C 2 C

No, we are all equal but some people are more equal than others. (Animal Farm)

If you like children, you will love holiday cruises. We cruised on Nieuw Statendam last year for 8 consecutive weeks. For the holidays, there were over 700 back to backers, a number we have never experienced before. Every stateroom was packed, not the traditional 2 to a cabin, but most likely crammed to the rafters. My kids and our grandchildren are angels. Yours not so much. 😇 We are cruising again over the holidays because it was cheaper than going home and coming back again to a warm place in the Caribbean..

It's not about "if you don't like it , don't buy it." It's about a suite passenger who may also be at the Zenith level having to compete for priority with a passenger who did buy Celebrity Pass and who actually expects to jump in front of the Zenith Suite passenger. If so many have priority, who is the gatekeeper?

Medussa

Constellation is our favourite Celebrity ship having sailed over 20 times. Even though she may show her age (as do I) we will soon be onboard for two months.

And do you remember:

"We are all equal but some of us are more equal than others." Oh the pain of being called an elitist and being forced to have free drinks and even a special location to mix with other "likeminded" cruisers. There have been many disparaging posts in the past about frequent cruisers being called Celebrity Elite and getting special treatment. It is unfortunate that when any company gives rewards for loyalty to the brand, that there are some who are jealous because they do not get the same perks. When Celebrity first provided a lounge so that frequent cruisers were able to share their experiences and insight to other itineraries, a bonding took place way beyond the possibilities provided by having a drink at any bar during a slotted time period. It's not just about the free drinks. It's about sharing a common cruising obsession with other elites and beyond over a nice glass of your favourite libation. I am grateful that this former Celebrity experience is once again made possible.

We solved this problem by getting a hotel the day the cruise ends and flying out at leisure the next day. Mother nature is not aware of cruise schedules so plan accordingly.

X will provision our floating winter condo for December and January. Amazing what a cruiser can afford when suites are not in the equation.

We have cruised all of the Solstice class ships and dislike the Reflection because of the larger number of passengers and the destruction of much of the forward observation lounge. If you have the right cabin and don't go to the lounge, any one of the ships will provide the Celebrity experience.

I can't understand why this thread about "disagreeable folks" is related to "Old Folks on HAL". We have met many wonderful people of all ages and miserable young ones as well. "Birds of a feather flock together" and "Fools seldom differ". Perhaps people who criticize other age groups should start with stating their own age while disparaging others.

This word "Coddiwomple" just popped up on one of my feeds. How many posters are always looking for the next destination, no matter where the journey will lead? Despite many negative comments about the cruise industry, many of us still want to travel, somewhere, somewhen, somehow. How many of us have this travel gene, this urge to go somewhere, whether it is unique or just wanderlust?

Based on our observations on our recent Zuiderdam back to back out of Quebec: None. My guestimate on the two cruises is that perhaps as many as 10 % of the gentleman wore ties let alone jackets. We have never experienced as casual a cruise as this B2B.

Three months of the year for us, an average of 9 a year for three decades.

Frankly, that sounds like a sour note.

There is only one poll that tracks reality: People opening their wallets to get on a ship. The one caveat of course is whether prices have been discounted to fill the ship. Repeat passengers know that a change has occurred in the value of the experience. Those that don't follow CC or other media don't know what they have missed.... until next time. In the long run, repeat customers are the source of stability.

Sometimes the temperature in a public area is set as if the room is filled with people. Until the body heat of the pax warms up the place, it may be cool.

A HAL crew member died in curacao this year while snorkeling. All my sports activities involve the use of a remote.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics" I did not look at the video. My opinion of the new President: The old regime kicked frequent cruisers out of Michael's and the Retreat. The new regime recognizes that pax who have cruised a 100 times with X have paid their dues. She gets a 10 out of 10 from me.

Just a sample on HAL last week. IMG_2366.HEIC

They are only endless if you read them. Other topics seem to be less repetitive.

We sailed on Zaandam in May and Zuiderdam in September because we love the itinerary out of Quebec/Montreal. We don't have the gluten problem and we found the food to be superior to that offered by Celebrity. The theatre entertainment is pitiful on HAL but frequent cruisers don't bother with the shows produced by Celebrity. The choice between HAL and X is difficult because we like both products and itinerary and $$ will influence our choice. Our recent experience with Zuiderdam will get us back to Celebrity because, unless you like the Rolling Stones, there was no place to dance for those who still like to clutch their partner.

Does this mean you will use more @#$% language in your reviews of more cruise lines?

We will be onboard for nearly 70 days. That's a lot of extra points to achieve our goal. Cleaning expectations are better than in our daily routine at home.

I want to thank hankandteri, for an intriguing look at reviews from cruise critic members.. CC members represent perhaps 4-6 % of the cruising public. More importantly CC members express themselves while the majority do not. What is a good sample? If I look at ten posts, I have a very good idea of how cruisers think about a thread. There are posters who always seem very balanced, others totally out to lunch (from my perspective.) When I see that HAL's rating has decreased very little over this time period, I would agree because we have cruised with HAL a dozen times in the last year. Their product is not perfect but their food quality has been stellar from OUR point of view. If you take any sample of data, it's the trend that becomes significant. If I look at the respondents to this topic, I have no way of knowing whether any one of them has cruised in the past year or how often. Individual opinions are less significant than the trend in data. If only ten people post a review, and they all post lower scores than past averages, there is a noticeable shift in perception of the cruise line. My own opinion of Celebrity has gone up dramatically since we will again be allowed to enter the Retreat. That opinion has nothing to do with experiencing a Celebrity Cruise. That opinion is based on a reaction by the company to a concern by passengers who cruise 3 to 4 months of the year. "Where there is smoke, there is fire" is concept well entrenched in statistical studies. I don't look at conversations about apples and oranges when peaches are way more significant.