Celebrity removes loungers from balcony?

[doghog]

On 6/4/2024 at 2:42 PM, Oville said:

I sailed 4 times on Edge in S cabins early on, No lounger.

@Georgia_Peaches is doing a live from the Edge Alaska Cruise. They are in a suite and have a lounger. 

[ggo85]

The fire hazard theory may well be true, but how does that explain the footstool policy, since the footstools are made of the same material as the chairs?  

Here’s how I see X now marketing to its highest paying customers:  We’ve removed the free gratuities.  We’ve removed the OBC. We’ve removed the loungers and footstools.  We’ve increased prices significantly.  
 

Sounds like a solid plan.  Yet as long as people accept it, they’ll keep doing it. 
 

 

 

[vjmatty]

2 minutes ago, ggo85 said:

Here’s how I see X now marketing to its highest paying customers:  We’ve removed the free gratuities.  We’ve removed the OBC. We’ve removed the loungers and footstools.  We’ve increased prices significantly.  

 

 

 

All to enhance your cruising experience!

[voyager1964]

2 minutes ago, ggo85 said:

but how does that explain the footstool policy

Was it in the official Celebrity's correspondence, or it was "over-volunteering" crew that removed the stools?

[new2cruise]

3 minutes ago, voyager1964 said:

Was it in the official Celebrity's correspondence, or it was "over-volunteering" crew that removed the stools?

 

This what I received in writing from the Executive Office:

 

We have removed footstools and lounge chairs from all balconies due to growing safety concerns. We want to acknowledge your email and have recorded your feedback. There are no scheduled changes to the policy, and no exceptions are being made.

[voyager1964]

11 minutes ago, new2cruise said:

We have removed footstools and lounge chairs from all balconies

Interesting. The cruisedeckplans site only mentions the loungers:

[doghog]

Consistently inconsistent. 

[mdcelebrity]

I am curious about something - no snark intended, genuinely interested:

Is it not possible to get loungers, et al, that are fire retardant?

[Judyrem]

On 6/3/2024 at 12:47 PM, Lastdance said:

I am a “why” person, so for me trying to understand things is very important.  Rather than constantly being inconsistent, why not just spell it out and be truthful?  Is that too much to ask for by those of us who are trying to understand this situation?  As customers paying their hard-earned money, transparency is very important.  Why are we governed by those who continually cause issues leading to the exclusion of items that cruisers love and want to have because this has been the norm, or is there something else driving the removal of loungers from balconies then just safety?  I feel very sorry for those crew members who have to listen to passengers tying to understand why they cannot have loungers for their balconies.  That is why I have chosen not to book sunset suites; the loungers were a very important part of my cruise experience!

 

 

I love taking a nap on my lounger, nothing beats it!

[TheHawk1]

14 hours ago, new2cruise said:

 

This what I received in writing from the Executive Office:

 

We have removed footstools and lounge chairs from all balconies due to growing safety concerns. We want to acknowledge your email and have recorded your feedback. There are no scheduled changes to the policy, and no exceptions are being made.

This is so irritating that Celebrity chooses to stick to their nonsense explanation of "safety concerns".  If a lounger is dangerous for me to use on my balcony, then the same chair is just as dangerous up on the pool deck.  Let's remove them all if they want to reduce the potential liability. Perhaps they could have soft inflatable chairs or bean bag chairs instead, as that would certainly reduce the risk of injury.

[goldsmip115]

Would anyone ever have thought that we would have to have this discussion?  Seriously!  Have we read ny news about loungers spontaneously combusting?  Catching on fire due to a delayed room service order?  People putting their loungers next to the balcony and jumping in search of a lobster tail?  Falling sleep on the verandah lounger and choking to death?  Jumping up and down on the lounger and hitting their head on the verandah roof and suffering a fatal brain injury?  This is beyond insane!

[asctony]

Why continually waste your time discussing this? 

Let Celebrity make a fool of themselves and continue to say this is a safety hazard.

Remember the ole song

TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT?

REMOVE JOB WITH LOUNGE.

😆

Edited June 6 by asctony

[phoenix_dream]

The insurance explanation makes some sense until one considers the chairs are made of the same material,  as were the footstools.  Plus I would be willing to bet a cruise that Royal uses the same carrier but they have loungers. Still doesn't make any sense

[voyager1964]

4 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

The insurance explanation makes some sense until one considers the chairs are made of the same material,  as were the footstools.  Plus I would be willing to bet a cruise that Royal uses the same carrier but they have loungers. Still doesn't make any sense

There is no need to reinvent the wheel, really. Happy reading 🙂

and

 

[bruzin_for_a_cruizin]

Keep up the pressure! Demand a response from Celebrity Executives!

 

I believe that most dumb/bad/customer-hostile decisions made by US companies are almost always due to liability issues. If that's the case, at least own up to it, and don't hide behind that stupid and clearly not-the-case "safety concerns" excuse. 

 

I book SV cabins on E-class ships exclusively, and a big part of that choice is because I know those balconies are large enough to support at least one lounger along with the table and chairs. Will I get a refund -- even partial -- now because the experience on my next sailing will be diminished? Who wants to take that bet?

[Oceangoer2]

9 hours ago, bruzin_for_a_cruizin said:

Keep up the pressure! Demand a response from Celebrity Executives!

 

I believe that most dumb/bad/customer-hostile decisions made by US companies are almost always due to liability issues. If that's the case, at least own up to it, and don't hide behind that stupid and clearly not-the-case "safety concerns" excuse. 

 

I book SV cabins on E-class ships exclusively, and a big part of that choice is because I know those balconies are large enough to support at least one lounger along with the table and chairs. Will I get a refund -- even partial -- now because the experience on my next sailing will be diminished? Who wants to take that bet?

Just sent my email for whatever good it'll do....probably file under 'G' before reading it.

[ajtaylor29]

22 hours ago, mdcelebrity said:

I am curious about something - no snark intended, genuinely interested:

Is it not possible to get loungers, et al, that are fire retardant?

It is definitely possible. That's my thought as i read thru this long post string.....There are code requirements for hotels, offices, hospitals, casinos, cruise ships, etc - that include requirements for fire safety. If someone is found to have materials that do not meet code, they have to remove them. But then, it is very simple to replace them with items that DO meet code, but that costs money.......oops, could that be the real issue here??!?

[ajtaylor29]

Well, i picked a great time to try Celebrity for the first time?!?

Hubby and I are booked for 3 weeks (B2B) next May on Eclipse.

We definitely love our balconies, and for this cruise we have a Celebrity Suite one leg, Sunset Sky Suite the 2nd cruise. We're cruising in northern europe, so not expecting to sit outside and sun for hours like we would on a Caribbean cruise, but still - we expect to use the balconies as much as possible and the idea that we'll only have some uncomfortable chairs to sit on is disappointing!?!

We have 3 upcoming cruises on RC, and as far as i can tell, they have no safety concerns over there with these dangerous loungers.....but i'll report back if i see signs of this policy jumping over to RC!!!!

My thoughts here - this is a brewing cauldron of unhappy customers, and like many other unpopular decisions it will quietly go away in the coming months. Once someone actually listens to the complaints and realizes what a dumb decision this is they will reverse it. Let's all hope so!

[FeelingCruisy]

On 5/14/2024 at 8:17 AM, Salf777 said:

Hi we are currently on the beyond in a MC Sky Suite. We choose these rooms as we like the end view and the fact that they have loungers on them. We boarded and they weren’t there. Asked and was told that the removed loungers from all suites as on broke the glass on the Ascent during a sailing? I can’t believe that the upper suites have no loungers anyone know if this is true?

Strange you mention that.  We were on the Oceania Marina, we were both laying in bed winding down, loud boom, almost like a gun shot.   And then one of the sliding glass shattered into many pieces but still together in one piece with no pieces on the ground.   Strangely enough it was the middle panel sandwiched by 2 others that shattered.   Security came and first thing they asked was not what happened but what did we do to shatter it.    Moved us to a different room and back again the next day after they replaced it.  We did have 2 loungers, 2 chairs and a table.  Non of them was close to the door

Edited June 7 by FeelingCruisy

[no1talks]

19 minutes ago, FeelingCruisy said:

"Security came and first thing they asked was not what happened but what did we do to shatter it."

 

I would take offense at the attitude of presumed guilt and make my dissatisfaction quite plain.

[Oville]

On 6/5/2024 at 9:38 PM, voyager1964 said:

Was it in the official Celebrity's correspondence, or it was "over-volunteering" crew that removed the stools?

When Edge came out there were no stools.  Not sure they have ever been on e-class ships.

[BobbM81]

Currently on the Equinox in a Sunset Sky Suite and this is on the veranda 

[Cruise till you drop]

I guess I’m bringing my own footstool

 

 

 

Edited June 7 by Cruise till you drop

[ggo85]

What X claims is a footstool is not.  The definition of a footstool is a place to rest your feet.  We have what is pictured above on current cruise and it doesn’t come close to meeting that definition. I’m not sure what to call it other than maybe an extension of an uncomfortable chair.  

[DebJ14]

On 5/19/2024 at 2:58 PM, Liao said:

Yes

We had them on our GS on the Voyager of the Seas in January and OS on the Mariner of the Seas in May.

Edited June 8 by DebJ14