Celebrity 2008/2009 Itineraries Thread

[chessbriar]

I have talked to a couple of people at the Captain's Club about it. They agreed it was a great idea and a good way to make us feel special. I also talked to the FCC on Galaxy, Laura, about it. In addition, I talked to Melanie the CC Hostess about it, once again a good idea. Both Laura and Melanie, said they would pass it along.

 

All we can do is hope X finds us special enough to make the offer. It doesn't cost them a thing. I hope they will as RCCL did it with the Freedom when she came out.

[Dande1]

If solstice maiden is late 2008 we would love a chance to join you.

Another TA would be extra special!:)

Dave & Liz

[florisdekort]

We are hoping that the Century will have a 12 day cruise from Amsterdam to the fjords again in 2008.

 

My question to you...if the ship actually leaves from Rotterdam, what is the best way to get there (remember...lots of luggage!!). We will arrive at least one day ahead. Would it be easier to go from the Amsterdam airport directly to Rotterdam for one night? (I assume the planes will land in Amsterdam?). Or, if we spend a couple of nights at a hotel in Amsterdam, how is the best way to get to the pier?

 

Actually for 2007, all guests received notice from Celebrity that Rotterdam was swapped back to Amsterdam!

 

Cheers -

Floris

[wolfganghowell]

I sure would like to have a 7 day Caribbean sailing in November - Celebrity doesn't even get to the Carib now until right before Christmas. I can understand not bringing every ship back but not one doing a 7 day in that time frame. I hope with the Solstice that this will free up one - I'd prefer an M class ship. We've missed our fall X cruises because of this issue.

[catmand]

Can I be selfish? Celebrity has been sailing a San Francisco round trip or San Francisco-Vancouver Alaska cruise a few times each May the past several years. A 10 day round trip SF-Alaska through the "real" inside passage would be wonderful the rest of the season.

A few SF Hawaii would be nice, oh, and SF Mexico would be nice too.

Hey, how about a ship in San Francisco year round!

[mii]

Can I be selfish? Celebrity has been sailing a San Francisco round trip or San Francisco-Vancouver Alaska cruise a few times each May the past several years. A 10 day round trip SF-Alaska through the "real" inside passage would be wonderful the rest of the season.

 

A few SF Hawaii would be nice, oh, and SF Mexico would be nice too.

 

Hey, how about a ship in San Francisco year round!

 

As another west coast cruiser I got to back Catmand up on this. I know they have been having problems with the pier 35 and not bldg a new terminal but hey it was better than nothing. Hopefully Celebrity will read this and decide on putting a ship back to S.F.

 

Marilyn

[Kathie44]

We sailed Galaxy out of Galveston two years ago on a PC cruise and it was great to have a direct flight to Houston, the only time we've had that. It was a PC partial transit plus Cozumel, Costa Maya, the now infamous Puerto Limon (we felt totally safe) and Montego Bay instead of Grand Cayman (weather).

We recently sailed Mercury out of San Diego to the MR and have booked her again to Aust/NZ for next Jan. It's too bad Celebrity is not doing the PC from Galv. any more and will be switching Merc without a another winter MR cruise itin. Evidently, lack of profit was the reason.

I would like to see a 10 or 11 night Southern Carib. cruise with 5 -6 stops, not including Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten or St. Thomas, which we've already done. I'd like to see a cruise for Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, Tortola and Grenada or some other port we've never seen and departing from FL, not San Juan. We liked the 6 ports and 4 sea days we had on Mercury, a good ratio. The Galaxy cruise spoiled us for longer cruises. We may never do a 7-night again.

 

1/02 Explorer E. Carib.

1/03 Explorer W. Carib.

8/03 Summit Alaska cruise/tour

2/04 Adventure S. Carib.

2/05 Galaxy Panama Canal

6/06 Jewel Brit. Isles/Nor. Fjords + 3 days in London

1/07 Mercury Mexican Riviera

1/08 Mercury Aust/NZ

[Skeezics]

Personally, would like to see Celebrity enter the Asian market. Happy to see the expansion to Australia and New Zealand. The return trip from the season in Oceania to Hawaii is great. According to all the travel magazines, cruisers are anxious for more exotic ports . . .really believe that there is a loyal clientele that would support an Asian expansion followed by an African. At the present time, the luxury liners seem to have the market. Of, course, they may have to add more ships to accomplish this . . .so is probably only a dream.

[DancerOT]

I still want to see Celebrity come back to Baltimore. I loved driving to the port in the same amount of time it takes me to drive to the airport!!

[Rev22:17]

wolfganghowell,

 

I sure would like to have a 7 day Caribbean sailing in November - Celebrity doesn't even get to the Carib now until right before Christmas. I can understand not bringing every ship back but not one doing a 7 day in that time frame. I hope with the Solstice that this will free up one - I'd prefer an M class ship. We've missed our fall X cruises because of this issue.

 

Actually, your statements are not wholly accurate. MV Celebity Quest will be operating Caribbean itineraries in October and November for the 'Celebrity Expeditions" brand and MV Constellation will be in the Caribbean starting in November for the Celebrity Cruises brand.

 

That said, there are several significant factors that influence these decisions.

 

>> 1. Cruises to the Caribbean do not command the per deims of cruises to other destinations, including Europe. Thus, the line does better by deploying ships elsewhere until demand for Caribbean cruises picks up over the holiday season and during the winter and spring school vacation periods, which extend from the middle of February to the end of April in various geographical regions.

 

>> 2. Most people who are free to take cruises in September, October, November and December (1) are not constrained to seven night cruises and (2) are seasoned travellers who want to explore new destinations.

 

>> 3. October and November are also within hurricane season. that consideration motivates some travelers to go somewhere other than the Caribbean at that time of year.

 

So overall, Celebrity's present deployments serve the greatest number of potential travellers.

 

That said, you might want to look at Celebrity's ten night itineraries, which encompass one calendar week plus the weekends at both ends of it, if you are trying to limit you use of vacation time.

 

Norm.

[Andy]

wolfganghowell,

 

Actually, your statements are not wholly accurate. MV Celebity Quest will be operating Caribbean itineraries in October and November for the 'Celebrity Expeditions" brand and MV Constellation will be in the Caribbean starting in November for the Celebrity Cruises brand.

 

That said, there are several significant factors that influence these decisions.

 

>> 1. Cruises to the Caribbean do not command the per deims of cruises to other destinations, including Europe. Thus, the line does better by deploying ships elsewhere until demand for Caribbean cruises picks up over the holiday season and during the winter and spring school vacation periods, which extend from the middle of February to the end of April in various geographical regions.

 

>> 2. Most people who are free to take cruises in September, October, November and December (1) are not constrained to seven night cruises and (2) are seasoned travellers who want to explore new destinations.

 

>> 3. October and November are also within hurricane season. that consideration motivates some travelers to go somewhere other than the Caribbean at that time of year.

 

So overall, Celebrity's present deployments serve the greatest number of potential travellers.

 

That said, you might want to look at Celebrity's ten night itineraries, which encompass one calendar week plus the weekends at both ends of it, if you are trying to limit you use of vacation time.

 

Norm.

 

Hi Norm !

 

Much of what you said makes sense..... but there are points you may not taking into consideration. I agree that Celebrity may get more $$$ over the short-term, by keeping their ships elsewhere for an extra month or two, but what they did with the Winter 2007 Caribbean season makes very little sense to me.

 

I realize that on paper, it might look like a good idea to keep much of your fleet in regions such as Europe longer than ever, as that is a hot ticket right now. The key words are "right now". Who knows what the demand will be like 8 months from now. I must ask this question, what happens to all of the passengers who have been very loyal to Celebrity and need a shorter sailing to the Caribbean in November 2007 ? They will probably be sailing with one of Celebrity's competitors, as Millennium and Century will not be returning to Florida until December 2007. One thing I always learned in business, (and I run my own business this way), is that you should NEVER give a loyal customer a reason to look elsewhere. Celebrity is doing just that.

 

IMHO, they should have put either Millennium or Century back in South Florida in November, to capture some of the passengers who need shorter sailings and cannot sail on the 10/11 night sailings (as Constellation is doing), or 12/14 night sailings (as Quest is doing). Putting Quest into the equation is not reasonable, as those sailings will be much higher in price, and will likely be a different experience from the typical Celebrity Cruise.

 

I have to wonder if going for a few extra dollars now, and run the risk of losing loyal customers is a wise idea. It is not a gamble I would EVER take with my business.

[LJAM]

Can I be selfish? Celebrity has been sailing a San Francisco round trip or San Francisco-Vancouver Alaska cruise a few times each May the past several years. A 10 day round trip SF-Alaska through the "real" inside passage would be wonderful the rest of the season.

 

A few SF Hawaii would be nice, oh, and SF Mexico would be nice too.

 

Hey, how about a ship in San Francisco year round!

As someone who twice has had the pleasure of sailing R/T out of San Francisco last year, to Mexico and Alaska. I third the idea of a ship sailing out of San Francisco year round. Flying to the East Coast to sail is just to much. Even flying to San Diego with all the air restrictions (both luggage and carry-on), is a pain. It was great just driving down to San Francisco and parking within walking distance of the pier and sailing away.

[pamkev]

According to a press release you will be able to start booking for RCL on March 14th for Europe at least, I hope X is not to far behind.

 

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070309/clf036.html?.v=76

[Karynanne]

As someone who twice has had the pleasure of sailing R/T out of San Francisco last year, to Mexico and Alaska. I third the idea of a ship sailing out of San Francisco year round. Flying to the East Coast to sail is just to much. Even flying to San Diego with all the air restrictions (both luggage and carry-on), is a pain. It was great just driving down to San Francisco and parking within walking distance of the pier and sailing away.

 

Well I'm another one that enjoys sailing from San Francisco. We're on the Wine Cruise, from S.F. to Vancouver next month, and we've cruised Mexico a few times out of S.F. There's nothing like sailing under the Golden Gate....beautiful!

 

Karyn

[LEtue]

According to a press release you will be able to start booking for RCL on March 14th for Europe at least, I hope X is not to far behind.

 

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070309/clf036.html?.v=76

 

Thanks for the link! Lots of great information :D

[pamkev]

Anytime!

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

Here are the dates I was given today by Captains Club, that the 2008/2009 itineraries should be released. Please do not be annoyed with me if these dates do not turn out to be accurate, but this is what I was told :

 

March 15 - Europe

April 4 - Panama Canal, Northeast Regions

April 11 - Transatlantic & Repositioning Cruises, Alaska, Hawaii, Pacific Northwest Region

April 18 - Caribbean

 

At least we may have some news starting next week. We will see what happens !

[judyfssw]

Thanks Andy,

This is going to be tough for me because I will be in the Caribbean on April 11th and those of cruises of most interest to me will be Hawaii and Alaska. Darn it! But, I'll get on it as soon as I get home.

Thanks again for the info as it helps with our planning.

[Sky Sweet]

Hi Norm !

 

Much of what you said makes sense..... but there are points you may not taking into consideration. I agree that Celebrity may get more $$$ over the short-term, by keeping their ships elsewhere for an extra month or two, but what they did with the Winter 2007 Caribbean season makes very little sense to me.

 

I realize that on paper, it might look like a good idea to keep much of your fleet in regions such as Europe longer than ever, as that is a hot ticket right now. The key words are "right now". Who knows what the demand will be like 8 months from now. I must ask this question, what happens to all of the passengers who have been very loyal to Celebrity and need a shorter sailing to the Caribbean in November 2007 ? They will probably be sailing with one of Celebrity's competitors, as Millennium and Century will not be returning to Florida until December 2007. One thing I always learned in business, (and I run my own business this way), is that you should NEVER give a loyal customer a reason to look elsewhere. Celebrity is doing just that.

 

IMHO, they should have put either Millennium or Century back in South Florida in November, to capture some of the passengers who need shorter sailings and cannot sail on the 10/11 night sailings (as Constellation is doing), or 12/14 night sailings (as Quest is doing). Putting Quest into the equation is not reasonable, as those sailings will be much higher in price, and will likely be a different experience from the typical Celebrity Cruise.

 

I have to wonder if going for a few extra dollars now, and run the risk of losing loyal customers is a wise idea. It is not a gamble I would EVER take with my business.

 

Hi Andy :)

 

I agree with you. Celebrity has only one option for a Thanksgiving Cruise in the Caribbean this year, and it is ten nights long. Consequently, we will probably take a Thanksgiving Cruise on Royal Caribbean or Holland America this year.

[LEtue]

Hi Everyone !

 

Here are the dates I was given today by Captains Club, that the 2008/2009 itineraries should be released. Please do not be annoyed with me if these dates do not turn out to be accurate, but this is what I was told :

 

March 15 - Europe

April 4 - Panama Canal, Northeast Regions

April 11 - Transatlantic & Repositioning Cruises, Alaska, Hawaii, Pacific Northwest Region

April 18 - Caribbean

 

At least we may have some news starting next week. We will see what happens !

 

Host Andy, I think you would make an excellent candidate for a group leader on a Cruise Critic Celebrity cruise to Europe next year ;)

[Casshew]

I booked the Xpedition Galapagos for 2008, yesterday :)

[Kathie44]

I'm wondering what Mercury will be doing in the fall months between Alaska and the first leg (Nov.12, Ensenada-Honolulu) of the "repo" to Aust/NZ. Panama Canal, MR, something different? We really enjoyed our 1/29 cruise to the MR and booked Aust/NZ for next Jan.

 

judyfssw--If you are on a Celebrity/RCCL cruise on 4/11 you can ask at the Cruise Sales desk and find out the schedule right away.

[darrencantwait]

Thanks Andy,

This is going to be tough for me because I will be in the Caribbean on April 11th and those of cruises of most interest to me will be Hawaii and Alaska. Darn it! But, I'll get on it as soon as I get home.

Thanks again for the info as it helps with our planning.

 

why wait? just go to the FCC. Unless of course you are in the Caribbean on a land based vacation.

[nealstuber]

I would like to see Celebrity cruise from Galveston, Texas. We sailed Galaxy two years ago from Galveston and was so easy to drive to port. Also we enjoy the ten day cruises. More selection of islands in Eastern/Southern Caribbean from

Fort Lauderdale or Galveston.

Or NOLA. We would be booked 4 sure.

[suntan]

Hi Everyone !

 

Here are the dates I was given today by Captains Club, that the 2008/2009 itineraries should be released. Please do not be annoyed with me if these dates do not turn out to be accurate, but this is what I was told :

 

March 15 - Europe

April 4 - Panama Canal, Northeast Regions

April 11 - Transatlantic & Repositioning Cruises, Alaska, Hawaii, Pacific Northwest Region

April 18 - Caribbean

 

At least we may have some news starting next week. We will see what happens !

 

Thanks Andy. Although we are currently looking at which cruise we want to go on in 2008, I always look forward to seeing what's ahead in the future.

 

I hope that Celebrity gets more 'inventive' with its Caribbean itinerary in 2009. They're 2008 itineraries are the same as 2007's.

 

Re the refitted Century, I also agree with you here Andy on that Celebrity, after spending $55 million (is that correct) on refitting the ship has not done the ship or the customers any service by putting it on short itineraries. I hope your communications with Celebrity will change that in 2009.