Celebrity is Listening

[the penguins]

39 minutes ago, kirtihk said:

What does the company gain from it if it is actually not good at all?  I don't think they get extra money just for that item alone, and if they do, that means there are enough cruisers who like it, because, obviously, the Edge operates for 5 years by now, and a lot of people who book the Infinite veranda are repeat customers, and we are amongst of them.

Laura said in her online Q and A that the IV didn't suit her and her husband and that they were looking at this issue for the last Edge Line ship.

The real test will be when the next class of ship is introduced which I predict will have proportionally less IV's.

As to "passengers liking it" well clearly some do, some don't and for others if they want to cruise on X they have no choice - e.g. for next year the only ship sailing from the UK will be an E class one. Even more concerning is that the big UK travel agents are simply advertising prices for "balcony" cabins with no differentiation between IV and traditional balconies a decision which may come back to bite them.

[Spif Barwunkel]

"Infinite verandas are the biggest scam I mean greatest marketing coup in cruising history."

 

The poster who made this statement, does he/she realize how true it is? I, for one, was swindled out of my cruisiing dollars. As a result, I became part of the very successful movement toward the Infinite Veranda culture. That's right, Celebrity told me everything there was to tell, laid it all there for me to see and still took my money. Now, I am trapped, forced to make IV decisions based on truth, justice and the American way. Celebrity has scammed their way through three Edge Class ships with a fourth due to begin sailing soon. Shameful.

 

One can certainly remain vehemently against IV cabins since their inception years ago. With support from fellow caustics, we innocents were warned of Celebrity's malevolent intent, a portend of things to come. Obviously, Celebrity is not listening. Obviously, neither are we. Looks like I, for one, shall continue to fall shamelessly into the Infinite abyss of 'T,' 'J', and the 'A' way.   

[kirtihk]

3 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

"Infinite verandas are the biggest scam I mean greatest marketing coup in cruising history."

 

The poster who made this statement, does he/she realize how true it is? I, for one, was swindled out of my cruisiing dollars. As a result, I became part of the very successful movement toward the Infinite Veranda culture. That's right, Celebrity told me everything there was to tell, laid it all there for me to see and still took my money. Now, I am trapped, forced to make IV decisions based on truth, justice and the American way. Celebrity has scammed their way through three Edge Class ships with a fourth due to begin sailing soon. Shameful.

 

One can certainly remain vehemently against IV cabins since their inception years ago. With support from fellow caustics, we innocents were warned of Celebrity's malevolent intent, a portend of things to come. Obviously, Celebrity is not listening. Obviously, neither are we. Looks like I, for one, shall continue to fall shamelessly into the Infinite abyss of 'T,' 'J', and the 'A' way.   

This is a very interesting and novel way of presenting a point of view!

[Cruise till you drop]

7 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

"Infinite verandas are the biggest scam I mean greatest marketing coup in cruising history."

 

The poster who made this statement, does he/she realize how true it is? I, for one, was swindled out of my cruisiing dollars. As a result, I became part of the very successful movement toward the Infinite Veranda culture. That's right, Celebrity told me everything there was to tell, laid it all there for me to see and still took my money. Now, I am trapped, forced to make IV decisions based on truth, justice and the American way. Celebrity has scammed their way through three Edge Class ships with a fourth due to begin sailing soon. Shameful.

 

One can certainly remain vehemently against IV cabins since their inception years ago. With support from fellow caustics, we innocents were warned of Celebrity's malevolent intent, a portend of things to come. Obviously, Celebrity is not listening. Obviously, neither are we. Looks like I, for one, shall continue to fall shamelessly into the Infinite abyss of 'T,' 'J', and the 'A' way.   

I had to literally stand up and salute while reading this 😂 

[Spif Barwunkel]

38 minutes ago, the penguins said:

As to "passengers liking it" well clearly some do, some don't and for others if they want to cruise on X they have no choice - e.g. for next year the only ship sailing from the UK will be an E class one. Even more concerning is that the big UK travel agents are simply advertising prices for "balcony" cabins with no differentiation between IV and traditional balconies a decision which may come back to bite them.

Plenty of choices available with 'M' and 'S class ships around Europe. If some folks feel that they don't have a choice, strictly on them.  

[Spif Barwunkel]

7 minutes ago, Cruise till you drop said:

I had to literally stand up and salute while reading this 😂 

And well you should.

[zitsky]

2 hours ago, kirtihk said:

What does the company gain from it if it is actually not good at all?  I don't think they get extra money just for that item alone, and if they do, that means there are enough cruisers who like it, because, obviously, the Edge operates for 5 years by now, and a lot of people who book the Infinite veranda are repeat customers, and we are amongst of them.

If a company only offers product XYZ is it surprising that SOME people like it?  Those who don’t will go elsewhere.  Do you have sales figures for IV for the last 5 years?

[Keys Kathy]

On 10/13/2023 at 6:08 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Let us know when they're ready to stop listening/discussing and start taking action.  A good start would be to increase their food budget by reducing the marketing budget that sends out four emails a day

And the snail mail too!

 

[Keys Kathy]

On 10/14/2023 at 11:08 AM, manmachine said:

So THAT’s why the food has improved, the off-shore support has moved back to the USA, the prices have become reasonable, the casino program has become transparent, and the Infinite Verandahs have been eliminated!

Can I have some of what you're smoking?

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Plenty of choices available with 'M' and 'S class ships around Europe. If some folks feel that they don't have a choice, strictly on them.  

Only if you fly - many people cruise because they can't/won't fly.

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, the penguins said:

Only if you fly - many people cruise because they can't/won't fly.

Again for those that won't fly, that is a choice and strictly on them. 

 

[Spif Barwunkel]

2 hours ago, the penguins said:

Only if you fly - many people cruise because they can't/won't fly.

Huh!

[Cap_D]

ICYMI, below is a link to a video that includes footage of the Q & A, and a take down by customer and critic Tom Sunday.  (He also has additional videos with some great behind the scenes tour footage when Martin one of the F&B heads on Edge Class ships took him around during better times).  The comments on YouTube are scathing. 

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by Cap_D

[jaywoods678]

On 10/14/2023 at 11:27 AM, ECCruise said:

Agree with the Princess take but disagree on HAL.  The Dive In burgers are hand formed, cooked to order, lots of variations available and pretty darn good, frankly.  IMHO, head and shoulders above Mast Grill. 

I agree. I don't know where he got a burger on HAL, but the Dive In burgers are some of the best as sea, if not the best. And not just my opinion, it is widely known.

[zitsky]

If you folks want to pay a lot of money for a window that the captain can lock then more power to you.  As they say, there’s a sucker born every minute.

Edited October 17, 2023 by zitsky

[kirtihk]

33 minutes ago, zitsky said:

If you folks want to pay a lot of money for a window that the captain can lock then more power to you.  As they say, there’s a sucker born every minute.

The captain can lock the entire ship in case one doesn’t realize - it’s thousands of suckers (AKA cruise lovers) locked together without windows (inside cabins),  with windows, and… with scam windows…

[the penguins]

4 hours ago, zitsky said:

If you folks want to pay a lot of money for a window that the captain can lock then more power to you.  As they say, there’s a sucker born every minute.

Totally agree.

Before X introduced Edge Class there was only one major cruise line with extensive experience with IV drop down windows - that company was Viking. Interestingly when Viking added Ocean going ships to it's fleet not one had IV drop down windows. Since Edge line was introduced all the other major cruise lines have continued to build new ships and how many of these has added IV cabins - Zero.

Additionally when Edge was introduced the marketing emphasised all the supposed "benefits" of IV's whereas now, at least in the UK, there is no mention of the concept.

Had X waited to see if IV's were popular before it committed to building more several ships I doubt if it would have continued with the second or at least if it had it would have been more of a 50/50 mix. 

 

 

[Rustyman]

8 hours ago, Cap_D said:

ICYMI, below is a link to a video that includes footage of the Q & A, and a take down by customer and critic Tom Sunday.  (He also has additional videos with some great behind the scenes tour footage when Martin one of the F&B heads on Edge Class ships took him around during better times).  The comments on YouTube are scathing. 

 

Oh the spin and porky pies by Celebrity are coming home to roost. They must think we are buttoned up the back to believe it all when we’ve experienced the significant downturn. 
Here’s hoping that those at the top listen to customers rather than middle managers who appear not to be feeding criticism upwards. I’ve 3 cruises booked for next year, booked before the crashing of food standards, and am so hoping that reports back from customers show a reversal of what has been done or we will be joining those cancelling.

 

[the penguins]

1 minute ago, Rustyman said:

Oh the spin and porky pies by Celebrity are coming home to roost. They must think we are buttoned up the back to believe it all when we’ve experienced the significant downturn. 
Here’s hoping that those at the top listen to customers rather than middle managers who appear not to be feeding criticism upwards. I’ve 3 cruises booked for next year, booked before the crashing of food standards, and am so hoping that reports back from customers show a reversal of what has been done or we will be joining those cancelling.

 

Looking at 2024 from the UK,  Celebrity looks to be getting "way out of line" with its pricing.

The following were from a Newspaper Advert in London yesterday placed by one of the UK's biggest cruise specialists.

As always the headline prices will be the lowest cabins in the category but they still make for interesting comparisons.

All cruises from Southampton except Virgin which is from Portsmouth:

Different itineraries but this doesn't affect the prices much from the UK.

Celebrity Edge: 7 nights;

balcony £1229 + tips

Suite £3599

MSC Virtuosa 12 nights

balcony £1299 Inc tips

Yacht Club: £3699

P and O Arvia 14 nights

Balcony £1129 Inc tips

Suite £1719

Royal Anthem 7 nights

Balcony £849 plus tips

Suite £ 3099

Virgin Resilient Lady 4 nights

Balcony £739 Inc tips, WiFi and $300 bar credit

Suite £1299.

[Ken the cruiser]

On 10/13/2023 at 6:08 PM, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Let us know when they're ready to stop listening/discussing and start taking action.  A good start would be to increase their food budget by reducing the marketing budget that sends out four emails a day

And if I might add, eliminate the 20% penalty for booking an itinerary with a refundable deposit, like most of their competitor cruise lines, such as PCL, NCL and HAL, offer with no additional charge for most of their cabin categories.

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[cgolf1]

On 10/14/2023 at 10:06 AM, NMTraveller said:

If you look at the threads you literally see 100s of complaints about the food.  Yes that is 100s.  These are cruisers just coming off of the ships.

 

What items have been added back?

 

Current menus have been posted ad naseum.

 

Where are the menus with the items added back in?

 

I hear prime rib is back. In February, on an 11 night cruise on the Edge Prime Rib was not offered at all. Also have heard the nigh time buffet has improved. As someone that eats a gluten free diet, the night time buffet in February would have been a challenge for me to get a proper meal.

Edited October 17, 2023 by cgolf1

[Older Sister]

I cruised on the Equinox last month in a Sunset Sky Suite and NEVER saw or heard from anyone on the Butler “team.”   Our room attendant did a good job of maintaining our room, the same as has been done on other cruises in lower level rooms.  When I booked the cruise, I chose a Retreat level room with expectations or a higher level of service.  Never got it.  I came home and booked a cruise on Regent.  Celebrity has lost my business due to their bait and switch tactics.  

[NMTraveller]

11 hours ago, zitsky said:

If you folks want to pay a lot of money for a window that the captain can lock then more power to you.  As they say, there’s a sucker born every minute.

Infinite swampland and infinite bridges for sale...

 

Gullible consumers.  I have to admit that the marketing for these is out there.

 

If these were better than a true balcony the suites and aft verandas would have them.

Edited October 17, 2023 by NMTraveller

[Spif Barwunkel]

I watched the Q & A video on Tuesday and Tom Sunday is not my messiah. He is a customer/critic but aren't we all. His video is well put together and speaks to issues that have been the bane of Celebrity for many, many months now. From his perspective, it is not the most honest and trustworthy relationship between X and the customer. From my perspective, the two ladies were a bit too cutesy and upbeat, not really showing any credence or concern for customer complaints. Perhaps a bit more seriousness and businesslike demeanor could have given more validation to the reasons why the Q & A was presented.

 

In the meantime, for those harshest of X critics who have cruises planned and hoping for the best, why, cancel them before final payment. For those of you on the fence about cruising with X, get off and go elsewhere. For those of you fortunate to have not been personally affected, remain a customer until you don't want to be. For what it's worth, that's the way I am going to play it.

 

So, I guess the disgruntled folks can blame me for their misery. I will continue spending my Celebrity dollars which in turn will enable Celebrity to provide you with less than perfect service. I'll admit, I am one of those suckers born many, many minutes ago.    

 

[NMTraveller]

9 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

I watched the Q & A video on Tuesday and Tom Sunday is not my messiah. He is a customer/critic but aren't we all. His video is well put together and speaks to issues that have been the bane of Celebrity for many, many months now. From his perspective, it is not the most honest and trustworthy relationship between X and the customer. From my perspective, the two ladies were a bit too cutesy and upbeat, not really showing any credence or concern for customer complaints. Perhaps a bit more seriousness and businesslike demeanor could have given more validation to the reasons why the Q & A was presented. 

 

Perhaps some genuine answers from Laura would have been beneficial.  She must think that her cruisers are not the brightest to believe her BS answers and acting.  She would make a good politician though.  She can obfuscate with the best of them.

Edited October 17, 2023 by NMTraveller