Celebrity Error - Build a "Class System" into Your Ships

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, davejensen70 said:

Celebrity made us (Elite Plus) feel like riff-raff on the recent BEYOND cruise, due to the theater seating and the fact that there was no where I could go to watch the ship progress forward, unless I wanted to take my drink and stand by a treadmill. A cruise line should make EVERYONE, of EVERY class, feel like they have a special experience and not rub it in their noses every evening when they go to the entertainment.

I understand and agree with you, especially your last sentence.  I hope your next theater experience is much better - wherever you decide to have it. 🙏

[markeb]

3 minutes ago, canderson said:

Odd name for a restaurant.  Do they hold competitions in the kitchen?

 

 

It’s from Hindi. It’s either an equestrian event or a gentleman’s club such as the British clubs in India. Gym is apparently”ball” in Hindi. Distinct from gymnasium in English…

[Ken the cruiser]

I’m glad I checked out this thread, and thank you @Georgia_Peaches and others for explaining the Premium Access Pass! Our last Celebrity cruise was back in April 2023 and weren’t aware of this new option for purchasing Premium Wi-Fi for 2 devices AND get all of the other PAP perks pretty much for free!
 

Now that we’re Elite+, we only book Cruise Only fares while taking advantage of our extensive loyalty perks. However, when it comes to Wi-Fi we have definitely come to appreciate the value of a Premium Wi-Fi 2-device package, so we can stay connected to both our iPhones and iPads without having to switch from one to another, depending on what we’re doing.

 

We're currently booked on an Eclipse B2B in June 2025 and the PAP was actually cheaper than simply purchasing the Premium Wi-Fi 2-device package! Couldn’t pass up that deal! 😁
 

[Dolebludger]

IMHO, the theater problem began with the ship’s design. The Edge class ships carry about 3,000 guests. But the theater doesn’t accommodate 3,000. Thus, under any system, there will be lines and confusion. This is one reason to take a much smaller lux line ship. All the theaters in all those ships I’ve been on had theater capacity for all guests — which numbered 300 to 750 full occupancy. Those ships don’t offer the activities and venues of a large ship, but they also don’t have lines and crowds.  

[Ken the cruiser]

Hopefully, I’m not missing some “fine print” issues associated with Premium Access, as I just checked our Jan 2026 10-day cruise on the Ascent and almost fell off my chair when I compared Wi-Fi package costs! I know at some point X is going to increase the PA daily charge, but this was just too good of a deal to pass up, especially since it’s booked with a Cruise Only fare. 😁

 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

1 hour ago, davejensen70 said:

The auditorium used to be for everyone, and every class of passenger.

I highly doubt they had closed off the whole theater until a few minutes before the show.

 

It's still for everyone. And the seats towards the sides are still perfectly fine.

[bigbenboys]

1 hour ago, Dolebludger said:

IMHO, the theater problem began with the ship’s design. The Edge class ships carry about 3,000 guests. But the theater doesn’t accommodate 3,000. Thus, under any system, there will be lines and confusion. This is one reason to take a much smaller lux line ship. All the theaters in all those ships I’ve been on had theater capacity for all guests — which numbered 300 to 750 full occupancy. Those ships don’t offer the activities and venues of a large ship, but they also don’t have lines and crowds.  

Are not about 40% of the guest still at dinner when the 1st show starts at 7:30? Dont the small ships only have one showing? Where Celebrity has 2 shows per night.

[cachouonacruise]

4 hours ago, markeb said:

 

We're heading to Montreal at the end of the month and London in November. No fake islands with overpriced chintzy souvenirs. A real Michelin 2-Star already reserved in London. Need to do more research for this trip to Montreal; we've been before but we're spending a little more time on this one.

I know it's not the purpose of this thread, but I wish you a beautiful time in Montreal, my home town! 

Edited Saturday at 09:54 PM by cachouonacruise
Typo

[retiredtraveler70]

40 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

I highly doubt they had closed off the whole theater until a few minutes before the show.

 

It's still for everyone. And the seats towards the sides are still perfectly fine.

 There were no "seats to the sides," as those were taken up by Celebrity cruisers who were not permitted to sit in the roped off zones. We ended up with standard chairs that had been brought in against the back wall -- with no view whatsoever of the stage.

[RICCruisers]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hopefully, I’m not missing some “fine print” issues associated with Premium Access, as I just checked our Jan 2026 10-day cruise on the Ascent and almost fell off my chair when I compared Wi-Fi package costs! I know at some point X is going to increase the PA daily charge, but this was just too good of a deal to pass up, especially since it’s booked with a Cruise Only fare. 😁

 

That is a surprisingly good deal. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a mistake made. The PA is priced at $30.99 per person per day for my February cruise and it must be booked for everyone in the cabin. I’d book it quickly before it is corrected. OR it doesn’t include the same perks associated with on PA on my sailing. 

[NMTraveller]

13 minutes ago, davejensen70 said:

 There were no "seats to the sides," as those were taken up by Celebrity cruisers who were not permitted to sit in the roped off zones. We ended up with standard chairs that had been brought in against the back wall -- with no view whatsoever of the stage.

For whatever reason I do find that E class seems to be crowded wherever I go.  I expect to spend most of my time on the balcony on my next cruise...

 

We always go early and seem to find some of the best seating...  You snooze you lose... 🤣

[Ken the cruiser]

35 minutes ago, RICCruisers said:

That is a surprisingly good deal. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a mistake made. The PA is priced at $30.99 per person per day for my February cruise and it must be booked for everyone in the cabin. I’d book it quickly before it is corrected. OR it doesn’t include the same perks associated with on PA on my sailing. 

What’s fascinating is that the price per day seems to vary for some reason.

 

These are the various Wi-Fi prices for our June 2025 12-day British Isles cruise on the Eclipse.

 

Then here are the prices for the follow-on 7-day Norway cruise on the Eclipse. 😂

 

[phoenix_dream]

10 hours ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

This isn't exclusive to Celebrity or even the cruise industry. At Disney World, Universal Studios, and other amusement parks you can pay for premium seats at certain shows, get through ride lines earlier, and have access to special dining seating and venues. What is offered on cruise ships is no different, and it's been going on for YEARS across the industry. 

Exactly.  Not sure if  I like or agree with it, but that's the way of the world these days. Pay more, get more. In some ways I miss the status free sailings of when I started with Celebrity 30 years ago but those days are long gone. Got to get over it, quit cruising, or go to a luxury line.

[retiredtraveler70]

2 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Exactly.  Not sure if  I like or agree with it, but that's the way of the world these days. Pay more, get more. In some ways I miss the status free sailings of when I started with Celebrity 30 years ago but those days are long gone. Got to get over it, quit cruising, or go to a luxury line.

 

I'm not interested in what Disney World does. In fact, I think they're on a downward slope, and I'd be surprised if RCI wants to emulate them. Taking something away from their cruise guests, (like the ability to see the front of the ship, or "special privilege seating" in theater) is a bogus move and one that will cost them more than they make in the long run. We cruise all the time and this is the first time anyone has stopped me from sitting anywhere I want in the theater when I show up 30 minutes in advance. Basically, they're saying "You are riff-raff and we won't have you sitting in the seats reserved for our better guests." Then, moments later they make an announcement that "the saving of seats is forbidden."  

[billc23]

15 hours ago, chemmo said:

In recent months I have followed several posts which suggest with the price of suites on Celebrity that suite guests would be better moving to smaller ‘more exclusive’ lines…I continue to follow these posts but as yet I am unconvinced. I like lots of bars, I like a wide range of dining options and a range of shows although I often prefer the smaller shows that pop up in the different bars.

The more exclusive lines, Silversea in particular, has more bars with a wider variety of included liquors/wines and more dining options. There are 4 sit down - with table service - restaurants open every day on the Silver Muse class ships at lunchtime, in addition to a buffet and a wonderful cafe serving lighter options. The number increases to 8 restaurants open for dinner. Much wider variety of choices compared to Celebrity too - including a restaurant that serves food local to the area of the world the ship is sailing in. 

 

Enough small scale performances to enjoy and they sometime bring in local talent to perform on the ship. The larger ships on Royal and Celebrity have much more large scale performances in a high tech theater than the smaller exclusive lines. For me, after many sailings on Celebrity, I prefer the smaller Jazz/String/Guitar... music more than the large scale shows that tend to repeat again and again. 

 

I agree that Celebrity does have a class system that some prefer - skipping lines, reserved seating, exclusive places on the ship... and others despise. There is virtually no distinction on the luxury lines between passengers in different levels of accommodations and some find this upsetting though I find it refreshing.  

[NMTraveller]

23 minutes ago, phoenix_dream said:

Exactly.  Not sure if  I like or agree with it, but that's the way of the world these days. Pay more, get more. In some ways I miss the status free sailings of when I started with Celebrity 30 years ago but those days are long gone. Got to get over it, quit cruising, or go to a luxury line.

Or go to a luxury line ...

Or shorten cruises and do more land vacations ...

 

When I first started cruising the cruises had the better service and prices.  Now all of that has changed...

Edited yesterday at 01:16 AM by NMTraveller

[NMTraveller]

5 hours ago, markeb said:

It’s from Hindi. It’s either an equestrian event or a gentleman’s club such as the British clubs in India. Gym is apparently”ball” in Hindi. Distinct from gymnasium in English…

Am I required to wear a "polo" shirt.  Asking for a friend. 😉

[markeb]

13 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Am I required to wear a "polo" shirt.  Asking for a friend. 😉

🫢

 

Good question. You know the "real" polo shirt is actually the Brooks Brothers button down, right?

 

Semi serious answer: The restaurant is in Mayfair (high rent district). The interior is very much old English gentleman's club meets occupied India. I think it's business casual but I'll have to be sure before I pack for the trip. There's another Michelin starred Indian restaurant not far from them that fired their chef and founder a few years back. It's much more modern. Gymkhana feels older than it probably is (we did lunch there last summer; no dinner reservations available). This was actually a restaurant recommended by an Indian sommelier (real one) who had worked in London when we were on Equinox back in 2022. 

 

I'll try to figure out a way to work it into a post after we're there. It gained a second star since last summer...

Edited yesterday at 01:33 AM by markeb

[billc23]

14 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Or go to a luxury line ...

Or shorten cruises and do more land vacations ...

 

When I first started cruising the cruises had the better service and prices.  Now all of that has changed...

Cruising has changed and not just the experience on the ship. The popular Alaska and Caribbean ports are set up to cater to the cruise ship passengers, with many shops being the same at different ports, and the cruise ships corporations having a financial stake in them. The culturally rich ports are beginning to limit or eliminate the number and size of cruise ship that they will allow. Still a great vacation and way to travel but different than it used to be for sure.

[leaveitallbehind]

On 10/4/2024 at 6:04 PM, davejensen70 said:

....But now, these Edge class ships have relegated the entire top/forward portion of the ship to suite passengers. OK -- I can even get used to that, although I certainly miss the wonderful viewing and cocktail lounge up there on the older ships (the Club doesn't cut it). This trip, we found that attending the theater at night was made difficult because they had security guys and roped off areas of the theater reserved for "high priority people.".....

Similar to NCL's "Haven" and MCS's "Yacht Club", as examples, which are exclusive on board suite areas for years with those lines.  In that respect, Celebrity with "E" class ships is actually late to the party.  Not defending it, but just saying that other cruise lines have already had this for a while.  A couple of the newer launched RCI ships in certain of their classes also have exclusive suite areas as well.  I believe this is also similar with Disney's Concierge class. So whether or not this is seen as good or bad with Celebrity, it is somewhat common among other cruise lines.

 

As to the reserved seating, that has been addressed by others.  But I will add that RCI also has been doing this with reserved seating with their upper tier cruisers in their main theater, as well as on ships with the aqua theater and ice shows for quite some time.  In those cases, the reserved seating opens up to all about 10 minutes prior to the show.

Edited yesterday at 02:05 AM by leaveitallbehind

[bbappel]

18 hours ago, davejensen70 said:

No, I was suggesting that there is no need for those passes or anything which takes away something from the bulk of the passengers and gives it to others, for a fee.

 

Dave

I agree with you. We are booked on our first cruise since 2017 - and we see a lot has changed. Fortunately we are booked on an S class ship. We were getting disenchanted with so much about cruising by 2017 that we found other ways to vacation. We aren't willing to spend all our vacation budget in one place, and the only way to have an excellent time, I guess, is to book a suite, and that would be it for our year. Not in my future. So we've been going to the beach for a month in the winter, where we eat better food than on the ship, drink excellent wines, and enjoy our time. We miss someone making up our room, the collegiality of other passengers at venues where you might share a drink. We like cooking, so that's why we enjoy better food. So we are experimenting with this cruise since it is a fun way to vacation with friends without being in each other's pockets. Then the rest of the year we go on 4-9 day trips where we ride bikes, and have fun. It is working, but isn't a easy to share the time with friends. 

As we get older, I was sort of hoping we might have more fun. Like you, we liked to get to the theater a little early, find our seats, and enjoy a cocktail or after-dinner drink. 

The thing that irritated us on our last few cruises was that, as early diners, we no longer had venues with music to enjoy with our pre-dinner cocktail. We are still early diners because it works better with going off-ship on tours or our own explorations and we just can't stay up that late any more.

 

[NMTraveller]

3 hours ago, markeb said:

🫢

Good question. You know the "real" polo shirt is actually the Brooks Brothers button down, right?

My response was also semiserious as we have had 20 something pages on what a polo shirt is on this board 🙂 Anyways I would expect the dress code to be elevated for a Michelin Star restaurant.  

[PhillyFan33579]

We just got off Beyond this morning. We were in an infinite veranda and are elite plus, so no special priority. We had no problems every night of the cruise finding good seats in the center section of the theater. There were reserved seats in the theater, but they were not in a location we would be interested in sitting. 

[Caipi]

17 hours ago, Oceangoer2 said:

There are many good seats.  We've had the opportunities to be seated in the 'roped off' section....which we pass on.  They, IMO, are not preferable to the location we choose (by ourselves not 'seated') to occupy.  Why are we now getting hung up on where we sit in a theatre which can oblige most of us?  Maybe it's because some of us are not feeling 'special' enough.  If I paid the high cost of these 'passes', I'd want to have something to show for it, and it seems having a seat in the roped off section makes one feel 'special'.

 

I don't even think we will use the theatre seats, I bought the Premium Access for us because it was cheaper than Wi-Fi for 2 devices. (And includes 4 devices, + early boarding, and getting quicker to shore when tendering, which we will in 3 ports.)  

[TeeRick]

14 hours ago, davejensen70 said:

 

I'm not interested in what Disney World does. In fact, I think they're on a downward slope, and I'd be surprised if RCI wants to emulate them. Taking something away from their cruise guests, (like the ability to see the front of the ship, or "special privilege seating" in theater) is a bogus move and one that will cost them more than they make in the long run. We cruise all the time and this is the first time anyone has stopped me from sitting anywhere I want in the theater when I show up 30 minutes in advance. Basically, they're saying "You are riff-raff and we won't have you sitting in the seats reserved for our better guests." Then, moments later they make an announcement that "the saving of seats is forbidden."  

In this thread, you sound more than a bit bitter (riff-raff?) about your last Celebrity experience.  But all of your observations have been discussed here repeatedly for years.  Theatre seating, no front of ship viewing, etc.  Were you expecting different (if you follow these boards)?  Maybe another cruise line is in the cards?