Seriously now-how many of you are REALLY looking at other cruise lines because of the CEO's changes going on?

[lola2013]

11 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

I think I’m now understanding where we’re going off the rails.  I think most that say lines like Azaramara are the same including price are ones that are booking the more expensive accommodations.  If you’re getting equal value on all these premium lines, the power be with you.
 

I’m speaking for the poor shlubs that book regular balconies and IV’s.  I did a Azamara Onward mock booking on a similar itinerary we booked on Celebrity and it came out to almost double on what we paid on Celebrity.

 

For the class we book, there is no way lines like Azamara are the same as Celebrity

As you didn’t include “LOL” after your reference to “the poor schlubs”, I can only assume that you truly believe that those of us hard-working individuals who sail solo in an SV (and are darn lucky to be able to do so) should bow and scrape when you or your contemporaries pass us in the hallway.
 

[cruisemom42]

48 minutes ago, lola2013 said:

As you didn’t include “LOL” after your reference to “the poor schlubs”, I can only assume that you truly believe that those of us hard-working individuals who sail solo in an SV (and are darn lucky to be able to do so) should bow and scrape when you or your contemporaries pass us in the hallway.
 

 

You're reading it completely wrong. The poster is using a phrase that means s/he is including him- or herself with the so-called "poor schlubs".  No need to get defensive....

 

[beltsbear]

We have broken our run of seven celebrity cruises in a row. We are elite and usually do Aqua. But we have now done two princess cruises and book mini suite.  It us not as good as celebrity….. but it is around half the cost.  Then we also did yacht club on msc and it was pretty much the same price as aqua and it was a pretty good experience. 
 

I would like to go back to celebrity but pricing for aqua is near absurd levels most of the time. 

[lola2013]

Sadly, it’s easy to be defensive as I have heard the term on these boards and on the ship.  

[kirtihk]

On 9/6/2023 at 8:09 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Totally get that yet it is pretty significant that the previous CEO and president leaves and the CEO title is eliminated

A game of words

[Cruise till you drop]

28 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

You're reading it completely wrong. The poster is using a phrase that means s/he is including him- or herself with the so-called "poor schlubs".  No need to get defensive....

 

Absolutely correct.  As we usually book only a balcony or IV, we are the shlubs compared to the many Retreat passengers posting here

Edited September 8, 2023 by Cruise till you drop

[Grambler]

While Celebrity & Royal has always been our favorites, we die a couple Carnicals and a Princess over the past yr and I amsad to report that these lines have also cut back on quality, or maybe this is just Carnival’s regular quality- unsure because we only did one other Carnival years ago but the quality in the Main Dining room was far below what what we experienced on Celebrity. I think ALL of the cruise lines have cut back on quality ESPECIALLY in Main dining, most notably in their beef/steak quality.The big teller is sauce on everything. But I agree that Celebrity has priced themselves out of the product they deliver so we are not sailing with them until they match.if I am going to get inferior quality I might as well pay less

[awhfy]

We have a b2b on Silhouette in Feb that we booked with all the perks & lots of OBC. We’ve always enjoyed Celebrity (Elite + with over 1500 pts). That being said we’ve booked a suite on HAL 21 nights rt from Boston to touch Panama Canal. First time since 1995 that we haven’t had at least 3-4 Celebrity cruises booked. 

Edited September 8, 2023 by awhfy

[Keys Kathy]

1 minute ago, awhfy said:

We have a b2b on Silhouette in Feb that we booked with all the perks & lots of OBC. We’ve always enjoyed Celebrity (Elite + with over 1500 pts). That being said we’ve booked a suite on HAL rt from Boston to touch Panama Canal. First time since 1995 that we haven’t had at least 3-4 Celebrity cruises booked. 

The sad part is, X does not care! I liked the X perks, but we are looking at a Princess cruise for our wedding anniversary in a mini-suite with more perks at a lower cost. 

[lola2013]

18 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Absolutely correct.  As we usually book only a balcony or IV, we are the shlubs compared to the many Retreat passengers posting here

Thank you for clarifying.  

[nijh]

22 minutes ago, Grambler said:

….most notably in their beef/steak quality.The big teller is sauce on everything.

On Princess now.  100% agree with that!

 

Stopped ordering any of the beef dishes as the texture is peculiar and the taste non-existent.
 

Had a steak arrive smothered in gravy when it should have been just a garlic butter.  They said the garlic butter was mixed in with the gravy 🤔. Sent it back to get it as described, when it came back I understood the gravy smothering. 🥴👎

Edited September 8, 2023 by nijh

[deliver42]

I can't see any Celebrity cruise in our future with these prices and new changes weekly for the worse.

[Joker54]

Our last transatlantic on the Apex was not as impressive as many of our previous cruises. We have cancelled one cruise so far. X cancelled our 2025 Antarctic cruise to move Equinox to a more “family friendly” location and itineraries. We chose X as it wasn’t a family cruise line, nothing against family cruises but it’s a deal breaker for us. We are down to 8 cruises booked with X some may get cancelled some we will keep because of the itineraries.

 

For us it has nothing to do with the grass being greener elsewhere.

 

X is making business decisions that it feels is better for the business.

 

We make our holiday spend plans on our interests. If X’s product doesn’t fit our interests we will look elsewhere, whether that be another cruise line, or go back to getting 1st or biz class tickets and flying to a destination and spending 5 or 6 weeks in that part of the world. Which is what we did for many years.
 

If we don’t find a product that fits our interests then it may be time for us to enjoy our home, and me to enjoy the company of my DW of 47 years and reminisce about days gone by. We try and live everyday like it’s our last. No one gets out alive! Whatever we choose it’s going to be something that makes us happy.

 

Everyone should choose those things that make them happy.  X up until recently made us happy and we don’t see why it’s wrong for us to comment on changes that are pushing us out the door.

 

Cheers

[tfred]

4 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Interestingly I just read an article that Cancun resort bookings are really dropping.  Maybe more people are cruising instead.

Probably scared for safety reasons. 

[ALANG]

Price and value are two completely different things.  Price is what you pay and value is what you receive.  As of now Celebrity's pricing is high compared to the value.  So very recently DW and I have booked three cruises, one with MSC (Yacht Club), Oceania, and Princess.  I will  be sailing shortly on the Beyond in the Retreat but would not considered booking The Retreat now due to crazy inflated pricing and cutbacks.  Our last ten cruises have been with Celebrity.  I hope this is a trial separation but it looks more like a divorce.

 

Alan

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 hours ago, kirtihk said:

A game of words

 

If it was a game, X would be more likely to keep the major title of CEO but for some reason they removed it

[retird]

Seems like a lot of people contemplating leaving Celebrity.  Have any migrated over to their destine cruise line forums to introduce yourselves and check how those folks are faring with their own cruise line changes.  You might be surprised .

[zip01002]

My wife and I have been Elite Plus for quite a while after doing 68 cruises with Celebrity and we have 14 more booked before the end of 2024.  We are definitely concerned about where the new management team appears to be heading so we'll be looking very closely at what's next.  The change to drop the gratuities from the "All Included" rate makes no sense as Celebrity spent years convincing everyone that many workers behind the scenes would benefit.  Guests paying for gratuities in that package were much less likely to have GR remove those charges as they were embedded in the "AI" rate.  If they are charged separately, some will ask to opt out and give their money directly to the crew that they see.  If they add the gratuities to the cruise rate, that's not a great idea either.  In either case, it seems likely that they figured that they could squeeze a little more out of all of us.  We hope that they'll reconsider some of these moves before more of their loyal cruisers (and possibly us) find other options.   

[expattraveler]

15 hours ago, Keys Kathy said:

 

The worst thing is, Celebrity just doesn't seem to care. They keep jacking up prices and reducing what they deliver.

The Marking department ’s strategy appears to be “throw it up against the wall and see what sticks”. Apparently bookings are trending upward so things must be sticking.
 

Until a bright remote working MBA in the marketing department wakes up at 11:00 one morning after their initial Starbucks and checks the booking #’s declining, the current algorithm will rule….

[Baggy178]

4 hours ago, Cruise till you drop said:

Absolutely correct.  As we usually book only a balcony or IV, we are the shlubs compared to the many Retreat passengers posting here

 

You ' only ' book a balcony ?

That's sheer luxury to those of us down here in Riff-Raff Class™ ! 😅

[Gracie115]

6 hours ago, retird said:

Seems like a lot of people contemplating leaving Celebrity.  Have any migrated over to their destine cruise line forums to introduce yourselves and check how those folks are faring with their own cruise line changes.  You might be surprised .

I have been visiting the Princess boards and, yes, there are some threads condemning their new Plus & Premium packages.  But I don't see any where near as many as I see here on the X boards.  I think that is because while there are changes and increased costs they are not nearly as bad as on X.  I've booked our next cruise with them at a price that Celebrity would be charging at least 30-40% more for the itinerary and length of cruise. No brainer for us.

[floridatravelersforlife]

18 hours ago, Stumptowngal said:

As a side note, I was perusing the Oceania forum the other night to get a feel for it.  While many people love the product, I was surprised at the not infrequent comments by regular Oceania cruisers lamenting changes and feeling the need to search elsewhere for future cruising. It seems no cruise line is impervious to needing to improve their bottom line. In response, cruisers either learn to adapt to the changes or spend more to get what’s important to them or spend less by trying other cruise lines that they believe will offer them what they are accustomed to at a lesser price. At least there are numerous choices . . . but the cruising world certainly is evolving. 

We vote with our wallet.  We left C (ElitePlus) after the  C downgrades due to the Great Recession.  We did several Oceania cruises which were a step above.  We returned to C after Covid due to the extraordinary service. Now C is spiraling down again.  So is Oceania.  We cancelled an O Mideast itinerary because of the cutbacks.  O cut back time in port, allowing pitifully short time to visit sites that were the main reason we took the destination cruise. So now we are planning an air/land tour which encompasses most of the desired sites. Except for a Japan cruise, our cruising will probably be limited to Caribbean cruises with family until something changes again. 

[jean87510]

6 hours ago, retird said:

Seems like a lot of people contemplating leaving Celebrity.  Have any migrated over to their destine cruise line forums to introduce yourselves and check how those folks are faring with their own cruise line changes.  You might be surprised .

If the price is right, the itinerary is good and it is a small ship, I have zero issues.  Some of the complaints on here I don't care about such as food quality or having a butler just for me.  I think most of us like to get a value for our money.  I personally love Celebrity but I like my money better and if I can get the YC on MSC 10 days for half the price of a 7 day Edge class Retreat sailing for a Caribbean sailing, I'm going for it.  And I have read other forums which are pretty similar to Celebrity.  

[mac_tlc]

7 hours ago, retird said:

Seems like a lot of people contemplating leaving Celebrity.  Have any migrated over to their destine cruise line forums to introduce yourselves and check how those folks are faring with their own cruise line changes.  You might be surprised .

I certainly have, for Oceania, Viking, MSC. There are some similar issues. Long time Oceania cruisers don’t like “Simply More”, change in cancellation/refund policy, seemingly frequent port cancellations. MSC folks don’t like that prices seem to be creeping up. 
 

But, in my review, there is nothing compared to the volume, speed and scope of Celebrity’s changes. And frankly, none of them seem to be affecting already booked customers. The butler change, with its accompanying lack of any communication, affects folks who booked over a year ago, including me. 
 

Yah, I’ve looked, and I’m trying a different cruise line.

 

mac_tlc

Edited September 8, 2023 by mac_tlc

[Stateroom_Sailor]

We left 5 years ago after sailing for 12 nights with an unbelievable shortage of vegetables.  Perhaps a supply chain fluke, but we vowed never to sail again under LLP.  As the saying goes, "Meet the new boss, same as the old bass."

 

We just sailed on HAL last May, and only noticed a few changes from 2019.  The MDR menu was a bit shorter with an extra pasta dish each night.  The sushi station in the buffet was gone.  No live classical music, as they were in-between partnership contracts.  Sailings outside of North America were experiencing beverage shortages such as Perrier, Malbec wine, etc.  Everything else seemed to be up to pre-pandemic levels, as far as we could tell.  As far as pricing, our cancelled 2020 Transpacific will cost 50% more in 2024 for an entry level suite.

 

We're cutting cruising down to once every other year in favor of timeshare travel.  We bought a couple resale Wyndham contracts for next to nothing, and for $1,800 per year we can do a full week in Sedona during a film festival, and every other year a couple weeks in Hawaii.