What would make you leave Celebrity?

[Stateroom_Sailor]

I would quit Celebrity if they expand the "emotional service dog" policy to include more pets and livestock.

[miched]

When the cutbacks, perks, and value reaches to the point that it more advantageous and a better value to sail on the Premium lines.

 

A few years ago we sailed on Carnival and Princess and really enjoyed those cruises and our max price point was $100/day pp. We wanted to try different lines for comparison to justify all of the Carnival bashers. We booked a cruise on X and AQ looked rather interesting as we are what many consider health fanatics. That cruise was a bit more than our price point as it was $1050 pp for 7 days on the Solstice. We were sold even though we question the healthy promotion of Blu.

 

Now those same cruises are at $300/day pp and up. Granted sometimes it include the drink pack but that is only worth about $55/ day pp. This is getting into the price of the premium lines that are suites only, more staff per passenger ratio, better food, plus many other perks.

 

Celebrity is not really offering anything more for the increase and it appears to be cutting in many areas

 

Just my opinion that doesn't mean much but it is what I have observed in the short time that I have cruise with X. Still "slum" it and sail on Carnival and Princess and find them to be very enjoyable.

 

happy cruisng 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[wallie5446]

Let me post a different slant on this question. We haven't left Celebrity...for the past three or four years, we have been very loyal to celebrity (100%)...but that changed this year and our next cruise is on Holland American (our first on that line). We now also have cruises booked on Oceania...but yes, we do have two 28 day B2B cruises booked with Celebrity..one in 2016, one in 2017.

 

Why did we "stray".

 

1) we book aqua...we like blu....we are just tired of the menus and I almost dread seeing those three dishes of whatever with the celery stick and two carrot sticks when I sit down to dinner....no change in crudites ever..not even an olive for a change, no real change in the menus....it's gotten dull and repetitive. In fact we booked our 2016 b2b in a C2 cabin for a change.

 

2) The constant reminder of change...which in this context is pretty much take aways. String Quartets, flowers, mixed fruit bowls, chocolates (now back), the OJ situation now and so on...there's always something new missing on each cruise.

 

3) Itineraries...we've traveled a great deal..when we get to Grand Cayman on a ship, the sting rays spell out "welcome back GH" on the bottom under our balcony". Celebrity seems to have the same cruises to the same ports. Our next cruise does 5 stops in Iceland...can't do that on celebrity...not sure if you can even do 1 or 2. With limited ships, I guess they have to appeal to the masses..but we don't like repetition.

 

4) You're never sure who is giving you the right information when you contact celebrity. I can't tell you the number of times I've called, gotten information, called back to confirm only to find out that the first person gave me wrong information...or is it the second person? It's gotten so I only call celebrity as a last resort. Celebrity Cruises (cc id) is helping here so that's a plus.

 

5)Lack of consistency. Four M class ships...with different smoking areas...do I book a rear cabin on deck 11 or not (is there smoking on deck 10 or not?)...it seems to depend on ship...and perhaps sailing. Are bloody mary's served in the captains club cocktail event...not on the menu but I never had a problem ordering one in the past (remember we've cruised a great deal on Celebrity), but the last cruise the head bartender told me it wasn't on the menu....huh? I can get it free for breakfast but not at the elite cocktail party...really??? (I know this is some hq decision, but I have a problem with things that just don't make sense). Changes like that are just annoying..and sometimes it's the little things you remember.

 

6) When we started sailing Celebrity, we felt loved...or at least valued. For whatever reason that's not our current feeling. The recent laser focus on suites has really turned me, a repeat aqua passenger, off. Nothing specific, but I feel that we (non suite guests) get lip service..."modern luxury" and advertising. I guess to some extent I've begun to feel like a number rather than a valued customer. Of course this is subjective....maybe I participate in CC too much.

 

7) If I have to think of one event that changed my viewpoint about Celebrity, it was their attempt to drastically reduce the classic drink package...and the way it was handled. I guess I was disappointed to see how little Celebrity seemed to care about customer relations, perceptions and the importance of repeat customers.

 

So for us, it's not about leaving Celebrity....it's about when/why did we start to look and book with other cruise lines rather than being fully "loyal". I still think Celebrity is the best of the mass market cruise lines...but they have to keep earning that "badge" on each cruise. Never assume you don't have to care about keeping long time repeat customers....I think that's something that has stopped resonating in Celebrity HQ.

Now this is the gh I am used to reading post from over the years!

Very on point, and about the point. Well written Sir!

EW

[Christine Frances]

We are still very happy with the Celebrity product now but don't know where to go in the future if something starts impacting our cruise experience. The things that are being discussed ie reduced amenities/and new fee charges do not bother us so far. We are happy in the MDR and book early to get all the perks. We have sailed with Azamara three times and loved them but to "upgrade" would cut down drastically on the amount of cruises we could do re the pricing on the "Lite Luxury" and "Luxury" cruise lines. We have no interest in the other mass market lines so would probably do land vacations instead.. So we will see after 2017:D

[happy cruzer]

When the cutbacks, perks, and value reaches to the point that it more advantageous and a better value to sail on the Premium lines.

 

A few years ago we sailed on Carnival and Princess and really enjoyed those cruises and our max price point was $100/day pp. We wanted to try different lines for comparison to justify all of the Carnival bashers. We booked a cruise on X and AQ looked rather interesting as we are what many consider health fanatics. That cruise was a bit more than our price point as it was $1050 pp for 7 days on the Solstice. We were sold even though we question the healthy promotion of Blu.

 

Now those same cruises are at $300/day pp and up. Granted sometimes it include the drink pack but that is only worth about $55/ day pp. This is getting into the price of the premium lines that are suites only, more staff per passenger ratio, better food, plus many other perks.

 

Celebrity is not really offering anything more for the increase and it appears to be cutting in many areas

 

Just my opinion that doesn't mean much but it is what I have observed in the short time that I have cruise with X. Still "slum" it and sail on Carnival and Princess and find them to be very enjoyable.

 

happy cruisng 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

We agree it's all about the cost per person per night . If one line has a low cost per person per night then you can buy lots of luxuries, specialty dining or a cabin upgrade. Just booked princess last minute in an act balcony, got a great cost per night.

 

Love celebrity but will not pay substationally more for them. Will pick them first if the cost is close.

[hcat]

If we won the lottery....we'd try a few upscale cruise lines and would

definitely enjoy our fav all inc resort alot more often....other than that X still a good value....

 

Unlikely lottery win aside, we would leave if the DJ/ music situation deteriorates and/or demograhic of pax changes to more of a party ship experience rather than an elegant modern luxury vibe

Edited April 10, 2015 by hcat

[Germancruiser]

Great Thread- I do hope X takes notice ( well one always can hope can´t one?)

One poster mentioned that on every cruise something was missing more and more so. I have to agree! Maybe some at X understood the meaning of 123 go quite wrong. Or did we??

All those perks we liked to love with X are in decline!

What me made switch to HAL and Cunard more often was the loud music problem- which is thank god no solved- or so it seems!

I read I am not the only one who loves freshly pressed OJ and is prepared to pay for it. The OJ on board Millenium three weeks ago was fine- just no freshly pressed! I know very well that the OJ problem- is a luxury problem- nothing less- but still! If advertised as freshly pressed it should be that way and not comeing from a container. Does X think their customers are blind dumb, deaf or all three together???

Then what I found a nice perk was the Farewell in the Dinning room- call me old fashioned I love singing old lang syne at the end of the journey! Gone- intro of the dinning room staff- - gone! NO and absolutly no festivie mood in the dinning room anymore!

Good marketing Celebrity go on like this, maye RCI should just combine RCCL and X - LOL!

[ThursdaysChild]

GH, BRAVO! Well said! Other than the repeated itineraries (my list of cruises is shorter than yours) I could have written your post, and you have said what I have been feeling. I feel, especially as a solo, that Celebrity does not value my business (exclusively AQ with the exception of two short Summit cruises in Concierge Class). The latest mis-step with the beverage package increase may have been the last straw. I just feel the customer focus is gone, and while I have cruises booked into early 2017, I may look to replace some of those with vacations somewhere that I am shown better service.

 

Celebrity needs to pay attention to comments such as ours or risk losing some very loyal customers.

 

Let me post a different slant on this question. We haven't left Celebrity...for the past three or four years, we have been very loyal to celebrity (100%)...but that changed this year and our next cruise is on Holland American (our first on that line). We now also have cruises booked on Oceania...but yes, we do have two 28 day B2B cruises booked with Celebrity..one in 2016, one in 2017.

 

Why did we "stray".

 

1) we book aqua...we like blu....we are just tired of the menus and I almost dread seeing those three dishes of whatever with the celery stick and two carrot sticks when I sit down to dinner....no change in crudites ever..not even an olive for a change, no real change in the menus....it's gotten dull and repetitive. In fact we booked our 2016 b2b in a C2 cabin for a change.

 

2) The constant reminder of change...which in this context is pretty much take aways. String Quartets, flowers, mixed fruit bowls, chocolates (now back), the OJ situation now and so on...there's always something new missing on each cruise.

 

3) Itineraries...we've traveled a great deal..when we get to Grand Cayman on a ship, the sting rays spell out "welcome back GH" on the bottom under our balcony". Celebrity seems to have the same cruises to the same ports. Our next cruise does 5 stops in Iceland...can't do that on celebrity...not sure if you can even do 1 or 2. With limited ships, I guess they have to appeal to the masses..but we don't like repetition.

 

4) You're never sure who is giving you the right information when you contact celebrity. I can't tell you the number of times I've called, gotten information, called back to confirm only to find out that the first person gave me wrong information...or is it the second person? It's gotten so I only call celebrity as a last resort. Celebrity Cruises (cc id) is helping here so that's a plus.

 

5)Lack of consistency. Four M class ships...with different smoking areas...do I book a rear cabin on deck 11 or not (is there smoking on deck 10 or not?)...it seems to depend on ship...and perhaps sailing. Are bloody mary's served in the captains club cocktail event...not on the menu but I never had a problem ordering one in the past (remember we've cruised a great deal on Celebrity), but the last cruise the head bartender told me it wasn't on the menu....huh? I can get it free for breakfast but not at the elite cocktail party...really??? (I know this is some hq decision, but I have a problem with things that just don't make sense). Changes like that are just annoying..and sometimes it's the little things you remember.

 

6) When we started sailing Celebrity, we felt loved...or at least valued. For whatever reason that's not our current feeling. The recent laser focus on suites has really turned me, a repeat aqua passenger, off. Nothing specific, but I feel that we (non suite guests) get lip service..."modern luxury" and advertising. I guess to some extent I've begun to feel like a number rather than a valued customer. Of course this is subjective....maybe I participate in CC too much.

 

7) If I have to think of one event that changed my viewpoint about Celebrity, it was their attempt to drastically reduce the classic drink package...and the way it was handled. I guess I was disappointed to see how little Celebrity seemed to care about customer relations, perceptions and the importance of repeat customers.

 

So for us, it's not about leaving Celebrity....it's about when/why did we start to look and book with other cruise lines rather than being fully "loyal". I still think Celebrity is the best of the mass market cruise lines...but they have to keep earning that "badge" on each cruise. Never assume you don't have to care about keeping long time repeat customers....I think that's something that has stopped resonating in Celebrity HQ.

[hulamoon]

We will watch the little things that come and go, I have my eye on a couple now.

 

And while I was upset to notice Almost any other cruise line was cheaper than my last few cruises we decided to also watch the price per night. Do a comparison around final payment and be willing to leap if there is a compelling reason to do so. We have been exclusive to X since 2011.

 

As someone who booked suites and AQ what happens with Blu and the new suite resturant will be of Interest to me.

[teecee60]

As long as I can continue to cruise Celebrity for under $50pp/day, enjoy elite drinks at the sunset bar, good food and great service, and let my OBC pay for a couple of foo-foo martinis, I 'll keep coming back. :D

 

With the recent sale of Century, Celebrity is one of the FEW lines that have seen a DECREASE in passenger capacity, that should contribute to increased prices. :(

 

Most of the other major lines are adding THOUSANDS of new cabins every year that must be filled. Even with more ships slated for the growing Asian market, with economy improving only marginally, prices simply can not rise much in the light of an oversupply of cabins. :cool:

 

Because I avoid the marketing hype of endless promotions and only book after final payment...I am betting that my NEXT cruise with Celebrity, (this fall) will be LESS expensive than the one I am leaving for next week. ;)

 

Quite simply...if Celebrity prices rise too high, or the quality of the cruise experience falls too low, (compared to other lines) my cruise bookings will be made elsewhere.

Edited April 10, 2015 by teecee60

[Stateroom_Sailor]

3) Itineraries...we've traveled a great deal..when we get to Grand Cayman on a ship, the sting rays spell out "welcome back GH" on the bottom under our balcony". Celebrity seems to have the same cruises to the same ports. Our next cruise does 5 stops in Iceland...can't do that on celebrity...not sure if you can even do 1 or 2. With limited ships, I guess they have to appeal to the masses..but we don't like repetition.

 

This is a big one for me, the thought of repeating every port makes me cringe. Celebrity asked me on a questionnaire if I would repeat the Millennium in Alaska. No, but I might take it to Asia. I've got 3 other alternatives in Alaska alone on Holland America, and not to mention countless cruisetour options on Princess.

[Project_gal]

I know that the hype about the new suite class is cited as one of the negatives about Celebrity but, for us, it will be if the product does not live up to the hype. We were becoming jaded cruising with Celebrity. For us it would have been stopping cruising, rather than going elsewhere.

 

Then, at the crucial moment, Celebrity announced the new suite offering. We became excited about cruising again. Shore-side experience improved [but, then, it had reached rock bottom and it is still far from perfect but they are trying]. Last November, we experienced a little of it. Loved embarkation, loved Michael's club, loved the effort they seemed to be making on board, thought "this should be great when the new product kicks in come April".

 

It is now a matter of days into the new Suite Class Experience and, from what is being written on Cruise Critic, it appears that Celebrity may be backtracking. There is a current thread saying that, according to new Suite Class FAQ's, bar service in Michael's Club has slipped from the previous experience of morning to night to 5:30pm-8:00pm. My husband, not a heavy drinker, did really enjoy his post-dinner single malt last November and I know that he is looking forward to doing the same on our next cruise.

 

Luminae seems to be going well and it is early days but there is no sign of "The Suite Class chef can provide a tailor made experience to suite guests and prepare a dish to their liking, and the Master Sommelier will select more than 450 wines to provide the perfect pairing" as the FAQa still promise.

 

Dining was the main reason we were feeling jaded about cruising so this is a big deal for us. I know it is early days but, from what we have read, menu and recipe details seem to be controlled by Miami. There seems to be a greater emphasis on the image of the restaurant than providing what the guest would like. I am concerned that, as guests on a 17-night cruise in a few weeks, we cannot live up to Celebrity's expectations of what they think we want to eat for so long. Not only is there no sign of wine parings on the menus but the wine list posted on Cruise Critic has a more limited selection of wine than Murano and far fewer wines by the glass than necessary to provide wine parings for all the menus. Unfortunately, the wine list appears more geared to American tastes than our.

 

It never hurts to start on a cruise with low expectations and we are trying to be open-minded but Celebrity are doing a good job of deflating our bubble at this stage.

[sheba2008]

We would consider going elsewhere if Celebrity brought back the a cappella groups.

 

OK, sarcasm aside, DW and I have only been cruising since 2013 so we would be classified as newbies by many people here at Cruise Critic. We don't know what we are missing from "the good old days" but the angst seems to center around trivial items such as towel animals and chocolates on pillows. The most often mentioned complaint is "Celebrity has gone downhill". What does that mean? Looks like the only reasonable options would be Seabourn, Crystal, Regent, Silversea and Oceania, all of which are at least 2X the price of an A1 cabin. Add a few specialty dinners and premium drink package and Celebrity is still much less expensive than the other "true luxury lines".

 

Till death do us part. :)

 

 

You can not compare celebrity cruises with seabourn, crystal, regent or silversea they are 5 star all inclusive cruises.

I did a seabourn cruise and totally diffrent from X.

If I have to give a rate X get 3 out of 10 and seabourn 9 out of 10.

My last cruise on the summit was very disapointed, no X for me in the next years, doing RC in november, if not good, no more RC also.

Plenty more lines to choose from.

[iandjm]

Infact with what is being offered on Eclipse in 2016, and the prices I booked a Cunard 14 Night cruise from Southampton yesterday. £400pp cheaper than Celebrity, and going to some lovely Med. ports.

[grandgeezer]

That ship has sailed, no pun intended. Without starting a war of words, it is our feeling that the product has diminished to the point that it is way over priced and not worth the money. We have two B2Bs scheduled on RCL, to use up some gift cards we received from our TA, then unless things change, we'll find other ways to spend our hard earned money.

[mickey89]

We have cruised on 5 occasions with Celebrity in the last 2 years and have really enjoyed the experience. We have never had a meal in the MDR or Oceanview cafe. If the ultimate dining package was discontinued we would definately move to another line.

[mike x ftc]

Celebrity has been our line of choice for a while now, we prefer the Millennium class as they are not so busy, but went on the Equinox in November and it was just dull. We are only in our mid 40's so not young young but the entertainment was really lacking, apart from the Martini bar there wasn't much going on in the evening at all. We are trying the Epic in Sept (for a total contrast) but are looking to returning to RCL next year. Getting rid of the entertainment staff was a mistake.

[ghstudio]

Celebrity has been our line of choice for a while now, we prefer the Millennium class as they are not so busy, but went on the Equinox in November and it was just dull. We are only in our mid 40's so not young young but the entertainment was really lacking, apart from the Martini bar there wasn't much going on in the evening at all. We are trying the Epic in Sept (for a total contrast) but are looking to returning to RCL next year. Getting rid of the entertainment staff was a mistake.

 

let's see....Celebrity is trying to attract "younger" affluent cruisers....and at the same time Celebrity has cut their entertainment and activities staffs. I guess my family is unusual...our younger, more affluent married kids actually like varied entertainment and a good choice of non-shopping activities (have you noticed that the daily events is now heavily laced with "green diamond grand opening" and such.....I've even been to an event where the head of the art auction company (franchise) was introduced as a ship's officer....scary thought. Our kids really dislike disk jockey's but they enjoy most other music (I should mention they dislike disco volume level unless they are in a disco). A string quartet or a capella singers is better than nothing..and so on.

 

Celebrity's decision to change activities and entertainment is consistent with their current target audience.....cutting them and reducing personnel in those areas really made no sense to me at all....but I don't get the feeling celebrity cares...we're old and we aren't booking suites. Sometimes I wonder if marketing/passenger satisfaction folks have any say at all in HQ decisions.

 

For us, this isn't a biggie...as long as the music, whatever it is, is at a reasonable level, we just do our own thing. It's just another noticeable change...take away.

Edited April 10, 2015 by ghstudio

[leonardofan]

So I assume when you do die, you'll switch to HAL to maintain the experience of cruising with your peers? :)

 

Harris

Denver, CO

 

But they are NICE dead people :p

[Tudorcruisers]

Love celebrity, my fav cruise line so far and I would onl leave if smoking was allowed on balconies, if it became real child friendly. One last point would be regarding a post I only put on CC tonight. We are booked in a sky suite S2 UK passenger and we don't get Michaels club access etc. Saw on a site tonight that US and Canadian passengers get this privilege so I'm feeling a bit put out.

 

If the site is wrong then celebrity need to get this changed and if if it correct and

UK passengers are loosing out then I wil be one very unhappy passenger.

[ghstudio]

Love celebrity, my fav cruise line so far and I would onl leave if smoking was allowed on balconies, if it became real child friendly. One last point would be regarding a post I only put on CC tonight. We are booked in a sky suite S2 UK passenger and we don't get Michaels club access etc. Saw on a site tonight that US and Canadian passengers get this privilege so I'm feeling a bit put out.

 

If the site is wrong then celebrity need to get this changed and if if it correct and

UK passengers are loosing out then I wil be one very unhappy passenger.

 

I don't believe any sky suite guests have michael's club access.....doesn't matter where you live or where you booked.

[keithm]

Another current thread states they are leaving Celebrity over the discontinuance of fresh squeezed OJ.

 

It made me wonder what would be the 'straw or straws' that would make me leave or at least try another cruise line. (We have tried other lines and like to sail Celebrity and Royal when price and itinerary are within a range that we can justify paying more based on our value proposition for Celebrity and Royal quality of products/services.)

 

With all the changes of late, my sense is that Celebrity and Royal would lose their value add with us when:

 

1) I feel there is a class system onboard. Have no problem of private facilities, etc. Just keep them out of 'in your face' locations. So for example, reserved seating in various public venues. So far this has NOT been a problem, but if a show creates overflow of attendees and there are vacant seats being held, that might help sway me. On last cruise, they released reserved seating about 10-15 minutes ahead of show time as I recall.

 

 

2) continued cutbacks in food quality/selection unless you pay more. In past have not had a problem with free/included coffee and charging for speciality coffees as an example. On last cruise, one table mate ordered upgraded steak in MDR and we compared steaks and was not too happy with my "free/included" steak with a side by side comparison.

 

3) raising prices to then include items I don't want. Many of the recent free perks were covered by price increases. Then, having tiers of packages and including only the base/basic in the 'free' perks and at least for me having to then pay more to get the upgraded package that had the drinks I wanted.

 

Above are my quick thoughts.

I keep hearing about discontinuing the fresh OJ. We found it in abundance in Oceanview Cafe(on the Eclipse)It's true it cost about $3, but that's what a lot of rest. charge for fresh squeezed OJ.

[keithm]

What would make me leave?

 

If they got rid of the afternoon buffet in the MDR

 

If they closed one of the existing lounges to regular guests.

 

If they stopped serving steak sandwiches at the Mast Grill

 

If they increase the percentage of the tip for cocktails instead of increasing the price of the drinks because so many guest have a beverage package.

 

If being a shareholder, Celebrity would not give a shareholder benefit if you also received something like a 123go item.

 

If after weeks of doing research and planning on a cruise from a seldom used port and then booking it. Then finding out that Celebrity has leased the ship for five days to a company, canceling the cruise with virtually no restitution to the passengers for their time and effort and not paying any air travel cancellation fees.

 

That would make me leave!

So which cruiseline are you now checking out? We pretty much know all those issues have occurred. It's the canceling a cruise becaues it's being chartered that would kill it for me. Especially if you have purchased Air & or a hotel. I do feel if you have insurance(which YOU NEED!!)you'll at least be covered for the loss of air & hotel accomodations.

[SnorkelMoose]

I've never had a bad cruise on any line, including Celebrity.

 

I don't rule out any vacation where someone else cooks and cleans for me--ha, ha.

 

The only way I would leave Celebrity is if the crew threw me overboard, and even then, I'd try to swim my way back!

[boscobeans]

I hope they do not have plans to eventually phase out ships in the Millennium class and follow the bigger the better trend. We like the smaller ships, if you can call the Millennium small. We like some variety in room and veranda size depending on what category you book. With the newer trend it's one size fits all other than the true suites.

 

Not liking more than one or two specialty restaurants.

 

I'm done :-)

 

bosco