Celebrity's Lack of Presence in the Caribbean

[BrooklynGirl2]

Am I the only one frustrated by Celebrity's lack of any summer itineraries in the Caribbean?? :( The only summer sailing from the East Coast is to Bermuda (and we have already done that 3 times). Because I have a child in elementary school I cannot cruise anytime I want and when I can Celebrity has no choices from the northeast.

 

This situation is forcing me to look at other cruise lines. Right now we are looking at the Crown Princess 9 day to Caribbean and Bermuda from Brooklyn. We love X because of the traditional cruising experience it offers. We enjoy dressing up and eating with the same tablemates each evening. And we enjoy the excellent food on X.

 

I am hoping we will find some of this atmosphere on Princess. Right now it almost seems that X does not want our demographic...married, 40's, with school age children who cannot afford to jet off to Europe or the Baltics for 14 day cruises. They really shouldn't ignore us as one day we will be able to do that kind of travel when the kids are grown and by then another cruise line may have captured our loyalty.

 

Just needed to vent....

[DrKoob]

You say that X really doesn't want your age group (kids, only vacation in summer) and you are right. The fact of the matter is that X is owned by RCL and RCL wants to slot your demographic onto RCL lines. They figure that 90% of your age group will want the wild and crazy times on an RCL of the Seas climbing the rock wall, surfing and that kind of stuff.

 

So they schedule the biggest cruise ships in the world into the Caribbean for the summer figuring that they will get you to cruise on them. Then they figure that my age group (over 50 and kids out of school) will want to cruise without kids in the Caribbean in a more traditional brand of cruising with as few kids as possible on board.

 

And you know what, about 90% of the time, they are right. Sorry.

[toz]

Consider the Carnival Miracle. It will be sailing from NYC starting May,2007. I used to disregard CCL until I took the Miracle from Tampa (where I live) in May, 2006. It is a lovely ship, the food is very good, service is excellent and the crew and officers are very cordial as well as professional....not to mention first-rate entertainment. I sailed the Caribbean Princess in August,2006, and was very disappointed. The food was mediocre, and the service was lacking.

[DrKoob]

But if you love the traditional cruising experience of X you will hate anything remotely related to Carnival.

 

Carnival is the party animal of cruising. If you like being in a drunken haze for your cruise, book it. The OP said he loved the "traditional" cruise experience. In our experience (The cruise from hell on Carnival Ecstasy) this is not Carnival. RCL would be a bunch closer. Princess even closer than that.

[toz]

I used to feel the same way about Carnival, until I reluctantly took the Miracle...extenuating circumstances: it was a last-minute decision AND the only cruise from my home port. I'm looking forward to an 11 day cruise on the Zenith at Christmas. Please...no bad news about that one:)

[Andy]

Am I the only one frustrated by Celebrity's lack of any summer itineraries in the Caribbean?? :( The only summer sailing from the East Coast is to Bermuda (and we have already done that 3 times). Because I have a child in elementary school I cannot cruise anytime I want and when I can Celebrity has no choices from the northeast.

 

This situation is forcing me to look at other cruise lines. Right now we are looking at the Crown Princess 9 day to Caribbean and Bermuda from Brooklyn. We love X because of the traditional cruising experience it offers. We enjoy dressing up and eating with the same tablemates each evening. And we enjoy the excellent food on X.

 

I am hoping we will find some of this atmosphere on Princess. Right now it almost seems that X does not want our demographic...married, 40's, with school age children who cannot afford to jet off to Europe or the Baltics for 14 day cruises. They really shouldn't ignore us as one day we will be able to do that kind of travel when the kids are grown and by then another cruise line may have captured our loyalty.

 

Just needed to vent....

 

Hi BrooklynGirl !

 

It's ok to vent. We have had this discussion several times. It usually gets a lot of responses. I also feel that Celebrity needs a ship in the Caribbean in the Summer. It's funny how many of the Cruise Lines pulled out of the Caribbean this Summer, probably figuring it would be another bad Hurricane season, and thankfully, it has been mild so far. So much for their forecasting :).

 

It is a real catch 22 for Celebrity. Century was previously their Summer Caribbean ship. When Europe became a hot destination, Celebrity figured they could make more money deploying extra ships in Europe. In all honesty, I could not blame them for deploying Century in Europe, as they were getting very good prices. Profits are the name of the game. I wonder if this year's Europe season is as good as anticipated, as I am seeing lower prices and last minute deals. I am guessing Europe may not be as hot as last year, but I could be wrong about that.

 

One question I have to ask.... is could they have put another ship in Europe instead of Century (perhaps another C-Class ship) as Century was selling quite well in the Summer. I sailed on Century a few times in the Summer, and we typically paid top dollar, and the ship was always full. I always felt it was a huge mistake for Celebrity to hand over that market to one of their competitors. That made no sense to me.

 

One of the problems is that Celebrity does not have enough ships to do everything they wish they could do. They should have ordered their next generation of ships a few years ago, so they would be coming online now. The lack of new ships has forced Celebrity to make some very tough decisions as to where to deploy their ships. IMHO, they have made some poor decisions of late. I am not overly thrilled with their 2007/2008 schedule either, as it has some very curious decisions in it.

 

When the Solstice Class comes online, perhaps Celebrity will have at least 1 ship in the Caribbean in the Summer. Time will tell.

[duckman715]

But if you love the traditional cruising experience of X you will hate anything remotely related to Carnival.

 

Carnival is the party animal of cruising. If you like being in a drunken haze for your cruise, book it. The OP said he loved the "traditional" cruise experience. In our experience (The cruise from hell on Carnival Ecstasy) this is not Carnival. RCL would be a bunch closer. Princess even closer than that.

I guess your experience with Carnival is different from mine. I have found Carnival to offer the best value of all mid market lines and that stuff about it just being a party boat is a load of hooey. We are in our mid fifties, go to bed by 10:00 and are definitely not the party hearty crowd. You can find drunks and loud people on any cruise. Certainly the shorter cruises will attract a louder crowd as will Summer trips with many kids. Worst trip we took was RCI - so was the best, so it varies from ship to ship & crew to crew.

[Fang]

We are in the same situation at the OP. Due to two daughters our schedule for cruising as a family is very limited.

 

For four years we took a Thanksgiving cruise, but now X has changed the schedule for the Thanksgiving week and we can not afford to have our kids out of school for that long. (used to be Sat - Sat, now Mon - Mon).

 

I agree that perhaps X is making more profits in Europe and Alaska during the summer. As a business that would makes sense to do, but I wonder how much business they are not getting by having a ship doing the Caribbean in the summer?

 

We have looked at Princess, but we always get connecting cabins and they have none. This summer we took a cruise on RCI AOS. It was fine, but what a major difference between X and RCI. The only thing better, to me was the many perks Crown and Anchor members get for Diamond members.

 

I can understand RCI trying to get people in our age group to RCI and leaving X for cruisers with no children, who can travel longer days. Thats why I have said in past posts "I did not leave Celebrity, They left me!"

[m steve]

When the kids move out, and the dog dies you can come back to X and enjoy an adult cruise at a reasonable price. By then they may even let you bring your own booze and Geritol on board!

[Longboysfan]

When the kids move out, and the dog dies you can come back to X and enjoy an adult cruise at a reasonable price. By then they may even let you bring your own booze and Geritol on board!

 

I hear that HAL confiscates any Geritol found in your luggage.

 

They want the ship sleeping by 10pm. ;)

[mikeythemars]

Consider the Carnival Miracle. It will be sailing from NYC starting May,2007. I used to disregard CCL until I took the Miracle from Tampa (where I live) in May, 2006. It is a lovely ship, the food is very good, service is excellent and the crew and officers are very cordial as well as professional....not to mention first-rate entertainment.

 

A second vote for the Carnival Miracle as a Celebrity "substitute." We sailed on it in from Tampa on a Western Caribbean itinerary in 2/05 and were very impressed. Now that it is coming to NYC (our home port), we are likely to return to it.

[jaxon41]

A second vote for the Carnival Miracle as a Celebrity "substitute." We sailed on it in from Tampa on a Western Caribbean itinerary in 2/05 and were very impressed. Now that it is coming to NYC (our home port), we are likely to return to it.

 

I have heard the same thing from a neighbor who sailed her to the Med last year -- the newest ship in any case if I have the name wrong. Maybe Carnival is trying to change its reputation -- I'd never thought of giving them a try, but I might now.

[toz]

Carnival is definitely trying to change its reputation. I haven't been on the older party-hearty ships, or short cruises...and I won't be doing so. But I would sail the Miracle again...but not the Caribbean Princess.

[Arubalisa]

Right now it almost seems that X does not want our demographic...married, 40's, with school age children who cannot afford to jet off to Europe or the Baltics for 14 day cruises

 

You say that X really doesn't want your age group (kids, only vacation in summer) and you are right. The fact of the matter is that X is owned by RCL and RCL wants to slot your demographic onto RCL lines. They figure that 90% of your age group will want the wild and crazy times on an RCL of the Seas climbing the rock wall, surfing and that kind of stuff.

 

So they schedule the biggest cruise ships in the world into the Caribbean for the summer figuring that they will get you to cruise on them. Then they figure that my age group (over 50 and kids out of school) will want to cruise without kids in the Caribbean in a more traditional brand of cruising with as few kids as possible on board.

 

And you know what, about 90% of the time, they are right. Sorry.

BrooklynGirl I could not agree with you more. Dh and I are in the exact same situation. Our dd cruises for her love of the kids club and fancy dinners and dh and I cruise for the overall X experience and relaxation. We do not want the rock climbing wall and nightlife.

 

DrKoob, seeing others opinions the same as BG's and myself on the CC forums, I really would beg to differ with your percentage of "90% of your age group will want the wild and crazy times on an RCL of the Seas..." If that is the case than surely the percentage for Carnival is what like 99.9999% wanting wild and crazy? Yes SOME people do perceive both RCCL and Carnival as being for the "wild and crazy" and that is the exact reason why people like us are not willing to take a chance with our hard earned $$$ to have a miserable experience.

 

IMHO, Princess may be a close second to X, but still not the same type of ambiance. If HAL is serious about breaking into the family market instead of playing "make believe", they would do themselves a favor by placing a ship in the Caribbean during the summer. Yes, surely not a ship like the Prinsendam or Amsterdam but they have other ships which would do just fine.

 

Our family will just continue our land based Caribbean vacations during the summer until there is a change. With flying being such a misery these days we may as well get the most out of it. We can just as easily fly to SJU or wherever in the Caribbean as we can to EWR OR JFK to catch a ship out of NY.

[Cachecara]

I have been on equal number of X and RCI cruises(all on Voyager Class) and to label RCI as "wild and crazy" is silly. Either that or I missed those wild and crazy events! :p Two of my RCI cruises were even during holiday times--one at xmas and another at spring break and I would still not find them that much different than my X cruises. Yes, there is more variety of things going on, but I did not encounter any loud, boisterous behavior. In fact, :p the only time I encountered anything close to that was on my first Zenith cruise and that was only because 2 ladies that had to be over 50 were a weeeee bit toooooo tipsy and just enjoying themselves. Let me say, many of the things like the Rock Wall are in areas of the ship you would have to stumble upon. It's not like they are stuck next to the library or computer center. So if you aren't looking for them, as I wasn't, I never made contact with that area.

Either way, I had wonderful cruises on each line and felt there were good points about each.

[geoherb]

... Right now we are looking at the Crown Princess 9 day to Caribbean and Bermuda from Brooklyn. We love X because of the traditional cruising experience it offers. We enjoy dressing up and eating with the same tablemates each evening. And we enjoy the excellent food on X.

 

I am hoping we will find some of this atmosphere on Princess....

You will find the traditional cruising experience on Princess--as long as you can get into the traditional dining room. I decided a few years ago not to book any more Princess cruises unless we could have traditional dining. We tried "personal choice" dining and did not like it.

 

The one thing Princess doesn't do is semi-formal, but I don't mind leaving my sports coat at home.

 

Princess came out ahead as our choice for our upcoming Christmas cruise. We'll be on one of its smaller ships (Sun Princess), which is about the same size as the Century. One thing that pushed it ahead was the adults only pool area. We treated the former thalassotherapy pool as our adults only get-away space when we were on the Century for Christmas a couple of years ago.

[rebeccalouise]

Am I the only one frustrated by Celebrity's lack of any summer itineraries in the Caribbean?? :( The only summer sailing from the East Coast is to Bermuda (and we have already done that 3 times). Because I have a child in elementary school I cannot cruise anytime I want and when I can Celebrity has no choices from the northeast.

 

This situation is forcing me to look at other cruise lines. Right now we are looking at the Crown Princess 9 day to Caribbean and Bermuda from Brooklyn. We love X because of the traditional cruising experience it offers. We enjoy dressing up and eating with the same tablemates each evening. And we enjoy the excellent food on X.

 

I am hoping we will find some of this atmosphere on Princess. Right now it almost seems that X does not want our demographic...married, 40's, with school age children who cannot afford to jet off to Europe or the Baltics for 14 day cruises. They really shouldn't ignore us as one day we will be able to do that kind of travel when the kids are grown and by then another cruise line may have captured our loyalty.

 

Just needed to vent....

 

I would have liked to have cruised on Celebrity this summer too. However, I am taking my son on a cruise during his spring break instead. In April 2007 we are taking the 5-night Century cruise. Then in the summer we are taking the Millenium Barcelona- Venice.

Summer is huricanne season in the Carribean and perhaps Celebrity just decided it isn't worth the trouble of constantly have to sail around the storms.

[BrooklynGirl2]

Thank you everyone for your comments and thoughs on this subject. I cannot be jammed into the RCL profile and really would not consider RCL even though I have a child. So RCL will lose my business all together because if I'm not on X then I'm gone...

 

My son does not need the loud, rock climbing, arcade type vacation. In fact, he's easily over stimulated and prefers more quiet activities and in this X's kid program is great. He also enjoys dining and dressing for formal night. Yes, some nights he does eat with the kids but on the other nights he has no problem eating in the dining room with us.

 

Thanks for your insight Andy. I do hope when X has the new ships coming on line that they will return to the Caribbean. I can't help but think they are losing loyalty and money. And this season has been pretty quiet in terms of storms.

 

When I cruise I do so to avoid the miserable hassle of flying. If I'm gonna bite the bullet and fly then I will head to Europe where I traveled extensively in years past (pre-child days). I am lucky in that I live in the northeast and can easily drive to a number of ports.

 

It looks like we will head to Zenith in a few weeks and then take some time to consider what we will do when school is out next summer. It is looking like Princess right now. I don't think I would chance my hard earned money on Carnival. I just can't get past that image of the guy in the shabby t-shirt and flip flops coming to dinner on formal night (do they even HAVE formal night on Carnival?) with singing waiters (annoying), Friday's type food, and the constant barrage of announcements for activities I have no interest in. We don't cruise that often that I would take the chance on a miserable time.

 

Everyone has their niche. Carnival is not mine.

[sacway]

...I cannot be jammed into the RCL profile and really would not consider RCL even though I have a child. So RCL will lose my business all together because if I'm not on X then I'm gone...

 

... It is looking like Princess right now. I don't think I would chance my hard earned money on Carnival.... We don't cruise that often that I would take the chance on a miserable time. Everyone has their niche. Carnival is not mine.

 

Hi BrooklynGirl2 -

 

Our last cruise was on Princess for some of your reasons. We were able to book a minisuite for about the same price as the X FV cabin we cancelled and really enjoyed it. You owe X/RCI nothing. If the company can't make good choices (as Host Andy suggesed) well that is not your problem.

 

If you love the traditional cruise atmosphere, you will probably prefer traditional dining. Even if you initially get assigned PC (since there are fewer TD tables than people think they want) you can generally get switched once you are on board. There are regular repeating threads on the Princess board on how to do this. You'll also find plenty of threads on differences X cruisers notice.

 

Have a great holiday, where you want and on your own terms.

 

sacway

[born2cruize]

Our first 5 cruises were with Carnival starting in 1996. (25th wedding anniversary). Below you can see what we've done since then. We are definately NOT party people. As most of you know you can partake of their activites or fine your own. I read about the horror stories of Carnival or RCI (drunks). Never had an issue, in fact the only reason we don't do Carnival now is that we prefer port intensive cruises. Carnival has never offered anything we like. All cruises no matter which line still comes down to what you make from it. I firmly believe that I could be on the worst cruise but I can make the best of it. (Last years 13 day Norwegian Dream in Alaska tested that belief, and in the end we had a great cruise).

[Charles4515]

Thank you everyone for your comments and thoughs on this subject. I cannot be jammed into the RCL profile and really would not consider RCL even though I have a child. So RCL will lose my business all together because if I'm not on X then I'm gone...

 

My son does not need the loud, rock climbing, arcade type vacation. In fact, he's easily over stimulated and prefers more quiet activities and in this X's kid program is great. He also enjoys dining and dressing for formal night. Yes, some nights he does eat with the kids but on the other nights he has no problem eating in the dining room with us.

 

Thanks for your insight Andy. I do hope when X has the new ships coming on line that they will return to the Caribbean. I can't help but think they are losing loyalty and money. And this season has been pretty quiet in terms of storms.

 

When I cruise I do so to avoid the miserable hassle of flying. If I'm gonna bite the bullet and fly then I will head to Europe where I traveled extensively in years past (pre-child days). I am lucky in that I live in the northeast and can easily drive to a number of ports.

 

It looks like we will head to Zenith in a few weeks and then take some time to consider what we will do when school is out next summer. It is looking like Princess right now. I don't think I would chance my hard earned money on Carnival. I just can't get past that image of the guy in the shabby t-shirt and flip flops coming to dinner on formal night (do they even HAVE formal night on Carnival?) with singing waiters (annoying), Friday's type food, and the constant barrage of announcements for activities I have no interest in. We don't cruise that often that I would take the chance on a miserable time.

 

Everyone has their niche. Carnival is not mine.

 

They make more money on Europe. And the Caribbean in the summer draws the profile of cruiser you think you want to avoid. I recall my cruise in July on Century in the Caribbean. From what I gather you like on cruises I think you should give HAL and Princess a try. Neither has singing waiters.

[Tatka]

Carnival is the party animal of cruising. If you like being in a drunken haze for your cruise, book it. The OP said he loved the "traditional" cruise experience. In our experience (The cruise from hell on Carnival Ecstasy) this is not Carnival. RCL would be a bunch closer. Princess even closer than that.

 

Don't mix cruises on older Carnival ships and new ones. Carnival has changed ALOT. During our 6 day cruise on Liberty we haven't seen 1 drunk (we saw couple on Century).

 

Their service and food are very good... What I can't stant is lines everywhere, and something was really missing for me.

 

All and all Carnival was our least favorite experience, but surely not because of drunks or party animals, because there was none.

[Tatka]

I am hoping we will find some of this atmosphere on Princess. Right now it almost seems that X does not want our demographic...married, 40's, with school age children who cannot afford to jet off to Europe or the Baltics for 14 day cruises. They really shouldn't ignore us as one day we will be able to do that kind of travel when the kids are grown and by then another cruise line may have captured our loyalty.

 

Just needed to vent....

 

I think you and your family will have Grand time on Princess.

 

Celebrity used to be my absolute favorite line, but after trying Caribbean Princess this summer now it's a tie... and it won't be easy to decide between two of them!

 

Princess does so many things right, and provides great vacation for ALL age groups. Princess ships are beautiful and understated. They are so convinient for all kind of tastes. You want big crowd - hang out in 2 main pools with activities or MUTS. You want quiet adult experience - you're welcome to the back adults-only pool thet feels like a private yacht, or another adult only pool in spa.. You have so many choices of food you feel lost!!! Entertainment is endless and of good/great quality. Kids are well supervised and their centers are great... plus there is mini-golf and their own pools. I don't have time to write more... You can check this website www.cruisingthecaribbeanprincess.com which is about her almost sister ship. I am VERY impressed with Princess!

[superjerryw]

Am I the only one frustrated by Celebrity's lack of any summer itineraries in the Caribbean?? :( The only summer sailing from the East Coast is to Bermuda (and we have already done that 3 times). Because I have a child in elementary school I cannot cruise anytime I want and when I can Celebrity has no choices from the northeast.

 

This situation is forcing me to look at other cruise lines. Right now we are looking at the Crown Princess 9 day to Caribbean and Bermuda from Brooklyn. We love X because of the traditional cruising experience it offers. We enjoy dressing up and eating with the same tablemates each evening. And we enjoy the excellent food on X.

 

I am hoping we will find some of this atmosphere on Princess. Right now it almost seems that X does not want our demographic...married, 40's, with school age children who cannot afford to jet off to Europe or the Baltics for 14 day cruises. They really shouldn't ignore us as one day we will be able to do that kind of travel when the kids are grown and by then another cruise line may have captured our loyalty.

 

Just needed to vent....

 

I don't think it is a question of ignoring you or anyone else. Celebrity is in business to make money so they are going to send their ships wherever they will be most profitable. The price charged per passenger per day is higher in Alaska than in the Caribbean and in Europe it is even higher. A ship full of people sailing in the Baltics generates more revenue than a ship sailing in the Caribbean. In addition to higher cabin prices I'm sure they sell more higher priced shore excursions as well. As for Princess, I think you will find it to be closer to Royal Caribbean than to Celebrity.

[michelethelibrarian]

Personally, the Caribbean holds no interest for me in the summer, no matter which line is sailing there. As a southerner I get plenty of hot, humid weather at home and have no desire to holiday someplace more hot and humid. That is just me, I guess.

 

We have family friends from up north who sail RCC every summer on whichever ship is the newest. I don't know how they stand the heat!:eek:

 

Different strokes.