retiredtraveler70

My seat on an aircraft (or my cabin on a Celebrity ship) is determined by what I pay. That's a given, and NOWHERE in this thread did anyone say that Celebrity shouldn't have Suites or upgraded rooms from the "standard." The move to rope off the Theater would be equivalent to Southwest Airlines taking away the bags of snacks and drinks that everyone gets and only giving those to their "extended legroom" seats. It's something taken away from one class and given to another. Totally different thing!

Yes, but the reason it doesn't begin until 2026 is that they have to retrofit a huge fleet of planes, to add the additional 3-5 inches of room for their premium seating. That would be like a ship with all Veranda rooms upgrading to one-third Suites. They are then offering something "extra" that you can select if you want the additional expense. The average flyer doesn't have anything taken away . . . it's just that the aircraft has been updated to include a section of better seating that people pay for. We have no qualms about having suites on a ship, or more legroom if you pay for it on an aircraft.

Thanks for posting, Saturn. I can see a similarity here to charging for luggage on airlines. By not charging for luggage, and allowing other airlines to continue that, Southwest has gained huge popularity as a result. There's a complete avoidance of "nickel and diming" their customers. While I don't expect that we'll ever see a Celebrity cruise without some extra charges as its a mid-Premium brand, the attitude of allowing everyone access in the same way to entertainment would be a refreshing change.

Great post! I think you'll see this the way it's going Rick. Funny . . . perhaps, the Oceanview will be first with a new roped off section, then the Martini Bar and finally, a special toilet.

Another Suites cruiser who doesn't need the roped-off areas . . . seems to me that someone from Celebrity ought to figure out that they are PO'ing more passengers than gaining friends by this policy.

Hi Ken, We used to travel HAL but have backed off a bit there. NCL on occasion, and the smaller ships on Viking. Good to have your comments, thanks. See you on board!

You didn't read much, that's for sure. What "bad seats" were reserved? All the prime areas were roped off -- NIGHTLY.

Not on this ship on that sailing . . . the entire center section, lower level, looked to be roped off. They brought in some regular chairs to go around the sides on the back of the theater, and those are the seats they directed us to.

Good point that it is Celebrity's seat, but that whole theater in the past had "no saving of seats is allowed" as the overriding dictum. They broke that rule themselves by stepping in with ropes and security personnel to enforce the "upper class" policy they'd initiated on that ship. It used to be for Chic nights only --- I can handle that. On this voyage, it was nightly.

Of course we will continue to address it. It sucks, and there CAN be a resolution if those who don't like the feeling express themselves. You don't care, and that's fine -- your opinion only and no intent here to insult you. This was a very critical part of our trip, when a Celebrity person made us feel like low life and I watched him do that to others as well. It's also been addressed in a letter to RCG management. You had some action on your issues with Celebrity . . . won't you please let my family pursue ours? Thanks.

I don't think that Suite passengers especially enjoy the reserved seating. At least the ones who have commented here or in other online fora. You're clearly a person who just rolls over, and my family will not do that. We have each family member posting queries about this in their social media, Mom Dad and Kids and it's very interesting that we seem to have tapped into something that many people have felt but not said anything about. If we all just roll over, corporations like this will make all kinds of decisions without getting passenger input. My guess is that RCG made these changes without any kind of consumer marketing circle -- they just put in the ropes and said "let's see what happens." A successful business, ESPECIALLY a cruise line, is a partnership between the business and the loyal customer. You start upsetting that particular apple cart and the cart will fall over.

Glad to hear that even Suite customers are noting BEYOND's issues. We cruise 4-5 times a year and while it has been primarily Celebrity, it's been spread between others and some not RCG lines. Nothing is as weird as a security guy telling you to go find another seat -- the "riff-raff" statement used in this thread came from someone else, not me, but I agree with him or her. That's how we felt.

As you'd find in another post, I mentioned that we arrive 20-30 minutes in advance. Always have. So, if you are a Celebrity fan-boy and believe that they do nothing wrong, keep cruising only on X. Personally, I loved the cruise line but believe they are making some easily correctable errors and if people don't tell them about it, it would never change.

Rick, I'm not bitter, as we had a nice cruise. I certainly learned something about my choice of cruise lines, however, and I will use this forum and other social media to draw out comments from those who agree (there are certainly many) and perhaps -- just perhaps -- someone in executive management will read them and take action. The "priority seating" in the theater is not a big deal evidently for those who have it (based on this thread - I don't follow the "boards") but it is a BIG deal when you walk in and some security guy warns you that there are more exclusive customers who get first choice of the seats they have roped off. (This despite their auditorium-wide announcements about "the saving of seats is not allowed." What a joke THAT is!)

How about taking this to a side conversation or email instead of hijacking a thread about another, important topic?

I'm not interested in what Disney World does. In fact, I think they're on a downward slope, and I'd be surprised if RCI wants to emulate them. Taking something away from their cruise guests, (like the ability to see the front of the ship, or "special privilege seating" in theater) is a bogus move and one that will cost them more than they make in the long run. We cruise all the time and this is the first time anyone has stopped me from sitting anywhere I want in the theater when I show up 30 minutes in advance. Basically, they're saying "You are riff-raff and we won't have you sitting in the seats reserved for our better guests." Then, moments later they make an announcement that "the saving of seats is forbidden."

There were no "seats to the sides," as those were taken up by Celebrity cruisers who were not permitted to sit in the roped off zones. We ended up with standard chairs that had been brought in against the back wall -- with no view whatsoever of the stage.

Great - you feel like it is OK to be relegated to the cattle line that is waiting for the reserved ropes to go away? There were MANY people complaining about this to the security team managing the ropes (Butlers? Seemed more like Security people to me). And when the ropes came down, a mad rush to the seats that opened. This is a class system if ever there was one. The auditorium used to be for everyone, and every class of passenger. Soon, Celebrity ships will be like those passenger vessels in the Titanic days, with the Asters and the Vanderbilts enjoying the views and the entertainment, and the rest of the ship dedicated to "steerage."

Well on the recent BEYOND cruise, they had security roping off seats on both the main floor AND the balcony.

Celebrity made us (Elite Plus) feel like riff-raff on the recent BEYOND cruise, due to the theater seating and the fact that there was no where I could go to watch the ship progress forward, unless I wanted to take my drink and stand by a treadmill. A cruise line should make EVERYONE, of EVERY class, feel like they have a special experience and not rub it in their noses every evening when they go to the entertainment.

Thank you. You summed up my feelings and its well said. Give everyone a basic great experience and then have extra things that you can pay for to enhance IF YOU WANT, such as Spa, Private Dining, and so on. But do NOT take away things from the average cruiser, who doesn't want to see roped off areas, and who (as an aside for future ship design) really should have access to a view forward.

You're right, the "ship within a ship" thing stinks, and I mentioned that it was the beginning. However, it wasn't until they took away our theater seating that it all smacked us in the face. I'll take the Juggler's advice if we use Celebrity again and choose an updated older ship over this newer "Edge" class.

That's fine to feel more special, and to pay for things that make you feel this way. I understand people going into the spa, taking certain classes in the gym, and even buying Suites or premium cabins like Aqua Class and so on. Yes, that's ALWAYS been the case. And absolutely none of those things impact others. You are just getting extra stuff, that you've paid for! However, what we're talking about here is a different matter entirely. This is something that Celebrity is taking AWAY from one class of people (the 60-70% that fills regular cabins at regular prices) and providing it to those who will pay to take that from the others. That's right . . . it IS a slippery slope, because apparently (you're an example) there are people who are going along with this and some wise character at RCI is working on a plan right now that ropes off sections of the Oceanview Cafe so that these "preferred" guests don't have to hunt for a table like everyone else. I don't know who you are, but if we were buddies I'd bet you $100 that they'll be doing this within the year. Fairly certain I'd win! The move to dissect the ship into different classes has begun, and the losers are the regular folks in normal cabins.

Thank you Mr or Ms Chou. I guess we should have seen this coming when forward viewing of the ship was taken away and the Retreat was initiated. We absolutely hate the virtual balconies, but we'd still sail with Celebrity if they weren't separating the ship into classes. Anytime that happens, whether it's with a ship or a society, it's a bad thing. Every cruiser should demand the same basic rights to good food, a view of where we're going, a good seat in the theater if you get there early enough and more . . . Even the lower priced trips on a Celebrity ship are expensive. There's no reason to see "plusses" to their bottom line revenue that take AWAY from others, such as the move to rope off and keep the low life out of prime seats in the auditorium. We find that move repulsive and if we give Celebrity 50% of our cruise business in 2025 that will be too much.

Hi Rich, No, I was suggesting that there is no need for those passes or anything which takes away something from the bulk of the passengers and gives it to others, for a fee. Dave