johhnnyt

FYI

I did find out that the Pick Your Perk for Choice Air ($600 credit to your choice air booking for 10+ day cruise), has to be used by October 6th.

 

So you have to purchase your airline tickets through choice air by October 6th or else you can pick one of the other pick your perk promotions

I went to book a Hawaii vacation cruise on Solstice last week that doesn't heppen till April 2015 , and noticed only 4 categories were showing ANY availability at all.

 

Did my research and found two groups had had reserved blocks of rooms. One a large medical convention of Canadian and American medical professionals, and the other a Travel Agency here in New York

 

I ended up booking it thrugh that travel agency, as they had about 10 categories of rooms available

MDR food is better

Rooms are better sized and more amenities (think AQ plus)

Demographics are probably Celebrity crowd +10 years

The day that cruise lines pull ships out of service for a 3% drop in cruise critic ratings is probably the same day rates go up a 100%. since it takes an enormous amount of money to 'pull the ship out of service' to freshen it up

The Celebrity Century will always have a special place in my heart, but not for the reasons most would think.

 

I know many of the officers on Celebrity felt doing your stint on Century was a rite of passage.

 

I did love the grandeur of its wooden decks, it was more luxury liner than a cruise ship, but it also has some great other memories for me.

 

I had booked the Century back in mid 1995, and had planned on it being a true booze cruise. About a year and a half before I was on the Cunard Countess, and still remember my bar tab was about $700 (and the cruise itself was $699 per person), so had planned on this trip on Century would be a repeat of that one.

Then Sobriety got in the way ;)

I think about late 1995 I finally had my first taste of sobriety in 20 years and decided it was the right path for me, but the cruise was already booked (non refundable) , what should I do? I talked to friends in the AA program, and many of them suggested I go, some said I shouldn't chance it. I decided to go. I think by the time I left I was only sober a few months, so I know it was risky.

The first day ,I don't think I left my room much, but the second day I made it to the AA meetings onboard. The people at those daily meetings helped me more than they would ever know. They watched out for me onboard and in port, gave me an encouraging word right when I felt I really needed it, and got me through that first critical period. The crew onboard that I shared my 'secret' with also helped me in every way possible. I still remember thinking to myself once I got onboard that I COULD drink, because no one here knows me, and I'll just start sobriety once I get home.

So glad I didn't listen to myself, and instead did what I knew needed to be done. and thank goodness for those anonymous strangers and ships crew that saved me from myself.

Now hear it is, almost two decades later, and having to say goodbye to a ship that has and will always have great memories for me. I'll miss the Century, but I'll always have its memories.

Office address is

Celebrity Cruises Inc.

1050 Caribbean Way

Miami, FL 33132

 

and email for customer service

contactmichael@celebrity.com

I agree 100%. I've been complaining about this, via telephone and email for three weeks now. The phone reps tell me to keep trying. The automated email response I get is they received mine and will address it soon. Three weeks isn't soon? These leads me to wonder how much they value their loyal customers after they get the booking, we are Elite Plus.

Other cruise lines don't seem to have this problem. Maybe one of their tech guys should come work for RCL.

Where I worked, they were committed to "Total Customer Satisfaction". This means the whole experience with dealing with them, not just the product or service supplied. This is not Total Customer Satisfaction!!

 

At least I'm not alone on this, was able to add them a week or two ago, but haven't been able to 'retrieve' them since

 

Not that I need it for anything, my next cruise isn't until November, but always a bit frustrating when something continues to not work. Hopefully they get it figured out soon

You guys are probably already aware of it but saw this notice when I went to look up my current booking

Earn Double Club Points if you travel solo in a stateroom (as of July 1, 2014)

 

I say it's about time, since most of us pay pretty close to double the pp rate, that they finally at least give us this. Thanks Celebrity:D

Was on Millie Last Week....Looks Fine

Even carpeting looks good, didn't see any signs of any run down spaces

Can you elaborate on what you mean by "...aqua sites are becoming sky suites..."?

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

 

The part about Aqua suites becoming sky suites make sense

Both are really not suites, just larger cabins (300 ft2) as opposed to a normal cabin 195 ft2, so makes sense to make them the same category

[quote name='ghstudio']For a little less than $30 a night pp, you can buy the ultimate dining package (eat in a specialty restaurant every night of your cruise) which will give you (back):

To return the MDR to its former grandeur, cruise fares will need to rise.
To return white-glove service, cruise fares will need to rise.
To offer table side steak Diane, cruise fares will need to rise.
To add fresh floral arrangements back to the tables cruise fares will need to rise.

Wait....that's less than the cost of the drink package which was never included....hmmm! Maybe we need a 1-2-3-4-5 package :)

So tell me again why the fares have to rise :confused:[/quote]
[IMG]http://cdni.wired.co.uk/1240x826/k_n/Like.jpg[/IMG]

[quote name='Happy Cruiser 6143'][FONT="Verdana"][SIZE="3"]I'll bet you have an awesome cruise!

Sorry about all the negativity on the Celebrity board lately. It hasn't always been that way. I hope people get it out of their systems soon and we can return to sharing our experiences to help make cruising better for everyone.[/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]


[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][SIZE="5"]BRAVO!!![/SIZE][/COLOR]
Life is too short to spend it on the complaint line

FYI

 

Captain : Konstantinos Patsoulas

 

Hotel Director : Niina Hautaniemi

 

Cruise Director: Steve Gayda

 

Chief Engineer: Konstantinos Zannikos

 

Guest Relations Manager: Touch Ung

 

Food & Beverage Manager: Zafer Colak

 

Executive Chef: Ronald Sioson

 

Enrichment Speakers: Marshall Stern (Buddhism and Improv), Nancy Howland Walker (Improv Comedy), and Sparky Hofmann (Destination Speaker)

Why do I get the feeling that some on here won't like anything Celebrity comes up with, unless it is "Sailing like you did 20 years ago".

 

 

:D I think you might be on to something Watson

I prefer Forget Everything, leave all the worlds problems at home at just forget and relax

I'm guessing the board wants to have a replacement for Fain, but also know that they will prob have to carry Fain out before he retires on his own, but then agin one never knows

Between the change in suite perks and the activity staff change around glad to see them trying new things. I'm sure some will work and some won't. I know every time I've been in a suite, I barely even used the butler, so doubt I would use the dedicated lounge, but I know to some folks they need that love that extra pampering (and have paid for it), so probably good ROI for Celebrity since the dedicated concierge can upsell many of the onboard services to the guests

I agree...I always sail solo and normally it is double. BUT I have seen

some Tuesday Specials with less SS.....BUT you have to sail on those

particular dates offered. So if the dates/itineraries don't work for you?

Then it doesn't help. I stopped looking at the SS years ago though.

I look at the total price and if it is within my budget. The SS is part of

the price.

 

Very rare to see solo rates on Celebrity, best I have seen was 180% on some cruises, but even that is rare

 

That one cruise website based in the UK used to show some good single fares for Celebrity, but lately only seen them for Pricesss, RCL, Cunard, etc, but nothing lately for Celebrity

Looooove Alexander! Had such fun with him last year when he was the CD on our cruise to Bermuda on the Summit!

 

I met him a few years back when he was activity's manager on Constellation and then again right after he was made cruise director on the Summit. One of the more senior Hotel Directors told me how impressed he was with Alex, he said at first he came across as a bit cocky, but really stepped up to the plate to get people involved with what goes on onboard ship, and considered him one of the best that Celebrity had.

I've never received one either. Did get one on free upgrade to a CS on arrival once though. I'm guessing they receive so many calls REQUESTING upgrades that they don't really need to call anyone that often. I'm sure its a rare occurence to have them soliciting upgrades like they used to 5 or so years ago

I know two or three trips ago, when I checked in at the tent on pier, they sent down an officer to escort me directly onboard, he brought me directly to meet the Hotel Director, and then he walked me to my cabin.

 

I think that trip I had a sky suite, so guessing its all at the discretion of the hotel director

You are very, very wrong. My 20-30-40 something friends and I are all loving cruising on Celebrity. Not all of us want a playground, slides, ropes, most of us find VIP Bottle service a bit tacky and cheesy, many of us AVOID CARNIVAL AT ALL COST! We want cool DJ music, fun modern music at the pool, decent drinks, reasonable entertainment, comfortable cabin, a busy bustling martini bar, and just good service and value for money. We enjoy a formal night or 2 to get out our best 'duds' and have a nice evening. Celebrity has been providing that in spades, and each time I board another cruise, they are getting things even closer to what we love about vacationing.

 

Well said, however I will say that I have never sailed Carnival so I don't judge either way in regards to those comparisons. I find this a very interesting thread, as it really parallels what is happening in the classical music market. The old guard tends to want the same old tried and true Brahms concerts while many of the younger generation want to see more John Adams, mixed media, and more living composers get some stage time. It's a constant battle. The young professionals aren't the ones donating all of the money, yet if the orchestra programs don't get us hooked now, there will be no stable audience left for them in 50 years. I wish Celebrity would do a better job recognizing, as the poster I quoted did, that our generation does not fit into stereotypical boxes, just like 50+ cruisers don't either. I'm 27 and a classical musician, as is my husband. We love opera, jazz, among many other genres INCLUDING the house music that was described as being too loud at the pool. While of course X should listen to their loyal base, they are absolutely right to try and bring in new customers. They also need to recognize that those of us who are newbees probably chose Celebrity not only for the free beverage package (guilty :o) but also for their reputation for refinement, quality, and service. IMHO, build on that and offer variety. By all means play that house music, but maybe not so loud, and don't forget to keep offering the chamber ensembles and latin dance night at Revelations:D

 

Beautiful analogy!:D

I never met anyone that embraces change, but like the quote says "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change."

Am I the only one that finds it hard to imagine that a Cruise Director would do this? Doesn't really sound like supporting the crowd that has always been there for them.

 

" During the course of this the Cruise Director made it very clear that if the loyal, traditional Celebrity customer did not like this direction, they should find another line to cruise "

 

I'm sure that was the posters opinion, how based in fact it was rather than his own perceptions, no one knows.

I think it's a good idea

Not the loud music, I could care less whether they have it or not, if its loud I go somewhere else or move away from the source

 

The smart thing I think they are trying to do is expand their demographic base, it will take some trial and error, and experimentation, but I think its important start to build brand loyalty with a crowd that will around 20-30-40 years, as well as support the crowd that has always been there for them

 

Celebrity is smart enough to take notice on what the crowd likes and doesn't, and more importantly how it affects sales

As we all know, just because it's in the contract doesn't make it fair or reasonable.

 

But those are the terms and conditions you agree to when you book a cruise

" just because it's in the contract doesn't make it fair or reasonable"

You might not like it but it's not an unusual event in the cruise industry, especially a year out

 

Had the same thing happen two years ago, cruise we were booked on went to a charter of country music people, so we rebooked a similar itinerary a week before and got some OBC, no big deal