Such Negativity-Anything Positive to Say?

[QuestionEverything]

53 minutes ago, BP99 said:

Hi,

We really liked Celebrity when we started cruising on different

cruise lines (20-30 years ago!). We became Elite and liked

some of the perks. 10 years ago we decided to try RCL

(as Diamond). The perks were WAY better! WOW! The Diamond

lounge was GREAT, the FOOD in the lounge during Happy

hour was OUTSTANDING!! WOW! WOW! (as compared to Celebrity). We also liked having our 4 drinks (Almost unrestricted

types) put on our card to have at ANY time (not restricted like Celebrity) and at venue like the pool (my wife loves slushy drinks)

dinner (glass of wine) etc. WOW! We decided to cruise MOSTLY 

on RCL. WE ENJOY WOWS! However, we are trying Celebrity again because of the itinerary.

My questions:

Has the pathetic food improved in the Celebrity Elite happy hour?

Has the pathetic service improved in the Celebrity Elite happy hour? Are they putting less restrictions on the types of drinks?

Thanks!

Bill

 

Hi Bill! Love your post.

I can not respond to your Celebrity (C) questions as I have not patronized C since 2018.

I follow C's trajectory out of interest because of the past and also as a marketing executive I am interested in corporate manipulation of consumers.

I patronize Oceania, Regent, Crystal etc as I support full ship access for all guests; the ship within a ship concept I will not support, especially when forward views are eliminated for all guests.

The many posts on the C site are very helpful in determining the changes to the C product, both good and bad.

Hoping all your cruises are wonderful. I have eliminated most cruising and replaced travel with escorted and private land tours. Rather into "deep dive" to locations. 

All the best Bill!

[NMTraveller]

For those that say that Carnival is improving and getting less complaints.  How do they stack up against Celebrity?  

[NMTraveller]

On 1/15/2024 at 5:22 AM, hcat said:

for us.... many of our negatives are  sourced from the new  corp mgmnt team.   They are not upscale cruise line people but more aligned with mainstream Royal C ..Hope they catch on to the  differences.

On my last cruise I felt more like I was sailing on Royal than Celebrity ...

[doghog]

1 hour ago, BP99 said:

My questions:

Has the pathetic food improved in the Celebrity Elite happy hour?

Has the pathetic service improved in the Celebrity Elite happy hour? Are they putting less restrictions on the types of drinks?

I don't know about pathetic. Post covid the CC HH is being held at most bars (ship specific for which bars are excluded) from 5 to 7 PM. Same limited beverage menu as pre covid. 

 

Starting January 2024 the CC has brought back the CC HH the way it was pre covid. Well kinda. It now is only a couple nights during the cruise.

 

https://loyaltylobby.com/2023/10/26/celebrity-cruises-introduces-loyalty-cocktail-lounges-for-elite-members-from-january-2024/#:~:text=Celebrity Cruises has just sent,hour starting in January 2024.

Edited January 16 by doghog

[Moby Jones]

6 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

On my last cruise I felt more like I was sailing on Royal than Celebrity ...

I sailed on Anthem of the seas and Apex in quick succession. There were more similarities than differences. 

It's obvious that Edge class has stolen a number of ideas from the RCL Quantum class such as 4 dining rooms, washing stations in the buffet, Eden is Celebrity's interpretation of Cafe 270 and whilst Quantum class ships have the gimmicky Northstar, Edge class has the Magic Carpet etc. 

Dining wise our group of four thought that service on Anthem beat Apex (Retreat). The only real difference was the addition of sommeliers on X whereas RCL didn't have any. 

There were several identical dishes onboard both ships and dare I say that we found the buffet better than on X in terms of variety and flavour. 

The reality is Celebrity has lost its identity these days. And whilst it's marketing department are working extremely hard to convince the public that it's a luxury line the reality is it's simply more RCL without the water slides and kids. 

[riredsox]

3 hours ago, Moby Jones said:

without the water slides and kids. 

Yet 

[QuestionEverything]

3 hours ago, Moby Jones said:

The reality is Celebrity has lost its identity these days. And whilst it's marketing department are working extremely hard to convince the public that it's a luxury line the reality is it's simply more RCL without the water slides and kids. 

Moby Jones, your comment here is spot on. 

Celebrity has never, ever been a luxury line, despite their marketing bull.

They were close when they started, they actually were a premium line at the beginning - their ships and on board experience is very similar to the Oceania of today, which I patronize. 

I cancelled Celebrity in 2018 as it moved to a mass line. But I can sure remember the good old days indeed. 

[Lastdance]

I think it is always important to know when to try something new; you may not like it, but then again, you may find it hits the spot!  Searching for something that is just not there anymore is not healthy, but if you have to tell yourself that it will be just okay, maybe okay is something you can learn to like or not.  Again, it is all about choices, so choose well because the clock is ticking and no one is getting any younger!  If you are,  getting younger that is, please share it on here🤩

Edited January 17 by Lastdance

[NutsAboutGolf]

13 hours ago, C4HCG said:

I don’t follow any cruise bloggers, just use this board as I have learnt lots from it.

 

Yet those are "positive critics" who disingenuously omit the negative truths in the interest of receiving free cruises later

 

Just also pointing out that "cookiegate" outrage wasn't here on the boards, it was on social media groups.  X hadn't yet publically responded to negative criticism of the new fees or cutbacks since the restart but did so thanks to cookiegate.  While addressing cookiegate, they also responded to the MDR food and I give X credit for reversing some of their MDR cutbacks

[zitsky]

I’m in the middle, not a Zenith, not a new cruiser.  I have the income to cruise more but I’m still working.  My husband is not.

 

I know some of the changes are frustrating and I haven’t been around that long.  But sometimes I feel like I’m being lectured to.  Ok, I get it.  I don’t know what the good old days were like.

 

We choose to stay on Celebrity.  I’m still looking for those deals everyone talks about on the “good” cruise lines.

[markeb]

2 hours ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Yet those are "positive critics" who disingenuously omit the negative truths in the interest of receiving free cruises later

 

Just also pointing out that "cookiegate" outrage wasn't here on the boards, it was on social media groups.  X hadn't yet publically responded to negative criticism of the new fees or cutbacks since the restart but did so thanks to cookiegate.  While addressing cookiegate, they also responded to the MDR food and I give X credit for reversing some of their MDR cutbacks

 

"Cookiegate" is an example of social media rage coupled with poor internal messaging of their strategy. Celebrity attempted to add a new offering for an additional fee. They even put it with the gelato, which is already an extra fee item. They clearly didn't communicate internally that they intended to make this an additional offering, and folks on Equinox (I believe it was Equinox; everything was on Equinox at the time) apparently moved the standard cookies out of the case to encourage sales of the new, "better" cookies. A logical move if you haven't been told why they're doing this. And the 'net, including Cruise Critic, blew up. And the rage reached critical mass before they could simply ensure all the previous cookies were still at Cafe al Bacio and that they didn't intend for the hot chocolate chip cookie to replace the free cookies. Maybe that was necessary to wake up some of the operational folks, but they were doing a lot of experimenting at the time, and this one might have worked if done better, and probably not in conjunction with everything else. But I will still argue that social media rage torpedoed the idea.

 

I pay for gelato on occasion. I like it better than ice cream. I probably would have paid for an occasional hot chocolate chip cookie. Never got the chance.

[NutsAboutGolf]

8 minutes ago, markeb said:

 

"Cookiegate" is an example of social media rage coupled with poor internal messaging of their strategy. Celebrity attempted to add a new offering for an additional fee. They even put it with the gelato, which is already an extra fee item. They clearly didn't communicate internally that they intended to make this an additional offering, and folks on Equinox (I believe it was Equinox; everything was on Equinox at the time) apparently moved the standard cookies out of the case to encourage sales of the new, "better" cookies. A logical move if you haven't been told why they're doing this. And the 'net, including Cruise Critic, blew up. And the rage reached critical mass before they could simply ensure all the previous cookies were still at Cafe al Bacio and that they didn't intend for the hot chocolate chip cookie to replace the free cookies. Maybe that was necessary to wake up some of the operational folks, but they were doing a lot of experimenting at the time, and this one might have worked if done better, and probably not in conjunction with everything else. But I will still argue that social media rage torpedoed the idea.

 

I pay for gelato on occasion. I like it better than ice cream. I probably would have paid for an occasional hot chocolate chip cookie. Never got the chance.

 

Mainly because I don't like their free chocolate chip cookies I would have tried the fee cookie.  It was the equinox and made the gelato cone waffle iron.  The outrage on here was vanilla compared to the Equinox social media page where folks post a lot more impulsively and there's less moderation

[markeb]

3 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Mainly because I don't like their free chocolate chip cookies I would have tried the fee cookie.  It was the equinox and made the gelato cone waffle iron.  The outrage on here was vanilla compared to the Equinox social media page where folks post a lot more impulsively and there's less moderation

 

It's seemed pretty heated here! I just don't follow a lot of other social media on cruising. If any. Let's me keep my losartan dose lower...

[PTC DAWG]

1 hour ago, markeb said:

 

"Cookiegate" is an example of social media rage coupled with poor internal messaging of their strategy. Celebrity attempted to add a new offering for an additional fee. They even put it with the gelato, which is already an extra fee item. They clearly didn't communicate internally that they intended to make this an additional offering, and folks on Equinox (I believe it was Equinox; everything was on Equinox at the time) apparently moved the standard cookies out of the case to encourage sales of the new, "better" cookies. A logical move if you haven't been told why they're doing this. And the 'net, including Cruise Critic, blew up. And the rage reached critical mass before they could simply ensure all the previous cookies were still at Cafe al Bacio and that they didn't intend for the hot chocolate chip cookie to replace the free cookies. Maybe that was necessary to wake up some of the operational folks, but they were doing a lot of experimenting at the time, and this one might have worked if done better, and probably not in conjunction with everything else. But I will still argue that social media rage torpedoed the idea.

 

I pay for gelato on occasion. I like it better than ice cream. I probably would have paid for an occasional hot chocolate chip cookie. Never got the chance.

Agree, much ado about basically nothing. 

[zitsky]

7 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

Agree, much ado about basically nothing. 

It wasn’t nothing though.  It was a company removing some/all free product and replacing with paid.  Al Bacio pastries should never be free in the first place.  They shot themselves in the foot with that one.

[Moby Jones]

2 minutes ago, zitsky said:

It wasn’t nothing though.  It was a company removing some/all free product and replacing with paid.  Al Bacio pastries should never be free in the first place.  They shot themselves in the foot with that one.

They've never been 'free'. They're included in your cruise fare. Nothing is 'free' on your cruise. 

[PTC DAWG]

5 minutes ago, zitsky said:

It wasn’t nothing though.  It was a company removing some/all free product and replacing with paid.  Al Bacio pastries should never be free in the first place.  They shot themselves in the foot with that one.

I’m not following your logic…pastries/tarts etc. there have been included for years..

 

 

[zitsky]

30 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I’m not following your logic…pastries/tarts etc. there have been included for years..

 

 

I’m saying everything at Al Bacio should be ala carte.  Then we wouldn’t have to argue about it.

 

The MDR is included but specialties are not.  The bars are only included if you pay for a package.  Not everything has to be included.

 

Would there be as many comments if you paid for a cookie and the price went from $2 to $2.25?  Or if you could have either the free or expensive cookie?

[QuestionEverything]

34 minutes ago, zitsky said:

It wasn’t nothing though.  It was a company removing some/all free product and replacing with paid.  Al Bacio pastries should never be free in the first place.  They shot themselves in the foot with that one.

Some history.

There was a time, when Al Bacio pastries were free. In fact, there were also fancy tea sandwiches in Al Bacio including fabulous shrimp and smoked salmon sandwiches. Even more amazing were the lemon tarts (with real lemon filling and amazing pastry) topped with a square of dark chocolate. The lemon squares were legendary. I was on the Connie in the deep south - sitting with other guests on the deck at the stern. Each of us 4 made a trip to Al Bacio to get the squares = a total of 4 round trips and I think we each ate 6 of them. The best ever.

Enjoyed all of the above on 2 cruises in 2015, 2016, 2017.

These said wonderful food stuffs were available until 2018 when they were removed. 2018 was a big year for Celebrity, they profoundly reduced the quality of their food stuffs. My last cruise on Celebrity was 2018 and thereafter I cancelled Celebrity and moved to the premium and luxury.

I cruised Celebrity since 2001 to 2018 and the deterioration of the brand in 2018 was visible, let alone what I read on these boards in 2023.

History provides much evidence and perspective.

[paulh84]

Between these threads and the RCL World Cruise drama that should have been a reality TV show it makes me question how any cruise line willfully cater to some of these people. 

[Lastdance]

3 hours ago, paulh84 said:

Between these threads and the RCL World Cruise drama that should have been a reality TV show it makes me question how any cruise line willfully cater to some of these people. 

It definitely has to do with perspective, time spent on/with Celebrity, along with social media, just to mention a few.  I don’t know about being a good reality TV show, mostly because I don’t much care for that, but remember, on here it is just words coming from individuals who have lots of filters and are not talking face to face.  Therein lies a huge issue and posts/threads take on a life of heir own.  Most cruisers are very enjoyable to meet; however, you still have some berating crew members, being entitled and just behaving obnoxiously.  Thank goodness it is not that many!

 

By the way, I make the best macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies, according to my DH and friends!

Edited January 17 by Lastdance

[doghog]

3 hours ago, paulh84 said:

Between these threads and the RCL World Cruise drama that should have been a reality TV show it makes me question how any cruise line willfully cater to some of these people. 

The couple of RC UWC'ers that are CC posters I've been following aren't reporting any drama. Some bad weather, yes. 

[paulh84]

19 minutes ago, doghog said:

The couple of RC UWC'ers that are CC posters I've been following aren't reporting any drama. Some bad weather, yes. 

 

There are apparently some super secret RCL Pinnacle member/World Cruiser groups that are spatting with what they believe are influencers onboard. They are taking it seriously. I spent longer than I'd like to admit getting caught up last night. 

 

 

23 minutes ago, Lastdance said:

It definitely has to do with perspective, time spent on/with Celebrity, along with social media, just to mention a few.  I don’t know about being a good reality TV show, mostly because I don’t much care for that, but remember, on here it is just words coming from individuals who have lots of filters and are not talking face to face.  Therein lies a huge issue and posts/threads take on a life of heir own.  Most cruisers are very enjoyable to meet; however, you still have some berating crew members, being entitled and just behaving obnoxiously.  Thank goodness it is not that many!

 

By the way, I make the best macadamia nut chocolate chip cookies, according to my DH and friends!

 

I agree. Perspective is key. You can join the moaners and complainers and ruin your trip before you leave the house or choose not to. 

[doghog]

2 hours ago, paulh84 said:

There are apparently some super secret RCL Pinnacle member/World Cruiser groups that are spatting with what they believe are influencers onboard. They are taking it seriously. I spent longer than I'd like to admit getting caught up last night. 

Are reading this on tic tok or face book? I don't belong to or want to waste my time on those sites. 

[deliver42]

These people on the world cruise posting on Tik Tok are influencers paid to do what they're doing by sponsors.  If they didn't have anything negative, they'd be cut off, whether the posts are truthful or not doesn't matter.