Orator

Hope your DH recovers quickly and completely. Cash is always better than FCC and if offered I would take it. If FCC is offered I would say use it as quickly as possible. If you used a credit card to pay be sure to check with the credit card issuers to find out their policy.

The better question would be: What line do you take as you approach the registration desk? There is only one way to get into the ship at embarkation. Just follow the directions!

Celebrity is the best in their class, but I prefer the old Crystal. I'll wait for reviews of the new Crystal, but I would consider Viking and to a lesser extent Oceania.

I was a formerly loyal passenger with over 100 Celebrity cruises. I see many formerly loyal Celebrity passengers on other lines, especially Oceania and Viking. What are your plans to bring us back to Celebrity?

The "official " spokesperson used the name "Celebrity Cruiser" on Cruise Critic. I understand from an insider that the position was eliminated several years before Covid. IMHO: It would be a good public relations move to restore the position at this time.

Many years ago, long before LLP, Celebrity downgraded to menu. Beef Wellington was replaced by Chicken Wellington. Other costly items were replaced by less expensive. The Maitre 's complained to the Miami office that they were getting many complaints from passengers. The items were eventually restored. They will respond only when their choices result in a negative bottom line.

I wonder if anyone from Celebrity is reading the negative posts and wishes to respond?

I was also on Silhouette TA in October. I was in Aqua Class and thought that food and service in Blu was excellent. Captain George was wonderful, but the cruise did have a different feeling for us. We spoke to other long time Celebrity cruisers and they agreed. We've taken Viking and Oceania since and the Silhouette TA and I found Viking exceptional and Oceania disappointing.

Use Wrinkle Release. You could always put in the bathroom and turn the shower to hot. That seems to work better than sending them our for pressing. When I send my slacks out they seem to always come back with "tracks". The laundry has one day service for a extra charge. Normally takes two days.

If I book Aqua Class or above I must purchase AI even thought I have the premium internet and beverage package as a loyalty benefit. If a book a balcony I don't need to go AI. Celebrity should make an adjustment for peop[e who have benefits that cover all but gratuities. I enjoy. Aqua Class, but it makes no financial sense to book it.

To me it's not suites vs non suites, but the direction that Celebrity is taking is evidenced by the cuts and raising prices of especially suites. As I've said many times before: Celebrity needs to look at the profit margins and do what they can to increase them. Suites are quite pricy, but people who choose them are fairly happy with what they get. I expect people who pay more to get more. On the other hand, non suite passengers complain about the food in the MDR. They complain about extra fees for room service and extra servings of lobster. They complain about the menu choices in the MDR. Loyalty benefits have been cut which is a sign that loyalty is not important as attracting the high margin passengers .The question for me is the strategy the best for the corporation now and in the future? Time will tell!

The items I mentioned are included in every suite. Upper suites get even more.

If a suite guest is not feel special it’s because someone is not doing their job. It starts at embarkation and ends with disembarkation.and continues throughout the cruise with someone taking you through lines. Most businesses treat their “special “ customers special.

A private club. A private restaurant. Reserved seats for production shows and a butler. Isn’t that special treatment? You paid enough to be treated special.

Every cruise, even two parts of a B2B on the same ship are different so that one experience on one ship may not be the general rule. With that said, there is no doubt that there have been reductions in service and quality.

Sometimes called "a booze cruise" for good reason.

They are trying to reduce their debt by adding fees and cutting service. Survival is at stake! Their focus has become the high margin passenger and they've raised their price for Suites considerably. The loyalty program has suffered a number of cutbacks. IMHO: Celebrity is the best of their class, but not in the league of Viking. I preferred Viking to Oceania.

Accept the change in wording. Nothing is “free” on a ship.

They have guest performers. They brought in local singers and dancers in Barcelona and they were excellent. I would recommend Celebrity before the cutbacks. Ribeye has disappeared from the MDR menu and they are using lest costly proteins. Veal is not found as they substitute chicken. We had a PV2 so soft drinks were in the fridge on Viking. They had a self service laundry so no need to pay for laundry service. The specialty restaurants are priced very high at Celebrity. They are free on Viking.

I’m Zenith on Celebrity with over 100 cruises. I took the TA on Viking Neptune and found it far exceeds Celebrity in food and entertainment. It was a much better value for me. Read the Celebrity board and see how the cutbacks have been received.

I can understand the upgrades. They expect future earrings to increase as profit margins and the number of passengers increase. IMHO: The current policy of increasing prices and cutting quality may work in the short run, but I find many former Celebrity loyalists trying other lines as the true luxury lines get more price competitive. It is very difficult to get them back once they've decided to change their behavior.

Agree and thank you for your input.

We tried the old Crystal, Viking and Oceania last year and in January. Crystal was the best, but they have been acquired by A&F and Manfredi so I'll be looking for reviews. Viking, IMHO was better for us than Oceania. Speakers, entertainment and food were better to us on Viking.

Jim; I believe that RCL doesn't break down the earnings by lines (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Silversea, etc.), so it it difficult to know how specific segments are doing. The stock market is about the future and bookings appear to be strengthening and the cruise lines seem to be improving profitability be increasing margins.

In my opinion: The cuts will continue as long as the affect on the bottomline is positive. We might be entering a new age of cruising. Celebrity sent a message ban to the Zeniths that the Retreat/MC was due to Covid and many thought that it would be permanent. That turned out to be the case! I know of several cases when Suite passengers complained about Zeniths and Blue Chip Club members sharing their exclusive space. I must add that this was the vast minority of Suite passengers. This was the start of the process and it spread to other areas such as service, food and reduction of benefits.