kguerriero

Might be a dumb question, but outside of room service, are there any food options onboard the ships (specifically thinking M-class) open after 10PM? Princess had the "International Cafe" (What I would think is an equivalent to El Bacio?) open 24 hours, and while it wasn't much, in addition to pastries they did offer a small selection of paninis and salads in a case available for free at any time. It was a nice late snack, and if Celebrity was able to do something similar, that may take some of the pressure off OVC at dinnertime and later.

I think possibly the larger frustration that is really peeving some individuals (myself included) is the poor communication of the changes. When you book a vacation, you determine the value based on the offering, and pay what you think it's worth, or move on. Many of us booked multi-thousand dollar vacations with the understanding we would be eating 2 lobster tails, enjoying scrambled eggs in the morning in our rooms, and have the presented number of dining options at the posted times, without paying extra. A small asterisk on the website a few months in advance mentioning "*fee applies beginning January 1, 2023" would have gone a long way towards making the brand look more trustworthy and feel as if it was a decision made in confidence, instead of a hacky cash-grab. Celebrity had a chance to control the narrative on price hikes and spin it anyway they wanted, but they fumbled. The mediocre comms, coupled with investor calls explaining record bookings, cost stability, and an appetite to squeeze more money out of passengers at a time when everything under the sun is going up in price feels like an opportunistic move that isn't really appreciated by many at the moment.

What's wild to me is someone can read Celebrity's website top-to-bottom, full contract and description of pricing, drop $2,000 (or substantially more) for a non-refundable cruise fare, and wake up in a week to see dramatically different policies and pricing. Estimating out the new fees based on what we planned onboard has added an extra 10% to our total cruise price since booking. And we still have 3 more months of beancounting to see what these geniuses will think up next. The fact that Celebrity has not grandfathered in booked passengers or have even communicated these changes in policies sometimes until passengers are ONBOARD THE SHIP is grossly unacceptable and not becoming of any brand that uses "premium" or "luxury" to describe their product. I'm struggling to see how it isn't bait-and-switch.

All of the drink packages have jumped up in cost about 2 weeks ago (among other cost-cuts and added fees for onboard service). "Zero-Proof" is now the only non-alcoholic drink package option, with a price of $30.00/day, plus 20% gratuity. If you are loyal to one particular soft drink, you may see better savings by carrying on a 12-pack of cans if that will hold you over.

New hack: Open every conversation in the MDR by asking tablemates if anyone is allergic to shellfish. Make friends with anyone who is and plan to dine together on formal night. Two lobster tails for the price of one! 😁

For those affronted by this or other changes, probably the most impactful thing to do, besides giving direct staff feedback, is to fill out every survey offered to you by Celebrity and leave an unfavorable result. These satisfaction surveys are used to calculate "NPS," or "Net Promoter Score." Specifically, the question of "Would you recommend a Celebrity Cruise to friends or family?" While it sounds innocuous, the travel industry (and travel industry analysts and investors) use these a barometer of success for the executive teams and outlook for the brands. RCL has mentioned multiple times on their business calls that their NPS scores remain high, as proof that pricing isn't an issue. They're obviously trying to push the limits as far as they can go.

This is the boat (no pun intended) I'm also in. None of these individual changes will bankrupt us or ruin our entire vacation, but there's something tacky about booking and then having 3-4 cost cutting changes rolled out the week after for immediate deployment. In the upcoming 4 months, what else will change from the promised onboard experience we booked? Mandatory cork fee for all carry-on wine? Charging for food at the pool grill? MDR supplements? Even if it doesn't happen, it's a concern (and therefore added stress) leading up to being on the ship. It's not really acceptable for things like this to be trickling out from other passengers onboard, while contradicting existing website content. I understand many people on this board have fond memories of prior Celebrity cruises (rightfully so), however as someone just beginning to know the brand, these actions make the whole company come off as cheap and untrustworthy.

Not sure which are the cabins in question, but if you google the ship and room number, you can generally see photos of the view (or the approximation of the view from a neighboring room or a sister ship). We booked an OV on the Millennium and were able to get a sense of the space that way, turns out there are just some support columns to either side of the balcony and it's covered above. No biggie. We also booked an "obstructed" balc on Princess for the same price as an inside room- no obstruction, just that the glass panel below the rail was instead steel ship structure. You could've probably fit a dozen people on it, so I considered it a win! Worst case, you get some natural light and a little more living space. The only time I would take an inside over that would be if the veranda was directly above/below the buffet or something else noisy.

Very much agreed, this isn't sustainable. I guess they figure if Disney World and hotel sticker shock is turning people to less expensive options, they can get away with it for now. Plus so many have invested $$$$ in loyalty status that they may continue booking as long as they get benefits. There's going to be a lot of brand equity going up in flames over the next 12-18 months. We did a cruise with Princess in 2019 and I got a lot of flack from my friends (in my late 20's) but we had a wonderful time. I was hoping for a repeat of that experience and the relaxation we had, but I'm already feeling a headache coming on. This might be our last cruise.

We just booked our first cruise with Celebrity and the new fees have my head spinning- this literally isn't what we signed up for a month ago. I believe someone mentioned it previously, but room service was a great help to the mobility-impaired. My boyfriend is hitting a rough patch with tendonitis in his foot, and can't always be on his feet. We specifically booked Celebrity for the comp room service in case he had to be down for a day or so. I feel for the people who didn't prepay gratuities or planned on purchasing a beverage package closer to the day of their sailings, their fares have essentially risen by hundreds of dollars. For those wishing to learn more about the trajectory of the brand, I recommend reading through the RCL quarterly earnings call transcripts, this shows the strategy of the full company and some of the decisions being made behind-the-scenes. Here's the most recent one from Q3 2022, Q4 should be available 01/26/2023: https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2022/11/03/royal-caribbean-rcl-q3-2022-earnings-call-transcri/ Some unfortunate highlights: "The value proposition of cruise remains incredibly attractive, I would say too attractive." "Our commercial apparatus is seeing elevated booking activity across channels as we help our customers design their dream vacations. Our guests are willing to spend more than ever with us to create those memories." "The value proposition of cruising remains incredibly attractive and we have an opportunity to close the gap to other land vacation alternatives as we grow our addressable market." In summary, expect pricing to continue to go up, for less material substance, as the company positions Royal and Celebrity to compete more with theme parks and resorts.