We know Celebrity monitors the board

[Celebrity Cruises]

Thank you as always for what participation you can provide! Since you (and the higher ups) do listen to us Cruise Critic members, I'll repeat my suggestion to have your position made more active, more of a full-time thing with respect to posting on Cruise Critic. I'm sure this is not your only job responsibility, but I think it would be worthwhile for X if more time was spent. While there are over 10,000 threads, you'd only need to comment on the current ones, especially if the topic has anything to do with Celebrity policies. I'd hope you could convince the Powers That Be to allow more time than that needed for an average of just one comment every four days.

 

Well, it currently is 10:50 pm here in Miami, so not sure how much more active we can be. Speaking on policy, occasionally we want to help assist, but there isn't always a statement that we can provide that covers everyone and everything. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and the other social networks, we're not really able to give individualized support over Cruise Critic, because we can't privately exchange information.

[Celebrity Cruises]

I am sad to read that you say you feel your efforts are not really appreciated by X headquarters in Miami.....I feel you have always had excellent suggestions to X in the past that you have posted here on the CC boards. X should really value and appreciate your contributions.

 

We definitely appreciate Host Andy!

[ghstudio]

Well, it currently is 10:50 pm here in Miami, so not sure how much more active we can be. Speaking on policy, occasionally we want to help assist, but there isn't always a statement that we can provide that covers everyone and everything. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and the other social networks, we're not really able to give individualized support over Cruise Critic, because we can't privately exchange information.

 

Sorry..but I can't let you by with that statement. Many of the issues are actually easy and only require reaffirming the documented policy and talking about uniform enforcement which seems to be missing...for example the thread on children in the elite cocktail party. My favorite unanswered mystery...the combinability of the stockholder benefit (which says it's not combineable) with celebrity benefits that say they are combinable with one other offer...which is it?? There are many examples on threads here...just on the first page where you could jump in and clarify. These aren't one off issues...they effect many which is obvious given the number of folks participating in the discussions.

 

We also have changes that seem to be in flight...eg the elite breakfast becoming a tiered platter on each table rather than a buffet. Is that going to be the norm or was that a one off for some reason. Was it a trial? Give us some info so we don't guess....squelch the rumors before they start. If the grand buffet is going to disappear, tell us when someone reports it here...don't leave us guessing if it was a one off or will be fleet wide.

 

I appreciate your occasional participation but would welcome your jumping in far more often to clarify both policy and it's implementation and help us understand changes that folks see on one ship or one cruise.

Edited May 6, 2014 by ghstudio

[ghstudio]

We definitely appreciate Host Andy!

 

There's a serious disconnect if Andy feels that Celebrity doesn't appreciate his efforts and you say they do. That should be an alarm bell going off situation to Celebrity....because it seems to say that even someone of Andy's position (you obviously know he's a moderator here) is not treated like a valuable customer (which he is or at least has been). I would hope your goal in HQ would be to make every passenger or future passenger to feel valuable. Clearly that's not happening. Perhaps you need to focus someone on that one factor...perhaps it's responding to michael bayley email comments in a timely way (every one should be tracked and responded to in x days (BTW, I've sent in a couple that were never responded to at all), perhaps it's getting back to someone who has had an issue with something more than a form letter. The one thing I'm pretty sure of is that Andy isn't the problem in the relationship.

Edited May 6, 2014 by ghstudio

[cruzsnooze]

Cruising has evolved into a mass market vacation over the last decade or so. What used to be a service oriented industry has been reduced to serve yourself. Last month we sailed on the century. I won't be back to Celebrity for a while after that cruise. The service was minimal. The buffet was a weak spot with no service at all. Other then the nightly shows which were too loud there was little to do. I have switched to Princess lately and find them more upscale in service and amenities although they too have decreased their amenities. I tried celebrity because as a D+ RCL member I though why not experience the reciprocity.

I gave up on RCL when they left the west coast several years ago. I never sailed on one of their mega ships, they don't interest me. I am going to be sailing on Liberty of the Seas later this year. I'll see how that works, and if it does I may go back to RCL once in a while.

What I have found is river cruising. I think that's going to become as popular as the mass market lines. I have done several River cruises and have Viking River cruises booked next year for China. River cruising seems to fill the gap between mass market free for all that the mega ships have become and the super elite Lines like Regency. River cruises are a good value when the total picture is viewed because it includes shore excursions and soda and wine and beer and bottled water. very few extras and no specialty dining.

I think FWIW that celebrity and RCL should look at ways to compete with what I believe is the new competition. I also think they should be looking to win repeat business from their top tier members instead of courting new cruisers so vigorously. Retirees can cruise more frequently and spend more on higher category cabins.

[Andy]

Hi Host Andy,

First of all, let me say how much I appreciate your contributions and the task you take on as Moderator of a forum that has had it's challenges recently! Obviously the natives here are quite restless recently! :o

 

I am sad to read that you say you feel your efforts are not really appreciated by X headquarters in Miami.....I feel you have always had excellent suggestions to X in the past that you have posted here on the CC boards. X should really value and appreciate your contributions.

 

I, too, echo some of the posters who sense that there have been many changes to the experience on X that we loved in the past. We have been very loyal to X and Azamara, but now we are branching out and trying some new things. We are going to try some new things, including a cruise on RCCL out of Galveston, our closest port since X has given up a presence on the West Coast and by virtue of our loyalty we get to have Diamond status......already I am eager to try the Diamond lounge which is open for specialty coffee throughout the day and offers Happy Hour from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm (much longer hours than X). I seem to sense that the corporate office is shifting more importance to taking care of the RCCL brand than the X brand so maybe we should shift, too! They still have plenty of live music like violinists, etc. We have never sailed RCCL before but if Corporate is going to shift resources to RCCL, what the heck! Some of the best employees of X have been shifted over to RCCL.

 

We also have a cruise booked on Oceania in 2015 and are looking forward to seeing all that they have to offer. I feel the value is there when you factor in included airfare, specialty restaurants, bottled water, soda, fresh squeezed juices, and specialty coffees. The food is supposed to be some of the best at sea, as well as very comfortable beds! We hope to see you onboard someday!

 

Keep doing the great job as Moderator! We appreciate you! And many more great cruises to you.....as the cruiselines change, so shall we!! :D:p. Edited to add: I felt pretty bad about this in the beginning, like you mentioned as you are so loyal to X, but now.....I am over it!! It actually is quite empowering to realize, after all the frustration, that you have choices!!!!!

 

Hi Takemewithyou,

 

Just wanted to say thank you for your very kind comments, and for the many kind comments from our wonderful community. Yes, the forum has been a challenge of late, and I'm putting more time in here, than ever before. I'm also not posting as much, due to time constraints, and I will try to do better.

 

As for our future cruising plans - please dont worry about me. I hope we'll be sailing with Celebrity for a very long time to come, but much of it will dictate where management desires to take the brand.

 

I truly consider myself an optimistic person, and remain hopeful that we'll be pleased with whatever Celebrity has planned. If not, there are other choices out there, and I'm 100% certain we'll find our happiness, if need be. Let's hope it does not come to that !

Edited May 6, 2014 by Host Andy

[upwarduk]

Celebrity,

Please consider re-introducing 2 ships sailing from UK.

I am concerned that I will have to fly to Amsterdam if I wish to take a British Isles cruise.

Or perhaps I could embark in Dover (1st port of call ) or maybe disembark in Liverpool( last port of call on Aug 8th '15) to make life easier.

Just having Eclipse doing one Mediterranean cruise in 2015 makes me think that you are considering abandoning the loyal cruisers that you have in UK.

Edited May 6, 2014 by upwarduk

[shoreham01]

Celebrity,

Please consider re-introducing 2 ships sailing from UK.

I am concerned that I will have to fly to Amsterdam if I wish to take a British Isles cruise.

Or perhaps I could embark in Dover (1st port of call ) or maybe disembark in Liverpool( last port of call on Aug 8th '15) to make life easier.

Just having Eclipse doing one Mediterranean cruise in 2015 makes me think that you are considering abandoning the loyal cruisers that you have in UK.

 

Completely agree with you. We find we have no choice of destinations from Southampton next year. Just the usual Scandinavia and the Baltics. We were hoping for a something different for next year. Unfortunately we will have to shift our loyalty which is a great shame.

[Cruising89143]

Well, it currently is 10:50 pm here in Miami, so not sure how much more active we can be. Speaking on policy, occasionally we want to help assist, but there isn't always a statement that we can provide that covers everyone and everything. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and the other social networks, we're not really able to give individualized support over Cruise Critic, because we can't privately exchange information.

 

Personally I think that you're in a "no win" situation. While many of us appreciate the information that you share here there will always be some that want more. It's just never enough. I also understand that resources are split with other forms of social media and that one cannot put all of their time on one site. I myself have contacted Celebrity several times with questions and have always received quick follow up from Celebrity. Thanks for all you do.:)

[Redtravel]

Every cruise line ought to read the comments and reviews. A good cruise line likes to keep in touch with potential or past problems. They also ought to pay attention to compliments when deserved and complaints when stated. As a cruise critic member, I have exchanged lots of info with other cruisers.

[gblotter]

We read many, if not all threads that are posted here. We try our best to answer as many as we can, but this isn't always an easy task. Our 'Celebrity' board for example has 10,964 threads, not including each individual post. Some questions are easily answered, and some require some time. Additionally, just because we don't provide an answer, doesn't mean your voice wasn't heard. Recently, we learned that music volume was either too high, or too low on some of our ships. We looked into the issue, and we acted fast to remedy, and we want to thank the Cruise Critic community for assisting.

 

This is only an example, but we are here to answer when possible, and are always trying to clear up any rumors or confusion, as well as sharing your thoughts and ideas internally.

Celebrity Cruises - I would be very glad to see you play a more active role on this forum. With an average of .25 posts per day, I hope to see that statistic increase. One post every four days is not what I consider very active (but definitely better than nothing).

 

There are persistent complaints here on cruisecritic about the difficulty of interacting with Celebrity - either by phone or by internet. It routinely takes 30-60 minutes of wait time to reach a Celebrity agent on the phone. The Celebrity website is woefully deficient. Example: Currently I am unable to view any shore excursions that I have previously reserved. It seems that Celebrity is erecting very high and difficult barriers to do business with them. Promised changes in this area result in no real improvements (from what I experience at least). I don't think it will be surprising if customers eventually just give up and move on to an easier cruise line. Care to comment?

 

Also, I am eager to hear your response to the many cruisecritic threads about declining service resulting from crew reductions on the ships. Does Celebrity intend to squeeze the profit lemon until customers start abandoning the brand (apparently that is already starting to happen)? A foolish move IMHO. In my business, it is much easier - and cheaper - to retain an existing customer than attract a new customer.

 

These are not individual complaints requiring an individual response - rather they are general trends that many Celebrity customers find troubling. Loud thumping music is a relatively easy adjustment to make (and kudos to you for fixing that), but what about these more serious structural issues? I fear a comment on such topics is likely beyond your pay grade (sadly for us cruisecritic folks).

[Gabbiegirl]

As a cruise critic member, I have exchanged lots of info with other cruisers.

 

As have I and the potential to spread both good and bad news increases exponentially with each person the info is relayed to.....as they tell someone else...who tells someone else...who tells someone else.....:):eek:

[Celebrity Cruises]

 

There are persistent complaints here on cruisecritic about the difficulty of interacting with Celebrity - either by phone or by internet. It routinely takes 30-60 minutes of wait time to reach a Celebrity agent on the phone. The Celebrity website is woefully deficient. Example: Currently I am unable to view any shore excursions that I have previously reserved. It seems that Celebrity is erecting very high and difficult barriers to do business with them. Promised changes in this area result in no real improvements (from what I experience at least). I don't think it will be surprising if customers eventually just give up and move on to an easier cruise line. Care to comment?

 

 

We can assure you that your voices are heard, and that behind the scenes, we are working to improve it. It must be stated that to some degree, we are only the messenger. We work internally with other groups, to report and fix what we see.

 

An example is our Pick Your Perk promotion which recently ended. We had an unusually high amount of people calling as the promotion was drawing to a close. We reported the high wait times, and we began training new staff to answer the phones. However, this can't be done overnight, so as much as we would love to say we are addressing it - this could be a few days, weeks, etc. At the same time, many people don't experience high wait times at all.

 

The website is an interesting conversation, that quite frankly we don't have an answer for at this time. I don't want Cruise Critic to think we are ignoring this - we aren't.

 

Anything we say on Cruise Critic is immediately dissected. The last thing we want to do is a make a promise that we can't deliver. The issues are always being addressed, just many times, we can't address publicly it until we're 100% confident in what we say.

[Andy]

We can assure you that your voices are heard, and that behind the scenes, we are working to improve it. It must be stated that to some degree, we are only the messenger. We work internally with other groups, to report and fix what we see.

 

An example is our Pick Your Perk promotion which recently ended. We had an unusually high amount of people calling as the promotion was drawing to a close. We reported the high wait times, and we began training new staff to answer the phones. However, this can't be done overnight, so as much as we would love to say we are addressing it - this could be a few days, weeks, etc. At the same time, many people don't experience high wait times at all.

 

The website is an interesting conversation, that quite frankly we don't have an answer for at this time. I don't want Cruise Critic to think we are ignoring this - we aren't.

 

Anything we say on Cruise Critic is immediately dissected. The last thing we want to do is a make a promise that we can't deliver. The issues are always being addressed, just many times, we can't address publicly it until we're 100% confident in what we say.

 

Thanks again Celebrity, for sharing your insights, and for your kind comments last night. It's very much appreciated ! If I can be of any assistance, I'm always there for Celebrity and our community. You know how to find me :)

Edited May 6, 2014 by Host Andy

[britestar]

Just off the Century last month, wonderful cruise. While enjoying the Elite lounge we were told by a fellow passenger Celebrity is already contemplating adding a new tier level. Has anyone else heard this or was this just cocktail conversation?

[Gracie115]

We can assure you that your voices are heard, and that behind the scenes, we are working to improve it. It must be stated that to some degree, we are only the messenger. We work internally with other groups, to report and fix what we see.

 

An example is our Pick Your Perk promotion which recently ended. We had an unusually high amount of people calling as the promotion was drawing to a close. We reported the high wait times, and we began training new staff to answer the phones. However, this can't be done overnight, so as much as we would love to say we are addressing it - this could be a few days, weeks, etc. At the same time, many people don't experience high wait times at all.

 

The website is an interesting conversation, that quite frankly we don't have an answer for at this time. I don't want Cruise Critic to think we are ignoring this - we aren't.

 

Anything we say on Cruise Critic is immediately dissected. The last thing we want to do is a make a promise that we can't deliver. The issues are always being addressed, just many times, we can't address publicly it until we're 100% confident in what we say.

 

I do appreciate that it would be very difficult to begin answering each and every person who posts here with their personal issues. I can certainly understand the comment that "anything you say on CC is dissected"....that's certainly true of many different posters..and no doubt you get the brunt of all of us! I am hopeful that you are reading posts with the intent to see if there are "trends" apparent as far as both the good and the bad for X and then working internally with that information as you said. Thank you for responding and hopefully X will remain all of our cruiseline of choice!!!

[wallie5446]

Just off the Century last month, wonderful cruise. While enjoying the Elite lounge we were told by a fellow passenger Celebrity is already contemplating adding a new tier level. Has anyone else heard this or was this just cocktail conversation?

 

They probably have not heard that Celebrity just did this, not likely to change it again so soon. Prob too many cocktail's conversation:o

[Lois R]

Just off the Century last month, wonderful cruise. While enjoying the Elite lounge we were told by a fellow passenger Celebrity is already contemplating adding a new tier level. Has anyone else heard this or was this just cocktail conversation?

 

Hi:)...contemplating? It has already been done. A "Zenith" Tier was

added a few months ago for those passengers with the highest amount

of cruise credits. Sounds like your fellow passenger wasn't aware of it.

It is more than just "cocktail conversation"....it is already implemented.

[Andy]

Just off the Century last month, wonderful cruise. While enjoying the Elite lounge we were told by a fellow passenger Celebrity is already contemplating adding a new tier level. Has anyone else heard this or was this just cocktail conversation?

 

Hi Britestar,

 

I'd be thrilled if Celebrity added another level between Elite Plus and Zenith, but, I'd be surprised if they added another level so quickly. Im not about to complain about what Celebrity has done, as they've made wonderful improvements to an already excellent program. For those fortunate to be Zenith ? IMO, it's the gold standard of loyalty benefits !

[Orator]

Passenger comment cards, letters and emails are what primarily drive change, not Cruise Critic.

 

98% of all Celebrity passengers don't even read Cruise Critic, do you really think Corporate seriously listens to a message board that only represents the 2% of their customers? :D:D

 

Hi Britestar,

 

I'd be thrilled if Celebrity added another level between Elite Plus and Zenith, but, I'd be surprised if they added another level so quickly. Im not about to complain about what Celebrity has done, as they've made wonderful improvements to an already excellent program. For those fortunate to be Zenith ? IMO, it's the gold standard of loyalty benefits !

 

I have suggested to people at Celebrity that there be a new level at 1500points. They could just give more internet and laundry and I believe most would be happy. I believe that it would be a good marketing device as it might encourage some to cruise to reach another level. But, I too doubt that Celebrity wouldn't place this high on their agenda at this time. The new benefits at the Elite+ and Zenith levels are great and most appreciated.

[maggie.1008]

Just home from Eclipse TA. The best cruise on X. Wonderful crew and outstanding service. I too would like to see a level between Elite Plus and Zenith. We were in a sky suite so we did not use coffee perk as Butler brought them to us. We did not use the new added internet minutes. I think X perks are the best in the business but Elite plus benefits are not so great. I would like to see a level at 1200 - 1500 points. I will never see Zenith even after 20 cruises at higher cabin levels with X.

[PartyAllDaTyme]

Well, it currently is 10:50 pm here in Miami, so not sure how much more active we can be. Speaking on policy, occasionally we want to help assist, but there isn't always a statement that we can provide that covers everyone and everything. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, and the other social networks, we're not really able to give individualized support over Cruise Critic, because we can't privately exchange information.

 

Gotcha. Thanks for the info! I wasn't suggesting a 24 hour presence, but at least more general comments on general topics. There have been many occasions when I've been following a thread and said to myself, "I sure wish Celebrity Cruises would weigh in." But I understand you may be limited in the responses you can provide for various reasons.

[patty1955]

I really don't want to be greedy, I love my Elite perks but wouldn't it be nice if they corresponded to the length of the cruise? 90 minutes of free internet is great, but it works better on a 7 day cruise. We like to take 15 or longer cruises and a second bag of laundry would be helpful.

[dkjretired]

We can assure you that your voices are heard, and that behind the scenes, we are working to improve it. It must be stated that to some degree, we are only the messenger. We work internally with other groups, to report and fix what we see.

 

An example is our Pick Your Perk promotion which recently ended. We had an unusually high amount of people calling as the promotion was drawing to a close. We reported the high wait times, and we began training new staff to answer the phones. However, this can't be done overnight, so as much as we would love to say we are addressing it - this could be a few days, weeks, etc. At the same time, many people don't experience high wait times at all.

 

The website is an interesting conversation, that quite frankly we don't have an answer for at this time. I don't want Cruise Critic to think we are ignoring this - we aren't.

 

Anything we say on Cruise Critic is immediately dissected. The last thing we want to do is a make a promise that we can't deliver. The issues are always being addressed, just many times, we can't address publicly it until we're 100% confident in what we say.

 

I want to thank your for your assistance, it is really appreciated.

 

Also wanted to mention that there are right now major problems with the web site, I'm sure they are aware but various pages won't open and there major foul ups with the looking for a cruise area.

[britestar]

Thank you all for your responses. The gentleman was referring to a new tier being added between the Elite Plus and Zenith levels within the next year. I thought it sounded rather ambitious for Celebrity to add yet another level after the recent changes, but thought it worth asking.