Poll on Celebrity Cruises' President

[~Jewels]

Disingenuous and completely out of touch. Not to mention a complete disregard of passenger intelligence. Misinformation at its worst.

[ISABELLA]

19 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

I feel dumber for having watched.  I have never heard so much BS and obfuscating from Laura...  She would make a good politician though.

Agreed. Looks too rehearsed. 

It felt like I just watched WH briefing. 😉

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by ISABELLA

[Lastdance]

It is not that difficult to know that speaking out of both sides of one’s mouth is a real  disconnect, not to mention very insulting to many long-time cruisers.  The bottom line is that customers will determine where their hard-earned money is spent.  I have heard smooth talkers throughout my life, but this was not even somewhat convincing to me.  So, I requested these changes in food quality, ship itinerary, extra charges, decrease/shift in services, along with gratuities being removed and very high prices.  Maybe this is just a dream and the real Celebrity spokesperson/president will be revealed soon.  Of course, Celebrity is a business and has every right to make one believe that what you see is actually what you want!  My next cruise is on Beyond, 12/01/23...only time will tell how I feel about the changes.  However, I can hope that I wake up and love the product that I have enjoyed for so many years...TBD

Edited October 17, 2023 by Lastdance

[zitsky]

Any business succeeds because of the executives, the employees AND the customers.  If you really want to go there, it belongs to the shareholders.

[sixpackeddie]

On 10/17/2023 at 10:18 AM, ~Jewels said:

Disingenuous and completely out of touch. Not to mention a complete disregard of passenger intelligence. Misinformation at its worst.

Yes, unfortunately most passengers don’t realize this.

[deliver42]

The pillow soft questions didn't help either.

[zitsky]

4 minutes ago, deliver42 said:

The pillow soft questions didn't help either.

Well at least she didn’t practice her answers.  You could see how sincere she was!  😂

[Orator]

They need to reactivate CelebrityCruiser for treads like this and answer some of the questions and perhaps misinformation.

CelebrityCruiser was the screen name on this board for a Celebrity staff member who reviewed this and other social media platforms to give advice and correct information.

Edited October 19, 2023 by Orator

[NMTraveller]

16 minutes ago, Orator said:

They need to reactivate CelebrityCruiser for treads like this and answer some of the questions and perhaps misinformation.

CelebrityCruiser was the screen name on this board for a Celebrity staff member who reviewed this and other social media platforms to give advice and correct information.

Agreed.  CelebrityCruiser should come back.

 

At least Laura would get one vote in the poll.

[cruisefam38]

I was neither edified or entertained by watching that Q&A.

 

However, my thoughts and opinions regarding Celebrity leadership are crystalizing.

[ldubs]

On 10/17/2023 at 7:18 AM, ~Jewels said:

Disingenuous and completely out of touch. Not to mention a complete disregard of passenger intelligence. Misinformation at its worst.

 

Well, if she is truly out of touch, then probably not disingenuous.  😄

 

To me it was just an attempt at damage control that didn't go very well.  Would have been better simply acknowledging (instead of trying to counter)  customer feedback.  

[ISABELLA]

I laughed at her comment that they listen to the customers...... 

Yes - we want a beach day where it might cost few hundred dollars to have a special chair. 

Yes- we want to pay for a steak and lobster in MDR.

Yes - we want warm, not hot food.

Yes - we don't want butler. 

Yes - we want pay for cookies.

Yes - we want even more limited beverage variety.

what else do we want? - higher prices, less product

Somebody should have explained to her what made Celebrity preferred line in the past.

[Orator]

5 minutes ago, ISABELLA said:

I laughed at her comment that they listen to the customers...... 

Yes - we want a beach day where it might cost few hundred dollars to have a special chair. 

Yes- we want to pay for a steak and lobster in MDR.

Yes - we want warm, not hot food.

Yes - we don't want butler. 

Yes - we want pay for cookies.

Yes - we want even more limited beverage variety.

what else do we want? - higher prices, less product

Somebody should have explained to her what made Celebrity preferred line in the past.

What we get is what people are willing to include in their experience. People are booking, especially Suites at what I feel is  to me outrageous prices, but that  being said, Celebrity would be fools(and they're not) to get less than the market will allow. The passengers who continue to book are most responsible for the decline in service and the rising prices. The market determines price!

[ISABELLA]

2 minutes ago, Orator said:

What we get is what people are willing to include in their experience. People are booking, especially Suites at what I feel is  to me outrageous prices, but that  being said, Celebrity would be fools(and they're not) to get less than the market will allow. The passengers who continue to book are most responsible for the decline in service and the rising prices. The market determines price!

You are correct - there are always be somebody to book a cruise.. And X will charge high prices as long as people will be willing to pay till they start to compare. That is what we did. AQ was $6500 for 9 days Carib cruise and NCL Haven was $5700 for 9 days Carib. We would not sail on NCL in the regular cabin.

I consider myself a very loyal fan of X ( Elite Plus) and so far we never had a bad cruise. Sailing in November will be a check mark for us. We have no cruises booked with X.  We did tried NCL Haven and loved it, so there are options. 

[hcat]

the destruction of a beautiful natural place like Coco Cay is the new X..and the new Pres was the driving force.

 

No Poll Needed!

[Oville]

1 hour ago, hcat said:

the destruction of a beautiful natural place like Coco Cay is the new X..and the new Pres was the driving force.

 

No Poll Needed!

Hasn’t Coco Cay always been more of a Royal destination not so much Celebrity?

[zitsky]

2 hours ago, Orator said:

What we get is what people are willing to include in their experience. People are booking, especially Suites at what I feel is  to me outrageous prices, but that  being said, Celebrity would be fools(and they're not) to get less than the market will allow. The passengers who continue to book are most responsible for the decline in service and the rising prices. The market determines price!

I did not realize that I set the price for my Sky Suite.  You mean to say I can reduce my payment by 50%?  I booked a Sky Suite because of amenities promised.  I didn’t realize that I made the decision to remove benefits.

[hcat]

1 hour ago, Oville said:

Hasn’t Coco Cay always been more of a Royal destination not so much Celebrity?

basically yes..but  we heard she was the driving force.  It was natural and mostly  unspoiled,  even with cruisers  able to visit for beach, sea shelling, snorkel and lunch buffet ..Now looks like Coney Isand  

 

   Apparently X will.use it til they get their own special island

[NutsAboutGolf]

She's only the president, not also the CEO like LLP was.  Pure speculation that it's the parent company which is run by a former CFO calling the shots and Laura just implements them at the operational level

 

Some of her first cutbacks under Laura's watch:

Metal cans of water were being phased out

Cheesecake and Chocolate cake were removed as everyday items from the MDR/Blu menu 

[ISABELLA]

The cutbacks will continue as long as customer will allow. If people continue complaining, but still booking, nothing will improve. 

[Loracpin2]

Based on all your very informative comments, I'm concerned that our upcoming January Apex sailing might definitely not be the same fantastic Celebrity experiences that got us to Elite+ status and, as a result, might very well be our last Celebrity experience!!

[cruisefam38]

9 hours ago, Loracpin2 said:

might very well be our last Celebrity experience!!

We have a cruise on the books for next spring, and we are hoping the poorly conceived and executed changes will be revert back to a quality product grounded in good service.  In other words, past the commotions and after the dust has settled, we too hope we still recognize Celebrity Cruise Line.

[CulverCityCruisers]

Going on Eclipse in a few days and if it is anything like Summit was earlier this year we will seriously consider cancelling our spring 2025 B2B.

 

Already have started to look elsewhere and have booked 3 Windstar cruises.  X was always our favorite, but the decline in food has been dramatic in both dinning room and buffet.  Staff is wonderful, but those poor souls are running around like crazy and just trying to get through their days.  Ver sad what has happened overall IMHO

[tfred]

I would love to see the % of pax who are new cruisers now.  My guess is that it is higher than you think.  I look at X FB pages and there many new cruisers asking the usual new cruise questions 

 

X et al are trying to replicate the land based resort experience.  That experience doesnt include OBC or free anything.  Stay at any Marriott resort and see what the experience is  - expensive, no entertainment, with very few freebies unless you are a very high status person (and even then there isnt much)   It is easy to spend upwards of $1k/night with just a standard room. BTW - those land resorts are jammed with people

 

Cruise Critic is comprised of long term cruisers who want much of what they had before - way before.  New people have no idea of yesteryear and if X can follow the land resort model they won't care or know what it used to be like. 

[lovecruzin]

Where can we see the results of the poll?