CruisinShips

Loved my October cruise on the Eclipse, and can't wait for my upcoming cruise on the Apex.  Big fan.  Now if they could lower the costs of suites by 30%, I'd be an even bigger fan! 😉

Good exercise. Thanks. I guess you're paying for the variety of dining/drinking/entertainment options on the Celebrity ships.

Sorry for that experience.  It seems the issues you had were specifically about the Equinox as opposed to the entire line...so I will choose to use that distinction as a qualifier!

Hopefully someone with the company can read your post and see that the issues are addressed.

Just a heads up for those who gets the error message when trying to log in for a bid.  It likely doesn't apply to most, but this happened on one cruise for me.

 My wife and I have different last names.  I am the one who books the cruises and they are always in my name as the primary.  Well on our last cruise, I didn't get a move-up email and went directly to the link.  I entered my last name and reservation number, and the popup said I wasn't eligible (or something to that effect).  For some reason I decided to enter her last name and the number, and it worked.

That's the only time that happened...I don't know why, but it's something to keep in mind if it applies to you.

We are obviously all different, but the butler is actually pretty far down on my list of reasons for booking a suite.

We just enjoy the larger cabins and the overall upscale ship in a ship experience...including the Retreat sundeck, Luminae and the Lounge.  Yes it can be expensive, but we would probably opt for other ways to vacation without those amenities. 

We have cruised many times in all types of non-suite cabins, and frankly it's hard to go back once you've experienced the Suite Life.  We are blessed to be at a point in our life where we can justify the cost, and that beings said, I completely respect the decisions of others who decide it's not worth it to them.

4 hours ago, mnocket said:

It never fails to disappoint me how many cheerleaders will reflexively jump to side with the cruise lines against almost any complaint against the company. I don't know if Celebrity has the contractual right to change any or every aspect of their product after a customer has purchased it, or not. To me it really doesn't matter -  either way it's treating their customers wrong.  Something can be both legal and wrong. If the OP does indeed proceed with legal action, I hope they win - although I fear it will likely be throwing good money after bad. Still they have my support and gratitude for standing up against a company for doing wrong by their customers, because they know they can get away with it. It's sad to see so many side with the company🙁

It won't be too soon when we can stop reading these repetitive SS/no butler posts. The ironic part is that cruises continue to sell out well in advance, even as suite prices continue to rise.

People are "siding with the company" because we love cruising and we still find many reasons to patronize our preferred cruise lines.  When the negatives outweigh the positives, which apparently they have for some and haven't for most, people will stop posting here and move on.  Until then, people will continue to "side with the company".

14 minutes ago, prmssk said:

MSC Yacht Club is quite a bit less expensive than Oceania in my experience. Additionally, you are talking comparing a small ship to a large ship which won’t be the same experience. 

No, actually was asking why Oceania wasn't mentioned along with other small ships (I specifically mentioned Silversea and Regent).

Finding this thread to be very interesting.  I am wondering though why there aren't more mentions of Oceania as an alternative.  It seems to be a go-to line for many people I know who prefer the more upscale experience akin to Silversea or Regent.

2 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Sweet Caroline is forever spoiled for me when people started adding the 'so good, so good' refrain. It's annoying as hell. It was never like that back in the day. 

 

 

The ongoing, fun "appeal" to that song over time has become about the crowd participation aspect.

5 minutes ago, 563toM said:

I believe that cruisers move between the cruise lines as they all offer a small difference experience.  How many of us started on other cruise lines but haven't been on them in over 10 years ?  We started on NCL, have been on American Cruise Line, Princess and Royal Caribbean for many years. 

 

People change over the years and we are no longer interested in the Caribbean ports as all the ships go to the same ports.  Our interest is now in a peaceful cruise with really good food so we for now are enjoying Celebrity.  We just recently left RC and have three more cruises to complete and we don't think we will ever book another one due to the quality of the food served. I am glad that we have so many offerings to choose from which to make our decisions.

Speaking for myself...I have tried most major lines, but I prefer to be loyal to a brand so as to maintain better familiarity with the nuances of each line, and the "comfort" that provides.   That being said, I hope my upcoming 2 booked cruises with Celebrity show me I will be OK staying with them, but that is far from guaranteed...loyalty or not.

I guess I am in the minority, but I have not seen any cutbacks to be significant enough so as to ruin my vacation experience.  Things like fewer menu choices, waiting a little longer for a drink on occasion, missing one food item....none of that is significant enough for me to get all worked up over when I am on a cruise ship.  Of course I agree prices have gotten too high...particularly in the suites...and that is certainly a major consideration, but the other things mentioned, while less than ideal and disappointing, don't warrant us deciding not to cruise.  As others have said, others are complaining of the same things on other cruise line boards...so for me, Celebrity is still the best fit from an age, quality and ship size perspective.

1 minute ago, jelayne said:

We haven’t been getting them either.
 

Previously I could go to Manage Reservation and scroll to the bottom and the Move Up link was there.
I haven’t seen that on our recents cruises.  So I go to the website, search Move Up and you will find a link to put in your reservation number and the Move Up opportunity is there.  One caveat, not all TAs participate, including a large big box TA.

 

 

Thanks...as I said, I have made bids via the link you describe.  I assume if I am allowed to make bids, then my TA participates...otherwise I would think the move up site wouldn't recognize me with my name a reservation number.

I am just wondering why I haven't gotten the emails.

I wonder why I haven't gotten a moveup email on either of my last two cruises?  I am eligible and put in bids on both (last one I never got a response, current one I am still 50 days out).

I feel neglected for not getting the email though! 🙂

Customer service response letter aside, isn't it likely Celebrity believes most people who book Sky Suites do so for reasons that are more important to the cruiser than just the dedicated butler?  In other words, that those who book Sky Suites do so primarily for the overall Retreat perks and experience, and for the cabin itself, and don't really use the dedicated butler very much?

I can say from personal experience I used to book Crown Loft suites on  Royal's Oasis class ships because I loved the Suite Lounge/Coastal Kitchen, the suite sundeck, the cabin itself, and all of the other suite perks...and never once even thought about having a butler.  The concierge took care of most of my requests.

I assume this algorithm  factored into their calculations before making the changes.

56 minutes ago, maggie.1008 said:

We were on the Eclipse last week in a CS and Ronald was our Butler. Wonderful service!

We had Ronald (in a CS) in early October and he was very accommodating as well.

For my cruise this past October, my bids showed pending right up until my sail date.  No upgrade, no rejection.  Has that happened to others?

We stayed at the Majestic...very nice and great location.

Why do we expect people to be less rude on cruise ships than they are on land?  What the OP described is unfortunately no different than what we see on a daily basis in a coffee shop, in a mall, in airports...wherever.

We can't change the behavior of rude people...more rules likely won't work anyway.

Thanks all!  Very helpful.  The "Ocean Crossings" link in particular!

This is likely a dumb question...but when I search Celebrity's website and click on Repositioning (under Destinations) and leave the dates, duration, ships, etc. open, I only come up with 2.

Am I missing something?

On 12/2/2023 at 3:51 PM, niksmom630 said:

My bid fell flat 🙃 

max bid for sunset suite and sunset sky suite. 🤷🏼‍♀️

 

So here we are for the week….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curious...when did you learn your moveup bid was rejected?

On 12/2/2023 at 2:51 PM, billc23 said:

Totally different than the rooms we have stayed in at the Riverside. The tower section is new but I prefer the original hotel. If you are in the tower when you come down the elevators you are at the back of the hotel from my perspective. If you had to cross the street to the restaurant you exited from the back.  The front is on Los Olas as is the restaurant and bar. I did not realize that the rooms varied so much but the location can't be beat.

Agree.  I've stayed at the Riverside Hotel several times...never had a bad room.  And the location is what makes it very special.

15 hours ago, Dolebludger said:

I must confess that I don’t understand the matter of tipping in addition to that which is automatically added to the fare and the 20% that is added to the cost of various packages. I have never had auto tips removed from my bill, and can’t imagine how bad things would be to cause me to do so. But on the other hand, I can’t see tipping twice either.

Because it's simply a nice thing to do for kind and hardworking people, perhaps?

3 hours ago, ldubs said:

Pre-tipping is kind of a non-issue and falls under  "who cares" for me.  

Well thanks for "not caring" enough to reply! 🙂

I give them this at the beginning of the cruise: