - now we are cruising in a suite 6+ times a year... yet X does not seem to care...

[Stockjock]

15 hours ago, hcat said:

Interesting....was it tasty? chewy?

I like mine plain out if the shell..butter on the side. 

I think they have a new  lobster dish at Fine Cut on Ascent.. may try that.

It was super tasty.  The flavors of the sauce/preparation overwhelmed the delicate taste of the lobster a bit, but it was still excellent.

[C4HCG]

17 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Now the latest cut is in the length of itineraries...  Who else is shortening their itineraries?  Many more 7 day cruises than there used to be.

 

I suppose that with many more 7 day cruises Celebrity will finally get the family cruisers that they are marketing towards.

 

For myself I want at least a 10 day cruise to make the airfare and travel worthwhile.

 

6 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Well you quoted my post which mentioned 12 day cruises.

 

Better yet count up the small percentage of Celebrity cruises that are 12 days repeat again 12 days or longer.  🙂  Twelve,  12,  douze, doce, or zwolf.

 

So you’ve changed your mind about 10 days being the minimum for you then?

[hcat]

8 hours ago, Stockjock said:

It was super tasty.  The flavors of the sauce/preparation overwhelmed the delicate taste of the lobster a bit, but it was still excellent.

good to know.  I prefer crab to.lobster and  husb allergic to lobster so I try yo order some when we cruise!

 On Beyond..in Luminae..lobster was tiny but very succulent and they served 2..

[OysterD]

11 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

Well you quoted my post which mentioned 12 day cruises.

 

You then did a search that included a bunch of 10  and 11 day cruises?  Need help in determining the difference between 10, 11 and 12 days?

 

The reason that I mentioned 12 day cruises is that is the average length of one of my Celebrity cruises.  Going down to the ABCs?  A 10 day cruise is not worth my time going on.  A 14 day cruise down to the ABCs is best.  Find me one of those on Celebrity.

 

Better yet count up the small percentage of Celebrity cruises that are 12 days repeat again 12 days or longer.  🙂  Twelve,  12,  douze, doce, or zwolf.

 

Any reason to be quite so snarky?

 

I had tried quoting both your posts but that wasn't working so gave up and omitted the one where you had said you would only look at 10+ day cruises. 

 

Also, as I'm sure you're aware, the Celebrity website doesn't allow you to search by 12+ days, only 10+.

 

[tfred]

14 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I wonder about that over time.  Those of us 50+ often have the option to book many cruises per year.  I myself since retirement book 7-8 and occasionally more.  Previously all on Celebrity but I am now considering other options. Most of those under 50 only get so much vacation time so are likely to book one or maybe two a year.  Will the surge of full ships continue as time rolls on if they continue to push the older crowd away?  I suspect there will come a time in the not too distant future when Celebrity will definitely miss those of us considering other options after years of Celebrity loyalty.  I'm not a CEO for sure, but I do have common sense, and I really wonder if this marketing strategy is a wise one for them as a business over the long term.

Very few people book 7-8 cruises a year so their marketing strategy money isn’t looking at that 
 

x wants the land resort people who have never been on a ship, have money to spend on a vacation and will buy specialty dinners, spa services 

 

X can do both- keep frequent cruises around with reasonable offers and attract well off “younger “ new customers. Go to any better land based resort and see who is staying there. Your ID say phoenix so go to the Scottsdale Princess and look at that crowd. No one looking for free elite drinks, prime rib and half of the other complaints one sees on this board. That is who X wants and they are going to cater to that crowd because that is where the profit is. 

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, OysterD said:

Also, as I'm sure you're aware, the Celebrity website doesn't allow you to search by 12+ days, only 10+.

 

They do supposedly allow you to search for 12 nights.  Try "12 nights in the carribean".  However when I tried it, it gave me 10, 11, and 12 nights.  I suppose that their AI model is old or they are piping it into an outdated filter model.

[Jeremiah1212]

15 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

They are cancelling cruises and cutting itinerary lengths even as I write this, especially in the Caribbean where many of us spend most of our time cruising.  It's not over.  Of course I can't predict the future but the trend is definitely there and I would not be surprised at all to see it happen a lot more often.  Let's see what happens when the 2025 cruises come out.  I would sincerely hope to be wrong.

 

Here are actual numbers from 8/17/23 through end of deployment 5/7/25. It's not perfect because the 8/15 updates are not posted, but in reality the shortened Constellation and Equinox cruises are a tiny portion (19-20) of the 912 total cruises this is based on. Filtering by year has almost no impact. 

 

[NMTraveller]

1 minute ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Here are actual numbers from 8/17/23 through end of deployment 5/7/25. It's not perfect because the 8/15 updates are not posted, but in reality the shortened Constellation and Equinox cruises are a tiny portion (19-20) of the 912 total cruises this is based on. Filtering by year has almost no impact. 

 

Where do you typically find the 15,16,17, and 18 night cruises?  What part of the world?

[Jeremiah1212]

3 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Where do you typically find the 15,16,17, and 18 night cruises?  What part of the world?

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Deleted

Edited August 17, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[Joker54]

On 8/8/2023 at 1:47 AM, Stockjock said:

In terms of youth, I'm just north of 60 and have worked for a big Wall Street firm for over 30 years.  I love all of my clients (honestly), but a problem I have is that the older clients keep dying on me.  I don't mean to minimize the human aspect of this, as my own mother passed away just over a year ago, exactly 2 weeks shy of her 88th birthday, but I cannot blame Celebrity for trying to reach out to some affluent younger passengers who could be customers for 30-40 years, or more.  I also don't mind having some younger passengers on board, as long as they're not acting too crazy, as I think it adds energy to a cruise.

I have been a bit puzzled at the targeted age group, yes I am at the high end of the 60's and have many more vacation years left. My issue is why not target those in the 50's - no need to go to a younger crowd.

 

We also prefer longer cruises which seems to be going away.

 

We are considering going back to flying to destinations and staying at B&B's or upscale hotels which is how we traveled when we were in our 40's and 50's. We were also on the Equinox in Jan of 25 and it was a bucket list cruise, then we just read where a Nola cruise was shortened from 12 to 8 days to accommodate families. Add up charging for some items in Luminae, vaping in casinos', where will it end........

Edited August 17, 2023 by Joker54

[phoenix_dream]

On 8/17/2023 at 9:02 AM, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

Here are actual numbers from 8/17/23 through end of deployment 5/7/25. It's not perfect because the 8/15 updates are not posted, but in reality the shortened Constellation and Equinox cruises are a tiny portion (19-20) of the 912 total cruises this is based on. Filtering by year has almost no impact. 

 

A tiny portion perhaps but as I stated, in particular it's the Caribbean where the cuts are being made. In that area it is anything but a tiny portion.  Wonder if that philosophy is being tested before being rolled out worldwide.  

[phoenix_dream]

On 8/17/2023 at 8:24 AM, tfred said:

Very few people book 7-8 cruises a year so their marketing strategy money isn’t looking at that 
 

x wants the land resort people who have never been on a ship, have money to spend on a vacation and will buy specialty dinners, spa services 

 

X can do both- keep frequent cruises around with reasonable offers and attract well off “younger “ new customers. Go to any better land based resort and see who is staying there. Your ID say phoenix so go to the Scottsdale Princess and look at that crowd. No one looking for free elite drinks, prime rib and half of the other complaints one sees on this board. That is who X wants and they are going to cater to that crowd because that is where the profit is. 

I agree few people book as many per year as I do. However,  until very recently,  if you were to talk to any number of people on the ship I think you would find many passengers onboard book 3 or 4 or more. With shortened cruises, they are either ditching Celebrity or booking more b2b. I don't disagree with you about what X wants.  I just think it is a marketing mistake.  Ps. I don't live in Phoenix.  Hence the "dream " part.🙂

[the penguins]

10 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I agree few people book as many per year as I do. However,  until very recently,  if you were to talk to any number of people on the ship I think you would find many passengers onboard book 3 or 4 or more. With shortened cruises, they are either ditching Celebrity or booking more b2b. I don't disagree with you about what X wants.  I just think it is a marketing mistake.  Ps. I don't live in Phoenix.  Hence the "dream " part.🙂

B2B has advantages as a lot of your CC benefits are in effect doubled - especially useful for Elite and above.

[phoenix_dream]

13 hours ago, the penguins said:

B2B has advantages as a lot of your CC benefits are in effect doubled - especially useful for Elite and above.

They are each technically separate cruises so yes, they are doubled.  I have done many b2b cruises through the years.  There are pluses and minuses, although other than the points I'm not sure how, for example, a 7 night b2b would be better than a 14 night cruise.  The minuses are that often (not always) both legs have the same itinerary, the production shows and sometimes guest performers repeat, there are often not as many ports per cruise due to needing to come back to base, the turnaround day is virtually a lost day as far as being able to visit a port or even fully relax as there are turnaround activities to do, and the variety of available ports is often lessened due to travel distance. 

 

But my main point is that it is the older crowd who will be booking more days on ships, whether separate or B2B cruises.  Younger, working people usually (I know there are exceptions) will book one, and maybe two cruises per year equaling a total number of days onboard averaging 5-7 nights, with the minority doing two cruises maybe as much as 14.  I would be willing to bet $$ that a good portion of the more senior cruisers will book quite a bit in excess of that amount - likely double or more.

Edited August 19, 2023 by phoenix_dream

[Conditionyoke]

Celebrity corporate may have their reasons to make these changes, but my pet peeve is the abysmal customer service they provide when they make these changes. We were booked on the Nov 2024 TA on the Apex. While on an Alaska cruise this May on the Millenium, we were notified via email the TA was canceled, with no reason, no alternative options, nothing. We stopped by future cruises to see if they knew anything about the cancelation. They didn't even know it had been cancelled, just that it was redlined and they couldn't book on it. By the end of the cruise they still knew nothing other than yes, it had been cancelled.

 

Ten days later we finally got the cancellation reason, an earlier than expected dry docking. A few days later a rescheduled TA was posted for November 9th. We we offered a reservation lift & switch, but this TA was 2 nights shorter than our original sailing. In order to get a reduced price for the shorter cruise, we had to rebook. It still was going to be more expensive than the orginal cruise and we lost over a $1,000 in OBC. Fortunately we had a price guarantee on the original booking and after several calls over multiple hours, we got a satisfactory price and our original amount of OBC. It shouldn't be this difficult.

 

Now we have been notified the rescheduled TA has been cancelled because the ship is NOT going into drydock. Again, no options on alternative sailings or any other information. Rumors are running wild about will it do a TA, if so, when, and will it have passengers. The darkest rumor is they are using this to clear the bookings made with the lower rates we got in the spring so they can refill the ship with higher rates they are getting now and not honor the contracts they made with us who had already booked.

 

If you know you have to change up an itenerary, at least come up with viable alternative options before you announce the change. Don't leave your customers hanging. If I ever canceled a contract with my customers because it suited my needs and didn't provide them with suitable alternatives or reasonable recompense for the inconvenience, I would have been out of business in a heartbeat.

 

Hopefully Celebrity proves to be a stand up company and honors their commitments to their loyal customers rather than screwing them to chase the almighty dollar! If not, I will be hard pressed to ever give them anymore of my business.

 

Edited August 19, 2023 by Conditionyoke
Spelling error

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Don’t feel to bad , your cruise isn’t the only one get screwed around 

Equinox moves to the Caribbean, Summit and Constellation also gets screw around 

We we’re not offered anything on the Equinox just $200 per cabin and lost $900 OBC we had n the cruise 

It is Celebrity ships and they can do what they want with them 

Luckly we had no airfare booked or put anytime in planning 

We will look else where as Celebrity really doesn’t have any interesting cruises 

[Loracpin2]

On 8/16/2023 at 6:31 PM, phoenix_dream said:

I wonder about that over time.  Those of us 50+ often have the option to book many cruises per year.  I myself since retirement book 7-8 and occasionally more.  Previously all on Celebrity but I am now considering other options. Most of those under 50 only get so much vacation time so are likely to book one or maybe two a year.  Will the surge of full ships continue as time rolls on if they continue to push the older crowd away?  I suspect there will come a time in the not too distant future when Celebrity will definitely miss those of us considering other options after years of Celebrity loyalty.  I'm not a CEO for sure, but I do have common sense, and I really wonder if this marketing strategy is a wise one for them as a business over the long term.

Try Oceania. You will be very happy!!!!

[nikel]

3 hours ago, Conditionyoke said:

Celebrity corporate may have their reasons to make these changes, but my pet peeve is the abysmal customer service they provide when they make these changes. We were booked on the Nov 2024 TA on the Apex. While on an Alaska cruise this May on the Millenium, we were notified via email the TA was canceled, with no reason, no alternative options, nothing. We stopped by future cruises to see if they knew anything about the cancelation. They didn't even know it had been cancelled, just that it was redlined and they couldn't book on it. By the end of the cruise they still knew nothing other than yes, it had been cancelled.

 

Ten days later we finally got the cancellation reason, an earlier than expected dry docking. A few days later a rescheduled TA was posted for November 9th. We we offered a reservation lift & switch, but this TA was 2 nights shorter than our original sailing. In order to get a reduced price for the shorter cruise, we had to rebook. It still was going to be more expensive than the orginal cruise and we lost over a $1,000 in OBC. Fortunately we had a price guarantee on the original booking and after several calls over multiple hours, we got a satisfactory price and our original amount of OBC. It shouldn't be this difficult.

 

Now we have been notified the rescheduled TA has been cancelled because the ship is NOT going into drydock. Again, no options on alternative sailings or any other information. Rumors are running wild about will it do a TA, if so, when, and will it have passengers. The darkest rumor is they are using this to clear the bookings made with the lower rates we got in the spring so they can refill the ship with higher rates they are getting now and not honor the contracts they made with us who had already booked.

 

If you know you have to change up an itenerary, at least come up with viable alternative options before you announce the change. Don't leave your customers hanging. If I ever canceled a contract with my customers because it suited my needs and didn't provide them with suitable alternatives or reasonable recompense for the inconvenience, I would have been out of business in a heartbeat.

 

Hopefully Celebrity proves to be a stand up company and honors their commitments to their loyal customers rather than screwing them to chase the almighty dollar! If not, I will be hard pressed to ever give them anymore of my business.

 

 

In the "so called same boat" as you.  I wasn't too thriled with the first cancellation, but was happy to at least get to sail from Lisbon.  They made things right when they offered us a small window to rebook at our same rate and  keep our OBC.  What they did now by cancelling the second one and offering us nothing this time is disgusting on their part.  Celebrity is dumping their seasoned cruisers down the drain.  They forget who made them what they are today,.... or at least what they were until last year. 

 

Its too bad this information came out a week after I did final payment and paid for my airfare on my Nov TA on the Apex .  Chances are I would have cancelled.