No One Makes You Cruise on Celebrity, So Why Flame People Who Comment About Their Own Experiences?

..... You claimed that CC is a good cross-section of cruisers in general. That's simply incorrect.

From what I can see neither of you know for a fact whether or not CC is a good cross-section.

I don't know when you worked for an ISP and whether since you left things have changed - pre FB and Twitter or post. Whether a national ISP is representative of an international group who knows.

If Social Media isn't representative of a business's users than companies are wasting an a lot of money employing people to manage their social media accounts. I find it the most effective way to complain quickly to a company as someone at the company always seems to be listening

I don't think CC is as anonymous as you suggest.

Many people are not anonymous and make little attempt to be - they post photos, give details about their holidays, and attend CC meet and greets. Many also publish their own websites and blogs

Many post extensive user histories and biography details and user their first name.

Finally, the subject matter under discussion doesn't really mean that people have to post anonymously- we are talking about the pros and cons of. Burgers, dinner suits and buffets not political insurgence.

From what I can see neither of you know for a fact whether or not CC is a good cross-section.

 

 

 

I don't know when you worked for an ISP and whether since you left things have changed - pre FB and Twitter or post. Whether a national ISP is representative of an international group who knows.

 

 

 

If Social Media isn't representative of a business's users than companies are wasting an a lot of money employing people to manage their social media accounts. I find it the most effective way to complain quickly to a company as someone at the company always seems to be listening

 

 

 

I don't think CC is as anonymous as you suggest.

 

 

 

Many people are not anonymous and make little attempt to be - they post photos, give details about their holidays, and attend CC meet and greets. Many also publish their own websites and blogs

 

Many post extensive user histories and biography details and user their first name.

 

Finally, the subject matter under discussion doesn't really mean that people have to post anonymously- we are talking about the pros and cons of. Burgers, dinner suits and buffets not political insurgence.

need a like button. on this forum mefinks - and put it on this post [emoji41]

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Sigh. I don't mean that they respond on the boards, I mean that they respond by changing policy and pricing etc based on what is posted here. That doesn't really happen because the posters here are not proportionately representative of their entire customer base. I'm sorry this is so difficult to understand or accept. However, I'm really not in the business of trying to convince you. Accept is or not, as you see fit.

Many would disagree.....

Best example "X the rules". The new slogan brought out so much criticism that the slogan was rapidly dumped.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/celebrity-cruises-vows-to-x-the-rules-of-cruise-vacations-114151969.html

And from a site not to be mentioned:

Clarification on new X the rules campaign

 

 

January 19, 2011 at 5:52pm

 

We'd like to weigh in on the comments about Celebrity’s new campaign. Clearly, some have misunderstood the philosophy behind it, so we appreciate the chance to share some insights.

 

First, we recognize that consumers’ vacation time is precious, and limited. So, how and where they'll spend that precious time is one of the most important decisions they’ll make over the course of the year. That's what drives us to do what we do:

 

• to invest in ships whose interior and exterior design consistently nets top marks from many of the most prestigious travel guides and readers’ surveys (Celebrity just last week swept the Frommer's list of the 20 best ships of 2011, with every Solstice Class ship and every Millennium Class ship included on the elite list; and the brand consistently ranks at the top of annual readers' polls in Conde Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Celebrated Living, to name a few);
  
• to offer a culinary experience that elevates dining to an art form...which is particularly evident in our new “Qsine” specialty restaurant, one of 10 widely varied, high quality dining options on Celebrity Eclipse alone;
  
• to offer anticipatory, personalized service, with a guest-to-crew ratio of nearly 2:1, and 24/7 butler service in every luxurious suite;
  
• to offer unexpected experiences–such as the Celebrity iLounge complete with iLearn classes; menus, wine lists and even art tours on iPads; destination immersion from speakers from the revered Smithsonian Journeys, and comparative wine tasting courses with the renowned Riedel Crystal.
  

We do all this so our guests can do as much or as little as they want to have a spectacular, unmatchable vacation.

 

'X the rules' is not at all about encouraging consumers to break rules. Quite the contrary; it is designed to showcase how setting new standards and deviating from what’s expected can yield something different, better and truly special. It’s designed to allow us showcase how Celebrity is different than any other land or sea vacation option through our commitment to setting new standards, and to breaking away from the ordinary and what’s expected to ultimately deliver the best premium vacation experience.

 

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=4359

Another example of them listening is when they tried to mske the Solarium on M class ships, an extra charge venue shortly after the M class starting rolling out. The outcry here was so loud, I am sure they didn't even haave to come here to hear it. As I recall, the policy lasted a few months at best.

It is true that Celebrity's presence here is woeful since the original liaison left, or was fired for doing too much. Since then it has been nothing more than cut and paste from the website. However, I am sure they are reading these posts, & react if they feel it would not have a negative impact on their bottom line, despite what some experts think.

Sigh. I don't mean that they respond on the boards, I mean that they respond by changing policy and pricing etc based on what is posted here. That doesn't really happen because the posters here are not proportionately representative of their entire customer base. I'm sorry this is so difficult to understand or accept. However, I'm really not in the business of trying to convince you. Accept is or not, as you see fit.

I'll not accept this at all because like many of the longer term posters on here we've actually seen Celebrity change policy due to a backlash on social media. So you are in fact completely wrong.

Having worked for many years for one of the largest financial organisations on the planet I can assure you that these days corporates take an awful lot of notice of what is being written about them. My ex employer even had a global team monitoring social media allowing them to quickly respond to any issues that arose.

It's 2017 now. ;)

 

It is true that Celebrity's presence here is woeful since the original liaison left, or was fired for doing too much. Since then it has been nothing more than cut and paste from the website. However, I am sure they are reading these posts, & react if they feel it would not have a negative impact on their bottom line, despite what some experts think.

Agree 100%. I read the Azamara board on and off and have always been impressed with the level of professionalism shown by Bonnie. Other lines would do well to try and replicate what she provides.

I'll not accept this at all because like many of the longer term posters on here we've actually seen Celebrity change policy due to a backlash on social media. So you are in fact completely wrong.

 

Having worked for many years for one of the largest financial organisations on the planet I can assure you that these days corporates take an awful lot of notice of what is being written about them. My ex employer even had a global team monitoring social media allowing them to quickly respond to any issues that arose.

 

It's 2017 now. ;)

They might pay attention but in today's marketplace there is no incentive to change anything until it starts to hurt them in the wallet.

They might pay attention but in today's marketplace there is no incentive to change anything until it starts to hurt them in the wallet.

So true!

They might pay attention but in today's marketplace there is no incentive to change anything until it starts to hurt them in the wallet.

Remember the stink kicked up on here when they tried to raise drinks package upgrade prices?

That wasn't long ago and they caved in and binned that idea pretty quickly. They realised it would hit them in the pocket before it even did.

I thought you'd given up with this line anyway. Still hanging around here? Or are you still sailing with X? :D

Celebrity will not come begging for customers until the next downturn in the economy. That's when you can really cash in if you've saved your money during the boom times.

Celebrity will not come begging for customers until the next downturn in the economy. That's when you can really cash in if you've saved your money during the boom times.

Very true. I've seen some huge price increases recently yet the ships are sailing at capacity, so absolutely no need to change anything.

What is particularly interesting to me price wise is that some comparative itineraries on HAL are about half the cost of an M class ship (basic verandah rooms) and having sailed on both Noordam and Millennium I'd say there's not that much difference really. So I guess there are definitely bargains to be had, just on another line!

These are not published results. It's generally considered proprietary information. In my previous career I was an executive for a national ISP that also created one of the first public bulletin boards. One of the things that we researched constantly was how close the anonymous posters on the boards were representative of our customer base (which was well over 1MM). Conclusions were based on an array of data points which were from focus groups, polling, customer service feedback and third party information (which were from studies done by market analysts).

We also compared the results we had arrived at to other similarly situated service industries that had also launched anonymous boards. The results were remarkably consistent.

 

You'll just have to take my word for it. If not...well, then believe what you want. Although I think you would be hard pressed to defend any statement that people who post on CC are proportionately representative of all cruisers. Further, the proof is in the pudding. If they were, then Celebrity and other cruise lines would far more responsive to posts here.

You'll have to forgive me if I don't take an anonymous posters stats at face value, especially when you have no links for me to check them against. As I've said before your premise doesn't match up to my personal experiences and I've been on BBS's since the 300 Baud days (Pre-ISP).

I'm sure you know that any data from years ago isn't accurate and may not even be indicative of the current situation. In short, I don't think you have proven your claim that 60% of anonymous users are 'passionate complainers'. In fact, it sounds like something that management uses as an excuse not to take social media posts seriously.

As others have pointed out your proof is in the pudding isn't proof of anything and other cruise lines do react to CC posts.

Remember the stink kicked up on here when they tried to raise drinks package upgrade prices?

 

That wasn't long ago and they caved in and binned that idea pretty quickly. They realised it would hit them in the pocket before it even did.

 

I thought you'd given up with this line anyway. Still hanging around here? Or are you still sailing with X? :D

I am currently not sailing with anyone, or anything planned for the future. I still think Celebrity is still the best but doesn't give us the great cruise that it did several years ago. It's not only the price. I check this website hopping that things will change but I don't think it will. I have a lot of experiences, the latest being six months ago, and I don't mind voicing them. It was the greatest thing since sliced bread until about 3-4 years ago, now not so much. I don't play ball anymore but I reserve the right to voice my opinion on that also.

A big Thank You! in response to my previous post of doubt and questioning! So very true; I have read reviews of ships we have been on and wonder if we were really on the same ship! Have loved our Celebrity and Princess ships (not so much the HAL, but still had a great time).

BTW- the Celebrity ship we were on was the Galaxy- no longer with the fleet.

THX!

Hi Nini, we have cruises booked on Princess (spring 2018) and Celebrity (spring and summer 2019) but haven't sailed either of them yet. We've sailed Carnival (3x's), Royal Caribbean (twice), Peter Deilman (obsolete river cruise line) and HAL (1x). As a previous poster said "my worst day on vacation is better than any day at work". I agree 100%. Lol. I understood your initial feelings of concern after booking while reading all the posts. I felt the same way and was relieved to read the positive feedback following your post.

My question for you is what did you dislike about HAL? We had a phenomenal itinerary when we sailed with them and a great time overall. However there were a few minor things that were kind of annoying. Those annoyances were more with fellow passengers than with the cruise line itself though. Additionally, what did you love about Princess and Celebrity? I enjoyed that one poster mentioned you'd say "Wow!" when you boarded the ship and that you'd wonder what took you so long to get there. That post was excitingly reassuring.

Thanks in advance. Just curious [emoji4]

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We have avoided HAL, largely because of their liberal smoking policy. That policy has become more restrictive.

However, when we did Alaska last September and were the first people on the Denali day, wildlife tour (on a school bus), we stopped at a hotel and picked up about 40 HAL passengers. It was amazing, DW and I both noticed that the odor or cigarette smoke permeated the bus for much of the trip.

Not sure, but it may be that HAL attracted smokers. I want to stay away from second hand smoke as much as I can, even when it comes on people's clothes.

Remember the stink kicked up on here when they tried to raise drinks package upgrade prices?

 

That wasn't long ago and they caved in and binned that idea pretty quickly. They realised it would hit them in the pocket before it even did.

 

I thought you'd given up with this line anyway. Still hanging around here? Or are you still sailing with X? :D

A slightly picky point, but any self-selecting sample group (e.g., people who sign up for and participate on a BBS) is by definition not representative of the larger population sample (e.g., people who sail on Celebrity), absent a rather low probability coincidence. The question is not whether Cruise Critic posters are representative of the overall client base, but whether CC posters represent a segment of the overall client base that the company wants to keep happy and retain as customers.

A slightly picky point, but any self-selecting sample group (e.g., people who sign up for and participate on a BBS) is by definition not representative of the larger population sample (e.g., people who sail on Celebrity), absent a rather low probability coincidence. The question is not whether Cruise Critic posters are representative of the overall client base, but whether CC posters represent a segment of the overall client base that the company wants to keep happy and retain as customers.

Not picky at all -- you have homed in on the relevant point, IMHO. But it won't stop the bickering ;)

Not picky at all -- you have homed in on the relevant point, IMHO. But it won't stop the bickering ;)

However when many senior officers show up at a Connections meeting, it is obvious that a large number of Celebrity people take heed of what cruise critic members have to say.

I believe that Cruise Critic members have more clout than the actual % of cruisers they represent, otherwise why schedule a get-together for only 4-5% of the passengers onboard. Sometimes only 20 or 30 people (1% of pax onboard) show up but the officers are still there to meet them.

I know a large number of Senior Officers who are regular readers of cruise critic and pay close attention to what is said about their ship. Several are registered uses and post from time to time. One Miami Suit told me that they, meaning people in Miami Offices, know my identity and read my posts. I though about changing screen name, but realized that I state what I believe to be true and really don't care if people know who I am. Arno, you know that people in Miami also know your idenitity and have made comments to you. Are they seeing what we say? A definite "yes". Do they sometimes think about what is being said? Probably "yes" as well.

On Eclipse a couple of years ago, some CC members, including myself and husband, were invited to a Passenger Forum. The Head of Celebrity entertainment was on board and we were invited to air our views on the overall entertainment. So I think they do listen.

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I know a large number of Senior Officers who are regular readers of cruise critic and pay close attention to what is said about their ship. Several are registered uses and post from time to time. One Miami Suit told me that they, meaning people in Miami Offices, know my identity and read my posts. I though about changing screen name, but realized that I state what I believe to be true and really don't care if people know who I am. Arno, you know that people in Miami also know your idenitity and have made comments to you. Are they seeing what we say? A definite "yes". Do they sometimes think about what is being said? Probably "yes" as well.

The Senior Officers care, but what about the Miami Suits. Don't you think it is time someone steps up to plate and comment on the new website. Namely what are they doing to correct the problem. I respect the comments Arno and you give as they are on target. I am not a unhappy person as Celebrity on board is very good product and will continue as we have 2 more booked. Just my thoughts.