kruzerci

3/10 quality and service 5/10 selection. Very poor now. Low quality and cheap carbs. 

On 8/17/2023 at 2:12 PM, KEG21552 said:

According to some, it is a giant floating disaster with terrible food, too crowded (ya think - with 6,000 passengers?) and generally in terrible shape and unenjoyable.

 

Five years ago, I loved these ships and would have wholeheartedly disagreed. 
 

After 5 sailings this year, one on Allure, I would agree with the quoted assessment. The bottom has really fallen out in terms of food, clientele, and ship maintenance/modernization. The only RC I have booked is Utopia for a 3 night inaugural season. 

Have seen the green flash once off the coast of Mexico. Always love looking for the flying fish in the deep Caribbean. Can usually find them in the southern Caribbean on the way to and from the ABC islands. Have rarely seen them farther north. 

Pathetic on Royal Caribbean. Truly pathetic. 

On 3/7/2023 at 8:30 PM, CuseJeff44 said:

I completely forgot I posted that. The waiter on our last cruise was VERY pushy asking for an extra tip. Laying deep guilt trips about how his salary was cut and he needs tips to make up for it etc. I recall being pretty uncomfortable and I now recall posting it. It was one of the reasons that we strongly considered bailing on cruising altogether, but eventually decided to just try a different line. Based on the comments above I look forward to trying Celebrity.

 

I apologize for bothering anyone with my post here. It was really more about trying to see what the norm was on Celebrity. I appreciate the info received. 

Don’t feel like you need to apologize to anybody on here. Many look for a reason to attack for posting anything they may not agree with. 

21 hours ago, zitsky said:

Last I checked we were talking about vaping.  Do you want to change the subject?

22 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

You can smell a gummy?  

Marijuana vape has no marijuana smell. Most are unscented.

It’s a very good ship she’s just gotten older and Royal Caribbean food across the board has become very poor quality. With those expectations, you should be fine. 

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

It’s a beautiful ship.  No one can explain to me why they’re taking a brand new ship and throwing it to the Caribbean.

Seriously? The Caribbean is the most popular cruising destination. They are trying to make a grand appearance and are following the money. They clearly think they can make more money long term putting her there. 
 

I am disappointed also as I was going to be on her next summer, but I am not remotely surprised. 

30 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

This post seems to have gotten buried in amongst all the Coco cay business.  Can it possibly be true ?

Highly doubtful. They are releasing Ascent and Icon OTS with minimal if any changes to infinite verandas. They would have incorporated the changes pre launch if they were already scheduling overhauls. 

Great move to keep two ships in Caribbean. Finally I choice I can support!

1 minute ago, Charles4515 said:

Take a look at the screenshot in post #47. 

You can tell when they don’t want something to be true, they won’t accept it 😆

Just now, OysterD said:

Is your guess...or you know something for sure?

 

I'm hoping not, and at the very least change the name because 'perfect day' sounds utterly cheesy and the whole concept to me sounds more like a hellish day! 

The email is a twist on words. “Tomorrow’s going to be a Perfect Day”. It’s definitely about Cococay. 

32 minutes ago, cruisestitch said:

Still no email here.  I wonder why not?

None here either. I get emails for other peoples sailings but not mine, some captains club emails but not this. They’re a mess. 

38 minutes ago, HMR74 said:

A secret on hamburger vs steak.

 

The government reports inflation monthly, and our social security is based on that inflation number

Its significantly understated but why?

Its not really an inflation number but a cost of living number.

That means, and this happens, when a filet gets too expensive the government assumes people moved down to a cheaper cut of beef and then move fown to hamburger.

 

It in their eye the public changes to checken or pork, or Sea bass to talapia

And thats how they keep the inflation doen. A couple of entitles  redo the inflation as if they did not do this and both come up with inflation being double what the government reported.

Arthur Burns was fed chair under President Carter and to him the inflation number seemed to high so he just changed it with a pencil.

 

now its all about substitutes  and product improvements  whether you want them or not., eg, you buy a car the first year seat belts came out--it costs more however it has seat belts so they can say no price inflation. But then again the car costs more .

They can do anythign to change the prices including changing weighting.

 

In any event sometimes you just want a good burger even though you know you paid for a full meal. Do you know if you are getting prime, choice or select or McDonalds quality.

There are so many ways to game this it is amazing .

But with comouters the cruis elines know statistically what seniors cost them and what kids cost them and everythign in between.

 

And they are refining it all the time and the answer on equinox tests wil be if they can get away with lowering standards they will.

 

I personally do not need to pay for the Beyond/Ascent  type ship but higher pricing has trickled down to S class.

The cruise business is a tough busienss, but I have confidence mgt wil continue to find ways to screw it up.

 

If I was a top manager in thebusiness, I woudl want to somehow learn what the effect on cruising would be if stock and bond portfolion and 401k's declined by 50%. Would customers be nonchalant over booking suites?

 

Or if banks had a big problem, bigger than the March liquidity problem caused by a run on banks, and cash and CDs could not be withdrawn from banks  like what happened in Greece and Italy in 2008. That would mean we could not pay the balance in full at day 90.

 

But don't ask me and call me a debbie downer, as I only did that sort of questioning for 30 years, and I am getting  quite careful now with my assets.

 

If the cruise lines need to generate more or better cash flow, ask why? And How. And what if they do not.

 

Anyway, I am done but thats how I think.  I do not want to leave myself open for a catastrophic result.

 

 

 

???

15 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

They might be announcing a much requested overhaul with the Captains Club.  Celebrity may introduce new tiers that will include names like Diamond, Diamond Plus, and Pinnacle Club.  Wouldn't that be perfect.

Doubtful. This announcement is going to be all about Perfect Day. 

8 minutes ago, cyntil8ing said:

Looks like there is only one cruise, a six day on Reflection in July for next summer right now.

 

Good find. I would think this just about confirms Reflections itineraries next summer are being modified to accommodate Cococay stops. 

14 minutes ago, DC1andDC2 said:

Unbelievable.....in about 6+ months I have watched Celebrity spiral down from a top-notch line that hovers just below a luxury line (which BTW is why they have done so well over the years) to hovering just above the Carnivals, Royal Caribbean and NCL lines.  What a shame and I think I will have to stick with HAL who seems to be cashing in on the mistakes that Celebrity seems focused on.  HAL seems to be going in the other direction and will attract many folks who are disappointed in Celebrity's strategic plan (or lack of). 

It’s pretty clear they have no idea what what direction they are trying to take the line in and they’re throwing darts at the board hoping something sticks and make them a pile of money.
 

“Modern luxury” but cutting all the things that made it luxurious, advertising an upscale adult atmosphere but sailing to a private island built on water parks and thrills, expensive pricing but cutting back service and food. 
 

Everything they’re doing is contradictory to their advertisements and brand. 
 

I can see the direction they are going- the big question is why? They have Royal Caribbean already. Why have a 2.0?

32 minutes ago, Octavias said:

Am I the only one who emailed (days ago) and has not gotten a response?  I didn’t even get a canned “thank you for your message” response. 

I didn’t get any response until their request for a time to call. 
 

Based on the posts here, they appear to be going in reverse order, with more recent emails getting responses before the earlier emails. 

Ok let me get this straight they now are imitating Royal Caribbean- Cococay, dining menu, cutbacks, etc. 

Why are we paying a premium so sail on smaller ships that are turning into the Royal Caribbean Walmart experience? For an adult experience? The short cruise market and Cococay will eliminate that real quick. So???

3 minutes ago, Susanb10567 said:

If I wanted to go to Coco Cay I would have continued sailing Royal instead of switching to Celebrity. I was looking for a different experience. I hope they don’t continue to diminish the product at Celebrity…

Underway as we speak 

3 minutes ago, cw2go said:

 

 

Not to be argumentative but how is this port any different than any other in the Caribbean? I've seen 16k in Cozumel and St Maarten in a single day? Those beaches are packed!

 

Honestly looking for your perspective? 

 

Patty 

Cococay is an absolutely tiny island. And there is nowhere else to go since it is secluded. That’s the difference. 

1 hour ago, Spurs Fans said:

I just received an email from Diana Dolphin (yes, that’s her real name) 😊 asking me to call her.  

I received one also. Frankly I put all my comments in the email. Why do I want to call and discuss further? 

4 minutes ago, Cruise Junky said:

Don’t forget to add in the 2 gargantuan of the seas that hit pretty much daily. 

No kidding- at least one Oasis class virtually every day. Sometimes two. The rows of beach chairs are 10 deep at times. Not even enjoyable anymore unless you get out there at 7am.  

37 minutes ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

Celebrity already is/will become a two class cruise line. One class is the Retreat which will attempt to continue the classic Celebrity experience. The other class is everything else (Aquaclass being on the edge of the two), which will be more like Royal Caribbean - removing dishes in the MDR and making dishes that used to be free a surcharge.

 

The point is to make Celebrity cater to a younger demographic that only cruises once a year or once every few years. The less often someone cruises, the more they spend per cruise - the only thing that Royal corporate cares about (making as much money per cruise as possible). Gen X will cruise less often than Baby Boomers in general. Millennials will cruise even less often. The market in the future will no longer be in loyalty but in less frequent guests who spend more per cruise.

Royal Caribbean is a two tier line also now with the white class.

It seems like they’re having an identity crisis with Celebrity- premium but not really much more premium

than Royal anymore, innovative but less innovative than Royal, adult oriented but trying to attract families and going to Cococay. Make it make sense. They had two distinct product lines, why mesh them into the same product with different ships now?

1 minute ago, TrueCruiseaholic said:

I was on a ship when Laura was onboard. The information from the crew was consistent with these observations - the goal is to make Celebrity more like Royal over time. Going to Coco Cay is a continuation of this process.

I don’t understand the point of that. Why have two similar lines under the same umbrella?