Celebrity Moving Down Market??

probably close to 100% on most cruises now

I'm doubting it's that much as inside cabins don't get any of the perks and would have to purchase the drink package. Although with the price differences I've seen between an inside and an outside it would be cheaper to buy the drink package and stay in an inside then book an outside and get the "free" package. :D

We are sailing on Eclipse in 3 weeks.

We dont have a drinks package and Im now wondering if weve made

a big mistake booking this cruise.

 

Weve only sailed Celebrity once before and it was the chair hogs which were

the major irritation.

 

Ive bought a 7 bottle wine package, at vast expense, and will be very disappointed if we have poor service.

 

Oh dear, wish I hadnt opened this thread!

 

Jen

Jen,

I wouldn't worry, people are making specific reference to a cruise last year to Norway and saying it was a booze cruise, I was on that cruise and was surprised how quiet the bars were all over the ship. I did not see any drunken behaviour or people being loud at any point.

My sister in law just came back from the recent taster cruise on the Eclipse and that was by all accounts a booze frenzy, so much so that I was worried about our trip on the Eclipse this coming September. We prefer a quiet night and were worried that the Norway trip being quiet was just a one off.

If you like a drink I would consider buying a drinks package, it doesn't take long to spend more than they cost per day, without getting drunk! I am sure there is a spreadsheet on here that you can download to do a quick check against how much you may spend including soft drinks, coffees etc

I did write a long paragraph about different nationalities being drunk, from my past experiences drunk British are in no way the worse nation from a behavioural point of view.

Enjoy your cruise.

Jen,

 

My sister in law just came back from the recent taster cruise on the Eclipse and that was by all accounts a booze frenzy, so much so that I was worried about our trip on the Eclipse this coming September.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

We were on the cruise immediately following that one and didn't see any alcohol related problems. The itinerary and length of cruise make a huge difference to the demographics.

Our last cruise was on Solstice South Pacific, service was so good we worry that the next can not possibly match!

The Solstice is my favourite ship and is truly an exceptional ship, it excels in it's service as well.

I've lived in New York too long. $9 wine and $13 martinis seem perfectly reasonable to me.

Sad but true.

When we started cruising Celebrity 14 years ago we couldn't believe how cheap the drinks were. They were less expensive than what we would spend at home if we went out.

Now they are the same or more. I am sure they raised prices so people would just buy the drink package thinking it was a good investment. When they weren't selling as many packages as they wanted to they came up with the great idea (not) to jack up the cruise price and include the drink pacakge.

I agree with the poster that said they should stop this. If you want a drink package fine buy it, but keep it out of the cost of the cruise fare.

We have been on 21 Celebrity cruises, number 22 is in 4 days and we have never had a drink package.

Celebrity needs to attract younger cruisers.They are the future. As the baby boomers get older,many of them will not be able to cruise whether for financial or medical reasons.I would imagine that on the 2 week Caribbean cruises which definitely attract an older crowd,the consumption of alcohol decreases due to issues with meds and alcohol.

We don't drink hard liquor and we take our 2 bottle wine allowance onboard to enjoy in the room. At dinner,one of us may have a glass of wine and we enjoy a bottling of sparkling water.

We were on HAL this past winter and there isn't nearly the obsession with drink packages and upgrades as there is at X. As a matter of fact, after the 2 already booked X cruises we have in the future,we will most likely be returning to HAL.

Another post starting this thread complaining about the "decline" in the =X= perience.

June 3rd of this year will mark our 31st cruise on Celebrity and fourth aboard Summit. Our first cruise with Celebrity was aboard Century (Southern Caribbean Special) in 2001. Although it gets tiresome to hear the negativity and then post a favorable view, I feel I can speak with some authority on this subject .

Not exactly sure what the OP means by going "downmarket" in marketing and sales strategy terms but I don't believe that is what Celebrity is doing. What they are doing is working to remain competitive and retain market share in the very competitive cruise industry. I do believe the Celebrity experience has changed since 2001 but that change is more a reflection of growth across the industry and a cruising demographic that is quite different and about 100 times larger than it was in 2001.

In business, a company can benefit, in terms of cost savings, from growing (economies of scale) and the cruise industry along with Celebrity Cruise lines has done that. However, the value of growth and the cost benefits conferred by that growth have to be viewed in terms of the potential for a decline in the desirability of the product in the market place. In real terms that's about finding a balance between price control (relating directly to profits) and the perceived desirability of the product in the market place. It's hard.

My view is that Lisa Lutoff-Perlo is working to match what the cruise demographic wants and has done a pretty good job of it all things considered. Value? If you are a value cruiser, you can find it on Celebrity. Luxury? Book suite or Aqua class. Dining venues? Hated to see the Ocean Liner themed restaurants go on the M class ships but there are many more dining opportunities on Celebrity ships now than there was in 2001 and that is an industry wide trend that I think is a good one.

There are all sorts of things being tried on Celebrity ships that are innovative - Movies under the stars with Tapas, Sushi in Bistro on Five, Reflection's Lawn Club Grill and the Porch, Modern Luxury of the Suite Life, Luminae, shore excursions led by Celebrity Chef's wrapping unique dining experiences together. Sure, maybe you'll have to pay more to experience these innovations but I think it is unreasonable to assume otherwise. Two class cruising? Perhaps but you get what you can afford by virtue of what you earn in the work place and are willing to pay for. We aren't offended by this and have never felt like we were treated as second class cruisers on any Celebrity ship for not booking suites. Never.

When viewed at the macro economic level, Celebrity has done a very good job of keeping their product desireable and one to buy. As a leisure and travel experience, cruising is, without a doubt, the best value for one's money. While it's not for everyone, for those who look at value, it is a very good deal. That's from the customer perspective. Despite the negative reports on this web site, far outweighed by positive ones, the Celebrity product, by-in-large, rates high in desirability in the market place. 5 Celebrity ships are ranked in Cruise Critics, 2016 Top 10.

(Link: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/cruiserschoice_index.cfm?Category=Overall&sort=large ) That bodes well for Celebrity (and it's parent company, RCL).

From a corporate perspective (in this case RCL), cruise lines are crunching numbers trying to optimize the bottom line as defined by a set of variables (link: http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/14887-breaking-down-q1-performance-by-the-numbers.html ). I think it is important for readers here to understand what drives resource allocation for RCL/Celebrity.

At the micro or operational level, how well sales go at the corporate level depends to a large extent on how well supervisors deal with the resources they are provided. e.g., this much for food and beverages, this much for staffing, this much for fuel, etc. That's why experiences differ between Celebrity ships. Overall, though, and in my experience, Celebrity has some very good people working for it at the operational level. But they are always resource constrained. Always. That's why you'll sometimes find grumpy staff - the bar tender or waiter that got 4 hours of sleep after working for 12. The harried stateroom attendant that is covering two dozen cabins in his section. The list goes on. We find ourselves giving out a lot more compliments to these tireless employees than finding fault.

As cruise enthusiasts, we should value the opinions of our fellow cruisers, both negative and positive. At the same time, I think it behooves us to keep in mind we are in the 1% - meaning, 99% of the world's population will never experience the luxuries we do. After nearly two decades of cruising, most of it with Celebrity because it feels like home to us, I can say the cruise experience has changed but not, considering the big picture, in any negative way for us. It is still lovely. No cooking, no cleaning, no making your bed, no laundry, great food, fun times day or night. Enjoy!!!

You missed my point....If a British citizen wants a holiday just based on alcohol they can do it far cheaper than on a Celebrity Cruise from Southampton, even with a drinks package....

 

The point that Vancojo was making was that she feels the level of service and entertainment on that cruise was sub standard.....Perhaps owing to the number of free drinks packages she thought X was providing little else. I think Southampton is irrelevant....I know many people who regularly cruise X from Southampton and their only complaint is they would like a more varied itinerary.

 

We cruise from Southampton later this year...I will report back.

With respect I didn't.

Have you priced 2 weeks AI in a land based resort other than Turkey ? Depending upon hotel, it can reach £3000 pp.

Charter flights from a regional airport to Europe can easily cost £500. I know I am flying to the Far East with Emirates for less than that.

I agree not all SOTON cruisers drink to excess but I personally know many RCI Diamond and Celebrity Elite cruisers who avoid the port for the

Re lack of varied itineraries, it is a consequence of geography - not much the cruise lines can do about that within a 2 week duration.

Annie

Having sailed Celebrity since 1994, on and off, there can be no argument that the line for various reasons is trending downward.

J.

With respect I didn't.

 

Have you priced 2 weeks AI in a land based resort other than Turkey ? Depending upon hotel, it can reach £3000 pp.

 

Charter flights from a regional airport to Europe can easily cost £500. I know I am flying to the Far East with Emirates for less than that.

 

I agree not all SOTON cruisers drink to excess but I personally know many RCI Diamond and Celebrity Elite cruisers who avoid the port for the

 

Re lack of varied itineraries, it is a consequence of geography - not much the cruise lines can do about that within a 2 week duration.

 

Annie

On the eclipse they've been shortening itineraries AND adding overnight which has made for even less opportunity to mix things up. If they did a couple of 16 nights out of Southampton it would really open up a huge amount of possibility

Another post starting this thread complaining about the "decline" in the =X= perience.

 

June 3rd of this year will mark our 31st cruise on Celebrity and fourth aboard Summit. Our first cruise with Celebrity was aboard Century (Southern Caribbean Special) in 2001. Although it gets tiresome to hear the negativity and then post a favorable view, I feel I can speak with some authority on this subject .

 

Not exactly sure what the OP means by going "downmarket" in marketing and sales strategy terms but I don't believe that is what Celebrity is doing. What they are doing is working to remain competitive and retain market share in the very competitive cruise industry. I do believe the Celebrity experience has changed since 2001 but that change is more a reflection of growth across the industry and a cruising demographic that is quite different and about 100 times larger than it was in 2001.

 

In business, a company can benefit, in terms of cost savings, from growing (economies of scale) and the cruise industry along with Celebrity Cruise lines has done that. However, the value of growth and the cost benefits conferred by that growth have to be viewed in terms of the potential for a decline in the desirability of the product in the market place. In real terms that's about finding a balance between price control (relating directly to profits) and the perceived desirability of the product in the market place. It's hard.

 

My view is that Lisa Lutoff-Perlo is working to match what the cruise demographic wants and has done a pretty good job of it all things considered. Value? If you are a value cruiser, you can find it on Celebrity. Luxury? Book suite or Aqua class. Dining venues? Hated to see the Ocean Liner themed restaurants go on the M class ships but there are many more dining opportunities on Celebrity ships now than there was in 2001 and that is an industry wide trend that I think is a good one.

 

There are all sorts of things being tried on Celebrity ships that are innovative - Movies under the stars with Tapas, Sushi in Bistro on Five, Reflection's Lawn Club Grill and the Porch, Modern Luxury of the Suite Life, Luminae, shore excursions led by Celebrity Chef's wrapping unique dining experiences together. Sure, maybe you'll have to pay more to experience these innovations but I think it is unreasonable to assume otherwise. Two class cruising? Perhaps but you get what you can afford by virtue of what you earn in the work place and are willing to pay for. We aren't offended by this and have never felt like we were treated as second class cruisers on any Celebrity ship for not booking suites. Never.

 

When viewed at the macro economic level, Celebrity has done a very good job of keeping their product desireable and one to buy. As a leisure and travel experience, cruising is, without a doubt, the best value for one's money. While it's not for everyone, for those who look at value, it is a very good deal. That's from the customer perspective. Despite the negative reports on this web site, far outweighed by positive ones, the Celebrity product, by-in-large, rates high in desirability in the market place. 5 Celebrity ships are ranked in Cruise Critics, 2016 Top 10.

(Link: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/cruiserschoice_index.cfm?Category=Overall&sort=large ) That bodes well for Celebrity (and it's parent company, RCL).

 

From a corporate perspective (in this case RCL), cruise lines are crunching numbers trying to optimize the bottom line as defined by a set of variables (link: http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/14887-breaking-down-q1-performance-by-the-numbers.html ). I think it is important for readers here to understand what drives resource allocation for RCL/Celebrity.

 

At the micro or operational level, how well sales go at the corporate level depends to a large extent on how well supervisors deal with the resources they are provided. e.g., this much for food and beverages, this much for staffing, this much for fuel, etc. That's why experiences differ between Celebrity ships. Overall, though, and in my experience, Celebrity has some very good people working for it at the operational level. But they are always resource constrained. Always. That's why you'll sometimes find grumpy staff - the bar tender or waiter that got 4 hours of sleep after working for 12. The harried stateroom attendant that is covering two dozen cabins in his section. The list goes on. We find ourselves giving out a lot more compliments to these tireless employees than finding fault.

 

As cruise enthusiasts, we should value the opinions of our fellow cruisers, both negative and positive. At the same time, I think it behooves us to keep in mind we are in the 1% - meaning, 99% of the world's population will never experience the luxuries we do. After nearly two decades of cruising, most of it with Celebrity because it feels like home to us, I can say the cruise experience has changed but not, considering the big picture, in any negative way for us. It is still lovely. No cooking, no cleaning, no making your bed, no laundry, great food, fun times day or night. Enjoy!!!

Very well said and we agree with you whole-heartedly. It is impossible to satisfy 100% of the people, so there will always be nay-sayers. Like you, we make it a point to recognize and thank the staff on all our cruises, they work soooooo hard and for wages that fall far below minimum wage standards in North America. The people working on cruise ships do so because for most of them its the only thing available to them and its a huge jump in "pay" from what they can earn in their native countries. Bottom line, we are part of the 1% of the world population that can enjoy the cruise experience. So enjoy it and relax.

We are sailing on Eclipse in 3 weeks.

We dont have a drinks package and Im now wondering if weve made

a big mistake booking this cruise.

 

....

 

Oh dear, wish I hadnt opened this thread!

 

Jen

We were on the Eclipse from April 17 through May 22, 2016. I also suspect that you will enjoy your cruise.

We had a lovely time, including the two night (May 8) "Taste of Modern Luxury" segment. That two night cruise was composed of about 500 or so UK travel agents attending a travel industry meeting onboard, and a number of young folks in their 20s and early 30s. Very different demographics in each group, and while the young folks were enjoying their alcohol beverages we didn't have any service problems in the bars nor did we observe any obnoxious behavior.

I probably shouldn't read threads like this as a first-time Celebrity cruiser :p, but I do find the discussions interesting. I'm definitely looking forward to how the experience compares with our cruises on RCCI and Disney.

We have never ordered a drink package on any cruise and do not plan to on our upcoming one. Personally, I think I would consume far too many liquid calories if I felt like I had to get my money's worth out of the package. I like having to think twice before I spend the money on a drink to decide whether it's really worth it to me in terms of the cost -- both monetarily, and on my body.

That being said, if our resident discount hadn't far outweighed the Go!big/better/best deals, then maybe we would have ended up with one if that made sense. But I know at this point we wouldn't go out of our way to purchase one.

I do agree with those who have mentioned X possibly looking to the future by starting to target a slightly younger demographic, and I believe they are referring to folks about my age (mid-40's). While my baby boomer parent continues to take cruises all over the world, I know there will come a time when that won't be feasible. The time to get us Gen X'ers hooked is now. :D

On the Eclipse in March - terrible bar service. We tried several places to meet at 5:30 - 6:00 for drinks before dinner - almost impossible to get served. I like the Apple-tini. Being Elite Plus we tried the Sky lounge. It was open to everyone, not just an Elite lounge anymore. I ordered an Apple-tini & waited 25 minutes & it arrived yellow. Tried Ensemble - forget it - you had to go to the bar to order & again a yellow Apple-tini. Finally found one bartender at the Casino bar that truly hustled & made every drink we ordered correctly. Two week cruise & never once got a drink server to come to our table in the MDR. Once we asked the asst-waiter & he actually went to get the drinks. From then on we ordered as we left the casino bar & took it to dinner. Needless to say that bar tender was tipped well every day.

Besides the bar issue we were very disappointed in the entertainment. The Celebrity singers & dancers have several shows as always but now they use two of the singers/dancers to do a solo show on a couple days - there were 6 of us and all were disappointed in the shows. We were hoping when Celebrity took over the entertainment, it'd get better - nope.

That said, I think we've cruised every line starting back with young girls on the Big Red Boat and Dolphin Cruise Lines (they liked the characters) & Celebrity is still our favorite. Nothing is ever perfect - they have to try to appeal to everyone - not just us :)

believe they are referring to folks about my age (mid-40's). While my baby boomer parent continues to take cruises all over the world, I know there will come a time when that won't be feasible. The time to get us Gen X'ers hooked is now. :D

We started cruising Celebrity 14 years ago. It was very formal, they only had traditional dining and only 1 specialty restaurant. It was also the days of the Grand Midnight Buffet. At the time I was in my early 40s and loved, loved, loved it.

I am not sure why the industry has to change so much to attract new cruisers. They hooked us when we were younger. Why not others?

We thought we'd spend our retirement years, which we have not quite reached yet, sailing on Celebrity or comparable cruise lines, but if they continue to change too much we will probably look elsewhere.

We started cruising Celebrity 14 years ago. It was very formal, they only had traditional dining and only 1 specialty restaurant. It was also the days of the Grand Midnight Buffet. At the time I was in my early 40s and loved, loved, loved it.

 

I am not sure why the industry has to change so much to attract new cruisers. They hooked us when we were younger. Why not others?

 

We thought we'd spend our retirement years, which we have not quite reached yet, sailing on Celebrity or comparable cruise lines, but if they continue to change too much we will probably look elsewhere.

Yeah, maybe you're right... who knows. I guess it's a lot more complicated than I would pretend to understand.

My first cruise ('93) had a midnight buffet and I think only one dining room. I'm sure the ship would pale in comparison to what we sail on now, but it was by far the most elegant cruise I've been on. Things have definitely changed since then.

I've lived in New York too long. $9 wine and $13 martinis seem perfectly reasonable to me.

When I lived in Puerto Rico, that was the going rate in an "upscale" hotel. I paid 13$ for a glass of Pinot Grigio.

I don't purchase a drink package, if it's a perk with the fare I choose it. I only cruised with X once before. Many of the items that they are mentioning about the selling are true. Don't like it at all. They are not the only ones.

On that note I am trying them again, for the Christmas holidays. It came with a package for two. Unfortunately there is only one of me. I realize all these perks are rolled into the price of the cruise fare.

My overall experience with staff was wonderful, I was made to feel special.

No issues with the Sommelier she was wonderful, some days busier than others. Never was offered a snack at the bar always had to ask☹️. I was paying for my drinks and overall my bar bill was far less, than the cost of a premium package.

But if cruising continues to be over commercialized with their hard sell, I may hang it up.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I probably shouldn't read threads like this as a first-time Celebrity cruiser :p, but I do find the discussions interesting. I'm definitely looking forward to how the experience compares with our cruises on RCCI and Disney.

 

We have never ordered a drink package on any cruise and do not plan to on our upcoming one. Personally, I think I would consume far too many liquid calories if I felt like I had to get my money's worth out of the package. I like having to think twice before I spend the money on a drink to decide whether it's really worth it to me in terms of the cost -- both monetarily, and on my body.

 

That being said, if our resident discount hadn't far outweighed the Go!big/better/best deals, then maybe we would have ended up with one if that made sense. But I know at this point we wouldn't go out of our way to purchase one.

 

I do agree with those who have mentioned X possibly looking to the future by starting to target a slightly younger demographic, and I believe they are referring to folks about my age (mid-40's). While my baby boomer parent continues to take cruises all over the world, I know there will come a time when that won't be feasible. The time to get us Gen X'ers hooked is now. :D

I always find this amusing. I took my first cruise at age 30 and was hooked, however I really didn't have the time or money to cruise regularly until my late fifties. It's always been that way with cruising and probably always will be.

People with young families have priorities that don't include a lot of extended cruising. They have a lot of expenses and limited time until the kids are on their own and even that doesn't seem to be happening as early as it used to.

If Celebrity and other cruise lines forget about their older cruisers they will be in a world of hurt. The one thing that is for sure is that those of you that think you are young will wake up before you know it and find that you're not any more and may discover that good old fashioned cruising was something special that everyone could enjoy. It's a different experience than any other kind of vacation. It's a delicate balance and I believe they are seeing that they may have compromised a lot of what makes a cruise vacation special by trying to be all things to all people.

Another post starting this thread complaining about the "decline" in the =X= perience.

 

June 3rd of this year will mark our 31st cruise on Celebrity and fourth aboard Summit. Our first cruise with Celebrity was aboard Century (Southern Caribbean Special) in 2001. Although it gets tiresome to hear the negativity and then post a favorable view, I feel I can speak with some authority on this subject .

 

Not exactly sure what the OP means by going "downmarket" in marketing and sales strategy terms but I don't believe that is what Celebrity is doing. What they are doing is working to remain competitive and retain market share in the very competitive cruise industry. I do believe the Celebrity experience has changed since 2001 but that change is more a reflection of growth across the industry and a cruising demographic that is quite different and about 100 times larger than it was in 2001.

 

In business, a company can benefit, in terms of cost savings, from growing (economies of scale) and the cruise industry along with Celebrity Cruise lines has done that. However, the value of growth and the cost benefits conferred by that growth have to be viewed in terms of the potential for a decline in the desirability of the product in the market place. In real terms that's about finding a balance between price control (relating directly to profits) and the perceived desirability of the product in the market place. It's hard.

 

My view is that Lisa Lutoff-Perlo is working to match what the cruise demographic wants and has done a pretty good job of it all things considered. Value? If you are a value cruiser, you can find it on Celebrity. Luxury? Book suite or Aqua class. Dining venues? Hated to see the Ocean Liner themed restaurants go on the M class ships but there are many more dining opportunities on Celebrity ships now than there was in 2001 and that is an industry wide trend that I think is a good one.

 

There are all sorts of things being tried on Celebrity ships that are innovative - Movies under the stars with Tapas, Sushi in Bistro on Five, Reflection's Lawn Club Grill and the Porch, Modern Luxury of the Suite Life, Luminae, shore excursions led by Celebrity Chef's wrapping unique dining experiences together. Sure, maybe you'll have to pay more to experience these innovations but I think it is unreasonable to assume otherwise. Two class cruising? Perhaps but you get what you can afford by virtue of what you earn in the work place and are willing to pay for. We aren't offended by this and have never felt like we were treated as second class cruisers on any Celebrity ship for not booking suites. Never.

 

When viewed at the macro economic level, Celebrity has done a very good job of keeping their product desireable and one to buy. As a leisure and travel experience, cruising is, without a doubt, the best value for one's money. While it's not for everyone, for those who look at value, it is a very good deal. That's from the customer perspective. Despite the negative reports on this web site, far outweighed by positive ones, the Celebrity product, by-in-large, rates high in desirability in the market place. 5 Celebrity ships are ranked in Cruise Critics, 2016 Top 10.

(Link: http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/cruiserschoice_index.cfm?Category=Overall&sort=large ) That bodes well for Celebrity (and it's parent company, RCL).

 

From a corporate perspective (in this case RCL), cruise lines are crunching numbers trying to optimize the bottom line as defined by a set of variables (link: http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/14887-breaking-down-q1-performance-by-the-numbers.html ). I think it is important for readers here to understand what drives resource allocation for RCL/Celebrity.

 

At the micro or operational level, how well sales go at the corporate level depends to a large extent on how well supervisors deal with the resources they are provided. e.g., this much for food and beverages, this much for staffing, this much for fuel, etc. That's why experiences differ between Celebrity ships. Overall, though, and in my experience, Celebrity has some very good people working for it at the operational level. But they are always resource constrained. Always. That's why you'll sometimes find grumpy staff - the bar tender or waiter that got 4 hours of sleep after working for 12. The harried stateroom attendant that is covering two dozen cabins in his section. The list goes on. We find ourselves giving out a lot more compliments to these tireless employees than finding fault.

 

As cruise enthusiasts, we should value the opinions of our fellow cruisers, both negative and positive. At the same time, I think it behooves us to keep in mind we are in the 1% - meaning, 99% of the world's population will never experience the luxuries we do. After nearly two decades of cruising, most of it with Celebrity because it feels like home to us, I can say the cruise experience has changed but not, considering the big picture, in any negative way for us. It is still lovely. No cooking, no cleaning, no making your bed, no laundry, great food, fun times day or night. Enjoy!!!

A very well, thought out view. I only have an issue with one point, the one about Celebrity have five of the top ten rated ships on a cruise critic board. When the polls are positive, they are the gospel. When they are negative, the sample size is too small and should be disregarded. I pay little attention to these as I want to find out for myself and go from there. We sail mostly with Celebrity, but not near as often as we feel the product has deteriorated to the point that we only go when we can get a great deal. In the past we used to go because we thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. This isn't just Celebrity, it's the whole cruise industry.

We have a B2B scheduled on the Silhouette in October but we also have two weeks, at a condo in Maui, in December. This is what we used to do before we found cruising.

After that, who knows?

People with young families have priorities that don't include a lot of extended cruising. They have a lot of expenses and limited time until the kids are on their own and even that doesn't seem to be happening as early as it used to.

 

If Celebrity and other cruise lines forget about their older cruisers they will be in a world of hurt. It's a delicate balance and I believe they are seeing that they may have compromised a lot of what makes a cruise vacation special by trying to be all things to all people.

I do agree with what you are saying about older cruisers, etc -- it seems like each line should continue to focus on what they do best. Maybe Celebrity has never really clearly defined itself like some of the others (Disney, HAL, Carnival come to mind) have.

As far as families traveling, I do think that is changing. More families are cruising than before. Families in general are doing more than they did before. Years ago you wouldn't hear of family events at a casino, but I live near two of them and there are all kinds of things targeted at families because they know that's where the money's at (or some of it at least). Sports events like NFL games that used to be primarily attended by adults now see plenty of kids. Concerts, too. The list goes on. It hasn't happened overnight, but it has definitely changed the travel industry.

I always find this amusing. I took my first cruise at age 30 and was hooked, however I really didn't have the time or money to cruise regularly until my late fifties. It's always been that way with cruising and probably always will be.

 

People with young families have priorities that don't include a lot of extended cruising. They have a lot of expenses and limited time until the kids are on their own and even that doesn't seem to be happening as early as it used to.

 

If Celebrity and other cruise lines forget about their older cruisers they will be in a world of hurt. The one thing that is for sure is that those of you that think you are young will wake up before you know it and find that you're not any more and may discover that good old fashioned cruising was something special that everyone could enjoy. It's a different experience than any other kind of vacation. It's a delicate balance and I believe they are seeing that they may have compromised a lot of what makes a cruise vacation special by trying to be all things to all people.

Excellent post. As usual, Ma Bell has hit the nail right on the head.

I always find this amusing. I took my first cruise at age 30 and was hooked, however I really didn't have the time or money to cruise regularly until my late fifties. It's always been that way with cruising and probably always will be.

 

People with young families have priorities that don't include a lot of extended cruising. They have a lot of expenses and limited time until the kids are on their own and even that doesn't seem to be happening as early as it used to.

 

If Celebrity and other cruise lines forget about their older cruisers they will be in a world of hurt. The one thing that is for sure is that those of you that think you are young will wake up before you know it and find that you're not any more and may discover that good old fashioned cruising was something special that everyone could enjoy. It's a different experience than any other kind of vacation. It's a delicate balance and I believe they are seeing that they may have compromised a lot of what makes a cruise vacation special by trying to be all things to all people.

You are spot on.

This Baby Boomer will be cruising for at least 20 more years. That's probably somewhere around $300,000.00 in sales from DW and me. I don't think Celebrity wants to lose my business.

We have more than 35 cruises on Celebrity, starting in 2000, and without a doubt, everything about Celebrity has turned into profit taking. On our last two cruises, I kept a count of how many daily activities were just for fun, and how many were potential money making, and I found that 58% of the activities were either extra pay or something that could possibly cause a passenger to spend money. For me, I don't see all the "activities" in the stores to be real activities. I also don't see all the "come to the spa" and hear about all our treatments to be cruise activities. But there they are, on a daily basis, trying to get into everyone's wallet. When a newbie gets the daily agenda, it sure looks like there's a lot going on, but in reality, there's not all that much.

As for service, it has gone downhill, most likely because Celebrity has cut staff and the ones remaining are so terribly overworked that service does suffer. I remember when cabin stewards had 10 to 12 cabins to attend to, but now it's more like 16 to 18, again something that causes a downgrade in service. There are far too few wine stewards to handle the MDR, and there are far too few bartenders and servers in all the bars. When they still had the Molecular Bar, the one bartender was so overworked that we felt guilty going there. That poor guy didn't have time to catch his breath, and I asked him what was going on and he said that Celebrity used to have two full time bartenders in Molecular, but they reduced it to him and a part time person who had to alternate between that bar and the Martini bar. When you consider that Celebrity doesn't pay all that much in terms of wages to staff, how much money are they really saving? But I guess to the bean counters, every dollar is a profit.

As a consequence, we've spoken with our dollars and have gone over to Oceania where all the specialties are included (and put ALL Celebrity's specialties to shame), coffees, bottled water and soft drinks are included and quite a few shore excursions are also included. And since we usually booked the bigger suites on X, the price difference between Celebrity and Oceania is negligible with Oceania usually coming out in front with all the included extras.

We have more than 35 cruises on Celebrity, starting in 2000, and without a doubt, everything about Celebrity has turned into profit taking. On our last two cruises, I kept a count of how many daily activities were just for fun, and how many were potential money making, and I found that 58% of the activities were either extra pay or something that could possibly cause a passenger to spend money. For me, I don't see all the "activities" in the stores to be real activities. I also don't see all the "come to the spa" and hear about all our treatments to be cruise activities. But there they are, on a daily basis, trying to get into everyone's wallet. When a newbie gets the daily agenda, it sure looks like there's a lot going on, but in reality, there's not all that much.

 

 

 

As for service, it has gone downhill, most likely because Celebrity has cut staff and the ones remaining are so terribly overworked that service does suffer. I remember when cabin stewards had 10 to 12 cabins to attend to, but now it's more like 16 to 18, again something that causes a downgrade in service. There are far too few wine stewards to handle the MDR, and there are far too few bartenders and servers in all the bars. When they still had the Molecular Bar, the one bartender was so overworked that we felt guilty going there. That poor guy didn't have time to catch his breath, and I asked him what was going on and he said that Celebrity used to have two full time bartenders in Molecular, but they reduced it to him and a part time person who had to alternate between that bar and the Martini bar. When you consider that Celebrity doesn't pay all that much in terms of wages to staff, how much money are they really saving? But I guess to the bean counters, every dollar is a profit.

 

 

 

As a consequence, we've spoken with our dollars and have gone over to Oceania where all the specialties are included (and put ALL Celebrity's specialties to shame), coffees, bottled water and soft drinks are included and quite a few shore excursions are also included. And since we usually booked the bigger suites on X, the price difference between Celebrity and Oceania is negligible with Oceania usually coming out in front with all the included extras.

I like your thinking. [emoji2]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It just goes to show we are all different. I would not now go on a cruise that does not include the drinks package. Not because I have to drink all the time (I don't drink at all at home due to the fact I am always working or driving), but because having everything included appeals, especially given that the cruise lines decide that $9 is a good price for a glass of wine. It is lovely to spend two weeks in a environment where you do not have to think about what each item is costing.

 

Personally I love having the drinks package included, but given the number of people with the package included in the fare, the cruise line needs to increase the number of bar staff to cope with this.

 

Ian

Where is the difference?

You can just buy drinking package, if X is offering reasonable rate. I bet it will cost you the same. Just doesn't call " free"

10 days cruise - price with drinking package - $2000.00/pp

price without package - $1400/pp. If you drink $55/ day - you break even.

For some who don't drink - like me- I am paying for the one who drinks $100/ day. Good for Celebrity bottom line, bad for my bottom line.

Not every cruise has Senior or residential rates, so I end up paying full inflated price. I am not a fan this BBB price structure.