Caribbean Overnights - From Celebrity's eyes

Having reviewed a number of threads related to the issue of Caribbean overnight stays wanted to share my own analysis. They say sometime its best to see things from the other side.

Handling of the Announcement

On the Cruise Critic board, Celebrity is perceived to have botched the roll-out of the Caribbean overnights especially in the eyes of avid cruisers who tend to book cruises well in advance and likely are more port sensitive given the repeated visits to some of them. Specifically it Bonaire which has less than two dozen cruise visits a year is the biggest point of contention since repeat cruisers wanted to experience it but the overall lack on infrastructure of big cruise ship centric destinations (shops, high capacity tour companies they can work with, scale to allow for some staff in the port) was also what likely made it the obvious cut.

Still I think that once Celebrity decided to make the change there was no perfect solution since to short a fuse for shift over meant disrupting a large number of existing bookings, while on the converse a long lead in time would have resulted in many people deferring bookings if they see a real differentiation and value in Celebrity’s overnight program and some people feeling they missed the experience. Don’t forget that just because you don’t like the idea of overnights doesn’t mean to many people the idea of being more embedded in the culture of the Caribbean by spending an evening on one of the islands but having the benefits of the cruise ship which might be perceived as a huge positive especially for a first time cruiser. In the end if your marketing this as an upgraded experience then the safer approach is do it sooner and stand behind it proudly stating that you’ve improved the experience for all.

Why do overnights?

Some of the items below have varying degrees of benefit, not saying any one item alone justifies but collectively it could

• Marketing value from being an innovator by offering more overnights in the Caribbean than other cruise lines. In a market where all offers are starting to muddle together, any differentiation you can offer needs to be looked at.
  
• Ability to upsell more experiential excursions not possible in single days or without the evenings.
  
• A new experience to offer long time cruisers who may feel that the same old itineraries are getting stale
  
• Lower load factors on the restaurants with passengers eating on shore for the evening but this is offset by likely weaker sell through in the specialty restaurants
  
• Reduction in costs related to docking, my understanding is that many (not all) ports don’t actually charge the boats on a daily basis but essentially for docking and undocking. So port charges are same for a single day or an overnight
  
• Don't need to support added relationships with vendors in a low frequency port which may provide some added streamlining in operations
  
• Depending if they dock overnight in a port where they are permitted to keep operating the casino and shops (possible in some jurisdictions I suspect) they may not see a loss on this front either.
  
• Some time off the boat for the staff. Talking to staff it was clear they really appreciated the overnight in Venice and Barcelona (and it wasn’t about the cities) on our med cruise because generally the boat does slow down and they can have a relaxed evening out themselves. Happy staff can have numerous spillover benefits in terms of the general mood of everyone on board.
  

I realize all of the above may only further annoy those who feel they have been wronged by Celebrity because they lost out on a port they feel they were committed to receiving from them. I can just say that in my view Celebrity is trying (or at least marketing) a unique experience with the overnights and one of the best aspects of cruising for me is that they take care of things and I can just go with the flow. Look past the annoyance and try to find your own positive from the new possibilities this experience brings.

Hi There,

I don't think you have realised what has annoyed most people. It isn't changing an itinerary (for better or worse) it is changing it AFTER people have committed and booked.

I will be visiting India on a cruise in 2017. Each port of call is important to me. I have chosen to book it because of the stops it makes. I have booked it well in advance to ensure I get the room I want. I could have looked at other cruise lines but I didn't I chose Celebrity. I have committed to them and I feel they are honour bound to provide me the cruise I have booked. If they suddenly removed one of my stops to give me an overnight I would be really angry.

The cruisers with itinerary changes in the Caribbean feel the same, they feel they committed to Celebrity and that Celebrity should honour the agreement.

No one is against new ideas (although some are clearly better than others), everyone understands that sometimes changes need to be made because of health and safety issues.

All most cruisers want it to be able to book in advance a product they know will be delivered as stated.

chemmo

I don't think i've missed the point at all, the point I was making was that there is no perfect option of when to shift if once they decided to make the change.

If you are improving the experience and in the end they are the judge of that for whole, while you are the judge of it for your own experience then waiting only until new cruises in 2017 is simply depriving the experience they can offer to everyone until then so there is no 'change' to those who already booked.

If after lots of studying their market and what was being generally preferred Celebrity changed one of the restaurants on the boat into a new format with lower costs (or free) and food that came from a Michelin starred or celebrity chef, you would still find no shortage of people complaining that this restaurant and some specific dish they want to eat at it is the key of why they booked the cruise and why could Celebrity not wait and make the change until after the cruise they were on. While the other x% of people would have been just happy to have this new improved experience.

I know all the reasons that someone can say its not the same, but in theend nothing is clear cut and i'm not sure if a single port changing is really over the line but in the end it requires judgement and i'm not so sure Celebrity’s judgement is as off as people are making it out to be.

Chemmo I do hope you enjoy your India trip, having likely visited many of the ports your going to I hope you enjoyed them as much as I have. If circumstances result in you missing one of the ports for any reason anticipated or otherwise don't let it take away from the great experiences you can have at the others.

Agree 100%. Changes aren't the problem, it's how the changes were implemented. Along with the fact that some places, ie UK, those folks lose their deposits if they now decommit from a cruise that changed on them.

IMO, Celebrity should make anyone whole that wants to change due to the cruise changing.

At that point, no harm, no foul.

Hi There,

 

I don't think you have realised what has annoyed most people. It isn't changing an itinerary (for better or worse) it is changing it AFTER people have committed and booked.

 

I will be visiting India on a cruise in 2017. Each port of call is important to me. I have chosen to book it because of the stops it makes. I have booked it well in advance to ensure I get the room I want. I could have looked at other cruise lines but I didn't I chose Celebrity. I have committed to them and I feel they are honour bound to provide me the cruise I have booked. If they suddenly removed one of my stops to give me an overnight I would be really angry.

 

The cruisers with itinerary changes in the Caribbean feel the same, they feel they committed to Celebrity and that Celebrity should honour the agreement.

 

No one is against new ideas (although some are clearly better than others), everyone understands that sometimes changes need to be made because of health and safety issues.

 

All most cruisers want it to be able to book in advance a product they know will be delivered as stated.

I certainly understand those who booked a cruise where a port was deleted for an overnight. It was not what you booked or expected.

Still, put this in perspective. We booked two Around Japan cruises in 2015 (booked them very early_.

The first on was on the Century, which cancelled the Around Japan cruise, since it was sold, so we transferred to the the Century's Singapore to Dubai, which we did in March.April. It turned out to be a great cruise, but still not what we booked.

Second, was the Around Japan for September 2015 on Millenium. That cruise as well as the following Around Japan (only two for the year) were cancelled due to a CHARTER.

This left us with transferring to the October Millenium cruise, Japan and China, which goes to five ports in Japan as well as Taiwan, Shanghai and ends in Hong Kong. Great, but we now have to pay $400 more for a Chinese Visa (for only one day in Shanghai).

We felt jerked around, just because we tried very hard to book a cruise Around Japan. Checked out Princes and HAL during this and didn't find a good Around Japan cruise, since Princess had a couple but in July, which is too hot a time of the year.

We have missed out on ports a few times because of the weather and it was a disappointment, but in the end, we still had a wonderful time.

We are still miffed about what X did to us on our Around Japan cruises, but don't plan on allowing that to deflate our enjoyment on the cruises that replaced them.

Go ahead, vent your feelings, then get over it and enjoy your cruise.

While I can get excited about an overnight and see a real benefit of experiencing the culture anywhere else in the world - the Carribean is not one I care to waste time. We cruise the carribean for the enjoyment of the sea, weather and the ship experience. Now our 10 day itinerary is overnighting in St. Martin - the most frequented port behind St. Thomas, and we rarely get off the ship so now we have to sit at dock for 24 hrs. I will most probably cancel and look for a better itinerary avoiding St. Thomas & St Martin commercial flea market carribean cultures. Which won't be easy, BTW. This is my POV, and I have to vote with my $$. We really enjoy X but might have to go to smaller lux line ships to avoid the most commercialized ports. I don't think the Caribean overnights will be as important or popular as the rest of the world.

I do not have a dog in the hunt in this case but I'd like to say that as someone who has cruised the Caribbean many times and have spent week long land vacations on several of these islands - there would be much to see, do and explore if given an overnight. A day stop but barely scratches the surface - so if I were on an overnight - I'd be gleefully searching for some exciting new adventures.

Secondly - could any of this be due to Bonaire itself? Perhaps they no longer wish to have the cruise ships stopping there. Some of the smaller, more elite islands - St Barts - comes to mind - are not happy with the sudden day long crowding that the cruise ships bring. I've heard that on St Barts - there has been a chilly reception at times to cruise ship guests. I know someone who owns a home there and the islanders are displeased in general by it. Not saying it is but could this call be from Bonaire itself who might have decided they can't support the numbers and don't care to get overly large?

In MY opinion, Celebrity should have rolled out this CHANGE when they rolled outthe 2018 itineraries. Had they done that, they would have certainly avoided all of the flak they are now getting.

Changing an itinerary once people have begun booking them, TO ME, is not the way to do this.

Personally, I think that Celebrity chose to do this to save money. People who are off the ship are not eating and drinking. "Hey, let's save a little money...."

Since 7-day cruises are not affected, I think that in the future I will book B2B weeklong cruises, as I too detest overnight stays in Caribbean ports.

In MY opinion, Celebrity should have rolled out this CHANGE when they rolled outthe 2018 itineraries. Had they done that, they would have certainly avoided all of the flak they are now getting.

 

Changing an itinerary once people have begun booking them, TO ME, is not the way to do this.

 

Personally, I think that Celebrity chose to do this to save money. People who are off the ship are not eating and drinking. "Hey, let's save a little money...."

 

Since 7-day cruises are not affected, I think that in the future I will book B2B weeklong cruises, as I too detest overnight stays in Caribbean ports.

I think you are right. Had this been introduced with new itineraries, people who like them would choose them and others would not. No issue in that case.

There seems to be a history here of port/itinerary changes after many people have booked. Our first X cruise was a one time trip to Australia/NZ. Hobart, Tasmania was dropped and Newcastle was substituted. I was very disappointed and the Aussies onboard were not happy at all. No reason given. We enjoyed our cruise but will never see Tasmania.

Only other time I've been upset was when NCL canceled Tunisia and substituted Majorca which we'd been to several times. NCL was proven right on that one.

Personally, I think that Celebrity chose to do this to save money. People who are off the ship are not eating and drinking. "Hey, let's save a little money...."

 

Based on some (probably too) quick research, It seems to cost very roughly $150,000 per day in fuel for a cruise ship at normal cruising speed. Of course it also costs some $'s to just sit in port, but far, far less.

Using the rough numbers, if Celebrity adds 10-15 overnights, they may save in the neighborhood of $1M in fuel. At least that's in the ballpark of the savings. There's possibly a small saving on food for those eating ashore...but that's probably a rounding error...and there is a saving or loss depending on how many are on drink packages and some $ loss due to casino being closed (if it is closed)....

Overall, if you think saving about $75-100,000 a night on fuel with all the offset losses....you'll probably be in the right area.

When you're looking to improve the bottom line...saving a million dollars isn't huge...but every bit counts when you're being pushed to increase profit.

Ghstudio definitely believe that the move is a + in terms of profitability for Celebrity but I suspect as listed that it's more than straight cost of fuel.

The differentiation of having overnights is a marketing plus and will help Celebrity fill rooms at a time where everyone is competing hard for them.

Olive1950, waiting till 2018 is an eternity for something that you are physically able to do within a few months and that you believe will create long term value and be viewed by many as a positive.

Consider the following, once Celebrity has released schedules for 2018 with Overnights in the schedule they have indicated to the market that they believe that to be a superior offering but simply aren't offering it yet. Existing cruisers still feel slightly short changed and worst still others find the idea compelling and seek out alternate cruiselines that are offering this immediately (or jump in and modify their schedules to integrate them) thus stealing Celebrity's thunder and customers.

If you believe its an upgrade you do it at as quickly as possible and you don't wait.

AtleeH your point is perfectly valid and they should have found a way to accomodate the naysayers in some fashion although I doubt that would involve cruises to Bonair since they don't seem to be cruising their anymore after this change. I suspect that they avoided it by simply saying its within the framework of them being permitted to change ports, destinations, etc... rather then open themselves up to demands by saying they have done anything wrong. To be clear for those who this issue is now a big deal, will likely find no level of compensation and accommodation to be sufficient, other than Celebrity running the boat on the exact same days, with the exact same itinerary which is no longer going to happen.

 

AtleeH your point is perfectly valid and they should have found a way to accomodate the naysayers in some fashion although I doubt that would involve cruises to Bonair since they don't seem to be cruising their anymore after this change. I suspect that they avoided it by simply saying its within the framework of them being permitted to change ports, destinations, etc... rather then open themselves up to demands by saying they have done anything wrong. To be clear for those who this issue is now a big deal, will likely find no level of compensation and accommodation to be sufficient, other than Celebrity running the boat on the exact same days, with the exact same itinerary which is no longer going to happen.

It's almost a silly issue for Celebrity to allow to continue. There are two aspects to consider.

1) For those in the UK (and perhaps elsewhere) who forfeit their deposit if they cancel the cruise....Celebrity should just waive that for 90 days and be done with it. How many will really cancel? It's not worth the bad publicity for those few $'s they may lose..and they will likely fill the cabins at a higher price. That's a win-win....no clue as to why Celebrity hasn't stepped up to solve this one.

2) Other non-refundable costs such as insurance (it's too early for folks to have incurred non-refundable airline costs). I think the folks who bought insurance and decide to cancel have to eat that cost...just as if they had cancelled the cruise for any other reason, prior to departure. Sounds harsh...but that's the cost of buying insurance when you book a ticket vs just before final payment (which is what we now do after cancelling a couple of cruises where we had bought insurance).

IMHO...if Celebrity would just stop long enough to think about the issue in the UK....there would no longer be an issue.

Hi There,

 

I don't think you have realised what has annoyed most people. It isn't changing an itinerary (for better or worse) it is changing it AFTER people have committed and booked.

On UK bookings if those changes are major(need to be more than a single change) then there is the full refund option with compensation for unrecoverable expenses.

I have just started lookking at X again so need to research what chages are being made to comment further.

Most(all) of the changes seem to be drop a port add an overnight.

Not quite enough to invoke the regulations to be able to cancel.

Watch out for further changes, cruise lines have done this before know they need/want to make 2 changes but spread them out to avoid triggering cancellation option for Passengers with EU/UK bookings.

Examples from the booking conditions.(how many minor make it major is the thing X will argue over, and spreading them out get round the issue for the cruiseline)

1) For those in the UK (and perhaps elsewhere) who forfeit their deposit if they cancel the cruise....Celebrity should just waive that for 90 days and be done with it. How many will really cancel? It's not worth the bad publicity for those few $'s they may lose..and they will likely fill the cabins at a higher price. That's a win-win....no clue as to why Celebrity hasn't stepped up to solve this one.

 

IMHO...if Celebrity would just stop long enough to think about the issue in the UK....there would no longer be an issue.

Most(all) of the changes seem to be drop a port add an overnight.

 

Not quite enough to invoke the regulations to be able to cancel.

 

Watch out for further changes, cruise lines have done this before know they need/want to make 2 changes but spread them out to avoid triggering cancellation option for Passengers with EU/UK bookings.

 

Examples from the booking conditions.(how many minor make it major is the thing X will argue over, and spreading them out get round the issue for the cruiseline)

 

I agree...whether they're contractually obligated to allow cancellations or not, a 90-Day period following notification seems reasonable. If you really think about it, it could be a win-win. People who are vehemently opposed to the new itineraries could have time to explore their options. If they chose to cancel they could get their deposit refunded and select something more to their liking, but I think Celebrity would actually lose very few bookings and could probably replace them at a higher fare.

Celebrity already offer a change your booking for minimal fees option on UK bookings so the unhappy have the option to pick another X cruise

this would be at current prices unlike the cancel/change for no extra and it us not unknown for X to wave the change fees to keep customers.

I love Celebrity cruises. The product is great, the ambiance is what I look for on a cruise ship. I have no real wish to move to another cruise line.

What is concerning, and Celebrity should be reflecting on, is how confident cruisers are now in booking their cruises in case, without warning, other changes are made. My next two booked cruises are quite simply 'bucket list'. In terms of cost of cruises, flights and my physical ability to get the most out of them. I want to do them now and I want them to be perfect.

At present there are no overnights. If Celebrity extend their policy further will my itinerary change in the days and weeks ahead? If they do what are my alternatives? Allowing me to swap to another cruise means I miss my bucket list destinations. Even if they were to refund my deposit following a change as a gesture of goodwill it may be too late to secure the accommodation I want on a comparable cruise with another line.

Celebrity should be looking at changes, new destinations, yes overnights, but they need to keep their customers updated on their ideas. If you book a cruise for 2017 and it states that 'this is an itinerary presently under review' then you book with an open mind or choose to wait until the itinerary is firm or you decide to look elsewhere.......

Booking to later get a 'surprise' that someone in Miami thinks that they know how to improve the cruise you thought it was perfect.

I feel deeply for those who have had itinerary changes.

Looking at the picture from the point of view of Celebrity which this post has been about they need to consider how their actions shaken the confidence of loyal and happy cruisers.

One possible plus for Celebrity that may not have been mentioned is the ability to sell more cruises to the same passengers.

If a passenger has X number of destinations in the Caribbean on their bucket list and currently they can visit that number on N cruises, then if by introducing overnights and deleting ports from certain schedules it means that X can no longer be achieved in N cruises but can be achieved on various ships in N+1, N+2, N+3 cruises - then potentially they've sold extra cruises.

One possible plus for Celebrity that may not have been mentioned is the ability to sell more cruises to the same passengers.

 

If a passenger has X number of destinations in the Caribbean on their bucket list and currently they can visit that number on N cruises, then if by introducing overnights and deleting ports from certain schedules it means that X can no longer be achieved in N cruises but can be achieved on various ships in N+1, N+2, N+3 cruises - then potentially they've sold extra cruises.

Which again is the bottom line. Anyone that keeps stating that X have only done this to improve their customer's experience is living on a different planet! ANY business, what ever they do, service or manufacturing etc., will only be introducing change if it affects their bottom line in a positive way - they are not in it for the goodness of their hearts. It's a business, and those shareholders will be expecting a favourable return.

My concern is the way X are handling all these issues. It's not only the lack of notification to these pax about changes to the itineraries, but also no explanations regarding the many charters. To be honest, I have never witnessed so many charters in such a short period of time. From the fiasco of the itinerary changes when selling Century, it appears X have done nothing but mess with the scheduled itineraries. Connie, Infinity, Silhouette, Equinox - all subjected to amendments due to the many charters - sailings disappearing from the website/My X Cruises - NO information, NO explanation - nothing. Some pax, no doubt, are totally oblivious to what is actually happening to their sailings; they are probably busy planning, booking tours, flights, hotels etc. without the faintest idea that they won't even be visiting these places :(.

Why release the inventory early, as they did last Dec, if you are going to alter the itineraries so much: obviously to receive the returns on the deposits much sooner - cynical....me...surely not :D. On the other hand, with regards to the pax, what's the point of them booking early? Chances are the reserved cruise will be on totally different dates and to totally different ports by the time you sail :eek:. Next it will be pax being transferred (subcontracted out) to different cruise lines (similar to the re categorising of certain 1B cabins to concierge when it suits) :rolleyes: hey, in X's defence, it will make a positive contribution to the bottom line though :p. I can see those shareholders' smiles from here :D.

My concern is the way X are handling all these issues. It's not only the lack of notification to these pax about changes to the itineraries, but also no explanations regarding the many charters. To be honest, I have never witnessed so many charters in such a short period of time. From the fiasco of the itinerary changes when selling Century, it appears X have done nothing but mess with the scheduled itineraries. Connie, Infinity, Silhouette, Equinox - all subjected to amendments due to the many charters - sailings disappearing from the website/My X Cruises - NO information, NO explanation - nothing. Some pax, no doubt, are totally oblivious to what is actually happening to their sailings; they are probably busy planning, booking tours, flights, hotels etc. without the faintest idea that they won't even be visiting these places :(.

 

Why release the inventory early, as they did last Dec, if you are going to alter the itineraries so much: obviously to receive the returns on the deposits much sooner - cynical....me...surely not :D. On the other hand, with regards to the pax, what's the point of them booking early? Chances are the reserved cruise will be on totally different dates and to totally different ports by the time you sail :eek:. Next it will be pax being transferred (subcontracted out) to different cruise lines (similar to the re categorising of certain 1B cabins to concierge when it suits) :rolleyes: hey, in X's defence, it will make a positive contribution to the bottom line though :p. I can see those shareholders' smiles from here :D.

It reconfirms my belief that unless a specific cabin is of the utmost importance / room availability in your category is limited / or money is no object - I see little incentive to book early.

I am surprised at the apparently sloppy way that Celebrity seems to handle these changes /implementations - comparisons made elsewhere to similar issues at leading hotels etc are not relevant in my opinion - none of those mentioned are Luxury brands IMO or pretend to be and all are much larger operations around the world. Proper luxury brands such as Four Seasons / Peninsula are generally raved about from day 1 and then if anything get better! Celebrity operate approx 11 ships with a HQ in Miami it shouldn't be that difficult.

Well I read the thread title and knew immediately that I didn't really need to read the posts. Through Celebrity's eyes it looks like this...

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Their desperate nickel and diming exploits of late really do make them look cheap.

Great well thought out, intelligent comments by the O.P. of this thread CANUCKININDIA. Lots of food for thought.

The opinion by some that Celebrity should waive their contract deposit requirements, for U.K. and European customers who don't want an itinerary change after booking, seems to be the "right" thing to do. This would indeed be an easy fix to a problem created by Celebrity when Celebrity changed the itinerary.

The reason in my opinion Celebrity cannot waive their contract requirement would be based the concern that if they do precedence would/will be set. In my business life it was explained to me by Legal that every time a contract requirement is waived, a precedence has been set. On a cumulative basis all of those waivers of contract can appear to a Court that the writer of the contract has voided the contract consistently by waiving the conditions of the contract. Thus it's enforceability could be at risk in the future. Too many precedences equals too much risk of the whole contract being voided in the future.

If I lived in a jurisdiction where the deposit was large and non-refundable the way to protect myself as a consumer is the purchase of Cancel for any Reason insurance, or if I thought the change was a contract violation, I'd report it to the appropriate consumer protection agency and let the process evolve.

I think the approach taken by CINDY who has seized the change which on her cruise includes an overnight in Cartagena is the right one. She's seen this as the opportunity and has made plans to enjoy as much of the opportunity as she can by arranging dinner and entertainment ashore. Carpe diem !

Hi There,

 

I don't think you have realised what has annoyed most people. It isn't changing an itinerary (for better or worse) it is changing it AFTER people have committed and booked.

 

I will be visiting India on a cruise in 2017. Each port of call is important to me. I have chosen to book it because of the stops it makes. I have booked it well in advance to ensure I get the room I want. I could have looked at other cruise lines but I didn't I chose Celebrity. I have committed to them and I feel they are honour bound to provide me the cruise I have booked. If they suddenly removed one of my stops to give me an overnight I would be really angry.

 

The cruisers with itinerary changes in the Caribbean feel the same, they feel they committed to Celebrity and that Celebrity should honour the agreement.

 

No one is against new ideas (although some are clearly better than others), everyone understands that sometimes changes need to be made because of health and safety issues.

 

All most cruisers want it to be able to book in advance a product they know will be delivered as stated.

Agreed. The cruise line loses credibility when they change an itinerary because some keener goes to the board meeting with a bright light bulb idea. People don't want the itinerary changed after they have booked and set their travel plans in motion, so don't do it for a frivolous reason which this is.

I recently booked a Greek Isles cruise on Celebrity that was changed from a Black Sea itinerary because of the volatile political situation in Russia. Wow. People were spitting tacks they were so mad even though one would think ports of call becoming a potential war zone would be a good reason for the change.

As a an aside, overnights in Europe make sense. We are doing one in Istanbul because of the bountiful cultural events that can not be experienced in a day stop, but overnights in the Caribbean strike me as silly. There is not enough reason for it. And Cartagena is a place I actually would not want to be at night.

Evangaline assume Celebrity didn't have overnights in Istanbul, but upon review they have decided that the experience (and yes their own profits also from higher demand for these cruises) will be higher by introducing them.

So they announce that in 2018 they will commence. You or someone else in your situation would be howling that why couldn't they make the change now so you could also get the experience on your booked cruise, since in your view it is so clearly a great idea and really what does it cost them. Shouldn't they reward their long time customers who sometimes book years in advance with this little bonus. Why don't they care about their long time customers, clearly they just care about new customers booking future cruises.

Clearly the issue isn't that they made a change its that people have decided they don't like the change and some how Celebrities judgment on what they term an improvement is flawed because it doesn't match your own.

If I lived in a jurisdiction where the deposit was large and non-refundable the way to protect myself as a consumer is the purchase of Cancel for any Reason insurance,

This is non standard and probably not available in the UK(never seen it), not sure about the rest of europe.

The best option UK cruisers have if not happy with the change to their itinerary is to change to another X cruise.