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

[Ken the cruiser]

13 minutes ago, retiredtraveler70 said:

 

I'm happy you got your money's worth . . . that's what makes it such fun! We weren't in the Retreat, but a very enjoyable cruise, with the exception of the shows at night, where the roped off areas meant that people were standing in the back or sitting in seats placed there temporarily (with no view of the stage). If this is the way things are going folks, if you aren't in a Suite or paying extra you'll possibly be upset (as we were) to lose seat options in the theater. As this poster says, it was EVERY night, and "there were passengers getting upset at the roped off areas." Since we said nothing to them and simply found a temporary (no view) seat, these were others making their concerns known. The people we spoke with on either side of us were furious, and I saw many people exclaiming to the security people (butlers?) about their concerns.  As the thread has mentioned, taking away someone's right to food, beverage and entertainment and giving it away as a "perk" signals an unwelcome move to a class system.

Totally agree, but the cruise lines are going to do what they’re going to do. So from this experience, have you come up with a strategy so this Celebrity main theater seating issue doesn’t happen to you again? I know ours has evolved over the years and varies depending on the cruise line we’re booked on. 

 

[retiredtraveler70]

3 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

The cruise lines are going to do what they’re going to do . . . 

 

 

Hi Ken, I think they'll push it to the point where people begin to object and drop out of future cruising on their line. It's evident from this thread that there are people on both sides plus some in the middle. One side is disappointed and it WILL affect the $$ spent on Celebrity in the future. The other group seems to think it's OK and expected. But my thought is that when a third group (those who don't like it but go along with it and don't say anything when it happens to them) decide to SAY SOMETHING -- and the level of grumbling as we saw on BEYOND becomes a concern to management -- than the cruise line will take notice and the squeaky wheels will have had an impact. I love X. But that doesn't mean they can do these kinds of things and keep my loyalty.

[BV0]

1 minute ago, retiredtraveler70 said:

 

Hi Ken, I think they'll push it to the point where people begin to object and drop out of future cruising on their line. It's evident from this thread that there are people on both sides plus some in the middle. One side is disappointed and it WILL affect the $$ spent on Celebrity in the future. The other group seems to think it's OK and expected. But my thought is that when a third group (those who don't like it but go along with it and don't say anything when it happens to them) decide to SAY SOMETHING -- and the level of grumbling as we saw on BEYOND becomes a concern to management -- than the cruise line will take notice and the squeaky wheels will have had an impact. I love X. But that doesn't mean they can do these kinds of things and keep my loyalty.

I'm late to this conversation but find it interesting. I respect all of the opinions presented. I'm surprised the reserved seats in the theater is such a polarizing issue. I'm much more bothered by all of the expensive specialty restaurants and the perceived diminished quality and offering of the included food.

[NMTraveller]

Well I get the OPs perspective.  Everything is crowded on E class.  At least I have my VIP pass 😂 

 

On M class the theater was only about 70% full and we could get a seat with noone around.

[Dolebludger]

Our two Celebrity cruises were in suites on S class ships. Maybe five years ago, and we never went to the evening shows. In fact, we haven’t been to evening shows on any of the 25+ cruises we have taken. That is not the reason we take cruise vacations. But, I can see both sides of this issue. If ships have adequately sized and designed theaters, I doubt that this would be an issue. But, I suspect on some X ships they are not. And that is the real problem. If you have a ship with 3000 guests, the theater should be designed with 3000 good seats. Only if this is not the case, cruise lines resort to reserving seats. 

[Ken the cruiser]

3 minutes ago, retiredtraveler70 said:

 

Hi Ken, I think they'll push it to the point where people begin to object and drop out of future cruising on their line. It's evident from this thread that there are people on both sides plus some in the middle. One side is disappointed and it WILL affect the $$ spent on Celebrity in the future. The other group seems to think it's OK and expected. But my thought is that when a third group (those who don't like it but go along with it and don't say anything when it happens to them) decide to SAY SOMETHING -- and the level of grumbling as we saw on BEYOND becomes a concern to management -- than the cruise line will take notice and the squeaky wheels will have had an impact. I love X. But that doesn't mean they can do these kinds of things and keep my loyalty.

Hope you’re right. However, now that we’re in our early 70s and are low stress cruiseaholics, it’s all about having fun while on awesome 3-5 week itineraries rather than waiting on a particular cruise line to change their entertainment strategy, to include seating options. For us our current primary cruise lines now are Princess and HAL and occasionally Celebrity and NCL, if the itinerary and price are just right. Heck, we’re even trying Viking Ocean because of an awesome 2-week itinerary that includes staying overnight in Longyearbyen.
 

But one thing we have found regardless of cruise line, is if you want good theater seats, you need to get there at least 20-30 minutes early. As you and others experienced on your last cruise, showing up within the last 10-15 minutes, regardless of whether there was reserved seating or not, having to hunt for seats is no fun. We’ve all experienced it and have no desire to experience it again. For us, though, we have an additional motivation to get there early. We have no desire to have anyone coughing, sneezing, or blowing their nose behind us, as the last thing we want to do is get sick while on one of our 3-5 week cruises. But then in order to do that, we have to arrive at the MDR when it opens, so we have plenty of time after dinner to get to the theater to pick out our seats.
 

As far as us sitting in the PAP roped off area on one of our upcoming cruises, there better be a back row with no one behind us, otherwise we’ll find a spot somewhere else in the theater. But at the same time, we booked the Premium Access package for the 2-device premium Wi-Fi service, so no big loss.

[neverlaysup]

7 hours ago, retiredtraveler70 said:

 

That's not true on a sold-out cruise. We had dozens of people standing in the back, where they couldn't even get the temporary chairs that were slipped in behind the bar stool seating at the back. 

I’ve seen the standing room only before but at the same time, in my experience only, there were plenty of seats available on the sides or less desirable locations.