Elite Social hour changing?

[Crazy Cruzer]

I think the bigger issue is that some of the Elites don't feel Elite enough and feel like they deserve even more than the other Elites.

 

I'd hate to be Celebrity and have to deal with the loyalty ego dilemma.

 

:rolleyes:

 

Tom

 

You underlings jut don't understand us!

[SHill64]

I don't mean to jump into the middle of your disagreeable disagreement, but I bet the parties have a lot of costs besides the cost of drinks. I bet the labor cost exceeds the material cost by a bunch. Plus, you've got the person passing around appetizers, you are tying up the room that could be used for selling drinks to everyone during the prime sail away times, etc.

 

Readers Digest answer. The employees are being paid a salary during their labor contracts, so the labor cost is a non-issue. Actually helps them in regards to tips. I give cash tips at this gathering every night as do many others I know. As for the appetizers, everything is recycled on a cruise ship. I'm sure some of the ingredients were from earlier in the day. Again, food cost, like liquor, are soooo low you'd be amazed. The lines implement a fuel surcharge to the cruise fare price when the price of West Texas crude over a certain price per barrel, not when food prices rise.

 

SDT

[SHill64]

There is some marketing advantage in having the party. The host can do a lot of smoozying about future cruises and others on staff can get in their two cents in the name of "honoring guests", but that could also be done in a once a cruise event where the Captains Club members could be invited.

 

Tom, I don't waht to be perceived as arguementive, but how many Celebrity cruises have you been on? EVERY Celebrity cruise we've been on and almost all the other lines we've been on, have a "once a cruise event" where Celebrity does honor the person or couple that has sailed with them the most. It's usually at an event called the Captain's Cocktail Party. For us, the voucher is a nice jesture, but we prefer the atmosphere at the cocktail hour parties. Half the time, we buy our drinks while socialising, as they do not offer what we normally drink. That's where the tipping comes in play! Same server + generous tip equals Seagrams VO and Sprite! :D

[mpbmark]

Tom, I don't waht to be perceived as arguementive, but how many Celebrity cruises have you been on? EVERY Celebrity cruise we've been on and almost all the other lines we've been on, have a "once a cruise event" where Celebrity does honor the person or couple that has sailed with them the most. It's usually at an event called the Captain's Cocktail Party. For us, the voucher is a nice jesture, but we prefer the atmosphere at the cocktail hour parties. Half the time, we buy our drinks while socialising, as they do not offer what we normally drink. That's where the tipping comes in play! Same server + generous tip equals Seagrams VO and Sprite! :D

 

VO & 7. Hmmm. One of my favorites when I can't find a decent wine. On my last cruise, I was able to get this without paying but tipped well in advance. ;)

[Montana]

Take away my alcohol but not my Internet minutes. Yikes.

[baldercash]

Readers Digest answer. As for the appetizers, everything is recycled on a cruise ship. I'm sure some of the ingredients were from earlier in the day.

SDT

You are incorrect as food is not re-purposed.

I have asked this question of Head Chiefs and as you stated food cost are low but because food prep is so controlled and monitored.

Food is cooked and prepared for the specific occasion it is rare that the volume is calculated incorrectly.

On the odd occasion a left over roast may be used for sandwich meat but it is not planned for.

Left overs are ground up and purged into the sea as fish food.

[SHill64]

VO & 7. Hmmm. One of my favorites when I can't find a decent wine. On my last cruise, I was able to get this without paying but tipped well in advance. ;)

 

I drink Seagrams Gold at home, but rarely find it out in a restaurant/bar and never on a ship. :confused:

[MVPinBoynton]

We paid the fee on our first Celebrity cruise in April 1998. Worth every penny.:)

[curtdesilets]

Especialy given the fact that concierge or higher counts for 2, as do longer cruises. They definitely have a problem if several hundred Elites are on board for a cruise.

 

Our last cruise, however, had very few Elites, and the cocktail hour was quite intimate (Century out of Vancouver last year)

 

I think it depends on the sailing how they need to handle this dilema.

[SHill64]

Especialy given the fact that concierge or higher counts for 2, as do longer cruises. They definitely have a problem if several hundred Elites are on board for a cruise.

 

Our last cruise, however, had very few Elites, and the cocktail hour was quite intimate (Century out of Vancouver last year)

 

I think it depends on the sailing how they need to handle this dilema.

 

I agree. The average couple can be at 9 credits in as little as three cruises. I think this why Celebrity is ready to make a change to their system.

 

The last couple of transatlantics we have sailed on, there have been 900+ Elites onboard. Celebrity has the cocktail party in the Sky Lounge. Of course there was never all 900 Elites in there at the same time and it's always a great time. My wife & I and our group of friends eat in Blu at 8-8:30 pm, so we usually stay for the entire party. But most are either there for the first hour or the second hour. Never feels crowded.

[Jenna109]

We really enjoyed our evening meeting in Michaels Club on the Constellation this year - with an excellent host who made time to chat to everyone. We then did the Transatlantic on the Eclipse when drink cards were given - not quite the same. However, it would seem that certain cruises are VERY popular with Elite guests and the only way to deal with this number is with drink tickets BUT please Celebrity do not drop the usual evening meeting if low numbers allow.

[Kevnzworld]

I agree. The average couple can be at 9 credits in as little as three cruises. I think this why Celebrity is ready to make a change to their system.

 

The last couple of transatlantics we have sailed on, there have been 900+ Elites onboard. Celebrity has the cocktail party in the Sky Lounge. Of course there was never all 900 Elites in there at the same time and it's always a great time. My wife & I and our group of friends eat in Blu at 8-8:30 pm, so we usually stay for the entire party. But most are either there for the first hour or the second hour. Never feels crowded.

 

I agree. On many cruises, Elites make up 30-40% of the total, and that percentage is growing. AQ has allowed for an extra point for many passengers which is also a factor.

All reward systems are tiered , and Celebrity's needs to be so as well. It gives frequent cruisers something to aspire to. Higher levels and more perks.

[mpbmark]

....The last couple of transatlantics we have sailed on, there have been 900+ Elites onboard. Celebrity has the cocktail party in the Sky Lounge. Of course there was never all 900 Elites in there at the same time and it's always a great time. My wife & I and our group of friends eat in Blu at 8-8:30 pm, so we usually stay for the entire party. But most are either there for the first hour or the second hour. Never feels crowded.

 

How refreshing to hear an actual account of an Elite party that doesn't complain about overcrowding. There are always options to perceived overcrowding i.e. open up another lounge. RCCL did that in the past and it worked just fine. Thanks for bringing a little sanity to this thread.

[SHill64]

How refreshing to hear an actual account of an Elite party that doesn't complain about overcrowding. There are always options to perceived overcrowding i.e. open up another lounge. RCCL did that in the past and it worked just fine. Thanks for bringing a little sanity to this thread.

 

Mark, don't get me wrong. There were probably an average of 300-400 people in the lounge at one time and not everyone had seats, but we gave our seats to women and the older folks and us "young" guys;) stood. I like not having a seat. Mike (Wine-O) and I are usually pretty popular at these parties and we just float around and mingle! :D

[ghstudio]

One problem we're seeing more and more is that even if the room is not full, the number of servers is not enough to handle the load. On the Millenium, there was no bartender...everything had to be made in back and brought out by waiters. Clearly it was cost control....either saving by reducing the number of waiters, or saving by serving less drinks. We resolved this problem with a golden handshake with one of the waitresses, but that's not the way the event is supposed to run.

[mpbmark]

Mark, don't get me wrong. There were probably an average of 300-400 people in the lounge at one time and not everyone had seats, but we gave our seats to women and the older folks and us "young" guys;) stood. I like not having a seat. Mike (Wine-O) and I are usually pretty popular at these parties and we just float around and mingle! :D

 

Still, you made do without complaining. After all, this whole party thing is a perk which X doesn't have to provide. That they do is terrific. That they are planning some changes, not so terrific. I hope they do a better job than RCCL but time will tell.

 

We are cruising with Mike on the next 2 cruises and looking forward to his insight on wine.

[grandpaiscruising]

I just canceled my Princess Hawaii cruise and booked the same cruise on the Celebrity Century. I will let the party continue while we still have it. To my surprise I got a CC cabin on the Century for less than Princess wanted for a balcony guarantee. :o

 

 

 

Celebrity Century 10/22/13 Hawaii, HAL 56 days, RCCL 104 days, NCL 28 days, Princess 214 days, Royal 14 days, Cunard 49 days, Celebrity 16 cruises.

[mpbmark]

You're absolutely right. Still what else can be said about the elite stuff? No one really knows anything about what they are going to do.

[ORV]

No scotch today, had too much with company here at the lake over the weekend. Recovering today.

 

Hopefully we'll cruise together again in the future. To keep the post on topic I'm certainly looking forward to our Solstice cruise in about 10 days when we will be first time Eliters. At least we'll get to experience it before they change it. We do have a drink package so might not go to many happy hours but will certainly enjoy the Internet and being able to pack a little lighter due to the laundry perk.

 

Was that you that won the Powerball?

[miched]

We just earned Elite and our next cruise is scheduled for Nov. We didn't want to wait that long to enjoy the benefits so we book a Bermuda cruise and just got back. The benefits of the Elite were one of the reasons for us to take another cruise that we weren't planning on.

 

While in the lounge for happy hour it seemed as if more were there because of their status on RCCL and not from X. Many of them were on X for the first time. One person was complaining that the credits didn't count towards their RCCL level.

 

Eliminating the reciprocation could help the overload.

 

.

[maggie.1008]

I agree. Same on our last cruise .

[Montana]

Our first experience with new Elite benefits was 2009 on our Alaska cruise in June so it is only a 5 year program. At that time RCCL passengers could use their Diamond Status to become Elite members. There were very few Elites on this cruise. I also suspect that allowing Diamond members to become Elite led to the problem.