Here's The Problem - What's The Solution

[Hawkstar33]

6 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

This sounds like you answered your own question. But here you are asking for "other" solutions when there is only one answer, and always has been for that matter. Personal choice. When one feels disappointed, swindled, betrayed or priced out, get out. Why keep soliciting reasons for or solutions to not leaving, if leaving is what you really want to do? I experienced some of these circumstances onboard the Ascent during her maiden voyage. Common sense told me that some things might be different. No problem, I can adjust mentally, physically and financially. A truly enjoyable cruising experience, in all respects. Therefore, my future options include continued Celebrity cruising. How 'bout that.

Actually, that was a comment by another cruiser, which I liked.  And I'm thinking it comes down to what you are willing to accept, once you feel like you have been squatted on.  We book according to our experiences of the past.  I want the same great experience I had, all those other times. We expected issues during covid restarts.  They are still suffering with staff shortages. Yet we enjoyed our trips this past year, but did notice quite a few changes.  Nothing extremely earth shattering, but still apparent. But this slowly evolving cutback game is sneaky pool.  Once you make final payment, set up excursions, transportation, dining plans, etc, and get onboard, you hope to get the Complete experience you paid for.  As there is no turning back at that point. So we will see.   I will mentally, and physically, struggle thru the 6 that we have booked until 2/25/25.   Silhouette btb, Beyond btb, and Eclipse Bermuda in 2024. Summit is last one booked in 2025.   Should get an even better idea of what's going on after these trips.  Then some serious Personal Choice as to future travel

[Spif Barwunkel]

13 minutes ago, billc23 said:

So true. I travel and take cruises or land based vacations as desired. In the past 20 years I usually would have more vacation days booked on Celebrity going forward than any other vacation (land or sea). Now Celebrity has moved to second place for me and may go further down the list, but I will still continue to book Celebrity as long as I do not lose confidence that they will deliver a great experience.  I have not been outright disappointed on any cruise, yet the pricing gives me pause, and, while it is not a problem for my vacation budget, it has pushed me to look at other options I may not have considered in the past. I have enjoyed the other options and find the Celebrity experience lacking at the increased price point if it is only me and my wife traveling. For a family trip Celebrity and Royal are appealing. 

Very important to mention "confidence" in the experience. So many variables make up that quoted word, do they not? As a cruising couple, DW and I have yet to feel our X costs diminishing our X experience. Noticeable increases, no doubt. But therein lies one of those threshold variables that will continue to affect the cruising population.  

[Spif Barwunkel]

14 minutes ago, Hawkstar33 said:

Actually, that was a comment by another cruiser, which I liked.  And I'm thinking it comes down to what you are willing to accept, once you feel like you have been squatted on.  We book according to our experiences of the past.  I want the same great experience I had, all those other times. We expected issues during covid restarts.  They are still suffering with staff shortages. Yet we enjoyed our trips this past year, but did notice quite a few changes.  Nothing extremely earth shattering, but still apparent. But this slowly evolving cutback game is sneaky pool.  Once you make final payment, set up excursions, transportation, dining plans, etc, and get onboard, you hope to get the Complete experience you paid for.  As there is no turning back at that point. So we will see.   I will mentally, and physically, struggle thru the 6 that we have booked until 2/25/25.   Silhouette btb, Beyond btb, and Eclipse Bermuda in 2024. Summit is last one booked in 2025.   Should get an even better idea of what's going on after these trips.  Then some serious Personal Choice as to future travel

billc23's post #51 fits perfectly with your above post. Continuing confidence in the product, despite the occasional issues, is most important. 

[billc23]

6 minutes ago, Spif Barwunkel said:

Very important to mention "confidence" in the experience. So many variables make up that quoted word, do they not? As a cruising couple, DW and I have yet to feel our X costs diminishing our X experience. Noticeable increases, no doubt. But therein lies one of those threshold variables that will continue to affect the cruising population.  

Yes. I never had the desire to cruise on one of the "Luxury" cruise lines - too stuffy and all that -  but when I saw that I was paying more for the excellent X experience than Regent or Silversea, I decided to give them a try. Turned out to be a superior experience for me and my wife while sailing as a couple. Certainly not for some/most loyal X cruisers but it was for us. I did not miss the art auctions or the hierarchal system that X has. 

[Baynanno1]

6 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Our next TA 12 night cruise , we at $833 CAD a person in a balcony , and the cheapest direct flight to Lisbon is $666 CAD for 6 hours 🤔😁

If you are saying your cruise is $69.40 CAD per person per night for a balcony on your 12 night cruise, that is absolutely amazing!

On the other hand if you are saying $833 CAD per person per night for a balcony on your 12 night cruise, that is way too much.

[villauk]

19 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

If you are saying your cruise is $69.40 CAD per person per night for a balcony on your 12 night cruise, that is absolutely amazing!

On the other hand if you are saying $833 CAD per person per night for a balcony on your 12 night cruise, that is way too much.

 

TAs are always cheaper than cruises with regular itineraries.

[Texed]

4 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

TAs are always cheaper than cruises with regular itineraries.

 

Or, at least they once were.  😆

[Ex-Airbalancer]

22 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

TAs are always cheaper than cruises with regular itineraries.

Depends on what you consider to be regular itineraries 

Most of cruising companions only book TAs 😁

Edited December 14, 2023 by Ex-Airbalancer

[Ex-Airbalancer]

39 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

If you are saying your cruise is $69.40 CAD per person per night for a balcony on your 12 night cruise, that is absolutely amazing!

On the other hand if you are saying $833 CAD per person per night for a balcony on your 12 night cruise, that is way too much.

I am not saying , but wrote  “Our next TA 12 night cruise , we at $833 CAD a person in a balcony”

there is nothing written that indicates the price is per night 😁👍

[Ex-Airbalancer]

20 minutes ago, Texed said:

 

Or, at least they once were.  😆

I think if you are not book the newest ships TAs are still good value 

[villauk]

36 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Depends on what you consider to be regular itineraries 

 

Comparable nights for nights, they are less. Great if you enjoy lots of sea days 👍.

[Baynanno1]

1 hour ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I am not saying , but wrote  “Our next TA 12 night cruise , we at $833 CAD a person in a balcony”

there is nothing written that indicates the price is per night 😁👍

 

So, can you explain just what you mean by  "we at $833 CAD a person in a balcony"?

[Oceansaway17]

I enjoyed my cruise on the Summit this past summer and will sail again next year on her in Alaska. She was really upgraded nicely from my 2016 trip.  Pretty ship.

 

I tried Carnival's two newest ships (Horizon and Celebration) and while they are big and new, they have issues.

 

1: doors to balconies are not sliders but rather a real door that opens and SLAMS.  a lot.

2: forget asking for iced tea in any specialty restaurants because they do not have them at all.

3: forget asking for flavored tea bags in buffet or MDR as they are not free but for a charge.  yes true

4: shows are not as good and the way they handle the Love and Marriage Show as well as the Quest is so very odd.

5: both times I had to actually ask for small glass for the bathroom.  I mean really you want me to use the wine glasses in the room.  nope

6: luggage tags are not delivered to the room but at 11am on the last day you have to wander to a couple of places to get them yourself.  

7: and cookies are small and ugly and taste rather boring. And while Horizon had nice 3 tier cakes that is sliced, the newer Celebration will display the cake and then give you a 2X2 square piece.  OMG

 

I guess what I am saying is the grass is not always greener.  I would say more large rowdy families on Carnival made for noisy mess at times and then other times a fun side show. But crew was good.

I feel each cruise line has a list like above with various things that differ so just try various lines and then decide which ones make you happy.  For me CCL is fun cruise line but lacking things that I like.

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

 

So, can you explain just what you mean by  "we at $833 CAD a person in a balcony"?

Do you know CAD is Canadian dollar ? 

[Baynanno1]

9 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Do you know CAD is Canadian dollar ? 

Yes, of course!

However, I have no idea what you are actually trying to convey with the words :

"we at $833 CAD a person in a balcony"

 

[Ex-Airbalancer]

14 minutes ago, Baynanno1 said:

Yes, of course!

However, I have no idea what you are actually trying to convey with the words :

"we at $833 CAD a person in a balcony"

 

We are in a balcony , cost of balcony cabin  is $1666 CAD , which is $833 CAD a person 

 

[ISABELLA]

On 12/13/2023 at 11:55 AM, seasoon said:

Just wondering.... would there be complaints if X ADDED to the cruise experience instead of taking away just after final payment?  This is business today I suppose and nothing is static.  BTW...there are the same type of 'complaints' on other boards so 'go somewhere else for your cruise or even land holiday' isn't really a satisfactory option.

Leaving customer unhappy is a bad business model.

[ISABELLA]

We just came back from 10 days Caribbean on Equinox. Very noticeable decline in MDR food quality and choices. Food in OV was better than MDR, enough variety for breakfast and lunch.

No more organic teas. Service in Al Bacio was awful. Half the time they made my Latte wrong. Cleaning tables was very slow. All seemed very disorganized.

For the first time ever, while we were sitting and enjoying our evening tea, we were approached by some officers from non customer related departments with questions about the cruise - if we were enjoying the cruise and if we have any comments.... Not sure what was the point....

Even with noticing all cutbacks, bad entertainment, we were glad back on the ship, but we would not return next year on X. We will be trying MSC YC and new Sun Princess. 

[zitsky]

39 minutes ago, ISABELLA said:

We just came back from 10 days Caribbean on Equinox. Very noticeable decline in MDR food quality and choices. Food in OV was better than MDR, enough variety for breakfast and lunch.

No more organic teas. Service in Al Bacio was awful. Half the time they made my Latte wrong. Cleaning tables was very slow. All seemed very disorganized.

For the first time ever, while we were sitting and enjoying our evening tea, we were approached by some officers from non customer related departments with questions about the cruise - if we were enjoying the cruise and if we have any comments.... Not sure what was the point....

Even with noticing all cutbacks, bad entertainment, we were glad back on the ship, but we would not return next year on X. We will be trying MSC YC and new Sun Princess. 

What was the point?  What did you say?

[hasentreelake]

5 hours ago, billc23 said:

So true. I travel and take cruises or land based vacations as desired. In the past 20 years I usually would have more vacation days booked on Celebrity going forward than any other vacation (land or sea). Now Celebrity has moved to second place for me and may go further down the list, but I will still continue to book Celebrity as long as I do not lose confidence that they will deliver a great experience.  

Second place to what ?

[hasentreelake]

I have to agree with 'confidence'.  I currently have a choice to choose other than X, but my confidence in what I am getting with X gives me pause to go elsewhere (aka Princess).

[hasentreelake]

55 minutes ago, ISABELLA said:

We just came back from 10 days Caribbean on Equinox. Very noticeable decline in MDR food quality and choices. Food in OV was better than MDR, enough variety for breakfast and lunch.

No more organic teas. Service in Al Bacio was awful. Half the time they made my Latte wrong. Cleaning tables was very slow. All seemed very disorganized.

For the first time ever, while we were sitting and enjoying our evening tea, we were approached by some officers from non customer related departments with questions about the cruise - if we were enjoying the cruise and if we have any comments.... Not sure what was the point....

Even with noticing all cutbacks, bad entertainment, we were glad back on the ship, but we would not return next year on X. We will be trying MSC YC and new Sun Princess. 

 

15 minutes ago, zitsky said:

What was the point?  What did you say?

^^ what @zitsky ^^ says...

 

[Baynanno1]

2 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

We are in a balcony , cost of balcony cabin  is $1666 CAD , which is $833 CAD a person 

 

Thank you for the explanation.

 

So what I said in post #56 :

If you are saying your cruise is $69.40 CAD per person per night for a balcony on your 12 night cruise, that is absolutely amazing!

 

($833 CAD divided by 12 nights)

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[wrk2cruise]

13 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

In Canada , we have pay a deposit of $960 CAD for 2 in cabin( AQU and lower)  , if we cancel a cruise with non refundable deposit, we would lose $200 and get the rest in FCC 

 

True on bookings made before I think March of 2023.  Any non-refundable deposit reservations made in North America after that point are entirely non-refundable.  If you cancel you will lose the entire $960 CAD.

 

You can still move the ship/sail date for $100 pp change fee.

[NMTraveller]

3 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

I enjoyed my cruise on the Summit this past summer and will sail again next year on her in Alaska. She was really upgraded nicely from my 2016 trip.  Pretty ship.

 

I tried Carnival's two newest ships (Horizon and Celebration) and while they are big and new, they have issues.

 

1: doors to balconies are not sliders but rather a real door that opens and SLAMS.  a lot.

2: forget asking for iced tea in any specialty restaurants because they do not have them at all.

3: forget asking for flavored tea bags in buffet or MDR as they are not free but for a charge.  yes true

4: shows are not as good and the way they handle the Love and Marriage Show as well as the Quest is so very odd.

5: both times I had to actually ask for small glass for the bathroom.  I mean really you want me to use the wine glasses in the room.  nope

6: luggage tags are not delivered to the room but at 11am on the last day you have to wander to a couple of places to get them yourself.  

7: and cookies are small and ugly and taste rather boring. And while Horizon had nice 3 tier cakes that is sliced, the newer Celebration will display the cake and then give you a 2X2 square piece.  OMG

 

I guess what I am saying is the grass is not always greener.  I would say more large rowdy families on Carnival made for noisy mess at times and then other times a fun side show. But crew was good.

I feel each cruise line has a list like above with various things that differ so just try various lines and then decide which ones make you happy.  For me CCL is fun cruise line but lacking things that I like.

 

🤣🤣🤣 So Celebrity's competition is Carnival?