Celebrity Wants New Younger New Customers

[eby]

IMO, they are trying to attract more of a customer base and some of them may be younger cruises. My main reason for believing this is the pick your perk/1-2-3 things that they have been offering. We are part of that younger demographic and it did attract us, but I certainly don't speak for all 30 somethings. This will be my 5th cruise, DH's 4th. All of the prior ones have been on Carnival. This time I was not even looking at Carnival, I wanted to try something different. We were looking mainly at Royal or NCL. But I got an email from an online TA advertising the pick your perk promo which offered us a drink package with Celebrity. Only one half of our pair really likes to drink (DH), but its nice to know I can order whatever I want without thinking of cost. So we went for it. If it had not been for this package we would not even looked at Celebrity. That said, I don't think they are trying to distance people that are not 30-40ish crowd or loyals, I think they are trying to widen their net. That is just my opinion, for what its worth.

 

Remember that only drinks up to $8 and beer up to $5 are coved under the package.If you order a drink that cost more you pay the full price.

[Algebralovr]

We're mid-40's, and started on Celebrity in 2012 after a horrid experience with the kids in late 2010 on Carnival. My kids swore they would never cruise again!

 

Well, after we tried it out, we told the kids, and they are coming with us this summer. We are also bring my mom and sister. We'll see what they all say.

 

My kids don't listen to the music I usually hear playing in the Martini Bar. Both of them have rather eclectic tastes, though. I don't expect them to think much of the shows, but who knows. DH and I went to a couple of them, then decided we'd rather people watch at either the Cafe Al Bacio or the Martini Bar.

 

Speaking of the Martini Bar, we were describing to the family last night, and DS is interested in watching them pour a flight. We may have to order a couple of them for all to try! Her in the US, DS and DD would be too young to legally taste them, but they should be able to do so in the Med.

[fielddreamer]

We are looking to sail Celebrity at the end of this new year on a 12 or 14 day cruise. My concern is that it might be too low key at night on the ship. We just got off the Royal Princess two weeks ago and it still was too low key at night and not enough going on around the pool. It was a little better than the last couple of times but still not enough. We are both 66 but still like to have a good time on active ships with at least high engery !

[cruzinlisa]

Remember that only drinks up to $8 and beer up to $5 are coved under the package.If you order a drink that cost more you pay the full price.

 

Thanks. My TA upgraded us to the premium package so it should cover most everything. I am a frozen drink person and DH drinks bud light or other domestic beers so I think those should be covered. I hope. :)

[FrancescaH]

I am a low key traveler in my late 30s who craves the opportunity to just relax. I cruise with my husband and nine year old son. We are trying our first Celebrity cruise as a change of pace from Royal Caribbean in about a month. The reputation of the kids club seems on par with RC as I suspect they are all trained by the same people. I just hope it is busy enough to keep my son, whose top vacation choice is cruising, as happy as I suspect I will be.

[eby]

Thanks. My TA upgraded us to the premium package so it should cover most everything. I am a frozen drink person and DH drinks bud light or other domestic beers so I think those should be covered. I hope. :)

 

DH should try Michaels Club for craft beer,but ask the bartender if it covered under premium package some are more than the $12 limit.

[FRMPEI]

I would agree that Celebrity would be wise to draw in the 45ish crowd after the kids are grown, but at the same time, look at the ages of the people in their ads and on their website. I am not an expert at guessing ages, but it seems to me that a very large percentage of the people in the advertising seem to be in the 30-40 age range (and I would guess towards the young part of that range)...

 

Couldn't agree with you more. When I look at the Celebrity print brochures etc. I think "these are not the faces of people I typically see on Celebrity". :)

 

But I maybe the "younger" 45-55 group they are aiming at. LOL!

 

Regards,

Kevin Reid

Edited January 3, 2014 by FRMPEI

[gb_cruise]

This is an interesting thread. My children have been on many cruises with Celebrity and have enjoyed all of them. They are all in their early 20s and started cruising with us at a young age. All achieved Elite status on Celebrity by the time they were 18.

 

From a young age they enjoyed the many activities that Celebrity had for kids including the Kids club, Teens club, and 18 to 20 socials, etc. In my opinion Celebrity does a great job with activities for the younger generation - even though they do not market towards this 'generation'.

 

This has now created a next generation of cruisers for X that favors Celebrity over RCL, NCL and other lines (but they enjoy these other cruise lines also).

[Antonintassie]

As a recent first time cruise family late forties with an older teen on the New Royal Princess in the med I suspect alot of cruise companies need to attract new cruisers .

Our cruise had a handful of first timers on a ship of 3000 passengers and we had a very interesting in-sight into cruise dempgraphic as we had a suite and attended the regular elite passenger drinks and eats prior to dinner.We felt like the strangers walking into the small town saloon .It did not phase us but it interesting ,I personally think that cruise companies will need to offer a more innovative product for forties somethings with older children if the want to build a sustainable customer base into the future.

We really did not click with cruising the first time around but we have decided to give it one more chance and have booked a future cruise on the Eclipse in the hope that Celebrity will give us a refined product with a wider cross section of fellow passengers

[Iluvcruising2]

Just look at how many berths (cabins) the cruise industry as a whole has added in the past 10 years.

 

All the cruise lines face intense competition to get new customers! The existing ones won't be enough to fill up all the berths.

[Antonintassie]

Very true and unlike airlines which can parkup planes the cruise industry has limited options to deal with excess capacity without taking a big financial loss

[ghstudio]

Very true and unlike airlines which can parkup planes the cruise industry has limited options to deal with excess capacity without taking a big financial loss

 

Yes...and the price of air travel has risen so much that the cruise lines have limited ability to raise prices. Celebrity has to board over 800,000 passengers each year to fill their ships. That's why they are actively booking groups and trying to appeal to a larger audience. Of course, if they change the product to the point where their current strong demographic passengers (retiree age folks) don't like it, they have another problem....e.g the loud music everywhere on the ship ...and passengers will try (and perhaps like) another cruise line...so there's a relatively fine line between appealing to the younger wealthier folks and turning off the older folks who can cruise any time on longer cruises.

[harz99]

Very true and unlike airlines which can parkup planes the cruise industry has limited options to deal with excess capacity without taking a big financial loss

 

For the big Corporations one such option being to cascade the older ships from the top end fleet(s) down to the lower end companies as with Century, and before her Mercury etc. etc. thus enabling the lower end to either grow or replace their oldest vessels.

[Chitown12562]

I remember my first cruise on Celebrity. I had only been on two cruises, both on NCL, and we wanted to try something different and picked the Eclipse in 2011. I was in my late 40s, but I'm very young at heart.

 

I found the ship to be beautiful, but in some areas very low key. That's was fine, but then I noticed something. There was a lot of gray hair and people using walkers. No problem, just an observation. Then for one of the shows this female singer came on singing old show tunes. Now I'm a musician and I listen to everything form Benny Goodman to hard rock, fusion, and rap, but she sang a set of songs I'd never heard before. I wondered if we were on a geriatric cruise. And other than the kids in the solarium (where were their parents!) the number of children on board was very low.

 

Well I'm in my 50s now and I need to go on at least one RCCL cruise before I get too old to want to be around unsupervised children, but other than that I most likely will stick with Celebrity for a while.

[Cruising89143]

Early fifties here. Loved our first experience on X back in March. Now have two more cruises booked with them. We found the on board experience to our liking. Music was never too loud anywhere on the ship. Never heard rap or heavy metal as has been described on this board but I will listen again in March and June to see if this is the case.

 

A business has to attract new customers. Without it they will go out of business. We tried HAL back in 2007 and it is not the cruise line for us. Did not like the ships, crew or the total experience. Can't see myself going back anytime soon.

 

Also concerning the comment about RCI soon having more berths than Carnival. The article that I read was speaking specifically about RCI (Royal Caribbean International) having more berths than Carnival Cruise Line. Not RCCL over Carnival Corporation. No way can that happen due to the large amount of ships in Carnival Corps fleet.

Edited January 5, 2014 by cruisingator2

[HS2BS]

We are retired and are part of the economy that has the money and time to choose our ship! Last year we had over 70 sea days, and only 15 were on Celeberity - why? No control over the kids on shorter cruises, that loud music and same old ports. Also, what younger group is going to fill longer (Eclipse is 14 days) and transatlantic cruises, 14+.

 

Other cruise lines are looking for the same cruisers, both repeat and new. Celebrity has already established a repeat base and I for one am being forced to reconsider bookings with them. That said, we are doing Eclipse next month, but a 26 day on Princess in April and a TA in the fall on the Oasis. Celebrity should look at who is it that fills all those ships when its not spring break, or some other school vacation time. Relocating there ships to Europe and Alaska during the summer has also left a void.

 

Hal

[parallax]

My wife and I are in earlier 40s. We are both professionals and have a good amount of disposable income. Over the last 15 years, we have been on Royal, Celebrity, HAL and Oceania. In June, we are going on our 6th cruise with Celebrity to Italy. We like the balance that Celebrity offers. The food is a step-up, the hard sell on products (drinks, art etc.) is not as evident, the ports of call seem to be a little more frequent and diverse and the Kids Club is a perfect fit for our daughter.

 

While I agree that sometimes that we wish the atmosphere was more lively (we like the music in the Martini Bar), it is a minor quibble. Our goal is to do some relaxing and exploring. If we want a hard charging atmosphere, we go to Vegas. If we want all the bells and whistles for kids, we go to an amusement park.

 

I will say that I am somewhat perplexed by how the cruise lines market. With all the data analytics tools that are available, the cruise lines have not been able develop custom offers to cruisers. When we go to Vegas, we receive offers from several hotels on the strip. Some offers are standard offers but others are customized based on the time and money we spent on the property. We can receive free or reduced rate rooms, dining credits and/or free play in the casino.

 

As someone who usually spends at least $2000 while on the ship, wouldn't I be a more desirable customer than a person who books the cheapest room and has limited onboard spending? Yet, the cruise line does not offer us any additional or custom incentives. Maybe it isn't practical because TAs play such a critical role in the booking process.

[Antonintassie]

Hi we are in a similiar situation and I do not think this issue is only the domain of Celebrity .

The cruise industry as a whole does not seem to be very strong in dealing with clients in a specific wants,needs, demographic and this is not always age specific .

As you indicated I think they are very dependent on TA feedback and direction rather than customer input

[cherylroslyn]

I'm in that age group and can't understand the rave/rap/hip hop dj music blaring in the Martini Bar would appeal to that age group. I know I didn't care for it.

Its not rave/rap/or hip hop playing in the martini bar it is is Techno.....

The fact that you can't identify the difference between Techno and Hip Hop or Rap tells me that the age group Celebrity is seeking is probably quite a bit younger....perhaps 30-45.

[cavok]

and believe me, "Techno" is about as specific as calling it 70's ;-)

there's many variations, Trance, House, HC, Chillout... just to name a few.

i will gladly check it out ;-) and report back.

let's hope we won't be disappointed, the various reports about the music that seem to be received somewhat critically here in the forums actually sound great to me :-)

[FortyNinerLiz]

My wife and I are in earlier 40s. We are both professionals and have a good amount of disposable income. Over the last 15 years, we have been on Royal, Celebrity, HAL and Oceania. In June, we are going on our 6th cruise with Celebrity to Italy. We like the balance that Celebrity offers. The food is a step-up, the hard sell on products (drinks, art etc.) is not as evident, the ports of call seem to be a little more frequent and diverse and the Kids Club is a perfect fit for our daughter.

 

While I agree that sometimes that we wish the atmosphere was more lively (we like the music in the Martini Bar), it is a minor quibble. Our goal is to do some relaxing and exploring. If we want a hard charging atmosphere, we go to Vegas. If we want all the bells and whistles for kids, we go to an amusement park.

 

I will say that I am somewhat perplexed by how the cruise lines market. With all the data analytics tools that are available, the cruise lines have not been able develop custom offers to cruisers. When we go to Vegas, we receive offers from several hotels on the strip. Some offers are standard offers but others are customized based on the time and money we spent on the property. We can receive free or reduced rate rooms, dining credits and/or free play in the casino.

 

As someone who usually spends at least $2000 while on the ship, wouldn't I be a more desirable customer than a person who books the cheapest room and has limited onboard spending? Yet, the cruise line does not offer us any additional or custom incentives. Maybe it isn't practical because TAs play such a critical role in the booking process.

 

You nailed it!!!!