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markeb

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  • Location
    Northern Virginia
  • Interests
    Watches, Pens, Travel
  • Favorite Cruise Line(s)
    Celebrity
  • Favorite Cruise Destination Or Port of Call
    Europe

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  1. Which links to a web page with no as of date. Please…
  2. So that links to what was there a month ago, the last time I looked. Celebrity doesn't put as of dates on their web pages and I'm not seeing a date in their code. But this looks old. Did anyone see a version of the retreat that included butlers for sky suites a week ago? Or is this just last month's (last several month's actually) information. I'm not saying Celebrity couldn't do something blatantly stupid, but this link looks like old information. And the newsletter just takes you to the link for the Retreat you could get to all along.
  3. Exactly. There are multiple posts in this thread of butlers returning. The language linked is the language that's been there for months, and is technically true today. But, as reflected in this thread changing ship by ship.
  4. Can you post what you actually received? What you're saying directly contradicts what people are currently seeing onboard and what everyone up to the Celebrity President has publicly stated. The minifridge has NEVER been included as a matter of policy. It's frequently been restocked by butlers as a form of customer service. But that is NOT a change. Retreat Butler and team has been on the web page for months. Did it change to reflect the return of butlers and change back? Celebrity is far from perfect and doing a great job of shooting themselves in the foot, but I'm sorry, your post makes no sense. The info on the web page that you're showing is the "official" current state as they bring back butler servie. There is no there here!
  5. That's bizarre. It's not what it says for the Retreat Lounge on Summit (or Equinox). Can't remember what other ships still have Michael's to look. I don't know that anything in the description is current!
  6. The flyer actually says "re-price" even though it answers a bullet of adjustment... Re-price at prevailing rates? I can see those posts already: They'll re-price my cruise at cruise only without those things I don't want to pay for. It'll only cost me $1000 a person more than my current booking. Different going forward on new bookings, obviously.
  7. That would be the business explanation, if the math works. The person cruising once per year is paying full fare, including the AI for the Retreat. In the age of internet marketing and niche marketing, the question is how much does it cost to recruit that once a year cruiser versus provide a free benefit to the repeat cruiser. And since status is for life, you're providing the same benefit to someone who now only cruises once a year, same as your new cruiser. Most folks with that status on CC still cruise a lot, obviously. As you say, softening demand would change the calculus. Glad I can analyze as an outsider, not have my job on the line doing it for them...
  8. I guess a signature could theoretically cut down on freebies that are being recorded as lost and wastage today. Sounds like they put an accountant in as the F&B manager... I'd probably just scratch through it and hand it back. Kind of like most of your point of sale terminals that will accept anything as a signature. Seems pretty silly.
  9. As a fellow Lifetime Titanium with Marriott (one of the rarest loyalty statuses out there, as you know!), I agree. I don't begrudge Zenith members here, but I'm a bit surprised. Someone at Celebrity did an analysis that keeping Zenith's cruising was a net positive on Customer Lifetime Value. Marriott doesn't "owe" me anything for all the money I spent with them. United doesn't "owe" me anything for all the miles I flew. The programs are designed to encourage "presently profitable" (I'm going to steal that...) customers (a good reason that airline and hotel programs are annual and lifetime status is a very high hurdle) to continue spending. I'm actually more interested that Celebrity felt they needed to do this. Jason Liberty keeps saying that demand has been increasing for RCG as prices have increased. That's in their public filings, so there has to be a basis in fact. That would suggest there's no financial reason to make this change. I don't know how many Zenith members there are. I know I've watched United Global Services members turn right through the cabin door to economy, and I did the same many times while I had 1K status. I guess their concern is that the highest tiered members of their retention program would rather cruise someone else than "fly coach with perks". Or pay the flat rate pricing. And frankly the "always included" concept was the direct opposite of the "nickel and diming" everyone complains about. And competitive (before some of the recent price increases) with luxury lines for the Retreat. Glad for the Zeniths. It's a great thing for them. Scratching my head on why it makes business sense if the ships are full. They're not doing this because it's "the right thing to do"...
  10. It's not just the immediate port activities either. BMW and Mercedes, at a minimum, have vehicle processing facilities associated with the port. Military Sealift Command has a major vehicle processing center for overseas shipments of personal vehicles. Those are just a couple of quick examples. It's going to be messy, as you say.
  11. The Baltimore Sun is reporting there was a pilot onboard. There are unconfirmed reports that the ship lost power; no one's going to confirm that until there's a full investigation. I'm not that familiar with the Port of Baltimore, but from the reports I've seen, cruise ships are a blip on the radar. Shipping traffic into an out of the port is suspended. No one is saying for how long. That's container ships, roll on/roll off car shipments, etc. Whoever's in the port may be stuck there, and it could be awhile before anyone else gets in. Praying for the victims and their families.
  12. It's Newark. They posted a couple of weeks ago about going from EWR to Broadway to catch a play. Do you have to take the train to the Uber pickup point? EWR isn't my airport...
  13. What ship what venue? It's showing $17 on Summit in the MDR.
  14. Best live moment ever. 2016. Nats Park. Incident into Rosie live. If you know, you know…
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