Celebrity Eclipse Sky Lounge closed during 12 day cruise

[Ex-Airbalancer]

1 minute ago, zitsky said:

No I didn’t.  I can help him get over his fear of nudist cruises.  My therapist says practice makes perfect.  (So what ship is he on?)

 The picture meant to be a passenger not a crew member 

Time for a new therapist 🤣

 

[cruisestitch]

If you are asking me, yes, I have met a few. At the end of the last cruise on turnaround day, I was in Café al Bacio and a couple who had been part of the invited group from Parkwest shared my table. I asked how they had enjoyed it and they said it was like a Tupperware party. There was constant pressure to buy.

 

A couple of days ago I met another park West invited guest on this cruise. I asked the same question and he said I’m having a hard time keeping myself from succumbing to the continuous pressure.  

Edited September 4 by cruisestitch

[Ex-Airbalancer]

2 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

If you are asking me, yes, I have met a few. At the end of the last cruise on turnaround day, I was in Café al Bacho and a couple who had been part of the invited group from Parkwest shared my table. I asked how they had enjoyed it and they said it was like a Tupperware party. There was constant pressure to buy.

 

A couple of days ago I met another park West invited guest on this cruise. I asked the same question and he said I’m having a hard time keeping myself from succumbing to the continuous pressure.  

Basically the same as getting a free vacation from a time share place in Mexico 😁

Are they still doing time shares ?🤔

[zitsky]

7 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

 The picture meant to be a passenger not a crew member 

Time for a new therapist 🤣

 

So you’re saying that CREW members DO want to be on the ship after a nudist cruise?  Interesting.

[Honolulu Blue]

19 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

I have met a few. At the end of the last cruise on turnaround day, I was in Café al Bacio and a couple who had been part of the invited group from Parkwest shared my table. I asked how they had enjoyed it and they said it was like a Tupperware party. There was constant pressure to buy.

 

A couple of days ago I met another park West invited guest on this cruise. I asked the same question and he said I’m having a hard time keeping myself from succumbing to the continuous pressure.  

Thanks for sharing this.

 

"You will come to a place where the only thing you feel are loaded guns to your face, and you'll have to deal with PRESSURE" - Billy Joel

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, cruisestitch said:

If you are asking me, yes, I have met a few. At the end of the last cruise on turnaround day, I was in Café al Bacio and a couple who had been part of the invited group from Parkwest shared my table. I asked how they had enjoyed it and they said it was like a Tupperware party. There was constant pressure to buy.

 

A couple of days ago I met another park West invited guest on this cruise. I asked the same question and he said I’m having a hard time keeping myself from succumbing to the continuous pressure.  

Sounds similar to a timeshare presentation...

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

Basically the same as getting a free vacation from a time share place in Mexico 😁

Are they still doing time shares ?🤔

Time shares are still alive in the US.  Unfortunately ...

[Stem to Stern]

3 hours ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Not that there's anything wrong with it.....!  😉

Absolutely agree with you 100%.

But my mindset would likely prevent me from booking the sailing immediately after.

Hence the slightly hesitant and cautious hand-raise.😆

 

Park West ~

The feedback you are hearing about high-pressure sales tactics is troubling and certainly not casting a very favorable look on Celebrity.

(Add this to the long growing list of items.)

This makes me think of the list of items NOT to be found on board that Viking touts in their promotional materials.

No children and no art auctions are at the top of their long list.

Is there a truly premium cruise line that hocks “art” on board to invited potential victims?

Does mass-market Royal Caribbean invite guests onto their ships for this purpose?

Do you sea where I am going here?

[PTC DAWG]

Obviously some like the art...other wise it wouldn't be on many ships.  One person saying they were pressured...if they were uncomfortable, you can always leave the presentation, I doubt they were locked in.  There was a reason they were invited on this cruise..

 

I have seen venues closed off for various reasons on a cruise.

 

As far as following a clothing optional cruise, what do folks think went on in the cabin the cruises before them?  The sofa doesn't have fitted sheets.  🙂

Edited September 4 by PTC DAWG

[cruisestitch]

The people I spoke to were invited because they were already big spenders with Parkwest.  I have no idea what kind of a guilt trip they would encounter if they tried to skip one of the auction events.  I do know that the art they were to bid on was not what you see displayed in the hallways and in the regular auctions.  

[markeb]

1 hour ago, Stem to Stern said:

Does mass-market Royal Caribbean invite guests onto their ships for this purpose?

 

Yes. There are threads dealing with Park West VIP cruises on the Royal Caribbean board. The contract is apparently with RCG. No idea how long Celebrity has done this; this cruise was clearly more disruptive and noticeable. 
 

There are plenty of cruise lines that invite gamblers on board to hawk the casino. Other than taking over space (do they do tournaments on the ship?), it’s the same as inviting art customers. 
 

People are obsessing over a symptom not the patient. It seems more and more likely that Celebrity is struggling to meet revenue (really profit) targets. They’re doing everything but revisit their core strategy. Probably because everyone’s background is in operations. They’re giving up their “near premium” niche for near term revenue. Maybe the niche we all loved wasn’t as profitable as we thought…

[zitsky]

2 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

The people I spoke to were invited because they were already big spenders with Parkwest.  I have no idea what kind of a guilt trip they would encounter if they tried to skip one of the auction events.  I do know that the art they were to bid on was not what you see displayed in the hallways and in the regular auctions.  

If Celebrity wants to run an art charter, they should just say so.

[canderson]

28 minutes ago, markeb said:

They’re giving up their “near premium” niche for near term revenue. Maybe the niche we all loved wasn’t as profitable as we thought…

Or just discovered that, at least for now, they can have their cake and eat it, too.  Prices up.  Bookings up.  Niches smiches. 

 

But some day they may wish they had continued to better differentiate the line.  We've already strayed, and it looks like we'll be doing so again for 2025.

[C4HCG]

2 hours ago, canderson said:

Or just discovered that, at least for now, they can have their cake and eat it, too.  Prices up.  Bookings up.  Niches smiches. 

 

But some day they may wish they had continued to better differentiate the line.  We've already strayed, and it looks like we'll be doing so again for 2025.

Or someday they might not, who knows. We finished an ABC cruise on the Beyond last week (that was full) and have 2 more booked with Celebrity 1 booked onboard. The future cruise shop was doing a lot of trade and out of the 3 couples we got to know on the ship, 2 booked another cruise and the 3rd already had a few booked. 2 of the couples were seasoned celebrity cruisers too. So not all who remember the “good” old days are looking elsewhere.

[canderson]

3 minutes ago, C4HCG said:

So not all who remember the “good” old days are looking elsewhere.

Depends upon the cabin you book.  Celebrity Retreat pax are waking up to options.  More than a few of our fellow pax on our first Silversea cruise had jumped ship from Celebrity suites.  Expect more with the recent loyalty match.  Celebrity's suite prices are getting really hard to justify by way of comparison.  It's easy for us to handle the idea of a higher level of service in equal or larger space for the same or less money.

[DaKahuna]

4 hours ago, Stem to Stern said:

The feedback you are hearing about high-pressure sales tactics is troubling and certainly not casting a very favorable look on Celebrity.

 

 I don't put this 100% on Celebrity.  I do not care whether are not their are art auctions on board.  We will occasionally look through what is on display but have not attended one of their auctions in many years.  I see all the advertisements that arrive on our bed each night as a waste of paper and spend little/no time in throwing them in the trash. 

 

 If you do not attend, do not sign up with them, there are no high-pressure sales tactics to put up with.  

 

[C4HCG]

2 minutes ago, canderson said:

Depends upon the cabin you book.  Celebrity Retreat pax are waking up to options.  More than a few of our fellow pax on our first Silversea cruise had jumped ship from Celebrity suites.  Expect more with the recent loyalty match.  Celebrity's suite prices are getting really hard to justify by way of comparison.  It's easy for us to handle the idea of a higher level of service in equal or larger space for the same or less money.

1 of them booked an inside cabin. The other 2 couples were retreat guests, and we would only do retreat on Edge class but are concierge on Reflection next September. Good that you have found better value for your money elsewhere.

[zitsky]

Just now, canderson said:

Depends upon the cabin you book.  Celebrity Retreat pax are waking up to options.  More than a few of our fellow pax on our first Silversea cruise had jumped ship from Celebrity suites.  Expect more with the recent loyalty match.  Celebrity's suite prices are getting really hard to justify by way of comparison.  It's easy for us to handle the idea of a higher level of service in equal or larger space for the same or less money.

 

We will go back down to Aqua.  We aren’t willing to pay $20/30/40K for a 14 day cruise.   Aqua has a restaurant.  Gets spa access.  We have access to the Solarium.  What are we missing in the Retreat?  We are paying $562 pp/pd for our SS on Millie.

 

For the price of the Retreat I’d rather do a land vacation.  I bet we aren’t the only ones to feel that way.

[RichYak]

2 minutes ago, zitsky said:

For the price of the Retreat I’d rather do a land vacation.  I bet we aren’t the only ones to feel that way.

You are not alone. I'd sail Celebrity again, but not in the Retreat. 

[jwlane]

I'm just wondering about tipping....

[hcat]

on E Class, PW has a nice out of the way corridor where one can browse and look at art interactively.. not sure what they do for auctions but did not affect us.

 

Kind of odd, if true, that X CEO used to work for PW.  Coincidence that they have these  high spender cruisers  ?,?

[C4HCG]

4 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

We will go back down to Aqua.  We aren’t willing to pay $20/30/40K for a 14 day cruise.   Aqua has a restaurant.  Gets spa access.  We have access to the Solarium.  What are we missing in the Retreat?  We are paying $562 pp/pd for our SS on Millie.

 

For the price of the Retreat I’d rather do a land vacation.  I bet we aren’t the only ones to feel that way.

We just booked a cruise paying nowhere near $20 but for 11 nights, was less than half that and in retreat. Southern Caribbean April 2026 and over Easter which I believe is more expensive usually. On the Ascent so the retreat does come with the sundeck. Would only do retreat in edge class. 

[NMTraveller]

7 hours ago, canderson said:

But some day they may wish they had continued to better differentiate the line.  We've already strayed, and it looks like we'll be doing so again for 2025.

I think that day is coming up...  Anyone that has followed the airlines will know that they are bleeding cash and laying off employees.  Plus surprised to see open first class seats on my last flights.

 

Yes,  cruises are booked a year or two in advance, so this will probably take a year to catch up with them.  But travel is slowing down ...

[zitsky]

2 hours ago, hcat said:

on E Class, PW has a nice out of the way corridor where one can browse and look at art interactively.. not sure what they do for auctions but did not affect us.

 

Kind of odd, if true, that X CEO used to work for PW.  Coincidence that they have these  high spender cruisers  ?,?

Good question for the next Q&A if she ever comes back.

[C4HCG]

20 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

I think that day is coming up...  Anyone that has followed the airlines will know that they are bleeding cash and laying off employees.  Plus surprised to see open first class seats on my last flights.

 

Yes,  cruises are booked a year or two in advance, so this will probably take a year to catch up with them.  But travel is slowing down ...

Be interesting for you to share where you’ve seen travel slowing down. Business travel for sure, where I work it’s being tightened, but no evidence in the UK of people travelling less for holidays.