phoenix_dream

I hear you. After finally achieving Zenith last year, it kills me to pay the higher prices for Aqua, although I really like dining in Blu rather than the MDR so it is a tough choice. But we are recently considering a regular balcony with some specialty dining most nights - still a better deal for us.

Curious - who told you it was happening fleetwide?

I don't know about you, but I often get into conversations with the people next to us while on the balcony. I certainly wouldn't just approach someone flat out and ask them stuff like that. That would be nuts and that's clearly not what I meant. But presuming I was able to get to talking with my neighbors would I be able to at some point work into the conversation when they booked? Definitely. All you have to say is something like - boy, I really love to cruise with Celebrity I confess I am a big fan - I booked this cabin over a year ago - how about you. And that's the key - when they booked. If it was a last minute booking then obviously someone at Celebrity was giving them some kind of preferential treatment. Would this approach always work? Of course not. But its worth a try IMHO to get more information before making that big complaint to Celebrity.

But the point is, you would have more information with which to contact Celebrity. So I think there is some value to discreetly and politely try to gather some information about how the people booked that cabin

That has been my experience as well in the past couple of years over the course of many Celebrity cruises.

There's no question of that. Many ports, as I'm sure you are aware, are even passing legislation to ban cruise ships entirely, or severely limit them. But that in itself is no excuse for this happening, regardless of whether it was the fault of Celebrity or the railroad itself. Modern technology should have no problems handling a simple reservation process.

More planned changes??? OMG. I am presuming this wasn't said in a way to imply that the changes would be to our favor? They'd better not be considering eliminating Sky Suites from the lounge or deck. That would be a game changer.

My favorite is the Dover Sole. My favorite dessert (of all the Celebrity desserts) is their strawberry crepes.

I respectfully disagree. While Starlink has significantly improved the Wi-Fi on the ship, there are times when reception isn't good enough for Zoom. I don't know about this itinerary, but I know on my Alaska sailing there were times when the internet was pretty bad. I suspect in the Panama location that might be a concern as well. So my opinion is that it will probably work, but there is a chance it may not.

Honestly, I think you are reading more into the comments than are meant. It's never been an issue about the younger generation not counting, or not being as important. I don't recall reading any posts that stated that, or even implied that (at least not intentionally). The issue at hand is that these days the younger people are the ONLY group that Celebrity seems to care about. The issue is with Celebrity, not with the younger people themselves. Those of us "old folks" who have been sailing with Celebrity since the beginning feel like our needs, wishes, desires and so on are being pushed aside to only market to younger people. Keep in mind also, that when we started sailing with Celebrity we were, in fact, part of the younger generation. So our feelings are that we mattered then, when we were spending money on cruise after cruise building the brand, but now that the brand is solid we are being made to feel second rate and no longer needed or desired.

And do we know that was/is actually the case? I can’t imagine Celebrity stating that. Are people just assuming that’s the case or did someone credible at Celebrity actually say that.

100% agree. Given the laundry facilities and staff there is no way they could accommodate special instructions. We only send items that can handle that and haven’t had issues except for one pair of faded black socks. And we sail often on long cruises so we use laundry a lot.

same here. We cruise in the winter and early spring when kids are in school, primarily Caribbean. Never had tons of kids at those times. Very relaxing. I will say, though, that E class ships seem to attract a younger crowd and more kids regardless of time of year. We much prefer M and S class for that and many other reasons.

You can't shuttle between different lines, other than to/from Royal and Celebrity. If we are talking Fort Lauderdale, I recommend a taxi or Uber, if you can find one willing to take you that short distance. Taxi probably is regulated to have to take the ride; not sure about Uber.

I wonder if you are the same person posting this on a FB group? He/She claimed it was overbooked by 400 guests which sounded a little dicey to me. Regardless, at the risk of sounding like a Celebrity cheerleader, are you 100% certain that it was cancelled because Celebrity overbooked? Did Guest Relations actually tell you that? Is it possible the railway mismanaged it? If it was truly Celebrity's fault I agree they should not have waited until the day before to advise you. They could have at least told you that there was a possibility that it could be cancelled and then you could have decided whether to take the chance or rebook another, or book direct. Sorry you had to go through that frustration. Most of us only get to see those places once in our lifetime and it's a shame it didn't work out.

I also believe that is an incorrect response To me it sounds like someone in a hurry didn't read or maybe didn't fully understand your question so they just shot off a canned response.

I'm curious. Are the differences in pricing, options, etc.. due to the cruise lines choosing to price differently, or are they due to differences in how various countries manage these type of transactions? Honest question - I don't know the answer but I suspect it has more to do with the country laws and regulations.

No, I never said they took away the free cruise. Not sure where you got that idea from my comments.

If you sail again and they actually haven't removed the metal cans fleetwide, I recommend you try what I do. I bring one of those rubber grip bottle openers. Makes it much easier to open.

Best of luck to you!

Yes and no. We booked Celebrity as our primary line because we liked it very much. Our goal was never to hit a certain level. That said, we did hit Zenith last year. Those perks are far from a joke. Premium Beverage, stream wifi, laundry, a free cruise. Do the math. So yes, that makes us pause before booking elsewhere but we are definitely not trapped. We are in fact considering other lines while also cruising Celebrity. And all that said, I do reserve the right to be frustrated at certain changes. What I loved is changing and not for the better. That has nothing to do with my Captain's Club status.

Maybe you haven't sailed on E class lately. Our 3 cruises on Apex were much louder most places than any other of the very many Celebrity cruises we've taken

I could not text with basic. I could see my emails but if they had links they would not open. I could see Facebook posts but could not open the comments. I could use Facebook messenger

Thanks for the feedback everyone

I hear you on your last point. Not a Lean certified professional but managed several corporate wide business process re-engineering projects and I go nuts watching some of the business processes, in ships and otherwise. But my real dream would be to re-engineer government processes!