Celebrity has gone sooo down hill

Well if the OP’s intent was to have fellow cruisers raising their voice in support of Celebrity, using an opposite point of view to trigger the the support movement!

 

I would say congratulations! Mission Accomplished! Cruisers still love the big X!!!

 

 

 

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Hear hear. We are 64 points from EPlus. We have sailed on most all the lines and keep coming back.

Well, I just stepped on board the beautiful Constellation for three weeks. I’m closing in on 300 days at sea, most of them on Celebrity. So far I have encountered an immaculately clean ship, a smiling and happy crew, including a former wonderful maitre d’, Laurence, and a CD who is new to me and took time to chat with me. So it doesn’t seem to me that things are going downhill.

Linda, is that Laurence who was in the Summit? We love her! My mother, sister and I had the joy of meeting her last year and she added to a sublime trip!

Tendering can be a pain, depending on the port. We have 10 X cruises with the last one on Eclipse last Oct/Nov and it was fantastic. We see no decline in service or quality. Yes, no more end of the cruise brunch, but that is not a big deal.

What I don't like about Celebrity is their price bundling. We don't want drink packages with high prices, so we book repos and transatlantic cruise with no bundling or go with Royal Caribbean that doesn't bundle.

Dunno why anyone would want to go to Lerwick anyway. Don't you watch the show Shetland? Seems there's a murder there every week;p

 

Up Helly Aa

That is odd, isn’t it? Just loke Dr. Blake Mysteries which takes place in a small Australian town, and they also have a murder per week! I tell ny wife that I would move if I lived there.

Tendering can be a pain, depending on the port. We have 10 X cruises with the last one on Eclipse last Oct/Nov and it was fantastic. We see no decline in service or quality. Yes, no more end of the cruise brunch, but that is not a big deal.

 

What I don't like about Celebrity is their price bundling. We don't want drink packages with high prices, so we book repos and transatlantic cruise with no bundling or go with Royal Caribbean that doesn't bundle.

I used to like the brunch; it was a nice change on one day of the cruise :).

Tendering can be a pain, depending on the port. We have 10 X cruises with the last one on Eclipse last Oct/Nov and it was fantastic. We see no decline in service or quality. Yes, no more end of the cruise brunch, but that is not a big deal.

 

What I don't like about Celebrity is their price bundling. We don't want drink packages with high prices, so we book repos and transatlantic cruise with no bundling or go with Royal Caribbean that doesn't bundle.

You do not have to purchase a bundled cruise on Celebrity but many do because it is generally a good value for options they would by anyway.

I guess it's all in perception, but I'd be curious to know what specific information they have to back up some of their claims.

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You do not have to purchase a bundled cruise on Celebrity but many do because it is generally a good value for options they would by anyway.

Yes, I am forced into the bundled price. Being a Senior or Elite or from my state makes no difference.

Since we are elite and enjoy the happy hour we spend little on alcohol on our cruises. We were on a Royal C cruise recently where the happy hour is from 4:30 to 8 and you can order drinks in the MDR before 8. We spend NOTHING on alcohol for the entire trip.

We don't by specialty coffee, bottle water or soda. A drinks package is of little value to us.

Yes, I am forced into the bundled price. Being a Senior or Elite or from my state makes no difference.

 

Since we are elite and enjoy the happy hour we spend little on alcohol on our cruises. We were on a Royal C cruise recently where the happy hour is from 4:30 to 8 and you can order drinks in the MDR before 8. We spend NOTHING on alcohol for the entire trip.

 

We don't by specialty coffee, bottle water or soda. A drinks package is of little value to us.

Can’t you select the $150 per person OBC or gratuities instead of the drink package?

What a missleading thread- when I read the headline I just though -oh my another one who jumped ship. Then i read the reason for his complain. The comment brought a lot of response. Almost amazing!

The post about the 11 year old was very very good and sooo true!

I left X ( after 25 something cruises with them) three years ago and moved to Cunard- but not for " Tendering Reasons" ! LOL!

Dunno why anyone would want to go to Lerwick anyway. Don't you watch the show Shetland? Seems there's a murder there every week;p

 

Up Helly Aa

Love that show!

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Love that show!

 

 

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I do too, but I’m amazed you get it in Texas :).

As a local Shetlander there is no local tenders when in Lerwick. All tenders come from the ships themselves.

There is a new 275m long quay in the North Harbour completed late 2016, and when the port authority gets around to deepening the approach channel more bigger liners should in therory be able to get alongside as opposed anchoring.

Long term there are desires to build a deep water cruise berth in the town centre (10m plus depth not to far from shore) but as ever it comes down to money.

Can’t you select the $150 per person OBC or gratuities instead of the drink package?

It is frequently not an option to pick the OBC and even if it is available, it only reduces the inflated price by $300, which doesn't make up the difference.

It is possible to book without bundling but you may need to use a decent high volume cruise agency. For example, we know of an agency that will often offer more than a dozen different prices for the same cabin. The prices vary depending on what amenities you want with your booking. It is usually possible to get a naked booking which includes nothing :). Folks that only book directly through a cruise line or perhaps look at only 1 or 2 agencies are simply reducing their options.

Hank

Does anyone else think the OP's post was a wind up? - interesting that they haven't come back on here to clarify their position

 

We've only done one cruise and it was on Solstice in March / April.

We had 3 tender ports and the tender process was great..... apparently the captain said if he can get 2800 people off the ship in under 3 hours then that's a good thing.

 

We thought the entertainment was fantastic - along with the food / service and that's why we've booked another cruise

 

I don't want to book a cruise on another cruise liner in case we are disappointed they don't meet the great experience we had on Solstice.

There is a reason that the OP has not returned: we Scots are proud of our Viking links.

Do not post any derogatory remarks about Lerwick.... or we'll climb into our long boats and be at your door before you can say, 'Pillage!'

The OP has already found this to be true!

There is a reason that the OP has not returned: we Scots are proud of our Viking links.

Do not post any derogatory remarks about Lerwick.... or we'll climb into our long boats and be at your door before you can say, 'Pillage!'

The OP has already found this to be true!

Yes, be afraid, very afraid... I once pronounced Lerwick as it is spelt to a Shetland Isles resident and was savaged:)

It is frequently not an option to pick the OBC and even if it is available, it only reduces the inflated price by $300, which doesn't make up the difference.

I am not sure why you are so unlucky to not find the OBC option when asked to chose one perk with the bundled pricing. (Big)

Anyone else not have the option of picking the OBC instead of the drink package?

As a local Shetlander there is no local tenders when in Lerwick. All tenders come from the ships themselves.

 

There is a new 275m long quay in the North Harbour completed late 2016, and when the port authority gets around to deepening the approach channel more bigger liners should in therory be able to get alongside as opposed anchoring.

 

Long term there are desires to build a deep water cruise berth in the town centre (10m plus depth not to far from shore) but as ever it comes down to money.

I really enjoyed the Lerwick area and met some very welcoming people. I just hope that the area doesn't sell out to tourism and loses its charm.

It is possible to book without bundling but you may need to use a decent high volume cruise agency. For example, we know of an agency that will often offer more than a dozen different prices for the same cabin. The prices vary depending on what amenities you want with your booking. It is usually possible to get a naked booking which includes nothing :). Folks that only book directly through a cruise line or perhaps look at only 1 or 2 agencies are simply reducing their options.

 

Hank

Hank,

My experience with booking our cruises is I like to book as soon as the cruise is announced. Many of our cruises are popular and our cabin of choice is gone if we wait even a week. When I check a few of the big box guys, my cruise is usually not even posted. When it is posted (perhaps 10% of the time), the benefits of going with the big box is usually a modest amount of OBC.

Sometimes you can book in the first few days once those itineraries are open at the best price, either bundled or unbundled. We do that. If we are then on a Celebrity cruise we check to see if we get a better overall bundled package on ship for that future cruise. Usually a lot more OBC. We are also used to sailing on RCCL with no bundles offered up front.