Find Laura’s Answers

[CTCruiser76]

19 hours ago, zitsky said:

Do you know what Shared Services are?  I googled and I still don’t have a clue.

 

I’m very happy with Celebrity and I appreciate the Q&A.  But I don’t expect to get answers for everything.  That said I think it’s not my job to make the President happy by asking softball questions.  Asking tough questions is not the same as being rude or being negative.

Zitsky.....to answer your Shared Services question....In my Corporate world, not the Cruise Industry, Shared Services is often a service contract with a 'third party' company that handles 'services' that are not directly managed by your company. The most often shared services are Call Centers...Many companies 'farm' out their customer service call centers to these large Shared Service companies that handle customer facing calls, instead of hiring a full call center directly managed by 'your' company. 

 

Often these Shared Service center will handle calls for multiple Companies and are not strictly dedicated to 'your' company....hence 'Shared Services'.....its supposed to reduce costs for your company...but the overlying question is.....at what cost to your customer satisfaction......it's a delicate balance of oversight by your company and the 'Shared Services' company.  

[NMTraveller]

3 hours ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Before getting all excited about the answer maybe wait until you see the cost of the real balconies 

They could just be adding more suites 😉

I would view the IVs as the #1 muff up of Celebrity on E class.  That puts them below VV, Princess, and HAL who have actual balconies.

 

I think that they figured this one out.  TBD on the rest.  😉

 

 

Edited July 20 by NMTraveller

[NMTraveller]

10 hours ago, canderson said:

I think you're referring to a process called giclee.  It's a legitimate way to create reproduction art -- providing it's use is properly disclosed to a potential customer, which seems to have been a problem.

 

Being offered a Disney feature sericel with Walt's DNA in the pigment during my first encounter with these folks was how it became my last.

What would one do with Walt's DNA 🤣  Asking for a friend 🙈

 

I think that they disclosed that the prints were giclee's during our "auctions".  But once that you get into art buying you soon discover that you don't want prints but real brushstrokes.    Kind of like the IV vs balcony debate 😁  

 

We still get offers from Park West of free trips to meet the artists,  but have little interest in attending.

 

They are overpriced IMHO,  but they were the ones that got us into purchasing art.  Their prints will be replaced over time with real brush strokes.

Edited July 20 by NMTraveller

[zitsky]

49 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

What would one do with Walt's DNA 🤣  Asking for a friend 🙈

 

I think that they disclosed that the prints were giclee's during our "auctions".  But once that you get into art buying you soon discover that you don't want prints but real brushstrokes.    Kind of like the IV vs balcony debate 😁  

 

We still get offers from Park West of free trips to meet the artists,  but have little interest in attending.

 

They are overpriced IMHO,  but they were the ones that got us into purchasing art.  Their prints will be replaced over time with real brush strokes.

How is this different from a lithograph?  I bought a nice aquatic one 20 years ago, signed by the artist.

[phoenix_dream]

16 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

She did answer a question about the IVs.  They are going to allocate IVs and real balconies to the next class of ship.  Perhaps they have learned Lesson #1?  Lesson #2 is about having less and larger indoor spaces on E class.  Will Celebrity learn this lesson?  TBD

 

With a new class of ship with real balconies,  more smaller indoor quiet spaces,  and better food Celebrity could be the cruise line of choice once again ...

 

Loud and shouty vs. quiet and refined ...  Time to reverse that idea.

She answered it because they had already announced that they were going to add more real balconies to the next new ships.  So that was a good news answer that took no thought and required no management speak to get us to accept it.  I'm still waiting for an answer to the loungers and/or footstools on balconies, which matters to a lot of us.  Nothing yet.  

[NMTraveller]

5 hours ago, zitsky said:

How is this different from a lithograph?  I bought a nice aquatic one 20 years ago, signed by the artist.

I have no idea.  I just stay away from prints in general.  BTW we picked up some nice artwork in Bali for a very good price.

[NMTraveller]

3 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

She answered it because they had already announced that they were going to add more real balconies to the next new ships.  So that was a good news answer that took no thought and required no management speak to get us to accept it.  I'm still waiting for an answer to the loungers and/or footstools on balconies, which matters to a lot of us.  Nothing yet.  

So what is going on with the loungers and footstools?  Does anyone know why they are being taken away?  

 

Is this yet another trial from the Stupid Ideas department?  We have had a steady stream of those.  Vaping in the casino.  Butlers.  Mashed potatoes for everyone.  For fee chocolate cookies.  The demise of the evening buffet ...  One bad idea after another and about 80% of them were eventually put back...  What chaos ...

 

Loungers and footstools can be put back.

 

A ship design cannot be changed once they are built very easily.

Edited July 20 by NMTraveller

[Stem to Stern]

Just an FYI for those that may have given up or just unintentionally stopped monitoring, Laura and/or her team answered a few more questions today.

[dabear]

seems like Laura hasn't answered some of the tougher questions. we haven't seen any response relating to drinks, packages etc.

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Her answers are weak at best. Which is what I expected. The CEO isn’t going to answer questions from individual customers. Their answers to investors are full of spin. To us she’s just going to quote the party line. Bust at least she is hearing what we say which is important. 

[zitsky]

15 minutes ago, Sox Fan Cruiser said:

Her answers are weak at best. Which is what I expected. The CEO isn’t going to answer questions from individual customers. Their answers to investors are full of spin. To us she’s just going to quote the party line. Bust at least she is hearing what we say which is important. 

I’m excited about the wine changes.  Because instead of getting wine from Lodi, I might get the good wine from Manteca.  Yes I’m a snob.  I only drink wine over $5 a bottle.

[kr00t0n]

On 7/20/2024 at 2:38 PM, CTCruiser76 said:

Zitsky.....to answer your Shared Services question....In my Corporate world, not the Cruise Industry, Shared Services is often a service contract with a 'third party' company that handles 'services' that are not directly managed by your company. The most often shared services are Call Centers...Many companies 'farm' out their customer service call centers to these large Shared Service companies that handle customer facing calls, instead of hiring a full call center directly managed by 'your' company. 

 

Often these Shared Service center will handle calls for multiple Companies and are not strictly dedicated to 'your' company....hence 'Shared Services'.....its supposed to reduce costs for your company...but the overlying question is.....at what cost to your customer satisfaction......it's a delicate balance of oversight by your company and the 'Shared Services' company.  

And in this instance it means departments that are shared across the RCG brands, like IT or HR.

[villauk]

On 7/19/2024 at 11:07 PM, Ex-Airbalancer said:

I wonder if she will pass over the hard questions like why they increased the zero package by 30% 

 

 

Still no response 🧐

[TommyD3]

1 hour ago, villauk said:

 

Still no response 🧐

Seems like they are done answering the questions. No new responses for 2 days......

[zitsky]

1 minute ago, TommyD3 said:

Seems like they are done answering the questions. No new responses for 2 days......

What?  You want more answers?  Man this is a tough crowd.  🙂

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 hours ago, villauk said:

 

Still no response 🧐

She still has today to answer the question , which she probably wouldn’t 🙄