kidz_rn

“Such is life on the high seas.”  HAHA

The question is: “how high”?

On 4/1/2023 at 10:14 PM, manders175 said:

Debarkation was in my opinion very unorganized. We were cleared to start that process around 8am. They started with people who had early morning flights that could get off first. Then they started calling you off by decks. 

Hard to believe anyone would pay for round-trip airfare to take a 2-night cruise. Perhaps these were folks who added days in Freeport and sailed back on a later cruise?

On 3/28/2023 at 2:19 AM, C4HCG said:

Isn’t that the same with most corporations and why wouldn’t it be. It certainly rings true where I work - replacing “cruisers” with “customers”. And what do you think is particularly wrong with that as a mission statement? I think it’s perfectly valid.

This is Celebrity’s “About” statement, which is pretty much synonymous with a Mission Statement:

Celebrity is a Relaxed Luxury℠ resort at sea where guests can sail on the world's best places to the world's best places. Visit up to 8 destinations in one sailing, dine in a new restaurant at every meal, rest in luxurious spaces designed to the last detail for comfort, find your well being miles away at sea, all with the world at your service. Our fifteen award-winning ships offer unique experiences in more than 300 destinations on all seven continents 

Not sure how this really differentiates them from any other mass market cruise line

Perseverance pays off. Yay!

On 3/26/2023 at 3:48 PM, jagoffee said:

I check the airline direct pricing right before the final payment is due.  If I am not saving money, I will book directly with the airline and cancel my FBC.

This is great advice that I will follow. Thanks!

BTW, there was negligible price difference between AA direct-booking and FBC for our round-trip PHL-LAX flights for our Oct California Coastal cruise on Eclipse.

12 minutes ago, odyssyus said:

Lets be clear. The 'Infinite Balcony' is not a balcony.  Don't let Celebrity gaslight you.  A balcony is a 'platform projecting from the wall of a building' or in this case, a ship, usually fronted with a railing.  You can still be a fan of an extra room with a sliding window, but let's be realistic and not call it a balcony 🙂

Let's be even clearer. We can play semantic games all day (and night) long, but who really cares? In fact, Celebrity calls it an Infinite Veranda (not balcony). Look THAT up in your Funk & Wagnalls! 

8 hours ago, Pinboy said:

The IV is not a balcony at all--- (ok, ok, it's my opinion )

It's a 3 ft extension to the room with a small table ( not big enough for a plate with a hot smoked meat sandwich, fries, diet coke ,and a dill pickle ), 2 small chairs (to hang a wet bathing suit on to dry ), and a window that opens.  

 

Yes, it your opinion and you are entitled to it. 

My opinion is that when the window is closed, it's an air-conditioned sun room with a floor-to-ceiling window that extends the usable stateroom space by 3 ft; and when it's open, you can experience the sights, smells, and sounds of the open sea the same as a traditional balcony. Best of both worlds!

4 hours ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

They do have a smaller much more obscure placard in the Retreat that they set out in the morning. There's always "that guy" the group leader that wakes up at 4am to commander the group prime seats. That will never change. 

Sadly, I agree

On 3/20/2023 at 4:58 PM, Redtravel said:

Guests pay. The more guests, the more profit.  Celebrity is not what it was before the pandemic.  Accept or move on.

Is there no middle ground between accept or move on?

I learned in marketing class that every company needs a mission statement, and then needs to follow it.

Right now, X's mission statement seems to be "Try to be everything to all cruisers of all demographic groups, while simultaneously trying to offend as few as possible, to maximize profits for as long as we can."

On 3/8/2023 at 10:52 AM, mz-s said:

People who care about having a nice vacation would be wise to look elsewhere.

Thanks for the advice. We were considering Carnival 'cause it sails a 12-nighter out of Baltimore in Winter '24, but now, nevermind

"Premium Economy" gets the award for Oxymoron of the Week  😆

Prime Rib and Filet are not optional?

Spaghetti at night? This is farcical!
    The guests all complained
    This is all quite insane

Do you think we are sailing on Carnival?
 

The itinerary for my Oct. 15th round-trip LA Pacific Coastal cruise on Celebrity Eclipse says that the ship is scheduled to depart San Francisco at 11:59 pm on Day 4. I have never seen that as a departure time in 20 years of cruising. If that's correct, why that strange and specific time?

On 2/21/2023 at 1:22 PM, chisoxfan said:

We are loading up on time shares, cruise stocks, and crypto currencies in our retirement. 

Good luck with that

On 2/21/2023 at 1:08 PM, mcrcruiser said:

When it comes to prices of any commodity, the law of supply & demand comes into focus .Should the prices be too high for any product or service, then that product or service will sit on the shelves until the pricing is driven down . Not hard to understand

I agree that in its simplest form (which you described), the Law of Supply and Demand is not hard to understand, but, as it true in many things in life, the devil is in the details. For example, there is also the economic concept of elasticity. (Look it up on Wikipedia.) Choosing to cruise on Celebrity regardless of significant recent price hikes indicates inelasticity. Explanations include high disposable income, brand loyalty, pent-up demand, low desirability of alternatives -- and even addictiveness ☺️

Just returned from b2b on Beyond, had the AI package. For comparison purposes with Cruise Only, drop the Gratuities component, since you pay that anyway, regardless of AI vs CO.

Having said that, the Classic Bev component was not worth it for us, since we are not big alcohol consumers, and used it mostly for specialty coffees and soft drinks. The included Wi-Fi is the "Basic" version, which we found to be spotty, unreliable, and did not support Audio FaceTime on our iPhones to other iPhone users at home. Plus, the Wi-Fi is for ONE device per person at a time; i.e., if you have both an iPhone and an iPad, you are constantly switching Wi-Fi between them.

Per DCPIV, choosing AI adds $80 pp/night, so that's +$1120 for a 7-night cruise; then subtract gratuities ($224) = $896 for bev + wi-fi. That's your decision point vs. separate component purchase, or no package = pay per drink + gratuity and daily wi-fi as needed (e.g., sea days)

Q:  Does the MDR serve crabs?

A:  The MDR serves EVERYONE!  😆 😂 🤣

RE: Poster who said YAGE (Yet Another Grand Exit):

Yes, it was a rude comment, but I think the point is: Those of us who read these boards regularly don't really want to hear from totally disgruntled cruisers who say "I'll never sail XYZ Cruise Line again!"

We're all willing to read constructive, critical* comments, but leave off the "grand exit" chest-thumping.

* Look up the dictionary definition: It does not necessarily mean NEGATIVE comments (e.g., critical thinking)

On 2/19/2023 at 6:22 PM, High on the Seas said:

Happy cruising to those with bigger wallets.

Well put !!

2 hours ago, NevadaCruiser2023 said:

ISYR

OK IGU PTUWIM *

* Okay I give up. Please tell us what it means

I like your catchy topic title. It's like click bait! 😄

The food is sub-par and the portions are SO SMALL!!  😀 😆 🤣

7 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

There's a definitive answer. The bifold doors are cosmetic and have no function whatsoever other than it create an illusion of a separate room. No more, no less. There's only one person on cruise critic that seems to think they know something that is wrong. Why they continue to spread lies id beyond me. 

SOURCE: lifewellcruised dot com

"When the veranda window is open, the air conditioning won’t work. This can lead to the cabin getting hot and humid on Caribbean and other hot weather cruises. While this can be annoying, we’ve experienced the same thing in traditional balcony cabins. On most newer cruise ships the air conditioning will turn off when the balcony doors are open. Tip: If the separator doors are closed, the AC will work."

So which is it? 

On 2/16/2023 at 2:12 AM, gkbiiii said:

How about wasting billions with new ships they don't need, while not improving the guest experience on their current fleet!  This is a quick way, to bankruptcy liquidation.

Just disembarked from Beyond last week. Ship sailed at 100% capacity. X appears to be heading toward profit nirvana, not bankruptcy liquidation.

18 hours ago, mitz18 said:

Well we can agree to disagree then as I checked & double checked and there were no sensors on the accordion doors. And when the window was open and the accordion doors were closed, the A/C still did NOT work.  But maybe your room was special.

Why is this so hard to resolve? Can't we get a definitive answer from Celebrity or even the CC Board Admin?